treacherous world

After Dali's crazy old man came out, Zhan Zhao and the others were a little confused. This old man was crazy, and he only spoke half a sentence, or else he spelled two sentences together, making people seem to understand but not understand. troubled.

When we arrived at Taibai Residence, we sat down in a private room and chatted in detail while drinking tea. Gongsun has been studying those files all the time.It's just that the materials on hand at this time are very scattered, and it needs to be sorted out one by one, which is quite strenuous.

This kind of mind-blowing paper work was naturally left to Gongsun. Zhao Pu and he went back to the island to check the volumes after they were going to eat.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were basically active and not quiet, they didn't really want to go back, and planned to stay in Songjiang Mansion for a walk.

After leaving Taibai Residence, they split up and acted separately. The fourth son wanted to be a follower, but was taken away by Xiao Liang.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were at the ferry in Songjiang Mansion, watching Gongsun and his boat go away, not knowing where to go for a while.

"The old man really doesn't know what to say." Bai Yutang shook his head, "Every time I ask him something, the words don't make sense."

"This is what you call a master! You have high words, high eyes, high means, and high demands on people." Zhan Zhao smiled, and reached out to pat Bai Yutang on the shoulder, "But I didn't expect that you are still down-to-earth. when."

"Ah?" Bai Yutang didn't understand, "What kind of down-to-earth?"

"Oh, I mean, I always feel that your abilities are all innate, and you should have lived like a son or brother from childhood to adulthood... It turns out that there is such a strange teacher who taught you." Zhan Zhao put his hands behind his back. Behind him, the white spike on the hilt of the Juque sword in his hand swayed gently.

Bai Yutang smiled, walked up to him, and walked side by side with him, "Who didn't grow up eating whole grains."

At this time, it was almost evening and there was nowhere to go, so Bai Yutang simply took Zhan Zhao for a stroll, and in the evening, he arrived at a flower field in the suburbs.

At a glance, they are all blue-purple flowers, spread all over the mountains and plains, until the distant sky and light blue sky continue, with a touch of vermilion clouds in the middle, and half of the setting sun.

"What kind of flower is this? The scenery is too good!" Zhan Zhao looked at several single-family farmhouses in the distance, envious of the beauty of this paradise, and asked Bai Yutang.

"Some kind of pod flower." Although Bai Yutang admits that he eats whole grains, he really doesn't know much about whole grains, but he brought Zhan Zhao here just to let him see the open scenery, so that he can calm his heart. Frustrated drive away.

"There is still the sea ahead." Bai Yutang stretched out his finger.

"Hmm... don't look at the distance, but the scenery is really different." Zhan Zhao turned to look at Bai Yutang as he walked.

The hair of both of them was blown by the evening wind in the countryside.

"Most of the area in the south of the Yangtze River is the scenery of Xiaojiabiyu. I didn't expect there to be such a wealthy place!" Zhan Zhao pointed to the island in the distance, "Is that Xiaoyao Island over there? Go live with Zhao Pu and the others for two days if you have time."

Bai Yutang laughed, "Didn't the fourth son always say that he left us a house, and let us live there when we grow old?"

Zhan Zhaorang laughed out loud, "The fourth son is too stingy, why don't you just keep a room?"

"One room is enough." Bai Yutang smiled, "It's only three feet lying down, it doesn't matter where you live, what matters is the person who lives with you."

After Zhan Zhao heard this, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, "Hmm! That's what happened."

The two of them spoke without saying a word, and walked forward with some feeling but without feeling. On the sea not far away, a rather majestic water village appeared.

"Don't go any further, cat." Bai Yutang stopped Zhan Zhao, "That's the territory of the Hailong Gang, it's easy to cause trouble if you go there, this is not the time."

Zhan Zhao looked at Bai Yutang, "What's wrong?"

Bai Yutang crossed his arms, "Xiaoyao Island originally wanted to be bought by Sea Dragon Gang from Zakong Island...but then Big Brother gave it to Zhao Pu according to his friendship."

Zhan Zhao frowned slightly, "The two sides are very far away. Xiaoyao Island is far away from the River Gang, Sunkong Island, and Hailong Gang. If one of these three families occupies Xiaoyao Island, it will be far more powerful than the others. If it’s cut off, it’s easy to be isolated. That’s probably the reason why my elder brother didn’t build a house there for a long time.”

