treacherous world

In late autumn, red maples were planted on both sides of the official road in Songjiang Prefecture. The dense branches were crowded like fence posts because they had not been taken care of for many years, but it also blocked the wild beasts in the forest on both sides from coming out to hurt people.

The red maple is ripe, and the brick-colored octopus-shaped leaves are half hanging on the branches and half falling on the ground, covered with a thick blanket.

The horses on the road travel easily, but the vehicles on the road suffer. The wheels are often caught by the rolled up maple leaves, or get stuck in the potholes under the leaves.

As the evening approached, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang rode two horses, one red and one white, leisurely and leisurely on the official road into the city.

Calculating the time, it is estimated that it will be dark enough to enter Songjiang Mansion. Recently, the sea is very windy, and the boatman does not lift anchor at night.Therefore, the two of them will stay at the inn in the mansion for one night, and then take a boat to Xingkong Island tomorrow morning.

Bai Yutang held the knife in one hand, and held the reins of the horse to think about it, while Zhan Zhao looked at the red maple trees around him, feeling the beauty of the journey.

"Does your hand hurt?" Zhan Zhao asked Bai Yutang from time to time.

Bai Yutang laughed, "The cat... it's just a small injury."

"I can't help it, fifth master is thin and tender." Zhan Zhao teased Bai Yutang when he was free, "I don't know how many people feel sorry for this injury, I'm afraid that I will be blamed to death by those maids when I go to the empty island. "

Bai Yutang looked at him, and said, "Don't worry, all the girls and women in the empty island like you, and no one is willing to scold you."

Seeing that he was still in the mood for joking, Zhan Zhao heaved a sigh of relief, Bai Yutang's expression was quite serious along the way, as if he was worried about the brothers on Trapped Sky Island.

Zhan Zhao is also envious sometimes, those brothers of Bai Yutang are so nice, they love each other more than the other.My eldest brother... oh, I don't know if he is good or bad.

The two of them made a turn along the direction of the official road, bypassing a densely branched area, and the road was almost obscured from sight.

As soon as they turned around, the two saw a carriage in front of them listening, and it seemed that the wheels of the carriage were stuck.

This carriage is small and delicate. A sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy is struggling to push the carriage.The small brass bell hanging in front of the car kept ringing with his movements.It sounds sweet and exciting, and one has to think that the person in the car may be a young lady who has not yet left the boudoir.

Zhan Zhao saw that the boy's face was flushed, and he still didn't push the carriage, so he jumped down and went to help, "I'll help you."

The boy raised his head, looked at Zhan Zhao in surprise, and forgot to nod.

Using internal force, Zhan Zhao lightly supported the carriage, and then pushed it forward... The wheels stuck in the pit immediately came out, and the leaves between the axles were pulled out by Zhan Zhao.Patting the dust off his hands, Zhan Zhao said to the boy, "Put a piece of wood or hard leather behind the wheels of the carriage to prevent rolled up fallen leaves from getting caught in the wheels.

The boy froze for a moment, then patted his head, "That's right!"

Seeing his innocent expression, Zhan Zhao inexplicably thought of the fourth son, smiled, got back on his horse, and continued on his way...

I only heard an old voice coming from inside the carriage, "Thank you, my lord."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at each other—oh?It turned out that it was not a lady, but an old man.

"Senior, you don't have to be polite." Zhan Zhao has always been well-educated and reasonable, not to mention his etiquette, he is also very easy-going... After finishing speaking, he left with Bai Yutang.

As they walked forward, Zao Duoduo and Bai Yunfan couldn't help but turn their heads to stare at the two horses pulling the cart. There seemed to be some astonishment in their big eyes.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang subconsciously glanced at the horse, both feeling surprised—the two horses pulling the cart were black in body, with pointed ears and pointed mouths, and the strangest thing was that their eyes had a slightly red halo... Are they bloodshot?Or are the red leaves on the side of the road reflected and dyed?

Bai Yutang subconsciously glanced at Bai Yunfan's eyes... they were still pitch black, Zao Duoduo was a beautiful amber color, there was no sign of red at all.

