In the evening, the boatman held the food plate and brought dinner to Li Qiufeng. To Li Qiufeng's surprise, in addition to the daily necessities of wheat cakes, pickles and water, there was also a small plate of fresh fish. Li Qiufeng was surprised and asked where the fish came from. The boatman smiled and said, "Today we have nothing to do, and we found a hook and line to catch fish on the boat." Originally, it was just an unintentional move, but I didn't expect to catch more than a dozen big fish one after another. Brother Qin instructed us to clean up the fish and cook it for you to enjoy. The remaining ones are hung overboard to dry and made into dried salted fish. When we sail out to sea, we can eat it at any time. ”

When the boatman had finished speaking, he confessed his guilt and withdrew from the cabin. Although Li Qiufeng is not a greedy person, but these days he only eats wheat cakes and pickles every day, and he only wants to vomit when he sees them. He patted his belly with satisfaction, and felt that he had never eaten such a delicious dish in his life.

Seeing that night was approaching, Zhang Shi personally called Li Qiufeng to the deck. I saw that Xiao Dong, Qin Lao Wu and the three boatmen had already stopped. Everyone was wearing black shirts and leggings. Xiao Dong was still carrying a black sheath long sword in his hand, and Qin Lao Wu was carrying a mountain chopping knife on his body. The three boatmen carried no blades, and each carried a bundle of ropes.

Zhang Shi took out a set of black shorts and asked Li Qiufeng to change them into, and said: "Before leaving, I prepared a few more sets of clothes, and I didn't expect it to come in handy." ”

After Li Qiufeng put on his clothes, he held the long knife in his hand again. Xiao Dong said to Zhang Shi: "After we leave, Zhang Yuanwai must be careful when he stays on the boat." If someone has bad intentions, don't fight with them, and we will deal with them when we come back. ”

Zhang Shi nodded and said, "Lord Xiao can rest assured." If anyone comes to make trouble, let's sail the big ship into the sea first. No matter how strong the enemy is, he can't fly to the ship, right?"

Qin Lao Wu instructed the two boatmen who stayed on the boat to obey Zhang Shi's orders, and they must always pay attention to the situation on the shore and not be careless. The two boatmen said yes again and again, patting their chests to reassure Qin Lao Wu.

At this time, Shopkeeper Hu and others also walked out, and each of them said a few good words. It's just that the shopkeeper Yin's injuries have not healed, and he has had a dirty relationship with everyone, so he has not shown up.

Xiao Dong saw that it was already dark, so he immediately ordered the boatman to put down the plank and walked to the dock first. Li Qiufeng and the three boatmen disembarked in turn, and Qin Lao Wu followed last. After everyone got off the boat, Zhang Shi held a torch in the bow of the boat, first asked the boatman to put away the boat's board, and then danced the torch a few times, wishing Xiao Dong and the others success.

Qin Lao Wu had already explored the road to Motianling in the afternoon, and he took the lead and walked in the front to lead the way for everyone. Near the wharf are dilapidated houses where poor people live, and when it gets dark, there are no pedestrians walking around the area. It was because everyone walked fast, and they had already crossed the stone bridge in only half a pause. After entering the county seat, there were more pedestrians on the road. In order not to make the people suspicious, Xiao Dong instructed Qin Laowu, Li Qiufeng and others not to gather in one place and walk apart. The crowd dispersed and marched straight to the north of the city without haste. The county seat of Dongliao is not big, and it only took half an hour for everyone to walk out of the north gate.

After leaving the city, there was no longer a single figure on the official road. It was pitch black, and only the sound of the night wind blowing the branches of the trees could be heard. Everyone walked all the way, for fear of encountering the arrester and the sergeant to investigate, but although they encountered a few groups of arresters in the city, no one stepped forward to interrogate. When they arrived at the north gate, several sergeants stood lazily by the city wall and chatted, ignoring the crowd. After leaving the north gate, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Qin Lao Wu said as he walked: "Lord Xiao, Master Zhu, let's go out of the city at this time, and the city gate has not yet been closed and locked." But when we returned with the timber, we probably couldn't enter the city due to curfew. Even if there is no curfew, we can't walk through the city with timber on our shoulders. During the day, I have inquired clearly, in addition to the official road to the north gate, turn right along the north city gate, there is a small road that can go around the county seat until the wharf. The road was twice as far away, but it was desolate and uninhabited. When we turn around, we can follow the path to the pier. ”

