Chapter 889: Analyzing salary, analyzing salary, holding an ax to break salary
Author: Saragus
Xu Zhiqiong and Lin Qianniang rowed the boat towards the land that should not have appeared in the first place.
As the shoreline gradually became clearer, Xu Zhiqiong turned around and said to Qianniang: "It's still too late to go back now."
Qianniang asked in surprise: "What are you going to do when you go back? We agreed to come with Xu Lang."
Xu Zhiqiong asked: "Why do you have to come with me?"
"Didn't I just say that I would take care of you with Xu Lang?"
Xu Zhiqiong lowered his face and said, "You will be punished for lying."
Qianniang said hurriedly: "If you lie, I will chop off your hands and feet, even if you chop off your head, I will let Xu Lang punish you."
"Why should I chop you? But I want to beat you up."
"Just let Xu Lang beat you."
"Can I hit peaches?"
Qianniang blushed and said, "I'll hit wherever Xu Lang says."
"Is it okay to beat the peach with bare hands?"
Qianniang lowered her head and said, "You can fight Xu Lang however you want."
Xu Zhiqiong frowned and said, "What on earth is this going to do?"
"Just to follow Xu Lang..." Qianniang's voice became smaller and smaller.
With her famous skills, it is really difficult for others to detect a lie. Xu Zhiqiong has always suspected that Qiongqi's arrogance skills in the evil realm are somewhat related to the famous skills.
But the lie Qianniang told today was really not clever.
She did not use techniques on Xu Zhiqiong, probably because she was worried that Xu Zhiqiong would also use famous techniques and be able to see through her lies.
But even if you don't use any techniques, you should at least tell the lie in a smooth way. If it's to lay an ambush or set a trap, Qianniang's methods are really good. Things like exploring the road are not suitable for Qianniang at all. Xu Zhiqiong went there alone. The most appropriate.
While thinking about it, the boat had already reached the shore. Xu Zhiqiong jumped onto a rock, and Qianniang followed suit.
"I am very skilled and will never be a burden to Xu Lang..."
The rocks were slippery and Qianniang's feet were unstable and she almost fell.
Xu Zhiqiong stepped forward to support Qianniang and led her to the foot of a hill.
The hill is not big, with a radius of two or three miles. The vegetation is extremely prosperous, but it is not like what it should be in February.
Xu Zhiqiong discovered a path on the hill. The path was paved with stone slabs, with a smooth surface and arranged in layers, leading to the mountainside.
Seeing this trail, you can be sure that this is not a desert island.
Walking along the path up the mountain, Qianniang looked around, as if everything she saw felt novel and precious, and she wished she could record everything she saw in her eyes.
Apart from the unseasonable abundance of vegetation, Xu Zhiqiong really didn’t find anything special about this barren mountain. About halfway up the mountain, in the dense forest, a young woodcutter sang while chopping firewood:
"Analyze the salary, analyze the salary, hold the ax to break the salary, collect the salary as a bundle, and give it to my beloved!"
Xu Zhiqiong didn't quite understand the simple and obscure words.
But the song is really sweet, the words are clear, loud and melodious, the rhythms are distinct, and it lingers in the heart.
Xu Zhiqiong had heard Lin Ruoxue's singing at Shifang Goulan. Even though she was the number one singer in Daxuan, she was far inferior to this woodcutter.
Hearing this singing, Lin Qianniang was very surprised and was about to go deep into the dense forest.
Xu Zhiqiong pinched Taozi's thick part very hard. Qianniang shivered in pain and retreated behind Xu Zhiqiong.
With a singing voice like this, why bother chopping firewood here?
There are male actors and actresses in all the major entertainment venues in the capital. With this ability, where can I not make a living?
Or maybe it's because this place is so remote that this great talent has been buried.
Or maybe this is an outsider who lives here in seclusion.
Xu Zhiqiong walked up and asked with a smile: "Brother, are you a local?"
The woodcutter put down the ax in his hand and smiled at Xu Zhiqiong.
He smiled very seriously, his eyebrows were curved, his eyes were curved, his lips were tightly closed, the corners of his mouth were turned up, and his small mouth was also curved.
A simple and rough face suddenly had five curved hooks, and Xu Zhiqiong was still not used to it.
