"Hey, Ming Haoqi, there is obviously a small city here on this map, why have we been walking for so long, and we still can't see a single figure?" Yan Jin simply took out the map that had been hidden in his sleeve, unfolded it completely, stared at a location marked with the words "Xiangyin City" on the map in confusion, and asked suspiciously.

"There is indeed a small city nearby, but ......" Before Ming Haoqi finished speaking, Yan Jin took a step past him and walked forward.

Following the direction that Yan Jin walked over, Ming Haoqi saw a person walking out of the woods not far away, this person had dark skin, a wrinkled face, and looked very old, with some firewood behind him, it seemed that he was an old man cutting firewood in the woods nearby.

Yan Jin walked up to the old man and asked with a smile, "Uncle, let me inquire, we are passing by here when we go out, and we want to find a place to stay and rest, is there an inn or a place to eat near here?" ”

The old man put down the firewood on his back, straightened up, and then took off the straw hat on his head, revealing a head of gray hair, he fanned the wind with the straw hat while pointing in the direction in front of him and said, "Four or five miles ahead is Xiangyin City, there are inns and restaurants in the city, so let's go, it just so happens that I am going back too, you can go with me." ”

Hearing the words "Xiangyin City", Yan Jin turned his head and glanced at Ming Haoqi and Yan Nian behind him with a smile, and said in his heart, "It seems that that person didn't lie to him, this map is really accurate, and it won't cost him so much silver." ”

The map in Yan Jin's hand was bought at a high price in the hands of a peddler a few days ago, but it cost him a full ten taels of silver at that time, originally he wanted to tease Ming Haoqi Yannian and lied that he had the ability to be a prophet, but just now he couldn't help it, he had already taken it out, and now it was too late to say anything. In fact, as everyone knows, as early as the beginning, Ming Haoqi and Yan Nian had already discovered the map in his sleeve, but neither of them said it.

Yan Jin stepped forward and took the firewood that the old man had placed on the ground, and said, "Uncle, thank you very much, come, I'll help you carry it." ”

"Xiaoyun, I'll come." At this time, Ming Haoqi, who had not spoken behind Yan Jin, walked to his side, took the firewood from his hand, and then carried it to his back very easily, all his movements were done in one go, Yan Jin had not yet reacted, Ming Haoqi had already taken a step forward in the direction that the old man pointed out.

Yan Jin has always been familiar with himself, and along the way, he has not been idle, chatting with the old man, Ming Haoqi and Yan Nian still didn't say a word, and walked silently behind the two.

When he walked about two or three miles, Yan Jin saw a big stone more than one person high on the side of the road, and the stone stood on the side of the road at random, and a few vague words could be seen on it. The stone is overgrown with weeds, as if it has fallen into disrepair, and the words on it are not very clear after being covered by wind and rain and weeds.

Yan Jin walked over curiously, groped carefully on the stone with his hand, and always felt that something was strange, he turned his head and couldn't help asking, "Uncle, is the word "Xiangyin City" engraved on this city monument?" ”

"Exactly." The old man replied.

Yan Jin said again, "I see that this place is so desolate, and the handwriting on this stone is not very clear, why don't you find someone to repair it properly?" This monument is the façade of a city! ”

The old man sighed softly and said, "Hey, in our small place, few outsiders come, and the local people don't care about this, and no one will look at it if it is rebuilt." ”

At this time, Ming Haoqi, who had been silent all the way, suddenly looked at the old man and said, "Excuse me, has this place always been called the name Xiangyin City?" ”

Hearing Ming Haoqi say this, Yan Jin suddenly thought of the words on the stone just now, although it was indeed the three words Xiangyin City, but he always felt that the arrangement between these three words was very strange, crooked, as if it had been altered.