However, after walking out of the area covered by red leaves, there was a corner. When the two turned their heads, they could no longer see the carriage.

They deliberately slowed down a bit, and the two wanted to wait for the carriage to come up, but after waiting for half a day, the carriage still did not appear - did they go so slowly?

"We've arrived at Songjiang Mansion."

After walking for a while, Zhan Zhao pointed to the entrance gate ahead, and said to Bai Yutang, "Which inn should I stay? Or go to Taibai Residence? I want to drink the pear flower white there."

Bai Yutang nodded happily - the owner of the restaurant was also familiar with him, so he happened to inquire if anything had happened recently.

Evening falls...

Entering Songjiang Mansion... The bustling night market dispelled the doubts in the hearts of the two of them. It was still as prosperous as ever, with businesses hawking and hawking, and pedestrians bustling with each other. It seemed that nothing major happened.

The two got off the horse, and led the horse forward slowly.

When passing by an alley, a young man was practicing boxing with a group of children inside. The young man caught sight of Bai Yutang and rushed out, "Fifth Master!"

Bai Yutang recognized him, he was an expert shipbuilder in the shipyard of Sunken Island, the third son of Lao Wang's family, everyone called him the third son.

"Little Sanzi, how is your kung fu?" Bai Yutang asked him with a smile when he saw that he had grown taller again.

"Hey, I just learned the lightness kung fu with the second master, and I can climb up to the third floor!"

Bai Yutang wanted to laugh, wouldn't it be useless to learn light kung fu from the second brother, the second brother would dig the ground.

The third son introduced to the trembling children behind him, "Hurry up and pay respects, this is Fifth Master Bai!"

The names of the Five Rats of Zhakong Island, especially Bai Yutang, are very famous in this area, and the children all looked up at them with admiration - talking in their hearts, it's no wonder that my sisters grow up and down every day, dare to love Men can really be so handsome.

The third son had seen Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang walking together before, but he didn't know who this person was. Seeing that he was as handsome as Bai Yutang, he must be someone, so he looked at him.

"This is Zhan Zhao." Bai Yutang said, and asked the third son, "Have you eaten yet? How about the empty island and the dock?"

"Oh..." The third son looked around, sent the children to continue practicing kung fu, and walked forward with Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang by himself, asking in a low voice, "The fifth master came back for Uncle He's business, right?" ?”

Bai Yutang was taken aback. Uncle He was an old boatman on the island, and he was good at cooking. His pot of fish heads with chopped peppers could attract greedy ghosts from miles away.

"What happened to Uncle He?" Bai Yutang was puzzled.

The third son opened his eyes wide, "Oh, fifth master, don't you know that Uncle He is dead?"

Bai Yutang was stunned, Zhan Zhao had also met Uncle He, he was very easy-going, and he was good at handling a harpoon... Dead? !

"How did you die?" Bai Yutang lost the smile on his face.

"Only half a month ago, Uncle He didn't go to work one day. He heard from his wife at home that he didn't come back all night. The uncle and the others knew something had happened. They took people to look for it. They saw Uncle He's boat on the sea. Died in the boat, a boat full of blood, heart..."

"What?" Bai Yutang frowned.

"The heart...was dug out."

Zhan Zhao's brows trembled when he heard this, and when he looked at Bai Yutang again, his expression turned cold, with murderous intent in his eyes, "Do you know who did it?"

The third son shook his head, "I also heard from my father that we are not allowed to go to sea recently. I heard that people from the He Gang, Hai Long Gang, and Sanjiazhai have died like this!"

As soon as Bai Yutang heard it, he knew something was wrong!In the waters around the sky island, the power of the sky island is the strongest, and the next row is the river gang, sea dragon gang and Sanjiazhai.People from these three families all died inexplicably. Was someone deliberately provoking it?

After hearing this, Zhan Zhao began to think about the big and small cases he had encountered in his head-it is really rare to dig out one's heart after death.It takes deep hatred to do such a thing as digging one's heart!Thinking of this, he asked Xiao Sanzi, "The heart was dug out...is it still there?"

