On the second day of the trip, the four of them finally left Yunzhou and reached the border of Lingzhou.
Lingzhou is in the southwest of Yunzhou, and there is a big river separating the two states. Standing by the river, I saw a vast expanse of yellow water, with mud and sand rolling in the river, and the water waves were very turbid.
Tang Zhao was used to seeing the clear water of Jiugao Mountain. He also heard that this big river is the mother river of two states and several states upstream and downstream. It runs for thousands of miles, originates from the dragon's veins, and rushes into the sea. It is a wonder. He has longed for it, thinking that it is a wonder. It was like the Tianhe River lying on the ground in the Devil's Cave, and now I felt a little disappointed when I saw it.
But then I thought again: No matter whether the river is clear or turbid, it has irrigated thousands of miles of territory. Could it be said that if it is not clear, is it no longer our mother river?
He thought, and took a handful of river water. The water flowed away between his fingers, leaving only the strange rustling of his fingers. He thought to himself: What I hold in my hand are guests from a foreign land. I don't know where their hometown is. where?
Seeing Tang Zhao fishing for water, Che Sha asked curiously: "What's the matter? Brother, do you want to drink water?"
Seeing Tang Zhao's expression, Jiang Shenyi sighed and said, "Your eldest brother has read too much, and whenever he touches a scene, he feels like falling in love. He'll be fine soon."
Che Sha also knew something about Central Plains culture and said, "Ah, brother, do you want to make poetry?"
Even if Tang Zhao had some feelings, he was just embarrassed when they said this one by one. He stood up and said: "Stop talking about it, how can I compose poetry..."
Just as he was talking, Che Sha and Jiang Shenyi across from him suddenly changed their expressions. Tang Zhao looked back and saw a floating corpse floating on the river. It rose up on one wave and sank again on the other.
For a moment, Tang Zhao was also startled. Then he reacted and took out a roll of rope from the jar. With a shake of his hand, under the action of internal force, the rope naturally straightened. When inserted into the water, it softened and accurately rolled up the corpse. Drag it out of the water.
This flick took only a few breaths. Che Sha's eyes flashed and the corpse was already on land.
Just now, Tang Zhao's hand movements were clean and agile, not to mention quick eyesight and quick hands. He kept bending the rope and controlled his internal energy very superbly. With this hand alone, he was at least a top knight. Che Sha couldn't help but admire and thought to herself: He has such a talisman. Why do you need such high martial arts skills if you are accomplished in martial arts? With such high martial arts skills, how could he have such high attainments in talismans?
The body was dragged ashore and lay on its back.
As soon as everyone saw it, they knew it was hopeless. His skin has been soaked to the point of becoming watery white and his body has lost its appearance, but he should not have died for more than a few days, otherwise there would be many fish and shrimps in the river, so he might not be so complete. The body soaked in water was really unsightly. Tang Zhao endured the churning of his stomach and took a closer look, but he couldn't tell the appearance. All that could be seen was a young man, who looked a little swollen from his body shape, maybe due to edema.
Maybe it was because he had been in the water for a long time, because the man was naked. Che Sha was the only woman present, but Liangzhou had a bold and unrestrained atmosphere, so she did not shy away from it, saying: "Huh? This is too naked. Could it be that he was not wearing any clothes at all? Could it be that he didn't slip and fell into the water, but drowned while swimming?" "
A few people nodded. If you fall from the shore or a boat, you must not be so naked. Even if you commit suicide, most people will not take off their clothes and jump again. It is really possible that you drowned while swimming in the river and bathing.
However, this river is so vast and turbulent, will anyone really swim in it?
After all, Tang Zhao and the others were not detectives, and there was no need to investigate the cause of death. Since Tang Zhao had dragged him up accidentally, they let him bury him in peace. Tang Zhao and Jiang Shenyi dug a hole and buried it. Although Wu Sun Tong and Che Sha were curious about why they didn't bury it directly in water, they helped. Che Sha also brought out a straw mat to use as a coffin.
"Now we also have to cross the river. Should we fly there or take a boat?"
