Xiao Yilan and Li Zheng looked at the surrounding woods, trying to discern where this was.

The black cloth outside their cage was lifted by the mysterious people a day ago to let the light in, probably to let them breathe two breaths of fresh air, and they should not want to suffocate the two of them to death like this, which made Xiao Yilan and Li Zheng slightly relieved. It's just that although the two tree spirits looked a little more agile after seeing the light, the branches on their bodies were still dry and decayed, lifeless, and sat in the corner all day long, barely moving.

At this moment they were walking through a wood, and they walked all the way in the middle of nowhere, and seldom took the trade routes, presumably to avoid the eyes of men, otherwise they might not dare to lift the black cloth.

In Xiao Yilan's impression, Cheongju is mostly a plain area, dotted with large and small towns, and there are few such large forests. They had been walking in the woods all day, so he assumed that the group had left Cheongju. The only neighbors to Cheongju are Pyongju and Changju. Changzhou is in the middle of a war at this time, and it will not be so calm along the way, so most of this place is Pingzhou. Although Pingzhou has a vast area, it is close to the Zhongnan Gorge and has many mountains and forests, which is the most reasonable guess.

It had been more than ten days since they had been captured, and although they had had a bumpy journey these days, the gang had ensured them two meals a day, mostly dry crusts or prey caught in the mountains. Xiao Yilan asked this group of people more than once where they were going, but never received a reply. There were five people outside the cage, except for two who drove the carriage separately, and the other three were all riding horses, but they were not in a hurry, and they did not even drive the carriage at full speed, and walked forward tepidly. They seem to be waiting for something.

Li Zheng retracted his gaze and munched on a few pieces of crust sent into the cage in boredom. Xiao Yilan's mood had already calmed down, but he was not too anxious. He played with the mysterious bead in his hand, not daring to approach the two dryads, and they sat in the two corners of the cage.

The strange connection between this thing and the tree spirit has always been a mystery, and thinking about the strange performance of the tree spirit that day, Xiao Yilan's heart itched. The dryad reacted to the stone-like orb, which made him very curious about it, and he didn't find it boring these days. He found that when the dryad came close to the orb, the dryad would come alive again, and he felt the urge to break free from the chain and break out. It's just that the two of them have been waiting for the right time, and the previous attempts have almost been exposed, which has also made them more and more cautious.

Liu Feng, the leader, rode a horse and walked in front, and Lao Yan and the one-eyed man were on his left and right. They weren't even walking a single road, just a slightly wider gap between the gravel and the trees. Lao Yan and the one-eyed man quarreled with each other from time to time, and Liu Feng sat on the horse with a knife in his hand, looking around from time to time, often without saying a word all day.

There was a murmuring sound not far away, and the old Yan and the one-eyed man who noticed it had a happy face, and they had trekked in the forest for many days, and it was also a pleasure to wash their faces with a bay of stream. The one-eyed man was just about to ride his horse forward, when he suddenly thought of something, looked back at Liu Feng's face, and saw Liu Feng nodding slightly, Lao Yan and the one-eyed man hurriedly rode their horses and ran in the direction of the water. The two people driving the carriage were about to follow the carriage, but Liu Feng suddenly became angry, turned his head and shouted in a deep voice: "Don't you have a brain!"

The two people reacted, as if they remembered something, and quickly touched their heads embarrassedly, stopped the carriage, and waited in place.

Li Zheng turned sideways and whispered to Xiao Yilan, "It seems a little weird?"

Xiao Yilan nodded to indicate that he had noticed. They don't need to be so vigilant in the wilderness. There seems to be some deep jealousy.

After a while, Lao Yan and the one-eyed man came back, and Lao Yan, who was walking in front, filled all the several water bags he was carrying, put them on his horses, and slowly walked back. When the one-eyed man showed his face, Liu Feng suddenly frowned. The one-eyed man was still carrying a person in his hand, with a blue nose and swollen face, and seemed to be injured. Upon approaching, the one-eyed man threw the wounded man on the ground: "This is what I saw from the front, and I still have a weapon in my hand, so let's teach us a lesson." ”

It was a man in his fifties, dressed in a cloth suit with several patches, with a dark complexion, and he looked very nervous at the moment surrounded by two strong men with knives. The so-called weapon is actually just a bow and a few arrows, all of which are in Lao Yan's hands at this time. I have to say that he looks like a thief, and it's no wonder that Lao Yan and the others were unhappy with him and arrested him back.

The person pulling the carriage hurriedly prepared to pull down the black cloth to prevent the man from noticing the tree spirit and Xiao Yilan in the cage, but Liu Feng stretched out his scabbard and stabbed him, signaling him to stop.

Liu Feng frowned and asked coldly, "What are you doing here?"

