farce a ups and downs

He Cheng, the leader of the caravan, felt that he was unlucky.

At present, there are only two mines in Chen Country that can be exploited for a long time. One is the Lete Mountains near the border, and the other is Kunlun, which is covered with ice and snow.Kunlun has a harsh climate, thousands of miles of ice, and snow-capped mountains. Except for the branch of the Kunlun Sword Sect led by Chu Xijun, no one wants to stay in this ghostly place. Now they decided to mine near the Lete Mountains, and made a detailed plan. Officials came to monitor.Most of the miners are officials and their children assigned here, and once they go in, they don't want to come out.Since there was an escape incident more than ten years ago, the entrances and exits around the mine were guarded by officers and soldiers at all times. The officials who supervised the miners often gave cold eyebrows to the miners, beat and scolded them frequently, and were afraid that if they escaped, they would cause trouble for themselves.

Regardless of the hard work at the bottom, the official errands here are all fat errands. A supervisor alone may have more family property than the prefects of various states.

Ore can be regarded as the most important weapon of the country, especially iron ore, weapons and iron horse chariots, etc., all thanks to the endless mines of Lete Mountain. The government strictly controls the outflow channels of the mineral deposits, and all sales channels must go through the above. Agree, including the well-known sword-making family in Jianghu.

He Cheng's employer is the Shen family in Liuzhou City.

The sword-questioning conference is approaching, but this time I haven't heard of any magic soldiers being born.It's not that Shen Minglang is trying to whet everyone's appetite, but...the materials are not enough, and it hasn't been forged yet.

In addition to the weapon needed for the sword-questioning conference, there is also a group of "autumn tributes" who will pay tribute upwards. If you hurry up, it will not be difficult to get out before the sword-questioning conference.

The material was not too bad, which happened to be the quantity of He Cheng's batch.

So He Cheng is in a hurry, but as soon as the caravan arrived in Surabaya City, the city gate was blocked. A few days later, when they left the city, they encountered heavy rain and were delayed for half a month on the road. Now they encountered a landslide and saw the official road blocked , He Cheng wished to put wings on the goods and let them fly to Liuzhou City by themselves.

Just when the caravan was going to take the mountain road to avoid it, two people from the rivers and lakes wanted to accompany them. He Cheng didn't think much about it. Anyway, their goods were not real money.

However, for some people, these ten or so boxes of goods are more precious than real gold and silver.

As the evening approached, there was fog in the mountains, and visibility was low. In order to prevent people from falling behind, He Cheng ordered everyone to tie ropes around their waists.

The air in the mountains where it has been raining for several days is fresh and cold, the soil is moist, and the smell of the soil is mixed with the cold night fog, which makes people's noses sore. It was splashed mud spots, and there were many barbed vines in the weeds by the roadside, if they were accidentally scratched, there would be holes.

Even so, He Cheng was still full of impatience.

"Hurry up, hurry up! Haven't you eaten yet!"

Some people were unhappy: "I can't walk fast, didn't I see the fog so thick? I don't even know where you are if you don't talk."

He Cheng said angrily: "I spent the money to ask you to do something, not to make you lose face with me. If you don't go faster, what should you do if you meet bandits at night?"

Although there are no ferocious beasts in the mountains, there is one thing that is far more terrifying than ferocious beasts in the land of Qingzhou.

That is bandits.

No one can guarantee whether there are bandit villages in this mountain.

Although the caravan is large and powerful, if you really think about it, they are in a hurry, they don't have escorts, and they don't have masters to sit in. When encountering bandits who are eyeing tigers, they basically have to break here.

"It's as if bandits don't come out during the day..."

The man muttered, and stopped talking.

At this time, another person noticed something was wrong: "Where are the two heroes? Are they falling behind?" He Cheng hurriedly urged, the caravan walked quickly, and gradually pulled away from the two in the foggy day distance.

"What if they meet bandits?" He couldn't help but feel a little worried.

"Even if you fall behind, it's not your turn to care." He Cheng said coldly, "You should care about what you should do!"

In fact, contrary to this person, what He Cheng thought was that it was just a matter of time for the two of them to meet bandits, so that their caravan could cross the mountain and leave safely.

