Copper Coins

Anqing Mansion and Wolong County are only separated by a river. When the weather is extremely clear, standing by the river in Wolong County, you can even see the faint peak of the mountain on the other side.When the weather is calm, it only takes a few hours to shake the boat.

But right now, it is snowing heavily, and within halfway, the river is already covered with whiteness, as if there is only their lonely boat left in the wilderness, it is extremely difficult to control the direction, so this speed is natural Slow down.

The boatman was an acquaintance. When Xue Xian and the others were going to Fentou Island, they rented his boat.He seems to be a good-natured person, and he always felt a little sorry for taking back so much money from Xuan Min.Seeing that they were going to cross the river again this time, he hesitated for a moment, then braved the wind and snow and got out of the boat.

"There are two jugs of hot wine wrapped in my cloth bag. If you don't mind, let's drink some to warm up!" The boatman said, shaking the scull.

"Thank you."

Everyone said thanks, but Xue Xian was the only one who actually did it.

Xuan Min didn't drink alcohol, nor was he afraid of the cold.Jiang Shining has only one wild ghost, and he can't drink anything.Lu Nianqi had been in a daze since he got on the boat, obviously not in that mood.Shitou Zhang was shivering from the cold, but he also wanted to take a sip. His mung bean-like eyeballs turned left and right twice, but he didn't dare to stretch out his hand.

He thought that this group of people would not take him with him, that they would sweep him out of the house after asking him what he needed to ask and asking him to carve the two spirit cards.Unexpectedly, they actually wanted to take him across the river together, probably because they wanted him to recognize the places he had been to when the time came.

This is not a bad thing for Shitou Zhang, after all, he stays in the county and can only sit shivering in the courtyard every day.God knows how long he hid behind the hall holding his sword before Xue Xian and Xuan Min broke into the courtyard.He sneaked a glance at Xue Xian, thinking that although this ancestor was scary, every time the lightning strikes avoided his vital points, it was obvious that he would not be killed.There is no harm in following them except for a little bit of courage.

Xue Xian was holding the flagon and covering it in his hands, but he didn't intend to take a sip.In fact, his heart was burning, and there was no chill to drive away.He didn't hold the flagon to keep warm, on the contrary, he did it to dissipate heat.Although the jug had been covered in layers of wrapping, it was more or less cold after drying on the river for so long.

But after staying in Xue Xian's hands for a while, the jug made some faint gurgling sounds.

Except for Lu Nianqi who remained silent, the gazes of the people in the boat tent all turned to the flagon in Xue Xian's hand.

This is no longer warming wine, this is cooking wine!

Shi Shi looked at the flagon eagerly, shrunk his neck and put his hands in his hands, wishing to roll himself into a ball and be boiled together in the flagon.

As soon as the heat came up, the aroma of the wine leaked out along the slightest cracks, and Shitou's eyeballs straightened.He rubbed his palms like a fly rubbing his hands, and said: "Hey... this wine smells really good. When I do stone carvings on weekdays, I also like to take a couple of sips. It warms my stomach, and when the wine smells steaming, it feels good to my hand. gone."

This was overt and secret, and he hugged Xue Xian's leg and howled: "Give me a bite!"

Jiang Shining couldn't stand it anymore, he elbowed Xue Xian, and said in a low voice, "Stop playing with your ancestors, he's about to shake off the boat."

Xue Xian didn't hold back the heat at all, boiled the pot of wine and gave it to the eager Shitou Zhang.Then he picked up another pot without stopping.

Shitou Zhang quickly caught it with the sleeve of his jacket and held it in his arms, as if he had come to life completely now, he sighed a long time: "It's getting warmer, it's no joke that the river is cold."

Xue Xian vented his pent-up heat for a while, and threw another pot to Shi Zhang.

"Give me both pots?" Shi Zhang was flattered.

Xue Xian said angrily, "What's wrong with you not waking up from this dream?"

Just as Shi Shizhang was about to ask again, Xuan Min who was sitting by the tent had already taken the wine and handed it to the boatman who was rowing the oar.

Xue Xian glanced at him, but said nothing.

For him, this is the default meaning, but...

