As mentioned last time, Shi Qingyi left Youzhou and went south along the canal, stopping everywhere he passed, traveling to the local area, and seeing the folk customs and customs of the northern section of the canal. At the same time, he also learned about the rampant thieves in the area and the suffering of the people. On this day, Shi Qingyi was watching on the boat, when a breeze blew, and the scholar came to add clothes for him, and he recalled what happened a few days ago.

It is said that after Shi Qingyi entered the hut, the child lit the candle, and as the candlelight illuminated the whole room, the situation inside was also clear at a glance. This scene really startled Shi Qingyi, and he saw a tragic scene in front of him, where there was a large iron cage with seven or eight children in the cage. Some of these children had their hands broken, some had their feet broken, or their hands and feet were broken, and each of them was mutilated in its own way.

Shi Qingyi hurriedly looked at the child on the side, and at this time, by the candlelight, he realized that this child was the lame child who begged him today.

This situation surprised Shi Qingyi, and he hurriedly asked, "Child, tell me, what's going on?"

The child wanted to speak, but he couldn't speak, Shi Qingyi took a look, only to find that the child had his tongue cut out, and even if he had a mouth, he couldn't speak. Who is it that is so cruel to put these children here and tell them to go out and beg?

A flash of inspiration flashed in his head, and the old man appeared in Shi Qingyi's mind, could it be the old man? Shi Qingyi asked the caged child with doubts. And the children in the cage were also in pain with the child outside, and they all had their tongues cut out and could not speak.

Shi Qingyi wanted to open the iron cage to save people, but found that there was no way at all, after all, this is only possible if you have a key, Shi Qingyi is also an ordinary person, where can you open this iron cage?

In desperation, Shi Qingyi wanted to find the old man, but at this time, he was stopped by the child, and the child in the cage also shook vigorously, signaling him not to take this risk.

This Shi Qingyi was originally a sage book he read, so that if he didn't save him when he saw death, where he succeeded, he was persistent. However, if you think about it, this old man must have taken precautions, and he must not act rashly, and while he was thinking about it, there was a sound of fighting outside.

Shi Qingyi hurriedly ran out, only to see the candlelight faintly, and he could vaguely see the old man holding a very sharp pig-killing knife, about to kill his scholar. At this time, the scholar pressed his hand against the old man's hand, but the old man pressed it on the table, and he was about to make the ghost under the knife.

Shi Qingyi didn't hesitate, hurriedly picked up the bench casually, and walked towards the two of them. It's just that the old man and the scholar have a fierce fight, and Shi Qingyi doesn't know where to start.

The scholar said, "Childe, Childe, are you all right? I thought you had been poisoned, but I was relieved to see that you were okay." It's just that this old man somehow made a noise when he entered my room, and I found out, so I fought with him, and didn't do anything to his sword. ”

At this time, Shi Qingyi understood the reason for this matter, but the old man said fiercely: "It's almost time, I'll send you to see the king of Hades first, and I'm bringing your master to accompany you." and to me all your riches shall be yours, but I shall loosen them from your sword, and cast them away as the rations of the beasts of the mountains. ”

Shi Qingyi listened to the old man's words, and remembered the children in the house just now, so he was ruthless, and smashed them down. It's just that fortunately, it was the old man who hit him, and I saw the old man covering the back of his neck, looking at Shi Qingyi and the others with a fierce look. The candle in the old man's hand also rolled to the ground, but it was not extinguished, but with a breeze blowing in through the window, the helpless debris was set on fire.

The master and servant looked at each other in some panic, and the old man said: "You two are really bad stars, Lao Tzu has been in this wilderness for more than ten years, which passerby lived in my shop, and I have seen the sun the next morning, but I didn't expect to miss it today." However, you still can't escape, there is not a single family within a radius of dozens of miles, and it is difficult for you to fly. ”

As soon as the old man finished speaking, he saw the child on the side again, and said again: "It turns out that you are a little ghost, who has done a good thing to me, and today I am in a hurry to do them and forget about you." I also told me why there was no one in the room, and who had put the wood in front of the scholar's door, so that I was discovered. When I get rid of them, I'll clean you up. ”

As soon as he finished speaking, the old man slashed at Shi Qingyi and the two, and the two were not stupid, they dodged separately, and suddenly the scholar shouted: "Childe, run outside." ”

Shi Qingyi also knew, so he hurriedly ran to the direction of the door, but he didn't know that the door had already been locked and couldn't be opened, but it just attracted a burst of ridicule from the old man, and then he invited the old man's pig-killing knife.

At this time, the candle flame that the old man rolled down gradually burned more and more with the help of the wind, and the old man was also more and more manic, and he was about to kill Shi Qingyi and the others.

But the scholar tried his best to drag the old man, and Shi Qingyi desperately rushed towards the gate, just to escape as soon as possible, after all, the old man's legs and feet were inconvenient, and escaping from this house was a little hope of survival.

