late at night.
Everyone in the Xiaoshan Wanfeng Inn seemed to have fallen asleep.
The sound of rain outside the house was unmoved.
Perhaps this is the power of habit.
There was even a "night owl" who didn't mind the noise, opened the window, climbed to the window sill, and watched the rain and the moon.
However, the eyes of the "night owl" seemed to have no focus.
When it comes to watching the rain, what you see is nothingness and blackness, and not a single drop of rain falls diagonally from the dome.
Let's talk about admiring the moon. The faint light hanging in the night sky is nothing more than broken petals stuck in one place.
This "night owl" looks more like a "blind cat".
It wasn't until the eyelids of the "night owl" shrank slightly that the pair of sharp-sword eyes slowly gained brilliance.
Even so, the missing moon in the sky is still not the only moon in the world in those eyes.
In other words, there is no moon at all.
And it’s like a full-moon scimitar with overlapping afterimages, making it difficult to distinguish reality from reality!
The "night owl" who sees the waning moon as a machete is undoubtedly Jiang Yichen.
The reason why he was the only one awake when everyone else was sleeping was because he had just slept enough these days, and it was just because he felt uneasy.
The uneasiness in my heart comes from this rain.
It started raining on the road five days ago, and it hasn't stopped raining.
Under the heavy rain, it was difficult for the carriage and horses to move forward, and they only traveled ten miles in five days.
Fortunately, the terrain of Xiaoshan was relatively high, and the only decent inn in the mountain happened to be unoccupied, which allowed a large group of them to have a temporary shelter from the wind and rain.
Otherwise, with only two carriages, they really wouldn't be able to withstand the relentless rain.
However, a few days ago, they thought that the first summer rain would come and go quickly. They would wait for an hour and a half, at most, wait for a day and a night before resting. Who knew that their rest would last for five days.
Jiang Yichen only thought that Jiangxi and Jiangxi were mountainous areas. Although it was already summer, the climate in the mountains was slightly humid and cooler, which was why there was such a scene of "spring tide brings rain that comes later."
However, his idea was rejected by many parties within a day.
According to the words of the inn owner, the proprietress, three waiters, a kitchen boy, and two local village women who were responsible for cleaning the inn, this continuous heavy rain was the first time they had ever seen it in their lives!
No wonder Jiang Yichen knew so much about the personnel composition of Wanfeng Inn and was really busy.
If it weren't for the fact that the inn was still some distance away from the nearest village, Jiang Yichen might have been able to figure out the situation in the village.
The more things Jiang Yichen learned from the people in the inn and the local people, the more he lamented the truth: people make plans, and God makes things happen.
No matter how carefully Luo Piaoling arranged it, no matter how hard the old man cooperated, how could he have expected this rare heavy rain in a century?
After sighing, Jiang Yichen could no longer relax.
Being stuck in heavy rain and unable to move for many days is never a good thing.
The more you stay, the more dangerous you will be.
If it rains continuously for ten days and a half, their business may become a turtle in a jar!
Fortunately, the moon is high tonight, and the rain will lessen or stop within two days.
At that time, we packed lightly and traveled less. If we could get out of this place with heavy rain as soon as possible, the situation would improve.
So tonight at dinner time, everyone gathered in the hall to discuss how to regroup and hit the road tomorrow.
Set off again and decide your departure route.
As for the original planned route, it is impossible to follow it.
Because the bridge leading to the wild boar forest is broken.
According to local villagers, the dam at Fengshan upstream was washed away, and the stone arch bridge downstream also suffered.
Everyone spread out the map prepared by Jiang Yichen and studied it for a long time. They also asked the innkeeper and his wife for their opinions.
Finally, it was concluded that the best route would be to go around Ninglu Ridge and take Ninglu Terrace.
Since Ninglu Ridge has the word "ridge", it means that the terrain is still higher.
The high terrain means there is no danger of flash floods.