"Well, smart." Bai Yutang nodded, "Hai Long's territory is not small, but there are too many gangsters. You see, the Four Dragon Kings are not as close as our brothers. Everyone needs a base. Zhanshantou is the owner of the village, so it is very difficult to settle. Therefore, they had their eyes on Xiaoyao Island before, but Zikong Island did not sell... You also know Zhao Pu's identity and temper, and the Sea Dragon Gang naturally dare not provoke him, so they are a little bit towards Big Brother. Micro word."

"That day, King Qinglong drank a few more glasses of wine in the winery and scolded the eldest brother behind his back, which was heard by the third brother who happened to be greeting the guests next door."

Before Bai Yutang finished speaking, Zhan Zhao smiled wryly, "Tsk tsk... that's okay."

"That's right, the Qinglong King ordered the third brother to beat him up... If someone hadn't persuaded him, he would probably have died to go back, so there is some trouble." Bai Yutang sighed softly, "The Qinglong King was seriously injured that day, and he was killed this time. When I was injured, my injuries were not fully healed, and I was supposed to be recuperating."

Zhan Zhao frowned, "The members of the Hailong Gang...should they bear grudges against Third Brother?"

"That's not true." Bai Yutang shook his head, "There are too many halls, the hearts of the brothers are not in harmony, and there is no harmony among the dragon kings. If one dies, the others will want to divide his territory, but the third brother himself thinks about it." Some guilt."

"Oh." Zhan Zhao nodded, knowing the inside story.

The two walked around again, and when they were about to turn around, they heard a soft "meow".

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were taken aback, followed the sound to find... and saw a big black cat lying on the grass not far away.

"Ah!" Zhan Zhao recognized the black cat at a glance, and pulled Bai Yutang's sleeve, "Yutang, it's it!"

Bai Yutang also saw it clearly, the cat was black in body, shiny and shiny with no stray hairs at all, with a ribbon around its neck and a bell, and red eyes.

"Meow~"

The cat meowed again, turned and ran away.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang glanced at each other, and ran after him.The cat moved extremely fast, it burrowed into the flower field, swishing forward, and thanks to Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao's light skills, otherwise it would have been impossible to catch it.

"Cat!" Bai Yutang suddenly called out.

Zhan Zhao glanced at him and saw that he was staring at him, so he asked, "Are you calling me or it?"

Bai Yutang almost laughed out his true anger, pointed in front of the cat, and signaled Zhan Zhao to block the way!Split up.

Zhan Zhao naturally understood, jumped out and landed in front of the cat.

At this time, the black cat was bumping head-on, unable to dodge in time, and bumped into Zhan Zhao's leg.

With a sound of "meow", the black cat fell to the ground, turned over and was about to get up, when Bai Yutang quickly grabbed the leather around its neck and lifted it up.

"Meow!" The cat was caught by Bai Yutang, struggled twice, and cried out.

"This cat is quite strong." Zhan Zhao rubbed his legs, looked closer, stretched out his hand and pinched the cat's paw twice, "Hmm... It seems that there is nothing different from other cats except for the eyes!"

Bai Yutang held the cat up and down and looked around, "It's a male cat."

Zhan Zhao laughed, and asked him, "And then? What are you going to do with it? You can't torture it or threaten it. Even if it recruits us, we don't know what it's talking about."

Bai Yutang nodded, thinking it was true.

"But..." Zhan Zhao stretched out his hand and gently picked up the bell on the cat's neck to look at it, "It seems to belong to someone, if we can find the owner..."

Before he finished speaking, he heard voices calling from a distance, "Xiao Hei! Xiao Hei..."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at each other, and looked into the distance, and saw a man standing by the sea, he looked like a young man, dressed in white, looking for him while shouting.

Inexplicably, Zhan Zhao felt that this young man looked familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen it before, but he must have seen it recently!

"It's Cao Xin." Bai Yutang said suddenly.

"Oh!" Zhan Zhao immediately remembered that it was the day when they were having dinner in a restaurant, they met that young man who was drunk and drunk, who seemed to be the son of Qinglong King.

"Guess..." Zhan Zhao poked the black cat's stomach and asked Bai Yutang, "Who is Xiao Hei?"

Bai Yutang looked up at the sky.

