The big ship was sinking slowly. Gu Shengchao quickly swam to the hatch of the ship, grabbed the upper planks and got in. It was dark under the water, and it was even more difficult to see under the cover of the big ship. He got into the first cabin and found that the ship was tilting down. There was still a lot of air in the upper part of the guest room. Through the gaps in the wooden boards, he could vaguely hear someone next door. Sobbing.
He took a deep breath and swam over, and sure enough, he touched a child in the dark cabin. Gu Shengchao hugged him tightly and comforted him: "Don't be afraid, I'll save you." The child stopped sobbing, and Gu Shengchao ordered him : "Take a big breath right away. You won't be able to breathe until you get into the water. Once you've breathed in, pinch my thigh."
After a while, the child pinched Gu Shengchao's thigh hard. He dragged the child upside down and dived into the water. He groped out of the cabin and quickly emerged from the lake. The boat on the water was full of people, all anxiously watching. When they saw the two people showing their heads, they exclaimed at the same time. Someone helped pull the two people onto the boat. The child choked on the water and fainted. The experienced man on the boat made the child face down, placed his body on the man's lap, and slapped the child's back hard. After a while, the child vomited a lot of water and gradually regained consciousness.
The mother of the child knelt down in excitement and kowtowed in front of Gu Shengchao to thank him. He was so frightened that he quickly dodged and helped the woman up.
After the storm calmed down, the ships docked one after another, and everyone on the sunken ship found an inn to rest, waiting for other ships to carry them.
After resting at the inn for a few days, Gu Shengchao and Liu Ximei finally waited for another large ship before setting off again.
The big boat sailed smoothly for more than ten days. During the journey, a tracker pulled it through a narrow artificial river channel and entered another wider river. During this period, the two of them practiced more and more diligently. Although Liu Ximei did not succeed in overcoming the tribulation, her internal strength became more solid. Gu Shengchao found that his perception ability had also improved a lot, making great progress compared to before. The ship traveled for several more days and finally docked at a dock near the capital.
Gu Shengchao and Liu Ximei originally thought they could see the bustling capital city from the boat, but when they looked around, there were only endless mountains and towering cliffs.
The waiter on the boat introduced: "We walked up the mountain road from the shore. It took about two hours to reach the highest point and there was a flat river. The capital was right there. It was getting dark now, and it was midnight when we reached the capital. Anyway, we won't go any further. Wait. Tomorrow and the next two days, we will load up the cargo and travelers and return. If you are not in a hurry, you can stay one night in the boat for the same cost as before. There are tigers, leopards and bandits in the dense forests in the mountains, so it is safer to wait until dawn tomorrow to set off. "
After hearing this, most of the people chose to stay, and only a few who had time and were eager to get off the boat.
Gu Shengchao and Liu Ximei disembarked from the boat hand in hand and walked slowly up the mountain road. Not long after, the sun set over the western mountains, the returning birds chirped, and the sky and the earth seemed to be blurred. Liu Ximei looked at it in admiration.
Looking down, everything began to blur in the darkness. Looking up, the mountains seemed to be wrapped in a golden coat, shining brightly. Between the two is a clear and variable line of ink, like a brush outlining two completely opposite worlds. Looking up at the sky, the red clouds are like brocade, stretching in the sky like colorful silk, rippling in the wind.
The two of them walked and admired the ever-changing spectacles. After a while, the sky and the earth seemed to be covered with a curtain, all colors lost, dimmed and became pitch black, and a few stars appeared, making it appear high and deep.
Liu Ximei sighed and said with emotion: "Oh, beautiful things are always fleeting, and time flies by and beauty grows old!"
Gu Shengchao smiled and said: "The grass will wither and grow again next year, and the flowers will bloom again after withering. If you don't see enough, I will stay here with you for a few more nights so that you can see enough."
"No, if you are really good to me, just go shopping with me. I suddenly want to travel all over the world and see all the beautiful scenery in the world. What a wonderful experience it should be!" Liu Ximei leaned on Gu Shengchao's shoulder, imagining Looking forward to the future.
Gu Shengchao put his arms around her slender waist: "No problem, let's play in the capital for a few days first, and then I will accompany you wherever you want to go."
