Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 549 Trip to the Royal City
A Taoist priest in the army used magic to make everyone's feet seem to fly, and even the armored soldiers marched at a rapid pace.

It didn't take long for the group to arrive at the royal city.

The royal city has now been taken over by the Zhennan Army. Soldiers guard all the city gates, keeping their swords sheathed, and inspecting those entering and leaving the royal city.

Two days ago, a significant conflict broke out in the royal city in an attempt to arrest certain individuals, resulting in numerous deaths and injuries.

It has only been barely suppressed and order restored to the capital.

Beside the city gate, there was a mound of corpses.

Bloodied corpses were piled up together, and black, dried bloodstains stained a large area of ​​land. The stench of blood was overwhelming, creating a visual shock.

Yun Xiao said quietly, "In extraordinary times, extraordinary measures must be taken. If we don't give those barbarians a shock, they won't know what's good for them..."

"I've heard court officials talk about the affairs of the southern border before. The powerful clans here have never been quiet. However, back then, the emperor granted the barbarian royal family hereditary thrones and even exempted them from some capital crimes. The local officials could do nothing about it and could only collude with them."

"Now look what's happened. Daring to commit treason, they've finally found a pretext to punish him; he deserves his fate..."

Such an event would likely be welcomed by the Shu court.

Now that the Zhennan Army has a reason to enter the capital, they won't be leaving anytime soon, which will allow them to properly rectify the atmosphere.

When they arrived at the city gate, the soldiers on both sides exchanged a few words.

Upon learning that some suspects had escaped, a reward was offered, and people were dispatched to various places to search for them.

The city is currently short of manpower, so the newly arrived soldiers were quickly assigned to their posts.

Lu Zheng and his group then parted ways with the Zhennan soldiers.

Upon entering this barbarian capital, Lu Zheng discovered that the city was not as prosperous as Hongzhou City, and the style of the street buildings was somewhat outdated.

It was said to be a royal city, but Lu Zheng couldn't see any resemblance to a royal city at all.

However, after crossing a street, looking into the distance, one can see low hills to the north of the city, with palaces built in a magnificent and opulent style, standing out from the rest of the royal city.

Yun Xiao looked at the palace and clicked his tongue, saying, "I couldn't see it clearly from the sky before because it was far away, but now that I look at it, it's even more luxurious than the mansions of some princes and ministers."

"Instead of sitting comfortably on this hereditary throne, they had to cause trouble like treason. One shouldn't be too greedy..."

Yun Xiao sighed for a moment, then looked away and said, "This royal city must have some interesting little things. Let's go, let's explore them one by one."

Lu Zheng and his companions then strolled along the street and visited some shops.

Southern Xinjiang is rich in poisonous creatures, and there is a special market in this royal city that sells all kinds of Gu insects.

However, due to the turmoil in the capital city these past two days, some shops and cultivator stalls have closed, making the city less lively.

Lu Zheng and his group looked around the market and indeed saw many strange and unusual insects.

In one corner of the market, a sorcerer was fiddling with bottles and jars.

Hundreds of bottles and jars, each different, large and small, made of various materials, including clay jars, jade bottles, bamboo tubes...

The venomous insects inside these objects are also different.

The Gu cultivator's eyes lit up when he saw Lu Zheng and his group approaching. He spoke fluent Mandarin, "Oh, fellow Daoists, you must be from out of town? Are you looking to buy any kind of Gu worm? I have all kinds of Gu here! If you don't have any... I have connections to ask around for you..."

Seeing that the barbarian cultivator spoke fluent Mandarin, Qingwan couldn't help but ask, "Do you have any insects here that can increase grain production?"

Qingwan had no interest in these harmful poisonous insects; she wanted to find some that she could use herself.

"What?"

Gu Xiu Zhu Ya was stunned for a moment, thinking he had misheard.

Qingwan then repeated it again.

Bamboo Aphid finally understood and couldn't help but feel strange. Those who play with Gu are all capable people. Who would be so idle as to cultivate Gu related to planting crops?

There are some special Gu worms that are related to the growth of certain spiritual herbs, but they are probably not the same type of worm that Qingwan wants.

"Yes, yes, fellow Daoists, please wait a moment..."

As the bamboo aphid spoke, his mind raced. He needed to keep the people here first, otherwise, where would the business come from?

He looked around his stall, but couldn't immediately come up with a name for a Gu worm with similar effects.

Suddenly, the bamboo aphid seemed to remember something. It pulled a book from its pocket and began flipping through it. "Wait a minute," it said, "I remember there's an insect that has that kind of effect..."

"Why don't you gentlemen take a look at the Gu gu on my stall? I have all kinds, including Gu gu for children's self-defense..."

As they spoke, the bamboo aphid glanced at the thin and small Qingyi.

Qingyi ignored the bamboo aphid's gaze, only using her divine sense to look at the small insects in the bottles and jars. She felt that they were all too weak, and that she could burn them to ashes with just a breath.

Yun Xiao looked at them and said, "So many insects, did you raise them all?"

Most Gu cultivators only cultivate a few types of Gu insects; cultivating more than that would be too much trouble.

The fact that this Gu cultivator, despite his relatively low cultivation level, managed to raise so many Gu worms so well is rather unusual.

"Ah, no..."

The bamboo aphid shook its head and said, "Some of these insects were bought cheaply from other people."

