A few people found an empty table and sat down, and immediately a waiter came over to greet them: "What kind of food and drinks do you want to have?"
Bai Ao said: "I'll cut five kilograms of beef into pieces. I'll bring the lamb legs, smoked chicken, and roast goose. I'll bring four more plates of seasonal fruits and vegetables. I'll also bring some bamboo shoots and salted plum beans!"
The waiter asked again: "What kind of wine will your guest drink?"
Bai Ao looked at Zhao Tong and saw that Zhao Tong had his eyes slightly closed, so he said: "Take a jar of the best flower sculptures."
The waiter saw that his order was expensive and couldn't help but happily asked: "Sir, would you like Hu cakes? The Hu cakes in our store are excellent. They are famous in the fairyland. Residents in the city often come out of the city to eat them. Everyone praises them."
Du Bo said from the side: "This is very wonderful. The big one will pick up ten of them and get two bowls of sauce."
After finishing the food and drinks, everyone was waiting. At this moment, they saw a few horses running on the road. They hesitated for a moment by the bamboo forest, as if they were identifying something, and then dismounted.
These riders are all men, with strong builds and tight-fitting arrow sleeves. Except for one who is carrying a shining simple sword, the others have long cloth-wrapped objects tied around their waists and backs. Even if you don't ask, you know they are swords and weapons.
Bai Ao whispered: "Jianghu people."
Next to him, Bai Zhan said, "Brother, I didn't look at it. The people sitting on those tables are all from the world."
At this moment, most of the dozen or so tables under the bamboo canopy were occupied, with people of all ages, men, women, and children, but without exception, all of them had bright eyes, the sun was high, and their faces were rosy and full of energy and blood.
If you look carefully, you can see that these people are dressed similarly to those of the riders. Except for a few wearing loose clothes and long sleeves, the rest are dressed for traveling in the world.
These people also put things under their tables, some were wrapped, and some showed a cold light, which looked like weapons at a glance.
Bai Ao whispered: "This is strange. Why are so many Jianghu people coming to Xianju for no reason, but they haven't entered the city yet?"
Du Bo said: "With the things they brought, they would be arrested if they couldn't even get close to the city gate."
At this time, the few people who had ridden down went straight to the nearby empty table. There were four of them in total. The tiger-headed man holding a simple knife gasped: "But his mother is here. This fairyland is too far away and I am exhausted on the road. I don’t know why Hero Island chose such a place to go out to sea, I’m afraid he’s not seriously ill!”
The expressions of the other three people changed when they heard this, and they hurriedly waved their hands and said: "Fourth, be silent, be silent!"
The tiger-headed man threw the simple knife to the table, sat down and said: "Brothers are too cautious, what can't you say? Who is still drinking and sharpening here at this moment, who is not a hero who is going to Hero Island? ?”
The eldest among the four was an old man with a goatee. He frowned and said: "Even so, don't speak nonsense easily. No one in the world knows that this island is taboo and dare not say it casually. If the messenger hears it, I'm afraid he will be punished. "
The tiger-headed man's expression immediately changed when he heard the word "messenger", but he said a little harshly: "So what, if you really have such a great ability, how can you use the Mingjiao's communication method? After issuing the hero order, just gather the heroes and go!"
The old man with goatee heard this and slammed the table: "Shut up!"
The tiger-headed man shrank his head and muttered in a low voice: "If I had known that I would not have come to Xianju this way, I might as well have taken the Changle side, which is closer to the sea..."
At this time, a person next to him sneered: "Although there are three ways to go to sea, is it your fourth choice? You take your own family too seriously!"
The tiger-headed man was silent, but his anger was beyond words.
Zhao Tong and others looked at each other in shock. They all heard the conversation at the next table and were inexplicably surprised.
Hero Island, what is this?
Hero Order, what does this mean?
What other envoys sent down punishments, what methods of spreading messages through Mingjiao, and why one of the three routes to the sea was on the Changle side?
this……
Du Bo and Wu Song shook their heads slightly, looking confused.
The three brothers of the Bai family frowned and thought. After a few breaths, Bai Ao lowered his voice and said to Zhao Tao: "I have never heard of it."
Zhao Tong took a deep breath, Hero Island, Hero Order, and other things to go to sea... Putting aside these, what does it mean to use Mingjiao's communication method?
He instantly thought of the symbols on the flagpole of the restaurant, as well as the sunlight charms and moonlight charms in the main hall of the Immortal Temple.
