After passing through the cave again, the path ahead was all downhill.
The convoy began to travel through the gorge between two mountain peaks. On the steep rock faces, only a few short, yellowish-green blades of grass could be seen growing out of the crevices, along with some sparsely leaved shrubs. The entire mountain looked completely barren.
Once the ground leveled out, Song Jinzhao and the others began to speed up. They traversed six mountains in a row over the course of six hours, not arriving at Longshan Town at the foot of the mountain until the sun was nearing sunset.
A worker squatting at the entrance of the town spotted the approaching convoy from afar. He immediately stood up and took a couple of steps forward to get a clearer look.
Seeing a white towel draped over the man's shoulder, which indicated he was likely an inn or tavern worker, Song Jinzhao brought his horse to a halt.
Seeing this, Qingshuang was just about to ask a question when the worker beat him to it, calling out to Song Qiming, Are you looking for a place to stay, guest? My inn is just ahead. We have plenty of food and fodder.
Thank heavens, they had not had a single customer in over a month, and he finally saw some people. It was just that there seemed to be too many of them to fit.
They were led to the entrance of the inn, which was essentially just a large courtyard enclosed by a fence. In the middle was a row of houses built from stacked stones, with only five doors visible from the outside.
Afraid that they would find it too shabby, the worker began to explain as soon as they entered the yard.
Things are kept simple in a small place like this. There are only forty-two households in all of Longshan Town, and mine is the only inn. Please bear with us if anything is lacking.
Song Qiming swallowed hard; his stomach was already rumbling with hunger.
We have a lot of people, so I do not think we will all fit. Are there more rooms in the back?
The worker pointed at the house and said with a straight face, You will absolutely fit.
We have one superior room, and the other three are large communal sleeping quarters. One room can sleep thirty people. When there are too many people, they can also sleep in the lobby at night, which holds fifty people.
In truth, no one had ever slept there. The most guests they ever had at once was fifty, and that was three years ago.
Song Jinzhao handed the reins to Qingshuang.
We will spend the night here. Let us eat first.
They still had to cross another mountain to reach the next resting place, and the sky was already growing dark. No matter how primitive the conditions were, they had to spend the night here. Having an inn was better than nothing.
Hearing this, the worker beamed with joy and immediately shouted toward the house, Ah Fei, come out quickly and attend to the guests!
Soon, a young boy wearing a sheepskin hat ran out of the house. Coincidentally, at that exact moment, Xuetuan emerged from the carriage.
Before the boy could even clearly see how many people there were, he was so frightened by the tiger that he stumbled backward repeatedly.
His back hit the wall, and he screamed at the top of his lungs for his father to save him, Dad, there is a tiger!
The worker's reaction was half a beat slow. When he turned his head, his eyes met Xuetuan's pale blue gaze.
In an instant, the blood drained from his body. His knees went weak as he shielded his son, ready to bolt into the house.
Do not be afraid, that is our family's pet, Song Qiming hastily explained.
The old man and the young boy looked at Song Qiming as if they had lost their souls.
A pet? A tiger?
Song Qiming nodded. We raised it from a cub. It is quite docile.
He had already said the exact same thing hundreds of times on the road and was long used to it.
After all, very few people actually kept tigers as pets; most people could not run away fast enough when they saw a wild beast.
Cautiously, the worker led the group into the lobby. There were only four tables inside, so those who could not fit had to sit on the floor.
The entire inn had a staff of three: the worker was the boss, the cook was the boss's wife, and the young waiter was their son.
There were only four dishes on the menu. The only meat dishes were chicken and duck, which were raised in the backyard and slaughtered on the spot. There were only two vegetable dishes, one of which was dried vegetables.
Seeing that the three of them were too busy to handle it, Song Jinzhao, wanting to eat sooner, had his servants go help.
Even so, it was over an hour later by the time they finally got to eat.
With one hundred and thirty-eight people, a single meal consumed half of the inn's food reserves. The rest would be just enough for breakfast tomorrow morning.
