The carriage continued to move on, and the sun gradually moved to the west.

I casually asked, "In the courtyard of that mountain man just now, the man was not there, did he also go to catch the fish you mentioned?" ”

The coachman told me that the mountain lake was nearby.

I want the people of the village to catch some fish to supplement their families when they are not hunting.

Hearing this, the coachman shook his head and said, "Little brother, speaking of this, there is really something to say." ”

"That's right, it's been the beginning of fishing for that kind of fish lately," the coachman did not deny. "But the man of that house was dragged over by another person in the village, and they went to find a missing villager together!"

"Don't you know, the fish in the lake on the mountain are to be caught at night."

The coachman paused and said, "That's why I said that fish thief." ”

"Last night, several people in the village went to the lake together, and when it was dawn, someone disappeared and didn't come back, no, the village called more people to go to the mountain forest by the lake to find it."

I frowned and said, "It stands to reason that the people who catch the fish are the villagers nearby. "They are very familiar with the terrain of this area, so they shouldn't get lost, is it difficult to find the road in the woods?"

Could it be that there are many forks in the road, and there is fog in the mountains in the morning?

I had several possibilities in mind.

The coachman shook his head and said, "I don't know, although I have passed by a lot of times, but I have rested on the mountain road or the nearby pavilion and broken temple." ”

"I've never been to that lake in the mountains. Not to mention the roads in the woods. ”

The coachman lowered his head and thought for a while, "I also asked the mistress of the house if it would be the missing villager who saw the live prey and temporarily changed the route and arrested it." ”

"Quite possibly." He gave another reason that I didn't expect. I immediately chimed in, "It's a bit strange that the big living people disappeared by the lake, and they still went with them in a group!" ”

Turning my head to look at the boy, I saw him staring out the window in distraction, motionless, leaning against the wall of the car. I don't know what I'm thinking.

I'm sure he heard what the driver said, but he didn't participate in our discussion, probably because he didn't think it was his business.

If only you had time to wander around the mountains. I'm sure I'll need to ask for more information, especially if it's related to me!

But in the current situation, it is important to hurry, and I will listen to what the driver says as a topic of conversation.

Look at the boy leaning in the car silently. I gritted my teeth and handed him the bag of fruit I had collected. The meaning is very clear, let him be free.

You know, I was planning to take this bag of fruit to Suzhou City.

The young man chuckled lowly, shook his head and said, "Xiaoling, if you like it, eat it all." ”

The carriage turned again, and the coachman's speed was now quite steady, neither too fast nor too slow.

Driving on the mountain road, my eyes looked at the sky several times, and I felt the same feeling last time. It feels like it's going to change.

Turning his gaze to the boy, he happened to be looking at me.

Seeing that I wanted to speak and stopped. The young man took the initiative to move, approached me and said, "Xiaoling, I don't look very reliable in this weather." ”

He thought of going with me! I couldn't help but look at him more.

"That's right, when we hired a car, didn't the uncle say that the previous guest encountered heavy rain on the way, maybe you said it, and he may not be able to escape today."

"Why don't you ask him?" I spoke to the young man in a whisper, and my eyes glanced at the head.

He shook his head and gestured, but still pushed me over to the small window, "Xiaoling, you are more familiar with people, you ask." ”

I was thinking about what to ask the driver, and the automator in front of me slowed down.

The coachman turned his head from near the small window of the adjacent car and said to the two of us, "The weather looks a little wrong." ”

"There is a mountain temple ahead, in the middle of the mountain, I will drive the car over, let's go to the temple to rest."

The coachman suggested to us.

The boy glanced at him alertly, and I noticed his reaction at the side, and I turned my head to look at him in an instant.

"Are you familiar with the line over there?" I thought about it and asked the coachman.

"It's very familiar, it's easy to find, it's next to the mountain road, from where we passed, about half an hour to go."

The coachman spoke fluently, and it seems that there are quite a few stops, most of which are due to the vagaries of the weather on the mountain. "In that case, let's go, the weather doesn't look very reliable," I stared at the sky for a few seconds, and saw that the large cloud was slowly pressing, "If it rains heavily on half of the road, there is nowhere to hide, and then it will be terrible!" ”

"It's too cold, and it's troublesome to get wet."

