11: Chapter 11 Old Friends in Qing Shi Town

Hearing someone call his name, Mo Shoutian looked in the direction the voice came from.

At that moment, the person shouted again:

"Brother Shoutian."

Calling out as he walked toward him from the crowd.

"It's Dahu."

This person was Mo Dahu, also a villager of Mo Family Village and the older brother of Mo Xiaohu.

Mo Dahu had a sturdy build and was two years younger than Mo Shoutian. They could be considered good brothers who had grown up together since childhood.

Five years ago, while hunting, he had injured his waist by a fierce tiger and could no longer do heavy labor ever since.

Fortunately, his wife was quite quick-witted. Later, the couple came to Qingshi Town, set up a small shed near the city gate, and ran a mountain goods and tea stall.

They mainly sold simple tea and plain meals to passing villagers and carters who came to sell goods.

Dahu walked up to Mo Shoutian and gave him a big hug.

"Brother Shoutian, when did you come to Qingshi Town, and why didn't you come over to see me?"

Mo Shoutian also hugged Dahu back and said,

"Didn't I just finish selling my furs and was just getting ready to look for you?"

"You weren't at the city gate, why did you run over here?"

"I went to the butcher shop to buy some meat. Business has been good lately, and the meat sells fast."

Dahu pointed at the butcher shop not far away.

"Brother Shoutian, come with me to buy the meat first, and then come back to the stall with me. The two of us brothers will have a good drink tonight."

Mo Shoutian didn't refuse either and nodded, saying,

"Alright, today the two of us brothers will have a good drink."

Afterwards, Mo Shoutian followed Dahu to buy the meat, and then they walked together toward Dahu's tea stall.

Qingshi Town was not very big, and there was only one main street.

Most of the houses on both sides of the street were built with grey bricks and earthen walls, housing grain shops, draper shops, blacksmiths, and a few inns.

Vendors shouted at the top of their lungs, and the sounds of bargaining came wave after wave.

Dahu and his wife's stall was located not far inside the city gate.

It was a small shed built with wood and thatch, with the side leaning against the city wall blocked by wooden boards, while the other three sides were open.

Under the shed were seven or eight tables and a dozen long benches.

At the very back were two earthen stoves, one for boiling water and the other for stir-frying dishes.

The business of this small stall was indeed very good, just as Dahu had said.

Before the sun had even set, the tables under the shed were already full of people.

Some were eating, some were drinking tea, and most of them were passing carters and nearby villagers who came to sell goods.

Seeing that Dahu's business was doing well, Mo Shoutian was genuinely happy for him from the bottom of his heart.

"Your business is really good. At this rate, it probably won't be long before you can buy a house in the town."

Dahu said with an honest smile,

"Making money is making money, it's just not as exhilarating as hunting in the mountains."

"I think you brat are just whining even though you've got it good."

Chatting and laughing, the two quickly walked up to the stall.

Dahu looked at his busy wife and said,

"Qiaoyun, Brother Shoutian is here."

Zhang Qiaoyun was stir-frying dishes in front of the stove. Hearing Dahu say this, she quickly raised her head and looked at Mo Shoutian.

"Brother Shoutian, when did you arrive? There are no empty tables right now, so please share a table with someone else and have some water first. Later, your sister-in-law will whip up a few good dishes, and the two of you brothers can have a good drink."

Mo Shoutian didn't stand on ceremony either. He sat down opposite a carter and nodded at him.

Zhang Qiaoyun brought an empty bowl and poured a bowl of tea for Mo Shoutian.

"Brother Shoutian, have a sip of tea first. I'll finish stir-frying the dishes for that table first."

Mo Shoutian nodded and said,

"Sister-in-law, take your time, busy yourself with business first."

Dahu's wife was named Zhang Qiaoyun. She was from the same village as Liu Chunmei and was a few years younger than Liu Chunmei.

Back then, Dahu and Zhang Qiaoyun's marriage had even been matched by Liu Chunmei.

Dahu was Mo Shoutian's good brother, and Zhang Qiaoyun and Liu Chunmei were from the same village, so the relationship between the two families was much closer than that of other households.

Mo Shoutian sat in the shed drinking tea, while Dahu was busy serving dishes and collecting money.

The sun slowly sank to the west, casting a yellowish glow on the nearby rooftops and city walls.

People entering the town before dark increased, including woodcutters carrying firewood on their backs and villagers driving ox carts.

Once the sun went down, the people on the street became much fewer.

The guests in the shed also settled their bills and left one after another.

In the blink of an eye, the sky had grown dark, with only one or two guests still sitting in the corner drinking tea.

