Starting from Qingzhou, stretching thousands of miles to the south along the official road, the style changes greatly, at first you can see the endless mountain range, the mountains are shrouded in clouds and mist, like the seclusion of the fairy family. When you go to Linzhou, the mountains are gradually decreasing, replaced by a continuous lake, like a paradise, the sunrise and the sunset, the leisurely life often makes the passers-by stop. Further south, on the banks of the Chijiang River, you can see that on the endless plain, there are only two small villages scattered scattered.

Maybe it's the existence of the Demon Sect, or maybe it's because of the legend of Liu Yidao, except for the fishermen who have long taken root here, for thousands of years, few people have moved here, and this place is more like a forgotten corner of the world, and has little to do with the outside world.

May 7.

Half a month after leaving home, Chang An and Chang Sheng finally traveled to the bank of the Chijiang River.

At this time, Chang An had already looked at this gorgeous Chijiang River for half a day, in order to find the immortal method for Sanliang, they trekked mountains and rivers to come here, wanting to follow the legend of Liu Yidao to the Chijiang River and find the legendary Demon Sect.

But after staying here for a long time, Chang An still had no clue

"Brother Shi, what are you asking me to do here?"

Not far from the river, a conversation between a pair of boys and girls attracted the attention of Chang An and Chang Sheng.

The young man's expression was restrained, dodging the innocent eyes of the girl

Yang ...... Sister, this ...... To you. ”

The boy said something incoherently, took out a wild flower picked by the roadside from his bosom and handed it to the girl.

The girl was happy when she saw the flowers, and wanted to take the flowers to thank her, but the hand she had just stretched out hesitated to take it back

"Brother Shi, we only met for the first time yesterday, so let's get to know each other better first."

When the young man heard this, he looked a little flustered, he looked at the girl anxiously, and stretched his hands forward unconsciously, but unexpectedly, the girl silently took a step back.

The boy knew that he had lost his temper and scratched the back of his head awkwardly

"So, what do you think of me?"

The girl was silent for a long time, and the boy's breathing became more and more rapid

"I think Brother Shi is very good."

The girl responded shyly to the boy, and fled quickly from the river.

The young man laughed innocently, he looked at the girl's departing back from afar, and couldn't come back to his senses for a long time, until Chang Sheng walked behind him.

"Hey! Silly big man, look at the daughter-in-law! ”

After sitting by the river for a long time, Chang Sheng, who was already bored, finally encountered something new.

"Ugh!"

The boy was taken aback by the sudden voice, which caused Chang Sheng to giggle

"Hahahaha, brother, this stupid big guy is so funny."

The young man was a little angry, thinking to himself, obviously you scared me, and if you don't apologize to me, you will call me stupid, and he said angrily at the moment

"Who are you, and why are you eavesdropping on us here?"

Chang Sheng laughed even more happily when he heard it

"You stupid big guy has such a loud voice, who's going to eavesdrop on you?"

Chang An walked over expressionlessly and carried Chang Sheng behind him

"Big brother, I'm sorry, my sister is playful by nature, I'll accompany you for her."

The young man was also a real person, and when he saw Chang An apologize, he hurriedly waved his hand and said

"It's okay, I've had a loud voice since I was a child."

Chang An saw the fishy smell of the young man's body, thinking that he was from a nearby fishing village, and asked

"Brother is a local?"

The young man has a cheerful temperament and directly reports to his family

"My name is Shi Kuang, and I am a native of Shijia Village here."

Chang An saw that he was happy, and his heart was no longer twisted, and he reported to the house

"My name is Chang An, this is my sister Chang Sheng, a person from Qingzhou in the Central Plains."

Chang Sheng's eyes rolled, and he didn't know what he was thinking, so he interjected

"Then your daughter-in-law is from Yangjia Village!"

Shi Kuang's face turned red when he heard this

"She is not my daughter-in-law, but she is indeed from the Yang family village next door to us, and her name is Yang Bai."

Chang An looked at the sky, it was already evening, took out a silver ingot, handed it to Shi Kuang, and said

"Brother Shi, my brother and sister want to play here for a few days, I wonder if I can borrow it at Brother Shi's house?"

Shi Kuang didn't dare to take the silver, scratched his head, and said

"You have to ask my dad about borrowing, you can go home with me first and ask my dad."

So Chang An and Chang Sheng followed Shi Kuang all the way back to Shijia Village, and before entering the village, Chang An asked about a strong fishy smell that came to his face, Chang Sheng covered his mouth and nose, Shi Kuang saw their appearance and said

"That's what the fishing village tastes like, but it's much better when you enter the village."

Chang An looked at Shi Kuang suspiciously, why would it be much better if he entered the village?

But as Shi Kuang said, after entering the village, the fishy smell is not so strong, but on the contrary, there is a faint smell of rice.

Chang Sheng couldn't help but say

"It smells so good!"

Shi Kuang nodded

"You came just in time for dinner."

"Big Stone is back!"

In the distance, a chubby woman was shouting at Shi Kuang in a loud voice, and Shi Kuang also responded loudly when he saw this

"Third aunt!"

