The summer heat is unbearable, but there is a hint of the unique coolness of the river.

The Sifang Pavilion of Tuokou Village is only a small road away from the Yuanshui Wharf, and two strange people came on this day - on a hot day, I felt hot when I saw the beards of these two people. The man in front is long and strong, wearing a long shirt and carrying a giant sword, while the person in the back is of medium build, with long trousers and short shirts. It was Tabakbai and Porta.

As soon as the two of them entered the door, the guy greeted them: "The two of you are invited, are you dining or staying in the hotel?" Tabak bowed, "We are going to take a boat, and I heard that we have to come here first to ask about the boat." A man at the counter said, "Where are you going?" Tabakbai looked up and saw that it was the shopkeeper, walked over and said, "I want to go to Jinping." The shopkeeper said, "What kind of goods are you transporting?" Tabak bowed and said, "If you don't carry goods, look for a passenger ship, just the two of us." The shopkeeper said: "The two of you will stay in the store, I will register the two of you, and leave when the guests are full." Porta said, "How long will it take?" The shopkeeper said, "It's hard to say, it's as little as two or three days, and as much as ten days and a half months." Tabakbai pulled his face and said, "Don't lie to me as a foreigner, why do you have to wait for so many days when there are so many ships on the dock!" ”

The shopkeeper smiled slightly and said, "The guest officer misunderstood." Come, please sit down, and tell you slowly. Don't look at the many ships at this wharf, most of them are cargo ships from Dongting to Parrot Island, these cargo ships do not bring guests, and there are fewer special passenger ships, and they will only be sent once a day, and they have to be registered with me the day before. There are too few guests who go up to Jinping against the current, and there is no fixed boat, all of them are full of 12 people to get off the ship, and there are 12 people who are lucky to be full in one or two days, but they usually have to wait for three or five days. ”

"Now there's ...... How many people have registered? The shopkeeper said: "I walked a boat last night, and there is no one yet." Porta asked, "How much does it cost for one person?" The shopkeeper said: "One hundred and fifty Wen to Jinping." Tabak bowed and said, "There are only men waiting for me, and without me and others, twelve people will not need much money. The shopkeeper picked up a handful, the silver was two halves, took it, and said to the man: "You go and ask Liao Laosan to see if he goes." Then he said to the two, "If you two have something to eat, I will ask the kitchen to make it." Don't worry, our ship has rules, we have to have dinner, the sun sets, and we salute Yang Gong Bodhisattva before we sail. Tabak bowed: "Eventful! ”

The two ordered food to dine in the living room, and after a while, a middle-aged man came in, came in and sang, and said, "The two masters are going to Jinping?" Porta said, "Exactly." This man said: "In Xia Liao, come and say hello to the second master first, and when the sun goes down, we salute Yang Gong Bodhisattva and then invite the second master." Tabakbai swallowed his food, took care of his beard, and said, "Hurry up! There is no bodhisattva, it is really eventful. The man was extremely unhappy and said, "This master is so blasphemous, he won't go this time!" Saying that he was leaving, Porta hurriedly got up and said with a smile: "My second brother said...... Joke about it! Don't admit it! When the shopkeeper heard this, he hurriedly came over and laughed, and then the man said, "For the sake of the shopkeeper...... Sail in the evening! He snorted and left.

After the two of them finished eating, they were collecting their beards, only to hear the thunder roaring, the black clouds were thick, and the sky was dark, and Tabak said, "It's about to rain, let's rest here." Porta took out his money bag and settled the money for the meal, and the two of them looked outside and gossiped. The guy came over to clean up the dishes and chopsticks.