At this time, Cao Xin also saw them, and after a moment of stupefaction, he walked over quickly.

"Hello." Zhan Zhao pretended to turn his face away and asked Bai Yutang, "How is your relationship with him?"

"Not familiar." Bai Yutang replied, "I haven't said anything."

"Oh..." When Zhan Zhao turned around, Cao Xin had already reached the two of them, and stopped two or three steps away.

Cao Xin looked at Bai Yutang and then at Zhan Zhao, and gave Bai Yutang a little hug, "Fifth Bai."

Bai Yutang nodded and stood there without moving.

Cao Xin seemed a little nervous, looked at the cat in Bai Yutang's hand, and whispered, "This is my cat..."

"Your?" Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were both surprised but also happy. Sure enough, all the black cats were named Xiao Hei.

Zhan Zhao hurriedly asked, "Why are the cat's eyes red?"

"Oh, it's because I ate dragon grass by mistake, so it became like this." Cao Xin replied, took the cat that Bai Yutang handed over, and gently stroked its fur.

"Fire dragon grass?" Zhan Zhao had never heard of it.

"It's a unique aquatic plant in the waters of the Hailong Gang. It can be used as medicine. It is very nourishing for people. It brightens the eyes and nourishes the lungs. But for some reason, animals tend to turn their eyes red after eating it... But this does not affect the ability to see things. .”

"Oh..." Both Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang understood. Then, did the two horses they saw that day also have red eyes because they ate dragon grass by mistake?Could it be related to Hailong Gang?

Although there was nothing wrong with Cao Xin's answer, the two were still puzzled... If it was just an ordinary cat, how could it appear on that ghost ship?The sea is not the ground, and the ship is not the house.Since ancient times, cats can't swim, and the Sea Dragon Gang is far away from the place where the big ship appeared in the morning. How could such a cat appear on the ghost ship out of thin air?

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang's thoughts are naturally the same.

"By the way, Mr. Cao." Zhan Zhao asked insincerely, "Is this cat by your side all the time?"

Cao Xin was stunned for a moment, shaking his head, a little helpless, "Xiao Hei is very naughty, he often gets lost, and I'm not in a good mood these days... I haven't looked at it much."

After hearing this, Zhan Zhao glanced at Bai Yutang.

Bai Yutang shrugged his shoulders, feeling that there was nothing wrong with it. Cats naturally like to run around and can't control it.

Cao Xin stood awkwardly, hugged the black cat, said goodbye to the two, turned and left.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang watched Cao Xin leave... the black cat was lying on Cao Xin's back, looking at the two of them... That look reminded Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang of seeing him on the wall of the inn that night. At that time - it was a little bit malicious.

It wasn't until Cao Xin boarded a small boat on the shore and rowed away that the two of them came back to their senses.

"Huh..." Bai Yutang shook his head, "As expected, I hate cats."

Zhan Zhao squinted at him, Bai Yutang smiled, "Except for you."

Bai Yutang didn't know if it was because he had been with Zhan Zhao for a long time recently, so he blurted out the words, completely ignoring the meaning that he hates everyone except you, which seems to be very close to liking you only.

"Let's go, it's getting dark and we won't be able to catch up with the boat." Zhan Zhao's ears were a little hot. To avoid embarrassment, he moved a lot, reached out and patted Bai Yutang, turned around and walked back, Bai Yutang followed two steps, "However, one What can a cat do? It’s impossible for a cat demon to say that?”

"I think it really looks like a cat demon!" Zhan Zhao said in a low voice, "Generally kittens are quite docile, don't you think that cat seems to be very old?!"

"Can you tell the age of the cat?" Bai Yutang was even more puzzled.To be honest, among the five mice on the empty island, cats are the most taboo.There are cats in the kitchen on the island, but most of them are night cats, and Bai Yutang has never studied it, "I just look at the cats that are not very kind."

"It's definitely an old cat. A kitten will be softer and smaller, and its eyes will be more innocent. When a cat is old, it will become smart, especially a black cat. It's eerie!" Zhan Zhao stopped suddenly when he said this, and tilted his head. He looked away, as if remembering something.

"What's wrong?" Bai Yutang looked at him puzzled.

"Hmm... Speaking of old cats, I remember my elder brother had a cat all the time when he was a child!" Zhan Zhao said seriously, "It was also a black cat."

