Everyone's eyes widened, and they looked a little skeptical.

"I'm really not a Qi person, I'm a descendant of the Han people of the Central Plains like you. I'm from Eight Counties. ”

"Then you ...... capable of this"

"Master taught, he is a Qi person, found that I was suitable for learning Qi art, so he taught me, when I was in Bajun before, Master only taught me Qi art, and I asked people to make food for him. We never discuss this kind of issue. ”

"Respecting the teacher is also a person of personality. Liao Tingyun said with a smile, "The princess has also earned it, and a few plates of delicacies have been exchanged for this skill." ”

"I didn't speak clearly just now, I may have misled Mr. Sword Demon, I didn't make an appointment with Master for three chapters, Master taught me voluntarily, and I just sent food as filial piety. ”

Su Yue and the others all admired this Qi mage, not to mention the Qi people, everyone asked themselves, they might not be able to teach apprentices so easily. The reason is, first, that I am really afraid that what will be given is not human, and second, it is really difficult to get rid of the stubborn thoughts that have been handed down for thousands of years. And sometimes, even if you know it's not good, it's not easy to eradicate it.

"I don't know the name of the honored teacher?"

Su Yue pondered, Princess Lu is extraordinary, her master must also be a master among the masters, although she is not very familiar with the Qi people's rivers and lakes, but several big people have heard of it, even if Princess Lu's master is not among them, in case of encountering it in the future, she can always move out of someone.

"I'm sorry, General, but Master made me swear a poisonous oath not to mention his name outside. ”

Yu Tingyun sneered: "Do you have to inquire about the name of the master so clearly?"

A trace of displeasure flashed across Su Yue's face, but it was fleeting.

"How...... What's going on? This ...... What kind of conspiracy is this?" Tong Xi didn't care what they said, she hadn't shaken off the shock yet.

No one answered her, because no one knew why it was happening.

"Brother," Su Yue pointed to Dian Yin, "You have fast legs, follow up and see what's going on, there is a saying in the book, there is a blue river at the junction of Penglai and Baguo Island, and there is an ancient blue bridge on the river, you explore and rest tonight, we will meet at the bridgehead tomorrow." After speaking, he took out the "Geography and Customs of Waiyouzhou" and turned to one of the pages, on which the location of the ancient blue bridge was drawn.

Dianyin secretly noted down the location. The two took care of each other and exchanged hearts and minds. Dian Yin understood, said well, and was about to cross the horse abandoned by the Yata cavalry, but suddenly turned his head and got into the grass, and the weeds flickered, and the figure of Dian Yin was gone.

Tong Xi watched Dian Yin disappear in a daze, and forgot to say goodbye to him and persuade him to be careful, and only after he left, did he remember, and said strangely: "Why does my brother not ride a horse?

Su Yue said with a smile: "Don't talk nonsense, your brother is a person who has done a dart guard, and he is too conspicuous on horseback, and he is easy to be discovered by Yata's scouts." ”

"General, how do we go?" asked Princess Heron.

"Brother go north, let's go west to the Blue River, and then along the river to the north, and wait at the head of the Gulan Bridge. ”

The crowd said yes, and walked through the forest aisle to the west. Walk to a secluded place, take out some dry food to eat, and rest for the night. On the second day, I walked for two hours early in the morning and arrived at the Blue River, which is not wide, but also several zhang wide, the water flow is slow, and the river water is yellow. Liao Tingyun held the book and said: "Since this river is called the Blue River, why is it yellow-green?"

No one knew why, and no locals had been met. Tong Xi approached the riverside, his palm propped up his forehead and looked up and down.

Su Yue saw it in his eyes, he didn't want to speak, and when he saw her turning around without stopping, he said: "Nizi, don't worry, this river is long, how can you see the ancient blue bridge at once?" Tong Xi turned around silently and no longer looked at the middle of the river.

