Xu Shouguang and Chao Qiandai found a geomantic treasure place on the outskirts of the county to bury Yuli Yutai. Xu Shouguang asked: "Miss Qiandai, now that the real murderer Song Dahe has been eliminated, and the truth has been revealed to the world, what are you going to do next?"
"Well...go back to Kyoto. Hero Yuli sacrificed his life to save me. If I go back, I can fulfill the wish of several generations of the Yuli family..."
For a long time, neither of them spoke. A gust of wind blew by, and the wind blew up the sand and blurred Xu Shouguang's eyes. Xu Shouguang stretched out his hand and rubbed his eyes.
"And you?"
"What?" Chao Qiandai's voice was so low that Xu Shouguang didn't hear it clearly.
"I mean where are you going?"
"I haven't decided yet, but since you are going back to Kyoto, I will accompany you on the journey first."
"Really?!" Chao Qiandai's voice suddenly became much louder.
"Of course, but I have agreed in advance that you will be responsible for my food and clothing along the way..."
"I have no money..."
"You can owe it first..."
...
At night, in the eastern suburbs of Tangchang County, Xu Shouguang sat in front of a bonfire. Chao Qiandai on the opposite side of the bonfire had fallen asleep. The firelight imprinted on Chao Qiandai's face, outlining her delicate facial features in a more three-dimensional manner.
Suddenly, Xiaobai's voice sounded in Xu Shouguang's ears: "Xu Shouguang..."
Since the last time he touched the puppet, Xiaobai had been silent for several days. Xu Shouguang also secretly tried to call it several times, but there was no response. This sudden appearance really startled Xu Shouguang.
"Xiao Bai, where have you been these days? No matter how much I call you, there is no response..." Xu Shouguang tried his best to keep his voice low, because he was afraid of waking up Chao Qiandai who was sleeping opposite.
"Last time when I killed the puppet, I absorbed a lot of demon power, but this spiritual power was very chaotic, so I took a long sleep to completely digest the demon power..."
"...Sleep after you are full...This is how pigs are raised..." Xu Shouguang complained secretly in his heart. He looked at the jade ring finger and saw that the white mist inside had gathered a lot, and it seemed to have the outline of an animal.
"After waking up, I feel that my strength has improved a lot. Maybe I can unlock the seal of your jade pendant..."
"Really?!" Xu Shouguang was so excited that he almost screamed, but he immediately covered his mouth and looked across the bonfire. Chao Qiandai frowned slightly, changed his position and continued to sleep.
Seeing that Chao Qiandai did not wake up, Xu Shouguang carefully took out a cloth package from his arms. After opening it, it was the jade pendant that Xu Zhishu left for him. Xu Shouguang looked at the jade pendant that concealed the secret of his life experience, and stretched out his finger uneasily.
Xu Shouguang's fingers touched the jade pendant, and the fire in his pupils immediately disappeared, as if they were cast into a layer of black and white. The scene in front of Xu Shouguang changed. What he saw was no longer a wilderness, but a magnificent palace. Below the palace, a group of old men in gorgeous official robes were neatly lined up on both sides. There was a dragon chair above the palace. Sitting on the top was a majestic old man wearing a dragon robe. Next to him, a man dressed as a eunuch held an edict in his hand and read loudly: "King Qi presented the Yue girl with merit, and will be given five hundred pieces of silk!"
As soon as the eunuch finished speaking, a young man walked out from the group of ministers below and kowtowed to the old man on the dragon throne: "Your Majesty, Li Jun, thanks you for your kindness!"
"Li Jun? Who is Li Jun?" Xu Shouguang suddenly had many questions in his mind. He felt that Li Jun must be related to his life experience. Just when he wanted to see what would happen next, the black and white screen suddenly stopped. Then slowly dispersed.
This is just a little bit of information. When Xu Shouguang saw the screen disappear, he hurriedly shouted: "Xiao Bai! Xiao Bai! What's wrong? Why is it gone?"
"There's nothing I can do. The power of this seal is much stronger than mine now. With my current ability, I can only do this..." Xiaobai was also helpless.
Xu Shouguang's shout just now woke up Chao Qiandai from his sleep. Looking at Xu Shouguang who looked anxious, Chao Qiandai asked: "What's wrong with you? Are you having a nightmare?"
Hearing Chao Qiandai's voice, Xu Shouguang calmed down a lot. He felt that now was not the time to tell Chao Qiandai his secret, so he took a deep breath and nodded.
"It's okay, it's just a dream. It'll be okay when you wake up..." Chao Qiandai comforted Xu Shouguang.
A few days later, in Fangzhou, Xu Shouguang and Chao Qiandai headed eastward to Yangzhou along Pengshui. This Fangzhou is called Fangzhou because it is thousands of miles long and surrounded by mountains and forests. It has high hills and houses, so it is called Fangzhou. Because of this, transportation has been inconvenient since ancient times and it was often used as a place of exile. Therefore, the mountains and forests along the way are dense and sparsely populated. Not even a single house was seen.