The old man was not stupid, he knew that they were going to do this, and he didn't care about the scholar in front of him, he came straight to Shi Qingyi, the fire was getting bigger and bigger, and the old man came towards Shi Qingyi, like a god of death.

But the door was almost opened, and the old man had already arrived in front of Shi Qingyi, only to see the old man show a strange smile on his face, and raised the knife in his hand, just to slash at Shi Qingyi. At this critical moment, the scholar hurriedly came up, grabbed the old man's hand holding the knife, and stopped the old man's fatal knife in time, but although the old man is disabled, he has great strength, where is the old man's opponent?

I saw that the old man threw it sharply, added another kick, and kicked the scholar to the ground. At this time, the door had been knocked by Shi Qingyi and almost opened, and it was almost possible to knock the door open with the last collision, but the old man had already come to Shi Qingyi's front and grabbed him, seeing that he was about to succeed, it seemed that there was no hope again.

The old man said treacherously, "Well, my sword is fast, and no one who dies under my knife suffers." ”

And Shi Qingyi closed his eyes in despair, waiting to give himself a good time, as the old man said. It's just that while waiting, he didn't see any movement, but heard a trace of the old man's complaint, and Shi Qingyi opened his eyes.

I saw that the child was biting the old man's thigh, which was originally a crippled leg, and was bitten by the child like this, and the old man was even more painful, so he had to put down Shi Qingyi, mention the child, and prepare to kill him.

With a snap, Shi Qingyi sat down on the ground, his legs and feet were a little weak, and the scholar had already stood up at this time, exerted his strength, and rushed towards the old man. The old man was knocked down by a sharp charge from the scholar, and the knife in his hand fell not far away.

At this time, the scholar shouted at Shi Qingyi: "Childe, hit the door quickly!"

The frightened Shi Qingyi didn't have time to think about it, so he slammed into the gate, the door opened, as if he hoped to come again, Shi Qingyi immediately went to help the scholar, ready to escape from here.

Just when the three of them thought they were about to get out of the sea of suffering, the old man picked up the knife, grabbed the child's leg, and said viciously: "Don't even think about running, you have to be buried here with me." ”

Seeing this situation, Shi Qingyi wanted to save the child, but after the old man picked the child up, he walked towards them. Shi Qingyi and the scholar slowly retreated, gradually exiting the house, and at this moment, the child once again tried his best to go to the old man's hand, and the old man was in pain and scattered the child. Just when the child wants to run outside. Suddenly, the beams collapsed, and in an instant the child and the old man were drowned in the flames.

The joy on Shi Qingyi's face gradually faded, his face became stiff, and a living life just disappeared in front of his eyes, and there was no more. For Shi Qingyi, who had read the previous 10,000 volumes of sage books and had not experienced the true parting of life and death, it was as terrifying as seeing a scorching prison, and everything was full of gloom in his heart.

The picture turned again, and returned to the boat on the river, Shi Qingyi's eyes were slightly moist, and he just said softly: "Why is what is said in this book different from the prosperous Tang Dynasty sung by those writers and great poets?"

Later, Shi Qingyi learned that the old man in the black shop used to be an honest farmer, and later, thieves rose up and killed his family, which also caused him to be lame. He was proud of his life and had nothing to love, but when he saw the darkness of the collusion of officials and thieves in this world, he had nowhere to redress his grievances, so he stepped into this murderous and oversold business. Alone, alone in this wilderness forest, for more than ten years, if the passers-by stayed in his shop, none of them could come out alive. Most of those children were also the children of those he had killed, and he had crippled them and placed them nearby to spy on passers-by. As for why the child wanted to save Shi Qingyi at a critical moment after the child inquired about Shi Qingyi's whereabouts for the old man at that time, Shi Qingyi has never gotten an answer, maybe in the child's heart, this Shi Qingyi is the one who can save them!

But in the end, except for Shi Qingyi and the scholar, the old man and those children were buried in a sea of fire, a fire burned it clean, all sins were turned into ashes, and all that could be left was a dark night, and all that was left was the past.

The boat was still heading south, and suddenly, there was a sentence from the old man who was holding the boat: "Guest officer, there is Sandaokou in front of you, are you going to Jiangnan or Luoyang, Zhongzhou?" I would like to greet you, so that the boat can be rowed into the river where you are going, so that you can easily transfer." ”

As soon as the old man finished speaking, the scholar stepped forward and said to Shi Qingyi, "Childe, where are you going?"

Shi Qingyi sighed lightly, slowly closed his eyes, and said softly: "Luoyang." ”

Then the scholar stepped back and told the boatman that he was going to Luoyang, and he told him clearly.

The sunset is approaching, the sunset is afterglow, and at this moment, the young man is looking into the distance, his eyes suddenly become a trace of sharpness, and the corners of his mouth can't help but rise slightly. Then, a breeze blew, and the young man looked at a loss again, and his face returned to the hesitation of his hand, as if he knew something, and he was faintly worried.