Everyone is looking for the ancient blue bridge on the river. Sometimes the more we look forward to something, the slower it feels. Everyone walked along the riverside for a while, and they all sighed that the bridge was far away and difficult to find. There are some sections on both sides of the river where you can see the dry ditches intermittently, but there are no paddy fields, and there are no ancient roads to see the houses, only endless wild grass and shrubs, as if some residents once lived in this generation, but it is not surprising that there are people living here along the river and connecting the two countries, but that should be a thing of the past, because the traces of people's lives have been almost erased.

By noon, there was still no bridge in sight. Tong Xi was the first to lose her patience, she suspected that she had made a mistake for a while, and muttered a mistake in the book for a while.

Su Yue smiled and comforted her, but suddenly turned his head, everyone was attracted by his actions, and looked in the direction of his head, there was half a stone tablet not far away, and when he looked closely, the stone tablet was full of pits, as if there were traces of knives and axes. It took everyone a long time to see clearly, this is the bridge monument of the ancient blue bridge. But where is the bridge?

There are no piers in the river, and there are no stones for broken bridges in the vicinity. Tong Xi firmly believes that the ancient blue bridge is here. She walked back and forth along the riverside in search of evidence. Unexpectedly, I didn't know what was mixed in the grass, and I fell into the mud. She wasn't annoyed when everyone laughed at her, and her mouth was thinking, "What stumbles me, what stumbles me......"

Princess Heron smiled: "It may be a stone, what do you do with this?"

"It's not a stone, it doesn't feel big, but it's very porcelain, it trips over myself and doesn't move. As he spoke, he suddenly cried out again. "What is this?"

The crowd gathered around to see. It was a cast iron clasp, and it appeared to be mostly buried in the ground, with only a piece of iron and a thick ring exposed.

"I know," Su Yue suddenly realized, "This is not a stone bridge, but a wooden bridge." There were wars between the islands of Hachikoku and the country of Wuxiang. There is a wooden bridge by the Blue River, which comes and goes to each other on weekdays, and burns the bridge to cut off the connection during the attack. ”

It is easy to understand that the wooden bridge is pulled by ropes at both ends, so there are no piers and stones. As for the traces of burning along the river, it has been gone for many years. Princess Heron said.

"But this bridge is really good technology. Su Yue said and pointed to the buckle on the ground, attracting everyone to come over and see, "You see that it is raining in the sun and rain here, and this buckle is not rusty at all." ”

And they waited here, but the sun was gradually turning westward, and they never returned.

Liao Tingyun acted as if nothing had happened, as if there was no such person as Dianyin in their team. Su Yue was calm, he believed in Dian Yin's ability, and he also knew that Dian Yin would not disappoint. Princess Heron's eyes flickered, and she wanted to speak. Tong Xi seemed the most impatient, looking into the distance for a while, and asking questions for a while. As the sun began to set in the afterglow of the west of the river, a small black dot appeared at the end of the horizon, and the small dot slowly and slowly turned into a large dot, and the large dot became a human figure. Dianyin finally arrived.

"On the way, I thought you might have been waiting for a long time, hurrying along the river, or still getting to this point. It's been a long wait. ”

Tong Xi hurriedly handed over a kettle, and Dian Yin poured it violently. "I thought I was on the wrong track, where is the bridge?"

Su Yue pointed to the buckle by the river and explained to him again.

"Why did that Qi Zi guy's centaur suddenly disappear?" Liao Tingyun looked at Dian Yin and asked.

"That's because of Hachikoku. Norigen took another sip of water.

"I followed Yata's men and horses, and on the way I caught a few Yata people, I didn't know what to do, and then I caught a few people who looked like people, and I found out the reason. The ones that were caught later were all from Hachikoku Island. ”

"Is it really the coming of Yakokushima?"

