Zheng An, the helmsman of the Hangzhou branch of the Canal Gang.
He originally had good martial arts skills and a good reputation in the world. He was always very fair in doing business, rarely offended anyone, and had almost no enemies.
He lived on the south bank of the canal, only three miles away from where the Kong family's merchant ship docked.
The road is not remote, the birds are singing and the flowers are fragrant, and the pavilions stand beside the water. From a distance, it is a beautiful and peaceful manor.
Zheng An has only one son, named Zheng Jing, who is eighteen years old and has just grown up. Zheng An didn't want him to become a man in the world, so he asked him to study and gain fame. This child is obedient and is now a well-known scholar in the neighborhood. He plans to enter the capital to take the imperial examination in two years' time when he is twenty years old, trying to fulfill his father's wish and return with an honor.
Because Zheng An's home is beside the canal, it seems to be a water garden without walls.
The entrance to the manor is a promenade about a mile long along the water. Kong Youlong has been here many times, so he is naturally familiar with the roads.
It's just that this time I came here, it was a little different from before. In the past, this place was full of chirping birds, flowers, and sunny weather, but today it is a little different. They had walked two miles and just arrived at the entrance of the water corridor. They didn't hear a single sound along the way, not even the cry of an insect. It was as if there was not a single living creature within a radius of five miles.
It is already morning, and the weather today is not bad. The sun is shining, and it is a sunny day.
But on this sunny day, the closer the three of them got to the Zheng Mansion, the heavier they felt.
Seeing this situation, Kong Youlong had an ominous premonition. The situation now is very similar to last night. Fortunately, he listened to Sun Xiaowu and waited until broad daylight before coming over. If you come here at night, even if there is no demon, the dead atmosphere alone can scare people half to death.
Kong Youlong came to Zheng's long corridor and saw that starting from the entrance of the corridor, yellow chrysanthemums were placed all the way inside. Although it looked very beautiful, it also gave people an air of trickery.
"Master Kong, does Captain Zheng like chrysanthemums?" the fifth line couldn't help but ask.
"He likes plum blossoms. He is aloof and arrogant in the cold, but he never loses his integrity." Kong Youlong replied.
"That's it. It seems that Demon Jiuju hasn't left yet!" Sun Xiaowu said.
"What does he want to do?" Kong Youlong asked.
"He's waiting for us." Line 5 answers.
"That's right. He originally wanted to kill you, but now you show up at your door. How could he leave?" Sun Xiaowu also agreed with the fifth line.
"Then shall we go in?" Kong Youlong was finally a little scared. After all, if something goes wrong, the first person to lose his life may be himself.
In the face of death, everyone is equal, and Kong Youlong will also be afraid.
"Go! You've come, why don't you go?" answered the fifth line.
"Isn't it dangerous to go in?" Kong Youlong said with lingering fear.
"In broad daylight, the devil is going wrong. Why are you afraid of what he will do?" Sun Xiaowu asked.
Without Sun Xiaowu's reminder, Kong Youlong really forgot that it was broad daylight.
"Master Sun is right. Since he hasn't left, let's just go in and meet him to see what kind of monster he is?" The fifth line said, already taking the lead to walk towards the corridor.
Just as Sun Xiaowu and Kong Youlong were about to follow them, they saw a girl coming out of the corridor. She was the maid from the Zheng Mansion.
"Fifth young hero, you are finally here! How long have my young master been waiting for?" the maid said with a blessing.
"Who is your young master?" asked the fifth line.
"Ha! Young hero is good at joking. My young master is naturally Mr. Zheng Jing!" the maid replied.
"Your young master doesn't recognize me, how did he know I would come?" the fifth line asked tentatively.
"Haha! Young hero, you are really joking. You just saw each other last night, how can you say you don't recognize me?" The maid said with an even weirder smile.
Line 5: Although I did fight with these monsters last night, I really can’t remember when I met Mr. Zheng Jing.
In the fifth line, he didn’t think too much. Anyway, nothing about this matter was reasonable from beginning to end, so he said politely: “Then please lead the way, girl.”
While talking to the girl in the fifth line, Sun Xiaowu kept looking at the girl carefully. He saw that although this girl was somewhat similar to the walking corpse last night, and her complexion was as pale as paper, she was still much better. At least, she still has a breath. If she has a breath, she is not considered dead.
Sun Xiaowu also wanted to find out what trick the other party was trying to play, so he followed the fifth row without speaking.
Kong Youlong felt a little uneasy when he saw that the other party was prepared, so he just walked at the end.
"Master Sun, is that girl also a walking corpse?" Kong Youlong approached Sun Xiaowu and asked.
"No. She's not dead yet, she still has some breath left." Sun Xiaowu replied.
Kong Youlong still wanted to speak, but the girl leading the way actually turned back and smiled strangely at him.
Since Kong Youlong dared to agree to fight against the Japanese pirates with Xiaoyaomen, he was certainly not a timid person. But the maid only looked back and smiled. Kong Youlong immediately felt his scalp numb and his whole body shivering, from the scalp to the soles of his feet.
Kong Youlong shook his head, immediately cheered up, and caught up again. But when he looked at the maid again, it seemed that the little maid had not turned around at all, but was just leading the way seriously.
Originally, there were many colorful goldfish in white, yellow, orange and red in the lake below the water corridor. The water was also very clear and could be taken directly for drinking.
There are many lotus flowers in the river, and water lilies are also floating around the promenade. The entire promenade is a world of fish and flowers, which is simply beautiful.
But now, the fifth line clearly saw that the lake water had become dark and turbid. Although there are still many goldfish playing inside, those goldfish have blue-black spots on their bodies, which makes people feel uncomfortable just by looking at them. The river water also had some strange odor, which I couldn't tell what it was.
It smells a bit like lime, but with a hint of barbecue; it smells like corpse, but mixed with the fragrance of some chrysanthemums. In short, this strange smell now fills the entire Zhengyuan, making it impossible to avoid it.
"What does this smell like?" The fifth line was originally a very clean person, how could he stand this kind of turbid smell.
"The smell of ghosts and monsters." Sun Xiaowu replied calmly, as if he was not afraid that the girl leading the way would hear him.
The girl was not angry as expected, she just smiled and said: "Ha! The garden has not been cleaned for a long time, so it is a little stale. Don't blame the three guests."
"It's nothing. We hate the smell, maybe you like it!" The fifth line replied coldly.
"Young master really loves to joke." The girl still smiled politely.
"I never joke." The tone of the fifth line is still as cold as ice.
