northernbook #806 - Too busy to take care of oneself
#806 - Too busy to take care of oneself
"Is this Ulan City?"
After the eight of them walked out of a brewery, Wen Xiaoqian looked around the street with curiosity, "Why does it feel so deserted...?"
Although Ulan City is located in a remote area, it is on the only route to the Western Regions, and it is the last town before entering Bai Longpo.
Traveling merchants and travelers have to stop here to rest and replenish supplies, so it is usually quite lively.
However, the world is in chaos now.
Not to mention the Chen Kingdom, where famine, riots, and years of war have greatly reduced the number of merchants willing to do business honestly.
Recently, Lu Jing's ginseng has been selling well in the capital, also because it has become increasingly difficult for other pharmacies to obtain ginseng, especially ginseng of good quality.
The ginseng collectors who used to supply them were either killed by robbers, or their goods were robbed on the way.
Some even simply took up the banner and became robbers themselves.
After all, those who can dig ginseng in the northern lands are not good people to begin with.
Seeing a faster way to make money, who would be willing to honestly drill into the deep mountains?
Nowadays, only Lu Jing's artificially cultivated wild ginseng can increase the quantity without increasing the price, so the pharmacies in the capital are now racking their brains to find out the source of Shopkeeper Gu's goods.
Of course, their efforts are destined to be in vain.
The Chen Dynasty is not peaceful, and neither are the Western Regions.
As early as two years ago, strange phenomena began to occur frequently.
First, there were problems with the climate.
After that, more and more people realized that climate change was not necessarily a good thing.
For example, some drought-resistant crops they planted before had reduced yields as a result.
In addition, many animals and plants unique to the desert could not adapt to the new climate.
For example, the fire lantern grass needed by Lu Jing to refine 'Fallen into the Mortal World' was out of stock around this time.
In addition to climate change, other strange things happened more and more often.
For example, the daughter of a king suddenly began to suck human blood, and she would feel restless and act like a mad dog if she didn't drink it for a day.
There was also a man whose lower abdomen bulged inexplicably, and after ten months, it swelled up like a watermelon.
One day, he felt nauseous, opened his mouth, and vomited two infants, a boy and a girl, who could speak as soon as they landed, shocking everyone for miles.
In short, people there are also panicking now.
From the king to the common people, they are all busy exorcising evil spirits and catching demons, which has also led to the silence of Ulan City, which used to be quite lively.
After listening to the waiter's words, Lu Jing reached into his sleeve, took out twenty copper coins, and placed them on the table.
The waiter grinned and swept the twenty copper coins into his palm, then paused and said, "You are new to the city, right?
Are you here to find relatives or to do business?"
Lu Jing and Kui looked at each other and asked, "Is there anything special about this?"
"If you are here to seek refuge with relatives, then naturally there is nothing to say.
If you are here to do business, although it is still early, it is best to settle down as soon as possible."
"Why do you say that?"
The waiter sighed, "To be honest, Ulan City has not been peaceful recently.
You see, there are so few people on the street now, and it's not just because there are fewer traveling merchants.
It's a little better during the day, but when it gets dark, you must remember to close the doors and windows of the inn, and don't go out.
If you hear someone knocking on the door, you can turn off the oil lamp and cover your mouth and nose."
"As long as you don't make a sound, that thing outside the door will leave."
"What thing will come and knock on our door at night?" Wen Xiaoqian asked.
"Brahma."
The waiter glanced left and right and said in a low voice.
"What?"
"A deity worshiped in the Western Regions.
It is said that she has three heads and seven arms.
The three heads are in charge of the earth, rivers, and sky respectively, and the seven arms each hold magical instruments with infinite uses."
"And she likes to knock on people's doors in the middle of the night?" Lu Jing raised his eyebrows.
"This... there shouldn't be anything like that in the teachings of Brahma.
I don't know what's going on, but I heard from the Brahma followers who guard the temple in the city that the statue disappears at night, starting about half a month ago."
"In addition, some people have recognized from the silhouette on the window that the person outside the door does have three heads and seven arms, but no one has really seen Brahma, because the people who opened the door are all dead."
"Thank you for telling us." Lu Jing said, while taking out twenty copper coins again, "But we probably won't be staying in the city overnight.
We'll just buy some things here and then hit the road."
"Then I wish you all a fortune soon." The waiter said, taking the money and leaving happily.
After he left, Yan Yun spoke again, "A strange object?"
"It looks like it's a strange object." Xia Huai nodded.
"It's been half a month already, why hasn't the Department of Celestial Observation reacted and sent someone to solve this matter?"
Dongmen Weilan had stayed in Mirror Lake Valley for too long, and only heard Lu Jing's general description of what happened outside, so she had such a question.
As a result, Wen Xiaoqian answered抢答 immediately after she finished speaking, "No one will come.
The Department of Celestial Observation is seriously understaffed now, and even if they know about things like this, they can only put them aside for now."
"Are we going to take care of it?" Dongmen Weilan asked again.
Everyone's eyes focused on Lu Jing's face.
Although in terms of status and seniority, Xu Professor should be the most respected among this group of people, the old man had already declared before setting off that he would only be in charge of stargazing, and Lu Jing would make the decisions on other matters.
Lu Jing thought for a while, "If it's just a statue that comes alive and knocks on the door in the middle of the night, it's not too serious.
I will report it to the Department of Celestial Observation.
As for us, let's stick to our original plan and go deep into Bai Longpo, after all, there are only three months left."
"If that dragon successfully escapes in three months, then we'll really be in big trouble."
Everyone heard this and had no objections.
Yan Yun said, "I'll go buy food and water."
"I'll go hire camels and a guide." Wen Xiaoqian volunteered.
"Then I'll go to the pharmacy to buy some medicinal materials." Dongmen Weilan said, "There are still many poisonous creatures in the desert."
[If you like this novel, I hope you can share it to Facebook, the author will be very grateful.]