Think about it, if you are drenched in soup chicken, and two men go together, it is too troublesome, and there is no chance to dry clothes.

After saying that, I looked at the boy with worried eyes, and he nodded.

When the driver saw that we had agreed, he said, "Hurry up, I'll let the car hurry." ”

With that, the coachman raised his whip and struck it on his horse, and in an instant sped up and hurried forward.

I know that the rain in the mountains comes and goes, very quickly, sometimes so fast that you don't even have time to hide.

People who are experienced in driving can discern the weather conditions and prepare in advance if they feel that something is wrong.

Sure enough, when the carriage arrived at the entrance of the mountain temple that the coachman said, the raindrops of beans immediately fell down!

The coachman drove the carriage to the eaves of the temple and stopped, and the boy and I got out of the carriage to help.

The rain was getting heavier and heavier, and the three of them were a little depressed when they looked at the rain outside.

The coachman stood under the eaves and shook his head and said, "In less than two hours, it will definitely not stop." ”

It seems that it is too optimistic to go to Suzhou tonight, not only will it not be possible, but it may be necessary to spend the night here. "What then?" I hesitated to look at the rain and said. "Stay in the temple and get something to eat. There is a well in the backyard and the water is quite clean. ”

After the discussion, the car was set up. The three of them crossed the threshold and walked to the inside of the mountain temple.

The shrine is covered with cobwebs, and the desk is covered with dust, which seems to be a deserted place for incense.

"The place is a little off, the location is related," the coachman smiled as he saw the question in my mind. "There are very few people in this area, except for those who fish in the winter, and others like us. Passers-by who stopped halfway to shelter from the wind and rain. ”

After thinking for a while, the coachman said, "If it is a temple near the village, the incense will definitely be much more prosperous than here." ”

I glanced around the room and saw a pile of embers in the east corner. I'd like to have the teenager go and see it together.

Didn't wait for me to speak. The boy noticed it at the same time, and he went to the east corner to investigate.

I showed the coachman that there were some dead branches at the back of the temple, and he carried flint with him, and even carried a small pot and a few wooden bowls in the mezzanine of the car.

"There's no way, I was trapped in the mountains that time and was scared, and I will take this with me when I come out in the future."

The driver saw a little surprise in my eyes and explained to me.

I went with him to take down the simple ingredients that I had brought in the car and into the house.

The teenager has finished looking at it. At this moment, he was squatting in the corner with a broken broom, and I don't know where in the temple he found it. Sweeping away a corner of dust.

He was going to make a temporary cleaner area for the three of them to use.

Needless to say, I took on other tasks.

I stuffed a handful of dead branches into the improvised stove made of stones, and looked at the young man, who had not been idle after sweeping the floor, and was studying the pile of embers on the ground.

The coachman took the pots and bowls and the food he brought and went to the well in the backyard to rinse.

Everyone is busy with their own things, thinking about the previous boy's headache for the affairs of Suzhou City, I also suggested that he assign tasks after he arrived, so that the people below can perform their duties, but I didn't expect that at this time, a few of us used it first.

The advantage of division of labor is that it is relatively fast.

When the fire was raised, the coachman set up the cleaned pot and poured rice and dried vegetables into it.

I had sharp eyes, and I saw that the varieties he brought were exactly the same as those of the eldest lady who dried them in the yard on the mountain, and I remembered that the taste of this dish was also very refreshing after steaming.

"This, is it a specialty of Suzhou?" I asked the coachman, "When I was in the mountains, I saw mountain people drying this kind of food." ”

"Yes, there are a lot of them in the nearby mountains, wild ones, and they taste good."

"How to eat in Suzhou? I've tasted cold salad, and I drank it in the boiled porridge I saw today, and what else? ”

The coachman was stunned for a moment, as if he didn't expect to stay in the mountain temple and not even be able to catch the road, and it was pouring rain outside, so I could only get something to eat casually, and I was actually interested in chatting with him about cooking.

Not only the coachman, but also the boy in the east corner of the room looked up at us.