Just as he was thinking, the soft soil under his feet moved.

He Chengxin was startled, and he fell into it without even having time to shout.

He led the way in the front with a rope attached to his body, and the people behind jumped down one by one like dumplings, all on top of He Cheng. The worst thing was that the box was overturned and the iron ore rolled down. None of them were bad. It hit He Cheng on the head, the pain made his eyes stare, and he almost lost his soul.

"Leader He, are you okay?"

"It's okay--shit! Get up from me! Get up!" After the people hurriedly untied the rope and got up, He Cheng couldn't help but said, "What are you doing in a daze, pick up the things, everyone is not good Useful..."

A famous porter looked around: "It looks like a hole dug by a hunter. He dug it deep and big for fear of the prey escaping."

A deep pit big enough to hold thirty or forty people. The bottom of the pit is more than three feet above the ground. I don't know what kind of prey has to dig such a big hole to trap it.

He tried to climb up with bare hands, but in the end he grabbed the mud with his hands: "No, there is no place to use strength, so I can't climb up."

"Didn't it mean that there are no beasts? Such a big pit, what are you catching?"

"You ask me how do I know?"

There were different opinions, causing He Cheng a headache.At this moment, another person fell down, it turned out to be one of the two Jianghu people, his eyes lit up.

They don't know light work, they can't get up if they fall, they can only wait for the hunter to come, but the people of Jianghu are different.

Just as he was about to go forward to talk, he saw another person falling lightly. The moment he landed, he grabbed the white-clothed man's wrist and said softly, "Why are you so careless? Did you fall? Ask me to take a look."

Oh, it turned out to be master and apprentice.

As He Cheng thought about it, his eyes were glued to the two of them.

Looking at it, I suddenly noticed something unusual.

Check the injury to check the injury, where to put the hand?

These two people, could it be...the one?

Then I heard two people say:

"Master, I'm fine."

"It's okay if you say it's okay? What if it hurts your back, and you don't have eyes behind you."

"It's not hurt, I can feel it."

"It feels like the most unreliable thing, turn around and let me have a look."

"..."

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, she flirted openly.

Rao He Cheng, who has traveled all over the world for so many years, couldn't help feeling ashamed and shrugging off his sleeves to stay away from these two people.

Asking them for help is better than helping yourself!

Shen Feiyu looked at the leader of the caravan who was about to step forward, but left angrily, with a helpless arc on the corner of his mouth: "Master, leader He has something to say, stop making trouble."

"It's nothing more than wanting to ask us for help." Luo Wenchu ​​grabbed Shen Feiyu's waist, rolled him into his arms, and hugged him full, resting his chin on the other's shoulder, watching the white and tender earlobes being warmed by his own exhalation A little bit of red, with a little joy in his tone, "Even if someone is rescued, it's impossible for me to come here? I don't know where there are people around here. Can I borrow a rope? It's better to wait for the hunter to rescue me." .”

Shen Feiyu: "But the problem is, hunters usually come to check the traps regularly, if the interval is long—"

"Then let's go up."

Seeing the choked look on the little disciple's face, Luo Wenchu ​​put his arms around him in a good mood and shook him twice: "Don't worry, it's been raining heavily recently, the trap is easy to be damaged, Orion must check frequently."

Before the words were finished, bright flames came from above. When everyone looked up, they saw a dark circle of people around the giant pit. These people wore veils, and their entire bodies were tightly wrapped except for a pair of eyes. In fact, even the hands that hit the lanterns are covered under the clothes.

Luo Wenchu ​​and Shen Feiyu looked at each other, and they both straightened their faces.

These people are not normal.

What kind of prey is it that deserves to be seen by the whole village?

He Cheng jumped up as if being scalded by the flames, repeating that he was saved.

Luo Wenchu's eyelids rolled up, but he didn't comment.

The people in the caravan started waving to the top for help, but the group of people looked at each other, but didn't speak.After a long while, a middle-aged man in the crowd said: "It's a caravan in distress, there is no malice, let's save it first."

The man who spoke was named Zhuang Bai.