Could it be that these methods were not left behind by people from the Ming Cult, but were added by someone from Hero Island?
However, this level of contact information will definitely not be leaked to outsiders. Even if it is really leaked... no one would dare to use it for fear of the world. After all, the Mingjiao itself is a behemoth. Although it is almost beaten at the moment It can't turn over, but the centipede is dead but not stiff. If Jianghu Lulin uses this method of communication without permission, wouldn't it cause big trouble for his family?
Could it be... Zhao Tong raised his eyebrows.
Could it be that high-ranking figures in the Ming Cult colluded with the Hero Island, allowing the other party to use it and leveraging the reputation of the Ming Cult?
So who is this senior figure? Who has such courage and power?
Lu Shinang? Fang Qifu? Or...Fang La!
Zhao Tong's face turned gloomy. No matter who he was, this Hero Island was by no means a good person. Collusion with the Ming Cult would be enough to implicate the whole family, let alone lead these green people to the island, and there was no doubt that they would do anything rebellious.
But where is this Hero Island? It seems that we are going to sea, which is a bit difficult!
If he doesn't care about this matter, if Fang La is really on the island, then depending on this person's ability, it is very likely that he will jump out one day and cause trouble again.
But that's not what Zhao Tong cares about. His biggest purpose in going to Jiangnan this time is to kill the nobles and collect gold and silver. The annihilation of Fang La is just a matter of convenience. Even if Fang La rises again, he can just send others to continue the conquest.
What he cares about at the moment is the token of the leader of the Ming Cult on Fang La. He must get this thing and must not let this token stay with Fang La.
At this time, the food and wine were served, Zhao Tong nodded, and everyone began to eat and drink. Du Bu pulled the Hu pancake in front of him first. This pancake was indeed a pancake, not a steamed bun, soup cake, noodles, or the like.
Because it was introduced from the Western Regions, the name of this cake has a Chinese character in front of it. It is not the oil cake pie of later generations. It is larger than that, and the largest one is as big as a person's arms.
I saw Du Bo spread one on the table, and then he didn't care about mutton, beef, chicken, goose, anyway, he put some of each on the cake, then put various seasonal fruits and vegetables on it, and picked up the sauce. As soon as the bowl is poured, a rich aroma immediately overflows.
This aroma is mixed with the aroma of various meats, as well as the fresh smell of fruits and vegetables. It is strange and attractive. After smelling it, you can't help but move your index fingers and you can't wait to eat a big meal right away.
Just watch Du Bu roll the pancake, then roll the meat and vegetables in it, wrapping all the flavors in it. He holds the bottom of the pancake with one hand and the top with the other, and then passes it to Zhao Tuo.
Zhao Tong wondered: "What kind of statement is this?"
Du Bo said: "Young Master, this is a way of eating passed down from the elders of the master's sect. Originally, eight kinds of meat were boiled in a large pot, and then served with fruits, vegetables and a secret sauce. It was called eating all over the world and fighting in all directions. !”
Zhao Tong smiled and said: "Eating all over the world and fighting in all directions? That's a good name!"
Du Bo said, "This restaurant doesn't have enough ingredients, so please be patient. I'll cook for you when there's nothing else to do."
Zhao Tong nodded and took the cake and said, "Looking at the food and drink of your senior disciple, you are also a good man who divides the money."
Du Bo said sarcastically: "Young Master is laughing at me. Originally, the master's sect did have a hall in the green forest. Unfortunately, due to old enemies, they were defeated and fell into disarray. Later, they dispersed."
Zhao Tong took a bite of the big cake and suddenly felt the aroma coming over him, and he cheered repeatedly.
At this time, Wu Song followed suit and spread out flatbreads, rolled them with meat and vegetable sauce, and started eating and drinking.
The aroma of "eating all over the world and fighting in all directions" spread and was smelled by the neighboring tables. The tiger-headed man among the four people later swallowed hard and shouted: "It's tempting, I want to eat it too."
The old man with goatee frowned unconsciously: "Fourth brother..."
The tiger-headed man said: "Brother, I have been eating cold cooking cakes all the way, and my mouth is like a bird. Now that I have arrived at the end of the field, how can I not have a good tooth ceremony?"
After saying that, he called the waiter and said, "What you ordered just now doesn't count. Let's order one according to that table!"
The waiter looked at the meat and wine cakes on Zhao Tiao's table and sang loudly: "Good guest, the next table has the same set of food and wine."
