A light speedboat was traveling with the wind on the lake water. Qian Shaobai stood on the bow of the boat and saw an endless yellow turbid water. A roof rising out of the water not far away was vaguely visible.
"Boatman, where is that place?" Qian Shaobai asked the boatman at the helm.
"It should be Songjiacun, right? It was a small fishing village back then, relying on Qingyang Lake for fishing and harvesting lotus roots." The boatman replied: "In those days, fishermen from Songjiacun entered the lake and could often catch big fish weighing more than ten kilograms. It is said that
It means I have been blessed by the fairy family in the lake."
Qian Shaobai became interested and asked: "Does the boatman believe that there are real immortals in Qingyang Lake?"
"Of course we, the country folk who are begging for food on the water, believe it. If we can get ashore safely in the storm, we will go to the temple to burn incense and give thanks." The boatman sighed helplessly: "Oh, it's a pity that there is a flood again this year.
Both sides of the Zujiang River were flooded, hundreds of miles in radius were soaked in water, and countless people died."
Qian Shaobai couldn't help but say: "Such a catastrophe happened, but there was no immortal family to protect it."
"Guest, please don't make any noise." The boatman was startled and waved his hands quickly: "The gods and ghosts of the immortal family have spiritual responses. If they hear it, there may be waves and capsize the boat."
Qian Shaobai had no choice but to keep silent. The boatman saw that he looked like a scribe and had a bamboo basket at his feet. He asked curiously: "I wonder if the guest who crossed the river to the south bank is going to visit relatives or has other official business?"
"It's business, I guess." Qian Shaobai responded casually: "The boatman has something to say?"
The boatman smiled shyly and said, "I dare not offend our guest. Look at the sun. It will get dark when we reach the south bank. In recent years, patrols in the countryside have been strict. If anyone wanders around at night, he will be arrested immediately."
beat.
I was worried that the passengers would not be able to find the inn when they got ashore, and it would be bad if they made mistakes while busy and caused misunderstandings. My house happened to be right on the shore, and there were several clean guesthouses. My mother-in-law cooked delicious dishes, including meat soup and soybean milk.
The pickled plums in black bean sauce are very delicious, why don't you come and have a rest at my house for a night?"
Qian Shaobai thought for a moment, then nodded and said: "That's fine, I'll just bother the boatman."
Looking at the vast water again, Qian Shaobai couldn't help but feel a bit sad. Since the drastic changes in Dongsheng Capital ten years ago, disasters in the world of Kunlun Continent have continued year after year.
Crossing the Yaochi River, there is a bear, the Zujiang River of the Huaxu Kingdom. Floods occur almost every two years, followed by severe droughts and locust plagues. Famine breaks out in contiguous counties. The dead are not counted, and their bodies are lying on the roadside.
Turned into piles of white bones, it has long been regarded as ordinary by travelers.
This year, the Zujiang River flooded again, directly destroying the dam built with a huge amount of national funds. The flood flooded eight counties in one breath, turning a thousand miles into a country.
As a result, there is no clear-cut old river channel in the middle reaches of the Zujiang River, and it directly forms a vast swamp. It takes nearly an entire day to travel by boat to the narrowest point.
If you go further, it is said that the rushing floods have formed large and small rivers and swamps, which have become hiding places for bandits and bandits to gather, and there are also all kinds of evil spirits ready to move.
"Ready to move" is an understatement. Since the drastic changes in Dongsheng Capital, the number of monsters and ghosts has greatly increased and they have caused frequent troubles. The mountaintop monster cave that was once swept away by the Four Immortals has sprung up like bamboo shoots after a rain.
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Not to mention that successive years of disasters have devastated the people's livelihood. In some places, people in villages and villages have become bandits. For a time, bandits are rampant and wars are everywhere. The officers and soldiers of the imperial court are exhausted and it is difficult to clear them all.
In today's world, even the food and pay for officers and soldiers are often insufficient, and wanton looting has also occurred in the name of suppressing bandits. Counties and counties that are a little more stable strictly guard city gates and train village braves, not only to guard against bandits, but also to
Be on guard against imperial officials and troops.
