You Didn't Ask

The horse convoy of the Chang Fu Escort quickly set off.

When it was dark, they hadn't reached Thorn Ridge yet, and there was no inn for rest, but there was a village not far away.

Wang Wutong knew the landlords in the village, and he had sent the news of their arrival well in advance, so once the carriage team entered village, there would be a place to rest and eat.

Being used to the comfort of modern transportation, Yu Yan was on the verge of tears when the convoy suddenly stopped.

The slow speed aside, Yu Yan felt uncomfortable in the carriage that was bumpy all the way.

Although the route the convoy travelled along had been developed for years, the Yong empire did not have the technology to make proper roads.

'It is a pity that I was not an engineer back on earth, or I could make myself a fortune here,'

Yu Yan thought in passing.

They stayed in the nameless village for one night, and went on their way early the next morning.

It was not until noon it was noon they arrive at the foot of Thorn Ridge.

The carriage team of the Chang Fu Escort stopped for Yu Yan, and Wang Wutong bid farewell to Yu Yan.

"Monk, you have to follow this road to get to Thorn Ridge,"

"There is a three-way intersection on the mountainside, and there is a village market near the intersection,"

"Considering that the time is still around noon, there should still be people around there,"

"You might want to clean up there before going to Thorn Ridge."

"Namo Amitabha, thank you benefactor Wang."

Yu Yan clasped his hands together, proclaimed the Buddha's name, and expressed his thanks.

"Monk, you don't need to be too polite, after all you are my brother's senior brother,"

"Although my brother has become a monk, he and I always have a brotherhood."

"I only ask that you lend a helping if my brother ever gets in trouble."

After a few more polite words, Wang Wutong got into the carriage and left.

Yu Yan looked at the cloud of dust kicked up by the team of carriages that were driving away, and fell into deep thought.

'Does this Wang Wutong fellow also know about the banquet at Thorn Ridge?'

Otherwise, why would he thoughtfully mention a place to clean up to Yu Yan.

After all, dusty from traveling, so it was not suitable for him to go to a banquet with such an appearance.

"Let's go."

Yu Yan said to the lazy cat lying in his arms.

Yawn——

"Okay, let's go~"

Moonless lazily stretched out one of her paws, and pointing ahead with squinting eyes.

Yu Yan: "..."

Ignoring the lazy cat, Yu Yan made his way to the village market.

'I kwonder if my fake apprentice, Shen Xing, has arrived yet,'

Yu Yan thought as he walked along the lonely mountain road.

After walking for a while, as expected, he saw a village market at the three-way intersection.

The stores were all simple thatched shacks, but they sold a lot of things.

Walking along the way, glancing left and right, Yu Yan thought it looked very novel.

He had imagined it to be a simple place to barter and get what one needed, but after he arrived he realized that although the venue was simple, it felt very complete.

It didn't look like a village market in the countryside at all, but it looked like it was in a downtown area.

The high traffic of people coming and going made it very lively.

He only had one complaint in his heart – too much rice!

Rice porridge, rice balls, steamed rice buns, rice noodles, rice pancake, rice wine...

He felt like he had stepped into a rice wonderland by mistake.

Yu Yan understood that there was a lack of grain in the Yong dynasty, and rice was the cheapest and most abundant resource.

Especially in a backward place like this, one would hardly ever find wheat, even if one found it it would be too expensive for ordinary people.

Afterwards, he found a place that sold tea, he took a rest for a while.

The boss of the stall sold his tea in bamboo tubes, and Yu Yan could tell from the astringent taste that the tea was probably from wild tea leafs, making Yu Yan regret spending his 7 Rain coins on it.

After drinking the poor quality tea, Yu Yan found a small inn, cleaned himself up, changed his robe, and made his way to Thorn Ridge.

The more he walked, the more the number of people decreased.

After a while, he couldn't anyone else on the road, and all he could see was trees.

Looking around, in addition to yellow and red, all he could see was brown.

Yu Yan wasn't a serious monk so he couldn't help but feel bit flustered, only the cat still in his arms, gave him a sense of security.

"Where is the place where Old Man Fu Yun lives?"

Yu Yan couldn't help muttering under his breath.

Before he came, he thought it would be easy to find. After all, there was only such a place name written on the invitation.

'If it was hard to find, how could he invite people to come to his banquet?'

He didn't expect Thorn Ridge to be full of trees, and these towering trees didn't seem like ordinary trees.

He could hardly even see the clouds!

After thinking about it, Yu Yan asked the cat with a weirdly mischievous look in it's eyes.

"Do you know how to get to the Shao Hua Banquet?"

"Of course, you go there with an invitation card!"

Moonless answered with a teasing tone.

Yu Yan: "..."

He couldn't help looking at the cat speechlessly.

he didn't say a word, but just expressed with his eyes,

'Do you still need to say such nonsense?'

Moonless seemed to understood Yu Yan's eyes, and he could tell that she was having fun.

"Otherwise,? Do you want to go in without an invitation?"

Yu Yan: "..."

'Forget it '

He didn't bicker with a cat, after all he is the grown up in the room, after thinking so, Yu Yan felt much better.

"What I meant to express, was that I am lost, help me figure it out, please."

Yu Yan reorganized his words and requested.

"You have already entered though!"

Moonless squinted her golden eyes at him, her amusement clear as day.

"I've already entered?"

Yu Yan looked around, but all he saw was trees.

'How is there any banquet here?'

After thinking about it, he took out the invitation from his pocket.

In an instant, the scene in Yu Yan's eyes changed instantly.

It was as if he had traveled through all of a sudden, and he was suddenly placed in a banquet.

There are still lush trees all around, but among these trees, there are many patterns that seem to be chaotic, but have a strange pattern to them, scattered like a stars.

There were even a few people around , some of them sat cross legged, looking very serious, some where leaning on trees, and some where chatting amongst themselves.

Yu Yan, who was holding the invitation card, was stunned for a moment, then he reacted.

"You already knew?"

Yu Yan asked involuntarily after regaining his composure.

"Yeah!"

Moonless replied seriously, and nodded her head like a human being.

"Then why didn't you say anything?"

Yu Yan couldn't help but ask.

"You didn't ask!"

...

The end