Vol 10 Chapter 54 (2/2)

“No, no, no, not at all.” He shook his head, “There’s been a landslide 2 days ago and the dirt roads have been buried under a lot of mud and the farmers have gone to deal with it.”

“I see.”

“Yes, which is why there aren’t much people around in the village.”

I looked about the village and saw that there were indeed significantly less people around than the last time. But why did this happen, and why now of all times… We were able to make it to the location at least the last time but now, we cannot even get there.

“Then how long will the clean up take? About half a month?”

“Eh?” The man seemed surprised at my pessimistic guess and shook his head, “No, no, no, of course not. The landslide only sent mud that is slippery and loose which poses a hazard for travellers. It’s not like the road has been sealed off.”

“Ah, so we will be able to use it still then?”

“That is so.” He nodded and pointed to the side, “If you must go, then you can use this route but you need to wait for the loose soil and mud to be cleared.”

“Approximately how long will that take?” Yun Chang asked.

“Everyone left to work on it first thing in the morning so it should take about another hour or so before it’s done.”

An hour huh? I looked at the sky. It should still be before noon even if we wait for an hour. Plenty of time.

“Big brother, what do we do? Shall we wait here?”

“Un…” I sank into thought for a moment as I held my chin and eventually nodded, “Let’s wait. It’s just an hour after all. We had to wait 2 weeks the last time too.”

I really have been waiting for this ever since I came to this era. But it’s not like I can tell Yun Chsng this.

“Alright, we’ll wait then.” Yun Chang nodded, seemingly convinced by my argument, “She’s a great sage after all so let’s treat her as one.”

“But it’s not ideal to wait here. We should find someplace to rest up.” Yi De said as she caressed her horse, “They didn’t get fed last night and the horses seem a little lethargic today.”

Un… That does make sense. I too would like to rest my sore b.u.t.tocks.

“Well then… Farmer, is there any place in the village where we could rest.”

“Yes, there is,” He said as he turned around after having made to leave, “If you follow the main road that goes through the village, you will eventually see a wooden lodge to your left. It’s a restaurant where you can rest.”

“Do they have horse feed?”

“They do. Longzhong isn’t very big but there are always travelling merchants pa.s.sing by. There’s an inn right beside the restaurant too.”

“Alright then, let’s head there.”

“Alright.” Yun Chang nodded, “*Gu~~* Wu!”

When she spoke, her stomach cried out as well. I looked at her and saw her looking both surprised and embarra.s.sed.

“T-this is…”

“Don’t mind it,” I smiled stiffly, “Let’s have something to eat while we’re at it.”

None of us has eaten before coming here so it’s about time we started feeling hungry, I thought as I dismounted and led the horses on foot for fear of the horses trampling on the crops.

“Is it that one?”

After about a dozen paces, we made it to the end of the first patch of rice fields and a wooden lodge soon came into sight. There were a lot of red auspicious paper stuck on it and many barrels of liquor around. It’s easy to identify it as an inn, that’s for sure.

“It has to be.” Yun Chang replied to me as I continued to look at the inn. For a simple village inn, it seems rather well-equipped and even refined.

“–Although possessed of talent rare, this man has made no name.”

While I was preoccupied with my thoughts, refined singing could be heard from the lodge. I could not understand the meaning of the lyrics but from the tune and the words used, it’s probably a poem or song from this era.

“There’s someone singing in the inn.” Yun Chang said as she listened closely. Compared to me, she actually understands the songs after all, “Un… It’s not a song that has been collected and published by the Han and is a original song. The tune isn’t too traditional either…”

Yun Chang becomes a completely different person when it comes to culture and the arts. Even though we all had humble backgrounds, the difference between the 3 of us is ma.s.sive.

“Yi De, do you understand the song?”

Yi De smiled stiffly as she shook her head, “How could I understand it? For some reason, all I can think of is that I want to sleep when I hear it.”

That is true. You are Yi De after all. If you were Guo Jia Guo Feng Xiao, you might have even joined in and sung along. Of course, it’s not too nice to bring up people that have pa.s.sed away.

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