Chapter 49: Misconceptions and Pity

  Three days pass in the blink of an eye.

  "Finally... arrived."

  Ning Feng got down from the horse carriage, his face looking a bit unsightly.

  He just made a big splash in Ganlu Town, and the business side was very polite, with all kinds of special treatment, which is why he got to ride in a horse-drawn carriage.

  In the entire merchant group, only a few people had this treatment. Apart from the merchant himself and Ning Feng, there were only two others: an old lady and Shu Bailin, who had managed to sneak onto Ning Feng's carriage.

  "Ugh..."

  The wind blew twice, and he looked back at the horse carriage with a gaze that seemed to be staring at a pile of firewood, as if he wanted to chop it up and burn it.

  In three days' time, with all the tossing about and turning upside down, he came to know how difficult it was to travel ten thousand miles in ancient society.

  At first, Ning Feng was still thinking about the various tires and shock-absorbing cars of his previous life. Later on, he had a rough ride, gritted his teeth and was determined to learn how to fly.

  Don't mention that Master Tianyunzi transformed into a rainbow spanning ten thousand miles, nor speak of Sword Immortal's entry and exit from the Azure Firmament, touring the North Sea at dawn and the Cangming Abyss at dusk. Can you at least take my place for a step?

  Ning Feng finally caught his breath after several dry heaves, and his face regained some of its rosiness. In stark contrast, Shu Bailin yawned as she followed closely behind him, looking refreshed and radiant with a well-rested expression.

  Looking at him, Ning Feng felt so angry that he couldn't bear it. These past few days, he had been enduring the hardship of not being able to sleep, and this guy's thunderous snoring was absolutely to blame.

  Shu Bailin might have a nose that belongs to the old mouse, judging by Ning Feng's expression, he immediately knew it wasn't going well. The hand that was originally going to come up and flatter him by patting his chest suddenly put down, looking around nervously.

  "Look, brother Ning."

  He suddenly discovered a new world and pointed forward to the side.

  Ning Feng glared at him fiercely with a knowing heart that the old man was diverting the topic, and still followed his lead.

  In that direction, the old lady got off the carriage, with a look of difficulty on her face, took a deep breath, and rushed towards them.

  Ning Feng's expression changed and his body felt a surge of energy, and the discomfort immediately passed.

  In the past three days, he had been in the same merchant group and hadn't thought about going to get in touch with the old lady to understand the situation.

  Unexpectedly, the old lady's attitude was quite different from what he had imagined.

  The first one or two days were spent hiding from him, staying in the carriage all day without showing his face. The last day was a bit better, but he only lifted the curtain to reveal his head.

  On this day, she wasn't without exchanging glances with Ning Feng, each time she would elegantly bow her head, force a smile, and on her kind face, there would often flash a struggling expression, as if there was something difficult to decide.

  "Now we can know the target, right?"

  Just as Ning Feng was thinking this, the old lady walked up and stopped a few feet in front of him.

  She was dressed neatly and cleanly, an old woman without a speck of slovenliness or carelessness, her grey hair combed smoothly, not a single wrinkle on her simple clothes.

  Only the old lady's complexion was more haggard than it had been in the past few days.

  "The old woman's husband's surname is Li, and he doesn't have a title; they all call him Old Man Li."

  The old lady first introduced herself, then apologetically said: "I know that my daughter-in-law has told Mr. Ning some things, but actually it's just a child who doesn't understand things, and I've troubled Mr. Ning to take the trouble to come all this way for nothing, I don't know what to do."

  What's going on?

  The Ning wind was shocked, and it was quite different from what I had imagined?

  Shu Bailin couldn't help but interrupt and ask: "Didn't Old Lady Li have a fright in the county and return to recuperate?"

  "What's going on?"

  He pointed towards the county town with his hand.

  At this moment, the sun sets in the west, and the evening glow moves out of the county town, falling on the place where the merchant team is located.

