It is the season of vigorous vegetation, and the southern Xinjiang is even more densely wooded, with towering trees almost blocking the daylight, and only some faint light penetrates through the gaps between the branches and leaves, leaving jagged shadows on the ground. Luo Yu held a blade in his hand and cut off the branches and leaves on the way forward.

Xiao Yilan took the water bag from the mule cart, poured it in his mouth, and then handed it to Meng Lin beside him, Meng Lin took it and took a sip, and then handed it to Li Zheng on the side, Li Zheng waved her hand, and she put it on the mule cart again.

It has been a few days since they got rid of Shangguan Xiang, and Xiao Yilan and the others have entered the vast jungle of southern Xinjiang. It's just that for a few days, they can often hear the sound of frightened birds coming from the direction, and it seems that someone is following them.

Everyone traveled all the way, all a little tired and haggard, a day to travel less than ten miles, but wood, after entering the southern Xinjiang, more and more energetic. And he didn't even have to eat, Xiao Yilan had seen him as if he was in a state of flux, his eyes were closed and motionless, but his feet were like trees growing, giving birth to roots like a network and digging into the ground, drawing nutrients from the soil. The food and water purchased by Xiao Yilan and others are limited, and they often have to rely on rain and hunting, but fortunately, southern Xinjiang is humid and rainy, and the group will not die of thirst.

Behind him, another bird startled and squeaked. Xiao Yilan turned his head to look, his face was worried, I don't know if it was an illusion, he always felt that the voice was getting closer and closer.

"Shangguan Xiang, that guy isn't going to chase after him, is he?" Xiao Yilan asked with a frown.

Meng Lin was silent, but Li Zheng shrugged his shoulders and said, "That guy hasn't been following his ass for a day or two, instead of worrying about when he catches up, it's better to find the way forward first." Walking so aimlessly into the depths, I am afraid that I will go to the Year of the Monkey. ”

Xiao Yilan nodded, in the vast southern Xinjiang, surrounded by trees and jungles, they couldn't see the difference at all, they could only judge the direction according to the sunlight every day. Xiao Yilan wanted to ask the specific direction of the wood, but he expected that the wood had never been out of southern Xinjiang, and he couldn't say anything when he asked, only grunted for a while, and saw that Xiao Yilan's head was big. Xiao Yilan speculated that the legend said that the tree spirit inhabited the depths of southern Xinjiang, so he could only go all the way south and go deeper and deeper into southern Xinjiang.

They really didn't have a clear direction, but what Li Zheng said was "aimless" couldn't talk about, Xiao Yilan just wanted to say something, but he heard Luo Yu, who was opening the road in front, suddenly stopped, and turned his head to make a silent gesture.

Xiao Yilan suddenly felt that something was wrong, and tiptoed to Luo Yu's side and asked in a low voice, "What?"

"There's someone up ahead. Luo Yu pouted forward, he squatted on the ground, and stretched out his hand to remove the branches and leaves in front of him. Xiao Yilan followed his gaze, under the cover of the jungle, there were several ruts extending forward, looking at their width, the size and weight were not less than the mule cart they bought, and there were some people's footprints next to the ruts, but they were much shallower.

"There are five cars in total, and the number of people should be more than ten. Luo Yu's voice was still low, "In such a dense jungle, it is difficult for the wide carriages to travel, and most of them are mule carts similar to ours. ”

Li Zheng also noticed the abnormality ahead, and stepped forward to ask, "Could it be that Shangguan Xiang's people are ahead of us?" Or are we going in the opposite direction?"

Xiao Yilan shook his head and said: "Probably not, even if it is Shangguan Xiang's person, it should be a head-on collision, and it stands to reason that we will not collide with the rut forward." ”

Luo Yu nodded, held the knife in his hand, and gently brushed aside the branches and leaves and groped forward. Xiao Yilan hesitated for a moment, then followed with Li Zheng and Meng Lin.

Wood blinked, and seemed to be a little puzzled as they cautiously groped their way forward, and was about to catch up when Meng Lin, who was walking last, turned his head and made a stop gesture at Wood. Wood stood still, tilted his head, and then sat down cross-legged. Meng Lin chuckled lightly and followed behind Xiao Yilan.

The four of them walked very slowly, walking through the narrow gap between the trees, and after walking for less than a pillar of incense, Meng Lin suddenly whispered, "There is water." ”

Xiao Yilan was stunned for a moment, holding his breath and listening, but only heard the sound of the wind blowing through the leaves and branches. After walking for a while, he also caught the sound of running water in the sound of rustling, and Luo Yu, who was in the lead, seemed to sense other movements, and stopped first, and then only gently brushed a bush of leaves away, signaling Xiao Yilan to probe over to check.

Xiao Yilan stretched out his head and found that the front suddenly opened up, a stream flowed through, the terrain was flat, and halfway through the flow, the river suddenly opened up, forming a pond here. About fifteen or sixteen people, standing or sitting, rested by the pond, and five mule carts, also parked at the water's edge.

After taking a look, Xiao Yilan shrank back and explained the situation to his companions. Li Zheng frowned and asked, "Shangguan Xiang is not among them, so who will this group of people be?"

