Chapter 48: The Southern Barbarian Official Road

  Xiao Ziyang was very depressed in his heart. He risked his life to save the girl, but what he got in return was disdain. This made him feel unbearable. Since cultivating "Zi Yu Sheng Yan" and shedding his dark and rough skin, he had always been proud of his appearance. But today, he suffered a great blow!

  It's not that Wenxiu has no eye for beauty. The Wen family genes are quite excellent. Wenxiu is used to seeing refined and elegant scholars in the Wen household, so although Xiao Ziyang's appearance doesn't seem ugly to her, his tall and robust build and sharp facial features make him feel somewhat rough.

  It was said that she would be married to a vagabond, which was far from the ideal husband in her mind - a talented scholar who had read extensively. Naturally, the more she saw Xiao Ziyang, the more she felt disgusted.

  Xiao Ziyang was depressed, but he had been used to seeing others' white eyes since childhood, so naturally he wouldn't take this matter to heart. He pretended not to notice Wenxiu's dissatisfaction with him and refused Wen Xiang's invitation with great regret.

  The clerk outside heard that he had such a big trouble and naturally didn't say anything else.

  Xiao Ziyang cupped his hands at Wen Yuanwai and said, "Wen Yuanwai, I have an unpleasant request to make of you, I don't know if you can help me."

  "It doesn't matter what Wu Da Xia says."

  "It is well known that Hong Xiu has been wreaking havoc on the rivers and lakes for nearly ten years, harming countless young ladies from wealthy families. The number of people who have offered rewards to capture him is uncountable. Someone once calculated that the total amount of these rewards was as much as 300,000 taels of silver, with 150,000 taels being offered by the government. If it were anyone else, getting half of this amount would be a good outcome. However, if Sir Wen were to claim the reward, he would undoubtedly be able to get his hands on most of the 150,000 taels."

  What is known as the official reward is actually not the government's money, but the victim handing over silver to the government, and the government posting a reward for capture. Of course, there are some unavoidable losses in between, but it's more convincing than putting up a reward oneself. The vengeful victim doesn't care about the cost of money.

  "So, General Wu wants me to help you get a reward? No problem, I can at least give you twelve million taels of silver out of these fifteen million."

  "It's all right, the news of my killing the Red Vulture has spread, and if I go around to collect the rewards, it would be like putting up a sign saying 'Wanted' - it will surely attract the attention of that enemy of mine. So I'd like to ask Mr. Wen to send someone to collect the rewards on my behalf, while I plan to leave this place as soon as possible. After some time has passed and the news has died down, I'll come back to collect the money. At that time, no matter how much is collected, Mr. Wen only needs to give me half of it."

  The clerk thought for a moment, then called the head of Wudu and asked in detail about the reward situation of the red letter guest. After finding that Xiao Ziyang had no false words, he agreed to come down, "Well, I will arrange someone to go to various places to collect rewards tomorrow."

  Then he ordered the head of the Wu Du to take down the head of Hong Zu Ke, marinate it with lime, and collect Hong Zu Ke's personal belongings and the soft sword together.

  After instructing him, he had someone bring over a brush and ink, and then drew up a written document regarding this matter to give to Xiao Ziyang.

  "It's really troublesome for the official." Xiao Ziyang put away the documents, declined the official's invitation to a banquet, and left Shuangping Town.

  …………

  The soft autumn rain has been falling for three days, and for three whole days, no travelers have been seen on the official road.

  It's no wonder, Nanba County, as the southernmost border county of Chu State, although its area is more than ten times that of an ordinary county, but most of it is mountainous. The population of the whole county is only about 10,000 people. Not to mention that the official road has been flooded by rainwater and is muddy and impassable at this time, even in normal times, there are no pedestrians on this road all day long.

  According to the Western Liang's convention, 200,000 people constitute a first-class county, 100,000 people a second-class county, and 50,000 people a third-class county. Nanba County, with less than 10,000 people, did not originally qualify as a county.

  It is said that more than a decade ago, Nanba County was not considered a large county, but the population of the whole county had at least 700,000 to 800,000 people, which is far from being as desolate as it is today. At that time, Nanba County was one of the largest medicinal material production areas in Chu State.

  More than a decade ago, the medicinal materials produced in Nanba County accounted for more than 10% of the total output of Chu Prefecture. At that time, horse-drawn carts carrying medicinal materials were constantly coming and going on this official road. In Nanba County, several medicinal material collection teams were competing with each other to survive, and the number of people making a living by collecting medicinal materials was several times more than those who farmed. The county town was also filled with wine shops and brothels, catering to these medicinal material collectors who occasionally came out of the deep mountains to have some fun.

  Due to years of uncontrolled harvesting, the medicinal herbs in the mountains have become increasingly scarce. As a result, herb collectors had to venture deeper into the southern part of Miluo Mountain, spending more and more time on each trip, with an increasing risk of encountering dangers in the mountains. Until over a decade ago, the proportion of missing herb collectors reached an unbearable level.

  Herbalists often need to go deep into the uninhabited mountains in the south for hundreds of miles before they can reap any rewards, and it usually takes several months to make a trip.

  It is said that at the time, out of every ten people who entered the mountain to collect medicine, one would lose their trace. As a result, rumors began to spread slowly. At that time, the most terrifying rumor was that there were monsters appearing in the deep mountains of the south.

  Due to the remote mountains in the south, precious medicinal materials that are hundreds or even thousands of years old are often discovered. Despite the danger of entering the mountains, some people still risk their lives to venture in, hoping to strike it rich overnight.

  As the medicine gatherers went deeper, the appearance of precious medicinal materials worth a fortune became more frequent; at this time, Nanba County suddenly became more prosperous and chaotic.

  This prosperity was like the reflection of a dying person's light, and it didn't last for long.

  What drove and ended this prosperity was a group of rivers and lakes, a group of greedy and cruel rivers and lakes. These people entered the mountain with the medicine collectors, but they did not enter the mountain to collect medicine, but to rob those who were full of medicine collectors, so the mountains of Nanba County suddenly filled with blood.

  The terrible disaster has finally arrived!

  It was unclear whether they were attracted by the smell of blood or enraged by human clamor, but the legendary ferocious beasts suddenly appeared in the mountainous areas of Nanba County, killing humans everywhere, and both the medicine collectors and those vicious rivers and lakes people suffered a devastating blow.

  Some of these monsters have infinite strength, are impervious to swords and guns, some can spit fire and ice, some can fly in the sky, and some can burrow underground. Humans, even those with high martial arts skills, are as helpless as infants in front of these monsters.

  It was as if overnight, Nanba County had become quiet and also declined. Fortunately, the monster quickly returned to the depths of the mountain and did not further attack human villages. Terrified people fled, herb collectors, hoodlums, and merchants who bought medicinal materials; in one night, a large county town almost became a ghost town. Only those indigenous people who had lived here for generations remained.

  Nowadays, there are still people collecting medicine in Nanba County, but it is only one tenth of the heyday. The output of medicinal materials is also negligible; after all, except for those who are really poor and cannot make a living, who would be willing to risk their lives in this mountain where monsters appear?

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