The man glanced around quietly, most conspicuously the cage behind the carriage, in which two tree-like humanoid monsters were staring at him. He was so frightened that he didn't dare to look more, so he quickly lowered his head, his voice was a little hoarse, and he said hesitantly: "I...... It is to hunt in the mountains, chop wood, and then prepare to go to a nearby town to change ...... ...... exchange money," he said as if he had thought of something, and reached out to take something out of his bosom, and everyone looked at it, but it was just a trivial silver tael.

"I don't have a lot of money with me......"

"Don't dig it, we're not interested. Liu Feng was still frowning: "Where is the nearest town from here?"

"Fencheng. ”

Liu Feng turned his head to look at Lao Yan, who leaned into his ear and whispered: "Fencheng is one of the largest cities in Pingzhou. Liu Feng nodded, frowned again and asked the man, "Is this close to Fencheng?"

"It's not close, it takes a long ......time to ride a horse," the man replied honestly.

"Then you've come all this way to hunt, don't tell nonsense!" the one-eyed man couldn't help but interject, looking at him with a fierce look.

The honest man was startled and hurriedly explained: "I...... I have a piece of land near here, and I grow vegetables and hunt, and I usually live here. I only go into the city once every seven or eight days to sell some game or vegetables for money......"

Liu Feng's expression softened a little, he stopped talking, twisted his head to the side, and handed this person to Lao Yan and the one-eyed man.

"What's your name?" asked the one-eyed man.

"It's good for an adult to call a small Meng Laosan. ”

The one-eyed man suddenly let out an ugly laugh and put his arm around the man's shoulder: "Old man Meng, your home is far away, and it is always reasonable to entertain our brothers for a light meal, right?"

"That's nature, that's nature. Meng Laosan didn't dare to look at the one-eyed man's face, and bowed his head and replied respectfully.

"Lead the way ahead. The one-eyed man pushed him forward. For so many days, they can only nibble on some dry food or barbecue without condiments, which really fades out of the bird's taste, and knocking a meal from this Meng Laosan has no guilt for them.

Xiao Yilan noticed that since the appearance of this man, Liu Feng did not let people put down the black cloth. Meng Laosan's expression was very unnatural when he saw their carriage, obviously noticing something. Liu Feng and his entourage did not deliberately conceal it, but they wanted to kill people and kill them.

He looked at Li Zheng and pointed to him at the black cloth that had not yet been lifted from the outside of the iron cage. Li Zheng comprehended, and his expression was a little ugly.

Meng Laosan's residence is not far away, with the speed of Meng Laosan's walking, less than half an hour can see a slope not far away, there are one or two simple wooden houses, in front of the house piled up a few stacks of firewood, on the left side of the house there is a five-zhang square piece of land, obviously ploughed, surrounded by many gravel blocks in all directions, so it becomes a cultivated field. Obviously, Meng Laosan didn't lie, and Liu Feng and the others were also secretly relieved.

When I got closer, I seemed to hear a noise outside the door, and a girl of fifteen or sixteen walked out, still holding a spatula in her hand. Although she was dressed in coarse linen clothes and brown hair, she was coiled behind her head, and a bamboo chopstick was inserted horizontally, which was regarded as a bun. Her appearance is not bright and moving, but she has a fresh and natural temperament, with bright teeth and bright eyes, and her skin is as white as transparent, as if such rural work has not left any traces on her, and she is not as dark as Meng Laosan at all.

She saw a group of people outside in the dark, and her mouth grew in surprise. She blinked her eyes, and when she saw the tree spirit and Xiao Yilan and Li Zheng in the last cage, her face was shocked, and she unconsciously covered her mouth.

Xiao Yilan was playful, and couldn't help but stretch his hand out of the gap between the cage rails, waved at the girl, and then grimaced at her. The girl covered her mouth and chuckled, and the laughter was like a clear stream, rippling in Xiao Yilan's heart. He was a little stunned for a moment.

The girl turned her head away and cast a puzzled look at Meng Laosan.

Before Meng Laosan could speak, Lao Yan's eyes lit up, and he asked Meng Laosan, "This is your daughter?"

Meng Laosan unconsciously stepped forward two steps in front of the girl, and nodded: "It's okay, a few years ago, I met her and was about to starve to death in the wild, so the little one took her back and raised her as his daughter." ”

Lao Yan and the one-eyed man glanced at each other and laughed: "No wonder I don't look like you so much." ”

Meng Laosan laughed, planning to beckon Liu Feng and his party into the house, but found that the room was really simple, the space was narrow, and there was no big enough table to sit so many people, so he had to drag a few tables and stools out of the room, and put together a table that was not even in the open space in front of the house, and everyone barely sat down. The girl was in charge of cooking and working in the wooden house, and Meng Laosan stood at the table and nodded and greeted.

