Gasp! She's a Time Traveler Using Modern Tech to Improve Ancient Life-Chapter 688 - 684: There’s a Price for Using Me as a Blade

Chapter 688: Chapter 684: There’s a Price for Using Me as a Blade

Lin Wanwan, her face covered with a veil, found the siblings Baye Feng while they were roasting some unknown meat by the night.

Lin Wanwan handed a package of dried beef jerky bought from a modern homestay to Naba, who looked eagerly at her brother. Only when he nodded did she cheerfully take the oil paper package.

The beef jerky was so dry that in the dim firelight, it resembled sticks of wood.

Only by putting it in one’s mouth and patiently chewing with teeth could one savor the rich meat aroma, the satisfying chewiness, and the lingering taste.

"I’ve brought you tea cakes." Lin Wanwan sat down next to Baye Feng on a stool made from some unknown animal bones, "You can use them to get your passage in order."

Baye Feng held a long stick and was engrossed in roasting the meat, occasionally turning the pieces above the fire: "You actually dared to come."

Lin Wanwan laughed: "Why wouldn’t I dare come? Didn’t I say before I’d provide you the travel fare to Chang’an. I don’t have many virtues, but keeping my word is definitely one of them."

Baye Feng didn’t even lift his head: "Are you sure?"

Lin Wanwan replied: "Of course. And aren’t you eager for me to come along to help you deal with the leader using the peculiar weapon I have?"

Baye Feng sprinkled cumin powder on the unknown meat, and the air was instantly filled with the smell of cumin.

The flickering fire cast mottled shadows on his youthful, heroic face, and the meat skewers sizzled as they roasted.

"You guessed it?" Baye Feng asked without a hint of embarrassment.

Someone who can appear alone on the grasslands and retreat from a caravan’s watchful eyes after trading so many treasures is naturally not to be underestimated.

"I thought about it when I was retrieving something, just didn’t expect you’d admit it so quickly."

Lin Wanwan took out a piece of tea cake, broke off a bit, and tossed it into a pot bubbling with steam, releasing a fragrant aroma. Then she added several eggs into the pot.

Nibbling on the beef jerky with her chipped teeth, Naba blinked her big eyes while curiously watching Lin Wanwan add tea leaves and eggs into the wild vegetable pot.

Such a luxurious way of eating as tea eggs, not only is it unheard of in this poverty-stricken tribe with less than a hundred tents, but even in the renowned Chang’an.

"Since you already guessed, why still come? The nighttime grasslands are fraught with dangers, especially when you carry such a treasure." Baye Feng watched Lin Wanwan bustling around the wild vegetable soup pot.

With both tea leaves and eggs, even just smelling it could awaken the hunger in one’s belly.

"I help you deal with the person you want to deal with, and you go serve my apprentice sister for ten years. Is this business worth it?" Lin Wanwan didn’t answer Baye Feng’s question but directly posed a condition.

Baye Feng handed the roasted skewers to his sister Naba, then smiled broadly, showing his white teeth: "Relying on your sleeve crossbow, or that strange iron tool of yours?"

Lin Wanwan casually pointed to the pot with the boiling tea water and smiled: "Relying on this pot of tea eggs. Why do you think I’d face him head-on? Hasn’t your master Shi Shang, who apprenticed under Tang Xuanzang, taught you other methods?"

Baye Feng began eating the meat skewers himself, his eating manner was quite refined, matching his appearance, but not quite fitting his overall demeanor.

Describing a demeanor is hard, more a feeling than words.

Anyway, Baye Feng gives the impression of not being a gentle, scholarly youth, but rather like a sword ready to unsheath at any moment.

He slowly finished chewing several meat skewers before finally speaking: "You Tang women are best at bringing unexplained deaths, I trust you."

Lin Wanwan smiled charmingly: "That’s because you don’t understand them."

Since ancient times, no "princess" who married into the Western Regions for alliances was ever kind. If she were kind, she likely wouldn’t live long.

Wherever the princess passed, she undoubtedly left a trail of deaths. To ensure the heir is the princess’s child, naturally, the other sons of the old khan all had to die.

When the allied princess’s child grew up, the old khan should likewise die at an appropriate time.

The medical practices in this land are still very backward compared to the Great Tang Central Plains and coastal areas, where besides witch doctors, there are accomplished physicians with deep understanding of herbs and human meridians.

But here, only a combination of bloodletting and shamanic practices exists, with little understanding of herbs, let alone poisons.

Perhaps only a khan who’s married a Han princess would have such insight.

Though Baye Feng is merely an informal disciple of Tang Xuanzang, he doesn’t know much about these things.

The powders Lin Wanwan carried were masterpieces blended by Xiao Yixun.

This unconventional young girl has an extensive knowledge of herbs, especially toxic insects and poisonous plants, greatly influenced from a young age by Lingnan Witchcraft Masters.

Therefore, the powders and sedative powder she gave Lin Wanwan have effects that are absolutely trustworthy.

"I promised, and certainly won’t go back on it." Baye Feng stood up, carrying his little sister who had finished eating meat and went aside to fetch water for washing.

In times when most didn’t care about hygiene, Baye Feng was indeed quite unconventional.

"Do you drink raw water?" Lin Wanwan asked.

"?" Baye Feng was baffled as to why Lin Wanwan suddenly asked that.

"Let me give you a piece of advice: never drink unboiled water, this can prevent many diseases." Lin Wanwan rested her chin in her hands, watching Baye Feng pull back the felt tent flap, and enter carrying the freshly washed little one under his arm.

Lin Wanwan didn’t follow inside, just waited quietly.

The lighting here was quite dim, only the small fire under the pot burning, and it seemed Naba couldn’t wait for the tea eggs to be cooked.

Several meters away in front of the neighboring tent, there was some obscure light, but Lin Wanwan wasn’t interested.

In this tribe, only near Baye Feng and Naba’s tent could one stand, while everywhere else smelled too foul for her liking.

Lin Wanwan speculated that the mother of Baye Feng and Naba might be a maid or female official accompanying a princess married into the Western Regions; otherwise, it’s hard to explain why he’s so different.

Shi Panduo might be very capable, but probably doesn’t emphasize cleanliness, being a native Hu person, so Baye Feng’s hygiene habits surely weren’t learned from him.

An accompanying maid is different; those following the ally princess across the border are all valuable talents, whether maids, slaves, craftsmen, or soldiers, all must possess a skill.

Furthermore, people from the court likely have good hygiene habits as a matter of course.

Traveling from Chang’an to the grasslands and to the Great Desert, this journey is fraught with challenges.

Besides the robbers, bandits, and horse thieves along the way, the sheer distance, inconvenient travel, slow vehicles and horses, and acclimatization issues can claim many lives.

Occasional loss of accompanying maids is negligible, just like the sick Hu Ji discarded by large merchants on their travels.

In this world, the lives of the people at the bottom are cheap and can be discarded at any moment.

Regardless of whether coming out of Chang’an or heading into it, neither is easy.