  From this perspective, the entire county town seems like a ferocious beast crouching on the ground, with the city gate being its wide-open mouth that could swallow everyone at any moment.

  "Not at all."

  The old woman had never said anything in a hurry, and with a slightly flustered glance, she softly said: "That's just the old lady's dim eyesight, I saw it wrong."

  She felt a bit embarrassed, thinking that the young scholar's gaze seemed to be able to see through everything, and despite her age, Mrs. Li still felt a bit overwhelmed, hastily saying: "In short, I owe an apology to Mr. Ning, the old woman takes her leave."

  "Is that so?"

  Ning Feng smiled and waved his hand to stop Shu Bailin from saying more, saying nonchalantly: "Madam is being too serious, I was going to head to the county town anyway, we just happen to be traveling together."

  Mr. Li felt a little relieved when he heard this, smiled apologetically, and bowed to the two again before hastily leaving.

  They watched her back disappear into the distance, seeing her being picked up by a man in his thirties with good clothes at the city gate and getting on another horse carriage, entering the city gate. Only then did Ning Feng and Shu Bailin withdraw their gaze.

  "Lao Shu, do you believe it?"

  Ning Feng shook his head, lost in thought, and suddenly spoke up.

  "Do I look like a fool?" Shu Bailin rolled her eyes, her neck stiffened, as if to say: you can insult my appearance, but don't insult my intelligence.

  "Oh, what do you think?"

  Ning Feng burst out laughing and asked casually. As he spoke, he also made a distant bow to the busy merchant team leader who was rushing into the city, bidding farewell.

  Although the experience on this road is not very good, it's always a kind intention, and we can't lose our manners.

  "Hmph." Shu Bailin waited for Ning Feng to finish his courtesy, then stepped towards the county town. Only then did he coldly laugh a few times and say in a tone that didn't match what he was saying: "If I were buying shaobing one day and just paid for it, with the fragrant shaobing wrapped up tightly, and some pregnant woman next to me snatched it away, I would definitely curse loudly."

  "What's next?" Ning Feng still had a look of having heard but not seen, and responded casually.

  Shu Bailin couldn't help but quicken his pace to catch up, continuing, "I was just getting into the rhythm of scolding, if someone wants to drag that pregnant woman to see the official, I'll definitely change my tune and say the burnt buns were sent by me."

  "That's all there is to it."

  Ning Feng's footsteps paused for a moment as he looked up and down at Shu Bailin, shaking his head and saying: "I didn't expect it, Old Shu, you're still a kind-hearted person."

  Shu Bailin was like he had eaten a ginseng fruit, every pore on his body was emitting a "refreshing" character, only missing the wagging of his tail.

  "Your analogy is great, pitiful."

  Ning Feng was still shaking his head, completely acknowledging Shu Bailings judgment.

  Mr. Li's previous fright was real, going back to Ganlu Town to recuperate was a false avoidance of the truth, and in just a few days he would have to return to the county town, which is what moved his heart, thinking that the one who accompanied him was the "Ning Master" who could subdue demons and evil spirits, it completely turned into sympathy.

  So then there was the previous "looked down on".

  What situation would make Mrs. Li feel pity and not bear to see the "demon" being subdued? Think about the means by which Old Lady Lai has survived, and the answer will be obvious.

  As they spoke, Ning Feng and Shu Baili passed through the city gate and entered the county town.

  The county town is not prosperous, but compared to Ganlu Town, it's another scene. There are roads wide enough for two horse-drawn carriages to pass each other, and many shops stand along the way.

  Two men found a small shop to sit down, Shu Bailin very consciously arranged food and wine, then didn't sit down either, came over and said: "Ning brothers, I'll go investigate that old Shu first?"

  "Thank you."

  Ning Feng raised his cup, and Shu Bailin laughed with a wide open mouth, patting his chest saying "I'm here, I'm here", "gone for a moment, back in an instant", and then he vanished into thin air.

