Chapter 16 Escort

  Ye Wen felt a sense of freedom this time when he came down from the mountain, as if the sky was high and birds could fly wherever they wanted. Although he had tasks to complete, these things seemed like trivial matters that could be easily handled in his opinion.

  Ever since he came to this world, the one in his mind had been urging him to revive the sect. There was also a junior sister who didn't get along with him and hoped to suppress him to death, even wanting to take away the position of sect leader. With his own strength being somewhat pathetic, Ye Wen spent the past half year feeling very depressed, every day desperately cultivating to escape this predicament.

  For this, he didn't even take a good look around, and hadn't even observed the world where his future life would be. Even when going down the mountain to buy daily necessities, it was either Ning Ruxue or Zhao Shu who went to do it, while he grasped every bit of time that could be utilized to increase his strength.

  Now that he has finally achieved something, his mood is simply at its peak. Moreover, he successfully defeated the junior sister who had always looked down on him head-on, letting her know how formidable he was. From now on, she will probably never look at him with that disdainful gaze again!

  Unfortunately, he didn't know that Ning Ruxue had already made up her mind to desperately cultivate herself during this time. She even mentally shouted: "If I was stronger than him in the past, then I can still do it in the future!" This slogan encouraged herself and she never gave up on the idea of taking the position of sect leader from this 'incompetent senior brother'. If Ye Wenyuan knew about these things, would his mood still be so good?

  He won't know now, with a good mood all the way down the mountain, Ye Wen first decided to go to Shushan County to take a look, especially Li Captor's place, and must pay a visit.

  It wasn't until he arrived in the county town that he realized it was already late, and Li Captor would probably not be waiting at the patrol house, but had gone home to rest.

  So Ye Wen decided to rest at the inn for a night and visit Li Hu Tou again early next morning.

  Relying on his memory from more than half a year ago, Ye Wen finally found the inn he used to stay in just in time for dinner. He chose this place because it was relatively cheap, and for Ye Wen who was short of money, it was better to save wherever possible before receiving a large sum of income.

  Step into the inn, and the not-so-small hall was already packed with people. Everyone sat there either eating with their heads down or drinking while chatting with someone next to them. At this time, the inn usually also operated a restaurant business. The front main hall was where people ate, and if you wanted to stay overnight, you had to go through the main hall to the backyard, which was where the inn arranged for guests to stay.

  Ye Wen glanced around roughly and found that the large hall seemed to have no empty seats left. If it wasn't for the waiter coming over to greet him, he wouldn't know if he should change to another restaurant.

  "Shall we have dinner or stay at the hotel?" The waiter was very enthusiastic, his face seemed to be smiling like a flower.

  "Live here! Also eat!"

  Ye Wen hadn't eaten anything when he came down the mountain, and after walking from the mountain to the county town, although he didn't feel tired, his stomach felt empty.

  "Are you going to eat in the hall or go back to your room to eat?" The shopkeeper didn't say anything about whether there was a vacant room, and Ye Wen didn't ask. In his mind, since the shopkeeper asked if he wanted to go back to his room to eat, it was natural that there would be a room available for him to stay in!

  He originally thought that since there were so many people in the shop, there wouldn't be any empty rooms left! In his heart, he was thinking: "It's not good, I'll have to find some broken temple or something to make do for a night!"

  It seems that he has not been unlucky to that extent yet. Although there are many people in the hall, there are still empty rooms. It seems that many people come here just to eat and do not stay overnight.

  He took a glance around and found that there were too many people here. Yewen originally wanted to ask the waiter to send the dishes to his room, but suddenly he changed his mind. This kind of inn was exactly the place to gather information, not to mention that with so many people, it was possible to hear some useful news, how could he miss this opportunity?

  "Are there still empty tables in this hall?"

  The shopkeeper heard Ye Wen's question and immediately replied, "There is an empty table at the corner over there. The customers just paid their bill. If you don't mind the location being a bit out of the way, why not sit there?"

  Ye Wen followed the shopkeeper's finger and looked in that direction, and indeed saw an empty table. It was just because of its location in a corner that it wasn't very noticeable, so he hadn't noticed it earlier. However, this kind of position was actually quite suitable for him.

  "That's it, just bring two small dishes, one meat and one vegetarian will do!"

  "Would you like some wine?" The shopkeeper asked with a smile, thinking that selling more would be better for him. From the young man's attire, he could tell that he was a traveling performer. This kind of person is the best to do business with, as they always order a lot and are generous with their spending. If they're pleased with the service, they might even give a bigger tip.

  Ye Wen thought for a moment, he might as well sit there and listen to some news, order some wine and drink slowly, at least it wouldn't attract attention.

  "Ah, bring a jug!" He took a glance around and saw that many tables nearby had jugs of wine on them, probably just three or two more, not too much in quantity.

  He just wasn't sure what the alcohol content was at this time, so he didn't dare to ask for more. Although according to the situation in this world, there shouldn't be any high-alcohol liquor, but who knows if this family has some strong wine or not.

  "Alright!"

  The shopkeeper led Ye Wen to the table, turned around and went to inform the kitchen. Before long, he brought out the two dishes that Ye Wen wanted, a pot of wine, and two coarse steamed buns.