Jiang Shining glanced at him calmly, and then at Xuan Min.I don't know if it's his illusion or what, these two days, he always felt that there was something strange between the two.In other words, Xue Xian seemed a little weird, he seemed to be particularly targeting Xuan Min, and for no apparent reason, he ignored him.

Of course, this ancestor also liked to stare at Xuan Min before looking for trouble, and sometimes he just ignored him, but...

He stared at the two of them for a while, then silently lowered his eyes and looked at the nose, nose and mouth. After all, these two are ancestors to a certain extent.

Thinking of this, he silently moved towards the corner of the canopy.

thump—

The passenger boat swayed suddenly, Shitou Zhang was drinking with his head up, and one of them lost his balance and hit the canopy with his elbow.

"Look at the thin piece of bamboo slats, the weight is not small, and the boat trembles when you move it." Xue Xian glanced at Jiang Shining.

"It's not the little master." The boatman yelled, drank a few sips of hot wine, and his energy was much better. "This section of the river is like this, and it's a bit bumpy. Every summer and winter, boats in this area There is always something to capsize, either because the water is turbulent, or the wind is so strong that it can overturn the boat. The past two years have been much calmer, and the boat has traveled a lot without encountering those big waves and winds. It is the same today. Some are weird, and some have the posture of being a monster."

Hearing the boatman's words, Shitou Zhang was startled. This man seemed to be very timid and afraid of death. He stretched his neck and said to the boatman, "Then...then the boat won't capsize, will it?"

The boatman glanced at him displeasedly: "This boat is still going, how can you say such unlucky words? It can't turn over. I just said it was weird, and I didn't say that there would be big waves today."

Speaking of this, he sighed again: "Masters, I'm not complaining, I'm just trying to persuade you, don't be stubborn when crossing the river, it's always right to listen to the boatman. In fact, no one likes this kind of day Those of you who go out on a boat, you don’t live by the river, so you don’t know the habits of the river wind. We float on the river every day, and we almost take the boat as our home. Just by looking at the waves, we can tell whether we can go out in a peaceful way. As I said, at least In two more days, the river will be overturned. Besides—”

The boatman dragged his tune, squinted his eyes, held the oar with one hand, took a sip of hot wine and said, "Why did you choose this time to go to Anqing Mansion? It's not peaceful over there now."

"It's not peaceful? Why is it not peaceful?" Jiang Shining's elder sister married into Anqing Mansion, and when he heard this, he immediately frowned.

"I heard it from a boatman who came from the other side two days ago." He lowered his voice and said, "He said that a few days ago, there was an earthquake in Anqing Mansion. It is said that the whole mansion shook several times. The most important thing is , The earthquake collapsed a mountain, and some people said that when the house was shaking, they vaguely heard a dragon calling from the ground."

call...

What a majestic description, it sounds like someone's mouse squealing.

"That's called Dragon Yin!" Xue Xian corrected it angrily, and sat up straight as if suddenly reacting: "No, wait, Dragon Yin? That person told you that he heard Dragon Yin in Anqing Mansion?"

"Ang!" The boatman spoke eloquently, as if he had heard it himself: "It is said that it is very scary. Many people kowtow on the ground, but it is strange. It is said that after a few kowtows, the house The shaking stopped, and the earthquake stopped, but some people still died. But this is not the strangest thing. The strangest thing is that after the earthquake, there were many fine lines and cracks on the ground in the city. It is said that some people crawled Something came out, I don’t know if it was a bug or something. I didn’t understand it too well, anyway, it’s quite messy.”

When Jiang Shining heard the words, his complexion immediately turned ugly.Although he was a wild ghost and his face was turning blue, it was hard to see where to go.

Since then, everyone on board has their own thoughts and has nothing to say all the way.

Another half an hour later, the boatman finally landed in Wangjiang County, a little-known town in Anqing Prefecture.

The place where they disembarked was called Guanyin Ferry, and there were some small old inns, tea kiosks and wine shops beside the ferry.There was a vast expanse of fine snow, so it was impossible to just walk on top of the snow, not to mention there was Xue Xian among the crowd who was inconvenient to walk.