"I want to go to heaven." Liu Ximei chuckled.
Gu Shengchao was also happy, "Okay, when I learn how to fly with a sword, I will take you up there to see it first."
The two walked up, chatting and laughing, and left the main road while chatting. Unknowingly, they discovered that the road had reached the end, and looking down, they saw a bottomless black cliff.
"It's over, we took the wrong road." Liu Ximei was a little flustered.
The ancient sage raised his head and looked up. Dots of lights appeared on the misty mountains. He pointed and said excitedly: "Look, there must be someone there, maybe the capital. As long as we walk in that direction, we will never get lost."
The mountain road was overgrown with weeds and littered with rocks. Liu Ximei accidentally sprained her foot and said "Oops."
"Does it hurt?" Gu Shengchao asked with concern.
Liu Ximei moved her ankle and it felt normal. She still said deliberately: "Oh, it hurts. I can't walk anymore."
Gu Shengchao smiled and carried her on his back, "You direct the direction, I will pay attention to the road under my feet, so that I don't walk up."
The mountain road was rugged, and Gu Shengchao did not dare to stride forward and was cautious all the way. It didn't matter if he fell, for fear of hurting Liu Ximei behind him.
"It's strange, the lights just now are gone." Liu Ximei suddenly said.
Gu Shengchao explained: "Mountain roads are like this. Every mountaintop is a world, and every turn may be a new world."
Liu Ximei was still confused: "No, everything I was staring at disappeared in the blink of an eye. It's really weird."
Gu Shengchao had strong internal energy and carried her without any difficulty. He was about to reach the top of the mountain where he saw the lights just now, but suddenly he noticed something strange. Although he couldn't see it, he felt that there were more than ten people guarding it. The auras of those people have different priorities, and he can tell the specific locations.
He stopped and hid behind a tall old tree.
"What's wrong?" Liu Ximei asked quietly.
"There are people up there." Gu Shengchao pointed forward.
Waiting quietly, Gu Shengchao didn't know why the other party stopped him. He was also surprised that those people stayed where they were and did not rush over. He was sure that he and Liu Ximei had been seen by each other a long time ago, but there must be a reason why they did not dare to come down.
A full moon rose, the stars were sparse, and the night sky became clear. The ancient sage had excellent eyesight and even saw the cold light of the opponent's sword as he lurked.
After about a tea hour, the people above were still waiting in place, and Gu Shengchao decided to evacuate. He and those people were strangers, and there was no reason for them to have conflicts over inexplicable things.
Just as Gu Shengchao was about to retreat, someone from above shouted: "Fire the arrow."
The sound of arrows flying through the air was heard. Ancient Sage Chao had already identified the opponent's exact location, and he was sure that his hiding place would not be hit. However, those arrows were not shot at him, they were all concentrated on a tall mound not far away.
The ancient sage wondered, could those people practice archery late at night?
Suddenly two figures jumped up from behind the mound, one black and one white, both wearing tall hats, the black figure wearing a black hat and the white figure wearing a white hat. It is clearly the legendary black and white impermanence.
"Ghost!" someone above exclaimed.
Liu Ximei also glanced secretly, trembled involuntarily, and shouted out loud: "It's really a ghost!" She was frightened and grabbed Gu Shengchao's arm tightly.
The moment those two figures jumped out, Gu Shengchao understood the problem. His perception of everyone around him comes from the other person's aura. The more open the area, the wider the range of perception. But there is a difficulty. If the person is hiding in a closed space, he cannot be detected even if he is close at hand. Just like on a ship, he can sense the people walking in the corridor, but he knows nothing about the people in the cabin next door.
When the two figures appeared just now, he also captured the auras of those two people. In other words, those two people were always hiding in a relatively closed environment. Those people above are indeed not waiting for Gu Shengchao and the two of them, but these two black and white impermanence.
"Don't worry, they are not ghosts, they are two people pretending." Gu Shengchao comforted Liu Ximei and gently patted her tender little hand.
"Seriously?" Liu Ximei was not sure whether Gu Shengchao was coaxing her.