Tabak bowed and said: "Brother, your Chinese has improved a little, and today I will teach you something difficult." Just now, the shopkeeper said, 'You go and ask Liao Laosan to see if he goes', this sentence is very mysterious. Porta said: "If there is any mystery, don't you just ask." Tabakbai said proudly: "The most proud thing in my life, except for this beard, is to speak Chinese, except for the master, no one speaks better than me!" I'll tell you what's the mystery of this. If you say, 'see if he goes', listen, he, this word is pronounced with an accent, 'see if he goes', that is, it is not him who usually goes, it is someone else who goes, this time ask him if he goes, if it is to say, 'see if he goes', listen, go or not, these three words are pronounced with an accent, 'see if he goes', that is, he usually goes, this time the situation is a little different, ask him if he goes. What the shopkeeper just said was 'see if he goes', so it can be seen that this Liao Laosan usually goes. Porta then said, "See if he goes, see if he goes...... The shopkeeper laughed when he heard what the two said.

At this time, the heavy raindrops fell straight down, and the people outside shouted, running, only to see a figure flash at the door, and a woman in crimson clothes came in, but she was in her twenties, although her skin was a little dark, but she was a little colorful. She came in and looked into the hall and exclaimed, "What a rain!" It's scary! The shopkeeper said, "The girl came in to shelter from the rain, and the stool sat casually." The woman said: "Shopkeeper, but I am not here to shelter from the rain, I came to inquire about the ship, but there is a boat to Jinping?" The shopkeeper said: "Coincidentally, these two masters are going to Jinping, and the two masters have chartered a boat to leave in the evening, you and the two of you will talk to them." ”

The woman came over and said a blessing to Tabakbai and Porta, and said, "The two eldest brothers are invited, and the little girl is going to Jinping, is it convenient for the two of you?" How much should the boat cost? Porta said, "Convenient! Convenient! Wait for the sun to set, the boat family will set off after saluting the Bodhisattva, don't miss the time, then don't wait for you! The woman was overjoyed and said, "I met a good person today!" How much money is the big brother's boat, I gave it to you. "Talking about untying the baggage that he carried with him. The shopkeeper said, "One person is one hundred and fifty Wen." But Porta said, "Give ...... What money to give! We chartered the boat, so we didn't have to pay for it. The woman said, "How can I do that?" Porta said, "What's the harm in giving you a ride...... There is really no need to give money. The woman thanked her and sat diagonally on the stool at the door to watch the rain.

The rainstorm came and went quickly, and after a while, the rain gradually became lighter, and the woman said, "Two big brothers, which boatman is it?" I'm going to have something to do, and I'll come back later, and see which boatman it is, and I'll go straight to the dock to look for him when I come back. Porta said: "It's called Liao Laosan." The shopkeeper also said: "When you go to the dock and ask Liao Laosan, everyone knows it." The woman thanked her and walked away in the drizzle.

Tabakbai and Bota sat for a while, waited for the rain to stop, and went to walk around Tuokouzhai, only to see that everywhere was building construction and building houses, it turned out that in recent years, the timber business here has been booming, more and more people have come here to do business, and the original residence is not enough. The pedestrians were in a hurry, and no one paid attention to them, they looked east and west, saw the sun slowly set, and went back to the Sifang Pavilion, drank a cup of tea, and a sailor came to invite them, and said, "Two guest officers who went to Jinping come with me." "It's three," said Porta, and a woman, she said...... Let's talk about coming directly to the pier. The sailor said, "The man is there!" ”

The three of them walked a small road, only walked a few hundred steps, and came to the wharf, only to see that the riverbed was open, the water flow was gentle, the clear water and green mountains were surrounded, and there were twenty or thirty boats stopped at the wharf, and Liao Laosan was looking at it from a distance. Tabakbai and Bota got up to the gangplank, stepped onto the edge of the boat, and looked inside, and saw that the woman was already seated in the boat, and her hair was slightly wet.

Liao Laosan called to start the boat, and the four sailors untied the cable, and the boat was opened. The three people in the cabin did not speak, the woman leaned on it and closed her eyes to recuperate, Tabakbai and Porta looked at the scenery for a while, and gradually it was dark, so they pulled the rattan mat and fell asleep, the two of them were tired early, and they snored after a while.

