"Be careful, the boat is sailing!"
With a shout from Boatman, the two boatmen worked together to prop up the bamboo poles and pushed the ferry slowly away from the ferry.
This wooden boat is the most common boat in Shaanzhou. It is about ten meters long. It can transport goods in the rear and a dozen passengers in the front.
Li Yan Three people are sitting on the bow of the boat at this moment.
Their images are really too eye-catching. A bald man with a fierce look on his face, a young swordsman, and Old Taoist, no need to ask, everyone knows that they are from the world.
This ship was going from the Dan River to Luonan. The ship was full of merchants and people. Seeing the natural appearance of the three people, they naturally gave them a wide berth.
Sha LiFei was bored, so he chatted with Boatman: "The bow of the ship, when we get to Luonan, is there really a ship to take us on?"
"This... maybe." Boatman said vaguely.
Sha LiFei was immediately annoyed, "Oh, that's not what you said before we got on the ship. Why, you didn't admit it after we got on the ship?"
Seeing the fierce look on Sha LiFei's face, Boatman secretly cursed the troublesome guy, and went to the boat to lie to him without even looking at who he was.
There are many ferries at the port, and customers are trying to catch each one, so sometimes they are vague, and they agree haphazardly even if they can't deliver to the place. Anyway, when they get to the place, they can't give less money.
The boatman might have lost his mind and let these people get on the boat.
Thinking of this, Boatman said with a flattering face, "Sir, I'm not lying to you, but there are really few ships going north, and we don't dare to give you a guarantee."
As he spoke, he whispered mysteriously, "Also, I would like to advise everyone to take the mountain road when you arrive at Luonan. Be safer."
"That river is not very smooth..."
Li Yan frowned, "Why is this so unfair?"
If they take the mountain road, it will take them a long time, because they heard that there is a waterway further north Luonan. After reaching the end, they only need to climb a mountain to reach Lantian.
If they follow Boatman's suggestion, why should they follow Luonan's advice?
"You don't know something..."
Boatman looked into the distance and patiently explained, "This matter has to start with Tang Era."
"At that time, in order to alleviate the pressure on grain transportation, Cui Shi and others successively petitioned the imperial court to propose connecting Dan and Ba River to dig canals between Nanshan Mountains, turning Shangshan's land transportation into water transportation."
"Later, the imperial court sent Cui Shi as an envoy with tens of thousands of slaves. However, due to the difficulty of digging, three or four out of ten working people were gone. Moreover, this waterway was often collapsed and blocked by summer flash floods, so it was gradually abandoned."
"Guys, there are some things that I dare not say on the boat for fear of violating taboos, but when we get to the Luonan ferry, you guys will know it after just asking around."
"That place is really not peaceful..."
Li Yan When the three of them heard this, they immediately looked at each other...
Luonan ferry, the cold wind is blowing.
This ferry is very small, and people leave directly after disembarking. There are not many cargo transfers, so there are only a few tea sheds here and there.
"You coward, you went astray!"
Sha LiFei After asking around, he came back, sat down and said helplessly, "I asked, the river is indeed not very flat, and I tried some tricks to find out the reason."
"According to the porter who worked there, too many people died during the excavation of that place. They were full of resentment. Some people passing by on boats would jump into the river for no apparent reason. They said they were possessed by water ghosts."
"Especially this summer, something big happened. Flash floods washed away the waterway and completely blocked the waterway. Some grain merchants from the south wanted to join forces and hire people to open the waterway to save time."
"Who would have thought that something happened that day, and many coolies died. There was a huge uproar, and the grain merchants ran away. The road is still blocked and no one dares to walk."
Li Yan frowned and shook his head. "We miscalculated. Could it be that we return to Qin-Chu Ancient Road? It will be delayed for at least seven or eight days."
"Sir, don't listen to their nonsense!"
At this moment, the owner of the tea shed laughed and said, "Those Boatmans just think that there is no oil and water in the waterway and don't want to go there. The porters also heard about it."
"It was a summer flash flood, and many coolies drowned because they were unprepared. Before the grain dealer ran away, he was afraid that someone would pursue him, so he made up a story to scare people."
"It's still dark today, and I saw a boat leaving..."
Li Yan asked, "What if the waterway is blocked?"
The owner of the tea shed smiled and said, "We are going to Lantian. We can find a road halfway up the mountain and climb over. That is the lowest point in the Qinling Mountains. If you take other roads, you will have to take a detour."
Sha LiFei shook his head and said, "It's useless to talk so much without a boat?"
The tea shed owner quickly said, "I have it!"
"Is this your ship?"
Looking at the dilapidated wooden boat, Sha LiFei's eyelids jumped with anger, and he cursed, "Damn, it's really hunting geese all year round, and the bird from my hometown pecked its eyes. You all came to coax and deceive, right?"
"The guest officer was joking, how could it be a lie?"
The owner of the tea shed quickly stepped forward and patted the boat's bangs hard, "Although this old man is old, he is very strong. I have been running around on the river all year round and I have never had any trouble."
"Besides, I won't leave other people's homes either..."