From Zhuang Bai's mouth, everyone learned that they were residents of this deep mountain.According to him, there are very few business travelers going up the mountain, and this is the outermost mountain in Qingzhou, far away from the town, and no bandits will come to this place.

Shen Feiyu asked a man wrapped in gauze next to him: "Then big brother, haven't you ever gone down the mountain?"

"People from our hidden village can't go down the mountain!" The man gave him a gouged look with such ferocity that it almost made people think that Shen Feiyu had some deep hatred for him.

Shen Feiyu repeated in confusion: "Hidden Village?"

Suddenly, he thought of something and was about to speak when Luo Wenchu ​​stopped him.

Under Shen Feiyu's puzzled gaze, Luo Wenchu ​​raised his hand towards Zhuang Bai's shoulder.

Zhuang Bai held a torch and walked at the front of the line. He lowered his head and told everyone to pay attention to their feet. He didn't seem to notice anyone approaching at all.

It just seems.

Before Luo Wen's hand fell, Zhuang Bai suddenly turned his head, as if he had eyes behind his back.

Shen Feiyu collided with those eyes, and saw a trace of coldness and sternness flashing across quickly, so fast that it was hard to catch.

And Zhuang Bai quickly adjusted, the murderous intent in his eyes was like the water flowing under the ice in the cold winter, quietly dormant.

"Is there something wrong with this young man?"

Luo Wenchu ​​put his hand under his armpit, stroked his lower lip with the other hand, lowered his head, stared at something for a while, then raised his eyes: "Brother, did your leg get hurt?"

Those eyes were too clear, as if nothing could escape his eyes.Zhuang Bai frowned secretly, and then sighed: "To be honest, I went to dig herbs last month, and accidentally fell, hurting my legs and feet. There is no doctor in the village, and there is no cure. But after more than a month, I gradually recovered. It's all right, but I usually walk a bit on a slope, but I didn't expect this young man's eyesight to be obvious at a glance."

Luo Wenchu ​​smiled slightly, but didn't answer.

Zhuang Bai took a deep breath and continued to lead the crowd forward.

After Zhuang Bai turned around, the smile on Luo Wenchu's mouth slowly disappeared.

In the villages deep in the mountains, there are no doctors and no one who can cure diseases. Why do we need to gather herbs?Luo Wenchu ​​looked at the villagers of Yin Village calmly, but the sky was dark, the fog was heavy, and the villagers were tightly wrapped, Luo Wenchu ​​found nothing.

An hour later, Zhuang Bai led a mighty group of people through the misty forest and turned to the not-so-flat sheep intestines. At the end of the road was a small village. typeface.

"Our place is small. If you don't mind, you can discuss with the villagers where to rest."

The sky is getting dark, and it would be nice to have a place to live. He Chengdao thanked him and led the caravan to communicate with the villagers. There are too many of them, and there are only about [-] households in Yin Village, and almost every family has a room. The room was given to them, and those who did not get a room could only sleep in the cold woodshed.

Zhuang Bai looked at the two Luos and Chens who were standing in place and did not leave, "If the two young masters don't dislike them, they would come to the humble house to rest their feet, but there is no extra room, and you two have to be wronged."

When I came to Zhuang Bai's house, I realized what the "grievance" in his mouth meant.

Zhuang Bai is the head of Yin Village. He lives alone in the deepest part of the village. The house is made of earthen shingles, with a main house and a side room. It looks better than other people's houses.Zhuang Bai directly brought the two of them to the ear room.

Stepping into the door, the feeling of narrowness and narrowness suddenly hits like a tide. There is only a small space as big as a wooden bed. Two people stand in the room and turn their heads and they are "close at hand". Not only that, but this The room is still ventilated on all sides, there is no door, only a cloth curtain that is only used for covering purposes.

Because Master Luo and Chen had entered the house, and there was no other place to stay in the house, Zhuang Bai could only stand outside the "door", rubbing his nose in embarrassment: "The conditions in the village are only like this, the two young masters..."

"It's just right here." Luo Wenchu ​​flicked up his clothes, lay down on the bed, and looked at Zhuang Bai with a smile, "Brother Zhuang, please take the 'door' with you when you leave."

