That day, the boy disappeared while running. His father waited for a while but didn't see his son. He stood up anxiously and called the child's name: "Er Gou, Er Gou, come back quickly."
No one ever responded.
The ancient sage had a keen hearing. He faintly heard the cry of a child in the middle cabin, and reminded him: "Did your child go to play in the middle cabin?"
"No, no, my children are very obedient." He said, and walked up the stairs carefully.
Gu Shengchao followed, and as soon as he reached the middle cabin, he heard a woman yelling and cursing: "You little brat, how dare you steal my bracelet, tell me where you hid it."
"I didn't, I didn't, I just came up." Ergou whimpered, just wiping his tears.
"Pah, pah." A clear voice came, and Ergou received two slaps on his face.
"You, how do you beat someone?" Ergou's father protected his son and accused him.
"He was the one who was beaten. Who told him not to learn well and insist on becoming a thief and stealing things." Gu Shengchao looked over and saw that the person speaking was a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl.
The little girl was wearing a white dress, her eyes were like apricots, but she looked a little ferocious because she was angry. She seemed to be used to being domineering. She was glaring and yelling, and she was extremely arrogant.
"You're talking nonsense, my son won't steal anything." Ergou's father argued.
The little girl frowned and said angrily: "It's ridiculous. Would a thief say he is a thief? I think you are an accomplice. Please hand over my bracelet!"
"Let's go, we don't know her the same way." Ergou's father glared at the little girl, pulled the child and was about to leave.
"If you want to run away, there's no way." The little girl didn't intend to let them go. She stretched out her leg and pulled Ergou's father's sleeve with her seemingly weak hand. Ergou's father involuntarily stumbled forward and fell on his back. fall. Fortunately, he let go in time so that the child was not affected.
Gu Shengchao saw it clearly. The little girl inadvertently revealed her kung fu, which was far beyond what anyone else could compare to. Moreover, her body's zhenqi fluctuated, making it obvious that she was a practitioner.
Ergou wanted to help his father, but was held tightly by the little girl's right hand: "If you want to run away, there is no way. Hand over my bracelet quickly, or I will put you both in jail and wait."
"We didn't, we are all good people." Ergou was frightened and actually cried.
Gu Shengchao couldn't stand it anymore, stepped forward and shouted angrily: "Let the child go!"
"How presumptuous!" The little girl gave Gu Shengchao a cold look. Seeing that he was dressed like a farm boy, she slapped Gu Shengchao in the face with her left hand.
Gu Shengchao grabbed the little girl's wrist and squeezed it hard with his fingers. The little girl let go of the two dogs with an "ouch" in pain. She turned sideways and kicked Gu Shengchao in the ribs. Gu Shengchao did not dodge, but only applied more strength to his hands. His internal strength was no longer what it used to be. The little girl's wrists were so painful that she was sweating, and she could no longer use any moves.
"These father and son have no grievances against you, why do you want to wrong them." Gu Shengchao reprimanded.
The little girl was silent, and three servant-looking men with big swords in their hands had already surrounded Gu Shengchao. An elder walked over and threatened with a sullen face: "Let my girl go quickly, or I will chop you up and throw you into the river."
Ancient Sage Chao did not feel any signs of true energy fluctuations from the elder's body. This person probably had no martial arts, and was just relying on the power of a fox in numbers to pretend to be a tiger. Gu Shengchao was also surprised that he could feel the subtle fluctuations caused by the infuriating energy and aura of the people around him.
"You keep saying that you lost your bracelet, couldn't it be that you accidentally dropped it on the ground?" Gu Shengchao couldn't stand such bullying, he reminded. His eyes were sharp, and while he was talking, he noticed something in the distance that a man in green robe was stepping hard on. A normal person stands with even pressure on both feet and legs. Only this person leans forward, with the center of gravity resting on that foot. The people watching the excitement accidentally bump into him, but they resolutely refuse to step back or take a step forward. Avoidance is definitely a problem.
The elder was disdainful: "Don't talk nonsense, we are officials, how can we allow you, a countryman, to judge." He snorted coldly and said arrogantly: "We originally wanted a first-class private room, but we happened to not have one. Once we got to the room, we were in a hurry and were on our way, so we reluctantly rested here, otherwise your servants would not be able to see us."
Gu Shengchao ignored him, paid attention to the man in green robe, and said loudly: "Uncles, aunts, eldest brothers, eldest sisters, everyone, please raise your feet and take a look to see if you have stepped on anything accidentally. We are all enthusiastic people. Don't Let good people be wronged.”
The man in green robe squatted down to take something from the sole of his boot. When he raised his head, he saw Gu Shengchao staring fixedly at this side. People around him began to raise their feet to prove their innocence. Seeing that there was no chance, the man in green robe had no choice but to move his feet away as if he was surprised: "What is this? Something rolled under my feet."
Someone ran over and picked it up and handed it back to the elder. The little girl said happily: "That's mine, the bracelet I lost." She struggled, trying to get out of the ancient sage's control.
At this time, five or six people ran down the stairs, all dressed as ship's crew. The leader put his knives on his hips and said, "Put down your knife. What's wrong? Who dares to cause trouble on our ship?"