Recently, the capital city has been unstable. Many Gu cultivators, who usually act unscrupulously, are worried about being implicated and have packed their valuables to flee for safety, allowing the bamboo aphids to take advantage of the situation and buy some cheap goods.

Yun Xiao nodded. "But the fact that you can take in so many insects and raise them shows you really understand their habits." The bamboo aphid chuckled. "I'm not very talented, so I specialize in this kind of business to make some money..."

"Let me tell you, I used to..."

The bamboo aphid paused for a moment, then swallowed its words.

He had originally intended to mention that he had once helped the royal family feed Gu worms, but then he realized that such a thing was not something to boast about now.

"Hey, I found it!"

Zhu Ya turned to a page in the book and showed it to Lu Zheng and the others.

The book is a very old book that describes a special insect that, when released into farmland, can increase grain production.

"This insect is mostly found in Burial Mountain..."

The bamboo aphid frowned and pondered, "I've never seen this insect before, and I've never heard of this mountain."

Lu Zheng couldn't help but ask, "Where did you get this book from?"

The bamboo aphid said mysteriously, "It's an ancient book that's several hundred years old! I bought it cheaply from someone else's house; you can't find it on the market."

Bamboo Aphid paused, then said in a low voice, "You are genuine people of Shu. Don't look at my face; I also have some Shu blood... Speaking of which, hundreds of years ago, when Shu conquered the Southern Frontier, in order to suppress the barbarian Gu cultivators in the Southern Frontier, we destroyed many books related to Gu insects."

"My book survived from that time..."

"Do you want it? I can sell it to you cheaply!"

Bamboo Aphid pulled out a new book. "I copied it myself, the contents are exactly the same! If you want the old one, you'll have to pay extra."

Upon hearing this, Lu Zheng asked, "How much?"

Bamboo Aphid gestured and said in a serious tone, "Five spirit stones!"

Even as he uttered those words, Zhu Ya himself wasn't very confident. After all, it was just an ordinary ancient book; how could it possibly be priced at spirit stones? Even five taels of silver might not be enough to attract buyers.

The reason he quoted such a price was because he felt these people had extraordinary qualities and could definitely afford it.

Bamboo Aphid then promoted, "Don't think it's too expensive. This book records many kinds of Gu. If you're interested, you can go and search for them... If you find some rare Gu, it'll be worth more than five spirit stones!"

Qingwan couldn't help but say, "You've probably said that to a lot of people, haven't you? You must have sold a lot of copies of this booklet, right?"

As Qingwan spoke, she glanced at Yun Xiao beside her.

Yun Xiao noticed Qing Wan's gaze and was speechless for a moment.

So this girl learned her lesson from him and realized that this Gu cultivator was just as good at boasting when selling things as he was.

Hearing Qingwan's words, a hint of embarrassment flashed in Zhuya's eyes. Having done so much business, he wasn't easily embarrassed, so he said, "Then name your price?"

"Five taels of silver."

"make a deal!"

Yun Xiao, standing to the side, couldn't help but shake his head inwardly; the young man was still too naive...

Qingwan wasn't annoyed; there was plenty of ordinary gold and silver anyway.

The two quickly reached a deal.

Just then, a group of Zhennan soldiers strode over and came directly to Lu Zheng and his companions.

The bamboo aphid turned pale with fright, thinking it had been entrapped. It shouldn't be such a big fuss over buying and selling an ordinary banned book, right?

Then, the soldiers completely ignored the bamboo aphids that were terrified.

Upon hearing that Yun Xiao had finished his business and arrived in the capital, the deputy general stationed there personally came to greet him.

The lieutenant bowed and said, "Greetings, Master... Thank you all for your help. I have already sent people to prepare rooms in the palace. You may rest there."

Yun Xiao waved his hand and said, "We'd like to wander around the city a bit more, we'll talk about it later. Oh, by the way, where is Burial Mountain?"

None of them had heard of the mountain, so they decided to ask the deputy general.

"Burial Qiu Mountain?"

The deputy general pondered for a moment, then said, "This mountain is not within the territory of our Great Shu, but outside the Southern Frontier, further south. I am not entirely sure of its exact location, but I do know that there is such a place."

South of southern Xinjiang lies a vast, deep mountain range, rarely visited by humans.

It is said that there are even more savage human races living there, who are even more difficult to tame than the barbarians of the southern border.

The lieutenant couldn't help but ask curiously, "Why is the master inquiring about this place? Has something happened there?"

Qingwan, who was standing nearby, handed the book to the deputy general to examine, asking him if he had ever seen such a Gu worm before.

The lieutenant shook his head and said, "I've been stationed in the southern border for many years and have seen many kinds of Gu, but I really don't know this one. I'll send someone to inquire about it in the royal city..."

Now that the entire royal city is under the jurisdiction of the Zhennan Army, the assets of the royal family and some powerful clans have been seized. If this Gu can be found among them, it will save a lot of trouble.

"Then I'll have to trouble you, General," Lu Zheng said.

The lieutenant laughed and said, "It was just a matter of course. I was just about to clear out the assets anyway, and you gentlemen have been a great help..."

With so many powerful clans seized, even the Zhennan Army could obtain a portion of their assets, so helping Lu Zheng and his group find a bug was a piece of cake.

(End of this chapter)