It's not far or near from Jingzhe Villa to Xishan County. Generally, it takes three days to go fast on horseback, but Tang Zhao and the others abandon their horses and walk, and it only takes one and a half days to travel quickly with Qinggong.
But after entering Xishan County, the traveling speed inevitably slowed down.
On the one hand, everyone's physical strength has reached the end of their strength, and on the other hand, the terrain is changing rapidly.
Xishan County is almost the westernmost county in Yunzhou. It is also one of the largest counties in Yunzhou and even in the world. It accounts for almost one-third of Yuxia County. It is several times larger than other counties, but its population is not even that of ordinary counties. Not even half. In terms of people's livelihood, it is even more impoverished and is known as a poor county.
Because there are so many mountains in Xishan County. Almost the entire Xishan County is covered by the Xishan Mountains, or in other words, when the county was originally divided, the entire Xishan Mountains were simply and roughly included in Xishan County.
The only city in Xishan County is the county seat, which is located in a mountain depression in the remaining mountains of Xishan County, in the easternmost part of Xishan County. After passing the county seat, there are mountains upon mountains, mountains upon mountains, and the ground is not even three feet flat. Although the entire Xishan Mountain is not as good as the legendary Hundred Thousand Mountains in the south, it is already a restricted area for most people, and it is also a natural barrier that isolates the border between Yunzhou and Liangzhou.
But it would be too arbitrary to say that Xishan is completely uninhabited. There may not be hidden sects or thousand-year-old families hidden in the isolated mountain valleys. And Tang Zhao remembered that there was a garrison of Yunzhou Governor's Mansion in the Xishan area, but it was a secret garrison and could not be easily exposed in front of others. As long as they did not invade the garrison, they would turn a blind eye and don't have to worry too much.
Along the way, Tang Zhao and the others were rushing in front, while the Shangguan swordsman followed behind like a ghost, neither talking, paying attention to anyone, nor urging them to hurry up. Although this kind of following brings a lot of psychological pressure to people, it is still relatively easy.
On the afternoon of the 29th, the group entered Xishan County, which was the last supply point before entering the mountain. Except for Tang Zhao and Shangguan Swordsman, everyone else is not a swordsman. After staying in the mountains for two days and going to Yunzhong City for who knows how long, it is impossible not to bring supplies with them. Moreover, everyone is exhausted on the way and is exhausted. Find a place to rest.
"We must go into the mountain tonight." Meng Huazhou ignored everyone's desire for rest and said categorically: "It is also night in the fairy city. The situation on the mountain is complicated at night. If we go in on the first night, we may not be able to adapt. It is best to adapt one night in advance. As for rest, you can rest on the mountain during the day tomorrow. You have worked hard, but think about why you came? I would rather work hard all night, and there will be more comfortable times in the future."
No one objected, and he led them to a house and said, "This is a yard I rented. I have bought a lot of supplies and piled them here, but I still need to add a lot of fresh food." Water. Anyone who wants to take something with them on the mountain can buy it themselves, but they can only carry it on their own."
When I opened the yard, I saw a lot of supplies piled up in the house, including luggage, clothes, tents, kettles, ropes, fire, etc., all of which were used when going out. They had obviously put a lot of effort into preparing them, not to mention a group of martial arts masters. Even a strong man with some experience can travel through the mountains and forests with these things.
And what he prepared was for ten people. There were only seven people present including Shangguan Swordsman, so it was more than enough.
Meng Huazhou pointed at the hourglass and said: "Everyone, let's go buy whatever you want. You must be back within two hours, and then we set off."
Everyone agreed and left separately. Black Widow remembered something again, so she stayed and asked: "None of us are locals. The situation in Xishan is unknown. Do you want a local guide?"
Meng Huazhou said: "I have already made preparations. These two old hunters are used to walking on mountain roads. I will ask them to come. Senior sister, just go shopping."
Black Widow nodded and left. After everyone left, Meng Huazhou was left alone to lock the door, lightly jumped onto the beam, and pushed with his hand, revealing a hidden grid on the pillar.
There were several things placed in the secret compartment, most of which were magic weapons and magic weapons. Meng Huazhou picked them out one by one. Every time he took out something, his expression showed murderous intent.
At the end, there was only one flower left.
The flower was placed alone in the corner, with six tiny petals, like snowflakes.
It is indeed as white and fragile as snowflakes, so white that it is almost transparent. It seems that you can see the darkness behind it through the petals.
However, it is real and stable. When it falls in the corner, it does not seem to be left there, but like it is blooming against the corner. Even if it is hidden alone in the dark room for a long time, it is still fresh, tenacious and beautiful.
Meng Huazhou's brows relaxed, and the anger dissipated little by little along the ends of his eyes. He stretched out his hand and carefully took out the flower.
The little white flower was now in his hand.
Meng Huazhou's expression became gentler and he said: "I will take you home right now. Follow me to see your master."
"I wonder how charming your master is?"
He spoke softly, his expression not only tender, but also full of endless imagination.