"Let's take a boat. We have to fly early. Isn't walking just a little more experience?"
"Okay, the nearest ferry is twenty miles downstream, but there should be a wild ferry three miles away. There should be a boat, right?"
After some discussion, a few people decided that it would be fine to just go as they pleased. Since the trip was not in a hurry, they wandered downriver. At this time, none of the four of them had any mounts with them, so it was convenient for them to take the boat.
When I arrived at Yedu Port, I saw seven or eight people waiting at the ferry. It seemed that there was indeed a boat. Most of the people waiting were dressed as small businessmen, and most of them were alone or in groups of two or three. There were no wealthy and powerful people, and there were only one or two powerful people, like Jianghu men with some martial arts skills. The four people lined up behind them.
Tang Zhao was at the front of the queue and started chatting with the people in front of him.
In terms of experience in the world, including the two Liangzhou colleagues, Tang Zhao actually had the most experience. After all, he first traveled around the world with the Sui family for a few months, and had experience in the devil's cave. In the past few years, he had also done missions intermittently with the Prosecution Department, and he was quite familiar with how to deal with people. Jiang Shenyi was not good at dealing with people, so he gave him the character of "Old Jianghu".
In fact, Chesha was also eloquent and clever in her actions, but the customs in Liangzhou were very different. The further south they went, the stranger they became, so she restrained herself.
Tang Zhao dressed up as a scholar when he went out. He behaved bookishly and had a friendly appearance, making it easy to chat with people. The man in front of him was a small business owner who called himself Wan. He was familiar with Tang Zhao and asked, "Brother Xiucai, we businessmen are selling goods back and forth to make hard money. What are you scholars doing?" Are you going to Lingzhou too? Why not just stay in Yunzhou?"
Tang Zhao smiled and said: "We are here as guests, but we are going to Yongzhou and passing through Lingzhou."
Boss Wan shook his head repeatedly and said: "Going to Yongzhou? Then we should go over Xiwang Mountain and go from Yanzhou. Although there are several commanders in Yanzhou fighting back and forth, there is a tacit agreement to leave a peaceful passage for merchants coming and going. Lingzhou alone is a den of thieves who eat people without spitting out their bones..."
As he was talking, a businessman in front of him turned around and lowered his voice: "Shopkeeper Wan, be careful what you say. This is on the edge of Lingzhou."
Boss Wan's expression changed, he held up his hands to express his thanks, and turned to Tang Zhao in a low voice: "You know what this means, right?"
Tang Zhao said thoughtfully: "I know that Baixiong Mountain is in Lingzhou." Chen Aoxiong, the head of Baixiong Mountain, is known as the leader of the 413 states in the inner, nine and outer states. He is the nominal leader of the bandits in the world.
Boss Wan nodded repeatedly, and Tang Zhao added: "But Lingzhou is so big, and Baixiong Mountain occupies that area. We can't afford to offend, but we can afford to hide. We can just go around."
Boss Wan quickly waved his hand and whispered: "Where is the Baixiong Mountain? There are dozens of branch villages under one mountain, and there are hundreds of small hills in his name. There are also tens of thousands of mountains that I don't know where they came from. Water bandits, there are countless thieves on the road..."
Tang Zhao was very puzzled and whispered: "There are so many thieves, and they all want to steal. Who should they rob? How can there be so much property for him to rob?"
Boss Wan said: "What can we say? But after all, there are millions of people in Lingzhou, so there is always something to grab, right? In fact, there are really rich people in Lingzhou, otherwise why would we risk taking this trade route? The income from a round trip It's expensive. But those people won't be robbed easily. Most of the people who suffer are ordinary people, small landowners, and businessmen like us who make a living. I heard that in Lingzhou, being a bandit is like being an official for you scholars, it is a way to get ahead. , once you become a leader in the village, you will be considered a master. So every village has young people who are bandits."
Tang Zhao thought to himself: What, is Lingzhou in the era of "big mountain bandits"?
He wanted to ask where the government was? Doesn’t the government care? But it seems that there is no need to ask, there is a carrot and a pit, Baixiong Mountain is so arrogant, of course it is the government's pit.