Luo Yu pondered for a moment and said, "I heard that there are many precious medicinal materials and animals in Southern Xinjiang, and there are often large trading houses that hire teams to enter Southern Xinjiang to collect and make profits, so Shangguan Xiang originally did this business. If it's not someone who pursues us, maybe it's someone from a trading house?"

"It's possible. Xiao Yilan nodded thoughtfully.

"If it's a comptoir, it doesn't conflict with us? We can also pretend to be a mercenary of a comptoir. ”

Li Zheng smiled: "Then our mercenary is really unusual, there are four people in total, three of them are incompetent, and there is also a woman." They didn't believe it. Luo Yu nodded in agreement, and looked at Xiao Yilan again, "What does the second young master think?"

Li Zheng frowned slightly, but neither Xiao Yilan nor Luo Yu noticed. Xiao Yilan said: "Let's not say whether they believe it or not, even if they believe it, the Tree Spirit Clan has lived in southern Xinjiang for thousands of years, and there are huge business opportunities, if they find wood, it is inevitable that they will not plot against it." Moreover, there is a lot of competition between the trading houses, and even if they don't have murderous intentions, they are not indispensable to trouble. ”

Luo Yu nodded and said, "The second young master is still thoughtful." Let's take a detour. ”

Xiao Yilan looked at Li Zheng and Meng Lin, Li Zheng lowered his head unconsciously, and Meng Lin said softly: "It's all up to Xiao Gongzi's arrangement." ”

As soon as the words fell, everyone heard a "click", and the stump not far in front of Luo Yu suddenly cracked, and under the flying sawdust, a steel knife came to him, Luo Yu was startled, and hurriedly bent down to dodge. Fortunately, the other party just slashed at random, and did not specifically target Luo Yu, so Luo Yu was able to barely dodge, but he still felt a strong wind blowing on his face, and he was a little painful.

As soon as he dodged, he turned over without hesitation, pulled Xiao Yilan back two steps, and slightly widened the distance from the other party, Li Zheng and Meng Lin also pounced on both sides, dodging the attack.

The other party was a man with a fleshy face, with a shiny oil on his bald head and a beard that stood on end like bristles. He held a steel knife in his hand, and a cold light flashed.

"What kind of person, still so sneaky?" the bald man asked with a frown, looking at the people who appeared behind the tree. Xiao Yilan quickly thought about how to deal with it in his heart, and the bald man slashed out again.

The man rose like a harrier, and the steel knife fell from a height, Luo Yu didn't want to entangle, but the other party wanted to kill himself and others, and he was afraid that it would be difficult to get out. He thought about it for a moment, and then raised his knife to meet it, but the steel knife in the bald man's hand was quite heavy, and his hand strength was also very strong, and the blades were connected, and Luo Yu actually felt that his arm was faintly numb.

But he remained silent, leaned close to the bald man, and bent his knees into his arms, while his free left hand grabbed his wrist. The bald man was obviously far less agile than Luo Yu, and he jumped back a little awkwardly, and stabbed Luo Yu in the air again, forcing Luo Yu back. Seeing this, several people around stood up and approached, faintly forming a posture of encirclement.

Luo Yu didn't want to cause trouble, and as soon as he stood still, he shouted loudly, so that everyone could hear: "Passing by with my companions below, I have no intention of disturbing you, and I ask you to forgive me, don't pass by." ”

The bald man stopped his steps, but instead of being repelled by Luo Yu's words, they were ready to go, as if they were waiting for instructions. Before Xiao Yilan and the others could breathe a sigh of relief, they heard a hoarse voice again: "Who are you?

The bald man turned sideways, and Xiao Yilan saw a middle-aged man in his forties, but his voice was unexpectedly old and hoarse, which did not match the appearance of a man in his forties. But what Xiao Yilan cared about the most was the person next to him, with white hair, a goatee hanging down to his chest, and a robe draped diagonally from his left shoulder to his right armpit, revealing his right arm, showing his dark skin. A man of this age should not have been in such a caravan. He always stood with his sword hanging his head, without saying a word.

Luo Yu thought about his words, but found that the middle-aged man in the lead only glanced at Xiao Yilan and the others, then withdrew his gaze, and said to the bald man: "That's it, it won't be a good thing for so many people to haunt southern Xinjiang, and they will all be done to save trouble." ”

As soon as the words fell, several people around showed excited expressions, and they all drew their blades and slowly approached, for these people, in southern Xinjiang, there is no big difference between killing people and slaughtering cattle and sheep, Xiao Yilan noticed the killing intent surging in their eyes.

"Boss, this girl is born tender, how about leaving it for us to play with?" said one of them.

As if the middle-aged man in the lead hadn't heard, the crowd around him was even more excited, laughing and approaching.

Luo Yu was like a great enemy, with the knife across his chest, and slowly retreated with Xiao Yilan and others, but the distance from the other party was not half a point. Xiao Yilan sweat beaded on his forehead, and said with a reluctant smile: "You might as well listen to the source of our wait before you start, if you make a friend, I guarantee that you will benefit from it in the future......"

Xiao Yilan said, his throat was dry, and he could hardly speak, but the other party didn't hear it, and still leaned over with a cruel smile, obviously not caring at all. The difference in strength between the two sides is obvious, but unfortunately, in order to avoid trouble, the wood is left behind, otherwise it will be a reliable combat force.