"Old Xie, don't brag," the monkey turned to look at Xie Chao again, and retorted loudly, "That thing has long been dead, have you really seen it?" ”

Xie Chao didn't bother to look at him again, took another puff of cigarette, and didn't speak.

"I heard that the Wind Thunder Leopard is a divine beast in Yunzhou, a little more powerful than a tiger, is it really so easy for us to meet?"

"Isn't it good to meet you? Didn't you say it was a mythical beast? Good luck! There was a superstitious old man who cared for a bang and said excitedly.

"I don't think so, maybe it's just a bigger leopard, it's not that mysterious." This time it was the young man who had been blowing Xun before, in fact, he said this because he really didn't see it clearly just now, and the lightning was just a moment, and he just saw a pair of green, glass-like eyes.

The guys talked loudly around the fire pit, each holding their own words, excited as if they saw a big-breasted girl, the gang leader Feng Dao was roasting the fire, silent, and Shen Jin, the gang deputy next to him, stared at the fire pond quietly, and did not join the discussion of the guys.

"Shen Jin, what do you think about this matter?" Feng Dao suddenly asked.

"What do you think?" Shen Jin turned his head to look at Feng Dao, looking puzzled.

"Do you think that Wind Thunder Leopard is real?"

"I don't know about this," Shen Jin scratched his head, "I haven't seen the Wind Thunder Leopard either, how can I be sure of this?" ”

As everyone was talking, torches suddenly lit up around the hut, and the people of the Black Forest Village took their hats and held torches, one by one, one by one, and walked towards the forest just now, even though the two leopards had gone away, but the people in the village still stood in place for a long time, unwilling to leave.

tomato

At last, the man in the lead suddenly put down his torch and fell straight into the mud, and the men behind him fell down one by one, and they folded their hands and bowed reverently in the direction the two leopards had left.

"Well, don't ask, that thing...... It's really a wind thunder leopard. Feng Dao whispered.

As he spoke, Feng Dao suddenly pulled Shen Jin to his side, he rolled his eyes to scan his side, and then approached Shen Jin's ear and whispered something, Shen Jin hesitated, and finally nodded vigorously.

......

The next day, as soon as the day dawned, the sun drilled out of the clouds, although the ground was still muddy, but it was a rare good weather, Feng Dao hesitated, but decided to let the horse gang on the road, he asked the guys to pack their bags, reload the goods, and leave after eating.

Xie Chao tore off a piece of roasted pheasant, put it in his mouth and chewed it, completely ignoring his own image, of course, the others were not much better, they bragged while eating, and some even took out a small bottle of wine from their arms, but they only took a sip and put it back again.

The horse gang has rules, you can't drink alcohol on the way to Yunzhou Road, of course, if it's just a little sip like this, Feng Dao and Shen Jin won't care, as long as they don't miss something, then they will turn a blind eye.

Su Jingchen chewed the tasteless pheasant, and suddenly missed the fluffy little leopard.

Xie Chao suddenly came over again, and while he was eating the pheasant, he said vaguely, "Where did your little leopard come from?" ”

"Little leopard?" Su Jingchen was stunned for a moment, and then said with a smile, "Where did the little leopard come from?" ”

Xie Chao glanced at him, "You are blind to me, I saw it yesterday." ”

Su Jingchen smiled bitterly and shook helplessly

Head, "picked up on the road." ”

"Picked it up on the road?" Xie Chao sneered, lowered his voice, and said hoarsely, "Why didn't you say that you picked up gold on the road?" That's the Wind Thunder Leopard! For the Miao people in Yunzhou, it is the same existence as a dragon! ”

Su Jingchen shrugged, "It was indeed picked up on the road, and it came to me on its own." ”

Xie Chao patted Su Jingchen's shoulder, and said angrily, "You kid is almost done, the cub of the Wind Thunder Leopard is terrifying, and it will take the initiative to approach you?" ”

Su Jingchen didn't rush to answer Xie Chao's question, he finished eating the last bite of mountain chicken, took out the arrows in the quiver, counted them one by one, and gently flicked the feathers of the arrow tail from time to time, after a long while, he said, "Believe it or not, I don't need to lie about this." ”

Xie Chao was stunned, and carefully recalled about this offspring who couldn't chat, and felt that he didn't seem to like bragging much, so he believed it, "I have it, I believe you." ”

After about another stick of incense, Feng Dao took the lead out of the room, he stood in the sun and stretched, a rare smile appeared on his serious face, he turned around and yelled, "Let's go!" ”

Shen Jin ran over to Xie Chao's side and patted Xie Chao's shoulder, "Let's go, old Xie, lead the way." ”

Xie Chao patted his buttocks, slowly walked a few steps forward, and said to Feng Dao at the door in a lazy voice, "Come on." ”

The guys stood up unhurriedly, picked up their things, and kept up with Xie Chao's footsteps.

Each of them had a smile on their faces, the sunny weather was a good sign, the road did not have to be so hard, and it was not easy to get lost, after walking through this forest, they could reach Roots before dark, it was a dam in the mountains, a large river passed through the middle of the dam, both sides of the river were relatively safe vegetation, in the middle of the dam, there was also a village called Luohai, the village was not big, and there were few people, only less than 3,000 people, but it was the only place within a radius of 100 miles where they could rest, and the mountain people there were more civilized, There are also many transactions with Zhongzhou merchants, but if you want to make a big deal, you still have to get Fenglei Village.

