Heaven and earth, long rivers, and awning boats on the long rivers.
It was an overcast sky with dark clouds and a steady drizzle. Mu Aotie, who was standing at the bow of the ship, was wearing a bamboo hat and raincoat at the helm, steering the ship with the current.
Under the awning, in the small cabin of the cabin, Nanzhu sat cross-legged and meditated, while Yu Qing lay there with his head in his arms as if his eyes were closed, staring at the roof in a daze.
The three brothers took turns driving the boat.
The three people who originally planned to ride horses to reach their destination quickly failed to keep up with the changes in their plans and decided to take their time.
There was nothing they could do, but they suddenly encountered a large number of sergeants blocking the road for inspection, which made the three of them feel very unsure, and they didn't know if they were coming for them.
I'm a little worried that someone with evil intentions is targeting them.
If this were the case, it would not be safe to change horses at the inns along the way. The military could easily find out their whereabouts through the inns.
Fortunately, the water network in this area is densely covered and there are many waterways, so the three brothers simply built a boat.
It is a good idea to have one person driving the boat and two people hiding in the cabin so that they are not easily discovered.
When there was an inspection or something on the way, the other two people quickly got into the water from the stern of the boat and hung on the bottom of the boat to get through. In short, they would not let outsiders discover that they were three people traveling together.
"If the map is correct, the triangle area in front is Shiji Bay."
Mu Aotie, who was standing at the stern of the ship and steering the ship, looked ahead and gave a reminder.
Nanzhu opened his eyes and turned his head to look at Yu Qing. He found that his junior brother was lying there indifferently, as if he hadn't heard anything. He couldn't help but sighed and shook his head, "This guy's temperament, unrequited love will not make him like this. It seems
There was indeed something between you and Wen Xin."
Mu Aotie, who was at the helm, lowered his head and looked inside the awning, "It's as if he was fascinated by that Wen Xin."
The two of them had noticed that there was a problem between Yu Qing and Wen Xin. They had no choice but to do so. Yu Qing actually called out Wen Xin's name in his sleep. This really shocked the two senior brothers. Naturally, they wanted to ask what to do.
It was true, but Yu Qing refused to admit it even after being beaten to death.
Yesterday, when the ship docked, Nanzhu went to a small town for shopping and heard the news that Wen Qiang had died and Wen Xin had succeeded as the head of the Wen family.
This news has actually spread throughout Ningzhou, but the three of them have little contact with outsiders and don't know about it.
After Nanzhu brought the news back, everyone was very emotional. They did not expect that such a big change would happen to the Wen family in a blink of an eye, and dozens of people would be poisoned to death.
Yu Qing only said, "Maybe they are coming for us. Don't go ashore where there are people."
After we finished talking, it basically became like this.
The two senior brothers probably also understood the meaning of his words. The Wen family's disaster may have been brought about by his reputation as the "Tanhua Lang". It is very likely that someone is tracing their whereabouts through the Wen family.
It was such a coincidence that it happened. It happened sooner or later. It happened just after they left. It's hard not to think about it.
At the very least, they should be more vigilant. No one can guarantee that the Wen family will not betray them.
"Hey, Shiji Bay is almost here."
Nanzhu, who was sitting cross-legged, stretched out one leg and stomped Yu Qing's crotch twice as a reminder.
"Huh?" Yu Qing finally woke up, got up, and half climbed to the bow of the boat to look outside.
Nanzhu also half-climbed over and looked out, only to see that the boat had reached the intersection of the two rivers. According to the mark on the map, the direction of the river's rushing was the sea.
At this time, there were many boats coming and going outside, and the triangular waterfront was obviously a dock.
From time to time, a boat passed by. Yu Qing and Nanzhu immediately retracted into the cabin and lowered the awning curtain, trying to avoid letting people know that there were three people on the boat.
Poof! Yu Qing poked a hole in the arch with his finger and came out, lying in front of the hole and looking out.
Nanzhu looked at his fingers and, imitating them, poked a hole and looked outside.
Due to the current, Mu Aoti no longer took the helm, but took up the oars and rowed hard towards the dock.
The ship did not dock, but just passed by the pier. The three characters "Shiji Bay" were clearly written on the archway of the pier.
Next to the pier, there is a huge boulder. It is said that during the dry season, it looks like a huge frog lying in the water. At this time, only a large piece of it is exposed on the water. There are fishermen on it fishing in the rain in the backwater of the boulder.
According to local records, the reason why this place is called "Shiji Bay" is because of this huge rock.
Finally they found the "Shiji Bay" that Yun Xi mentioned, and the three of them were very excited.
Nanzhu closed his eyes and recalled: "Yunxi said that the entrance and exit are at the highest peak among the mountains deep in the white clouds. There are rapids at the bottom of the mountain. After floating on a raft for half an hour, I saw a small town surrounded by many camellias.
Then I drifted for a long time before I saw this pier called Shiji Bay."
After opening his eyes, he took out the local map he picked up on the way. After unfolding it, the location circled with charcoal on it was Shiji Bay. The place he pointed out with his hand was indeed far away from Shiji Bay.
A mountain range, "I roughly estimate that the distance is probably about the same, and the only place with the highest peak is this place."
