Chapter 4: Street Fighting
The gate of the Sha Zhou County is just in front of us, but the Moon Granny said that she can no longer accompany us on our way. Father did not persuade her to stay, nor did he even say thank you. He has been silent all along, and when Granny left, he only slightly nodded his head. After bidding farewell to Granny, Old Father led Qi Mei to a small house not far from the city gate, which seemed to be a branch of the Black Water Fortress outside.
"July 7th, go change into these clothes."
The old man tossed over a set of men's clothes, bewildered. This young lady's body hadn't even started developing yet, and if you didn't look closely, it was hard to tell whether she was male or female. The old man said, "Don't dress her up like that, it's too tacky." "Dad, is the other side very powerful? Otherwise, why do we need to disguise ourselves?"
That night, what Lao Ye said to her could be counted on one hand, was he blaming her? Lao Ye had lost his left arm, although Yue Po had already helped him clean and dress the wound, but Qi Mei knew that if it wasn't properly cleaned and disinfected, it would become infected. As she approached Lao Ye's side, he turned away from her.
The sky was barely bright, and Qī Xié and Lǎo Diāng were pushing a cart of big white cabbages towards Shā Zhōu Jùn. When people are guilty, they always feel like others' gazes are strange. At this moment, Qī Xié felt that the city guards' eyes seemed sharp as blades. Although Lǎo Diāng hadn't told her about the other party's background, from his cautious appearance, she could guess a bit.
This load of cabbage was promised to a vegetable farmer with a twisted ankle outside the city, and he asked them to help push it into the city. Shazhou is indeed a good place! Although there are no shops lining the streets, you can see vendors setting up stalls everywhere, and their stalls have all sorts of strange things. Occasionally, you can also see a few foreigners with blonde hair and blue eyes on the road. This place really looks like a market from past lives! For Qi Meng, this is simply a shopping paradise, but she soon realized her current situation - she's just a "princess" in distress.
The place is located at the intersection of multiple countries, and it can be seen that the military preparations here are slack. Those little soldiers are also gathered in groups of three or five, surrounding a dice game. Suddenly, the merchants in front hastily packed up their stalls and rushed towards us: "Run quickly, run, the horse thieves are coming!"
The vendors on the side, however, were not in a hurry to pack up their stalls. Instead, they quickly hid themselves in safe places. Qi Xi, who had been attracted by the small items on the stall, suddenly realized that she and her father had become separated at some point. "Father, don't leave Qi Xi behind!" From afar, the sound of horseshoes and clashing blades could be heard. Those vendors who were carrying goods and running wildly not only had their goods stolen but also lost their lives. On the other hand, the street vendors, although robbed of their belongings, at least did not lose their lives, seemingly having gained some experience from this ordeal.
When she was used to being robbed by horse thieves and never thought that today she would be robbed by these little thieves, Qī Xì was furious in her heart, but she was also a person who knew how to adapt to the situation. She hid aside, learning from those small vendors, not wanting to draw attention to herself. But then one of the little thieves suddenly snatched the hairpin on her head! How could she tolerate this? "Little thief, return my hairpin!" That was mother's keepsake, and it was clear that father cherished it deeply as well. Although Qī Xì didn't know martial arts, she had a secret weapon, hehe, with a sly smile, she chased after the thief.
That horse thief had probably gotten used to the locals' submissive nature, who would have thought that someone would come chasing after him for a broken sandal? This kid must be courting death! Before he could even dodge, he saw his opponent throw something shiny at him under the sunlight. Not good, it's a hidden weapon! In his panic, the little thief fell off his horse.
Qī xiè yī jiǎo tà zài tā xiōng kǒu, dé yì de qiǎng huí zì jǐ de zān zi, zhè liǎng nián de mǎ zéi shēng yá kě bù shì bái guò de, xiǎng qiǎng tā qī nǚ xiá de dōng xī mén dōu méi yǒu: "xiǎo zéi, nǐ tīng hǎo le rú jīn nǐ yǐ zhòng le wǒ qī bù duó mìng zhī dú, zěn me yǒu méi yǒu jué de zuǒ liǎn shàng yǒu diǎn cì tèng ā, gù míng sī yì jiù shì nǐ zhǐ yào zǒu qī bù jiù yào qiāo jiá zi lā, nǐ yào shì guì xià kē sān tóu jiào shēng dà yé, wǒ jiù gěi nǐ jiě yào."
"Think you can just walk all over me? Fine, I'll take seven steps and show you." The little thief looked disdainful, but his hand lightly covered his left cheek as he got up and started walking. Qiuni felt like he was going to suffocate from tension, but on the surface, he maintained a confident expression. Just as the little thief was about to take his seventh step, he suddenly knelt down in front of Qiuni and started kowtowing: "Master, master!"
The vendors on the street who were watching the commotion also burst into laughter, having been bullied by these horse thieves for so long, they had never felt so relieved as today. They couldn't help but give Qi a big thumbs up, this kid was something else! But at the same time, they couldn't help but worry about him, could the horse thieves really be so easily provoked?
"This young master is so young, yet his methods are so ruthless. The Seven Steps to Death is Fah Yue's exclusive poisonous technique, what is your relationship with him?" Qi Xi carefully put the wooden hairpin into her bosom, and just as she was about to leave with a smug face, a cold sword had already approached, and she could even feel the sharp sword energy.
After hearing the old man's words, Qi Xie almost burst out laughing. The Seven Steps to Capture Life was actually something she had copied from watching Tang Bohu pick autumn fragrance in her previous life. She didn't expect that there would really be such a thing here. Those small silver needles were just things she had casually picked up in Moon Granny's room when she was locked in. At the time, she had wondered why Granny had hidden so many embroidery needles for no reason. The little thief on Qi Xie's face still had some suspicion, but after hearing the middle-aged man say this, he became even more like a dog, crouching down in front of Qi Xie. Qi Xie was also secretly pleased in her heart. Although this old man seemed to be up to no good, it seemed that he had also helped her out.
Everything was taken back, the fuss was made enough, and the anger was almost vented. Qi Yan's foot kicked the little thief away: "I've had enough fun, you can leave now. If there really is such a thing as 'seven steps to death', what would these great heroes do?" Qi Yan smiled and tried to gently push the approaching knife blade away with her finger. It wasn't that she wasn't afraid of death, but rather that after being so domineering just now, she couldn't bear to put down her pride and kneel down to beg for mercy.
At that time, the sword was only 0.01 cm away from Qi Mei's throat, but a quarter of an incense stick later, the uncle holding the sword would thoroughly drop the sword because Qi Mei decided to tell a lie. Although Qi Mei had told countless lies in her life, this one was what she thought was the most perfect, after all, saving her life was the king's way: "Great hero, actually I..."
The roads in Shazhou City were not wide, and when a sedan chair appeared in front of everyone, covering the entire street with its canopy, people not only retreated but also peeked out to take a look from time to time. There were many merchants who came to Shazhou to buy rare goods, and there were also those who spent money generously, but it was the first time they had seen someone as ostentatious as Qi. Didn't rich people usually like to pretend to be poor?
The middle-aged man who had just drawn his sword now put it away and bowed respectfully in front of the sedan chair. It was unexpected that such a heroic figure would be so humble, wondering what kind of person could make him behave like this. From afar, another chaotic sound of horse hooves came from the other end of the street. The vendors had already retreated to a safe area, but they were still looking forward to another good show. Qiuniang also took advantage of the chaos to escape to one side, sneering in her heart that with such a big sedan chair, it must be someone rich inside, and with such a grand procession, who else would they rob?