Feng Dao was thinking about whether he could make a few deals on the Luo Hai side, and then go to Fenglei Village.

Just when everyone was happy, Xie Chao suddenly stopped, and Shen Jin saw that there were all large-leaved shrubs and huge monstera bamboos in front of him, and rootless vines were entangled among them.

Looks like there's no way out.

"Lao Xie, what's going on? You can't be on the wrong path, right? Why is this no way? Shen Jin asked with a frown.

"What's the hurry?" Xie Chao was still humming an unknown mountain song in his mouth, he turned around, walked unhurriedly to the team, called a few strong brothers, and commanded them to cut the bushes in front of them with knives, and a three-foot-wide path suddenly appeared in front of everyone.

Xie Chao was triumphant, his two fine eyebrows were almost about to fly into the sky, he stood on the side of the road and lit the smoke pot again, took a deep breath, and said to Shen Jin, "There is no fork in the middle of this path, you can see a boulder almost five or six miles ahead, you let the brothers walk first, and then stop when you see the boulder, I will rest at the back of the team, you keep urging me, go so fast, I can't stand this old bone." ”

"Brothers won't go awry?" Shen Jin was a little worried, he was afraid that if one person went wrong, he would lead the entire horse team to a dead end.

"As long as your brain is okay and don't drill into the woods, you'll be fine." Xie Chao patted Shen Jin's

Shoulder, "Don't worry, it's a big deal that you're in front, stop if you feel wrong, run back to me, and I'll go back and lead the way." ”

Shen Jin hesitated for a moment, but still nodded, "That's okay, I'll let the brothers go slower, if you think the road is wrong, come up quickly." ”

"Okay, okay, let's go." Xie Chao waved his hand and took another deep puff of his cigarette.

Xie Chao just sat on the side of the road, watching the fifty mules and horses of the horse team walk in front of him one by one, fifty mules and horses, thirty horses pulling goods, and twenty horses pulling food, medicine, water, and things for the brothers' self-defense, this horse team is not big in the merchants of Yunzhou, but the things they carry are what the Miao people in Yunzhou like, Huaiyang's silk, Jingde's porcelain, and some fine ironware, each of which can be sold at a high price in Fenglei Village.

Su Jingchen walked up to Xie Chao and stopped, and asked him, "Why don't you lead the way in front." ”

"I can't walk, rest for a while," as he spoke, Xie Chao also beckoned to Su Jingchen and motioned for him to sit beside him, "Come here and sit and wait for me, and we'll go over together later." ”

Su Jingchen took two steps forward, and suddenly stopped again, "Forget it, I'll still stand and wait for you." ”

"Yo, what's wrong with the snake biting your ass?" Xie Chao couldn't help laughing at him, "Aren't you afraid of death?" How can this be scary? ”

"I don't want to be bitten to death by a snake on the side of the road." Su Jingchen shook his head, but still refused to sit down.

Xie Chao no longer persuaded him, and smoked his cigarette again.

"You're ...... this year How old are you? Su Jingchen looked at Xie Chao's withered old face and suddenly asked.

"Guess what?" Xie Chao suddenly laughed and puffed out a puff of smoke at Su Jingchen.

Su Jingchen didn't stretch out his hand to wave away the smoke in front of him, he didn't know why, he didn't hate the smell of smoke, he looked at Xie Chao again, and estimated the number, "Sixty?" ”

"I just turned forty-six last month." Xie Chao suddenly coughed violently, he sucked his throat sharply, spit out a mouthful of sticky yellow phlegm, and then loaded some tobacco into the cigarette gun, before saying, "The miasma of Yunzhou, the life of the people, the people who walk the Yunzhou Road, it is a great luck that they were not killed by those poisonous insects and beasts, like the monkey in the team, he is just a half-hanger, he can't recognize the road, he has walked the Yunzhou Road for six or seven years, and he didn't die, it was his ancestral tomb that smoked, you were lucky, you met me, if you change the monkey, or someone else, maybe you will have died in the middle of the road." If you get lost, there are thousands of things in this forest that can kill you. ”

Xie Chao paused, and suddenly sighed softly, "My body is almost unbearable, I don't know if I can live to wait for the person that Mr. asked me to wait for, take him to the place he wants to go." ”

Su Jingchen didn't answer, the two were silent like this, waited for a while, and when they could no longer see the tail of the team, Xie Chao finally finished the last puff of cigarette, he raised his head and spewed out a cloud of smoke, put away the cigarette gun, and stood up suddenly.

"After all, why did you come to Yunzhou?" Xie Chao suddenly asked Su Jingchen another question that he had already asked.

"I can't tell," Su Jingchen sighed and said faintly, "whether it's for myself to find a reason to live." ”

"Or, to put an end to this troubled world?" He spoke in a voice that only he could hear.

Xie Chao didn't hear the last words Su Jingchen said, and he didn't ask, but turned around and walked in the direction where the team left, "Let's go." ”