The woodcutter smiled and said, "Are you foreigners?"
He spoke very quickly, opening and closing his lips slightly, continuing to maintain the shape of a hook.
Xu Zhiqiong nodded and said: "We are passing by here on a boat and want to find some water to drink."
"Do you want firewood?" The woodcutter looked at the pile of firewood beside him with a smile.
Xu Zhiqiong shook his head: "I don't want firewood, I just want water to drink."
"There is water in the mountains. If you walk along the mountain road, you will see it in a while." The woodcutter looked at Xu Zhiqiong with a smile.
Qianniang asked from the side: "Are you the only one in the mountains? Where is your home? Are there any of your fellow villagers here?"
The woodcutter didn't answer and looked at Xu Zhiqiong with a smile.
He kept looking at Xu Zhiqiong.
Qianniang wanted to ask again, but Xu Zhiqiong grabbed Qianniang and turned around to leave.
Touched by the power of imagery, Xu Zhiqiong sensed the danger and took Qianniang quickly away from the woodcutter.
After passing the mountainside, the mountain road turned and did not lead to the top of the mountain. It circled the middle of the mountain and stretched to the other side of the hill.
Xu Zhiqiong wanted to go to the top of the mountain to see it, but there was no stone path and the trees were dense and airtight.
With his method, it was not a problem to open a road to the top of the mountain, but after staring at the bushes for a while, Xu Zhiqiong was worried that he would get lost if he entered the bushes.
How can one get lost in such a small mountain?
"Analyze the salary, analyze the salary, hold the ax to break the salary, collect the salary as a bundle, and give it to my beloved!"
The woodcutter's song came again, and a chill surged over his head. Xu Zhiqiong gave up the plan of getting into the bushes, and led Qianniang quickly along the stone path.
Qianniang complained: "Why are you leaving in such a hurry? Since you came to explore and met a native, you should ask for directions."
This is really strange. After knowing each other for so long, this is the first time Xu Zhiqiong hears Qianniang complain.
"I thought that guy just now was a little strange."
"Why is it weird?" Qianniang was still dissatisfied.
Xu Zhiqiong smiled and said: "The songs he sings are so beautiful."
Qianniang was filled with joy: "Does Xu Lang think it sounds good too? I have never heard such a good song, but the singing is better than..."
"But it sounds better than Lin Ruoxue." Xu Zhiqiong looked at Qianniang.
Qianniang lowered her head again.
Lin Ruoxue is Sister Lin and Lin Qianniang's sister. Xu Zhiqiong has known about this for a long time, but he has never revealed it.
This sudden revelation made Qian Niang silent for a long time. Xu Zhiqiong interrupted the conversation and said: "The woodcutter's singing is indeed good, but I have never heard the music he sang, and I don't understand it well. Do you know that tune?"
"
"That's an ancient piece of music, and it doesn't have a music label." Upon hearing the piece of music, Qianniang became interested, "He just sang that piece of music, it must be luck."
"Lucky wind?"
"Yunfeng is an ancient tune spread in Yundi. The melody is loud and high-pitched, straightforward and simple, and is somewhat similar to the folk customs of Yundi."
"Luck land?"
"That's the ancient name of Yunzhou."
Xu Zhiqiong smiled and said: "Isn't that my fiefdom?"
"Exactly," Qianniang nodded repeatedly, "The "Xinxing" he sang just now means chopping firewood. He uses an ax to chop firewood, gather it into a bunch, and give it to his beloved girl."
"Giving firewood to the girl?"
Lin Qianniang nodded: "In the old customs, firewood is an indispensable type of betrothal gift."
"Sending firewood as a betrothal gift?" Xu Zhiqiong asked in astonishment, "Where is this old custom? Is it an old custom in Daxuan?"
"This is...an old custom in China." Qianniang lowered her head again.
Xu Zhiqiong knew why Qianniang's lie tonight was so clumsy.
She didn't want to lie at all, she wanted to hint something to Xu Zhiqiong.
Going around the back mountain, Xu Zhiqiong saw an open wilderness, and at the end of the wilderness was another hill.
As the stone path turned down the mountain, Xu Zhiqiong pulled out the Yuanyang Blade and cut a mark on a big tree next to the stone path.
This tree is big enough for two people to hug each other, making it a perfect road sign.