After Jiang Shining got off the boat, he hurriedly covered the snow and asked the people at the tea pavilion, "Is there a place to hire a carriage?"

"I can't hire them today." The man in the tea pavilion who was hiding from the wind and warming himself with tea said, "The earthquake happened a few days ago, but the house survived, but the shed was not strong enough, which crushed many mules, horses and livestock. Run away It’s gone, and naturally there’s no way to pull a cart. There’s no one around here who can hire a donkey cart, so don’t count on it.”

There were three long scars on the side of the man's face, which looked scary, and he was scratched by some kind of beast.He half-closed his eyes, drank the hot tea in his hand, glanced at Jiang Shining again and said, "Where are you going?"

"Go further north to Qingping County." Jiang Shining said.

The scar-faced man sized him up carefully, and said, "Scholar? Visiting relatives?"

Jiang Shining nodded.

He put the tea bowl on the table, raised his chin and said, "The ones outside are also with you?"

When Jiang Shining turned his head, he saw Xuan Min walking towards this side holding his ancestor who couldn't walk. When he was in Wolong County earlier, Xue Xian tried to fight, trying to change to a less weak posture, but he never succeeded. It's probably broken now...

The two of them were accompanied by Shizhang Shizhang, who shrank his neck and sleeves, and Lu Nianqi, who looked sleepy.

There are old, young, and a monster. It seems that there is a sense of fatigue of dragging the family. It is really hard for the master.Jiang Shining murmured in his heart, then turned his head and cupped his hands at the scar-faced man, intending to discuss with Xuan Min and the others, or stay in this inn for a day, and wait for the snow to stop.

"Don't expect the snow to stop." The scar-faced man seemed to have guessed what he was thinking. He wiped his mouth, picked up the long strip wrapped in rags on the table, and said, "Let's go, take you for a ride, we just happen to Also go in the direction of Qingping County."

we?

Jiang Shining was taken aback, and saw that when the scarred man stood up, there were eight or nine people standing up one after another in the tea booth, including men, women and children.

Xuan Min was about to cross the threshold, when he heard the scarred man's words, he looked up at Jiang Shining: "What?"

"This big brother is kind and said he could give us a ride." Jiang Shining explained.

When he said this, the scar-faced man had already walked to the door, he happened to be in Xuan Min's arms, he stopped suddenly, pointed and said, "What is it wrapped in?"

Xuan Min said indifferently: "Human."

"Dead?" The scar-faced man looked at the head covered by the black cloth, frowned and said, "That would be inconvenient. After all, we are old and young, and if we collide—"

Before he finished speaking, Xue Xian, who was determined to pretend to be dead, heard that he was going to repent, immediately lifted the black cloth, and said in a numb tone, "I'm not dead, I'm alive and well."

Scarfaced man: "..."

Jiang Shining silently turned his face away from the back, thinking that if he was deemed to be a fool, he would also not be allowed to get in the car, so it would be fun.

Unexpectedly, that scarred face is a person with good endurance, he looked at Xue Xian in silence, then glanced at Xue Xian's pale skin and Xuan Min's calm face, he probably felt that such a person would not be able to act When the monster came, he nodded and said: "Okay, don't waste your time, let's go! The snow will be heavy later, and the road will be difficult to walk."

The scarfaced man and his party had three carriages and one donkey cart.

The carriage box is not small enough to seat four people, and the donkey cart holds their luggage and sundries.

Jiang Shining stood by the side of the small convoy and took a look, and was about to open his mouth to ask the scar-faced man what they did, but just as he uttered a sound, he felt a slightly hot palm pressing down on his arm.

He was taken aback for a moment, then turned around to see Xuan Min standing beside him, and Xue Xian was holding him down.

Seeing the ancestor lift up the black cloth, revealing one eye, squinted at him, put his index finger on his lips and let out a soft "shh", and said in a low voice, "Don't ask, and don't startle them, just get in the car." Well, just don't get too close to them."

Perhaps it was because Xue Xian's voice was too soft, Jiang Shining bristled for no reason.

The author has something to say: By the way, I have been forgetting to say that the place names in the text, big places such as state capitals, all use real existence, because it is more convenient to form a spatial concept, but the names of counties and the like are all It is made up.