The weak scholar in the end of ancient times

Chapter 17 The Donkey That Slipped Away
When preparing supplies before leaving the village, Wen Gu was wondering when he could find animals to pull the cart.

After setting off, I kept an eye out for any surviving horses, cows, donkeys or mules around.

Now, on the first day of our trip, I was really surprised and delighted to see such a good-quality donkey suddenly in this unexpected place!
When the donkey saw the four of them, although it did not show any signs of familiarity, it also did not show any obvious wariness or rejection.

There were ropes tied around his body, but they looked like they hadn't been taken care of in a long time. There seemed to be no one else around.

"This is a domesticated donkey," said Xiao Liu.

It has no apparent defense against humans.

Xiao Liu looked it up and down and concluded, "This is not our local donkey. It's bigger than our local donkeys. It looks a little thinner now, but it must have been very strong in the past."

"I heard that when there was a shortage of horses at the border, some people rode donkeys and mules to fight. This donkey is also large, perhaps it was brought by a foreign caravan."

Wen Gu looked around.

There is a large garden behind this.

With its elegant garden layout and exquisite and beautiful pond pavilions, the owner must have held a banquet here before.

It used to be carefully cared for by servants, with some ornamental flowers and plants planted and branches and grass trimmed, but now it is abandoned and should be overgrown with weeds like other parts of the farm, but this place has almost been eaten bare by weeds.

There is also the stench of excrement.

Turning around and looking ahead, there was a room with an open door, and the donkey had come out of that room.

There was no other sound inside, but there was a strong smell of alcohol.

This was the source of the alcohol they had smelled earlier.

In the glow of the sunset, you can see the broken wine jar on the floor of the house.

Xiao Liu also saw the situation inside and couldn't help but take a deep breath, his face twitching.

He didn't know much about wine and didn't drink much, as he hadn't had the means before. But thinking about the status of the host here, and looking at those wine jars, it looked very particular. The wine the host put here must be good!
So much good wine was ruined by this donkey?!

In the past, if anyone's livestock wasted wine like this, they would be put into the pot!

"Is this donkey a wine lover?" Xiao Liu's lips trembled. "If it wants to drink, it can't just smash the jar... Well, we can't expect it to know how to open it."

For this donkey, simply smashing the wine jar is indeed the easiest way.

"After the wine jar is broken, the wine will spill out. How much can it drink?"

Xiao Liu had seen some very smart livestock before, including horses, cows, donkeys and mules. Some of them could even use simple tools after training.

"This donkey in front of me, he used to travel with the caravan, right? Logically, with more experience, he should be more shrewd, but why doesn't he look so smart?"

Or the foundation is not good.

Not born smart.

Xiao Liu smelled the alcohol in the room and sighed repeatedly.

Wen Gu carefully observed the situation inside and outside the house. When he heard Xiao Liu's words, he asked him, "Have you ever thought about why this donkey can still survive?"

Xiao Liu was stunned.

Yup!

Why is it still alive?

They had just encountered a small evil creature, and there were other evil creatures around the farm.

Given the evil creature's ferocious and bloodthirsty nature, it leaves no one alive wherever it passes, so how could it leave behind such a large donkey? What a huge piece of meat!
They had seen several skeletons of livestock along the way and had no hope of encountering a living one.

This donkey looks like it has lived here for quite some time. How did it survive?
Xiao Liu looked around the house, and finally his attention was focused on the broken pieces of wine jars on the ground and the strong smell of alcohol.

"Wine...can drive away evil spirits?" he asked tentatively.

Taoist Qingyi said nothing and made no other expression.

However, this tacit attitude made Xiao Liu know that he had guessed correctly. At least the direction was right.

Wen Gu said, "Evil creatures have a keen sense of smell. They have some favorite smells and some they dislike. They don't like the smell of the herbs we use to fumigate the house, so they avoid it."

He then looked at the broken wine jars on the floor. "It seems they don't like the taste of wine either. Even if it's not as strong as the herbs, they still won't eat it if they encounter it."

After Xiao Liu accepted this explanation, he looked at the scenery in front of and behind the house.

"This donkey has a really good life!"

There's shelter from the wind and rain, where you can go out and nibble on flowers and plants when you're hungry, stroll and roll around in the large garden, and when you're craving something, you can break a wine jar and lick a little bit of it. There's no need to worry about evil spirits possessing you, and no one is around to bother you. You don't have to work, and any evil spirits that get close will be driven away by the wine's fumes...

Whether it is humans or other animals, life out there is hard.

This donkey can actually live freely in this place!

Xiao Liu didn't want to admit he was envious. "It's quite patient. I've heard that donkeys and horses, like livestock, like to spend time with their companions. It's amazing that it can stay here for so long without any companions or people."

If it steps out of the alcohol's reach, once the alcohol odor lingers on it, it becomes a sitting duck! The evil creatures outside can smell the scent and come over to gnaw it to pieces!