The third son shook his head, "It's gone, so it's said that sea monsters cannibalize people, don't they say monsters love to eat people's hearts. Uncle He's kung fu is so good, and the Qinglong King of the Sea Dragon Gang is even better..."

"Cao Wei is dead too?" Bai Yutang felt fresh, and exchanged a glance with Zhan Zhao. In addition to the leader, the old Dragon King, the Hailong Gang also had three sub-leaders.Qinglong King Cao Wei is famous, and there are people who can be ranked in the Jianghu, so he died like this?

Little Sanzi still wanted to follow Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao, but a little boy came up behind him and shouted, "Little Sanzi, your mother told you to eat, you're going to beat me up!"

"Oh." The third son ran back as soon as he jumped, "Fifth Master, I'm leaving."

Bai Yutang gave him some change to buy some snacks, then he and Zhan Zhao turned back and continued to rush to Taibai Residence.

"No wonder big brother is so anxious to get you back." Zhan Zhao frowned, looked at Bai Yutang's injured hand, and thought to himself that it's a good thing he followed, this incident seems to be tricky!

……

Letting Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang go to live in the city and not mentioning Gongsun and Zhao Pu who are still in Xinghua.

Seeing that Zhan Zhao and the others slipped away again, the fourth son quit. Instead of going back to Kaifeng Mansion, he wanted to go back to Xiaoyao Island, and then went to play with Aunt Lu. In fact, he was trying to match Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang in a different way.

Xiaoyao Island and Zikong Island are very close, and Zhao Pu has long settled in Xiaoyao Island and became the King of Xiaoyao, so Bao Zheng can't force him and Gongsun to go back.

If you think about it, brother Zhan Zhao's affairs need to be investigated further, and Bai Yutang's hand was injured again. With the help of Zhao Pu and a group of shadow guards, he and Grand Master Pang returned to Beijing first.

Gongsun and Zhao Pu changed their way back to Xiaoyao Island, first to see the old concubine, and stayed with her for a few days, then turned to Xingkong Island to see the people on the island and see if they could help.

The fourth son knew that he could go back to see his grandma, so he stopped clamoring to find Zhan Zhao Bai Yutang.

……

In Taibai's private room, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang sat and drank.The small building of Taibaiju is in the shape of a "well", with single rooms on the four sides and a lobby in the middle, where there are individual guests drinking, playing and singing performances and so on.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao were sitting in the private room to the east, with the windows on both sides open.

On one side is the bustling market, and you can see the outside of the ferry from a distance.The most islands in the sea are dotted, the shining sky island, the poetic and picturesque Xiaoyao island, and those riverside water villages. The waters in this area are definitely Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Zhan Zhao suddenly pointed to the back of Xiaoyao Island, an undulating island in the mist in the distance and asked Bai Yutang, "What island is there?"

Bai Yutang was stunned for a moment, then looked at Zhan Zhao in confusion, "Xiaoyao Island?"

"No, behind Xiaoyao Island, inside the fog."

Bai Yutang looked along Zhan Zhao's finger, and couldn't help frowning.Shrouded in mist, at the junction of the indigo sky and the sea, there is a faint black undulation... similar to a hill or an island, with no lights at all.

"This..." Bai Yutang was stunned, he didn't remember any islands there.

"Maybe it's an illusion from looking at the past at night." Zhan Zhao saw that Bai Yutang had been too busy drinking and hadn't eaten all night, so he brought food for him, "Eat, stop thinking about it!"

Bai Yutang nodded, put down his wine glass, and raised his chopsticks to eat pork ribs, but he heard the sound of silk and bamboo from outside. At some point, a young woman was playing and singing downstairs, with a very good voice.

Zhan Zhao nodded after listening, "Well, this girl has a good voice."

At this time, I heard a man's laughter coming from the other side of the window, "Oh, girl, my young master rewarded you, good singing!"

Zhan Zhaoxun looked over, and saw several people in the private room opposite, window to window.

The person who spoke, wearing a blue short suit, climbed by the window and threw a large silver coin downstairs.

The girl at the bottom raised her face, and there was a large ingot of silver in her arms, and she quickly got up to express her thanks.

