The matter ended with Yu Qing's concession. The people on both sides who were having trouble helping him breathed a sigh of relief. Tie Miaoqing quickly asked Sun Ping to prepare spiritual rice for Yu Qing. Naturally, he also had to reward Yu Qing with some other food.
.
When the food was ready, the sky was already slightly showing the white color of fish belly.
Although it was for Yu Qing to eat, since it had already been cooked, there was no way he could cook five bags of spiritual rice at a time while letting his own people swallow his saliva.
A group of people gathered around the campfire to enjoy. Yu Qing, who was holding a bowl and devouring his food, occasionally urged Chong'er, "Chong'er, eat more, eat more. Look at how thin you are. This is good food. Eat enough."
Brother, you should also eat more."
I didn't prepare Xu Fei and Chong'er, but Yu Qing insisted on dragging them to eat, and Sun Ping and others couldn't say anything.
Yu Qing's stomach couldn't hold a large pot of spiritual rice, and he didn't want Cheng Shanping and others to eat more and occupy more. Anyway, what he was eating now was not his own money, so he kept telling the master and servant not to be polite.
Chong'er nodded, his mouth filled with a touch of satisfaction, and his heart was even more touched. He found that Mr. Shiheng was such a nice person and didn't look down on him at all.
He now listens to Yu Qing's words. Yu Qing asked him to eat freely. After urging him several times, he did as he was told.
Xu Fei is more 'sensible' and a bit judgmental. He has restrained his usual big appetite and puts down a bowl of snacks. Lingmi is very expensive and he is afraid of upsetting the people opposite him. Yu Qing urges him to eat more, and he
He also said that he had eaten a meal before and was full, so he was very polite.
After eating and drinking, Yu Qing sat cross-legged and meditated to recover. A group of people helped him protect the law.
There was no way, the Miao Qingtang group had to count on him now, not to mention spending a whole night's energy to resist the smoke, it was indeed very expensive.
The captured fire cricket seemed to be tired of struggling and no longer hit violently. It probably knew that it would not be able to escape. It would only chirp a few times occasionally and make a strange "pipe" sound, which was loud and clear...
When the sun rose high, Yu Qing, who was in high spirits again, finally got up.
He had to rush for the exam, and he didn't want to spend a long time here. He also wanted to end this matter as soon as possible and take the initiative to go into the cave again.
However, there was not enough wood left in the cave, so Yu Qing asked them to cut down another tree and get it in.
However, things didn't seem to go well this time. There was no response after a day, and there was still no response after a night.
When it dawned again the next day, Yu Qing, who had burned all the felled trees, came out, covered in smoke. Tie Miaoqing and others went up to meet them, but their expectations were dashed. What Yu Qing took out was
Empty tin can.
He also gave an explanation that the fire cricket never came out again.
Tie Miaoqing comforted him, but Yu Qing waved his hand, refusing to accept it, and asked, "Do fire crickets live in groups?"
Tie Miaoqing hesitated, "I don't know. There are very few records about fire crickets. They are just a few paragraphs and there is no such content."
Yu Qing looked around at the group of people, "Have you seen more than two of them in the places you searched before?"
Several people shook their heads, and Tie Miaoqing said: "No."
Yu Qing: "In other words, no one has ever seen fire crickets living in groups?"
A few people probably understood what he meant. Zhu Shangbiao asked: "Do you want to try changing places?"
Yu Qing: "Only one has been seen here, and we have already caught one. We have been waiting for a day and still can't wait for the second one to appear. There is no need to continue to spend time gambling on unknown things. This time is better spent on the road.
On the way, make sure to look for places where you have seen them."
It made sense, and no one objected. He immediately packed up and set off, heading to another underground cave where the fire cricket was found before.
On the way, when passing near the 'Linyuan Pavilion', Cheng Shanping said hello to Tie Miaoqing, "Madam boss, I accidentally spilled the salt before, and the food I ate later was saltless and tasted wrong. You go first, I'll go."
Linyuan Pavilion, get some, and I'll chase you later."
Tie Miaoqing warned him to be careful.
After traveling through complex terrain for half an hour, Cheng Shanping, who returned to the team, caught up with everyone.
It took me half a day to find the entrance to the last cave where fire crickets were found.
Yu Qing couldn't come up with any new tricks, so he naturally followed the old method and cut down the trees first.
He doesn't need to do the chores, Tie Miaoqing is very conscious about it.
After everything was arranged, the Miaoqingtang group exited the tunnel again and once again waited at the entrance of the cave for a long wait...
The moon hangs like a solitary hook, exceptionally clear.
The slowly undulating mist settles mistfully, shrouding the earth in mist, and the undulating ridges in the mist under the moon are like the black back of a sleeping dragon.
In front of a steep cliff, there are large pieces of rubble, swaying or damaged stone sheep, stone horses, and many broken stone men. They are all abnormally large in size. It is not an exaggeration to describe them as huge. There are also several huge statues embedded in the cliff.
The skeleton has been petrified with the cliff, as if imprisoned in the stone wall.
From time to time, flickering lights float out from inside the giant skeleton, and the ghostly fire is dim.
A group of people wearing black night clothes were sitting cross-legged and meditating at the foot of the cliff. Most of them had various objects around them, including shovels, pickaxes, rope claws, and weapons such as swords.
A middle-aged man, who was also the leader of these people, stood on a stone statue admiring the moonlight. He had a short beard and a sallow complexion that was not visible in the night.
The night is quiet, disturbed by the chirping of insects.
