The strange story of Huai'an Inn

Fushang City is located at the southern end of the Central Plains, a strange city with a third of it floating on the sea.This is one of the ports where many goods from the South Seas or the Far West are imported, or merchant ships from the Central Plains go to sea. The architecture is also completely different from other inland cities, mixing a lot of styles from the South Seas and the Far West.On the streets, people from foreign countries wear brightly colored clothes and shuttle back and forth, either talking in their own languages, or haggling with vendors in poor Central Plains dialect.In addition to selling seafood and common daily necessities on the roadside, there are also many rare Western gadgets, and the strong smell of spices spreads among the stalls.

Chongwu followed Chongliu slowly through the market, and couldn't help but look around curiously, feeling novelty in everything he saw.So many humans... It was the first time he had seen, let alone so many aliens.

Chong Liu quietly noticed several foreign businessmen who looked a little bit like water ghosts.

"Where are we going now?" Zhongwu asked.

Chong Liu said, "I'm going to the pier. Go find an inn first and book two rooms." He said, took out the money bag, and took out a few pieces of silver to Chong Wu.

"You go by yourself? Okay?"

"I feel fine now." Chong Liu twitched the corners of his mouth and said, "Be careful when you go shopping by yourself, don't be abducted by someone."

Chong Wu sneered and said, "Are you worried about the person who will kidnap me? Don't worry, I have already promised you not to eat living people. Hey, can the dead be eaten?"

Chong Liu slightly rolled his eyes, "Don't talk nonsense in a place with so many people! No one can eat!"

"boring……"

"……""ok, ok, I got it."

Chongliu and Chongwu walked towards the nearest inn, then asked the nearby vendors and walked towards the pier.

He asked several companies, and finally found a drunken old man squatting on the beach basking in the sun, and asked, "Master, I heard that you can rent a boat here?"

The old man was probably also a sailor when he was young, and the salty sea wind carved deep marks on his face.He looked at Chong Liu lazily with cloudy eyes, "Let me tell you first, I don't have those magnificent ships here. If you want that kind, you'd better go to another place and ask."

Chong Liu shook his head and said, "I just need a small sailboat that can go out to sea, it doesn't matter if it's old or not."

"Where are you going? What are you going to do? The money must be paid first."

"How much would it cost to buy it?" Chong Liu asked.

The old man looked at him strangely, "Buy it? Are you a businessman? How many crew members do you have?"

Chong Liu responded, "It's just me, I don't need a crew."

The old sailor laughed and looked him up and down, "Just you little brat, you can't even raise the sail without help. Besides, do you know the way? Do you know how dangerous the sea is? I see you Ah, I can't even get out of the port."

Chong Liu took out a few bank notes from his pocket, "I really want to buy your boat, please tell me a price. How I use it after that is my business."

The old man stared at him for a while, then suddenly stood up and said, "Come with me."

Chong Liu followed him along the pier and stopped at a magnificent large merchant ship.

Chong Liu was dumbfounded, "Uh...I might...can't afford this one..."

The old man gave him a wordless look, and went straight on the sloping boarding board.Chong Liu hurriedly followed.

The sailors on the brand-new deck were busy moving boxes of things into the warehouse, obviously preparing for going to sea.Confused, Chong Liu followed the old sailor into the ship building and pushed open the door of a room.

Chong Liu was dumbfounded.

But he saw several people standing in the room, all of whom he knew.

Song Mingzi, Daoist Qiyao, Xu Hanke, Liu Sheng, and Mr. Xuanwu...

Chong Liu understood in an instant that his behavior had already been predicted.

He shook his head, turned around and was about to leave, but he heard Xu Hanke say, "Brother, stop."

With his back turned to him, Chong Liu said irritably, "Do you really want to die that much?"

"This is the last time. The Central Plains is in danger, and whether everyone's lives can be saved may depend on this line." Xu Hanke said softly, "I know that we had many conflicts and misunderstandings before. But this time, what you have to do, You alone are not enough."

"Helan and I saved you time and time again, but you don't know how to repent." Chong Liu turned around, his eyes burning with anger, "Do you want to drag so many people into the water together?"

"They all know the risks they have to take, but everyone is willing to give it a go for the safety of their family members." Liu Sheng said.

Chong Liu snorted and looked at Liu Sheng's short-cut hair with evil eyes, "The new hair style is very good. It seems that you think it's not short enough?"

"Okay, little six, I know that you've been in a bad mood recently. I also know that you don't want to hurt other people." Song Mingzi walked over at this time and said, "But you are alone, with a small broken boat, what can you do? "

"I don't have to do anything, they will come to me."

"they?"

"Water ghosts." Chong Liu's eyes became a little blank, "They will take me to Qiongji Island."

"Then let's not let you go alone!" Song Mingzi said decisively, "Otherwise Zhu Helan will definitely kill me."

Then Chongliu understood that it was the shopkeeper who asked Song Mingzi to intercept him.In the letter, he didn't explain where he was going and what he was going to do. He originally thought that even if Zhu Helan guessed that he had plans to go to Qiongji Island, but with so many ports in the Central Plains, he probably wouldn't be able to guess where he would board the ship from...

