Chapter 169: Heading south to Tai'an, the world is difficult, the journey is difficult, the journey is difficult!
At this time, Xu Chunlin's expression changed.

He was dressed in white, wearing a feather scarf, and looked very elegant, like a scholar, but the thing on his back was not a book bag, but a sword case.

The first impression he gives people is that he has a sage-like appearance and is gentle and refined. He has a wine gourd on his waist and drinks and whistles, looking quite free and unrestrained.

"I live under the Big Dipper, with my sword hanging on the corner of the moon. I am drunk, but I don't know why I am sad."

Xu Chunlin chanted poems freely, holding a Xiaoyao fan in his hand and carrying a Hanchi sword on his back. His image was that of the immortal Chunyang master known as the swordsman and wandering immortal - Lü Dongbin!

Especially the Han Chi sword on his back, which is shining with cold light. The blade is diamond-shaped, the hilt has snowflake patterns, the sword head is made of jade, and the scabbard seems to be made of ice, with silver dragon scales inlaid. The two words "Han Chi" are engraved in simple seal script on the sword body.

The black dragon stepping on the clouds also changed its shape by Xu Chunlin's use of his double-handed skills. He gently stroked the horse's head with his left hand, and in a moment, it turned into a black donkey.

My clothes are covered with dust and wine stains, and I am sad wherever I go. Am I an immortal? I ride a donkey into Jianmen in the drizzle.

Go south and stir up the world!
Where are you going?

First stop, Tai'an City!
.........

Outside of Beiliang, a young man who looked like a scholar was riding a donkey backwards and walking leisurely. He was holding a notebook he had found from somewhere and reading it as he walked, with a piece of green grass in his mouth. Not far in front of him was an old servant.

"Hey, Xiao Hei, can you please walk faster? Old Qi is so old, his legs and feet are faster than ours. I only changed your appearance, not your inner self!"

"You are a fine horse, a steed that can run a thousand miles, not a donkey!"

"There are many good horses, but there are few good horse trainers. I am your good horse trainer, and you have to fight for your reputation!"

"Uh-huh, uh-huh!"

The black dragon-stepping-on-the-clouds colt named Xiaohei by Xu Chunlin might have been a donkey for too long in the past few days and really thought of itself as a donkey.

He just walked around like this, sometimes when he got stubborn, he even refused to walk, he didn't put in any effort, he was a real lazy guy.

If Xu Chunlin got off the donkey, the donkey would actually be walking very fast.

Qi Lianhua watched Xu Chunlin and the donkey fighting, and said with a smile: "Master, in my opinion, when we get to Tai'an City, we can find a place to slaughter donkeys, sell it, and replace it with an obedient one, right?"

"That won't do. After all, it's a good horse. If I sell it for the price of donkey meat, I'll be losing a lot, right?" Xu Chunlin calculated carefully and refused flatly.

"That's it. If you don't listen, I will stew you. As the saying goes, there is dragon meat in the sky and donkey meat on the ground. I have eaten a lot of dragon meat, but I have never tasted donkey meat!"

After saying that, Xu Chunlin really began to look at the donkey he was sitting on. Unexpectedly, the little black donkey immediately kicked off its hooves and ran as hard as it could, fearing that it would be slow down even a little.

"You stupid ass, but you're not stupid!"

Xu Chunlin sat steadily on the donkey's back and cursed with a smile.

Qi Lianhua shook his head. In the past few days, his grandson had learned the Taoist alchemy techniques from somewhere. He used an iron pot as an alchemy furnace and found some medicinal herbs in the old forest. He stewed them all in a pot and tried his hand at alchemy.

I boiled a pot of pitch-black ointment that had a faint odor.

The two of them didn't eat much because the taste was really not good, and in the end the whole thing went to the donkey. After eating it, the donkey became more intelligent and almost as intelligent as the black tiger under Qi Xuanzhen's mount!

The two walked for dozens of days, but wherever they looked, people's lives were in decline, villages were sparse, and there was hardly any smoke from cooking fires.

However, they encountered quite a few bandits and mountain robbers, and they were all dealt with by Qi Lianhua without Xu Chunlin having to take any action.

What's more, with Xu Chunlin's own realm of a land immortal, the world is so big, there is no place he can't go.

The village is very desolate, suffering from drought and locusts every year. Old men work to pay debts, and young children sell food to pay for food. The walls are broken and the wind blows through the roof, and the beams are crumbling and the moon is falling on the bed. Who knows that the herdsmen are unwilling to report the disasters and injuries.

