The Lucky Farmgirl

Chapter 2261 - 2236: Meeting an Old Acquaintance in a Foreign Land

Steward Li was clever too. He took out two bolts of not-so-good silk from the luggage, which were carried by the two bandits when they tried to sneak in.

To put on a good show, each of them brought ten bolts of silk at the time, but unfortunately, they didn’t do it well, and the quality of the silk they brought was average.

They were sent back to Yumen Pass, but their belongings were confiscated and left behind.

Naturally, it was confiscated by their Miss Man.

Steward Li indicated that these two bolts of silk were the cost of their caravan staying in the village, and the elder pondered.

The villagers stared at the elder with bright eyes, wanting to agree for him. Two bolts of silk were not few, and could be exchanged for a lot of wheat, or more for barley.

But the elder shook his head, signaling for one more bolt to be added.

Steward Li mulled it over for a moment, then took out another bolt and said, "We can add another bolt, but our master wants to live in a good place, together or nearby, and it cannot be separated."

The elder looked at Zhou Man and the others beside him, then nodded in agreement.

Steward Li smiled, knowing that there might not be too much good food there, and the cooking might not suit their masters’ tastes, so he decided to later exchange some silk or tea for some grains, vegetables, and meat for Sister-in-law He to cook.

Steward Li directed Wei Xingren to instruct the guards to properly arrange everyone, while Manbao and the others followed along to join the fun, mainly to listen to them talk and to learn from Wei Xingren’s translations.

The elder was intrigued by the few who were babbling and arranged for the others before leading them to stay at his home.

He indicated that he was the head of the village and lived in the best house in the village. On either side of his house lived his two sons, and besides them, there were two guests. If they wanted to learn the language, they could learn from those two guests. He approved, "That guest is very skilled and understands our language."

Wei Xingren: ... As if he didn’t understand. Master, if you want to learn, wouldn’t it be more convenient to find him?

The elder happily opened the courtyard and shouted inside, "Venerable Monk, Venerable Monk, guests have arrived."

Manbao and Bai Shan looked up, shocked by the person walking out of the house.

Zhi Ren was surprised for a moment, then smiled, "So it’s Benefactor Zhou and Benefactor Bai, it seems we are fated, please come in quickly."

Although the elder didn’t understand Chinese, he could read expressions, and was pleasantly surprised, "Do you know each other?"

This question was directed at the venerable monk, and Zhi Ren smiled and said, "We are old acquaintances. These young friends were my friends when I was in my former place."

The elder treated Zhou Man and the others more courteously, warmly inviting them into the house and then calling out to the rooms on either side, intending to call out his grandchildren at home to make milk tea for them.

However, most of the villagers had run to the village entrance to join in the fun and distribute the guests, and the children were the same, so he ended up calling out a two-year-old toddler who was just learning to walk. She was clutching the door frame and crying, seemingly calling for her mother.

The elder: ...

Manbao stifled a laugh, stepped forward to pick up the child, and took out a piece of candy from her pouch, crushed it a bit, and put it in the child’s mouth. The child tasted the sweetness and immediately stopped crying.

After sucking for a bit, she looked at Manbao with tearful eyes.

While Manbao fed her candy, she curiously asked Zhi Ren, "Master, when did you come to the Western Regions?"

Zhi Ren smiled and said, "Two years ago."

Manbao was very interested, "Master, are you on your way back now, or have you just reached here?"

"I’m on my way back now, but I’ve heard there are many bandits on the road, so I plan to stay here for a while, and then take the Western Zhou route, passing through Yizhou to the grasslands to return home."

Bai Shan was stunned, "Isn’t Western Zhou Gaochang? Master, are you going back?"

Zhi Ren explained, "I came from Kucha, originally planning to take this trade route back to Yumen Pass, but bandits are rampant in this section, so I plan to detour through Western Zhou and join a caravan to Yizhou, then go all the way to Fengzhou and head south."

That’s quite a detour.

Zhi Ren looked at them with a smile, "What brings you young friends to the Western Regions?"

Manbao explained a bit about the smallpox in Xiazhou.

Zhi Ren was momentarily dazed and then said, "I see. No wonder the road was relatively stable when I came, but now it’s so chaotic. Smallpox... was there much loss in Xiazhou?"

Manbao nodded.

Zhi Ren sighed in his heart, then curiously asked, "Is there a remedy for smallpox in the Western Regions? Where did the news come from?"

Manbao said, "It’s not a remedy, it’s a method of vaccination."

She said, "We have tried it, human smallpox can be inoculated, but it’s more risky. I’ve heard cowpox is safer, but we don’t know the vaccination method. We can’t always use human trials, so we wanted to come here for advice."

Zhi Ren wasn’t very confident because he had never heard of this method.

Bai Shan was a bit curious, "Master, have you traveled all over the Western Regions?"

Zhi Ren gave a wry smile, "I haven’t traveled all over the Western Regions. I have a friend who went to India years ago to seek true scriptures, but he hasn’t returned. Coincidentally, I have many questions about the Lotus Sutra, so I wanted to retrace his path to seek answers and find him, but we only got as far as Yutian Town. Junior Bolu and Big Bolv were at war, and Tubo was involved, so we couldn’t pass."

Although there were passage documents, Tubo and Junior Bolu both believed in Buddha, but they would rather detain him than let him pass.

He tried for half a year, and Big Bolv was willing to escort him, but then changed their mind, eventually sending him back to Yutian Town, still thinking of borrowing troops from Great Jin. However, Yutian Town was also unstable, as Tubo intervened in the matters between Junior Bolu and Big Bolv and "accidentally" occupied three places under Yutian Town, taking the tribespeople to Tubo.

Seeing that the timing wasn’t right and things were unachievable, Zhi Ren quietly left Yutian Town with his disciples, intending to return to the Central Plains via Kucha.

However, the Western Regions are predominantly Buddhist, especially Gaochang, now called Western Zhou, where both nobles and commoners are devout Buddhists. So, he preached Buddhist teachings all the way back, which slowed him down. When they got here, they encountered a bandit robbery.

Zhi Ren looked at Zhou Man, pondered for a moment, and said, "I have something to ask of Benefactor Zhou."

Manbao quickly replied, "Please, Master, go ahead."

Zhi Ren then got up and asked her to check the guest room.

Jiechen was injured, which was also one of the reasons he decided to take the Western Zhou route. The bandits on this road were too vicious.

Jiechen lay on the bed, and when Manbao lifted the quilt to check his wound, she found a large gash from shoulder to waist on his back. It had been treated with some green herbs for stopping bleeding, but probably due to insufficient medication, the wound had worsened.

Zhi Ren said, "It’s a sword wound. He also has an arrow wound on his leg, which was poisoned. I don’t know what poison it is. I tried to detoxify it, but it didn’t work. I would like to ask Benefactor Zhou for help."