The third aunt saw that Shi Kuang was followed by two people, and asked curiously

"Big Stone, why did you bring two living people back?"

Shi Kuang smirked

"My new friend wants to stay here for two days."

When the villagers heard that Shi Kuang had brought two strangers, they ran out one after another, looking at Chang An and Chang Sheng curiously.

After a while, the three of them walked to Shi Kuang's house.

In the courtyard, Shi Kuang's father was mending the fishing nets, and Chang An frowned slightly when he saw that the damp fishing nets exuded a strong fishy smell.

"Dad!"

The middle-aged man who was mending the fishing nets did not turn around, but only responded lightly

"Well, go wash your hands and get ready for dinner."

Shi Kuang hesitated for a moment and shouted again

"Dad."

The middle-aged man turned his head suspiciously, but saw Chang An and Chang Sheng standing at the door, the middle-aged man hurriedly stood up, patted the dust on his body hard, and said

"Big Rock, who are these two?"

Chang An took a step forward and said with a smile

"Uncle Shi, I'm sorry, our brother and sister want to play here for a few days, I wonder if we can borrow it at home?"

As he spoke, Chang An handed the silver to Shi Kuang's father, who looked at the silver, waved his hand, and said with a smile

"No, no, we don't need silver to live here, if you don't think my family is small, just live there."

After Shi Kuang's father finished speaking, he shouted into the house again

"it, there's a guest at home, stir-fry two more dishes, and add two more pairs of chopsticks!"

Then, Shi Kuang's father ran into the house, moved out a long dining table, and called Shi Kuang to move the stool together.

After a while, a sweaty middle-aged woman came out of the house, surrounded by a piece of cloth, and was still holding a shovel for stir-frying

"You're friends with Big Rock, sit down, we'll have dinner later!"

Chang An smiled and nodded in thanks, and introduced himself to the Shi family

"Hello Aunt Shi, my name is Chang An, and this is my sister Chang Sheng."

Shi Kuang's mother nodded with a smile and said

"Don't stand, sit down."

Chang An looked around, and at this time, the people next door were also sitting in their own yards, preparing to sit in the courtyard and enjoy dinner together.

Shi Kuang explained

"It's very hot here in the summer, so everyone likes to eat in the yard in the evening."

Chang Sheng looked at the busy figures of every household, felt warm in his heart, and unconsciously leaned on his brother's shoulder.

After a while, the dining table was full of food, and Shi Kuangzheng hurriedly picked up the dishes on the plate with his fingers and put them in his mouth, "Smack!" , but Shi Kuang's father, who was sitting on the side, slapped the dish in Shi Kuang's hand, glared at him sternly, and Shi Kuang had to withdraw his hand stupidly.

Shi Kuang's mother touched her son's hand distressedly, glanced at Shi Kuang's father, and said

"Stone, it doesn't hurt."

Shi Kuanghan said with a smile

"Mother, it doesn't hurt."

Shi Kuang's dinner was quite rich, tofu, cabbage soup, fried greens......

Although it is not as rich as the Chang family, the dinner of Shi Kuang's family is indeed rich.

Chang Sheng looked at the table full of dishes suspiciously, and said

"Aren't you a fishing village? Why is there no fish on the dinner table? ”

Shi Kuang's father and Shi Kuang's mother glanced at each other and said slightly apologetically

"Recently, the wind and waves in the Chijiang River have been very strong, and our village has not gone out to fish for half a month, so naturally there will be no fish, if you want to eat fish, I will go out to fish tomorrow."

Chang An hurriedly apologized

"No need Uncle Shi, my sister is just naughty, and she doesn't really want to eat fish."

Chang Sheng also waved his little hand and said

"Uncle Shi, I'm sorry, I don't want to eat fish, I'm just curious, just ask."

Shi Kuang's mother said with a grin

"It's okay, the people in our village don't have as many ideas as you outsiders, you can eat when you want, sleep when you want, just tell me what you want to eat, I'll make it for you."

Chang Sheng said obediently

"Well, thank you, Aunt Shi."

Shi Kuang's mother happily touched Chang Sheng's head and said

"The little girl is so well-behaved."

Shi Kuang's father suddenly asked

"Stone, how about the girl you saw in the next village yesterday?"

Shi Kuang looked nervous and said

"How's that?"

Chang Sheng took over the conversation and said

"Uncle Shi, the two of them met secretly this afternoon."

Shi Kuang's mother became energetic when she heard it

"Yes! Little doll, tell me about it."

After that, Chang Sheng and Shi Kuang's mother chatted happily.

Shi Kuang's father and Chang An also chatted with each other, and several people spent dinner happily.

At night, Chang An, dressed in black, walked out of the thatched hut, and Chang Sheng in the house had already fallen asleep.

The night was quiet, and every household in Shijia Village had turned off the lights, leaving only the insects in the wild to hear endlessly.

He stood on the rooftop, overlooking the village, carefully observing each house.