Wang Dao Xuan sighed, shook his head and said, "That's all, let's go this way. It's almost time. We can always save some time by landing early."
At this point, the three of them could only board the ship.
The owner of the tea shed propped up the bamboo pole, and the boat immediately sailed into the river.
Looking at the ferry getting further and further away, Sha LiFei was happy, "You guys, you only care about making money, why don't you even care about the tea shed?"
The tea shed owner smiled and showed his big white teeth:
"Your Majesty, I don't know. We haven't made any money for several days."
Sha LiFei: "..."
Although the tea shed owner was full of nonsense, he did not lie about one thing, that is, his punting skills were indeed excellent.
It was a little slow at first, but when the speed picked up, the boss waved his long bamboo pole and shuttled between both ends of the boat.
Like a Transformed Strength master, he can always find the perfect focus point and coordinate with the current to make the entire boat stable and fast.
"Boss, you are very skilled."
Sha LiFei's face softened slightly. People in the world did not accept officials, let alone wealthy gentry. They only looked at this man with extraordinary skills in a new light.
No matter you are a sleight of hand, a performer, a high-ranking or a low-ranking person, as long as you have a unique skill, you will always receive praise.
Wang Dao Xuan also smiled and said, "If you have this skill, why don't you build a boat and eat on the water? The tea shed is in a remote location and you really can't make two cents."
"Alas, the boat was sold..."
The boss sighed, "Food on the water is not delicious either. The court has to collect taxes, gangs have to take commissions, and even when delivering goods, you have to pay some filial piety in order to get a job."
"My unfilial son couldn't bear the hardships on the boat, so he sold the boat to raise money and ran to the prosperous land in the south of the Yangtze River. He didn't receive a reply for several years, and he didn't know whether he would live or die..."
Sha LiFei shook his head and said, "Boss, don't be impatient. The man has ambitions in all directions. Maybe one day he will make a fortune and come back to honor you."
"Let's count the balls!"
The tea shed owner shook his head disdainfully and said, "As long as he can live and have food, we, the old couple, can make do with each other."
"People should be content, this is how life is anyway..."
They set out in the morning, and it was already dusk. The peaks on both sides were quiet, the red glow was slanting from the sky, and the river was full of fish scales.
"What a view!"
Sha LiFei couldn't help but walked to the bow of the ship, took off the wine bottle from his waist, took two sips, opened his mouth, and wanted to recite a few lines of poetry in an artful way, but when the words came to his mouth, his mind went blank again.
After holding it in for a while, he cursed, "That's what the boss said, those Boatman are just lazy. How can there be any injustice in this good place... What is that!"
Before he finished speaking, he exclaimed in surprise.
I saw something floating up and down on the river. Looking closer, it was a dead body. Its face was white and purple. It had been dead for a long time, and there was a weird smile on its face.
"Don't... don't touch him!"
The owner of the tea shed was obviously startled. He propped up the bamboo pole and the boat moved away from him. Then he looked at the corpse retreating behind the boat, his eyes uncertain, "There really is such a thing..."
Wang Dao Xuan stood up slowly, his face became serious, "Boss, it was caused by something unclean. What do you know?"
The tea shed owner swallowed, "There is indeed a legend about this river, called 'Smiling Face'. It is said that if you are caught by 'Smiling Face' while sailing, you will drown, and the same will happen to your body after death."
Sha LiFei was unhappy, "Boss, you are not kind."
The boss defended. "This matter was just passed on to each other, but no one had seen it when I asked. I thought it was just a rumor."
Just as he was talking, a boat suddenly appeared on the shore ahead. The boat was not small, brand new and sturdy, and it was worth a lot at first glance.
But there was no one on the boat, and it was tied randomly to the rocks on the shore with cables. There were still many messy footprints left in the mud, leading to the nearby mountains and forests.
"I remembered."
The owner of the tea shed suddenly said, "This is the boat that left in the morning. Are these people going over the mountain to Lantian County? Why don't they even want the boat?"
Li Yan stood up, looked into the distance and said thoughtfully, "Boss, can you go to Lantian over the mountains from here?"
"Yes." The boss nodded quickly, pointed to the distance and said, "From here, we go over the mountains, pass through several ditches, and after going down the mountain, we will reach Lantian."
"Although we have to take a detour, there are cliffs on both sides of the river ahead, making it impossible to go up. Also, there are many wolves in the mountains here. I see some heroes, but you have to be careful!"
"Thank you very much!"
Sha LiFei threw a handful of money, then jumped off the boat with Li Yan Wang Dao Xuan and walked towards the hillside.
Watching their figures gradually disappear, the owner of the tea shed suddenly moved his mind. He lifted the stone and scuttled his own boat. Then he jumped on the good boat, untied the cable, and punted away quickly...
"Yan XiaoGe, what did you find?"
As soon as we walked up the hillside, Sha LiFei asked quickly.
He has sharp eyes and has long since noticed that after seeing the River Corpse, Li Yan's face looked a little wrong, and his eyes murderous intent flashed.
Li Yan nodded slightly and looked at Wang Dao Xuan, "Daoist Master, do you remember that I told you that Cold Altar Rampaging Soldier was attached to the evil wolf and ran to Li Family Fortress to cause trouble?"