The old man didn't expect Ming Haoqi to ask like this, the expression on his face was slightly surprised, but he quickly returned to normal, only to see him squint his eyes, looking at a small city in the distance that had slowly shown its outline, and thought for a long time before he said slowly, "This, I also accidentally overheard the old man in the family when I was a child, it is said that more than three hundred years ago, Xiangyin City was originally called Xiangyue City, the reason why it is Xiangyue City, is because this place was the closest small city to the capital of Xiaoyue at that time, but this city is small, but it is very prosperous, Boisterous. At that time, there were many military generals in the city, all of whom held important positions in the palace, so the reputation of Xiangyue City at that time was like the capital of Xiaoyue Kingdom, and the scenery was infinite. Speaking of this, the old man stopped, the expression on his face was slightly sad, he glanced at the city monument on the side of the road, and said, "Later, you should have all heard that the ghost lord Mo Han killed all the people in the capital overnight, although Xiang Yuecheng escaped at that time, but none of the people in Xiangyue City in the capital came back. It was from that time on, the people in the city changed the word "moon" to the word "yin" in Xiangyue City, which commemorated the deceased country and also paid tribute to the souls of the people in the underworld to Xiangyue City. At that time, the people in the city had no heart to re-carve a new city monument, so everyone discussed and directly carved a "阝" character next to the word "moon" in the original city monument, and made up the three words "Xiangyin City" that you saw just now. The old man wiped his dry eyes, his gaze was still on the words on the city monument, and said, "Most of the people who know these things are almost dead, and everyone tacitly keeps silent about these things to future generations, it is estimated that now in this city, few people know these things, and I am also a person who is half buried in the soil, if you don't mention it today, I'm afraid I can only bring these things into the coffin." ”

Hearing Mo Han's name, Yan Jin unconsciously turned his head to look at Ming Haoqi beside him, he saw that Ming Haoqi's face was still faint, and there was no change, it seemed that he was really just listening to some old stories in a small town that had nothing to do with them.

The Xiangyin City in front of him is getting closer and closer, and the pedestrians around him are gradually increasing, and there are people on the road who greet the old man from time to time, but their eyes always secretly fall on the three strangers who have never seen the old man.

Suddenly, a young man ran over in a panic not far away, and before he got closer, he panted and shouted, "Uncle Zhang, Dajiang's daughter-in-law and Dajiang quarreled for some reason, and now Dajiang's daughter-in-law is arguing to go back to her parents' house?" Go back and check it out! ”

When the old man heard this, he didn't care about chatting with Yan Jin and them anymore, he took the firewood from Ming Haoqi's hand, handed it to the young man who came, and the two left in a hurry. Yan Jin and Ming Haoqi glanced at each other, although they didn't know what was going on, but they decided to take a look together.

Not long after they followed the old man, Yan Jin heard a loud noise, mixed with the hoarse howls of children.

"Xiaoxi, don't cry, my mother will take you back to your grandfather's house......" After approaching, Yan Jin saw a young woman at the gate of a small courtyard who was softly coaxing the child beside her, carrying a burden in her hand, and several women beside her were pulling her to persuade in a low voice. On the other side, a man stood expressionless, with his back to the woman, but he did not make any movements or words.

"Oe, what the hell is going on?" The old man who had just come back also saw the scene in front of him and asked directly to the indifferent man on the side.

The man named Da Jiang did not answer the old man's question, his expression was cold, and he still looked away without saying a word.

Seeing that Da Jiang didn't answer, the old man looked at the woman who was sobbing in a low voice on the side, softened his tone, and said, "Xiao Xi Niang, you say." ”

Hearing the old man's words, Alain stopped crying slightly, she wiped the tears on her face with her sleeve and choked up, "Dad, Dajiang...... He has another woman outside......" Before he finished speaking, the woman's tears couldn't stop flowing again.