Walking down the mountain towards the wilderness, criss-crossing roads appeared in the grass.
Walking along the road closest to them, the two of them soon saw a small courtyard.
Why didn't I see this courtyard when I was on the mountain just now?
Maybe I saw it but didn't pay attention just now.
Walking to the door of the yard, a woman of seventeen or eighteen years old was pounding grain in the yard.
To pound grains, the grains are placed in a stone mortar and the shells are crushed with a pestle.
This girl's way of pounding grain is very primitive. She lifts the pestle vertically and hammers it into the stone mortar. The heavy pestle is tiring both hands and waist.
Daxuan has already eliminated this primitive technology with more advanced construction methods. Even Qiancheng Kingdom at least has a treadmill to replace the pestle.
The girl was not too tired, and sang while pounding grain.
"Chong the grain to pound the grain to make cooking. If the rice is not cooked yet, a good man should not rush it."
Everyone in this place has a good singing voice, and this girl's singing voice is no less good than that of the woodcutter.
Qianniang was so drunk after listening to it that Xu Zhiqiong also wanted to keep listening.
But after hearing the girl sing twice, a chill made Xu Zhiqiong wake up again.
He interrupted the singing and asked: "Girl, we are passers-by and want to ask for a bowl of water."
The girl raised her head and smiled.
The two eyebrows are curved, the two eyes are curved, and the mouth is also curved.
Her smile was exactly like that of the woodcutter on the mountain, as if there were five hooks growing out of her face.
"Are you foreigners?"
Xu Zhiqiong nodded: "He is a foreigner."
"How did you find my house?"
"I found it along the mountain road."
"Have you seen my man?"
Xu Zhiqiong was silent for a moment and said with a smile: "We just want some water to drink."
The girl's smile never changed: "Have you seen my man?"
When she repeated the same question again, the strong chill gave Xu Zhiqiong the idea of leaving the place immediately.
But Qianniang, who is usually cautious, was extremely unusual today. She took the initiative to ask the woman: "What does your man look like?"
The woman kept looking at Xu Zhiqiong, a strange smile seemed to be frozen on her face.
"My man is the strongest woodcutter in the village. He cuts firewood in the mountains. After cutting the wood, he comes home to find me."
The woman spoke faster than the woodcutter, and Xu Zhiqiong could hardly see her mouth moving.
No, it's not that you can't see it, it's that her mouth didn't move at all.
Qianniang pointed to the mountain and said, "We saw your man, he is on the mountain..."
Xu Zhiqiong hugged Qianniang, carried her on his shoulders, and ran wildly.
He wants to leave here.
Not leaving this yard, but leaving this land.
He rushed along the stone path to the mountainside, and was about to turn back to the other side of the mountain, but took a few steps back and looked back at the big tree on the roadside.
The knife marks left on the big tree just now disappeared.
I'm going the wrong way!
Xu Zhiqiong was shocked. He searched carefully along the bark of the tree and vaguely saw a scar.
This should be the location where I left the scar, but the scar on the tree bark has healed. Judging from the color of the scar, it seems that it has healed for many years.
Xu Zhiqiong didn't think any more and continued running wildly with Qianniang on his back. Not far away, he heard the familiar singing voice again:
"Analyze the salary, analyze the salary, hold the ax to break the salary, collect the salary as a bundle, and give it to my beloved!"
The tune is still melodious, but the sound is much older.
Xu Zhiqiong looked at the woodcutter who was chopping wood and saw that he was stooped and had gray hair on his temples. He looked like he was sixty or seventy years old.
He put down the ax in his hand and turned to look at Xu Zhiqiong, with the five-hook smile still on his face.
"Have you seen my beloved?" the woodcutter said with a smile, "Is the rice ready? I'm going home."
"I saw your beloved," Qianniang replied, "the rice is not yet cooked, and she is still waiting for you to come home."
Qianniang's voice also changed. Xu Zhiqiong put her down from his shoulders and saw that her hair was like frost, her face was wrinkled, her cheeks were sunken, her eyes were dull, and she had a dull smile on her face.
Xu Zhiqiong pulled off his bun and looked at his hair.
In the dry palms, the hair was all white.
Xu Zhiqiong panicked for a moment and then regained his composure.