"Of course I remember."
Wang Dao Xuan suddenly realized, "The one just now?"
Li Yan nodded and said, "It's gone. The remaining smell is slightly different, but very similar."
Wang Dao Xuan thought for a moment, "That should be it."
"There are many types of Rampaging Soldiers things. They have different abilities depending on their origins and training methods. The one that ran into your village should be Soul Hooking Chain, and the one just now may have something to do with the river water."
As he said that, he looked at the mountains in the distance, pondered for a moment, and asked, "Do you think it's okay?"
Li Yan nodded and said, "You can give it a try."
"Hey hey hey!"
Sha LiFei was immediately dissatisfied and said, "I said you two are playing riddles. Do you want to hide something from me?"
Wang Dao Xuan laughed dumbly, shook his head and said, "Yan XiaoGe means, since Cold Altar Rampaging Soldier ran away from here, then there must be Cold Altar Ruined Temple on the mountain."
"There may be some leftover mages in there, and more importantly those Rampaging Soldiers. Didn't I lose my Yin Soldier brats? If I can subdue a few of them, I won't be so embarrassed when facing enemies in the future."
Li Yan also said in a deep voice, "If you keep this thing, it will be a scourge after all. If you can get rid of it, you can do something for the elders in your hometown."
"What a good thing!"
Sha LiFei became interested when he heard this, "How can you let go of the things that are delivered to your door? Let's go quickly."
Several of their horses have been stored in the carriage and horse shop for a long time. If you give them some money, they will help send them back to Xianyang.
Now Li Yan is the leader, Sha LiFei is carrying the mage's backpack presented by Luo MingZi, Cloud Thunder Divine Drum is also hanging on it, and Wang Dao Xuan is by his side.
It's not that Li Yan is lazy, but he wants to explore the way ahead. Once he fights with others, if he still carries the precious magic drum and pokes a hole during the fight, it will be too late to regret.
I don't know who the first batch of people were. Even if there was no Li Yan Divine Ability, the messy footsteps showed the direction they were heading.
Of course, Li Yan is not targeting these people.
It's just that among these people, there is still a taste of Rampaging Soldiers...
Not long after, two more bodies were discovered.
One had his heart pierced by a knife, and the other's neck was cut in half, but the head tilted to the side still had that weird smile on it.
"Tsk tsk..."
Sha LiFei shook his head and said, "These people are really unlucky. Rampaging Soldiers sneaked into the crowd and didn't know how to run away quickly."
Li Yan said thoughtfully, "I'm afraid they have other important matters..."
"Quick! Quick! Tie him up!"
Lu XiaoWu had a ferocious face and was holding a bloody short knife in his hand.
He set out secretly last night, unexpectedly avoiding the eyes of some people, but encountered something unclean deep in the mountains.
Fortunately, he was clever and used tricks to find the "ghost".
On the tree trunk, Feng Ping led two guards and trapped the other guard tightly with a rope mixed with Black Dog Blood.
Black Dog Blood, I prepared it when I went into the mountains, just in case, but unexpectedly it actually came in handy.
At this time, the bound guard struggled and screamed, but with that scary smile on his face, his skin became pale and cold, with water droplets oozing out.
Black Dog Blood obviously cannot destroy Rampaging Soldiers, but after being dipped in hemp rope, it can firmly trap him in this body.
"Let's go, he can't be saved."
Lu XiaoWu gasped and shook his head, signaling for everyone to leave.
He is not an unfamiliar warlock, but according to his mother, the treasure cave is extremely extraordinary. If a warlock sees it, he may become greedy, so this time he brought all his close servants.
Everyone was so frightened that they quickly pushed the wooden cart forward, and on the wooden cart, there was the coffin of Lu Kang.
"Lao Zhou, I'm sorry..."
The guard leader Feng Ping glanced at the tied guard, his heart full of sadness.
They were greatly favored by Lu Kang and studied together since childhood. Unexpectedly, the Lu family was in great trouble now, and good brothers were leaving one after another.
Lu XiaoWu Seeing everyone's expressions, he quickly said in a deep voice, "Don't worry, everyone, the Lu family will move after finishing this errand."
"From now on, as long as the Lu family is here, there will be your Prosperity!"
"Thank you, Second Young Master!"
After comforting everyone, Lu XiaoWu took out the cloth roll in his arms, with the location of the treasure cave and the burial method written on it in detail.
He couldn't help but have hope in his heart. He didn't expect that his father would lay such a plan before his death. If he followed his father's plan, he might one day be able to stand on the Golden Palace!
Thinking of this, his heart felt hot.
Not long after, Li Yan and three others followed.
Looking at the guard who was tied to the tree with a weird smile on his face, Li Yan laughed dumbly, "Don't worry, let's take action, Daoist Priest, get ready."
Wang Dao Xuan nodded, opened the yellow cloth, dipped the brush into Cinnabar Ink, drew a large talisman on the yellow cloth, and took out a black clay pot at the same time.
Li Yan, on the other hand, spread out the palm of his left hand and showed the mark of the ultimatum...