Chapter 218: Woman Mountain

Li Huowang slowly walked, leaning on his crutch and leading the blindfolded Bai Lingmiao. He walked slowly, as his broken leg hadn't grown back yet.

Fortunately, the ox cart was also slow. It had sacrificed speed for increased load capacity, which meant its pace was roughly the same as Li Huowang's.

"Is that Women's Mountain?" Li Huowang squinted, shielding his eyes with a hand over his forehead as he looked at the distant hills.

After seeing the mountains, Li Huowang understood why this place was called Qingqiu. Not a single tree grew on these mountains; they were entirely covered by green grasslands.

However, this might also be due to the relatively low elevation of the mountains here. There were no towering, cloud-piercing peaks; these grass-covered mountains were all continuous ridges.

"Senior Brother Li, if you look at them sideways, don't those mountains resemble half a woman's face lying down?" Sun Baolu excitedly pointed.

Li Huowang carefully studied them for a long time before finally shaking his head. He couldn't see how those abstract hills resembled women. These low mountains were very strange, appearing as an abrupt cluster, neither many nor few, and they weren't interconnected.

"This is the Moon Year," Sun Baolu declared. "According to ancestral tradition, our families should be camped and grazing about a hundred li ahead. It won't be long before I can meet them!"

Li Huowang paid no mind to Sun Baolu's excited chatter; his concern was supplies. They had been in Qingqiu for so long with so many people; if they didn't find food soon, they would have to slaughter the draft oxen.

"Is there really a market inside Women's Mountain where we can buy grain?" Li Huowang asked. "If we can't get food soon, we'll be left with nothing but thin air."

"Yes, there is, definitely," Sun Baolu assured him. "Herdsmen from hundreds of li around come there to trade. I even came once when I was seven years old."

Sun Baolu's explanation made Li Huowang understand that in the vast, sparsely populated Qingqiu, the nomadic Qingqiu people designated specific locations for trade to facilitate the circulation of goods.

Over time, these locations became fixed gathering places. The Qingqiu authorities also collected taxes from these areas.

When Li Huowang's excellent eyesight spotted ant-sized black dots moving at the foot of the mountain, he knew the other person was right: there truly were people there.

"Let's go," Li Huowang said. "We should all put on our straw hats with veils, so we don't attract too much attention."

After saying this, Li Huowang put on his own hat. His face, covered in red and white blotches, looked no better than anyone else's.

The ox cart gradually approached Women's Mountain. Following a small path that led into the area surrounded by low hills, the view before them suddenly opened up.

A vast tent encampment, bustling with human voices, appeared before Li Huowang and his companions.

The sounds of horse hooves, human shouts, and donkey brays were incessant. Li Huowang even had the illusion that he was attending a bustling market.

In this lively market, many Qingqiu people, dressed distinctly differently from the Hou Shu people, were shouting and bustling about, tending to their affairs.

With so many animals, there was also plenty of dung, and the distinct animal odor filled the air, making everyone wrinkle their noses.

Whether due to prolonged sun exposure or not, the most striking difference between the Qingqiu people and the previous Siqi and Hou Shu inhabitants was their very red faces. Heavy facial blemishes covered the faces of men, women, young, and old alike.

The Qingqiu people were generally shorter than Li Huowang and his companions; in short, they looked different in every respect.

Each person wore rough-looking leather garments. Women had rounded bone fragments tied into their braids, while men had them tied around their waists.

Here, besides bones and hides, almost everything else that could be woven from grass was. Straw sandals, straw hats, and even straw baskets were all for sale.

Li Huowang's group evidently attracted the attention of the Qingqiu people. Facing outsiders, everyone scrutinized the caravan with wary, indifferent gazes.

"Thwack!" On a chopping block at a nearby straw stall, a cleaver was raised high and brought down forcefully, splitting a hairless, grotesque dog's head in half.

"Whimper...." Mantou, with his tail drooping and ears flattened, quickly and timidly scurried under the ox cart.

"Are you really a Qingqiu person? Why do you look so different from them?" Li Huowang's gaze, seen through the black veil, turned to Sun Baolu beside him.

"Because... my mother is from outside," Sun Baolu replied, his expression dimming slightly. But his eyes quickly brightened, and he immediately darted through the crowd, running forward.

Weaving and bumping through the crowd, he finally excitedly embraced an old-faced Qingqiu person, saying something.

Only when he got closer did Li Huowang realize he couldn't understand what they were saying.

"Other places allow for mutual communication, but this backward place actually has its own language," Li Huowang muttered, somewhat speechless. This would undoubtedly cause a lot of trouble for their journey through Qingqiu.

After exchanging pleasantries with the man, Sun Baolu returned to Li Huowang, saying with some excitement, "Senior Brother Li, there's no mistake! That person is my clansman. My family is not far ahead."

"Alright, even if it's not far, we still have to walk there step by step," Li Huowang said, surveying the bustling market around them. "First, help us buy some food; we're running low on provisions."

Since the Qingqiu language was unintelligible to them, they would have to rely on Sun Baolu for all negotiations.

Sun Baolu nodded and agreed wholeheartedly, about to turn and dive into the bustling crowd.

However, Li Huowang called out to him. "Wait a moment. Is there somewhere to eat here? The others are hungry too. Let's rest for a bit first."

Soon, everyone arrived at a noodle shop. Inside the straw hut, strips of green noodles hung everywhere, making it feel as if they had walked into a forest.

According to Sun Baolu, groups shared a single pot, and customers cooked their own noodles, taking as much as they wanted. The noodle topping was paid for by portion at the shop owner's counter.

This distinctive Qingqiu way of eating, though unfamiliar to the others, didn't stop them from enjoying their meal heartily. The noodles, with their grassy aroma, paired with the spicy lamb topping, were very appetizing.

The noodle shop was lively with many customers. Fortunately, the hanging noodles obstructed the view, preventing nearby people from seeing Li Huowang and his group with their hats off.

"Where's Mantou?" Li Huowang, feeling full and content, suddenly realized his dog was gone.

Just as he turned his head to look, he saw Mantou emerging from under the "noodle forest," carrying something in his mouth.

After spitting out what was in its mouth at Li Huowang's feet, it squatted down, panting with its tongue out and tail wagging, as if requesting a reward from Li Huowang.

"What is this?" Li Huowang asked in surprise, looking at the stark white bone at his feet.

The others didn't recognize it, but Sun Baolu, being a local, clearly did. He quickly explained, "Senior Brother Li, this is a horse bone. Qingqiu people raise horses, so of course they eat horse meat too. It tastes very good."