The old man looked at Zhang Dajiang and saw that he didn't mean to refute, and Alan had a gentle and upright temperament, so he wouldn't talk nonsense about such a big matter, knowing that it was true. So when he was out of breath, he picked up a stick outside the courtyard gate and hit Dajiang, and scolded with hatred in his mouth, "Why did I raise such a bastard thing as you, I will beat you to death today." ”

Da Jiang couldn't dodge, he hit a few sticks on his back, and the people next to him stepped forward to stop the old man, Da Jiang took advantage of this and hurriedly went out, and said very unconvinced, "As soon as I get home every day, you have been nagging in my ear, thinking about this and that, how can there be a little bit of being a wife and mother, gentle and virtuous, I am almost annoyed to death, it is not as good as other women, at least they can understand me and feel sorry for me." ”

"Zhang Dajiang, what did you say at the beginning, have you forgotten? At the beginning, you said that you liked me to nag and wanted me to manage you and this family, so that you could really feel at home, but now you think I nag and restrain you everywhere, I'm afraid that you have an excuse for women outside. At this time, Alan had stopped crying, stared at Zhang Dajiang with a pair of red and swollen eyes, and retorted angrily.

Zhang Dajiang had nothing to say, dropped a sentence of "unreasonable" and flicked his arms and left.

The old man chased a few steps but didn't catch up, threw away the stick in his hand angrily, turned to Alan and said, "Xiao Xiniang, Dajiang was brought up by me, and now he has done such a bastard thing, I apologize to you for him." As he spoke, the old man wanted to bend down and kneel.

Seeing this, Alan hurriedly walked over, grabbed the old man, and said hurriedly, "Dad, what are you doing here?" How can I blame you for this? You treat me like my own daughter, and I have always been grateful to you, and you really hurt me like this! ”

At this time, the people around him also persuaded the old man, "Uncle Zhang, you are an elder, how can you kneel for Alain?" ”

"Yes! Uncle Zhang. ”

"Uncle Zhang, this is Da Jiang doing something wrong, it's not you, what are you doing!"

“……”

At the same time, Yan Jin also heard someone in the crowd around him start muttering in a low voice, "Da Jiang, this kid is really good, he has always been honest since he was a child, how can he do such a thing?" ”

"Didn't you be fine a few days ago, why did you suddenly get into a daze?"

"Last month, Da Jiang also spent a lot of money to buy a jade pendant for Alain, although Alan blamed Da Jiang for spending money indiscriminately, but he liked it tightly in his heart, and he wore it all day long, not to mention how precious it was."

"Yes, yes, Alan also showed me, that piece of jade is snow-white, the color is really good, it is a good thing at first glance. You see, that's what she has on her chest now! ”

“……”

The old man thought for a while and said, "Xiaoxi Niang, you take Xiaoxi back first, this matter, no matter what, I will definitely ask Dajiang to kneel down for you in person to ask for guilt." ”

Alan looked at the gray-haired old man in front of her, and she couldn't bear to refuse, plus several women around her kept persuading her, and finally she pulled Xiaoxi back home.

After being a melon-eating crowd for a long time, after everyone dispersed, Yan Jin turned his head to Ming Haoqi and said, "Ming Haoqi, it's really unseemly, this Zhang Dajiang looked honest, I didn't expect it!" You say, what kind of woman can make this big river ghost fascinated and do this ruthless thing of abandoning his wife and children? ”

Ming Haoqi said, "Xiao Yun, don't talk about others behind your back, we don't know the cause and effect of the matter, so we can't jump to conclusions." ”

Yan Jin pursed her lips and said in her heart, "Don't you understand this?" This Zhang Dajiang is a scumbag! But he didn't dare to say it, for fear of provoking Ming Haoqi to lecture him again.

Yan Jin remembered that the old man mentioned it when he was on the road just now, this Xiangyin City is close to the capital of Xiaoyue Kingdom, and it looks very close on the map, and it is estimated that it will only be three or four days of travel, and they have time at the moment, and they are not in a hurry at this time, so Yan Jin proposed to find an inn in the city to rest for one night, and then continue to rush tomorrow.