Judging by the material, it was likely made from animal intestine.
Considering how these past few days the ger had been constantly by his side, he shouldn’t have had time to make this.
He turned to Ji Taoyu, who was avoiding his gaze: "Where did this come from?"
Ji Taoyu pursed his lips: "Tianyin gave it to me."
Huo Shu’s brow twitched: "You think it works?"
Ji Taoyu widened his eyes: "How could it not?!"
They hadn’t even tried it yet, and he was already dismissing it.
"Then why does he have a child?"
Ji Taoyu was momentarily speechless at Huo Shu’s question.
Huo Shu pinched the object in his hand and added: "If you’re worried, I can use this. But..."
He looked at Ji Taoyu: "Don’t you think something’s off?"
"W-what’s off now?"
"It’s too small, how am I supposed to fit in?"
"......"
Ji Taoyu covered his face, yanked the blanket over his head, and burrowed under the covers.
Fine, do whatever you want!
____
The next day, the group set off early.
If they hurried, they could reach Baiyunjian before nightfall.
Huo Shu didn’t plan to detour through Baiyunjian’s main city—instead, he intended to cut straight through to the Northern Territories.
This would significantly shorten their journey, allowing them to traverse Baiyunjian in just two days and reach their destination.
With this, the two merchant groups that had traveled together for over ten days would now part ways.
"Thanks to Brother Huo’s care along the way, please accept this small token of gratitude."
Before departure, Zhang Rong presented Huo Shu with a box of medicinal herbs. The items weren’t plentiful, but Ji Taoyu recognized them as rare and valuable.
Huo Shu didn’t feel he had done much to assist Zhang Rong group—both sides had helped each other, so he couldn’t accept gifts for nothing.
Thus, he gave Zhang Rong several boxes of fine tea and a few bolts of silk in return.
For people from Tongzhou, medicinal herbs from Yuchang Prefecture were precious goods. Conversely, for those in Yuchang, Tongzhou’s tea and silk were equally rare.
Zhang Rong’s family ran a sizable business, with plenty of mountainous land for growing medicinal herbs—he wasn’t short on money. Still, receiving such fine tea delighted him.
"If Brother Huo passes through the prefecture city on his return, you must visit my home."
Huo Shu agreed, accepting Zhang Rong’s address in Yuchang Prefecture. Who knew—he might actually need to pay a visit someday.
The two merchant groups split paths before sunset, each heading their own way.
After over ten days of lively company, the sudden reduction in numbers felt oddly quiet.
But the group didn’t have much time to dwell on it. Once they entered Baiyunjian through Tongxing Pass, the scenery shifted—sparse vegetation, vast stretches of exposed mountain rock unfolding before them.
The air grew noticeably drier, and a faint discomfort settled in their noses.
Born in the watery landscapes of the south, none of them had ever seen such terrain. Over the two-day journey toward the Northern Territories, they couldn't stop staring at the strange northern scenery unfolding around them.
The closer they got to the Northern Territories, the more yellow sand became visible. Even in the warmth of spring, lush greenery grew increasingly rare.
Along the road, they frequently spotted camels with humped backs passing by.
The local men wore thick beards, while women and young men covered their faces with coarse cloth. The group stared curiously at these Northerners, who in turn gawked back at the southern travelers.
"Northerners are really tall, I’ve seen several young men as tall as us!"
"Too bad they cover their faces. I heard they’re fierce and bold, why hide? Even our southern girls and gers don’t do that."
Ge Liang laughed: "You think it’s shyness? The wind and sand here are so strong they’ll scrape your face raw. The sun’s brutal too. They cover up to keep sand from blowing into their mouths and noses, unless they want a mouthful of dirt."
The group chuckled: "Guess we really are ignorant."
Ji Taoyu sat inside the carriage, already captivated by the northern scenery. But when he lifted the curtain to peek outside, passersby stared straight at him without hesitation.
Some even pointed at him, muttering words he couldn’t understand.
Embarrassed, he averted his gaze.
He lowered the curtain, leaving just a slit, and called out to Huo Shu, who was leading the way: "Brother Huo!"
"What’s wrong?"
Huo Shu slowed his horse, falling back beside Ji Taoyu’s carriage: "Feeling unwell?"
Ji Taoyu sniffed—his nose was dry, but bearable.
Right now, he wasn’t too concerned about his health. He was just curious about the outside: "Can you understand the local dialect?"
Baiyunjian’s territory stretched like a ribbon along the Northern Territories, and the two regions shared similar speech.
"I can."
"Then what are they saying?"
Ji Taoyu opened the curtain slightly—the people who had stopped to look at him started speaking again.
Huo Shu glanced over, his brow twitching.
"Tell me what they said!"
"Are you sure?"
Ji Taoyu nodded eagerly.
"His face is flawless like white jade, his lips as red as spring cherries, his eyes as bright as stars over the desert... If..." he could spend a night with me, I’d offer him jewels as precious as he is.
Ji Taoyu rested his chin in his hand, listening to Huo Shu’s translation of the compliments. His eyes curved—Northerners really knew how to flatter.
Just as he was basking in the praise, Huo Shu suddenly stopped translating and snapped something back in the local tongue.
"See if you’d like to sleep with me instead—get lost and die. If I see you again, I’ll beat you senseless."
The man, who had been half-dazed with admiration, jolted at Huo Shu’s words.
"Your heart’s as narrow as your ass crack."
Huo Shu reached for his blade. The man immediately backed off, slapping his camel into a hasty retreat.
Ji Taoyu blinked: "Why’d he leave?"
Huo Shu’s face darkened, silent.
Beside them, Ge Liang struggled to hold back laughter.
"Brother Ge, you understood too?"
Ge Liang waved a hand: "Only a little. I had Northern comrades back in the barracks."
"Then what did they say just now?"
Ge Liang coughed: "Brother Huo thanked him for the compliments and said they should drink together sometime."
Ji Taoyu frowned: "Then why did he run?"
Ge Liang rubbed his nose: "He said Brother Huo’s blade looked nice and asked how much it cost. Brother Huo showed it to him and said eighty taels. He thought it was too expensive and got scared off."
"......"
At the tail end of the fourth month, after a full two months of travel, the group finally arrived at their destination beneath a sky painted with sunset clouds.
This land—the Northern Territories Prefecture, the northernmost frontier of the empire, stretching across the entire border—was now before them.
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