"Yes, the waterway map. Long Yuan pulled Lao Zhang's sleeve robe and came to the waterway map, where the word "Broken Leaf Water" was written on his finger, "Look here, it is the main river channel of Broken Leaf Water, the source is the Zheluo Man Mountain Range next to Liting City, and the main river channel crosses the entire Beisha Province from west to east. ”

Long Yuan's fingers slid along a thick black line on the waterway map, stopping at the edge of Beisha Province.

"After that, the Broken Leaf Water will converge with the other two tributaries to form the Chujie River, which will pass through nearly ten provinces and eventually flow into the Forgotten Worry Sea, passing through Lingshui Province, the destination of our trip. ”

Roughly introduced the situation of the waterway to Lao Zhang, Long Yuan looked at Lao Zhang in contemplation, wanting to hear what he thought.

Lao Zhang took two puffs of his cigarette, and then said slowly: "The Broken Leaf Water River is wide and deep, the water is turbulent, and the carrying capacity has a very good potential, and compared with the land route, the waterway is indeed much faster, and at the same time, it can avoid many bandits." It's just that none of us have experience in running waterways, and we may be a little deficient in the face of emergencies. ”

Lao Zhang is worthy of being an expert in running caravans, and he quickly summed up many advantages of waterways, and at the same time expressed his worries.

"Could it be that you have enough means to deal with all the crises in the face of Lao Zhang by land?" Long Yuan's fingers roamed over the waterway map, he raised his head and raised his eyebrows, and asked Lao Zhang a little sarcastically.

"This ......"

Long Yuan's words made Lao Zhang speechless, he knew in his heart that no matter whether it was by land or water, there would be all kinds of dangers, and no one who ran a merchant dared to guarantee that he could deal with them all.

"Danger and opportunity coexist, as the saying goes, the bold starve to death the faint-hearted, and the thought of a big gain must take the corresponding risks, not to mention that we already have the most important waterway map in hand. ”

In fact, as the leader of this running business, Long Yuan had no need to discuss with Lao Zhang, but he was not arbitrary, but he had been trying to convince Lao Zhang.

Lao Zhang's hand holding the cigarette stick was trembling, and he could see that his heart was also doing a fierce ideological struggle, Long Yuan was not in a hurry, he slowly put away the waterway map, and waited for Lao Zhang to give him an answer with his arms in front of his chest.

"Okay, I'm done!" The cigarette stick stopped trembling, his palms clenched into fists, and he made a decision in his heart, "Steward Long, you say, when will we leave?"

"Hehe, don't worry, I still have to catch a mouse tonight!" Long Yuan was very satisfied with Lao Zhang's choice.

"Catch mice, catch what mouse?"

Lao Zhang was a little suspicious.

Long Yuan waved his hand and motioned for Lao Zhang to come over, and then leaned on Lao Zhang's shoulder and muttered a few words, Lao Zhang's expression was full of shock, and his eyes were full of disbelief.

"How is that possible!"

Lao Zhang couldn't accept what Long Yuan said in his heart.

"Shhhhh ”

Then he whispered his plan to Lao Zhang, and after seeing Lao Zhang nodding and understanding, he turned around and went back to the house.

But the sobbing clouds are still loosely curtained in the sky, only revealing some miserable white shimmers, the bright moon has been neatly dressed and quietly hung on the branches, on the dark blue night sky, there is a crescent moon hanging obliquely, there are still a few white clouds drifting around, the crescent moon emits a faint white light, like a small white sailboat flowing in the dark blue sea.

It was late autumn and the weather was rainy and gloomy. The wind blew the cold air on the backs of the old trees, making them rattle.

"Hah-"

Lao Zhang, who was on duty, grabbed the wine gourd in his hand, tilted his head and poured two sips of spirits, and the chill around his body was dispelled a lot.

After a few sips of wine, Lao Zhang's eyes began to become blurred, his body began to sway back and forth, and his old face like orange peel was flushed, it seemed that he had drunk a little too much.