Seeing the sun going down, the two of them were worried about where to stay that night. They saw a piece of green grass on the river beach in front of them. There were a few sheep scattered on the grass. Next to the sheep, there was a large flat stone, and a man wearing a sheepskin. A shepherd boy of about eleven or twelve years old is lying on the coat and looking at the sky.
"Little brother!" Xu Shouguang waved hello to the shepherd boy from a distance.
The shepherd boy heard someone calling him and sat up. When he saw the two people walking towards him, he turned over and jumped down from the stone.
"Little brother, how far is it from the county ahead?" Xu Shouguang took out a wild fruit he had picked earlier from his arms and stuffed it into the hands of the shepherd boy.
The shepherd boy took the wild fruit, looked around happily, then put the fruit in front of his nose and took a deep sniff, then carefully stuffed the wild fruit into his arms, and then bowed to Xu Shouguang: "This eldest brother , Guangqian County is in front of here, and it is still thirty or forty miles away from the county seat, but the mountain road is difficult to travel, and I am afraid that you two will not be able to reach the county seat today."
"Are there any inns along the way?"
"My house is remote and there are few merchants coming and going. There is only one inn in the county. If you don't mind, why don't you come with me and rest at my home."
"The two of us have been sleeping rough all the way. Thanks to meeting my little brother today, we have a decent place to live. I'm too late to be happy, and how can I dislike it? It's up to my little brother to lead the way."
"Brother, you don't have to be polite. Come with me." The shepherd boy said and drove the sheep ahead to lead the way.
Along the way, Xu Shouguang chatted with the shepherd boy and learned that the shepherd boy's name was Jing Jingsi. He was originally from Daizhou. In recent years, the Tang Dynasty had suffered from frequent natural disasters. Cao Jun and Huang Wang had uprising in the north one after another. In order to avoid the military disaster, they followed My parents fled to Fangzhou.
After touching a stick of incense, the three of them came to a wooden house. It was just getting dark. Jing Jingsi drove the sheep into the sheepfold, then led the two of them to the door, shouting loudly inside: "Mom, I'm back!"
After a while, the door of the house opened, and a woman in her thirties dressed simply came out. Seeing that Jing Jingsi was followed by two people, the woman hurriedly looked at the shepherd boy. When the shepherd boy saw the woman looking over, he hurriedly introduced: "Mom, these two are going to the county town. When the boy saw that it was getting late, he made his own decision and took them to stay at home temporarily."
At this time, Xu Shouguang also hurriedly took out a few pieces of silver from his arms, stuffed them into the woman's hands, and said, "The two of us will stay here for one night, and I'd like to ask my aunt to make it convenient."
The woman took the money and looked at the two people in front of her. She saw that the young man was handsome and the girl was as beautiful as a fairy, not a villain, so she got out of the way and said, "Thank you for your hard work, two guests. Come on first." Let’s go to the house.”
After receiving the woman's consent, Xu Shouguang and Chao Qiandai said "I'm sorry" and entered the house. The furnishings in this room are very simple, with only one table and three benches, and nothing else. However, I guess this woman is also a diligent person, and the cleaning is quite clean.
The woman arranged for the two of them to sit down at the table, then went to the stove in the courtyard to get some cakes, brought them to the table, and said sheepishly: "These are the only coarse grains we have at home, which made the two guests laugh. "
"Auntie, you're welcome. We have been eating wild fruits along the way, and now we can still eat pancakes, which are already delicacies!"
Xu Shouguang took the cake while exchanging pleasantries.
The woman filled another bowl of water for the two of them, and then called to Jingsi: "Son, go to the door and see if your grandpa is back?"
Jing Jingsi listened and responded, then went to the door. Before leaving the house, he ran to the woman as if he suddenly remembered something, took out the wild fruit Xu Shouguang gave him from his arms, and handed it to the woman. He held it in his hand and said, "Mom, please eat some fruit first to cushion your stomach." After that, he went out.
After a while, Xu Shouguang suddenly heard a few dogs barking outside the house, and then Jing Si's voice came: "Huzi! Huzi! What's wrong with you?"
Hearing this voice, the three people in the room stood up and ran outside. As soon as the three of them ran out of the thatched hut, they saw Jing Si squatting not far away, with a thin dog lying on his side on the ground in front of him. This thin dog was covered in scars, and one of its hind legs was covered in blood. It looked like it had been entangled in vines.
"Huzi! Why are you the only one back? Where is the father of the child?" After the woman went out, she couldn't find her husband. She didn't care whether the dog could understand the call or not. It cried out.