Dian Yin looked surprised and delighted: "It was really said by the general, it was really Baguo Island that took advantage of the air defense of Penglai City to come and attack." It turns out that these 'people' are not only very afraid of the mushrooms released by Princess Heron, but also have a very poor ability to distinguish between the same kind, and there are spies on the island of Eight Nations inside and outside Penglai City. These spies are specially trained and look like the ones who have eaten the Worry-Free Fruit. It is said that Yata has also killed a lot, and these spies have been specially trained, and they can't be killed cleanly after all. This is also why Penglai's city defense army is so powerful, but it has never been able to hit the other side. ”

After listening to this, Su Yue was thoughtful. Liao Tingyun asked him what he was thinking? He just said quietly: "There are masters on the island of the Eight Kingdoms. ”

There was no bridge, and everyone looked for a ferry to cross the river, and Dian Yin said that he had passed by a ferry and wanted to take them there, but Princess Lu said: "You go, the leave given to me by my father is not long, I should go back." ”

Everyone was stunned for a moment, not knowing how to answer her. Princess Heron walked quickly, and after finishing speaking, she led the four-clothed plain girl and walked back. After walking a few steps, he turned back, looked at the crowd and hesitated for a moment, then turned his head forward.

"It's no wonder that you say it's strange, this princess of the heron has come to the rescue of several disasters, as if she followed us all the way. ”

"Youzhou is so big, she can find us at every moment of crisis, and this time she even almost died, but she didn't complain at all, and she didn't want to repay, just leave, what do you say she wants?"

"Is she really the princess of which of the eight counties?But which county is it, and who does she know about us?" Everyone turned their heads and looked at Liao Tingyun, as if only Liao Tingyun knew the secret.

Liao Tingyun just smiled slightly and ignored them. She looked at the back of Princess Heron leaving, and said with a faint smile: "Guess, who did she turn around just now and stared at with her eyes?"

They had already changed into bloody clothes and came to the ferry port that Dian Yin said, but they didn't see a ferry boat or a boatman. When they went down to the riverside, they couldn't see enough reeds more than one person high, anthems, lotus leaves, and all kinds of aquatic plants clinging to the surface of the river, and walked up to the small wharf built with planks and river piles, and the wharf stakes had broken rope ends and deep marks worn by rope sheaths. This should indicate that this is indeed a ferry crossing that has not been abandoned. But there was indeed no boat in sight, and just as everyone was disappointed, and was about to leave to look for the next ferry, they heard an old shout in the distance. When I turned my head, I saw that there was a black dot in the upper reaches of the Blue River that was gradually getting bigger, and then it turned into a flat boat. An old man with a broken bamboo hat and a silver beard and white hair rowed a boat closer to the shore as he sang a trumpet they could not understand.

"Guests, five cents a piece, four people, twenty cents. The old boatman said, spreading out his hands and asking them for money.

Dian Yin was about to pay for it, but Tong Xi grabbed a broken silver in front and threw it into the hands of the old boatman. The boatman turned upside down, and said to Tong Xi: "This female guest, there is less than a tael of silver here!"

Tong Xi opened his big black grape-like eyes and shouted, "Don't get cheap and sell well! One penny and ten cents, you make a fortune. ”

The old man helped the four of them onto the boat, shook his head and said with a smile: "This female guest, looking at the eyebrows and eyes, red lips and white teeth, is so calculating. ”

Everyone laughed.

The boatman is a cheerful person, and he laughs as usual.

Dianyin said: "Is the island of eight countries on the other side of the river?" the old boatman nodded yes.

"Could it be that these eight countries are in the river?"

The old man shook his head and shook the oar.

It turns out that the island of Hachikoku was originally named after the river, so it was called the Blue Country. The blue country was originally a big country, the name of the country was named because the blue river flowed through the country, here is fertile for thousands of miles, the country is rich and the people are rich, and then for some reason, the terrain is uplifted, and slowly divided, in just a few decades, the blue country and the surrounding areas have risen dozens of zhang, the whole country originally had to get an extra piece of land and the whole country celebrated it, and then suddenly found that although the land has also expanded some, but it is split into eight flat hills with flat tops and far apart. As time goes by, the humanities and customs of the eight hills become more and more different.

The changes in rivers and mountains are disorderly, and everything depends on people to do it. Due to the geographical separation, the connection of the eight hills was gradually estranged, and the control of the national capital over the whole country became weaker and weaker, and in the end, the desire for power prevailed over morality, and the actual rulers of the islands began to break free from the rule of the kingdom, whether explicitly or implicitly, consciously or unconsciously, and some of them even broke out in a bloody coup d'état. The strategy of the national capital cannot get out of the hill where the national capital of the blue country is located. Up to now, the islands have the same kind and different customs, the same language and different tracks, and only the formal unity has been retained. It is also because the small army is not as strong as the country that the islands have to unite.