Crunch –

The door to the bedroom where the caravan guards were resting was softly opened, and a figure crept out of the room.

He stood in the shadow and watched the drunk Lao Zhang carefully, with a contemptuous smile on his face, "It's a shame that he is still a veteran of running business, and he dares to drink on duty." ”

As a thief, Yin Ying was very alert, and after hearing the movement, he immediately turned over and got out of bed to check the situation in the small courtyard, but was pulled by someone from behind.

Yin Ying was startled and was about to call, when he heard Long Yuan's voice in his ears, "Don't scream, it's me." ”

"My lord, are you fishing?" Yin Ying asked in a low voice.

The so-called "fishing" is a slang for thieves, which refers to the deliberate trap set by the government in order to catch someone. Unless the thief is particularly well-informed or has a keen sense of danger, the thief can easily fall for it.

"Just you kid talk a lot. Long Yuan tapped Yin Ying's head, and then leaned on the crack of the door and said, "Watch the play honestly, don't startle the snake." ”

"Oh. ”

Yin Ying pouted in response.

The figure hiding in the shadows came to the carriage with the cargo box on his waist and feet, and he still seemed a little uneasy, and he came to Lao Zhang, who was already drunk.

"Brother Zhang, Brother Zhang......" The figure bent down and called softly twice, and then pushed Lao Zhang with his hand, seeing that Lao Zhang did not react, he put his mind at ease.

The figure covered his mouth and nose, waved his other hand in front of him, and then said with a disgusted face: "It's full of wine, it really stinks." ”

"I really didn't expect your luck to be so good, you actually escaped our calculations three times and twice, but your good luck is coming to an end, as long as I steal the frost white longevity turtle, the He family will almost be finished!"

The figure was talking to himself proudly as he thought about the cargo box containing the frost-white longevity turtle.

Bang!

As soon as the figure reached out and touched the cargo box, its body was bounced off like an electric shock and fell heavily to the ground.

"W-what's going on?"

The figure, who had finally recovered from the spasms, stood up tremblingly, holding his knees with his hands and gasping for air.

"Liu Ming, I didn't expect you to be an inner ghost. Lao Zhang, who was originally drunk, sat up at some point, and pointed at Liu Mingdao bitterly.

Liu Ming opened his eyes wide and screamed, "Aren't you already drunk, how can you wake up?"

"Because he drinks water. ”

Long Yuan walked out of the guest room with Yin Ying and came to Liu Ming without hurrying.

Liu Ming was stunned for a moment when he saw Long Yuan, and then he turned his gaze to Yin Ying, who made a provocative grimace at Liu Ming.

"So you're fishing. Liu Ming's face turned defeated, and then he laughed miserably: "When did you find me?"

"From the first time I saw you, I already knew that. Long Yuan walked to the stone chair in the small courtyard and walked down, "Since the departure of the team, you have been slandering me behind my back, and you have also incited other caravan guards to reject me. I have to say you're smart. ”

"Hehe, no matter how smart you are, you haven't been caught. I'm curious how did you know I'd do it tonight?"

"Because when you entered the city this morning, you said you were going to invite everyone to drink. Have you forgotten that it is forbidden for the runners to drink alcohol on the way to the goods? And you deliberately organize everyone to drink, and your intention is too obvious. ”

Long Yuan didn't look at Liu Ming, and lowered his head to play with the jade ring on his finger.

"Becoming a king and defeating a king, I, Liu Ming, lost this time because I was convinced, but no matter how smart you Long Yuan is, you will never think that anyone is attacking the He family, haha......"

Liu Ming tilted his head and laughed like crazy.

Long Yuan's handsome face smiled wickedly and a little cynically, "It's the Holy Gate!"

"You, you, how do you know?"

Liu Ming's laughter stopped abruptly, he looked at Long Yuan in horror, and stammered and asked.

"Why should I tell you?" Long Yuan's smiling eyes narrowed into a slit, and a cold chill brewed in his deep eyes......