It seems that Zhu Helan still...knows him too well.

But where is the shopkeeper now?

The real person Qi Yao said, "Master Mengku mentioned Qiongji Island several times before he died, saying that it is the origin of everything. Tiangu people will probably try to find that island, after all, if the book of Qiongji is not in Gouchen In Mr.’s hands, it must still be on that island. Besides, what will happen on the sea is also unknown. This is a major matter that concerns the entire Central Plains, and you must not be allowed to do it alone.”

Chong Liu looked around, and finally his eyes fell on Mr. Xuan Wu.

Mr. Xuanwu said, "Don't let Gou Chen's death go to waste."

Chong Liu pursed his lips tightly, then gave up, and asked in a low voice, "When are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow morning at Maoshi."

He grasped his burden tightly, took a step back, and said, "Then I'll come back tomorrow morning."

He took a step, then turned back and said, "I'm afraid no one will be saved this time." After speaking, he got off the boat and left the pier in a hurry.

Chong Wu had already reserved two rooms, and when Chong Liu found him, he was curiously poking a stewed squab with his chopsticks.

"Human food is really delicious after eating for a long time. It's a pity that it's not chewy." Chong Wu tore off a large piece of meat with his hands and stuffed it into his mouth. When he looked up, he saw Chong Liu sitting there in a daze He is opposite.

"what happened?"

"I always feel that everything is preordained." Chong Liu suddenly murmured.

Chong Wu frowned, "Someone bullied you?"

"no……"

"Then they won't sell you the boat?"

Chong Liu shook his head again.

"You...do you have to go?" Chong Wu suddenly asked in a low voice, "Even if your master left you a last message, you don't really need to listen to it?"

"I have to go..." Chong Liu said firmly, "But you don't have to. Someone will help me, and you can leave with confidence."

Chong Wu was stunned for a moment, then asked again, "Who wants to help you? Don't be fooled."

"...It seems that I have spent a long time in the human world?"

"But you are too human." Chong Wu said in a critical tone, "Some people like to lie, and some people are easy to be deceived."

"No one lied to me...they are all people I already know." Chong Liu briefly mentioned what happened at the pier just now.But the more Chong Wu listened, the more he frowned.

"Where's your boss? Why didn't he come?"

"..."

"This is a bit strange." Chong Wu wiped his hands with a towel, and said seriously, "All of them are on the side of humans. But you are obviously closer to Hui. In case they want to treat you What about disadvantages?"

"Song Mingzi won't."

"Even if he can't, what about the others? I've read your memory. It's not the first time that Xu Hanke has tripped you up?"

"If our goals are the same, he won't do anything to me."

"What if they think you can sacrifice?"

"...You have only been learning to be a person for a few days, how did you become such a mother-in-law?"

"Don't change the subject."

"With so many people helping me, I'll be fine."

"you are lying."

Chongliu let out a long sigh, feeling a weird sense of frustration.The two of them come from the same source, so there is a natural spiritual connection, and sometimes the conversation is like arguing with yourself...

In the end, the topic was left alone.After dinner, they each went back to their rooms, Chong Liu opened the window, leaned against the head of the bed, and listened to the sound of the distant waves rushing to his forehead.

Strangely, ever since he approached the sea and heard the sound of the waves echoing eternally in the air, the drumbeat in his head has faded a lot.Maybe... I can finally really sleep tonight?

When I think about leaving this continent tomorrow, I may never be able to come back.He was lying on the bed, staring blankly at the bed curtain, but his heart was empty for a while.

No fear, just emptiness.

His hand reaches out to the side, only to grasp a void.

He was happy that his master didn't come, but he was also very disappointed.

He wanted to see Zhu Helan again for the last time, to kiss his lips, to hug him, and to engrave his scent into his memory forever.Then, no matter what madness he was about to face, there was always something to give him one last bit of comfort.

He thought for a while, and found a hair tie of Zhu Helan from the package.When he was in the South China Sea, Zhu Helan once tied his wrist with this hair tie, and the two of them walked through the stone forest while holding one end.He brought the hair tie to his nose, and deeply sniffed the residual breath on the hair tie, as if he could feel the shopkeeper's hair rubbing against his face.Holding on to the hair tie like this, he fell into a light sleep in a daze.

In the drowsiness, I suddenly felt very heavy on my body, as if being held down by something.His face was itchy, which made him very irritable. He waved his hand, but his wrist was suddenly grabbed.

Chong Liu shuddered, opened his eyes suddenly, and then even stopped breathing.

Zhu Helan knelt on top of him, pressed his wrists with both hands, and stared at him quietly with downcast eyes.In those charming and charming eyes, a dangerous and fiery light surged at this moment.

"... Helan?"

Zhu Helan stared at him for a while, then slowly lowered his head.His cold long hair fell on his neck, as if wriggling on his own, making Chong Liu shiver.

Zhu Helan's snake-like voice pierced into Chong Liu's ears, as cool as his hair, "I hate people leaving me without saying goodbye."