A burly man with a stubble on his face flashed over and landed under the leader's stone statue. He raised his head and raised his hands and said, "Master Cui, I stopped a little demon outside and said he belongs to the 'Linyuan Pavilion' in the ancient tomb."
I am entrusted by an old friend of yours to come to see you."
Mr. Cui's name is Cui You, and he is a deacon of "Jianyuanzhai" in Youjiao Port. He came here on a mission from Youya.
Hearing these words, Cui You, who was standing on the stone statue, flashed his eyes and said in a deep voice: "Bring people over immediately."
"Yes." The strong man with a beard left quickly.
After a while, a little demon was brought in. He was thin and thin, with a beard and a bit of an old scholar.
After confirming Cui You's identity, the little demon greeted him and said, "Hu Tiandi of Linyuan Pavilion, I have met Mr. Cui."
Cui You ducked in front of him, smiled and cupped his hands, giving the little demon face, "Brother Hu, I wonder what my friend said?"
Hu Tiandi shook his head and said: "I didn't say anything. He said that he had already prepared the medicine you asked him to prepare for you. He said that you couldn't delay your injury, and he had something important to do and couldn't come in person. He knew that I knew him here.
Some friends can inquire about your whereabouts, so they asked me to deliver it to you urgently, Mr. Cui." After saying this, he took out a porcelain vase from his arms and presented it to him.
The burly bearded man on the side was named Wu Kuang. He looked at Cui You in surprise, wondering when this man was injured.
Cui You took the porcelain bottle, pulled out the stopper, brought it to his nose and sniffed, his eyes flickered strangely, and he smiled and said: "It is indeed a good medicine." He put away the medicine and took out a piece of silver with a face value of one thousand taels.
The ticket was given, "Thank you, Brother Hu. This is a small gesture, I hope you don't dislike it."
The little demon Hu Tiandi was able to travel all the way to do this, so he had already received benefits. If Cui You insisted on giving him more benefits, he would not be polite.
See off the guests as soon as the benefits are given.
After Wu Kuang returned from seeing off his guests, he was just about to ask Cui You when he was injured. Cui You could not wait to give the order, "Wake up everyone and set off immediately overnight!"
Wu Kuang was stunned and asked: "Where to go?"
Cui You smiled and said: "Linyuan Pavilion!"
"Uh..." Wu Kuang was stunned and looked back at the whereabouts of the little demon Hu Tiandi. He had already brought the message from somewhere. What did he mean by running here? He didn't understand, but he knew that there must be someone there.
Because of this, he obeyed the order and quickly woke everyone up.
After gathering people and things, they quickly ran into the vast night.
Climbing over mountains and ridges almost non-stop, it was not until the sky got slightly bright that the group arrived near the 'Linyuan Pavilion'.
Cui You, who looked around at the terrain, fixed his eyes on the highest mountain around Linyuan Pavilion. With a wave of his hand, he led his people there.
A group of people rushed to the top of the mountain. Cui You looked at the scene again and stared at a big stone. There was a stone as big as a fist on the big stone. He immediately flew down on the big stone and stared at the big stone at his feet.
On the small stone, a simple arrow pattern is drawn on the small stone.
He moved to adjust the direction, looked along the direction of the arrow for a while, then waved Wu Kuang over, pointed at the situation of small stones pressing against big stones, and pointed at the arrow pattern, "Go in that direction, and make sure you are on the way.
Everyone is keeping their eyes open and paying attention to the remaining signposts of this approach."
Wu Kuang was surprised in his heart. Someone left a road sign here. What's going on? He couldn't bear it anymore and tried: "Deacon, our main task this time is to catch fire crickets. We are wasting time on irrelevant things."
It’s not worth it, what are you going to do?”
Cui You: "Don't ask too many questions. Let everyone work hard and persevere. You will naturally know by then."
Wu Kuang had no choice but to obey the order and called the guys over. After pointing at the arrow road signs and laying out the tracking method and direction, the group hurried on again...
In the morning light, the branches are dripping with dew, crystal clear.
Tie Miaoqing's bamboo hat was covered with fine dew, and she had been waiting at the entrance of the cave as dawn approached. Others could not persuade her, but they could understand her mood.
Just as a crystal drop of water dripped from the brim of her hat, she suddenly stopped, turned around, and faced the dark entrance of the cave.
The sudden cessation of small steps caused Sun Ping and others to look around one after another. Seeing this, they all stood up and went to the entrance of the cave to listen. Sure enough, there was another familiar clanging sound.
When Yu Qing's figure appeared, everyone's eyes were fixed on the tinkling jar in his hand. Anyone with experience knew what this meant.
"Madam boss, let me take a rest for a while before rushing to the next place."
Yu Qing handed over the vibrating metal can, took off the towel covering his mouth and nose, and said something lightly, as if it was no big deal. He deliberately showed off his demeanor, walked away calmly, and talked to Xu Fei and Chong'er.
He said hello and found a place to sit down.
After confirming that he had caught a fire cricket again in the jar in his hand, Tie Miaoqing was overjoyed. He turned around and saw Yu Qing's appearance, and immediately said to Sun Ping: "Cook the spiritual rice!"
"Hey." Sun Ping also happily agreed and quickly turned around to tell her husband, "Go and get it quickly."
"Okay." Zhu Shangbiao left excitedly.
As soon as he saw the faces of these people, he knew that things were done again. Chong'er felt proud and proud again, his eyes were shining, and he couldn't help but praise in Xu Fei's ear, "Master, Master Shiheng"