"Steamed buns, sausages, shortbread, mutton soup..." Tang Zhao counted the shops one by one.
"What the hell is mutton soup?" Black Widow listened to Tang Zhao checking out the things he wanted to buy, and couldn't help but remind him, "The food you eat when going up the mountain should be mainly dry food, which is easy to carry and can fill your stomach. The shortbread is already too much. , what's going on with the mutton soup? Are you here to satisfy your craving?"
"It doesn't matter, I can bring it. The mutton soup here is very famous. It would be a pity not to try it. I will just buy some and try it." Tang Zhao said as he stuffed the whole bowl of steaming broth into the jar.
Black Widow sighed: "Okay, you feel relaxed like this. It seems you don't feel any pressure?"
Tang Zhao said truthfully: "Of course there is pressure...but we can't let people see it."
It is impossible to say that there is no pressure at all when a swordsman of unknown origin is suddenly added to the situation that was originally under control. However, Tang Zhao has been in battle for a long time and has a calm and stable demeanor, even in the case of Black Widow. He doesn't show his worries in front of his own people.
As I was walking, I saw a small sign in front of me that said "Dajing Hutong".
Tang Zhao was slightly startled and thoughtful.
Black Widow said: "What?"
Tang Zhao said: "The old man who sang said that his home is here, so the protagonist named Xu who traveled to the fairy city should also have lived here at that time?"
Black Widow muttered: "My surname is Xu..."
Tang Zhao remembered that she was just a reader and did not know that the book was a second creation. The original protagonist's surname was actually Xu, and explained: "It was the house where the poor boy who came back from the fairy city later lived."
Black Widow's eyes lit up and she said, "Oh, let's go in and have a look."
Tang Zhao said: "Let's see, don't have too much hope. Mr. Meng has known this information for a long time and has been here. He has already seen any clues and has taken away most of them." . And I don’t know exactly where he lives in the alley..."
…
Entering the alley, they already knew where the former residence was without looking carefully.
There was a clearing on one side of the alley, with only a pile of charred ruins left, apparently from a recent fire.
Black Widow gritted her teeth and said: "I came too late, and I got burned! Meng Huazhou, you are really cautious."
Naturally, she was not angry with Meng Huazhou for setting fire to a house and implicating innocent people, but she was angry with him for destroying the evidence after collecting clues, leaving nothing behind for future generations.
Tang Zhao looked around silently - Meng Huazhou was really a bastard for setting fire indiscriminately. Fortunately, he still had some sense of restraint and only burned down one house here. The house next door was not burned down, but the walls were blackened.
He knew that there were no clues here and there was not much time left, so he was about to ask Black Widow to leave. As soon as the door next door opened, a seven or eight-year-old girl came out. She was very cute, wearing a floral skirt, with two braids, and holding a white puppy in her arms. When he arrived at the ruins, he looked at the two of them curiously.
Tang Zhao smiled at her, and the little girl nodded politely, still looking at them curiously.
Tang Zhao was startled instead, and then suddenly realized - if he had smiled like this in the past, the girl would probably let down her guard, and it would be easy to chat by then. Now he was the one wearing makeup, and just smiling would have no effect.
At this time, Black Widow came over and said with a smile: "Little sister, do you live next door?"
The black widow had a delicate appearance and an amiable attitude. The girl immediately became close to her and nodded her head repeatedly. Black Widow Fang asked: "We want to visit this house, why is there no one here?"
The little girl said: "There was a fire a while ago. Just that night..."
While the two were chatting, Tang Zhao couldn't help but look at the puppy in the little girl's arms.
When he first saw the white fluff, he subconsciously thought it was a dog. But now he got closer, and when he looked again, he thought it was a fox. However, when he looked more closely, he still looked a bit like a dog.
After being torn between dog and fox, Tang Zhao felt that it was still a dog.
Isn't it too strange for a little girl from an ordinary family with no trace of martial arts to hug a fox?
Is there a kind of dog that looks like a fox? What is it called a "fox dog"?
Tang Zhao was too bored, so he took another look at it. He felt that the puppy was very intelligent. His dark eyes followed his own, and he seemed to like him very much.
Well, this dog understands the inner meaning better than a child. He knows his inner beauty without looking at the skin.
Black Widow chatted with the little girl for a while, but she didn't get any useful information. All she knew was that this was an empty room. A fire suddenly broke out that night and was extinguished quickly. No one knew whether it was an accident or arson. Can't ask anything else.
This was something that had been expected. Although Black Widow was a little disappointed, she kept smiling, gave the little girl a candy, and left with Tang Zhao.
The little girl happily ate the candy. The more she ate, the sweeter it became. When she saw that the candy was gone, she realized that something was missing.
"Xiaobai? Xiaobai!"
The little girl suddenly found that the dog she had been holding was missing. She couldn't remember when she lost it. She hurriedly called it loudly in the alley and ran around looking for it.
After searching for a long time, the puppy was nowhere to be seen. The little girl sat on the ground and cried loudly.