In the middle of the night, the boat traveled two or three miles through a beach, turned into a canyon, the boat suddenly rang softly twice, Tabakbai woke up, got up and saw that the moonlight was bright outside, the boat was slowly moving in the center of the river, both sides were high mountains and cliffs, and there was a faint cry of a tiger roaring ape. Porta also woke up and asked in a low voice, "What time is it?" Tabak bowed and said, "Three watches." Liao Laosan heard the voice, poked his head over, and said: "Walk more than ten miles ahead, there is a piece of reeds, we will rest there for two hours, let the guys take care of their strength, and go again in the dawn of the day, so as not to miss the trip." ”

As soon as he spoke, the woman also woke up, she got up and walked, looked out, came back and sat down, just sat down, and said, "Hey, why is it wet?" He touched the board with his hand and shouted, "Oh no! It's leaking! As soon as the words fell, I heard a bang, the bottom of the boat shook, a large board fell off, and the river rushed in.

The crowd was shocked, and Tabakbai and Pota hurriedly jumped up, their shoes wet by the river. Liao Laosan shouted like a grab: "Oh my God, how can this happen!" Yang Gong Bodhisattva, help! It's all to blame on this big man for saying disrespectful things! You come with my ship, what's the matter! Tabakbai was even more frightened, because he could not water, and he had to drown if he fell into the water. When he saw that the boatman blamed him, he became even more irritable, and said, "Your ship is not well repaired, but blame me!" That's good, I don't know any water! Porta was also anxious and said, "It's far from the shore, and I can't swim that far, what should I do!" The four sailors also came to take a look, and saw that a piece of the ship's board had fallen off, and the ship was about to sink, so some sailors said: "Boss Liao, jump into the water, they are all falling apart, and there is no way to do it." Tabakbai was in a hurry and shouted: "Don't leave me alone! Saying that, he stretched out his hand to pull Liao Laosan, Liao Laosan shook his hand, Tabakbai was eager to use internal strength, Liao Laosan's hand was pulled by Tabakbai, almost dislocated, he screamed, shouted: "Oh, this barbarian beats people!" When the sailors heard this, they came and were about to scuffle, and Tabakbai drew his great sword and shouted: "Who wants to die!" ”

The four sailors and Liao Laosan saw that he looked vicious, how dare they come over! Five people shouted, jumped into the water in unison, swam back along the current, it turned out that the boat had just passed two or three miles of the beach, and the five boaters saw it, and then they swam there, and the five people begged for life in the river, the water nature was good, and they were young and strong, and it was not a problem to swim two or three miles.

There are two scenes of the three of them on the boat: Tabak worships like ants on a hot pot, and Porta can't help but look at the shore on both sides, and thinks in his heart whether he can swim to the cliff on the shore; But the woman was not in a hurry, tightened her trouser legs, and tied her hair tightly, looking confident.

Tabak bowed: "The girl knows water? Help! As he spoke, the ship tilted, and Tabakbai had fallen into the water, and with his great sword in his hand, he swiped in the water, and swung it a little, and he cried out: "Help, help! "I took two sips of water and sank. At the same time, Porta also fell into the water, and he slashed the water with his hands, swam a dozen paces away, and drank several sips of water.

The woman jumped into the water, like a butterfly fluttering among the flowers, and with only two strokes, she came to Porta's side, took him by the hand, and took him several steps forward, and Porta panicked a little, and said, "Please save my brother, I can still swim for a while." ”

Tabakbai sank into the water and took a few mouthfuls of water, hurriedly held his breath, rushed up hard, carried enough internal force, poked the giant sword forward, and poked it on the hull, he used his strength to hang, pulled his body up a few feet, the boat ate his strength, and sank down a few inches. Tabakbai held the hilt of his sword, did not dare to let go, held his breath, did not know what to do, and thought, "If you can't hold your breath anymore, you will have to drink water again, and you will drown after all?" ”

was panicking, only to feel someone on his shoulder, it was the woman who came to save him. Tabakbai hurriedly pulled out his giant sword with his internal strength, and as the woman floated upward, it surfaced in a short time. As soon as she came out of the water, the woman shouted, "Throw away your heavy sword, I can't take it with me!" While Tabakbai was still hesitating, the woman said, "Do you want a sword or a life?" Tabakbai couldn't, so he had to abandon the giant sword that he had carried with him for more than ten years, only to see that the sword shook twice with the water waves and fell straight to the bottom of the river.

