Chapter 27: Heart Racing Black Eats Black

  Wu Xuemei smiled slightly and said: "Is it? Miss also thinks so."

  She turned around and said with her head held high: "Let's go."

  After Wu Xue Mei and others left the house, Zhang Qi collapsed to the ground with a thud, tears streaming down his face. He didn't dare make a sound, but just lay there wailing silently, with tears and snot all over his face.

  No matter who saw this scene, they all sighed endlessly, but no one dared to stand up and give Zhang Qi justice.

  Li Wenjun watched Wu Xue Mei leave, his eyes burning with a fierce passion. The wild mountain spirit that had been hidden for nearly two hundred years was taken away by Wu Xue Mei just like that. How could he get it back from her hands?

  After leaving Zhang Qi's house, Li Wenjun followed Sun Jianing back to the Sun's house. Sun Baicao saw that they were both in a bad mood and asked them what had happened.

  Sun Jianing told the story again, using gestures to illustrate her points. Sun Baicao listened and couldn't help but sigh at Zhang Qi's bad luck. She repeatedly warned Li Wenjun and Sun Jianing that no matter what happened, they should not provoke Wu Xue Mei.

  Back in his own home, Li Wenjun's eyes kept flashing with the piece of Wild Mountain Essence stored in the red box. The Wild Mountain Essence was like a curse, constantly swirling in his mind. As long as he got this piece of Wild Mountain Essence, he could start refining the Gathering Qi Powder, and once he refined the Gathering Qi Powder, he could quickly cultivate and become a true immortal cultivator.

  Li Wenjun couldn't wait to rush up to Wu Xuemei, grab the wild mountain spirit from her hands and claim it for himself. But as soon as he thought of Wu Xuemei's identity, he had to calm himself down.

  It's useless to be anxious. To get the Wild Mountain Spirit, it's necessary to analyze: Why did Wu Xue Mei want to "buy" the Wild Mountain Spirit? Is there something behind this?

  Zhang Qi selling Ye Shan Jing is an open secret, even if Wu Xue Mei managed to get her hands on it, she can't stop more people from knowing the fact that she got Ye Shan Jing.

  In Song Dynasty, a county magistrate was just a minor official. Above him were the prefectural governor, the provincial inspector and the governor-general. Don't these people need the mountain spirit?

  Li Wenjun suddenly had a bold inference, did Wu Xue Mei "buy" down Ye Shan Jing to pave the way for her father's official career? If so, then Wu Xue Mei's old father Wu Tao would definitely send someone to send Ye Shan Jing out of San Shan County county town and send him to Fu Cheng.

  If we can intercept the person who is sending the mountain spirit halfway, wouldn't it be possible to kidnap the mountain spirit?

  Thinking of this possibility, Li Wenjun's breathing suddenly became heavy.

  His heart skipped a beat!

  Before experiencing the famine, Li Wenjun was still very respectful of the government. However, his hometown suffered from a prolonged famine that lasted for several months, and the government did not take any action, let alone provide disaster relief. In Junbu Town, the local head of the village was even deceived by the old Daoist, almost losing his life. In Sanshan County, the county magistrate's daughter was also so arrogant, never seeing her parents' official Wu Tao come forward to apologize for Wu Xue Mei's behavior.

  All this has long since made his awe of the government dissipate, and now he is not afraid of the government, let alone "respect" it. What he is most worried about now is that he cannot confront the power of the government head-on.

  As for the robbery, with the intention of robbing Ye Shan Jing, Li Wen Jun had no psychological burden. Why should Wu Xue Mei be able to cleverly take things away, and he couldn't do the same, going to rob Wu Xue Mei's things?

  Li Wenjun didn't expect that his inference was actually correct, Wu Xue Mei bought the wild mountain essence at a very low price, and forcibly bought it down, just to pave the way for her father Wu Tao's official career. Wu Tao's superior, the prefectural magistrate, is a filial son, and the prefectural magistrate's father has contracted a serious illness, requiring the use of over 100-year-old medicinal herbs as medicine guides. However, such medicinal herbs are not easily available, thinking that San Shan County here is a famous pharmaceutical town far and near, the prefectural magistrate sent Gong Yao Shi over.

  Master Kong's demeanor and status, how could he possibly deal with medicinal farmers and pickers in person? He directly found Wu Tao, told him the prefecture's requirements, and Wu Tao and his daughter Wu Xue Mei immediately took note, inquiring about news everywhere.

  Just as Zhang Qi was about to sell the Wild Mountain Spirit, Wu Xue Mei rushed over and forcibly bought it away. To be honest, a Wild Mountain Spirit that's nearly two hundred years old, selling for two thousand taels of silver wouldn't be considered expensive, but Wu Xue Mei only used ten taels of gold to buy it, which was almost like robbery.

  Li Wenjun made an inference and didn't have time to think much, he guarded the entrance of the county government office, staring at the yamen runners who came in and out.

  He remembered what Sun Jianing had told him, that the county magistrate was ill and everyone went to Huichuntang to ask for medical treatment.

  Today, the Kong medicine master who followed Wu Xue Mei was also from Hui Chun Tang. It is very likely that Kong medicine master was specially invited by Wu Tao and Wu Xue Mei from Fu Cheng to see if Ye Shan Jing is suitable for use in medicinal prescriptions. If Wu Tao wants to send Ye Shan Jing to Fu Cheng, Kong medicine master will probably follow him back.

  Li Wenjun didn't have to wait for long before he saw Kong Yaoshi coming out of the county government office and getting into a horse-drawn carriage parked at the entrance. Then, a yamen runner drove the carriage carrying Kong Yaoshi away from the county government office under the escort of another yamen runner.

