Chapter 14: Bei Qiang City
Seeing the middle-aged officer walking in front, Xu Xiang quickened her pace. It didn't take long for her to catch up to him.
"Sir."
Turning his head, he saw her coming towards him with a smile on her face. Taking a long breath, he asked her wearily.
"What do you want again?"
"It's nothing, I just want to know your destination." She said as she walked beside him
Believing that she had lost her memory, he didn't think much about it, and said, "They have several destinations. Which one do you want to know?"
"The Xiao family's destination." She answered him with a smile on her lips.
He glanced at her and said, "To repay them, just give them a few gold leaves. I advise you to stay away from them."
Raising her eyebrows, she asked, "Why would I do that?"
He lowered his voice and approached her, then covered his lips and said, "They are different from others. The reason they were exiled was treason. I don't know why the Emperor didn't cut off their heads, but exiled them instead. But, I know for sure that it is dangerous to have any relationship with them."
After hearing what he said, she became curious. Lowering her voice, she asked again.
"So, where is their destination?"
The middle-aged officer looked at her speechlessly for a while and said, "You know, I really admire your bravery."
She smiled and said, "Well, thank you for your compliment."
Knowing that she would not listen to his advice, he said, "Their destination is a village not far from the northern border. Most of those who go there will not live past a month. Do you still want to go with them?"
She nodded and said, "Of course I'm going. Why shouldn't I?"
Seeing her stubbornness, the middle-aged officer shook his head and didn't bother to talk to her anymore. After walking for several hours and when the sky changes color, they finally arrive outside Bei Qiang City. Looking at the tall city wall, Xu Xiang couldn't help but compare it with those bases in the apocalypse world.
Although the walls in front of her were made of better materials, she still felt that the walls of the bases in the apocalypse world were stronger. While she was still comparing the two walls, the middle-aged officer walked towards her.
He handed her a wooden token and said, "Young lady, you can go to the city with us now. After passing the city gate, I will go to the county magistrate office to get supplies with the others, and you can go buy what you need. We will meet at the gate in an hour. If you don't want to be arrested, don't lose your wooden token."
"Mhm. I understand."
She took the wooden token from him, pretended to put it in her sleeve pocket, and placed it in her space. Seeing that everyone was ready, they walked towards the city gate together. After showing a document to the guard soldiers, they entered the city smoothly.
Inside the city, the middle-aged officer pointed to the right and said, "You can go to the market following this road. If you don't want to be left behind, remember to come back in an hour."
She nodded at him and said, "All right."
Xu Xiang looked at their disappearing backs, and began to look around. Knowing that gold is valuable in this world, her first destination is not the market, but a place to exchange her gold into money. After walking for a few minutes, she saw a building with a wooden sign.
Looking up at the wooden sign hanging on the top of the door, she was surprised to find that besides the language of this world, the writing was also exactly the same as her original world.
'Is this world a parallel world of my original world? Or... am I the one who can read and speak normally after time travel? Is this because I swallowed the dragon and phoenix ring? It seems that I need to find as much information as possible.'
Lowering her eyes, she calmly walked into the pawn shop. There are no customers in the pawn shop at the moment. She looked around and saw a clerk standing behind a long counter. She went there and tapped lightly on the countertop.
The clerk looked up and smiled at her. "Welcome, customer. How can I help you?"
Putting her hand into her sleeve, Xu Xiang took out a golden peanut from her space and placed it on the countertop. The clerk was taken aback when he saw the golden peanut. Looking at the golden peanut carefully, the smile on his face deepened.
Observing his gaze, she said, "I want to exchange this golden peanut for money."
He picked up the golden peanut and looked at it carefully. A few seconds later, his eyes widened, and he said hastily: "Dear customer, please wait a moment. This little one will ask our appraiser to estimate the value first."
Seeing his excited expression, she said lightly: "All right."
The clerk quickly walked to the back with the golden peanut. She waited a few minutes before the clerk came back with her golden peanut. Putting the golden peanut on the countertop, he smiled at her.
"According to the current exchange rate, one tael of gold is equal to ten thousand taels of silver. However, since your golden peanut are very exquisite and made of pure gold without any impurities, then we will pay fifteen thousand taels of silver for one tael of your golden peanut. This customer, what do you think of this price?" The clerk asked her with a smile on his face.
She thought about it for a while and agreed, "Please exchange it."
"Then let me weigh this golden peanut first."
After speaking, the clerk picked up the scale on the countertop and began to weigh the golden peanut. He showed her the result and said, "Dear customer, your golden peanut weighs ten taels in total. Do you want to exchange it for one hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver?"
"Yes." She answered without hesitation.