Sure enough, as soon as the sword was thrown away, the body was light, the woman grabbed him by the shoulder, and swam up on the river without effort, and after a while she caught up with Bota, who was already timid, and drank a few sips of water, and was in trouble, the woman stretched out her other hand, grabbed his hand, and only used her feet to hit the water, and actually took two strong men to the shore.

After a while, swimming to the cliff on the left bank, the woman let go of Laporta's hand, touched the cliff, and said, "Hold on and stand!" He took Tabakbai a few more steps, and touched the wall with his hand for a while, until he felt a bulge in his hand, and then he stopped, wiped off the green moss here with his hand, and held Tabakbai, so that he could grasp the bulge with his hand. Holding on to the cliff in his hand, Tabakbai came back to his senses and said, "Thank you girl for saving your life!" Before he finished speaking, he burped and spat out a mouthful of water. The woman said, "Don't thank you yet, you haven't escaped yet." The three of them looked around, except for the cliff they were holding onto, only the Wang Wang River was nowhere to be seen. The woman paused for a while and said, "You two stand up, and I'll go find a place to live." As he spoke, he swam along the cliff. Soon she came back and said, "Good luck! There's a hole in front, you can sit down and come with me! She grabbed Tabakbai and slowly paddled along the stone wall, and Pota felt the stone wall and followed behind. Sure enough, within a hundred steps, there is a small sloping stone slope that you can sit on, but you will definitely slide down when you sit, and you have to hold on to the stone ridge next to you with your hand. The three of them wiped off the green moss and sat up, Tabakbai was strong, and one person occupied most of the position, he was embarrassed to get up, and said, "Oh, I take up most of it alone!" Botta sat diagonally in the middle, and the woman sat on the other end. The woman said: "When a boat passes by in the morning, it will be saved." The man's voice is loud, and you two should shout loudly when the time comes. Tabak bowed and said, "I'm good at this." ”

Porta said: "I'm Porta, he is my second brother Tabakbai, haven't you asked the girl's surname yet?" The woman said, "Don't have your surname Fu, just call me Fu Xia'er." Tabak said: "Miss Fu is really watery, she saved my life today, and I dare not forget it for the rest of my life. The tone is extremely reverent. Fu Xia'er smiled and said: "I'm a little girl, how can there be anything to die, big brother doesn't have to be polite." Tabak said: "I have been in Dongtu for many years, and I have seen many treacherous and cunning people, and it is the first time I have encountered such a righteous girl. Fu Xia'er smiled: "I'm afraid that what you are doing is a treacherous thing, and naturally you will meet a treacherous person!" Tabakbai hurriedly said, "No! No! If I were to do something evil, how could I meet such a good girl as you. ”

Fu Xia'er said: "What business are the two of you going to Jinping?" Porta said: "We are going to Yunnan, and we will take the dry road when we arrive in Jinping." Second Senior Brother, don't you dare to go on this waterway again? Tabakbai laughed, but Fu Xia'er shouted: "Oh, how can it be so coincidental, I'm also going to Yunnan!" Porta was overjoyed and said, "Miss Fu, if you don't dislike it, how about your peers?" Fu Xia'er was silent and did not answer. Porta said: "The girl is afraid of the inconvenience of men and women, we can walk back and forth, every ...... Every day, the agreed place will be under it, if the girl has anything to do, just call the two of us, don't look at the two of us useless in the water, on the shore, dozens of little thieves can still be dispatched. Fu Xia'er said: "So thank you to the two big brothers." It turns out that you two are brothers, so why didn't you see your master? Tabak bowed and said, "Our master has not been to Dongtu for many years, and his old man said that there is no one in Dongtu and it is not worth coming. Fu Xia'er smiled: "You are such a big person, you have a master, but you are also funny!" Tabak bowed and said, "Girl, what you said is not right, a big man can't have a master?" What is the rationale for this? Fu Xia'er said: "It's funny to think that you look low in front of the master." ”

