By the sparkling river, Liu Wei sat cross-legged on a large smooth stone, while Zhou Cang stood behind him, protecting him like an iron tower.

After saying goodbye to Honggu, Zhou Cang was already free of obstacles, and the day when he followed Liu Wei to leave the village had finally arrived.

"Sir, you really don't want horses?" Standing behind Liu Wei, Zhou Cang hesitated for a moment, but after all, he couldn't restrain the doubts in his heart and asked Liu Wei.

"We wear civilian attire and ride on horseback, which is even more eye-catching, and we cause more trouble on the road." Liu Wei turned his head to look at Zhou Cang, beckoned to him, and said to him, "Yuanfu, come here, there are some things I want to ask you." ”

Zhou Cang took two steps forward and stood beside Liu Wei, bowing his head and looking very humble.

"You also know that I am going to the Tiger Prison Pass, and there must be a lot of hardships and dangers along the way." Looking up at Zhou Cang who was standing beside him, Liu Wei asked him, "Does Yuan Fu know where to go to Tiger Prison Pass to avoid the eyes and ears of the imperial court and the closest distance?" ”

"There are two paths." Zhou Cang thought for a moment, and said in a very affirmative tone: "One of them is to go north from here, cross the Yellow River, pass through Wenxian and Pinggao, and then go south to enter the boundary of Bishui; The other is along the mountain to the east, through Gong County, through Chenggao, directly into the water. ”

"Which of these two roads do you think is easier to take?" Liu Wei groaned for a while, looked at Zhou Cang and asked again.

"It's hard to say." Zhou Cang shook his head, looked at Liu Wei without blinking his eyes and said, "If Mr. wants to avoid the officials and soldiers of the imperial court, I am afraid it will not be easy along the way. Along the mountain all the way to the east, the mountain can give us the best cover, meet the army as long as you hide in the mountain, but the road is difficult to walk, the road will be delayed for many days. If you cross the Yellow River and go north first, after Pinggao, it is a smooth road along the way, it is very easy to walk, but it is difficult to have a place to hide. And Woniu Mountain is not far from there, I don't know where Pei Yuanshao can live on the mountain. ”

"Can you get to Woniu Mountain by taking the road of Pinggao?" After hearing that the Yellow River could reach Woniu Mountain, Liu Wei's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly asked Zhou Cang: "If you see Pei Yuanshao, can you have the confidence to persuade him to follow me to the Tiger Prison Pass?" ”

"Pei Yuanshao has a similar temperament with a certain person, and in the past he was called a brother, as long as he is still in Woniu Mountain, he will definitely be able to persuade him to take refuge in Mr." Zhou Cang lowered his head and responded very decisively.

"Let's go to Woniu Mountain first!" Liu Wei stood up, looked at the gurgling river with his hands on his waist, and made such a decision categorically.

After discussing the route with Zhou Cang, Liu Wei decided to leave the village early the next morning and head north, crossing the Yellow River to Woniu Mountain to find Pei Yuanshao.

The next morning, it was just dawning.

Liu Wei and Tang Ji got up and walked out of the room, only to see that the Tao Hu brothers and sisters were already sitting in the hall waiting for them.

"Sir!" Seeing Liu Wei and Tang Ji, Tao Hu's brothers and sisters hurriedly stood up, Tao Hu walked in front of Liu Wei, hugged his fists and said to him: "Mr. is the dragon and phoenix among people, Tao Hu doesn't dare to stay here if he wants to leave here." I cooked some corn with Huanniang last night, and asked Mr. to bring it with me, so that I could make dry food on the road. ”

"I am grateful to have been taken care of by my brothers and sisters these days!" Liu Wei returned the salute to Tao Hu and said to him: "Yuanfu has already prepared dry food, which is enough for me and the rest of us to eat on the road, so let the brothers and sisters keep these corns as rations." ”

"Sir, there is a lot of sediment in the river, Huanniang prepared some drinking water for Mr. yesterday, please take Mr. on the road to drink." Without waiting for Tao Hu to answer, Tao Huanniang walked up, holding a full water bladder in both hands, holding it high above the top, and handed it to Liu Wei.

Tao Hu on the side also held a cloth bag full of boiled corn in both hands, waiting for Liu Wei to accept their gift.

Knowing that if they didn't accept their things, the brother and sister would definitely not be reconciled, Liu Wei turned his head and glanced at Tang Ji, then he reached out and took the cloth bag and water bladder, and said to the brother and sister: "Let the brother and sister be affectionate and friendly, and remember it in my heart!" ”

After accepting the dry food and drinking water presented by the brother and sister, Liu Wei and Tang Ji just left the room when they saw a cloth bag containing fifty or sixty catties of things in front of Zhou Cang, waiting outside the house with a straight body.

Behind Zhou Cang, there were all the villagers who came to see him off.

Seeing Liu Wei come out of the house, the whole village took two steps forward and surrounded him and Tang Ji in the middle.

In front of Liu Bian, the third uncle stretched out his hands, held Liu Bian's hand, and said to him tremblingly: "Mr. is really leaving, and the villagers don't have much to send, but they just prepared some dry food and meat, which is also the intention of the villagers." ”

"These are all sent by the villagers." Zhou Cang, who was on the side, lifted the cloth bag under his feet, shook it at Liu Wei, and interjected.