After a while, he shook his head helplessly, or did he understand my personality.

"Ah, that's usually just two ways to eat." The coachman replied to me.

"It's too little, I can think of something else, but now I don't have a chance to try, I can find a way after Suzhou."

I muttered in a low voice, watching the porridge in the pot slowly exude the aroma, and the bubbles bubbled out of the boiling porridge noodles, and my mood was even better

In the courtyard in the east of Suzhou City, the guards waiting for the passages outside the city have arrived one after another.

There were about seven or eight people gathered in the courtyard at one time.

One of the guards had a very anxious expression, they had not yet had a chance to see their lord when they were locked up in the study.

When the post station on the mountain road outside the city was separated, he had already explained the situation to the people who came, but after all, it was not as clear as facing the sky directly.

The soldiers who came in disguise from the Northland passing by outside the city vaguely made him feel a little uneasy in his heart.

The Lord may have already known that the guards gave themselves a reassurance, and secretly said in their hearts. "Come in!" In the study, Tianfang said in a deep voice.

Several guards who were silent in the courtyard walked quickly to the door of the room and went in one after another.

The guards of the post station were still unsure, and they took the lead in grabbing the beat.

Tianfang looked down at the map on the table, and when he heard the guards of the post station say those words, he didn't show a surprised expression on his face, and he said in a light tone: "I know." "Do you think we're going to make a move?" The guard asked apprehensively.

Tianfang was silent, looking at the map and not raising his head: "No need, I think someone will cook." “

Outside, the rain was still pouring down, and I sat around the fire in the temple with the coachman drinking freshly cooked porridge.

The boy sat in the corner of the room with his back to us with his bowl in his hand.

I noticed one thing, it seemed that there was a third person present, and his words were very few, and it was like a precious word.

Can I understand that this arrogant young master has gradually lowered his guard in front of me, but once he faces others, I'm afraid that layer of protection will not be so easy to disintegrate.

There is always a kind of "don't get close to the living" high and cold temperament.

Of course, the coachman also had doubts about his strange outfit.

Although the outfit was slightly changed in the town, the cloth that covered the face was replaced with a light hat.

He refused to show his prudence in the car, even in the temple, and the coachman had already asked me.

So, I had to repeat what I had said to the uncle and aunt on the mountain, and now the coachman looked at the boy with a little more sympathy.

However, this is the one that worries me the most, and I am afraid that at some point the teenager will become impatient under the gaze of such "sympathy" and make a move.

I really want to remind the coachman not to look at the eldest young master secretly with that kind of eyes, my eyes are on others, I'm afraid I can't stop it.

After the meal, the only people in the house who spoke were me and the coachman. "I heard you say when I hired the car," I glanced at the driver and said, "I heard that there are already guests in Suzhou City who have booked your car, so this trip has been delayed for a long time, right?" “

The coachman shook his head and sighed: "There is no way to do it, if the guest is considerate, he will definitely wait, if he can't wait, wait until Suzhou City returns the deposit he gave." "Have you ever been to the capital?" I asked the coachman.

Because when I was at the tea stall, I heard from that group of people that Suzhou went to the national capital, and there were also mountain roads, but there were very few. "I've been there a few times." The coachman said sincerely, "I have pulled it to the river many times." "You probably don't know, the town is south of the river is a river, and there is a waterway that leads to the national capital."

Of course, I knew very well, but I didn't want to tell the coachman, so I replied vaguely, and then asked: "You mean that Suzhou will go to the south of the town by land, and then take a boat?" ”

"Yes, bypassing the dangerous places on the river surface of Suzhou, there are many underwhelms, and the boat capsizes every year."

"The river has been running through the north, the channel is long, and it is resting in the summer, and the river from Suzhou to the north is very busy, but it will freeze in winter, so at this time, there is not a single boat from Suzhou to the north."

I know what the driver said, but I confirmed it again through his words.

After dinner, after a brief tidying up, the coachman took all the pots and pans to the yard behind him and went to the well to clean.

As soon as he walked away, the young man immediately got up and approached me and said, "Xiaoling, I think something is wrong!" (To be continued......)