Listening to Chen Xiaobo's words, Chen Xiaobei suddenly realized. Yes, they had caught two live wolves a few days ago, and each village guard member received five taels of silver. This silver was just enough to buy a donkey.
With the betrothal gift and the donkey, Gao Hongmei could naturally marry into his Chen Xiaobo's family.
"Alright, don't worry, I'll definitely be there then."
Watching Chen Xiaobo leave excitedly, Chen Xiaobei knew he had to buckle down. He had promised to give out fishing nets to the villagers for free, but he had only made over ten so far. So he had to hurry and make more.
Just as he was busily making fishing nets, Da Laohei arrived.
Because the village guards all recognized him, they didn't stop him and didn't need to report. They let him in directly.
Seeing Da Laohei come to find him, Chen Xiaobei was slightly surprised.
"Big Village Chief, please sit down."
Even Chen Qiao'er was no longer afraid of Da Laohei. She brought a bowl of water out from the house and placed it on the stone table.
Da Laohei looked around.
"Brother Xiaobei, your home could use some furnishings."
Chen Xiaobei was currently living in Chen Dachun's house. Honestly, the amenities were much better than his previous home, especially the stone stools and stone table which were quite decent.
So when Da Laohei said this, Chen Xiaobei was a bit confused about what he meant.
"Alas, it's enough for a farmer's family to live a simple life."
Hearing Chen Xiaobei's words, Da Laohei laughed heartily, reached into his embrace, and placed a silver note in front of Chen Xiaobei.
"Brother, thank you for guiding us. This is your reward."
Chen Xiaobei's gaze swept over it. It was two hundred taels of silver. He was secretly astonished. In this era, two hundred taels of silver was a considerable sum.
This made him even more puzzled. Could one make so much silver from a trip to Qingniu Mountain? Of course, if Chen Xiaobei knew that Da Laohei had earned five thousand taels, he would have been dumbfounded.
After a few pleasantries, Chen Xiaobei accepted the silver. He thought that the harvest from entering the mountain was quite substantial.
He had not only gained silver but also obtained ginseng and caught several large snakes.
With so much gained at once, he felt a bit embarrassed. Chen Xiaobei smiled and said, "Big Village Chief, I won't be polite about the silver. I'll get you two dogwood trees from the mountain later and send them to the village. From now on, you won't have to come to this Qingniu Mountain."
Hearing this, Da Laohei was very happy. He laughed and stroked his big head, "Good, good, then I'll thank you in advance."
Just then, the village guard captain, Lidong, ran in hurriedly.
"Brother Xiaobei, there's a situation."
Seeing Lidong's anxious appearance, Da Laohei quickly got up to take his leave.
After seeing Da Laohei off, Chen Xiaobei turned to Lidong. "What is it? You look so flustered."
"There were startled birds on the mountain just now. I quietly went up to take a look, and there are many signs of entry into the mountain from the northern fork in the road."
"There are about a dozen or so people."
Chen Xiaobei knew this fork in the road.
This road was very hidden. From the foot of the mountain to the top, there was a fork in the road about three to four li diagonally to the north. This fork led directly to the riverbank.
This meant that to enter the mountain by this road, one had to wade through the river.
Therefore, it was almost impossible for outsiders to know about this road.
In other words, there were many ways to enter the mountain, and this was the most difficult path. Why choose this one?
"Brother Xiaobei, shall I take some men into the mountain to check?" Lidong began to seek his opinion.
Chen Xiaobei shook his head slightly. "Brother Lidong, you need to understand that Qingniu Mountain does not belong to me, nor to you, nor to our Hetou Village. So, others can also go where we go."
Hearing his words, Cui Hongyu, who was standing nearby, chuckled.
This was not the first time Chen Xiaobei had said this.
"Alright then, I won't go." Lidong felt a little disappointed.
He changed the subject and took out fifty taels of silver, handing it to Chen Xiaobei. "This is the money from selling the ginseng. Take it for now and use it. Building a house will cost a lot."
Chen Xiaobei smiled. "No need for the money, thank you. Thank you very much."
The speaker meant nothing, but the listener took it to heart. Lidong mentioning the ginseng made Chen Xiaobei more cautious. The last time he entered Hulu Valley, he had noticed signs of ginseng being dug up.
It had been many days since he had been to Hulu Valley. He needed to go and see what was happening.
"Brother Lidong, go and organize a few people. Let's go to Hulu Valley."
Just as he was preparing to enter the mountain, a group of people had already arrived at the Mountain God Temple.
It was Sun Jian, Sun Qing, and others.
This time, several special individuals accompanied Sun Jian into the mountain.
One of them was Miao Qingfeng. Miao Qingfeng was a favored official of the Imperial Preceptor, and his arrival showed affirmation and importance towards Sun Jian.
Although Sun Jian had a map of the route, one thing had not been resolved, and that was the exact location of the dragon脉.
Not only did they need to find the dragon脉, but they also had to identify the dragon's eye and dragon's head, and determine the next course of action after confirming them one by one.
In other words, drawing the map of the routes into Qingniu Mountain was only the most basic of basics, only the first step.
Beside Miao Qingfeng was an old man in a Taoist robe. This old man had white hair and beard, and his bones were slender, giving him an air of immortal charm. Miao Qingfeng treated him with great respect, and not long after walking, he would ask with a smile and a cautious demeanor, "Daoist, do you want to rest before we continue?" Su Dan Novel Network
The old Taoist chuckled, stroked his white beard, "No trouble, no trouble. This little bit of a walk, I, Hongyun, can still endure."
By noon, Daoist Hongyun was fine, but Miao Qingfeng was a bit overwhelmed. He was accustomed to a life of luxury and had never endured such hardship.
Seeing him panting, Sun Jian understood and shouted to the subordinate leading the way ahead, "It's getting late. Find a place to rest. Everyone eat something before we continue."
During the meal break, Sun Jian approached Miao Qingfeng with a smile and said, "Steward Miao, we are carrying so much equipment, it's too tiring to go up the mountain. Why don't we leave some equipment here, and you can stay with a few people to watch? I'll accompany the Daoist further."
Miao Qingfeng really wanted to stay, but after looking at Hongyun, he hesitated.
Before coming, the Imperial Preceptor had ordered him to accompany Daoist Hongyun and not leave his side for even a moment.
Daoist Hongyun, having lived for so many years, saw things clearly. He chuckled, "Hero Sun is right. I only need to go to the mountaintop to take a look at the dragon脉. There's no need for such a large undertaking."
Alright, since Daoist Hongyun gave him an out, he had to take it.
Miao Qingfeng turned to look at Sun Jian. "You protect the Daoist and go ahead. I'll take them with the equipment and follow behind."
This way, he maintained his dignity and conserved his energy.
After eating their fill, Sun Jian accompanied Daoist Hongyun and continued forward.
With the route map, there was no worry of getting lost, so their speed naturally increased.