Du Bo in front heard this and turned around to look at the tiger-headed man. The man hugged his fists in embarrassment, and Du Bo grinned widely.
The old man with a goatee among the four had a sullen face, and the man next to him with an elegant face but not too young said in a low voice: "Fourth, do you know how much their table costs?"
The tiger-headed man was stunned and said: "Second brother, how much does this cost? The table is also here to eat!"
Another man who was slightly fatter said in a low voice: "I just saw it. If nothing else, the wine is Huadiao. It's an old daughter's red. There's still wet mud on the jar. It looks like it was just dug out of the ground." , I’m afraid this jar of wine will cost twenty taels of silver!”
The tiger-headed man was stunned, scratched his head and said, "Why is it so expensive?"
The old man with the goatee snorted: "Do you think the coarse wine you usually drink is in vain? You didn't see that they don't even need to sift it!"
The tiger-headed man took a look and saw that there was no need to sift the wine at the table. He drank it as it was poured, so he muttered: "As old as I am, I have never drunk wine without sifting..."
The elegant man smiled bitterly and put one hand to his chest: "I don't know if we have enough money or not."
As soon as he said this, the four of them immediately stopped talking. The rivers and lakes are not that easy to mess with. The four of them are not green forests. Green forests are in the rivers and lakes, but rivers and lakes are not all green forests.
There are many illegal and disciplinary activities in Green Forest, and there is probably no shortage of sources of money.
Those who kill people and buy goods in the green forest are called heroes, and those who are chivalrous and righteous in the rivers and lakes are called heroes.
Not all Jianghu people have endless money to spend, especially those who claim to be well-known and righteous. They cannot rob families and homes. They must have other livelihoods, or have rich family wealth, or have the legacy of their ancestors, or have a good reputation. Otherwise, they will still live in poverty. , How can I hang around outside all day long and have endless spare money to spend?
Except for the tiger-headed man, the other three felt very distressed when they saw him ordering such a table. The tiger-headed man was straightforward and had no idea about money, but the three of them were different. They knew that this table would be their expenses for several months.
After a while, the food and wine were served as usual. The tiger-headed man didn't let his brothers let him go, so he rolled up the big pancake and took a bite. In an instant, his expression changed, his eyes were shining, and he couldn't care less about savoring the taste. , wolfed down, and after only a dozen breaths, the burrito as thick as an arm was in his stomach, then he patted open the mud seal of the wine jar, poured a bowl, and drank it all with a "gulp", enjoying it heartily.
The other three people looked a little ugly when they saw his gluttonous appearance, but the aroma was unbearable, so they all started eating and drinking.
The Huadiao is in the mouth, the pie is in the belly, and there is no need to talk about expenses anymore. There are a few big words written on everyone's face, "Fragrant, damn delicious!"
As the night gets darker, the full moon hangs high in the sky, but the restaurant shows no sign of closing. There are even many red lanterns hung up. The bamboo forest looks like emeralds, and the red lights look like glass. Everyone seems to be in a fairyland.
At this time, Zhao Tong knew that he had been wrong. This restaurant was not an innocent person who took the blame for the Mingjiao. This restaurant was the stronghold of the Mingjiao and the spy of Shenxian Guan on the outside.
Even at this hour, there are still people from the world coming on the road, some in groups of three or two, some shouting in front of each other, some riding horses, and some actually sitting on a blood-red sedan.
The tables and chairs under the bamboo canopy have long been insufficient, but the restaurant seems to be able to do magic, constantly moving tables and stools out of the blue brick and stone house. The door of the house is dark, and it seems that there is no bottom, and it will never be empty. .
At this time, many people were so drunk that they started to talk nonsense like a tiger-headed man, talking about Hero Island.
This Hero Island is an island in the vast East China Sea. No one knows its specific location. All they know is that the island owner's martial arts are extremely high, to what extent... He is no weaker than the masters on land, and may even be stronger.
Hero Island appears in the rivers and lakes and green forests every ten years, and sends out messengers of the sun and moonlight to invite people from the rivers and lakes and green forests to travel to the island.
Zhao Tong understood clearly at this moment, and couldn't help but feel secretly in his heart. This messenger of sunlight and moonlight sounded related to Mingjiao. Could it be that this Hero Island was not just colluding with someone from Mingjiao, but had some special relationship with Mingjiao at all?
But Liyanaza never mentioned this matter to him, neither on Hero Island nor on the Second Envoy of the Sun and Moon.