Looking at the man who gave the money with a hippie smile, there are two people sitting, an old man with white beard and hair in a gray gown, and a young man in a black brocade robe. Just by looking at his clothes, he can tell that he should be either rich or noble.

Zhan Zhao took another look curiously, and the man with the hippie smile saw it and looked up.After seeing the situation in the car clearly, he put his chin on one hand and smiled, "Yo... I said that the wind blowing in from outside is fragrant. Sure enough, there are people who can only blow in the fragrant wind."

Zhan Zhao was stunned, not understanding what he meant, and asked Bai Yutang, "What did he say?"

Bai Yutang continued to drink, and said unhurriedly, "Just treat him as a fart."

... Zhan Zhao's mouth twitched.

"Hey!" The young man smiled and jumped onto the window sill, looking this way, "Brother Bai, why are you pretending you don't know anyone? My old friend is here."

Zhan Zhao noticed that there were two rings hanging on his shoulders...the rings looked very strange, copper yellow, and the clasp was in the shape of a gossip—the small universe ring?It also reminded me of the activities in this empty island, could it be Dong Xiaodie, the deputy head of the River Gang?Don't look at Dong Xiaodie named a woman, but there are some well-known masters in the Jianghu, of course... they are also men.

Zhan Zhao took a closer look at him again. He has a baby face, big eyes and short hair. He is under 30 years old and has a well-proportioned body, but he is not very tall.

"Hey." Dong Xiaodie saw that Bai Yutang was ignorant of his answers, and Zhan Zhao was sizing up, so she asked, "This brother seems to be easy to get along with. I'll say that the world is full of wonders. This cat and mouse How can we still eat together, haha."

Zhan Zhao saw that he was staring at the Ju Que that he had placed by his hand, and he must have known his identity, so he smiled and nodded at him.Dong Xiaodie has a good reputation in Jianghu, and the relationship between Hebang and Xingkong Island is also very good. Maybe this ruffian is not very pleasing to Bai Yutang.

"He's really easy to get along with, he's so different from someone!" Dong Xiaodie seemed to like Zhan Zhao very much, "Brother Zhan, why don't you have a drink together, and you've heard of your name for a long time... oops."

Before he finished speaking, Bai Yutang flicked his fingers... the peanuts in his hand were gone, Dong Xiaodie fell downstairs and fell in front of the singing girl, who was so frightened that the girl's face turned pale.He still smiled, "It's okay, it's okay, beauty, don't panic, your song is so good, my young master's legs are weak."

Zhan Zhao had heard that Dong Xiaodie was cynical and joked a long time ago, he was really lively, but he was quite kind if he dared to provoke Bai Yutang like this.Then again, Bai Yutang didn't get serious with him, which shows that the relationship is still good.

The old man present shook his head, as if he was no longer surprised, he stood up and bowed to Bai Yutang, "Fifth Lord is laughing."

In the blink of an eye, Bai Yutang saw that it was Chen She, the old vice-leader of the He Gang, so he also cupped his hands, "Don't come here, old man."

"TOEFL TOEFL."

At this moment, the white-clothed man next to the old man also raised his head and looked over here. This man was not a good man, but his features were clean, and he looked gentle and refined, like a scholar.

He asked the old man, "Uncle Chen, who is this?"

"Oh, young master, this is the fifth master of Zhakong Island, Chinchilla Bai Yutang, and that is Nan Xia Zhan Zhao."

"Oh..." As soon as the young master heard the introduction, he quickly stood up and bowed to the two of them, "You two are very famous, Xiaosheng is really lucky to have three lives, you don't dislike it, I'll go over and offer you a toast."

Chen She hurriedly introduced, "You two, our young master, Lei Qinglang."

Both Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang subconsciously twitched their eyelids——Lei Qinglang, the leader of the He Gang? !Isn't that the son of Old River King Lei Wantong's family?This Lei Wantong is known as the King of Lei, he is arrogant and savage, how could he give birth to a talented son?

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang pondered for a while, are there any people from the Jianghu who call themselves Xiaosheng?Comparing this gentle scholar with his father's [-]-jin body with a catfish head... Both of them felt very unkind.