  The restaurant's efficiency was indeed very fast, no wonder so many people were eating here. Ye Wen smiled and nodded, taking out some copper coins from his pocket and handing them to the shopkeeper. This amount was what he had seen the people at the next table pay when they settled their bill earlier, which also made him understand that giving a few copper coins as change would be enough, and he didn't need to give large chunks of silver like he had thought.

  He could afford to give the shop assistant some extra money, and more importantly, he had just overheard something interesting from the conversation at the next table, also among people in the same line of work, so giving the shop assistant a tip would make it easier for him to gather information.

  "Do you know what happened at Yue Shan Pawnshop in this county?"

  He had just vaguely heard that the Yue Shan Escort Agency seemed to be spending money to hire someone for help, but he couldn't quite make out the details, so he thought of asking the shopkeeper about it.

  I believe these little ones who stay here every day can know a lot of messages he wants to know.

  The shopkeeper pinched the copper coins in his hand, estimating their quantity, then glanced at Ye Wen's youthful face, and finally swept his gaze over the long sword placed beside the table, before smiling and saying: "Sir, you might not want to hear this, but I'll say it anyway!"

  "Oh?"

  "Are you from out of town? The Yueshan Escort Agency's affair has been the talk of the county for some time now, everyone knows about it. But this matter is currently difficult to handle, sir, it's best if you don't get involved!" The shopkeeper said this without any tone of disdain or otherwise, so Ye Wen didn't take offense, but was only curious as to why the shopkeeper would say such a thing.

  "What's going on? Tell me in detail!"

  That little servant saw Ye Wen not only continue to ask questions, but also seemed more interested in this matter.

  "That Yueshan Escort Agency received a shipment of goods last month!"

  "Did you receive a letter? Yue Wen, being so clever, immediately thought that there must be some problem with this letter, and it's likely to bring big trouble to the Yue Shan Letter Bureau, which is why they're making such a big fuss, causing everyone in the neighborhood to talk about it nonstop. "What kind of letter is it?"

  That little second suddenly heard this question, his face changed strangely, and he replied: "It's to let the Yue Shan Escort Agency protect someone going south to Jiangzhou!"

  Ye Wen has been in this world for half a year, although he doesn't understand many things about this world. However, he still knows that the place where he is located is called Pingzhou, and Shushan County is a county town in the eastern part of Pingzhou. As for Jiangzhou, it is just south of Pingzhou, with only Dongzhou in between.

  That is to say, this trip is to escort a person from Pingzhou to Jiangzhou in the south. During this period, they will also pass through the entire Dongzhou - this Dongzhou has been known for its strong folk customs since ancient times, and there are countless mountain bandits and local bandits. Generally speaking, if a escort agency wants to take this route, it is likely to encounter robbers who block the road and rob the escort.

  It's just a bit more troublesome, but it's not a big deal for the escort agency to send a few more people. Ye Wen couldn't understand why the Yue Shan Escort Agency would make such a big fuss about this?

  That little servant seemed to have guessed something too and immediately continued telling the story.

  "If that were all, then the Yue Shan Escort Agency wouldn't have to feel so much of a headache. The trouble is, this time they're protecting someone who's already been named and targeted for capture. And to make matters worse, this news only came after the Yue Shan Escort Agency had taken on this job. Plus, the person making the threats has a reputation for being ruthless and has even made contact with many bandits and outlaws in Dongzhou, which is why the Yue Shan Escort Agency is having such a headache!"

  "Uh..." Ye Wen didn't expect it to be this way, and the spear hadn't even left yet, but someone had already taken a liking to it. The person who made the promise was quite influential, no wonder things got so big.

  Next, as Ye Wen expected, the Yue Shan Escort Agency should have invited many martial artists from the Jianghu, either through connections or by offering gold and silver to escort this group. Otherwise, if they really lost the escort, the agency would likely be expelled from the industry - the competition among escort agencies was also very fierce.

  After roughly hearing the story, Ye Wen asked a few more questions that interested him, such as what price the Yue Shan Security Bureau offered to invite people from the Jianghu to come and assist.

  The last message received from Xiao Er is: "It seems that it will depend on the skill of the person going there!"

  Ye Wen nodded, with as much ability comes as much money, it's quite fair. He estimated that he now has some inner power in his body, and it shouldn't be too bad. If he were to be hired by the Yue Shan Escort Agency, he should be able to earn some silver coins.

  Moreover, he can also take the opportunity to observe the level of some martial artists around Book Mountain, how can he not go?

  He had made up his mind, and then thought of the dart that was already named to be intercepted. Ye Wen couldn't help but find it interesting, in his opinion, this kind of thing was probably because the person being escorted was someone's young lady, because she was beautiful and caught the eye of a powerful man who wanted to take her away to make her his mountain wife, so he casually asked: "Whose young lady is being protected on this trip?"

  Who would have thought that the shopkeeper's assistant was stunned, and actually replied: "A thousand taels? This time, the Yue Mountain Escort Agency is protecting Xu Xian, the young master of the Xu family in East City!"