Zhao Tong thought for a moment and continued to listen. Although the voices were noisy, his ears were very good and he could hear everything clearly.
Going to Hero Island requires a token, which is the Hero Order from the mouth of the tiger-headed man. The Hero Order was brought from Hero Island by the messenger of Sunlight and Moonlight, and was half given and half scattered among the rivers, lakes and green forests of the Central Plains.
There are a total of three hundred and sixty pieces of Hero Tokens, implying the number of Zhou Tian, one hundred pieces of which are Sunlight Hero Tokens, and the remaining two hundred and sixty pieces are Moonlight Tokens.
The Sunlight Token is given to celebrities in the world, one to each person. Others cannot go to Hero Island even if they take this order.
The Moonlight Token is different. The Moonlight Token is anonymous. Whoever gets it, or whoever grabs it, belongs to him, and can follow the envoy to the island with this token.
As for the benefits of traveling to Hero Island, Zhao Tong also heard clearly.
After going to the island, you will participate in something. This thing is not dangerous, and regardless of whether it succeeds or not, Hero Island will send people back within three months at most, and they will also give a large amount of gold and silver as a gift.
Although there is no danger in going to Hero Island, there is a taboo, that is, you are absolutely not allowed to reveal the things you participated in on the island after you come back. Once leaked, the consequences will be extremely miserable.
There was once a wealthy man who went to Hero Island. After he came back, he couldn't bear it any longer. He told his friends about his experience on the island. Not long after, his family was destroyed. The friend's family was also killed with chickens and dogs. Do not stay.
There was also a village owner who didn't care about this taboo at all. When he returned to the village, he told his brothers what happened on the island. Within a month, everyone in the village was killed.
So so far, although many people have been to Hero Island, outsiders have no idea what they did there or what they were involved in. Hero Island is becoming more and more mysterious.
But even so, it could not conceal the enthusiasm of these people to go to the island, not for anything else, just for their eager curiosity and the huge gold and silver reward.
As long as the experience is not leaked, everything is safe. Hero Island will naturally keep its promise. If they also stick to their promise, there will be no danger at all.
Sunlight Envoy and Moonlight Envoy are not two people, they are just names. The number of envoys sent by Hero Island every ten years is different, which is determined according to the route to sea.
There are three routes to sea this time, namely Tongzhou in Huaidong, Xianju in eastern Zhejiang, and Changle in Fujian, so Hero Island sent six envoys.
Not all of the people here at this moment have hero tokens in their hands. Some of them only have one token, and the others are for escort.
The Moonlight Token can be obtained through robbery, so those who hold the token are particularly cautious for fear of being snatched away by others.
Especially in this place where the last party goes out to sea, there is a possibility of being robbed at any moment.
Those who dared to drink and eat under the bamboo canopy either relied on their martial arts skills or were outnumbered. The remaining ones with tokens were hiding somewhere. They probably would only show up at midnight and did not dare to show up in advance.
Zhao Tong frowned. Tonight's third watch was the time when the Sunlight Envoy and the Moonlight Envoy would show up, and then take the people with tokens out to sea to the Hero Island.
According to these people, the two envoys of the sun and moon can only be found using the Mingjiao's contact methods, and Zhao Tong guessed that the place where these two envoys appeared should be the Taiyi Rescue Tianzun Hall in Shenxian Temple. After all, the Mingjiao's contact symbol points directly there, and It also hints at meeting in the palace at midnight.
Zhao Tong looked at the people around him. They were all a little dumbfounded. Apparently, only their table was from Xibei, and the rest were all heroes who were going to the Hero Island.
Zhao Tong looked at the few and sighed slightly. They didn't know what Zhao Tong was thinking. Bai Ao whispered: "Young Master, we..."
Zhao Tong squinted his eyes, then spread his hands, making an expression like we had nothing.
Bai Ao said again: "Young Master means... that my subordinates..."
Zhao Tong nodded. After thinking about it just now, he felt that Fang La most likely ran to the Hero Island, because the name of the envoy sent by the island and the method of secret communication all showed that this island had connections with the Ming Cult. relation.
There are only a few qualified people in the Ming Cult who can be related to this mysterious island.
Fang Qifu was qualified, but his whereabouts and even his life and death were unknown because he was seriously injured that day and was washed away by the Qinhuai River and never appeared again.
