The next few days were smooth sailing, and the bottom boatman rarely needed to paddle.
Zhou Bai usually stayed in the cabin to read and practice calligraphy, or he would be dragged by Yu Ji and Ma Liang to drink and chat.
Of course, the euphemistic name is that this is a literary collision and exchange of ideas among scholars, otherwise there would be no progress in studying behind closed doors.
But since he learned that Zhou Bai was the leader of Bei'an, Ma Liang had to discuss poetry with him. He also got a copy of Suihanji from nowhere and praised it in front of him every day.
One night, Zhou Bai couldn't sleep. He met Ma Liang by chance and met on the bow of a boat to admire the moon. He was moved by the bright moon on the Gujiang River, so he wrote a poem called "Jiang Xing".
"The wind and fireflies are near the water, and the river and the moon are lonely..."
Ma Liang was a bit stubborn and had not seen Zhou Bai's unique ability to compose a poem in seven steps. If he didn't believe it, he was completely convinced this time.
Later, Yu Ji felt a little strange when he saw Ma Liang no longer pestering Zhou Bai. This was not an excuse for him to miss out on communication.
Nothing noteworthy happened on the territory of Ruinan County. Just when they left Ruinan, a Taoist official came up from the ferry of Longfeng County.
After carefully checking with his spiritual sense, he found that he was just an ordinary Taoist, but he seemed to be not weak, and his aura was much stronger than Yu Yueyun's.
And judging from the dragon boats he stopped at the ferry, each dragon boat had a Taoist official boarding it, which made the next journey unusual.
"Brother Zhou is from Bei'an. He doesn't know the situation in Ningjiang. In fact, you can only see the other side of Ningjiang starting from Longfeng County."
"Well, especially on rainy days."
After entering the boundary of Longfeng County, the river became narrower visibly to the naked eye, and mountains began to appear along the way. After more than ten miles, the Ningjiang River seemed to have turned into a canyon.
Dingzhou is bounded by Ningjiang River, and has four counties in the east and west. This administrative division may also be the special control of Dingzhou when the Daxu Dynasty first opened it.
With Ningjiang here, it will be difficult for Dingzhou to form a whole. Even if there is turmoil, it will be difficult to affect the entire state.
Viewed from a high altitude, the main section of the Ningjiang River in Dingzhou is roughly a straight line from south to north, cutting Dingzhou in half.
However, except for the twists and turns in the section where it enters Tianjiang River, this straight line is only very winding in Longfeng County because there is a section of the road called Luanjiao Gorge.
Someone described it this way: "Enter Longfeng in the south, and for a hundred miles to the mouth of the gorge, the mountains and rivers are winding, and there are high mountains and heavy obstacles on both sides. The sun and the moon are not visible except in the middle of the day and midnight."
Maybe Ma Liang's mouth is really smart, or maybe the weather changes in midsummer are really unpredictable.
Just after entering the gorge, the wind and cloud suddenly changed, and the huge sail was instantly blown straight by the strong wind.
A quarter of an hour ago, it was a clear and cloudless sky, but now it has become gloomy in the blink of an eye. The sunlight is completely blocked, and it is like being in the dark night in this huge gorge.
This gave Zhou Bai a feeling that the celestial phenomena were changing faster than the city emperor casting spells to rain.
When the gong on the dragon boat sounded, a dazzling snake-shaped lightning ripped apart the dark sky, and then, thunder rolled from the sky.
"Lower the sails, lower the sails, call all the passengers back to their rooms..."
"Danger! Everyone go back to the room, close the doors and windows, and hold on to the pillars!"
Even though the captain of this dragon ship has been running this route for many years and has rich experience, he is still not prepared at all for the sudden change of weather.
It's fine outside, but now that we've entered Luanjiao Gorge, it's really a disaster!
After a while, the roaring wind and the torrential rain crazily hit the Ye Ye boat in the Ningjiang River.
Yes, in the face of this kind of divine power, even a hundred-meter-long dragon boat is just a small boat drifting with the current.