  Li Wenjun furrowed his brow, three adults protecting a wild mountain spirit, he wanted to take the wild mountain spirit from their hands, the difficulty was a bit big. But as long as he could get the wild mountain spirit, no matter how difficult it was, he had to find a way to achieve his goal.

  Li Wenjun ran to a clothing store and bought several ordinary and common clothes. Then he went to another store and bought fake beards, wigs and other items. After that, he found a pharmacy and, under the pretext of constipation, bought some croton powder. He had originally planned to buy opium, but buying opium was too obvious and would easily arouse people's suspicion. In comparison, croton powder was different.

  Li Wenjun found a secluded spot, dressed himself up, stuck on a fake mustache, put on a wig, and wore unremarkable clothes. He then stuffed a walnut under his tongue and rushed to the county town's mule market to buy a fine horse.

  Then Li Wenjun rode his horse and chased after Kong Yaoshi and others along the road from Sanshan County to Fucheng.

  Sanshan County is about 200 miles away from the prefectural city, and the road between the two cities is not flat, all are dirt roads, bumpy and difficult to travel. Even if Kong Yaoshi and his group were lucky enough to have a smooth journey, it would take them at least two days to reach the prefectural city.

  Li Wenjun rode his horse for about half a day before he saw Kong Yaoshi and the others hurrying along without panic. He drove his horse straight ahead, passing them from behind, and then hurried forward again. When Li Wenjun saw a teahouse by the road, he stopped his horse outside and dismounted. He went into the teahouse, ordered food, and started eating.

  When it was time to settle the bill, he asked the tea shed owner if there were any inns nearby where they could rest.

  The boss told him that walking forward along the main road for about five miles, there was an inn, which was the only one within a radius of ten miles.

  Li Wenjun was overjoyed, he hastily mounted his horse and galloped along the main road. He wanted to arrive at the inn ahead of time to make some preparations, so that he could seize the opportunity to snatch the Wild Mountain Spirit from Kong Yaoshi and others.

  About a quarter of an hour later, Li Wenjun arrived at the inn, which was a very simple and crude mule station prepared for passing horse teams. Before even entering the inn, one could smell the pungent odor of horse manure coming from inside.

  Someone inside the inn heard the sound of horseshoes and came out to greet him. The man was the owner of the inn. He warmly welcomed Li Wenjun inside and had someone lead Li Wenjun's horse to the stable, where it was washed, brushed, and fed.

  Most of the rooms in the mule and horse store were shared, with only a few single rooms. Li Wenjun took one of them, then asked where the toilet was, and pretended to go there.

  The boss of the mule shop didn't care much either. He told Li Wenjun that if he had anything to do, just call him, and then he went about his business.

  Li Wenjun came out of the guest room and walked towards the outhouse, urinated, and then came out of the outhouse. He didn't immediately return to the guest room, but instead wandered around inside and outside the mule shop.

  This is a very simple layout of a mule shop, a large courtyard surrounded by a mud wall made of yellow earth and wheat straw mixed and compacted, the surrounding wall has some broken places, with thorns blocking the gap.

  The layout inside the yard is clear at a glance. On the west side of the yard, there are two buildings standing shoulder to shoulder and facing south-north. The southern building is an inn for travelers to rest and dine, while the northern one adjacent to the inn is a stable.

  The stable was built with straw and tree trunks, inside there were horse posts and a feeding trough, Li Wenjun's fine horse was tied up here.

  The inn has two floors, upstairs for living and downstairs for dining. The entrance of the inn faces east, and on both west and east walls, each room has a window that can be seen from outside. There are no windows on the south and north walls, which means that people staying in the inn want to see their horses, they must come out of the inn, stand at the door or go to the stable to see them.

  Li Wenjun had just finished inspecting the mule shop inside and out when Kong Yaoshi arrived under the escort of two bailiffs, riding in a horse-drawn carriage. It was already dusk, and it would soon be dark.

  One of the runners rushed into the courtyard of the inn and shouted loudly. "Innkeeper, innkeeper, come out quickly."

  The shop owner was busy attending to another group of guests and came out a bit late. After settling this wave of customers, he quickly ran out from the inn and saw that they were two officials. His heart tightened, and he bowed his head and said: "Your Honor, are you here for a meal or just passing by?"

  The bailiff riding the horse had a ferocious face, he whipped past with one lash and said: "You're taking a dump in there? You've been inside for half a day without coming out, freezing Kong Yao Shi and us Li Tou to death, can you afford to compensate?"

  The shop owner didn't dare to hide, and he suffered this blow. He had to be careful and said: "Your Honor, I didn't know that noble guests were coming to my door? I was slow in serving you, and I am guilty. I don't dare ask Your Honors to forgive me, but how about this? You two officials are having a meal at my place today, whether it's the food or the wine, everything is free, all on me."

  The official who beat people nodded in satisfaction, turned over and got off his horse, and said with a high tone: "The best guest room, give us two rooms, good wine and good dishes are also prepared for us. Also, the mules of several masters must be well served, missing one hair, I will peel your skin."

  "Don't worry, I'll take good care of everyone. Gentlemen officials, please come in quickly." The shop owner greeted them with a smile.

  Li Wenjun followed them into the inn and saw that the shop owner had already accompanied Kong Yaoshi and others upstairs to arrange their rooms. What made Li Wenjun slightly disappointed was that Kong Yaoshi's room was not adjacent to his, with two rooms in between.

  Kong's room is at the very end, and the two yamen runners' rooms are adjacent to Kong's. Whoever wants to get close to Kong's room must pass through the door of the yamen runners' room.

  Li Wenjun originally wanted to eavesdrop on some news, but now that he's taken a look, it's hopeless, and he can only think of another way.

  Li Wenjun found an empty table and sat down, ordered some simple food, and observed the movements upstairs.