By the time he finished speaking, he had already arrived at the shore. Tong Xi was the first to get off the boat, and when he was waiting for someone to get off the boat, he looked at the sloppy and dilapidated cabin and suddenly smiled: "Drive the boat, take a few more orders and change the boat, you are an exclusive deal, if someone fights with you, you will definitely not make our money today." ”

The old man smiled: "Female guest, don't think the old man, my ship is old, the new ship was requisitioned by the allies on the island of Eight Nations." I can only carry you in old ships, and if I clean up and do business, you will have to wait until it gets dark. ”

Liao Tingyun was the last to get off the boat, Su Yue stretched out his hand to pick her up, but he was thinking about the requisition of the boat, Liao Tingyun slapped his hand, signaling that he didn't need to take it, he didn't pay attention, his hand was still stretched forward, and he looked up and asked the old man: "Your ship has been requisitioned?"

"It's not just my family? How many boats on the Blue River that are ferrying, fishing, and transporting goods have been requisitioned, and we have signed a deed with the official family, the ship is first evaluated, and the official family is exempt from our rent, and our boat is used by them during the war, and if the boat is damaged, we will be compensated according to the price agreed on in the deed. Otherwise, how could there not be a boat or a single person up and down? ”

"Then why do you still keep this boat. ”

The old man stared, and Fang Zhi missed something. "I'm really fast-talking," the old man slapped himself in the mouth, "you have to hide it from me, you can't tell the official family to go." ”

Tong Xi stood on the shore and pretended to complain: "You still think I give less!"

The old man shook his head: "The fortune teller said that my mouth is leaking money, it's true." He took out a few copper coins from his arms, twisted his head and stretched out to Tong Xi. "Take it, take it. ”

"So little?"

The old man's hand also stopped in mid-air, and he didn't want to return all the money to them, and he was afraid that they would really go to the government to sue, and he didn't know what to do. Su Yue put away his hand and said, "Put the money away, old boatman, she is joking with you." ”

The captain put away the money and watched them laugh away, but he was still relieved: "Uh...... Belch...... If you don't have the money back, don't go to the official's house to expose me-"

The crowd just laughed and shook their hands away. The old man looked at their backs as they drifted away, scratching his head, still faintly uneasy.

After going ashore, it was actually getting dark. Fortunately, there is a market town on the ferry, and everyone turns around in the market town and finds a slightly better guest house to stay.

But since entering the guest house, Liao Tingyun always felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't say what it was. She trusts her instincts, and she can't rule out whether it's because of a foreign country. And everyone has already settled down, and there is no basis for saying that they think something is wrong and want to change the company.

She wanted to tell Su Yue all these words, but she was still blocked in her heart. After dinner, the four of them walked around the market town, washed up after returning to the hostel, and went to bed early.

Liao Tingyun had something in her heart, tossing and turning, and she didn't fall asleep until the middle of the night, she was really bored, and wanted to go downstairs to pour a glass of wine, so in order to avoid waking up Tong Xi, she came out quietly. Without lighting the lamp, she went downstairs in the dark, and when the night breeze blew in the corridor, she became more awake. The night watchman was already asleep on the counter. She didn't wake up, just threw the money on the counter and poured her own drink.

The eyes and ears of insomniacs are always very sensitive, and I don't know if it is because of the uneasiness in my heart, in the darkness, she suddenly felt a dark shadow passing by outside the door.

She opened the door decisively and looked out. The cold wind poured into the house, scaring the night watchman into the house.

There is a pair of red lanterns hanging under the cornices of the guest house, the street is outside the door, the door is a dry goods shop on the left side of the door, the door is closed, it has long been closed, the door is on the right side of the guest house, the door is not locked, and there is a small slit, there is still a faint light outside the door, and the world in the door is dark and deep.