Looking at the roaring river, Qian Shaobai remembered the defeat he suffered in Huaxu Kingdom. He was not reprimanded afterwards. Instead, he was allowed to return to Tiancheng Mountain to learn the magic. Because he had fought against Zhenming Hou Zhao Shu and was given the title of Master.
A few words of advice will help me a lot.
However, when disasters occurred frequently and chaos spread across the Xiong Kingdom, Qian Shaobai, as a disciple of the Shangjing Sect, could not allow Qian Shaobai to hide in the mountains and take a break, so he had no choice but to go down to the mountains again to experience the world.
After the boat docked, there was only a faint glow on the horizon. After Qian Shaobai landed, he followed the boatman to a guesthouse on the shore.
"There are many private houses nearby, why are there no people or lights?" Qian Shaobai asked, looking around with a bamboo basket on his back.
The boatman smiled and said: "In the countryside, everyone rests early."
"Oh." Qian Shaobai responded lightly.
"Please come in quickly, sir." The boatman's wife stood leaning against the door. Although she was wearing a Jingchai sarong, her skin was as white as jade and her skin was as white as jade. It was a sultry season, and the boatman's wife was covered in beads of sweat, which was very attractive.
Qian Shaobai entered the guest house and saw that although the furnishings were not exquisite, they were neat and orderly. Even the bedding was soft and clean.
As soon as the bamboo basket was put down, the boatman's wife came with a jar and smiled: "Here, this is our home-brewed rice wine. Although it is not as good as the plum wine made by wealthy families, it is still sweet and delicious. The guest sat there for a day
I'm on the boat, I must be thirsty, so I'll eat a bowl first to moisten my throat."
Qian Shaobai looked at the turbid wine in the bowl without making any move, and asked: "Don't the boss ladies take care of the kitchen?"
"Don't worry, guest, my man knows how to cook and will serve you the food right away." The boatman's wife sat down next to Qian Shaobai, leaning against her with a warm soft jade, her eyes conveying: "Is it possible that your guest doesn't know how to drink?
How about I feed you little lady?"
Qian Shaobai smiled faintly, took the wine bowl, blew out the rice scum on the surface gently, and was about to take a sip when he turned his wrist and poured the wine with a hint of vitality directly into the face of the boatman's wife.
The originally cool wine suddenly turned into boiling molten iron, burning the delicate face of the boatman's wife until the flesh was charred and green smoke was rising.
The boatman's wife screamed and jumped away. Their movements were unusually agile for ordinary village women.
At this time, the boatman also rushed into the house, holding a harpoon, pointing at Qian Shaobai and yelling: "We are entertaining you with good intentions, why do you want to kill him?"
"Poisonous hand?" Qian Shaobai sneered and stood up. An orb hung above his head, shining brightly. The seemingly plain guest house seemed to have been peeled off, revealing its original appearance of dampness, decadence, and rot everywhere.
Qian Shaobai flicked his sleeves and shattered the wine jar. It was filled with turbid river water and a few small insects swimming around. Anyone who drank it would definitely get sick.
"Monster, do you need me to say more?" Qian Shaobai said coldly.
Once the boatman was struck by the brilliance of the orb, a blurry phantom light appeared on his face, and his expression gradually became fierce: "When did you notice it?"
"Not to mention your evil and turbid aura of eating flesh and blood for a long time, now there are so many countries on both sides of the Zujiang River, even if you are a boatman and a fisherman, you can't entertain the guests with wine and meat." Qian Shaobai's momentum was overwhelming.
The boatman and his wife no longer concealed themselves, and turned around, revealing a strange shape of half human and half fish, with red spots on their body, a huge fish head, and a mouth full of sharp teeth and blood stains.
"Red-spotted snakehead?" Qian Shaobai recognized the monster's original form at a glance.
"That's right!" The boatman's voice was hoarse and he shouted outside: "Boys, come on together!"