This is about to issue an eviction order.

Zhuang Bai was silent for a moment, before leaving, he warned again: "If you two young masters see or hear anything at night, please keep quiet."

"how do I say this?"

"Tonight is a big day for our hidden village."

The crescent moon is like a bow, and a section of clear moonlight hangs from the tips of the branches and leaves. The night wind seeps in through the holes in the wall, making a mournful whining sound, like the weeping of an innocent soul.

A lamp is like a bean, brightly on and off, illuminating two distinct shadows on the wooden bed.

Late at night, the whining sound was louder and colder. Shen Feiyu slept extremely unsteadily, rolled under the quilt, and rolled directly into another person's arms.Luo Wenchu ​​smiled and took him into his arms: "Good disciple, are you throwing yourself into your arms? Or are you testing your concentration as a teacher?"

Shen Feiyu's handsome face was red, she only looked up at Luo Wenchu, and didn't speak.

In the dim light, those eyes were extremely bright, easily igniting Luo Wenchu's heart.

"The night is cold and the dew is heavy, so it's better to do something to warm people." He said, then straightened up his upper body, his unfettered black hair poured down like a waterfall, falling on Shen Feiyu's ear, gently scratching his auricle.

"Master, don't make trouble." Shen Feiyu swallowed a few strands of hair when he opened his mouth.

Luo Wenchu ​​took out her hair with a smile, seeing the wet ends, her eyes darkened, "If I said I wasn't messing with you."

Shen Feiyu blinked: "But it will be cold when you take off your clothes."

"You don't need to take off your clothes, don't worry, Master will warm you up soon."

The two breathed closer and closer, and Shen Feiyu suddenly said coolly: "Master knows quite a lot."

Luo Wenchu: "..."

With a stabbing sound, the fire was extinguished, and a sense of crisis emerged spontaneously.

He rolled his eyeballs and had an idea: "Your uncle taught it."

"Master?" Shen Feiyu was skeptical.

"That's right, don't look at him with a straight face all the time, among our group, he is the first one who proposed to visit flower houses."

I was young at the time, who hasn't had any embarrassment?

Luo Wenchu ​​raised his hand to support his head, lay on his side beside Shen Feiyu, played with a piece of black hair, and in a casual tone narrated a story about his youth——

At that time, the senior brothers were no more than teenagers, and they should have been married in an ordinary family. At that time, there was only one happy event in Feiping Mountain, and that was the marriage of junior sister Qi Siyu and Feng Yunqin.

This marriage has been in preparation for two years.

Different from the happy mood of the younger junior sister who is about to marry, seeing the girl he loves is about to walk into the arms of another man, He Zhixiao feels as uncomfortable as ten thousand ants eat, and suffers from the burning heart and lung pain of love poison all day long.

One day, when Luo Wenchu, He Zhixiao, Feng Yunqin and several other disciples came back from a mission, they passed by a flower house. He Zhixiao saw that the faces of the people walking out of the door were all flushed and smelled of alcohol, and they didn't look up. With one glance, he pointed to the gate of Hualou and said to Feng Yunqin, "Come in with me and fight for wine, do you dare?"

Recently, He Zhixiao often competes with Feng Yunqin, whether it is swordsmanship or drinking capacity, everyone is used to it.

But, go to Hualou to fight for wine?

The rest of the people looked at each other in surprise, Luo Wenchu ​​was the quickest to put his arm on He Zhixiao's shoulder: "Bajie, what kind of moth are you messing with? It's not like you don't know, Yunqin is a good thing Nearly, what are you going to bring him in for?"

He Zhixiao was stung by these four words: "A good thing is approaching." He pushed Luo Wenchu ​​away, and snorted: "Isn't it just a fight for wine? Why, don't you dare to take it? So you want to marry my junior sister?"

Luo Wenchu ​​was speechless.

Until then, Feng Yunqin, who was standing aside like Lang Lang Xiuzhu, nodded slightly: "Okay, if you lose this time, don't bother me until I get married."