Seeing the woman, Xi Quan tried hard to stand up, but was injured too badly. After struggling for a few times, he finally failed to stand up. He had to lie on the ground and kept wailing, as if he wanted to express something. But the woman still couldn't understand, and she stamped her feet anxiously.
Chao Qiandai looked at the thin dog in front of him and seemed to be muttering something about the woods, trees and vines in his mouth. After a while, Chao Qiandai asked the mother and son: "Are there many trees and vines entwining around here?" The woods together?”
"There are many trees and vines intertwined in the forest...could it be...Baicao Forest!" Jing Jingsi looked at Chao Qiandai in surprise: "How could Sister Chao know about Baicao Forest?"
Chao Qiandai did not answer the question, but said to Jing Jingsi: "Your grandfather went to Baicao Forest."
After hearing what Chao Qiandai said, the woman suddenly burst into tears.
"Auntie! Auntie, please don't cry. Please tell us what happened." Xu Shouguang said as he nudged Jingjingsi aside and winked, asking Jingjingsi to comfort his mother.
"This Baicao Forest has a radius of dozens of miles. It is said that it was the place where Shennong tasted Baicao in ancient times. I have heard old people say that rare Ganoderma lucidum grows in the Baicao Forest. However, there are poisonous flowers and poisonous weeds in the forest, and poisonous insects and beasts run rampant. It is said that no one can After entering the Baicao Forest..." Jing Jingsi stroked the woman's back and raised her head and said to Xu Shouguang.
"Since this Baicao Forest is so dangerous, why did your grandfather go there?" Xu Shouguang asked.
"I should go pick Ganoderma lucidum..."
"Nonsense! You even risk your life to collect Ganoderma lucidum... It's just nonsense!"
"Brother Xu, you don't know something. My grandpa was forced to take such a risk... In the past two years, I often heard my grandpa mention that taxes have become more and more heavy. The court wants money, and the feudal towns also want money. A few days ago, the government sent out another mission Someone came to my house to demand payment of taxes, but there was no money at home, but the police officer didn’t care about it. My grandfather tried hard to persuade me, so he reluctantly agreed to defer for a few days, but before leaving, the police officer said that if he didn’t pay again, he would be punished. Let’s use my sheep to deduct taxes... The family’s livelihood in the coming year will depend on selling these sheep at a good price. If these sheep are taken away, I don’t know how to live... Probably because of this, My grandpa was forced to go to the grass forest to search for Ganoderma lucidum to offset the tax..."
Jing Jingsi started to cry as she talked. Xu Shouguang clenched his fists loudly, gritted his teeth and said: "The dog officials are the meat of the people, and the tyranny is stronger than the tigers!"
At this time, Chao Qiandai was squatting in front of Huzi. She gently stroked Huzi's head with her hands, then leaned down to Huzi's ear and whispered a few words. No one heard what she said. Huzi whimpered a few times, seeming a little scared and a little anxious.
"Sister-in-law, your husband-in-law is entangled in tree vines, maybe he is still alive..." Chao Qiandai said.
"Really?" After hearing what Chao Qiandai said, the woman immediately wiped away the tears on her face.
Chao Qiandai nodded seriously.
"In that case, let's go to the Baicao Forest and rescue the people!" Xu Shouguang looked at Chao Qiandai and said firmly.
Hearing what Xu Shouguang said, the woman knelt on the ground with a thud and kowtowed to Xu Shouguang and Chao Qiandai: "Thank you two heroes for your help..."
Xu Shouguang hurriedly helped the woman up: "Auntie, don't be polite. Even if you encounter someone, there is no reason to refuse to save her! Auntie, please relax, we will definitely save her!"
"Brother Xu, please take me with you!" Jing Jingsi said at the side.
Before Xu Shouguang could answer, the woman hurriedly took Jing Jingsi's hand and said, "What are you meddling in! I went because I have the skills. If you go, you are not causing trouble! You are not allowed to go anywhere! Just stay here with me." Mom is waiting for your grandpa..."
"Mom! Brother Xu and Sister Chao saved none other than my grandpa! My grandpa often teaches me how to be loyal, so I have to go this time. Please don't stop me..."
Seeing that the woman was still reluctant to leave quietly, Xu Shouguang also said: "Jingsi, this is a dangerous place. You should listen to your mother and wait at home. We will definitely rescue your grandpa!"
"Brother Xu! You are not a local, and you don't know where the Baicao Forest is. The tiger is seriously injured right now, and I'm afraid he won't be able to lead the way. I am the only one who knows how to get to the Baicao Forest, so let me take you there..."
After hearing this, Xu Shouguang felt that what Jingsi said did make some sense. Time was running out now and there was no other way, so he patted Jingsi on the shoulder and said, "Okay, you can go together. But you just need to Lead us to the Baicao Forest, and when we get there, find a safe place to hide, and don’t go into the forest!"