Since he entered the village today, he has been full of curiosity about this village, the strong fishy smell at the entrance of the village has faded to the village, obviously he has just used fishing nets in recent days, but Shi Kuang's father said that he has not been out of the boat for half a month, not only Shi Kuang's family, he has also observed the neighbors next door, and there are no fish-related dishes on their dinner tables.

His instincts told him what secrets the village was hiding.

His light body traveled to and from the roofs of various houses, masking the sound of his landing through the sound of insects in the wild, and his feet finally stepped on the roof of the village chief's house, attracting him to the dozen large water tanks in the courtyard of the village chief's house, and a few pickled salted fish hanging in front of the village chief's window.

This is the first time Chang'an has seen fish in this village.

It was a common pickled salted fish in a fishing village, but it looks so dazzling in this village.

Chang An walked in front of a large water tank and opened it.

A strong fishy smell came to the face, and the large tank of salted fish was stored in the tank.

Chang An checked the other water tanks one after another, and not surprisingly, they were also full of salted fish.

I'm afraid that the fish in the whole village are in these jars, Chang Anxin thought.

At this moment, a cry was suddenly heard in the distance

"Come on, I'm not in charge!"

Homes were lit up in an instant, illuminating the entire village, and the villagers walked out of their homes and ran towards the source of the sound.

Chang An quickly jumped onto the roof and faintly heard the villagers talking.

"Whose house is it today?"

"It seems to be Shi Meng's family."

"Even someone as strong as Shi Meng ......"

"Don't say it, let's go."

Chang An stood on the roof, looking in the direction of the cry from a distance, but found that the cry was in the direction of Shi Kuang's house, and after the villagers were far away, he performed light skills and quickly rushed towards the source of the cry.

After a while, he returned to Shi Kuang's house, but found that Shi Meng in the mouth of the villagers was Shi Kuang's neighbor.

At this time, Shi Meng's door was already full of villagers, including Shi Kuang's father and mother, who were also wearing coats and watching at the door.

Chang An gently jumped into the room, changed into pajamas, pretended to be woken up from outside, slowly walked out of the house, came to the courtyard, and asked Shi Kuang's father and mother

"Uncle and aunt, what's wrong?"

In the courtyard of the neighbor's house, two men were walking out of the yard carrying a stout man, and the crying woman and child behind them were clinging to the man's clothes, as if they were not allowed to go.

Chang An looked at the sturdy man, thinking that it should be the Shi Meng that the villagers had just said.

Several women of similar age walked up, grabbed the woman, and persuaded her.

Uncle Shi looked at the man who was lying, sighed, and said calmly

"Shi Meng of the house next door died."

Chang An frowned, looked at the courtyard next door, and found that most of the villagers also looked calm, as if dead people seemed to them to be a very common thing.

Chang Anxin became more and more suspicious, and asked again

"How did you die?"

Shi Kuang's father looked at the neighboring courtyard and was silent for a long time, his eyes were complicated, and he said a plausible answer

"How else can you die?"

In the courtyard next door, the old village chief held his cane in both hands and looked at Shi Meng silently.

A middle-aged man walked up to the village chief and said

"Village chief, let's follow the old rules."

When the woman who was weeping heard this, her crying became even more terrible.

The old village chief walked up to the woman tremblingly, and said some words in a hoarse voice, the woman had stopped crying, but she was still pale, and looked at the lying man numbly, as if she couldn't hear the words of the village chief at all, the old village chief saw this, sighed, looked at the surrounding villagers, waved his hand, and said

"Let's all disperse."

After that, the villagers dispersed one after another, leaving only two men carrying Shi Meng and slowly leaving.

Seeing this, Chang An secretly followed while everyone was not paying attention.

The two men carried Shi Meng all the way out of the village, did not stop, and continued to walk into the distance.

Chang An followed all the way, he is now a first-class master in the rivers and lakes, even if he performs light skills on the empty and silent plain, he will not be easily discovered by these two men who have not practiced martial arts.

About an hour later, the two men carried Shi Meng to the Chijiang River, only to see the two men gently place Shi Meng on the riverside, and then knelt down facing the Chijiang River, bowed respectfully three times, and then ran back as if they were flying, as if they were full of fear of the Chijiang River.

After the two left, Chang An came to Shi Meng's body, he looked at Shi Meng quietly, and his tightly knit brows never relaxed.

Shi Meng lay quietly on the muddy ground, the soil under his body was already muddy and rotten by the river water, I saw that his face was pale and yellow, there were faint traces of blood on the corners of his mouth, and his facial features were twisted together due to pain.

Chang An examined his whole body and found no wounds.

It should be poisoned to death, Chang Anxin thought.

The water of the Chijiang River slapped the shore wave after wave, the soil on the shore was soaked by the river for thousands of years, under the reflection of the moonlight, it exuded a dark red light, reflecting the blood stains on the corner of Shi Meng's mouth, which looked more and more demonic.

Chang stood quietly next to Shi Meng, looking at Chijiang, recalling all the strange things he encountered today, silent, at this moment, a terrible idea had gradually taken shape in his mind......