  "This Shu Bai Ling..."

  Although Ning Feng slowly finished the wine in his cup, he still couldn't see through or understand what this old man's purpose was. He was being overly polite, but it couldn't be denied that he was quite useful.

  Ning Feng didn't suspect in the slightest that Shu Bailin would, in less time than it takes to drink a cup of tea, lay bare the "person" Li wanted to protect, like someone stripped naked.

  。

  The clue is really too obvious.

  As expected, Ning Feng casually picked up a few chopsticks and took two sips of the turbid wine. Suddenly, Shu Bailin rushed back like a whirlwind. His whole body was radiating heat, and with a whooshing sound, he first drained the wine in front of him. A self-satisfied expression appeared on his face as he recounted the information he had gathered one by one.

  The person who picked up the old woman at the city gate was her employer, Mu Li, a manager of a medium-sized business in the county town.

  Mu Li started as an apprentice at the age of thirteen, then became a business partner, and eventually took charge. He slowly grew into his thirties, managing to make a name for himself in the county town with a moderately sized house, and even got married last year.

  It was only when Mu Li had a chance encounter that his heart skipped a beat, and his beloved wife became pregnant, that he asked Mrs. Li to take care of her specially.

  "So it's them?"

  Ning Feng smiled slightly, but his eyes revealed a cold intent.

  Shu Bailin completely understood, where is "they", it's clearly "her", that wooden Mrs. is quite suspicious.

  With Shu Bailin, it was indeed a lot easier. The two of them would settle the accounts together, and Shu Bailin would immediately take the lead, with that familiar air about him, just as if he were a native of the county town.

  Ning Feng was delighted to have some leisure time and didn't even ask about the specific location of Lian Mu's house. He simply followed along, taking in the scenery of the county town at dusk with a carefree attitude.

  "Huh?"

  He suddenly stopped in his tracks. Shu Baili, who was driving in front of him, hadn't braked in time and had slid forward a small distance before he came to a stop. He turned around with a puzzled expression and asked: "Ning brothers, what's going on..."

  Shu Bailin hadn't finished speaking yet, and following Ning Feng's line of sight, he immediately knew the reason why he stopped.

  On the street corner, there was a fortune-telling stall, and in front of the stall sat a fake Taoist priest.

  This fortune teller's stall didn't have any "Nine out of ten are not accurate" kind of signs, just four honest words: Iron Mouth God Calculation.

  The key is not in this stall, but in the person wandering around in front of it.

  Isn't this Mu Li who escorted Mrs. Li out of the city gate not long ago?

  This man who is about to become a father, with a worried and hesitant face, walked around the stall three times to the left and three times to the right, occasionally stealing glances at the Taoist priest. When the Taoist priest looked over or someone passed by, he pretended to be passing by, not daring to look sideways.

  He's like this, anyone with eyes can tell he wants to ask for divination, yet hesitates. Hasn't he seen the stall owner sitting upright and proper, exuding an air of mystique for half a day now? He's just waiting for him to take the bait on his own accord.

  They stood there for dozens of breaths, the Taoist felt his waist and back aching, ready to give up pretending to be a high-ranking immortal and start talking business, but then Mu Li gritted her teeth, stomped her foot, and left.

  It's gone...

  The Taoist let out a loud "Ah", and didn't mention him again, only saying that Ning Feng and the other person exchanged a glance, both seeing the word "suspicious" in each other's eyes, and quickly followed up with quick steps.

  Not far away is the wooden house.

  When Ning Feng and Shu Baili arrived at the house, they heard a "ding ding" sound coming from the front of the house. Several yamen runners were standing there, holding iron rulers and knocking on the door.

  "It seems like there's something going on."

  "It seems like you've arrived just in time."

  Ning Feng's expression changed slightly as he quietly followed behind. Mu Li rushed up to him, looking anxious and asking what was wrong.