Chapter 49: A Guest Arrives on a Rainy Night

  On the only pass that connects Nanba County to the outside world, there is an inn. The location of this inn is excellent, as it takes exactly two days to travel from Nanba County Town to the nearest town outside the mountains, and the inn is situated right in the middle. Whether travelers come from the south or head north, if they don't want to spend another night in the wilderness, they have no choice but to stay at this inn.

  The scale of the inn can be seen from its former glory.

  The inn is located in a mountain valley of about 7 or 8 mu beside the official road. Its main building is a tall and spacious two-story wine tower, more than five zhang away from the official road, with a spacious courtyard in front.

  Above the gate of the wine tower hangs a huge plaque, on which can be vaguely seen four big characters "Rugui Inn".

  On both sides of the gate of the wine building, there are twelve hitching posts, and on the left side is a manger; behind the wine building, there are four courtyards, each with more than ten guest rooms.

  The once resplendent wine building has become very old, with only two of the horse-tying pillars in front still intact. The cattle shed had collapsed on one side, and three of the courtyards behind were overgrown with weeds as tall as a person's waist. Only one courtyard looked like it was being swept, but its walls had also collapsed by more than half.

  The innkeeper, a dark and thin middle-aged man, sat at the entrance of the wine building, staring blankly at the official road in the fine rain. The stool under his buttocks was shaking and about to collapse, making people worry for him.

  In the inn, a woman in her thirties was wiping the tables and chairs that were cleaner than the rag in her hand, muttering to herself. The woman was slender and had a decent appearance, but the deep sorrow between her eyebrows ruined the beauty that time had not yet taken away from her, making it hard to express the misery. This woman was the innkeeper's wife.

  The surname of the shopkeeper is Zhou, and more than a decade ago, he was quite famous. His uncle was the leader of the largest medicinal herb gathering group in the county, and relying on his uncle's power, he drove away the original owner of this inn and rebuilt it into what it is today. As soon as the inn was built, business boomed. At the same time, he married the most beautiful woman in the county town.

  It's said that extreme joy begets sorrow. Less than a month after his wedding, his uncle died in a gang fire fight. The gang changed hands. Then someone started paying attention to his humble abode. Just as he was at a loss for what to do, the calamity of the demon beast erupted.

  Although he saved the inn, it became worthless.

  The once prosperous and dignified inn is no more. The guesthouse that used to rake in gold by the bushel has become a place where customers are scarce, and one by one, the waiters, helpers, and even the cook have all been let go.

  The only couple left in the inn was struggling to make ends meet. Zhou Zhang opened a small vegetable garden next to the inn, which provided fresh and affordable food for guests. Every day, apart from tending to the garden, he would sit at the entrance of the inn, staring blankly at the official road.

  The landlady, apart from taking care of a group of chickens, was constantly wiping the tables and stools in the store, and liked to scold while wiping, scolding fate, scolding Zhou Zhanggui, and scolding everything that she thought was annoying.

  For ten years, Zhou has never waited for a customer in such weather, but this waiting has become a habit, a part of his life.

  On a gloomy rainy day, the sky grew dark unusually early, just after 4 pm. The sky suddenly became hazy. Zhou Zhanggui let out a deep sigh as usual, got up and bent down to move his chair, ending his wait for today.

  He suddenly stopped his crouching motion, his dull eyes bursting with bright light, and he grabbed the oilcloth umbrella that was ready beside him, dashing into the rain like lightning.

  The landlady saw him like this and also threw down the towel to run to the inn's entrance, holding onto the door frame, gazing out at the official road gradually being enveloped by the night.

  Clang, clang, clang... A horse's hooves were heard approaching, and the shopkeeper hastily waded through the mud to greet them.

  Before long, Zhou Zhuang led a sturdy sorrel horse into the yard. As he walked, he said to the guest on the horse, "Sir, don't get off yet. Let me lead the horse to the gate and you can dismount directly onto the stone steps. The ground is too muddy; I wouldn't want your shoes to get dirty."

  Zhou Zhanggui struggled to pull the horse through the muddy ground to the entrance of the wine tower, turned around to help the guest get off the horse, and just as he stretched out his hand, the guest quickly jumped from the horse onto the stone steps.

  "Hey wife, hurry up and entertain the guest, I'll go feed the horse." With that, he pulled the sorrel horse towards the half-collapsed cattle shed.

  The gloom on the landlady's face seemed to have vanished into thin air, and she came up with a smile all over her face: "Quickly take off your raincoat, I'll get it for you to dry." As she spoke, she reached out to help the guest take off his raincoat. The guest pushed away her hand, although his face was hidden in the shadow of his bamboo hat, but the landlady could still sense his displeasure.

  The guest first removed his bamboo hat, revealing a young face that was cold, handsome and resolute; he wore a small Tai Chi crown on his head.

  The guest's refusal just now had no effect on the landlady, who took over the guest's bamboo hat and hung it on the wall, then took over the guest's raincoat; under this guest's raincoat was a gray Taoist robe.

  The Taoist guest was Xiao Ziyang. Today is more than 20 days since he left the Wen Mansion.

  That day, Xiao Ziyang left the Wen family and returned to Shangyuan City. After checking the letter from Wen Yuan's outside, he entered the Taoist registry in the name of Wu Tai, received the Taoist certificate, and made several high-quality Taoist robes at the largest tailor shop in the city.

  He did not hurry to leave, but stayed in Shangyuan and inquired about all sides, wanting to find a suitable place for seclusion.

  Xiao Ziyang's requirements were that the place be remote and quiet, and that it be convenient to purchase medicinal herbs. He soon set his sights on Nanba County.

  Nanba County is located deep in the mountains, its remoteness surpassing even Xiao Ziyang's hometown. This place is a medicinal herb production area, although it has declined, but providing Xiao Ziyang with the medicinal herbs needed for his current cultivation is more than sufficient.

  Xiao Ziyang had been paying attention to this place after hearing that it had been attacked by demonic beasts. Based on some scattered information he had gathered through hearsay, it seemed that all cultivators would look for places with abundant spiritual energy to cultivate in secret, and places with abundant spiritual energy were prone to producing demonic beasts. Since there were demonic beasts here, it meant that this place had abundant spiritual energy.

  As for the danger of being attacked by a demon beast, such things happen only once every few decades, and it's unlikely that I'll encounter one myself. Besides, to cultivate the immortal decree, taking some risks is nothing. Having decided on his destination, Xiao Ziyang hurried over day and night.

  Seeing Xiao Ziyang dressed as a Taoist, the landlady immediately changed her tone, "Master Dao, please sit down for a moment, I'll go get you a basin of hot water." After leading Xiao Ziyang to the main hall and having him sit down, she hastily headed towards the kitchen.

  In about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the landlady came out of the kitchen with a large wooden basin.

  "I don't know if you'd like some wine and dishes." The landlady asked while taking over the towel as Xiao Ziyang finished washing his face.

  "After eating dry rations for a whole day, I finally came across an inn and naturally wanted to treat my stomach well; I wonder what kind of dishes they have in the restaurant."

  "There's cured meat hanging at home, freshly killed chicken, fresh vegetables just picked from our own field, and steaming hot white rice, oh and two live fish."

  "Stir-fry the cured meat, braise a whole young chicken, pick two dishes that you're good at and stir-fry them, then steam a pot of plain rice for me. Forget about the fish. Hurry up and get everything ready, I'm starving!"

  The landlady saw Xiao Ziyang ordering so many dishes and happily agreed, then went downstairs to the kitchen.