Nine-layer armor-breaking

Chapter 7 Xu An
Outside Yingzhou City, in a forest near the Jianjing Trail, light and shadows dance, and the atmosphere is as majestic as a rainbow.

As the dusk deepened, a black spear reflected some misty moonlight in the twilight, forming a beautiful picture.

"boom!"

The spear drew a dark arc in the darkness and then returned to the young man's hand.

The next moment, the tip of the gun shot out and hit a tree several people thick next to the young man. The tree exploded with a sound, and wood chips filled the sky.

The young man, his face covered in sweat, took two quick steps, put away his gun and stood still, seemingly immersed in reviewing the other party's shooting skills...

The young man practicing shooting was Jiang Xuan.

"Clap clap clap..."

"Good marksmanship!" A young man in a white robe appeared in the forest. He was about seventeen or eighteen years old, about the same age as Jiang Xuan.

Jiang Xuan approached the visitor, clasped his fists, and said, "Your Excellency is too kind. I am Jiang Xuan, from Yingzhou. May I ask your name?"

When he took a closer look, he found that this person was quite similar to himself in figure, which gave him a complicated feeling of intimacy.

The visitor was unassuming and returned the greeting to Jiang Xuan: "My name is Xu An, from Jingzhou. I was passing by here and saw you wielding your spear with such vigor and energy. I was truly impressed."

Jiang Xuan saw that Xu An was dressed very simply, but his temperament had a subtle nobility that made people want to get close to him.

"Brother Jiang, please come this way." Xu An led Jiang Xuan to a campfire.

This place is only a hundred steps away from where Jiang Xuan practiced spear training just now. Although it is blocked by dense forests, Jiang Xuan had not discovered it before.

The firewood was crackling in the flames, and above the campfire were two carps skewered on wooden sticks. After being roasted for a long time, they were sizzling under the action of the oil.

A skewer of grilled carp was handed to Jiang Xuan, and Xu An also picked up one.

"Thank you, Brother Xu, for your hospitality."

Jiang Xuan ate with big mouthfuls, and the hunger he had felt for the day slowly dissipated.

"It's just two fish, it's not really a treat. Brother Jiang, there's no need to be so polite."

Xu An looked at Jiang Xuan in front of him, and saw that Jiang Xuan was eating heartily in front of him, a stranger they met by chance, without any awkwardness.

The ochre cloth robe Jiang Xuan was wearing was already worn out, with a hole on the chest and back, which was really inconsistent with his superb marksmanship.

"Brother Jiang, what's this?" Xu An asked, pointing at Jiang Xuan's injured left arm.

"Oh, nothing serious. I encountered two thieves and got hurt a little."

"Where are those two thieves now?"

Jiang Xuan squeezed out a sentence from his mouth full of fish meat: "One ran away, and the other was killed."

Seeing Xu An assessing his attire, Jiang Xuan said, "Before, I was so conspicuous in my brocade robe that I caught the attention of those two thieves. All the valuables on me were stolen by the escaping thief. If it weren't for Brother Xu's fish, I would have starved today. In comparison, wearing this cloth robe makes me feel much safer."

Jiang Xuan ate a fish and threw the wooden stick in his hand into the campfire. The flames swayed slightly with the insertion of the stick and continued to burn.

Xu An handed the fish in his hand to Jiang Xuan: "Since Brother Jiang is hungry, eat this fish as well."

Jiang Xuan didn't refuse, thanked Xu An, took the grilled fish, and started eating again. After the battle with the skinny guy, Jiang Xuan's understanding of martial arts had deepened a bit, and his physical strength had also improved, reaching the third level of the Heavenly Rank.

"Brother Jiang, have you heard of the Green Lake Auction House?"

"I haven't heard of it. Where is this auction house?"

"It's on the shore of Green Lake in the east of Qizhou. This auction house is controlled by the Gao family, one of the two major families in Qizhou. It is quite famous on the border of Qi and Ying states. Transactions are very frequent, and various treasures are often auctioned there." Xu An explained.

Jiang Xuan threw another bare stick into the bonfire, took out a brocade robe from a cloth bag, and asked Xu An, "What can I trade this robe for?"

Seeing that one of the sleeves of the brocade robe was cut with a long hole and stained with a lot of blood, Xu An looked embarrassed.

"This robe probably won't be worth much. Not everyone can enter the Green Lake Auction House, and the items they usually auction are weapons and elixirs. I'm afraid few people will be interested in this robe."

Xu An took out a jade token and handed it to Jiang Xuan: "This token is your ticket to the Green Lake Auction House. If you want to try your luck at the auction house, take my token. You can then disguise yourself and there won't be any problems."

Jiang Xuan handed the jade token back to Xu An: "I am already very grateful for eating the two fish, brother Xu. How can I borrow the jade token again?"

Xu An smiled brightly, as if he had thought of something. "Well, Green Lake Auction House often has strong muscle powder auctions, and I just need a bottle. If Brother Jiang happens to catch up this time, he can buy a bottle for me. That way, we both benefit."

Jiang Xuan took the jade token, put it in his arms, and patted his chest: "Leave it to me."

"There's still some silver in the jade token, which should be enough to buy the Strengthening Powder. If there's any silver left, Brother Jiang, feel free to buy something you like." Xu An saw a hint of hesitation in Jiang Xuan's expression and added, "Of course, I'm lending it to you, so you have to pay it back."

Looking up at the night sky, Xu An stood up and said goodbye to Jiang Xuan: "I have something else to attend to. Let's say goodbye now. Let's meet at the Yunchen Inn in Qizhou City in seven days. Remember to return the jade token to me then."

Xu An walked a few steps, then turned back and said, "I have to remind Brother Jiang again that unless it is absolutely necessary, do not reveal your identity at the Green Lake Auction House."

"Thank you, Brother Xu, for the reminder. Jiang Xuan has made note of it."

Xu An gave Jiang Xuan some silver and the food he had with him, then left under the moonlight.

Although the problem of hunger was solved, the battle with the thin man also made Jiang Xuan realize many of his shortcomings.

The first thing is the issue of protection. If I had a set of usable inner armor, I would not have been scratched by the thin man's knife.

But inner armor is often expensive. At this time, he only had the silver that Xu An had just given him, which was only enough for his journey. It was probably unrealistic for him to buy a usable pair of inner armor.

The second is the blocking speed. In the battle with the thin man, he was initially overwhelmed by the attacks of the fat and thin men. If the fat man had not slipped away in advance, it would have been extremely difficult to win even if he had used the casual shooting technique.

But this is related to his training intention. The weight of the black rhino is much greater than that of similar spears. This allows Jiang Xuan to exercise speed and strength in normal battles, and also to better train his control over the spear.

In order to achieve the desired training results, taking the risk of injury is a reasonable price to pay.

Once again, he was biased towards the fat and thin men at the beginning, which was the point he needed to pay most attention to in the future.

This should be done for the fat and thin guys, and also for Xu An.

Although Xu An looked righteous and enthusiastic, and didn't seem to have any plans for him, it was their first meeting after all. With the experience of the fat and thin men, he must not make the mistake of trusting them again.

"It's so late now. It seems that the thin guy didn't lie to me. I guess the fat guy won't come back to look for the thin guy. He robbed property and harmed his accomplices. This person is really hateful." Jiang Xuan muttered.

(End of this chapter)