"Your elder brother raised it?" Bai Yutang pulled him away quickly to avoid getting dark, and asked, "Tell me specifically."

"I was still young at that time, probably in my teens." Zhan Zhao said seriously, "I remember that day was just around the Dragon Boat Festival, and the weather was sweltering. The next few servants, I still have my elder brother."

Bai Yutang listened, but his mind was thinking about what Zhan Zhao was like when he was a child.

"There was thunder and lightning that night, and in the middle of the night, I heard the door of the brother's room next door open." Zhan Zhao said, "I had already practiced martial arts at that time, but my brother was helpless. I was afraid of thieves or something, so I just I got up and looked...but I saw my eldest brother rushing to the corner of the yard wearing a bamboo hat, squatting there not knowing why. I was curious, so I opened an umbrella and ran over to look, and saw him hugging a little black cat."

"Little black cat?" Bai Yutang thought for a while, "Did you come into your yard to shelter from the rain on a rainy day?"

"Not like that, the cat is really small." Zhan Zhao shrugged.

"How does your elder brother know that there is a black cat there?" Bai Yutang asked.

"Well, it's okay if you don't think about it. It's really strange when you think about it." Zhan Zhao smiled helplessly, "There was thunder and rain that night. I'm a weird person. I like to listen to the sound of rain. I definitely didn't listen to it that night. I heard the sound of a cat meowing... so I never understood how the eldest brother knew there was a cat there!"

Bai Yutang also felt strange, and then asked, "Later?"

"Later, my eldest brother took it back to the house and raised it. He loved it very much... This care lasted for three years. On the third year's New Year's Eve, the little black cat suddenly disappeared."

"Run away?" Bai Yutang thought for a while and decided that he couldn't do it. Generally, domesticated cats, no matter how wild, have to go home to eat and sleep.

"I really like that cat too, so I wanted to take the butler out to look for it, but the eldest brother said..." Zhan Zhao recalled Zhan Hao's words at that time, and felt more and more strange, "He said, people have to grow up, Now that you have grown up, you should go out and break out your own world, and stay at home without ambition."

Bai Yutang blinked, "So?"

"So I came out to venture into the rivers and lakes as soon as the third day of the new year was over!" As soon as Zhan Zhao clenched his fists, Bai Yutang felt a little dizzy, "You were quite dumbfounded when you were young."

"You're stunned." Zhan Zhao kicked him, "Fortunately, when I came out to travel in the Jianghu, I met a lot of masters who learned Kung Fu. Later, I experienced the treacherous people in the Jianghu. Otherwise, Zhan Zhao would not be what he is now!"

"Then... is Cao Xin's cat the one your elder brother raised?" Bai Yutang was curious.

"Then how do I know, all cats in the world are about the same size!" Zhan Zhao saw the ferry boat at the ferry ahead and pulled Bai Yutang up, but heard a "creaking" sound behind him, as if there was a car horse passing by

The two of them were about to board the boat, but when they heard the sound, they thought it was so strange and familiar... Subconsciously, they turned around and saw a small carriage passing behind them.

The carriage looked so familiar to the two of them!A small brown-black carriage with hollowed-out patterns, pulled by two black horses, and driven by a young boy.

The carriages were the same, except that the horses' eyes were blood red, which looked particularly strange at night... Fortunately, the area around the ferry was sparsely populated at night, so it wasn't the main road, so no one noticed.

"It's the carriage that day." Zhan Zhao muttered to himself, staring at the carriage intently.

At this time, the lights have just been turned on, night falls, and the moon is on the branches.

Bai Yutang frowned suddenly, "Cat, look at that carriage, is it black or red?"

Zhan Zhao also saw it. It was not surprising that the carriage was under the red maple leaf forest during the daytime. But now, the carriage was under the moonlight, and the brown-black wooden frame turned into blood no matter how you looked at it. what about red...

In addition, the two also noticed the strange patterns on the carriage body, very similar to the ancient ship they saw that day, the patterns on the cabin doors and windows... are also exotic.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at each other, and immediately felt that there might be something strange inside.These two people are not afraid of anything, but they are afraid of being idle. How could they turn a blind eye to the once-in-a-lifetime clue? !Therefore, the two of them jumped onto the roof without any discussion, and quietly followed the carriage, trying to see if they could find any clues.