Zhang Qiaoyun cleared away the bowls and chopsticks from the empty tables and tidied up a table further inside, placing four meat dishes and two vegetable dishes on it.

"Brother Shoutian, you must be starved, right? Doing business is like this; sometimes when there are many people, even when a friend comes, there's no time to entertain them properly."

"Sister-in-law, if you say that, you're treating your brother as an outsider."

At this moment, Dahu came to the table with a wine pot and wine cups.

"Qiaoyun, with the relationship between my brother and me, there's no need to say these things."

As Dahu spoke, he poured wine into the cups.

"Come, Brother Shoutian, let the two of us brothers have a drink."

The two brothers clinked their wine cups together and downed the wine in one gulp.

Afterwards, while drinking, the two of them talked about things from their childhood.

They talked about how the two of them sneaked into the mountain when they were young, ran far chasing a rabbit, and ended up being searched for by the villagers for half the night.

...

Talking and talking, both of them burst out laughing.

After three rounds of wine and tasting various dishes,

the last two guests in the small shed also left, leaving only Dahu, his wife, and Mo Shoutian.

Dahu first looked around, then lowered his voice and asked,

"Brother Shoutian, I heard that Uncle Changfu and Xiao Er both died at the hands of Immortals?"

Mo Shoutian took a sip of wine and didn't answer, just nodded.

Dahu slapped the table with a smack.

Then he quickly pulled back his hand, glanced outside the shed, and cursed in a low voice,

"What kind of damn Immortals are they? I think they're even worse than Makui on the mountain."

Hearing this, Mo Shoutian also glanced outside.

"Dahu, you can't just say things like this casually. Be careful of trouble stemming from your words; this isn't the village."

Hearing Mo Shoutian say this, Dahu sighed, said nothing more, and simply picked up his wine cup and took a sip.

After a while, Mo Shoutian finally spoke up:

"I don't come to town often, let me ask you something."

"Brother Shoutian, go ahead."

"Are there any Immortals in Qingshi Town?"

Dahu thought for a moment and said,

"Very few. I've set up my stall here for several years, and I haven't seen many."

"Occasionally when Immortals come over, they just have a meal at Fumanlou, and after eating, they step on swords and fly away, never staying long in the town."

"Oh."

Dahu looked at him and asked,

"Brother Shoutian, why are you asking about this?"

"It's nothing, just asking."

Mo Shoutian picked up his wine cup and took a sip.

"Such a big thing happened at Baitou Mountain a while ago, so I figured I should know more about the Immortals, just in case I run into them again in the future and know nothing."

Dahu nodded upon hearing this.

"If there are any Immortals passing through Qingshi Town in the future, I'll keep an eye out for you."

"My place is right at the city gate. Whatever people enter and leave every day, even if I don't see them, those carters and goods vendors will chatter about it."

"Alright, but don't go out of your way to inquire about it."

Mo Shoutian admonished,

"Just make a mental note if you happen to hear about it normally, and don't let anyone suspect anything."

"I understand."

Afterwards, Dahu and Mo Shoutian no longer discussed matters concerning Immortals.

The two drank for a while longer. Seeing that it was getting late, Mo Shoutian stood up to take his leave.

Dahu originally wanted to pull him back to stay at the place they rented.

Mo Shoutian didn't agree. After bidding farewell to Dahu and his wife, he went to Sitong Inn.

Upon entering the room, Mo Shoutian first checked the doors and windows, then placed the bundle containing silver under his pillow.

He lay on the bed, pondering the news he had inquired about today.

Although Immortals occasionally passed through Qingshi Town, those Immortals came and went in a hurry and would not interact with ordinary people at all.

Wanting to get Spirit Stones here probably wouldn't be that easy.

Even if someone really had Spirit Stones in his hands, he wouldn't dare to buy them rashly.

Before coming to Qingshi Town, he had thought that if he really couldn't get any news, he would go to Jiuzhou City to take a look. Now it seemed that the path of Qingshi Town indeed wouldn't work.

Chen Wanshan's Senior Brother, Qiu Wansheng, was right in Jiuzhou City, and he specialized in collecting things from large wild beasts.

Even if Qiu Wansheng didn't have Spirit Stones in his hands, he should know some news related to Immortals.

There were many Immortals over at Jiuzhou City.

With more Immortals, news about Spirit Stones would naturally be a bit more abundant.

The next day at dawn, Mo Shoutian got up, packed his things, and left the city from the north gate of Qingshi Town.

From Qingshi Town to Jiuzhou City was around five hundred miles or more.

Mo Shoutian had lived for decades, and this was the first time he had ever left Baitou Mountain so far away.