Glancing at the cloth bag in Zhou Cang's hand, Liu Wei didn't make much excuses, but just said to the third uncle: "I have lived in the village with my insiders for a few days, and I am taken care of by the villagers, so I will never forget such a friendship!" ”

"Good go, sir!" The third uncle reluctantly let go of Liu Wei's hand, his eyes were filled with old tears, and he stood aside with a slight bow.

The corn and water given to him by Liu Weitaohu's brothers and sisters handed them to Zhou Cang on the side, clasped his fists with both hands, and said to the villagers: "Folks, farewell!" He raised his feet and walked towards the entrance of the village.

The villagers gathered in front of him made way for him, Tang Ji and Zhou Cang, and when they looked at Liu Wei, everyone's faces were full of reluctance, and some emotionally fragile old people and women even cried out in their throats.

The villagers followed behind Liu Wei and the others, sending them out of the village and to the river, and they were still reluctant to leave.

Liu Wei turned around, and arched his fist at the villagers and said loudly: "Folks, please go back, the mountains are high and the waters are long, and we will definitely have a reunion day!" ”

The villagers who saw them off stopped and looked at Liu Wei reluctantly.

"Folks, kneel to sir!" The third uncle, who was standing at the front, shouted at the villagers and took the lead in kneeling on the river beach full of gravel.

The villagers of the whole village knelt down, knelt down one by one, and knelt to see off Liu Wei and others.

Seeing the villagers kneeling on the river beach, Liu Wei hurriedly stepped forward, supported the third uncle's armpit with both hands, and said to the third uncle and the villagers: "Villagers, get up quickly, how can you bear such a generous gift?" ”

"Sir doesn't have to hold on." The third uncle and the villagers did not get up, they still knelt there, and Zhou Cang, who was behind him, took two steps forward and said to Liu Wei: "I can't wait to leave, the villagers won't get up." ”

Zhou Cang said this, Liu Biancai let go of the hand under the armpit of the third uncle, clenched his fists with both hands, bent down deeply, saluted the villagers, didn't say anything more, turned around and led Tang Ji and Zhou Cang, and walked along the small river towards the downstream of the river.

It wasn't until Liu Wei walked far away that the villagers knelt up straight and watched his back, and many of their faces were already full of tears at this time.

In the whole village, only Tao Huanniang did not send Liu Wei to the river, she stood on the high dirt slope at the entrance of the village, looking at the direction of the river from afar.

The distance was too far for her to see Liu Wei's back at all, and she could only see the river in the distance glowing silver in the sun.

Compared with the villagers who saw off to the river, the one who was most reluctant to leave was Tao Huanniang. In front of Honggu's grave, Zhou Cang's words woke her up.

For her, Liu Wei is just a passerby in life. The old people in the village and Zhou Cang have already seen that Liu Wei is not an ordinary farmer, and Tang Ji, who is following Liu Wei, is even more well-behaved and has the demeanor of a noblewoman. The far away courtyard made her, a country girl who was just beginning to fall in love, only silently bury that attachment deep in her heart.

Her face was covered with tears, Tao Huanniang sobbed softly, tears quickly blinded her eyes, and the world in front of her was reflected by tears, showing a water-colored haze.

After saying goodbye to the villagers, Liu Wei and the others walked four or five miles east along the river, and then turned around and rushed to the northeast.

It is close to the mountain and is surrounded by mountains, leaving the river and heading north, along the way there are also vast mountains.

Until noon, Liu Wei and the others had not yet come out of the mountains surrounded by mountains.

"Are you hungry?" Looking up at the sun hanging in the middle of the sky, Liu Wei asked Tang Ji, who was following behind.

"Hmm!" Tang Ji nodded, raised his eyes and looked at Liu Wei who was walking in front, although he admitted that he was a little hungry, he did not ask to stop and rest.

"I've been walking for a long time, so I'll take a break to eat something before continuing my journey." After walking a short distance, Liu Wei chose a relatively flat place, and said to Tang Ji and Zhou Cang: "Out of the mountain, you may encounter many unexpected things, we must maintain the best condition, it is possible to successfully reach Woniu Mountain." ”

When discussing with Zhou Cang to go to Woniu Mountain first, Tang Ji was not in front of her, and at this time, she heard Liu Biao say that she was going to Woniu Mountain instead of going to Tiger Prison Pass, she looked at Liu Bian in amazement, her lips moved, as if she wanted to ask something, but she still didn't ask after all.

Liu Wei didn't explain much to her, after sitting down, he took a piece of barbecue from the villagers from Zhou Cang's hand, broke the barbecue, handed the large half to Tang Ji, and said to her: "Eat more meat, there is still a long way to go, and your physical strength has to be maintained by this little thing you eat." ”

"The husband eats a large piece, and the concubine only needs a small piece." Tang Ji didn't reach out to take the piece of meat, but excused himself in a voice as thin as a gnat.

"There's still a lot of meat, not enough for me to take it again." Liu Wei couldn't help but say, and stuffed a large piece of meat to Tang Ji.

He had just nibbled on a piece of meat and was chewing it, when Liu Wei heard a "quack" bird cry in the air. He looked up at the sky and saw more than a dozen crows fluttering their wings and flying over their heads.

"Yuanfu knows where to go?" Seeing this group of crows, Liu Wei's brows furrowed slightly, and he asked Zhou Cang, who was sitting a little far away from him and Tang Ji.

"This is a road that has been traveled before." Zhou Cang swallowed the meat in his mouth and said to Liu Wei: "Five miles ahead, there is a village called Liushuzhuang. The village is smaller than the Taojiazhuang where Mr. lived two days ago, but there are also seventy or eighty households. ”