No way, after getting the actual map, I found that the method of tracing the source of the river is unrealistic, because there are too many tributaries that cross and merge into the main river along the way, and it is impossible to determine which river Yunxi came from back then.
The row drifted over.
Over the past three thousand years, the channels of tributary rivers have been easily changed.
It is really difficult to walk upstream or downstream of each river, not to mention the time problem.
They had no choice but to estimate how far they could drift in half a day based on the approximate flow speed. They found similar mountain ranges on the map and decided to find the so-called highest peak first, and then try to follow the itinerary mentioned by Yun Xi to see if they could
Find the town with a lot of camellias.
If you find the highest peak and float on a raft for half an hour and you can see the Camellia Town, then you should be right.
Yu Qing, who was lying in front of the arched cave and observing the busy pier outside, said: "This Shiji Bay has been able to exist for three thousand years because of its convenient terrain and naturally good pier. I'm afraid a small town in the mountains may not be able to last that long, and we may not be able to find it."
.”
Nanzhu leaned against the wall, "If the town is really gone, it doesn't matter if you can't find it. Small towns can disappear, but suitable vegetation species are not so easy to disappear. If there are a lot of camellias in the approximate location, it can be considered
a proof.
If we can't find any evidence, then we'll bet that the highest peak of the mountain range is the Immortal Cave. Since it's at the top of the mountain, we shouldn't choose a place that's shorter, right? Find the highest peak first and wait until the first New Year's Day next year to try.
If it doesn’t work, we can spend a year floating back and forth in rivers to try.”
Yu Qing turned around and sat down, "Yunxi can tell us the location of the Xianjia Cave. I always feel that there is something wrong, something is wrong. Isn't she deliberately picking a place name from her memory to play tricks on us?"
Nanzhu: "If this is the case, there is nothing we can do. We don't have to come, we don't have to be fooled by her. We have to run here in the wind and rain. No one is forcing us. Who can we blame? Okay, old man
Fifteen, we have come, we have done, let’s see.
In short, you either get rich or you work in vain. Aren’t you striving to become a master in the world of cultivation? How can you become a master without cultivation resources? How can you get cultivation resources without money? We can’t beat others even if they rob us!
In the past, we were unlucky and had no way to make a fortune. Now that we finally have the opportunity, how can we not give it a try? Old Fifteen, we have all come this far..."
Yu Qing stretched out his hand to stop, "Okay, I'll just talk about it casually, don't say any more."
He was convinced by this talkative person. Whenever he got the opportunity, he would preach to people in a serious manner. He could go on and on and on, which was really unbearable.
Nanzhu shook his head, looking like a young man who didn't listen to the old man's words. He turned around and reached into the bucket on the side to grab a ladle. He poured the water into the teapot on the side, knocked on the teapot, and leaned on the clothes drying beam in the shed.
Da Tou shouted: "Come on, Da Tou, come over and make a pot of tea."
The big head on the crossbar tilted his head to look at him, then tilted his head back, motionless, and ignored him at all.
Judging from the reaction, he heard Nanzhu's greeting.
Nanzhu raised his eyebrows, turned around and reached into the cloth bag in the corner, grabbed a handful of spiritual rice, put it on the board of the ship, and knocked it.
The big head on the crossbar tilted its head and immediately flew down and pounced on Lingmi.
Bang! Nanzhu turned his hand and covered the small pile of spiritual rice with his palm, raised his chin towards the teapot, "How dare you ask for food without working? Make tea first!"
Big head tilted his head and looked at him, turned around, jumped up, and fell into the teapot.
Nanzhu twisted his mouth and smiled, as if he suddenly thought of something, he said to Yu Qing: "Old Shiwu, have you noticed that this farting bug seems to be much smarter than before? He seems to be able to use his brain and starts to know how to bargain. He seems to be slow now."
You can now fully understand human speech. Could it be that you are growing up slowly?"
Yu Qing was stunned. He had been around Datou for a long time and he didn't realize it. After being reminded like this, there seemed to be quite a lot of changes along the way compared to before. Could it be that he was just a child before and has grown up now?
Gudududu, the teapot started to steam quickly, the water boiled, and the big head crawled out again.
Nanzhu rinsed the tea, poured out the hot water, and filled the teapot with fresh water. When the teapot was knocked, Da Tou jumped in again.
After a pot of water boiled, the big head crawled out and pounced directly on the spirit rice, and began to eat it. Nanzhu did not stop it this time, let it eat, took out the tea leaves and threw them into the teapot.
Outside, Mu Aotie, wearing a bamboo hat and raincoat in the drizzle, opened his arms and used his sculls to paddle upstream hard. He knew exactly how to go.
It was said that the three of them took turns rowing, but in fact he was rowing alone most of the time. Yu Qing and Nan Zhu would only take turns taking over when he needed to rest and recover. Under normal circumstances, Mu Ao also did ordinary physical work.
Iron is doing work, and people call themselves "Wu Chi" and regard work as a form of cultivation. If they want to do it, they can't help it, so the other two people will naturally not be polite.
"Lao Jiu, take your time, don't row too fast, it may arouse suspicion."
Nanzhu opened the curtain and handed Mu Aotie a cup of brewed tea and gave a reminder at the same time.