Zhuji County Town

  The sky is just getting light.

  Ye Qin shouted to wake up the big cow, which was still in a daze from sleep. Taking advantage of the morning sun not being too harsh, they hastily followed the post road towards the direction of Zhujici County Town. The big cow had eaten some meat bones and drunk some water last night, its spirit had clearly improved a lot, and it could already walk on its own.

  On the way, Ye Qin told Da Niu that he wanted to go to the county town to see if he could be recruited into the Medicine Hall. Da Niu was very excited and agreed to go to the county town in one breath.

  Although it is a desolate wilderness, there is a post road that leads directly to Takegawa County, and occasionally you can see some horse-drawn carriages, so the journey is not difficult.

  At noon, under the scorching sun, they found a place to rest and dug up some tree bark and roots to fill their stomachs.

  It was slightly cooler in the afternoon, and the two continued on their way.

  On the same day before dusk, two frail figures appeared outside the east gate of Zhujici County.

  Zhugou County, is one of the eight counties in Pingzhou Prefecture of Wu State, with a population of over 1 million people. Within a radius of thousands of miles around the county seat, there are more than ten small towns, and most of the remaining areas are deep mountains, old canyons, steep peaks, and rivers.

  This place has a low grain yield, but in the deep mountains, there are large quantities of rare wild medicinal materials. The herbs from Zhujicounty are famous throughout Pingzhou Prefecture. Naturally, the county seat of Zhujicounty also became one of the main sources of wild medicinal materials for the Medicine King Gang, and they set up a special herbal medicine hall here to collect herbs.

  This year's severe drought has not reduced the number of outsiders coming to Zhukai County, with horse-drawn carriages entering and leaving the city gate, including wandering warriors with swords on their backs, merchants carrying packs, performers and jugglers, farmers and woodcutters, making it very lively.

  Especially the matter of recruiting a batch of medicine-picking children in the Medicine Hall has spread unknowingly to some nearby towns, and some rural families have brought their own children to apply, hoping to make a living in the Medicine Hall.

  Ye Qin saw that under the sunset, the county town's low and short city wall was full of grass and vines, the old and worn-out city gate, and several lazy and dispirited city guards standing at the gate. His heart was stirred up. He had returned to this place again.

  "Get out of the way, you blind thing!"

  A donkey cart pulled by two sturdy young donkeys was trotting towards the city gate. An old country gentleman in his sixties or seventies sat on the cart, wearing a rather elegant silk coat, holding a cow-tail whip and loudly scolding Ye Qin and others who were blocking the way.

  The donkey cart ran very fast and almost knocked Ye Qin and his companion down.

  Ye Qin quickly pulled the big cow aside to avoid it.

  In the carriage, a chubby teenager suddenly poked his head out, with a sly look on his face, his eyes rolling around, and when he saw Ye Qin and others, he immediately spat "Ptooey" and spat water on Ye Qin and others. Then he opened his mouth and clapped his hands, laughing loudly, "Got them! Got them! Dad, did you see? I hit two mangy dogs!" The old rustic also didn't look at Ye Qin and others, but only praised the little fatty.

  The little donkey cart then stopped near the city gate, and the city guards didn't inspect them, letting them enter the city.

  Ye Qin glared at Xiao Pangzi fiercely, then quickly lowered his head, daring not to speak out of anger, biting his lip in silence. In the countryside, the rural gentry were extremely powerful, occupying the most and best fields, the most mountains and forests, raising many servants and slaves, all the tenant farmers and hunters relied on them to eat a meal. He and Cheng Daniu were both born as rural hunters and tenant farmers, and they did not dare to offend these rural gentry.

  Yue Qin had followed his father up the mountain to hunt wolves, and was a bit wild in nature, daring to glare at that little fatty. Cheng Da Niu didn't even dare to glare, keeping his head down until the donkey cart entered the city, before he dared to wipe away the saliva on his face.

  Having encountered such a misfortune, Ye Qin also lost interest in looking at the scenery of the city gate.

  Disguised among the crowd, Ye Qin and Da Niu sneaked into the city.

  On such a hot day, the city guards would only ask a few questions to those unfamiliar travelers and big men from the rivers and lakes, but they didn't have the heart to bother with a few tattered little kids who sneaked into the city.

  "Qin Geer, it's been several months since I came back, and I didn't expect that the county town is still the same, so big and beautiful."

  The big cow excitedly shouted.

  Two majestic main streets, one horizontal and one vertical, span the entire county town. The shops and stores on both sides are all owned by wealthy families, many of which are also medicinal halls. Wine houses, tea houses, inns, martial arts schools, academies, mansions, and gardens stand side by side.

  The northeastern part of the city is where the county government is located, and some rural gentry, local tyrants, wealthy merchants, and rich households live in this area. The northwestern part of the city is where the Medicine Hall is located, as well as some other powerful families and small gangs' headquarters. The remaining southeastern and southwestern parts of the city are mainly residential areas for ordinary people, and most of the common residents of Zhujie County live in these two areas.

  In the late afternoon, the weather gradually cools down. Residents come out of their homes to stroll around, do business and make deals. The city starts to bustle with activity. There is a lively atmosphere here, unlike in remote rural areas where you might not see anyone for half a day.

  Before entering the city, Ye Qin was also excited like a big cow.

  However, after entering the city, Ye Qinkan did not feel excited, but instead became more cautious. A few months ago, they had offended a group of local thugs here. Who knows if these thugs still had them in mind.

  Ye Qin led the big cow, carefully avoiding those who looked like thugs and rascals, not looking at the bustling streets, and quickly walked towards the northwest city district. Seeing some local beggars, he didn't dare to stop, hurriedly running past them to avoid being entangled and scolded.

  On the way, they encountered several rascals who came towards them, scaring him badly, and quickly ran to the northwest of the city, where those rascals did not dare to chase them again.

  Northwest City District, there are many fewer people here, and civilians rarely appear.

  Most of them are wearing tight-fitting clothes, carrying swords and riding horses, with agile movements and robust physiques. Just by looking at their appearance, you can tell that they're not to be trifled with, and any one of them could easily overpower the two of them.

  Because there are many people from Jianghu, there are few rogues and beggars in the northwest city.

  Fortunately, these people in the rivers and lakes are always in a hurry, as if they are busy with something big, and do not like to waste their time bullying beggars like rogues. They have no interest in beggars and won't even give them a second glance.

  Ye Qin and the two of them arrived at the entrance of the Medicine Hall. This was a huge mansion, covering an area of several hectares, from the outside, it was impossible to know how big it was inside. In front of the gate were two stone lions weighing thousands of kilograms, majestic and powerful. On the gate hung a pair of copper rings, extremely heavy.

  A notice was posted on the door with some writing on it, but Ye Qin didn't recognize a single character.