In addition, the road is not steep and the slope is not steep. The most difficult part is located in a place that was regarded as a place of poetry and painting by the then emperor a hundred years ago. It was specially repaired. The nearly ten miles of the road are paved with bluestone slabs, which is very convenient for carriages and horses.
The only drawback is the distance.
Detouring through Ninglu Ridge to get out of the Jiangxi-Ganxi border is one step longer than walking through the Wild Boar Forest, and it will take an extra day to reach Lingnan. This is why Luo Piaoling was planning the southbound route for the Niu family and his daughter. , the reason why we did not choose the Ninglu Ridge route.
However, the matter has come to this, and we should discuss the matter as it is.
There is no other way to go around Ninglu Ridge, and it is also the best way at the moment.
If it hadn't been for that drop of rain five days ago, Jiang Yichen would not have raised any doubts.
But the rain five days ago and the current situation made it impossible for him to turn a blind eye to the underlying warning signs.
He expressed his worries to everyone.
Chu Shangu almost laughed out loud after hearing the whole story, but he firmly sided with Jiang Yichen in the subsequent voting.
Based on the uneasiness in his heart, Jiang Yichen made another suggestion.
His suggestion was to wait.
Wait three more days to learn more information before deciding when to set off and whether to detour to Ninglu Ridge.
Everyone voted together, whether to rush on the road when the rain stops two days tomorrow, or to stay put for the next two days and stay up for another three days and three nights to see what happens?
What emerged after the vote was that more than half supported the previous choice.
Of course, there were many people who supported Jiang Yichen's proposal.
However, the younger generation headed by Xi Weiyu, Yun Zhang, Yun Jing, and Yun Longkui may have worship factors, and it is impossible to elaborate on how many trade-offs they have in their hearts.
Those who are not young, such as Chu Shangu, are also included in this list.
Xiaohua, for example, stood by Jiang Yichen because he helped Niu Kelian heal his injuries and illnesses.
By the way, Niu Kelian was also voted in.
But in the end it was still not enough.
The reason why Jiang Yichen's proposal failed to pass by one vote is related to Niu Kelian's analysis.
As everyone is worried, it is not suitable to stay here for a long time. If you stay here for one more day, it will be even more dangerous.
This danger is not limited to them, but also to the local people.
If they really become turtles in the urn here, at least the innocent people in the inn will inevitably be implicated.
Even if the rain does not slow down at all tomorrow, they should leave here.
And in Niu Kelian's opinion, the real warning sign is not falling rain, but a broken bridge!
If the dams are damaged and the arch bridges are broken, it is not caused by humans.
If someone does this deliberately, then they can only take away the danger by leaving as soon as possible.
Once the decision was made, Jiang Yichen would naturally not go against it, but would cooperate with it with all his strength.
But he couldn't stand the strong uneasiness that surged in his heart in the dead of night.
Normally, Jiang Yichen would never be so suspicious and believe the so-called warning from God.
However, the Daoyi Alliance intelligence network, which had been secretly communicating with him recently, went wrong today. The intelligence information of that day was not placed in the agreed place, which made him even more suspicious.
Most mature intelligence networks do not necessarily know each other's identities. Although it is helpful to protect intelligence personnel from being ganged up on, once one or two of them are in danger, they cannot learn the identity of the victim or find out the details in a short period of time. .
If there is still no corresponding information in the next two days, then if this matter is connected with the broken bridge, it means that Niu Kelian's analysis has come true. Someone is behind this deliberately, and they have no choice.
The condensation terrace is a must-take path!
Jiang Yichen took a deep breath and felt a chill in his heart and lungs.
From Niu Kelian's words, he felt the heavy responsibility on his shoulders, and gradually understood what Luo Piaoling was carrying on his shoulders.
Doing something you know you can't do requires not only indispensable resourcefulness, but also courage.
After briefly feeling sad about spring and autumn, Jiang Yichen finally felt a little tired.
Just as he was about to close the window and go to bed, he noticed movement outside the door.