After saying this, he saw a buzzing sound outside the house, and a group of fish demons "filed in" from the door and window, and surrounded Qian Shaobai in an instant. They held rusty and worn-out weapons in their hands, and their eyes had greedy looks, as if they wanted to
Divide the money and eat it cleanly.
Qian Shaobai was surrounded by a group of monsters, but his expression remained unchanged: "Ten years ago, you monsters would have only dared to attack lone passers-by. If you had seen a monk like me, you would have escaped without a trace.
I didn’t expect it to become more and more rampant now.”
The leader of the fish demons let out an unpleasant laugh: "I've heard for a long time that the flesh and blood of immortal cultivators is delicious, and I've wanted to taste it for a long time... My sons, cut him into pieces with random blades!"
Seeing that all the fish demons were about to swarm forward, Qian Shaobai raised his energy fiercely, and the Rainbow Reflection Orb burst out with a large needle-like rainbow light, which made the fish demons scream and sting all over their bodies, and they quickly turned around and escaped.
At this time, a string of arrows shot through the air outside the guest house, shooting down the fish demon who had just rushed out of the guest house.
The fish monsters originally planned to take advantage of the cover of night and jump into the river to escape. Unexpectedly, after being illuminated by the Rainbow Reflection Orb, the scales on their bodies emitted a bright rainbow light that lingered, making them particularly conspicuous in the night.
"put!"
An order was given in the darkness, and arrows were fired again. The tough scales that were originally not afraid of iron were now easily penetrated by sharp arrows.
Clusters of arrows entered the body, and sharp rays traveled around in the flesh and blood. Even if they were not killed by one arrow, the fish monsters fell to the ground and twitched.
"Go! Don't let anyone go!"
Then there was a burst of swift footsteps, and dozens of warriors rushed forward with swords in hand, killing the fallen fish monsters one by one, with clean and neat movements, leaving no room for error.
At this time, the Rainbow Reflection Orb also flew above, shining brightly, illuminating the area along the river bank as if it were daytime. Rounds of rainbow light spread outward, leaving no opportunity for hiding.
"How's it going?" Qian Shaobai came to the river bank carrying a bamboo basket. The soldiers were cleaning up the battlefield, arranging the corpses of the fish monsters side by side and counting their numbers.
"One hundred and twenty-six fish monsters, kill them all, not a single one escaped." Guan Shiping cupped his hands and reported back.
"Okay." Qian Shaobai nodded and said, "The body of the fish demon is burned directly to ashes in a fire to prevent the hungry people passing by from eating it from transforming into demons."
Guan Shiping ordered to go down. Qian Shaobai confirmed that there were no other monsters nearby, and then took back the orb. He heard the other party say: "Shaobai, you better not take such a risk next time. Fortunately, these fish monsters are not very capable. If they encounter strong ones in the future,
You monster, using yourself as a bait will only put you in a dangerous situation, and we will be too late to save you."
"Back then, you advocated charging into battle, but why are you so cautious now?" Qian Shaobai teased, "Is it because you have been promoted that you have become more life-saving?"
"What promotion? I'm just in charge of a group of soldiers." Guan Shiping returned the sword to its sheath, with a hint of complaint in his tone: "And the court only gave me half the money and food. Just feeding these people makes me sleepy and sleepless.
install."
"That's why I took the initiative to act as a bait to lure out these red-spotted snakeheads, so that you don't need to send more manpower." Qian Shaobai lightly dusted his robes, looked at the corpses of the fish monsters that were piled up and set on fire, and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Red-spotted snakehead? Was there such a monster in Zujiang in the past?" Guan Shiping asked.
Qian Shaobai nodded and said: "Yes, there are. Red-spotted snakeheads have a ferocious temperament and a fat body. In the early years, they gathered in groups. They once blocked Taizu Xiong's navy and extorted blood, food, money and silk. How could Taizu tolerate such evil spirits?
So they opened their bows and strings, rained down arrows, and killed most of them. There was no movement for decades. Now it seems that they still haven't made much progress."