He Zhixiao blushed with anger and his neck thickened: "Okay! That's the deal!"

Then he took a step forward and entered the flower building.

Luo Wenchu ​​supported his forehead with a headache in the back.

After entering the gate, the smell of incense powder and sweet fat immediately made He Zhixiao's legs weak. He suddenly realized that he seemed to have made an unwise decision. Yunqin, He Zhixiao just wanted to turn around and run away.

Bringing my junior sister's fiancé-in-law into the Hualou to fight wine?

If my junior sister knew about it, I still don't know what to think of him.

However, all the gates have entered, so if you retreat now, wouldn't you lose your face?

The old bustard greeted her with a smile all over her face, and when she heard Feng Yunqin said that she was going to fight for wine here, the pink on her face dropped a layer of shock.

He Zhixiao suddenly wanted to die, and turned his head to see that Luo Wenchu ​​was still standing under the pillar laughing at him.

When the wine came, Feng Yunqin waved away the small bowl in front of her, and started drinking from the jar. Luo Wenchu ​​clapped her hands and said, "Yunqin is a good drinker!"

He Zhixiao gave him a gouged look, then picked up a jar and started drinking.

This time, the two of them fought for wine until the moon hung on the branches. The benefactors in the flower house had to rest or go home. The huge flower house seemed quite deserted at the moment.He Zhixiao blushed from drinking, and cried while drinking: "Why you, why is the person my junior sister likes? I... What's wrong with me... Woo..."

Feng Yunqin looked over with misty eyes, and the tenderness inside could drown someone: "Of course it's because I'm better."

He Zhixiao: "You can pull it down, I can't tell, you are even more arrogant than Luo Wenchu! Narcissism!"

Luo Wen, who fell asleep with the pillar in his arms, woke up immediately: "Who called me?"

He Zhixiao picked up a wine bowl and threw it at it: "The beauty is calling you in a dream! You should go and rest."

"Oh." After Luo Wenchu ​​finished speaking, he actually asked the madam to open a room, and took the rest of the juniors to the room to rest.

He Zhixiao looked at his back, felt the grievance in his heart had no place to vent, and finally fell asleep like this. When he woke up the next day, he found that he was sleeping in the women's room, and there was a girl lying beside him. I was stunned.

The woman's shoulders were half exposed, her eyes were full of spring and she turned around, looking at him tenderly, He Zhixiao lost his mind and asked, "Why am I here?"

The woman smiled shyly: "Young master, what are you talking about, last night you were half drunk and directly broke into the door of the slave's house. The slave's house...the slave's house has not been combed yet."

Combing refers to the first time that the firework woman picks up guests.

He Zhixiao heard the words and almost didn't pass.

clap clap.

There was a series of clapping sounds at the door, accompanied by Luo Wenchu's voice, which fell in He Zhixiao's ears like a savior.

"Girl, you climbed into the bed before dawn, who are you kidding?" Luo Wen entered the first entry, looking at them leisurely, He Zhixiao hurriedly grabbed his clothes and came to Luo Wenchu's side, even hiding.Luo Wenchu ​​gave him a schadenfreude look, and said to the girl, "Don't you know that a man can't get hard when he's drunk? Only a stupefied young man like my junior brother will be fooled. Come on, you're going to hit him later." How much silver?"

Seeing that the matter was brought to light, the woman immediately changed her face, picked up her clothes with a cold face, and left.

He Zhixiao squeezed out two words of thanks with difficulty.

Luo Wenchu: "It's nothing, it's probably because you and Yunqin fought for a woman's wine yesterday, and thought you were a deeply affectionate person, and wanted to take this opportunity to knock you out for a ransom. If you feel more guilty towards her, people will say Maybe I still want to commit myself to you."

Thinking of that scene, He Zhixiao felt uncomfortable, "Let's forget it." He was focused on his junior sister, and other women were no different from animals and plants in his eyes. He suddenly thought of the other person he was drinking with last night, " Where is Feng Yunqin? Someone will attack him, right?"

"Yunqin is better than you. When she found someone climbing on the bed, she just said a word."

"What word?"