Both Xing Ji and Xue Yeyu had told him before that he was used to living in Yunzhou, so don't be too surprised if he goes to another state or county.
Just as he was talking, a boat came up on the river and drifted to the shore. The boat was not small, and it looked like it could seat dozens of people, but its hull was old and it was obviously old.
The boatman stood on the bow of the boat and shouted: "Crossing the river, crossing the river! One tael of silver per person."
Even though Tang Zhao was not short of money now, he couldn't help but be surprised that this trip across the river was too expensive. One tael of silver is enough to buy half a donkey!
Wusuntong was behind and asked, "Is it so expensive?"
The boatman stood up straight and saw that he was eight feet tall, with broad shoulders and a round waist. He had a ferocious face. He only wore an open waistcoat on his upper body, revealing his full muscles and thick heart-protecting hair. He shouted: "Too expensive? If you don't think it's too expensive, don't get on the boat." Ah. Go and be an official ship, I'm afraid you won't get a ship after waiting for three days."
Wusuntong snorted. In fact, as a Talisman Swordsman, he had many ways to cross the river, but everyone had arranged to take a boat, so he couldn't disturb them. The newly recognized eldest brother hasn’t spoken yet.
Someone asked from behind: "One tael of silver, is that regular money?"
The boatman sneered and said: "I don't accept copper coins on this ship, nor do I accept Dajin Tongbao, let alone scrap copper and iron from any commander or governor. As long as you have cash, get out of here if you don't have any money."
There were quite a few voices of dissatisfaction among the crowd, but the boatman stood on the bow like an iron tower, majestic and brooking no objection. Eventually someone paid to get on the boat. One person took the lead, and everyone behind them paid their money and got on the boat.
Tang Zhao got on the boat and handed over four taels of silver and said, "There are four of us." Jiang Shenyi and others nodded. They were all wealthy swordsman masters. They didn't care about these small coins, and it didn't matter who was treating them.
The cabin was narrow, so there was no comfort in this private boat, and it was already full in a short time. The boatman kept pushing people in until everyone was packed into the cabin. The cabin was already as crowded as a rice vat. Some people wanted to sit on the deck, but the boatman shouted loudly and refused.
Amid the commotion, the boat finally left the shore. The cabin was overcrowded and smelled bad. Boss Wan looked at the four young people next to him who looked somewhat uncomfortable and said with a smile: "Young people, it's good to be at home for a thousand days, but it's hard to go out for a while. Just bear with it. Listen to me, don't run around by yourself when you get to Lingzhou, find an escort agency, spend more money, and ask them to take you across the border."
Tang Zhao asked curiously: "There are so many thieves, can the escort agency still survive?"
Boss Wan chuckled and said: "The door is right here. There are escort agencies, and there are only a few reliable ones. Other escort agencies are robbed, but they are safe. How awesome do you think you are? I think you are not short of money. , this is called spending money to buy peace.”
Tang Zhao was thoughtful and considering his suggestion. It was not that he was afraid of being robbed. They came here for the experience. Fighting all the way was an experience, and following the escort agency was also an experience.
However, if they can really kill all the way through, is it too much to look down on Baixiong Mountain, which dominates the state? He is a local emperor of a state. In this world, since he can secure this position, he has hard power in his hands. Even if he is not as good as Gao Yuanhou, how can he not have a few swords to hold down the mountain? If they really act unscrupulously, they might provoke Baixiong Mountain to send a few swordsmen down.
Just as I was thinking about it, the boat suddenly stopped.
Is this it?
No, that's not right——
Still in the middle of the river!
Just as he was thinking about it, the cabin door opened, and a bright light shone in from the outside.
That's - the light of the sword!
Tang Zhao squinted his eyes and heard someone outside shouting: "Everyone, it's time for you. The time has come, it's time to eat."
Several of the passengers were still confused, remembering that they had not ordered food, and Boss Wan and other Lao Jianghu's faces turned pale.
"Do you want wontons or flat noodles?"
