The small river branching off from the canal is called Beihujin River. It is located five miles southwest of Wuqiao County. It is less than three feet wide and only about one foot deep.

If there is the North Lijin River, there should be the South Lijin River. In fact, this is not the case. Cangzhou and Dezhou are bounded by the Lijin River. The Lijin River is a big river from the Taihang Mountains and one of the nine rivers used by Dayu during his flood control.

The Bei Lijin River was originally nameless. It was named by the locals in reference to the big river in the south. The Bei Lijin River winds northwest from the canal, and then bends toward the northeast. On the left is the boundary of Jingzhou and on the right is Wuqiao.

This small river is mainly used for water irrigation. Only in summer when there is a lot of water, there are small boats fishing in the river, or taking some pedestrians to the canal pier.

There are many ditches connected vertically and horizontally along the Bei Gejin River. In summer, both sides of the ditches are covered with tall crops. Entering them is like entering a trance, and they will definitely get lost.

Gao Xiang and Huang Yi walked quickly along the embankment of the Bei Gejin River. They were walking fast, but they couldn't exert even six cents of their strength because the road was less than two steps wide and there were people walking at intervals not far away.

The erected waterwheels blocked each other. The two of them just dodged and moved forward, stumbling with one foot deep and one foot shallow.

After walking for more than an hour, there was no sign of the pirate ship, but a cross channel suddenly appeared in front of him. Gao Xiang stopped and was confused for a moment. Huang Yi asked: "Brother, which direction should we go?"

"Looking at the depth of the ditch, it can hold a small boat. How can I know which waterway the thieves took?"

"Perhaps it's not certain if those boats separate and go away. Why don't we split up and chase them."

"We are not familiar with this area. We will definitely get separated if we separate. It is better to walk along the river."

The two crossed the cross canal and continued to pursue. However, they made the wrong move. The visibility was not good in the dark night. They mistakenly thought the cross canal was a tributary. In fact, the Bei Gejin River turned northeast at the intersection.

The two of them went completely in the wrong direction and wandered around for most of the night. At dawn, they found that they had arrived at the edge of Jingzhou City. They stopped an old man who had gotten up early and went up to ask. The old man said: "This canal is not open to boats, but it is open to boats."

The only other one is the Bei Lijin River, which can be crossed by the trail along the front road and then walk ten miles eastward."

Gao Xiang glanced at the airtight crop fields, some heroes were short of breath, and said to himself: "After so many years of running on the wide river road, we ended up short in this rural ditch!"

Seeing that the two men in front of him had knives at their waists, the old man asked: "What do you two do? Is it a case-handling job?"

Huang Yidao: "That's right."

Gao Xiang said: "Old man, do you know that bandits are infested in this area?"

"Are you here to question the bandits?"

"yes."

"Just the two of you? How can you detect bandits when you are running around in the fields at night? Aren't you afraid of running into a machete?"

"The Dadao Club? You mean this area is the territory of the Dadao Club?"

"It's not just the Great Sword Club, there's also Plum Blossom Boxing, Boxing Boxing, there are groups of people with all kinds of tricks."

Gao Xiang thought that the robbers who robbed the dart boat were armed with big swords, and he felt confident, and said: "I heard that the big swords will be active in Guanxian County, Shandong. Why, they are here?"

"Hey, in this troubled world, who can tell the true from the false?"

"Old man, does the Broadsword Club have a boat?"

"How do I know? I have never met anyone from the Broadsword Club. I have only heard from others. There is a man named Xia Houhou in the West Village...I heard that he invited a boxer to teach him at home every day and night.

The young people on the street play with big swords, and they say they are good at using big swords... Who knows!"

The old man said and got into the crop field.

Gao Xiang said: "I made mistakes and made mistakes. Finally, the whole night was not in vain."

Huang Yi asked: "Go to that village now?"

Gao Xiang tugged at his lapel and said, "With what we are wearing, won't we be completely exposed as soon as we enter the village? We have been running all night and are hungry. Let's go to the city to fill our stomachs before making plans."

The two went to Jingzhou City to eat some food, found a pawnshop and bought two old clothes, and paid a large price for two racks of peddler's picks on the street. They agreed on a meeting place, one picked one, and the other went east.

, one went south, and split up to find out the news.

Gao Xiang and the salesman carried the goods out of the city, more than three miles to the south, and entered the village pointed by the old man.

This village is called Dananzhuang, and it is home to four to five hundred families, mainly with the two surnames of Shang and Xia. The rich man Shang Xianzhi owns more than half of the village's land, three ponds, and also owns a restaurant in Jingzhou City.

He is the patriarch of the clan named Shang and the head of Dananzhuang. Most of the people named Xia are small craftsmen, and some of them work long-term for Shang Xianzhi.

Gao Xiang shook his rattle and wandered around the village alleys, and soon attracted a bunch of children. Gao Xiang spotted a seven or eight-year-old boy, gave him a piece of sesame candy, and asked, "What's your last name?"

"The surname is Xia."

"What do you call that guy who uses the machete?"

"There are many swordsmen, which one are you asking about?"

Gao Xiang didn't dare to say Xia Houhou's name directly, so he had an idea and teased the child: "Is there a monkey trick in your village?"

"There are no monkey jugglers in our village. The monkey jugglers are in Dongxiang!"

"Then why did my fellow villager say that there is a monkey charmer on your farm? I caught a monkey in the mountains and I want to find a buyer!"

"You, my fellow villager, are lying to you. There are no monkey tricksters in our village. There is a guy with the nickname monkey. He doesn't play monkey tricks, he plays big razor blades."

Seeing that there were too many children, Gao Xiang was afraid that they would be too talkative, so he went back and spread his message, then rang the rattle and sang: "Sesame sugar sweet cake, hawthorn cake, grate, rouge red headband, chicken feathers and chicken eggs in exchange..."

…”

As soon as he sang, the children all ran home. The seven or eight-year-old boy had candy in his hand and couldn't move with the orderer.

Gao Xiang gave him another clay whistle and asked him where Xia Houhou lived. He also asked Ming Xia that the boxer Shan Hou hired lived in the academy at Zhuang Beitou, and he felt confident.

Gao Xiang was impatient and worried about long nights and many dreams, so he decided to go to Xia Houhou's house without waiting to meet Huang Yi.

Until noon, when smoke was everywhere and everyone went back to have lunch, Gao Xiang hid the peddler's bag in the crop field outside the farm to meet Xia Houhou.

Xia Houhou is nearly thirty years old and has not yet married. He lives with his old mother in three shabby thatched houses. Although Xia Houhou's house is shabby, the yard is quite big, enough to build a large house with two entrances and two exits. The courtyard walls are not high.

, probably because there are always people lying on the wall watching the people inside playing with machetes, and the wall has been worn slippery.

The gate of the Xia family's courtyard was also in a state of disrepair. The two wooden doors did not close tightly. They hung sideways during the day and had to be pushed with wooden sticks to seal them at night. Gao Xiang did not open the door, but pushed the door gently and went in.

There was no one in the courtyard, so he walked straight to the door of the hall and said, "Is there anyone there? Is Brother Xia at home?"

It took a long time before a man, no more than five feet tall, walked out of the room. He was thin, with thin hair, and a thin braid hanging on the back of his head like a pig's tail. He walked very bumpyly.

Monkey statue.
Chapter completed!