Fu Xia'er said again: "This big brother, the sword you just now is so heavy, you are still reluctant to lose it, how can I drag it if you don't lose it?" Tabakbai took pity on the sword and said, "Hey, it's a pity, I've had a weapon with me for more than ten years!" Forty-three pounds! Fu Xia'er said: "It's so powerful, with such a heavy sword, no wonder it's so heavy!" ”

The three of them sat on the stone slope, and they slid down a little carelessly, not only holding on to the stone wall with one hand, but also having to adjust their sitting posture after a while, which was really miserable. Fortunately, the three of them can talk a few words from time to time, but they can also pass the time. After nearly two hours, there was gradually a bright light in the east. Porta saw that Fu Xia'er's clothes were wet, and it was a little unsightly as soon as the morning dawned, so he took off his half-dry shirt and put his clothes on Fu Xia'er, revealing his bare arms, revealing a body of tendon flesh.

After waiting for another half an hour, it was already dawn, and I saw a small black dot faintly coming upstream, and all three of them saw it, and Tabakbai shouted: "Hey, there are people here!" Help me! Porta smiled: "It's still far away, you have some strength to wait...... Wait until you get closer! Tabak bowed and said, "I can't practice first!" I really want to use my internal strength, I'm afraid I won't hurt you! ”

When the three of them looked again, they could already see the outline of the ship, and there were many boats densely followed behind the boat, and it turned out to be a fleet. After a while, it became clear that there were more than a dozen huge ships, with an extremely deep draft, and it seemed that they were carrying heavy goods. Tabak was angry and shouted, "Hey, there are people here!" Help me! Sure enough, it was much louder than just now, and the voice traveled far away. After two calls, one of the boats stopped in the middle of the fleet, turned slowly, and rowed towards the three of them.

When the boat approached, I saw two people standing at the bow of the boat, a young short descendant, who was Yao Zhongtian's only son, Yao Dexuan, and the other was a middle-aged man with goat's beard. Seeing this, Yao Dexuan asked, "Why are the three of you here?" Tabak said: "Don't mention it, the boat capsized in the gutter last night, and I almost lost my life, and I have been waiting for half the night, but fortunately you got up early!" Yao Dexuan smiled slightly, stretched out his hand to pull Tabakbai onto the boat, and said to Bota and Fu Xia'er: "You two come up too!" It turned out that he saw that Porta was shirtless, and his clothes were draped on Fu Xia'er's body, just as if it was a couple, Fu Xia'er blushed, and Porta hurriedly said: "No, no, no, this is not ...... It's my friend. Yao Dexuan smiled again and pulled them onto the boat.

The middle-aged man with a goat's beard said, "Where are you going?" Tabak bowed: "I'm going to Jinping." Yao Dexuan said: "This is to take you back, but it doesn't matter, and stay on my ship, when you encounter passing ships, I will ask you, and it is not too late to change ships if you have a way." Tabak bowed: "I'm really grateful, I haven't asked the son's name yet." The middle-aged man with a goat's beard said: "Our son-in-law is the young owner of Yaojiazhuang in Xinyang. Fu Xia'er said: "Could it be the son of Yao Daxia, the hero of the Central Plains?" The middle-aged man with the goat's beard said, "Exactly." Yao Dexuan said: "This is my second senior brother!" The three Tabakbai also said their names and saluted each other. Asked where the ship was heading, Yao Dexuan said: "I am under my father's order to transport some fir wood to Beiping to repair the palace." Tabakbai said politely again: "Yao Gongzi is kind to us today, and he will not forget it." Yao Dexuan smiled and said: "It's just a boat, why bother." My father often taught us to be chivalrous-oriented, not to mention just taking a boat, no matter how difficult it is, Yaojiazhuang will not sit idly by and sit idly by when it is encountered. ”