Everyone discussed a few words, but Qin Lao Wu led the way, and Xiao Dong and the others followed closely. After walking for two or three miles, Qin Lao Wu pointed to the right side of the road and said, "Not far away is Wangjiazhuang." ”

Li Qiufeng looked up, but it was only pitch black in front of him, and he couldn't see the shadow of the village at all. He secretly thought in his heart, according to what Zhang Shi and Qin Lao Wu said, this Zhuangzi must be strange. Perhaps this king did too much to do outside the house, and after making a fortune, he hired many nurses to check outsiders in the Zhuangzi. Love books

While Li Qiufeng was thinking, Qin Lao Wu and Xiao Dong had already walked forward. He followed behind Qin and Xiao, holding a knife in his left hand, looking around as he walked. The sky was overcast, and only the vague shadows of a few people around him could be seen, and the official road under his feet turned into a faintly visible gray shadow, extending forward little by little.

There was no one around, and it was very fast under the feet of the people. After walking a pillar of incense, everyone suddenly stopped. Although it was still pitch black in front of us, everyone felt as if an invisible pressure was approaching, and people couldn't help but feel a chill in their hearts. Qin Lao Wu took out the fire fold from his arms and shook it, lit the torch that had been prepared for a long time, and a dim fire lit up. It's just that the night is too dark, and the torches can only illuminate the place around Qin Lao Wu.

Just by the faint light of the torches, everyone could already faintly see a huge black shadow on the opposite side, like a wall in front of them. Qin Lao Wu said: "Lord Xiao, Zhu Gongzi, I think it is Motianling in front of me. ”

Xiao Dong said: "Brother Qin, we can distinguish the official road under our feet, and this torch should be extinguished, so as not to be discovered." ”

Qin Lao Wu and Li Qiufeng both thought in their hearts, the surname Xiao had no one in his eyes, but he was extremely stupid. The rumors of the haunting of Motianling were so loud that no one dared to walk on the ridge until it got dark. Even the arresters in Dongliao County did not dare to come out to patrol, let alone ordinary people. It's just that since Xiao Dong opened his mouth to speak, Qin Lao Wu was not easy to disobey, so he had to agree, put the torch on the ground, stepped on it, and stepped on the fire, but Qin Lao Wu scolded Xiao Dong's eight ancestors in his heart.

Everyone moved forward again, and after walking half a column of incense, they only felt that the terrain under their feet was gradually rising. The sound of the wind around was no longer the crackling of the branches, but the whirring of the wind across the valley. Everyone knew that they had begun to climb to the Sky Ridge, and they were nervous and excited at the same time. Xiao Dong and Li Qiufeng were armed with martial arts, and although they walked towards the ridge, their breath was still slow and long. Qin Lao Wu and the three boatmen were powerful, but they did not have half of their internal strength to cultivate, and they walked with heavy steps, and their mouths were panting.

I don't know how long I walked, but one of the boatmen turned around and exclaimed. Xiao Dong thought that something was wrong, and suddenly turned around, and his right hand had already drawn out the long sword. It's just that as soon as he turned around, he was also heartbroken. From a distance, I saw a light under my feet, tearing through the boundless night, which looked quite weird.

Seeing this, Xiao Dong secretly wondered if this was the work of evil ghosts, suddenly conjuring up a city, otherwise why would so many lights suddenly appear behind him?

When he was suspicious, he only heard Qin Lao Wu say beside him: "That is the county seat of Dongliao." We have now walked to the mountainside of Motianling, standing here overlooking the county seat of Dongliao, and the lights seem to be under our feet. ”

Xiao Dong snorted, put the sword into the sheath, and sneered: "It's a false alarm, it's so boring!"

The boatman, who was panicked and exclaimed, was startled when he knew that Xiao Dong was scolding him. After thinking about it, it was pitch black here, and Xiao Dong couldn't see where he was, so what should he do?

Qin Lao Wu said to Xiao Dong: "Lord Xiao, we have already climbed the Sky Peak, and I don't think anyone else will appear again." There are deep valleys on both sides of this official road, and if you accidentally fall down, you will have to break your bones. Let's light the torch so that not only will we not risk falling into the valley, but we will also walk faster. ”

Xiao Dong nodded, but Qin Lao Wu did not answer. Only then did he remember that there was darkness around him, and he nodded in agreement, but Qin Lao Wu couldn't see it at all. He cried out, "Then light the torch, and if there is a demon, let the light of the torch see what he looks like." Hey, hey, hey. ”