Gu Shengchao smiled and said: "It is said that ghosts do not need to breathe, but I can clearly feel the breath when they breathe. Besides, look at their shadows, they are so long, who are you trying to coax!"
Liu Ximei watched intently, and sure enough, under the bright moonlight, the figures of the two people were particularly slender when they jumped high and landed. She finally felt relieved and let go of the hand holding Gu Shengchao's arm.
The two people jumped straight towards the direction of the Ancient Saint Chao. The people above them still stood there blankly before they could react. Gu Shengchao was angry that they were pretending to be ghosts and came out to scare people, so he immediately stepped out from behind the tree to block their way.
Bai Wuchang was startled, and immediately threw out his long sleeves, and said in his mouth: "The evil ghost seduces Wu Chang and asks for his life. Bai Wuchang is here, follow me to the underworld." The long sleeves looked elegant, but contained a lot of meaning. The internal energy roared in.
Gu Shengchao dodged and used a skill in the "Nine Heavens Blue Falling Palm" Kung Fu to steal the sky. He put two fingers together and inserted them directly into Bai Wuchang's left eye. Bai Wuchang raised his hand to grab Gu Shengchao's wrist. Gu Shengchao stopped entangled with him and stretched out his legs to sweep towards Hei Wuchang. Hei Wuchang originally planned to make a sneak attack, but was caught off guard by Gu Shengchao. When he jumped into the air, Gu Shengchao grabbed his left ankle and hooked him backwards. However, he changed his moves neatly and took advantage of the strength to flip in the air again, kicking the ancient sage Chao Chao's eyebrow bone with his right foot. Gu Shengchao turned around to dodge, and struck Bai Wuchang with his left palm.
Bai Wuchang dodged sideways and threw his long sleeves at Gu Shengchao's chest again. Gu Shengchao stood still, seeing the sleeves hitting him, his body moved with the sleeves. Behind him, Hei Wuchang was secretly chuckling when he suddenly saw long sleeves running towards him, and Gu Shengchao seemed to be sitting sideways on it. Hei Wuchang was frightened and didn't understand how he managed to dodge, so he quickly rolled to the side. Bai Wuchang was even more surprised. He wanted to take back his sleeves, but found that he had lost control of the sleeves and threw away the entire white robe in a cruel move. Wearing a black night suit and a tall white hat, he looked very funny.
Gu Shengchao followed his own method, speeding up the movement of his feet, not getting too entangled with anyone, not staying in the same place, and completing every move while moving quickly. While taking it by surprise, it also disrupts the opponent's rhythm, leaving the opponent completely unaware of what he is going to do next, which increases the suddenness of the attack.
Black and White Wuchang was dragged into a state of embarrassment. He wanted to escape but couldn't. He wanted to win with one move and end the fight, but he couldn't even touch Gu Shengchao's body. The two were completely trapped by Gu Shengchao, unable to advance or retreat. Liu Ximei wanted to help, but they moved too fast, and she couldn't do anything while standing nearby, fearing that it would be a waste of help.
More than a dozen people on the cliff also rushed down, holding high torches and surrounding the four people. Black and White Wuchang was even more confused, and there were many flaws in his moves. Gu Shengchao took the opportunity to tap the acupuncture points of the two people, making them unable to move.
A sturdy middle-aged man walked out of the crowd, stepped forward and bowed his hands to Gu Shengchao and said gratefully: "Thank you for your help, hero, for helping us catch these two tomb robbers. I just saw you coming up, and I thought you were a group. If you offend me, please forgive me."
The ancient sage said politely: "To each other, the two of us were originally going to the capital. When we came here and saw you waiting for us, we were also panicked. We thought we had encountered robbers and almost misunderstood you."
Everyone burst into laughter and the misunderstanding was resolved.
Hei Wuchang stared at the ancient sage Chaohu and said: "This good man, if you didn't admit your mistake, my two brothers would have saved your life."
Ancient Sage Chao was confused after hearing this: "When?"
Hei Wuchang said: "Just a few months ago, in the cemetery late at night, you were hit on the back of the head with a blunt instrument and fell unconscious on the ground. It was my two brothers who scared the man away and saved you."