"As expected of Taizu Xiong." Guan Shiping looked forward to it, and then he couldn't help but sigh: "But now these evil spirits have come back. I heard that it was all because of the drastic changes in Dongsheng City that year? It seems that there are still a few big evil spirits rushing out from the ground.
Bringing disaster to all directions."
Qian Shaobai looked to the east: "People's hearts are insufficient and greedy, so the three talents are out of balance, and all kinds of disasters are prevalent, causing the people to sink into the end of the world."
"That's not what you said." Guan Shiping said.
Having been exposed, Qian Shaobai had no choice but to smile bitterly: "This is what the master told me before going down the mountain. The drastic changes in Dongsheng City back then were said to have been caused by Liang Tao, the master of the Huaxu Kingdom, who tried to achieve the supreme level of Shinto, but everything went against his wishes.
Not only did Liang Tao die on the spot, he also caused landslides and ground cracks in the Dongshengdu area, and the land sank into the sea. The ancient turbid air hidden under the ground burst out and spread between the sky and the earth, mixing the pure and the turbid without distinguishing them, causing various disasters.
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And those monsters in the mountains and wilds who have not received the transmission of authentic immortal dharma are inherently harboring turbidity. If the turbidity between heaven and earth is strong, they feel it, and their cultivation and magic power can be said to be rapid. Such a pure, weak, and strong turbidity will naturally make the monsters sneaky and restless.
Pretending.”
"Liang Tao?" Guan Shiping recalled the past and asked, "Do you still remember when I went to Huaxu Country with you to buy fabrics?"
"Of course I remember." Qian Shaobai raised his hand and fanned the air. The fish demon's body was burned and there was an unpleasant stench. He moved to a distance and said, "You want to say Zhao Shu? There is news that he has taken refuge.
Liang Tao died in Difei Mountain."
"Take refuge in Liang Tao? What does this man think?" Guan Shiping laughed and said: "Wasn't he famous for opening an altar in Huaxu Kingdom to patrol the country and defeat the powerful? The four surnames of Chongxuan were suppressed by him and they couldn't hold their heads up. As a result,
In the end, you took refuge with Liang Tao?"
"We won't know the specific details since we are outside the matter." Qian Shaobai shrugged and spread his hands.
In fact, every time he thought of Zhao Shu, Qian Shaobai couldn't help but shiver in his heart. In the brief encounter ten years ago, he was defeated in front of Zhao Shu in the blink of an eye, and his life was almost left in Huaxu Kingdom.
The ferocious power of Zhao Shu is still unforgettable to this day, so much so that when he was practicing in the mountains, he would occasionally have various illusions that disturbed his mind and made Qian Shaobai restless.
"This thought has become a knot in my mind, sitting on the mountain with no solution." Qian Shaobai remembered the teachings of the leader Han Yuanzi: "If you want to understand this problem, you should be in the work, not in the mountain. It just so happens that Fang Yuanzi wants you to go down the mountain to do something.
It's just a chance. I see that you are in the position of Xun, which is suitable for wind and water. This time when you go down the mountain, the opportunity to break the barrier should be in the southeast mountains and rivers."
"How far is it from this place to Shiliang Twelve Villages?" Qian Shaobai asked.
Guan Shiping replied: "It's more than a hundred miles to the southeast, but the road is not easy to walk. This area is full of potholes and swamps, not a large area of water, so boats can't travel. The exposed ground is mostly mud, so it's not fast to walk with luggage.
.”
"Are there any market towns or settlements nearby?" Qian Shaobai asked.
"There should be several villages in the south, but at this time of year, they are probably all built with deep ditches and heavily fortified." Guan Shiping said: "And I am worried that these bandits from the Shiliang Twelve Villages are secretly colluding with the nearby people, so we set out with our troops.
The news has reached the ears of the bandits before they even started to suppress them. This is very detrimental to the war."
Qian Shaobai played with the orb in his hand and said, "In that case, it's up to me to go out and find out the news."