Gu Shengchao shook off the little girl's wrist and said to the visitor: "A misunderstanding has been resolved. Please excuse me."
The elder ordered his men to put away their swords, and also joked: "You guys have worked hard, how about coming over for a cup of tea. We all misunderstood and made you worry."
"That's good, please be more honest on our ship." The leader glanced at everyone, raised his eyebrows in a warning sign, and led the others away.
The little girl glared at Gu Shengchao contemptuously and said: "Country bumpkin, I will never spare you in the future."
The elder glanced at him and said coldly: "I will spare your life on the boat. If you fall into our hands later, your life will be worse than death."
The ship sailed for another two days and stopped at the dock. Ergou and his son said goodbye to Gu Shengchao. Seeing that they were poor, Gu Shengchao gave them all the money he had left. Ergou's father refused at first, but later met Gu Shengchao. I gave it to them sincerely, so I happily accepted it and took the two dogs off the boat.
Gu Shengchao was a good man and free and easy, but then he stopped eating. He endured it for a day, but finally couldn't hold back his hunger. Early in the morning, he saw a big ship passing through a narrow river, not far from the shore. He came to the side of the ship and jumped off. Jump steadily to the river bank. The man on the boat exclaimed that this was not a dock, and the big ship was heading straight downstream.
Walking along the winding path in the fields, Gu Shengchao came to a town. At this time, there was an endless stream of pedestrians going to the market in the morning, and the town looked very prosperous. Gu Shengchao walked through the market stall selling breakfast. The fragrant aroma whetted his appetite, but he was penniless and hungry. He passed by a stall selling wontons, and the enticing aroma made him swallow. The wonton stall was doing a booming business, and the few seats were almost full. One of them caught his special attention.
Gu Shengchao had mastered magical skills at Mengyou Villa. He found that he could distinguish the fluctuations in the auras of everyone around him. The auras of ordinary people were rough and could not be controlled. Only those who had practiced kung fu could control their own auras. The stronger the internal energy, the weaker and less easily detected the breath is.
At the moment, a man in gray robe at the wonton stall made him look sideways. This man looked unassuming and was engrossed in eating wontons, but his breath was calm and controlled. If you didn't pay attention, you wouldn't be aware of this person's existence at all.
Gu Shengchao was looking at the man, but unexpectedly the man suddenly raised his head and looked at Gu Shengchao. Gu Shengchao hurriedly turned his head and left pretending to be casual.
"Agui, when did you come here?" Gu Shengchao heard someone running behind him. He looked around, but no one stopped to look.
Someone gently patted Gu Shengchao on the shoulder, "Agui, what a coincidence you are here!"
Gu Shengchao turned around and saw the gray-robed man in front of him. Gu Shengchao whispered: "Brother, you have recognized the wrong person!"
The man in gray robe was startled for a moment, then smiled and said, "Aren't you Agui? You really look alike."
"You have recognized the wrong person. My name is not Agui." Gu Shengchao was about to leave when the man in gray robe grabbed his sleeve and said, "Little brother, stay here. Meeting each other is fate. I have prepared wine and food for you. If you don’t come, how about you come over and have a drink with me as a favor?”
"This..." Gu Shengchao hesitated for a moment. His stomach was empty, and he said embarrassedly: "It's so abrupt, I'm afraid I'll disturb you!"
The man in gray robe waved his hand and said: "It's not rude, it's me who disturbed my little brother's enjoyment. I like to make good friends. If the person I meet doesn't come, I will be addicted to alcohol. I hope it will be fulfilled if I don't have anyone to accompany me."
The ancient sage said politely: "Then it's better to be respectful than to obey." He didn't dare to be too humble, for fear that his stomach would growl unsatisfactorily and his saliva would almost flow out.
The two sat down, and the waiter brought Gu Shengchao steaming wontons, cut two plates of good beef, brought the wine jar over, and filled their bowls with wine.
"It's a small stall with few people, so I apologize for the lack of care." The waiter laughed with him for fear of neglecting the two of them. It is rare for a small stall to meet someone with such generous spending.
"It's okay, go ahead!" The man in gray robe didn't mind.
The guy happily leaves and greets the other guests.
"Where are you going, little brother?" the man in gray robe asked, holding up the wine bowl.
Gu Shengchao quickly picked up the wine bowl and said, "I'm a local, I just returned from the boat." He touched the wine bowl with the man in gray robe and drank both of them in one gulp.
The man in gray robe refilled the wine, picked up the wontons with chopsticks and said, "This little shop looks simple, but it tastes good. Eat more."
Gu Shengchao was really hungry, and he was afraid that the other party would see through, so he pretended to be polite and started eating. Even so, half a bowl of wontons was quickly eaten.
The man in gray robe was not in a hurry. He waited until Gu Shengchao was full before he picked up the wine bowl. The two of them drank while eating beef as an appetizer. Gu Shengchao has been traveling in the world since he was a child. He knows that the world is dangerous. The man in gray robe obviously wanted to find out his basic situation, but except for his name, nothing else was revealed. Likewise, Gu Shengchao knew nothing about the other party except that his name was Baili Huan.
The two of them separated after eating and drinking. Baili Huan walked towards the pier outside the town, while Gu Shengchao walked towards the town and stepped into the unknown world.