With Fang Qifu's identity, if he had not died, he should have appeared in the battle of Hangzhou and the battle of Bangyuan, but in fact he did not appear, and the whole person seemed to have completely disappeared.
That person was either dead or so seriously injured that it was impossible to contact the Ming Cult. Therefore, it was unlikely that Fang Qifu was on the Hero Island and planning the Hero Order with the island owner.
Chen Fan is also qualified, but his whereabouts are also unknown, but according to Tong Guan, there is a man next to Shisheng, the Taihu bandit, who is highly skilled in martial arts and has many different methods.
Zhao Tong met Chen Fan, and Tong Guan described the man's appearance as similar to Chen Fan, so it was nine out of ten that he was Chen Fan, so Chen Fan couldn't be on the Hero Island.
As for Lu Shinang, he is also qualified. Although he only holds the position of leader of one branch within the Mingjiao, he is the largest leader in the Mingjiao.
Under the Ming Cult, the Light Envoys, Dharma Kings, and San people each have their own power, but the leaders of various branches are directly under the management of the leader and are called leader.
Although the status of the leader is not as high as that of the Light Envoy or the Dharma King, it is not lower than that of the Sanren.
If he were a great leader and had over 10,000 disciples, he would be almost on par with the Dharma King.
At its peak, Lu Shinang had nearly 100,000 soldiers under his command. Even ordinary Dharma kings were not as powerful or as important as him.
Therefore, Lu Shinang is most likely on the Hero Island.
As for Fang La, he has been a religious person since he was a child. As a local tycoon, how can he not know that Hero Island attracts people to the island once every ten years? Did you know that the envoys of Hero Island are called Sunlight Envoys and Moonlight Envoys?
Maybe there has been a connection for a long time, not even the leader of his generation, but the leader of the Ming Cult in previous generations has already had a connection with this Hero Island.
So, this is undoubtedly Fang La's best hiding place!
As for what the Empress of Light said, Fang La looked at the four places on the map that day. It may be that Fang La played a trick on the Empress of Light and deliberately looked at those four places to mislead him. Or maybe Fang La was looking at the sea at that time, and the Empress of Light thought that It is on land in the Xianju area of Taizhou.
From this point of view, Fang La is more likely to be on Hero Island than Lu Shinang.
Therefore, Zhao Tong must visit the Hero Island, find a way to find Fang La, and get the order from the leader of the Ming Cult.
He just showed his hands and said that he couldn't go to the island without the hero order. Bai Ao wanted to snatch it from his family and use it. After he nodded, Bai Ao started to take action.
But at this moment, there was the sound of horse hooves in the distance. There were seven or eight horses that came to the front of the bamboo canopy in an instant, and then a gloomy voice sounded: "You guys are so easy to get together. I don't know which one of them has the hero's order." , please take it out and lend it to me for your use!"
Bai Ao's body was slightly stagnant when he just stood up. He didn't expect to be beaten to the spot by someone, so he couldn't help but look towards the place of the sound with a slightly cold expression on his face.
I saw a few black horses parked outside the bamboo canopy. The people on the horses were wearing black shorts and bamboo hats. The leader even covered his face with a black scarf and was looking into the bamboo canopy with evil eyes.
At this time, the heroes who were drinking stopped talking, and the noisy atmosphere suddenly became deserted. Many people reached out to touch the weapons they carried.
The man's eyes glanced around, and finally landed on a table with only two people sitting opposite each other.
The two people sitting across from each other, one tall and thin, the other short and fat, had twinkling eyes and did not dare to look at the man on the horse.
I just heard this man chuckle and say: "Aren't these the two heroes of Mount Tai? If you are wise, hand over the token obediently and I will spare your lives."
When the tall and thin man heard this, he immediately said angrily: "Who are you? Do you know our brothers? Do you dare to take off the veil and show your true face to the heroes present!"
The man burst out laughing and said, "What nonsense. I'm wearing a veil just to prevent you from recognizing me. Someone come and catch these two heroes of Mount Tai and find out their hero orders!"
As soon as he finished speaking, all the followers behind him jumped off their horses and went straight to the table.
When Bai Ao saw this scene, he winked at Wu Song, Du Bo, and his two brothers.
Several people stood up quickly and ran to the next table as fast as lightning. Before the tiger-headed man could finish a burrito and his mouth was full of meat and vegetables, Wu Song's sword was held to his neck. His eyes widened suddenly and he couldn't help but feel something in his throat. The landlord made a "woo woo" sound... (End of chapter)