Luo Wenchu ​​pulled He Zhixiao over mysteriously, and whispered in his ear, "Get lost."

"Luo Wenchu, you are courting death!"

"..."

The memories of his youth are always a bit out of the ordinary, and during the conversation, Luo Wenchu ​​naturally put on a smile: "They are all brats who have never seen the world, thanks to my wit, if not, his entire family may be lost." You have to tell me there."

Shen Feiyu also smiled, stretched out his hand, and tapped the dimple on the corner of his lips.

Luo Wenchu ​​grabbed the troubled hand and put it in his palm, kissing Yubai's fingertips, "Feiyu, as a teacher, I plan to let you go tonight."

The fingertips that had been kissed were numb, Shen Feiyu blinked, and smiled with crooked eyebrows: "But Feiyu doesn't intend to let Master go."

"Oh?" Luo Wenchu ​​turned over and pressed him under him, "Then how long are you going to tie me up? For a lifetime?"

"For a lifetime?" Shen Feiyu calculated seriously and shook her head, "It's not enough."

Luo Wenchu ​​lowered his head and bit the tip of Shen Feiyu's nose lightly, his voice was low, sighing contentedly: "...you little greedy ghost."

Just when he wanted to take further action, the whining sound that the two of them had been deliberately ignoring became clearer.I thought it was because I didn't pay attention to the wind, but now that I heard it clearly, Luo Wenchu's expression changed suddenly, "They seem to be holding a sacrifice."

"Sacrifice?"

This is a kind of thing that was banned by the government, and it was introduced into the Chen country from outside the border, and it was designated as a sorcery.

Because all sacrifices need to pay tribute to God or some god, sometimes it is livestock, sometimes it is human.

But in Chen State, the only person that everyone can worship is the ruler of the country. Those who believe in and worship other things are regarded as ignorant people. Once they are caught by the government, they will be imprisoned.

The two of them remembered what Zhuang Bai had said before leaving, and immediately put on their clothes and stood up.

By the time the two arrived at the open space at the entrance of the village, the prayers before the sacrifice had ended.Many people in the caravan were also woken up, and they were standing on the periphery with their heads propped up to watch curiously.

It seems that Zhuang Bai has already warned others. Although the people in the caravan were curious, no one spoke out.When they saw Master Luo and Chen rushing over, the two people met each other and nodded their heads as a greeting.

At this time, the entrance of the village was full of people, and a platform half a person's height was set up in front of it. There was a pile of firewood on the platform, and a large iron pot was placed on it. The boiling water was boiling hot. The steaming heat wave washed away the cold air of the night.

Zhuang Bai walked up to the high platform, holding a red-furred animal in his hand. Due to the distance, the villagers in front still had their heads on top of each other, and Shen Feiyu couldn't see clearly even with his feet on his feet. Seeing what it was one step at a time, he lowered his voice and said, "It's a fox."

At this time, the villagers took off the veil on their heads spontaneously, revealing their faces full of scars, and some of the wounds were still oozing pus, which made people's eyelids twitch. Rao is a caravan traveling north and south, and has never seen such a horrible sight. Horrible things, gasped one after another.

In the stands, Zhuang Bai held the fiery red fox by the neck and carried it to the iron pot. It opened its mouth and let out a sharp and thin cry, as if begging for mercy.

The whole village watched intently, with expectations and longing in their eyes.

This scene was really weird, and the necks of the caravan shrank, as if they had expected the next scene, and couldn't bear to watch it.

On the stage, Zhuang Bai sneered and dipped the fox's tail into the boiling water. The fox's cry suddenly became shrill, piercing the central night like thunder.

Shen Feiyu opened her legs uncontrollably, and took a step, two steps forward...until she passed the crowd.

Zhuang Bai's eyes locked on him all of a sudden, and the villagers' eyes became particularly hostile.

Luo Wenchu ​​rubbed the front of his body, grabbed Shen Feiyu's wrist, and shook his head slightly: "Feiyu, no."

"But Master," Shen Feiyu stared blankly at Zhuang Bai, "it's asking me for help."

Looking back at Luo Wenchu, he happened to meet a pair of golden animal pupils.