Zhou Bai and Ma Liangyu were huddled in the same room, looking at the terrifying celestial phenomenon outside through the only glass window.
"Is this the other side of Ningjiang you are talking about?!"
Faced with the question, Ma Liang touched the back of his head and said, "Well, it seems something is wrong today. In fact, I haven't been here either."
"Before I went to take the exam, I heard from people in the county that we are all the same in Dingzhou. There are fewer prefectural exams to take the scholar exam. Most people will not have the opportunity to leave the county until the provincial exam." Yu Ji explained hurriedly.
Zhou Bai nodded. This is indeed the national situation. Daxu's prefectures and prefectures are too vast, equivalent to the size of the surrounding vassal states.
Ma Liang then added: "Country people who have been to Longfeng County said that you can see dragons in this waterway, and the Ningjiang River Bass is the most abundant in this gorge."
Before he finished speaking, his tone suddenly rose and he became extremely horrified.
Then he pointed in a direction on the glass window and said, "But I didn't expect to encounter so many dragons. They couldn't be all those rolling waves, right?"
At this time, the wind and rain became more and more violent, and the sound of crackling raindrops suppressed the screams of the whole ship.
Zhou Bai naturally also saw that in front of the dragon boat, white lines of water waves quietly appeared at some point, chasing the huge waves caused by the strong wind.
Ordinary people who have never been here cannot clearly see the creatures in the water, but Zhou Bai's eyes can see clearly that they are clearly dragons chasing the fish.
Perhaps there is precious Ningjiang perch in it, which contains the blood of dragons. A fish that can be sold as a tribute fish for a hundred taels of silver.
Zhou Bai passed by here in his previous life, but he never encountered this scene. Now he has to treat it carefully.
Under those waves, hidden were the dragons and also the gray aura of calamity, indicating that these dragons obviously did not want to live in peace with the dragon ship.
"boom!"
Sure enough, a dragon boat not far ahead was hit. The underwater dragon chases its prey and doesn't care about you.
The violent impact sound was like the roar of thunder.
Yu Ji said with a pale face: "We in Ruinan County also drink water from the Ningjiang River, and the Ningjiang Dragon Palace has a clear edict telling the people along the river that no dragon species will attack civilian ships and official ships innocently. These dragons are too courageous."
"Aren't they afraid of the Dragon King's punishment and the Emperor's report to the Heavenly Court? Bastard!" Ma Liang yelled angrily when he saw a dragon ship being hit hard again.
"Grab it!" Zhou Bai had no time to agree, but immediately reminded the two of them to grip the fixed object.
The next moment, there was a muffled sound from the bottom of the ship, and the entire dragon ship began to shake violently.
"You evil beast, you dare to ram a civilian ship, don't you fear the Dragon Palace's ban, don't you fear the majesty of the imperial court?!"
The voice was full of energy, and it was very clear even in the violent storm. The officials in the next room suddenly felt relieved. This was the ship's officer taking action to protect the ship.
Zhou Bai wanted to see the Taoist priest descending the dragon, so he opened a crack in the door and rushed out, just as a sword beam flew past his eyes and went straight to the bottom of the water.
"Quick! Cut!"
Suddenly, a screaming cow moo came from the bottom of the water, and the water at the bottom of the boat turned blood red.
Is this a magic weapon? As expected, he is a senior Taoist and his magic power is not weak.
It seemed that the officials of Longfeng County had already prepared for him. He once took a boat through Luanjiao Gorge, but there was no Taoist official boarding the boat to escort him.
A wanton dragon was seriously injured, and it seemed that the wind and waves around the dragon boat were much lighter.
"The Taoist master's hundred-step flying sword is already superb."
"Everywhere, everywhere, it's all with the help of magical weapons issued from above. I can only say that it's thanks to the imperial court's foresight."
"Now is the Dragon King's duty reporting period in the Heavenly Court, which is held every hundred years. We know that this chaotic Jiao Gorge will cause trouble!"