Wen Gu thought: It seems that this donkey is a homebody.

He glanced at the remaining wine jars in the room and added:

"Every once in a while, it would break a jar of wine, and there were only two jars left in the house.

“Once the two jars of wine are smashed, without the masking aroma of alcohol, the smell of food will attract evil creatures to hunt and kill it.

"Even if the alcohol smell persists, in autumn and winter, when many plants in the garden wither and die, there will be insufficient food to replenish it. It may go out to forage, and soon suffer the same fate." "However, it just happened..."

However, before the two jars of wine were consumed, before the grass and plants in the garden completely withered, and before the donkey left, Wen Gu and his companions arrived.

Taoist Qingyi also commented at this time: "This donkey has extraordinary luck!"

Xiao Liu's expression changed instantly.

Yup!

So what if I have a poor foundation? So what if I’m not smart enough?
There is no horse, cow, donkey or mule alive in this area that has better foundation and is smarter than it!

This is simply the donkey chosen by God!
He just likes to stay with this kind of creature with extraordinary luck!
It would be even better if I could get some luck!
And he secretly decided that if he could reach the north alive, he would put up New Year pictures again next year. He didn't want those ones for exorcising evil spirits and catching ghosts, but would put up the ones for the dull donkey that was the door to wealth!
Wen Gu looked at the big donkey in front of him with admiration.

He also felt that he was lucky, as whatever he thought of came true.

We will prepare a two-wheeled wooden cart, which can carry more supplies and free up space for a military officer. When we get tired, we can take a donkey cart to rest.

It doesn't matter whether the donkey is extremely lucky or stays here out of self-protection instinct.

Anyway, I'll take this donkey!

"Our donkey cart is here." Wen Gu said.

Xiao Liu was also happy, but as it was getting dark, he felt worried about leaving the donkey here.

"Let's take it over to the woodshed."

Xiao Liu did not directly reach out to interact with the donkey. Who knows if it rolled around in the grass when it went to the yard to nibble on the grass.

They had encountered a small evil creature before, and they didn't know whether it had been contaminated by the evil spirits and filth when it was chewing the grass and rolling around.

With his gloved hands, he reached for the donkey's rope, trying to lead it towards the kitchen woodshed.

Unexpectedly, the donkey got angry and didn't want to leave. It kicked and kicked when someone took it away forcibly.

Xiao Liu didn't dare to pull it: "It doesn't want to."

Wen Gu glanced at the donkey and said, "Don't you want to? Then move all the remaining wine jars away."

Tietou went to move the wine jar without saying a word.

The donkey, who was arguing with Xiao Liu, started shouting loudly when he saw this.

There was no point in shouting, so Tietou carried the wine jar out.

The donkey moved its long ears and was about to lower its head to rub against people again.

Wen Gu and the other three quickly retreated, using the backs of their knives to prop up the donkey and keep their distance from it.

It's not appropriate to be so intimate with someone who hasn't washed or brushed anything.

The donkey made another dissatisfied huffing sound.

It was a bit noisy, but they ignored it. Wen Gu asked Tietou to put the wine jar aside first, and they went into the house to take a look before it got dark.

Avoid the debris on the ground and go inside.

There are several compartments in this house.

The room you see when you enter the house is used to store wine, and the other compartments have other uses.

For example, this room where tools are stored.

Xiao Liu looked at the various strange tools placed here.

Some look like pots, steamers and barrels, while others look strange and it is impossible to tell what they are used for.

Xiao Liu had heard from his father that Mr. Li loved wine. If he needed to see Mr. Li for something, fine wine would be the key to getting in.

There are so many wine jars outside, which proves that Mr. Li is indeed very interested in wine.

But in the compartment in front of him, these did not look like drinking utensils like wine jugs and wine glasses.

Taoist Qingyi looked at the instrument in front of him, his eyes flashing slightly.

Ordinary people would definitely not understand it, but he knew what it was used for at a glance.

Thinking of this, he suddenly paused and looked at Wen Gu.

Wen Gu was also looking at the tools with great interest, even a bit of joy, completely different from the blank expression on Xiao Liu's face.

Taoist Qingyi's heart skipped a beat, and he felt a familiar headache, as if grass had grown out of it.

isn't it?
isn't it? !

You know this too??!
Are you really just an ordinary scholarly family? Are you really going on a serious study tour?
Wen Gu walked over with brisk steps: "Master, when I was traveling and studying..."

Taoist Qingyi raised his hand to make a stop gesture: "Enough! Just tell me your purpose!"

Wen Gu smiled elegantly and politely.

"I hope the Taoist priest can make some strong liquor, is that possible?"

He believed that for this Taoist who mastered so many chemical... ahem, alchemy skills, the little technique of distilling liquor should not be difficult for him.

Even if you don't know how to do it, reviewing the old stuff can give you some pointers and some words of encouragement.

(End of this chapter)