The master and servant walked for several days without seeing any large towns. This was due to the disasters left over from the wars of the Spring and Autumn Period, and also due to the corruption of the Liyang Dynasty.

Of course, Xu Chunlin also made an indirect "contribution" to this, but he only accelerated the process of this dynasty.

The two of them slept in the open air along the way. When they were thirsty, they drank mountain spring water. When they were hungry, they picked some wild fruits or went fishing. However, there were many refugees now, and the wild vegetables and fruits on the roadside were almost picked up. They were not enough to fill their stomachs.

Fortunately, they were skilled enough to go deep into the mountains and forests and hunt some prey, so they wouldn't starve to death. It just didn't taste very good, and couldn't compare with the delicacies of the Beiliang Palace, but it was better in that it had a bit of wildness.

But even these are much better than Xu Fengnian!
Xu Fengnian is so miserable!
Xu Fengnian's life was particularly miserable now. He had spent all the silver bills he had on him lavishly. Even though he had a few pieces of silver left, he had nowhere to buy things when he wanted to in the wild.

Bitter wild fruits, no!

Roadside vegetables?

Now there is not even a root left!

Forget about the fish and shrimp in the river. After searching for a long time, there were not even a few crabs or toads.

Xu Fengnian could never have imagined that outside of Beiliang, life would be so difficult for people all over the world today.

At least in Beiliang, even if I don’t have money, I can still fill my stomach. Outside Beiliang, I can only fill my stomach with water!
Sometimes he couldn't even get enough water to drink. In just over ten days, Xu Fengnian became so thin that he looked unrecognizable!

Sometimes, the two of them even had to dig earthworms and catch grasshoppers to taste the meat. Now, even if Xu Fengnian saw leaves, he wanted to chew them. His eyes were green with hunger!

He looked at the little yellow horse and wanted to slaughter it many times.

Xu Fengnian: I'm so stupid, really. If I had known earlier, I would have married that damn Princess Suizhu instead. It would be better than starving to death now!
Just when Xu Fengnian was so hungry that he felt dizzy and collapsed to the ground, Lao Huang saw that there was no other way, so he quietly shot a few sparrows and hurriedly brought them over.

"Master, meat! Meat!"

"Where is it? Where is it? Give it to me now!"

Xu Fengnian snatched the sparrow with one hand and wanted to put it into his mouth.

Old Huang said hurriedly: "Master, calm down, the bird has to be plucked before it can be eaten!"

.........

After hesitating for more than ten days, we finally arrived at Dantong Pass, the gateway to the legendary Tai'an City.

Outside the city walls were densely packed beggars, wearing coarse cloth and tattered clothes. They often died of hunger and thirst, and even if they were sick, there was no one to treat them.

What they were waiting for was nothing more than the porridge from the rich families and the relief from the Liyang Dynasty, but relying on others was ultimately a slim hope.

When Xu Chunlin walked by, most beggars wanted to come forward to beg but did not dare to do so. The reason was that Xu Chunlin was carrying a sword on his back!

Although he is dressed like a scholar, he is also a man of the world.

After passing the checkpoint and entering the city, the population became denser and more and more pedestrians began to travel on the road. From time to time, you could see teahouses, noodle shops, and post stations on the road.

Compared with the outside of the city, the city seems to be divided into two worlds.

The pedestrians on the road are also diverse. There are officials and businessmen in gorgeous clothes, rich and spoiled young men, people from the martial arts world wearing swords, scholars who are out for fun, and more are ordinary people in coarse clothes and linen.

Although these people looked sad, they could still barely survive. But those beggars outside the city really had no way to survive!

Most of these people looked in a hurry, except Xu Chunlin, who was riding a donkey with Qi Lianhua following behind him. They walked slowly and did not forget to appreciate the scenery along the way.

It seemed that neither the splendor in the city nor the difficulties outside the city entered Xu Chunlin's heart, and none of the world's affairs caught his attention.

However, when passing by a grain store, Xu Chunlin bought a few carts of rice and flour and asked Qi Lianhua to deliver them outside the city, but they were soon snatched away by the beggars.

"Young Master, you can save people temporarily, but not forever. Doing this is just a drop in the bucket and will be of no help!" Qi Lianhua reminded.

"It doesn't matter, as long as you understand it in your heart!"

Xu Chunlin shook his head and looked indifferently at the wealthy young man in the building who spent a fortune to win the smile of the courtesan.

(End of this chapter)