315 Going to Qilin Mountain
Qilin Mountain was located between Xunyang and Liang County. It crossed Liang County. When they arrived, the couple only brought one person with them. When they left Xunyang City, there were exactly ten people.
This was even when Rooster and One Dot was not around.
Song Jingchen, who had always kept a low profile, was unusually high-profile when he left this time. Not to mention the commoners of Xunyang City, even Shangguan Han sent them off at the city gate.
It was as if he was afraid that others would not know that he had already left Xunyang.
It was not until they left Xunyang that they changed from the official road to the mountain path and went back to being low-key.
When they arrived near the Qilin Mountain, Shen Yijia saw Rooster and One Dot from afar. When they saw them, the two of them quickly cupped their hands and bowed.
Song Jingchen nodded. “Where is it?”
Rooster took out a box from his pocket. Shen Yijia glanced at it and recognized it as the box containing the key and map.
Previously, she was wondering how they would find the place without these two. It turned out that Song Jingchen had already arranged for Rooster to return to Xiagou Village.
“Take them back to Xiagou Village first.”
Song Jingchen was referring to Pinellia and the others. Shen Yijia had already discussed this with Song Jingchen. The fewer people who knew about Qilin Mountain, the better.
Although the five of them had not completely changed in the past three months, they had more or less learned something.
Pinellia, who was formerly known as Shuang’er, did not expect that Madam did not intend to travel with them. After being slightly surprised, she did not dare to ask further.
However, her gaze immediately became uneasy, afraid that Shen Yijia would throw them away. After all, even though they were Shen Yijia’s maidservants, Shen Yijia rarely let them serve them.
They were relieved. At the same time, they were useless and could be abandoned at any time.
Shen Yijia met her gaze and took out two hundred taels of silver from her wallet helplessly. “This is my last bit of money.”
This was the money she earned from Qian Youde.
As soon as she said this, not only Pinellia, but the others also panicked. It seemed like Shen Yijia wanted them to rely on themselves.
Shen Yijia’s heart ached as she repeatedly pinched the banknotes for a long time. Then, she gritted her teeth and handed them over. “Take this and open a shop first. No matter what shop it is, just don’t make a loss when I get back.”
These people were too insecure. Giving them a mission would more or less reassure them.
Shen Yijia could tell from the way Song Jingchen treated Rooster and the others that he didn’t want them to be idle.
Thinking of this, Shen Yijia’s eyes suddenly lit up. She changed her mind and jumped off the horse, calling for the five of them to gather around. She whispered something to them.
After muttering for ten minutes, Shen Yijia ran back excitedly and got on the horse again.
As for the last bit of money she mentioned just now, she gave out three more banknotes.
Shen Yijia noticed Song Jingchen’s gaze and felt a little embarrassed. She blushed and said, “This is really the last one. It’s gone.”
No matter how capable she was, she couldn’t let Qian Youde go home without any money.
She couldn’t bear to look at the banknotes in Pinellia’s hand. She closed her eyes and waved. “Let’s go.”
Otherwise, she was afraid that she would not be able to resist snatching it back.
Pinellia and the others mistakenly thought that Madam could not bear to part with them. Their last bit of worry disappeared. Their eyes turned red as they knelt down and kowtowed three times to Shen Yijia. “We won’t disappoint Madam.”
After kowtowing, they left with Rooster and One Dot.
Shen Yijia watched them until they could no longer be seen. She held her chest and heaved a long sigh. The next time they met, she wanted to see more money from that investment. At the very least, the principal amount had to be retained.
Song Jingchen found it funny. He rode over and took out a money bag.
Shen Yijia’s eyes lit up. Before Song Jingchen could speak, she had already taken the money bag. She opened it and saw a few banknotes inside. She quickly put it in her pocket and grinned at Song Jingchen. “Thank you, hubby.”
She took a rough look and saw that there was one more banknote than the money she had given out just now. It was not a loss.
Song Jingchen coughed dryly and turned his head away. “You’re not letting them go to Xiagou Village?”
Shen Yijia shook her head. “No, we have to return to the capital sooner or later. It’s better to go to the capital directly than to let them go to Xiagou Village.”
The people in the capital were richer than those in Anyang County!
Qilin Mountain was not a single mountain. It was formed by a few continuous mountains. These mountains were connected together. From afar, they looked like an auspicious Qilin beast, hence the name.
Moreover, those mountains were extremely tall. The higher they went, the steeper the mountains became. Coupled with the commoners’ reverence for auspicious beasts, ordinary people did not dare to go deep into the mountain range.
The few of them rode into the mountain for a while, but the horses could not travel the remaining distance. In other words, one of South Wind and Thirty Thousand had to stay here to watch.
This time, without waiting for Song Jingchen to speak, South Wind mustered his courage and said, “Master, I’ll stay below.”
After saying that, he even looked like he was about to die.
Shen Yijia blinked and glanced at them. In the end, her gaze landed on the expressionless Mo Yuan.
Something was up!
Song Jingchen nodded indifferently.
The last time he came to Qilin Mountain was three years ago. Looking at this place, he could not help but think of when the old master was still alive. He could not help but clench his fists.
The next second, a soft hand covered the back of his hand and burrowed under his fist. Song Jingchen turned his head.
Shen Yijia grinned at him.
Song Jingchen’s heart softened. He let go of her and held her hand. “Let’s go up. I’ll bring you to another place.”
Shen Yijia said meekly, “Okay.”
Because no one usually came here, there was no way up the mountain. There were bushes everywhere.
Coupled with the fact that it was early spring, all the snakes, insects, rats, and ants were active. The few of them walked very carefully.
Apart from the four of them, Furball was also with them. To Furball, navigating the difficult mountain path was like a fish returning to the sea or a bird entering the forest. It was simply too easy.
Shen Yijia was envious.
Therefore, the task of leading the way naturally fell to Furball.
Fortunately, Mo Yuan found many herbs to chase away the insects. She crushed the herbs and smeared the medicinal juice on her limbs and face. It could more or less have some effect.
Previously, Shen Yijia didn’t know what was on the parchment, so she was confused. Now that she looked at it again, she realized that the overall appearance drawn on it was really similar to a Qilin Beast.
No wonder Song Jingchen knew where it was at first glance.
Among the lines was a specially thickened line that marked a point, the destination they were going to.
The four of them and the tiger walked until the sky gradually darkened. They had only walked less than half the way. Regardless of whether they were tired or not, the deep mountains were relatively dangerous at night. Helpless, they could only find a relatively flat place to spend the night.
The temperature on the mountain was especially low at night, so they took some materials and lit a fire. In order to prevent snakes and insects from crawling over, they scattered a circle of medicinal liquid around them.