Xiao Yilan deliberately stretched his neck in the cage and looked at the table, as if he wanted to see what they were eating. After a while, he sat back with great interest, shook his head and said, "It's all light greens, so boring." ”

Li Zheng said with a smile: "Even if it is mountain delicacies, I'm afraid we won't be blessed now." ”

Liu Feng sat down without saying a word, still vigilant about the movements around him, but Lao Yan and the one-eyed man kept looking for an excuse to let Meng Laosan's adopted daughter come to accompany him to drink, Meng Laosan's face was pale, but he still laughed with him, saying things like children who are ignorant.

It happened that the girl came over with a plate of dishes, and before Meng Laosan could make a look, Lao Yan grabbed her wrist and pulled it in front of her, smiling in her mouth, so obscene. The girl exclaimed, her wrist was like being clamped by pliers, and she couldn't let go, Meng Laosan's face was very ugly, and she hurriedly stepped forward to grab her daughter, and at the same time pulled Lao Yan's hand hard, wanting him to let go of her daughter's wrist.

There was a "clang", and the plate that the girl was holding fell to the ground and shattered. Lao Yan was furious, kicked the father and daughter away, anger appeared on his face, his face turned red, and the knife in his hand came out of the sheath and rested on Meng Laosan's neck. Except for Liu Feng, the rest of the people stood up one after another, murderous. Only Liu Feng was still sitting, looking very calm, unhurriedly putting the vegetables in his mouth, and did not stop his subordinates.

The girl's face was frosty: "What are you doing!" Meng Laosan pulled the girl behind him, and quickly knelt down and kowtowed, his voice was a little trembling: "The adult atonements, the little girl is not sensible, I hope the big ...... Your Excellency ......"

Lao Yan scolded and scolded: "What kind of great horn is it, you can't touch your hands?"

Meng Laosan trembled and said, "No...... It's not ......"

The one-eyed man stepped forward and smiled: "Then it depends on whether your daughter wants us to let you go?"

Meng Laosan was trembling, not knowing how to deal with it, the girl behind him was also flushed with anger, Lao Yan seemed to be about to speak, and suddenly there was a "click" sound behind him. The first to react was Liu Feng, and before he could turn around, the knife was already out of its sheath and jumped backwards.

Xiao Yilan and Li Zheng themselves were taken aback, they didn't expect a mysterious bead to be so powerful, and they dodged to the side together, so as not to be affected by the tree spirit.

A moment ago, seeing Lao Yan and a few people bullying the girl outside, Xiao Yilan was not angry. His heart moved, and he didn't have time to think about how to use the orb, so he took out the orb and put it on one of the dryads. Before he could get closer, it was the same as last time, emitting a blue light that fluctuated brightly and darkly.

This time, Xiao Yilan didn't hold it firmly in his hand like last time, but let go and let the jade bead fly towards the tree spirit. The blue light emitted by the jade bead was intertwined with the light and dark undulating light on the tree spirit's body, and the blue light was flourishing, and the thick cyan color flowed slowly like a thick liquid, seeping into the gaps between the branches of the tree spirit's body. After a few moments, the orb became dull and fell silently to the ground, and the dryad suddenly came to life, and its eyes, which had been very cloudy just a moment ago, turned green, and blinked a few times. The shriveled body swelled up as if it had been filled with water, and became like human muscles. The iron chain "clicked", and he suddenly broke open, and the narrow cage was full of the sound of metal breaking and impacting.

Xiao Yilan and Li Zheng glanced at each other, and the joy in their eyes was beyond words. Xiao Yilan looked very excited, and shouted at Li Zheng quite proudly: "I know that the last word "Dao" ...... not yet spoken, and the whole cage was shocked, and the two of them stumbled one by one, and almost fell into the mud.

The dryad didn't even make a move, slowly raised his arms, and the arms that had been entangled in the iron chains suddenly stretched out, and were wrapped around several guardrails on the iron cage like vines, and suddenly entangled, the iron cage was twisted and deformed, and several iron railings "boomed", and they broke away from the iron cage, and even the roof of the cage was tilted. With a single pull, it overturned the top of the cage and split it in half.

Xiao Yilan and Li Zheng didn't have time to hug each other to celebrate, so they hurriedly took the opportunity to escape, lest they be affected by the tree spirit. A moment ago, they were rejoicing in the success of their plan, but now they only wished that the dryad could not see them, for fear that it would become murderous and kill everyone to vent their anger. The horse in front of him was frightened, broke free from the reins and fled in a panic. It was as if the reborn tree spirit once again stretched out its vine-like arm and grabbed the railing of the half-cage, its legs bent slightly, and it lifted the entire cage up, and then threw it at Liu Feng and the others at will.