Chapter 45: The Southwest Journey

After Murong Chen set up the trap in the woods, he stood up, looked at the direction of the Qingcheng Mountain Gate, clapped his hands and got on his horse, and then walked in the southwest direction.

The southwest was a wild land during the Tang Dynasty, but the Ancient Tea Horse Road was a trade route for a long time. The road is rugged, mostly along the river, and it is hard to go around.

Compared with the Silk Road on the sea and the Silk Road on the road, this road is very famous, because it has a small amount of transportation and is not in the main commercial area, so the general public pays little attention to it.

Murong Chen walked slowly in this road, looking slow and leisurely, but his heart was full of vigilance, he understood that this road was not won by martial arts and strength, but by luck and prudence.

The folk customs in the southwest are fierce, and they have been oppressed by the Han people for a long time, so they generally have a kind of hatred for the Han people in their hearts, plus the clouds and mist here are surrounded, the weather is like spring all year round, the mountains are forested, and there are many strange insects and grasses, so there are a lot of poisons that can be extracted, plus witchcraft is popular, all kinds of head lowering, and cup magic is prevalent, so most of the people who can walk on this road are thoughtful and cautious people.

Murong Chen walked alone, it was true that there were few people here, and generally speaking, except for inns, most of them were post stations. One for dozens of miles, coupled with the rain and fog, it feels like walking in water all day, and every day is wet. Therefore, people are listless all day, and even the horses are slow and have no spirit.

Slowly and leisurely walked to the hinterland of the southwest, it has been about ten days. Although he was anxious, he was helpless because of the rugged mountain road and helplessness.

Most of Mo Keran's places of residence were not fixed, and Murong Chen could only look for them slowly, and kept inquiring.

He led the horse into a Miao village, saluted the old man sitting at the door basking in the sun, and then asked the old man very politely: "May I ask where Mo Keran lives?"

"What are you looking for him?" the old man looked at him vigilantly, stood up and asked him in a very unfriendly tone.

"I'm his friend, and I'm looking for him for something. Please show me the way. Tell me he's there. Murong Chen replied in a low voice, he is not familiar with life here, if you are not polite, then no one will care. Murong Chen knew this deeply.

"I don't know, don't ask. Let's go back. The old man looked at him and said angrily. Ignore him anymore.

Murong Chen looked at the old man. sighed, and then said to the old man, "It's getting late, can you let me stay at your house for one night." I'll leave tomorrow, old man, if you have a Buddha heart, you should do good, don't worry, I'll pay you money. ”

The old man looked at him with a look of distrust, but it seemed that it was still for the sake of the silver, and he reluctantly agreed. But he instructed, "You'd better not go out at night, or I'll be fine except for things." ”

Dinner was eaten at the old man's house, the old man had three children, the two sons had already married and had passed alone, the youngest was a daughter, who had not yet married, she looked at Murong Chen curiously, it seemed that few people came here, so she looked at him curiously. Murong Chen also looked at her very kindly and smiled at her, but the woman was glared at by the old man, and immediately withdrew her gaze and stopped looking at him.

The four of them finished their meal speechlessly. The old man said loudly to Murong Chen: "Go back to the room quickly, don't come out, otherwise it will not be good to be seen." Little Nia, you go and help him clean up the room, and don't forget to collect the money. The old man told the woman to clean up his room, and at the same time asked the woman not to forget to collect the money.

Murong Chen followed the woman to a room upstairs, where the woman spread hay on the bed, then spread a thin quilt, added a pillow and a quilt on it, and prepared to go out.

"Don't go, I haven't paid yet. Murong Chen looked at Nia who was about to dodge out and said with a smile.

"I almost forgot, otherwise Daddy would have scolded me again. Nia took the money, bowed her head shyly and walked out. Murong Chen just wanted to ask some of the above, but before he could ask, he was blocked by the door, and Nia had already run out and closed the door.

Murong Chen shook his head, lay on the bed, and thought to himself how to find Mo Keran? It seems that this old man knows Mo Keran, but how to make him tell himself is a headache, looking at his hostile eyes, Murong Chen felt a headache, he sighed, twisted his neck, and then lay on the bed, not thinking about it, he has decided to change the village tomorrow to ask, maybe it would be better.

It was still very cold at night in the southwest, and he had to cover the quilt to fall asleep, Murong Chen was not afraid of the cold, but he still covered the quilt, at least he could make himself comfortable.

Not long after he fell asleep, he was woken up by a chaotic quarrel, he stood up, opened the window and looked down, only to see three drunk Han officials burping, full of alcohol, two of them also each hugged a trembling Miao Jiang woman wantonly, touching. The Han man who didn't have a woman in the building was shouting at the old man, as if he was reprimanding him, and there was a man from Miao Jiang next to him who was also helping the Han man and reprimanding the old man together. But the old man held a knife across his chest, his face was angry, and he ignored their reprimand.

The man from Miao Jiang had a sharp-beaked monkey cheek and a flattering face, and he scolded the old man: "Quickly send Nia to the old man to accompany the wine, don't toast and don't eat and drink." If you annoy the official, you will die here immediately. ”

"You want my Nya to accompany me in the drink, unless you step over my corpse. The old man had a knife in his hand, his face tightened, and he roared at the man.

"I've been here several times, and you've been holding steel knives to protect Nia from accompanying you to drink, it seems that you're tired of being alive today, and then again, are you out of the way?" As soon as the Han Jiang's words came out, Murong Chen knew that the Han official's idea of beating Nia had been successful for a long time, but he didn't succeed, but he was probably very sure that he dared to come today, Murong Chen secretly screamed in his heart, and sure enough, the Han official looked impatient, stretched out his hand and beckoned, and several masked men appeared behind him, looking at Nia's father who was blocking the door, and said with a little playfulness: " Lord Wang, it seems that this old thing is blocking your erotic encounter, so ignorant of each other, dare to file Lord Wang's erotic encounter, it seems that he is impatient. ”

"Aren't you a few known as masters, go and solve this old thing, and your affairs will be wrapped up in me. The Han official was already impatiently looking at Nia who was hiding in her mother's arms, rubbing his hands together and staring at Nia with his eyes.

The two Han officials next to him wantonly stroked the woman in their arms, and shouted at the official surnamed Wang: "If Lord Wang is happy today, your affairs will be a piece of cake." This King Nia has been thinking about it for a long time. After speaking, the two burst into laughter, and the Miao people who were watching around were extremely angry, but no one dared to say anything, and they all stared at those people with their eyes.

"Okay, then let's send a little brother who can't make it out to help the adults fulfill this wish. The masked man beckoned, and a masked man walked out and walked towards Nia's father.

He smiled and walked towards Nia's father, Nia's father slashed at the man's head with a wave of his knife, Murong Chen saw clearly from upstairs, although Nia's father was extremely brave, but he really didn't have any martial arts, but with brute force and bravery, Na Wan was not that man's opponent. Sure enough, the man took a step back and dodged a knife in his head, and then moved forward, his left hand knocked on the wrist of Nia's father, and his right hand turned into a fist and hit Nia's father's chest, Nia's father immediately fell off the steel knife in his hand, and the man kicked the steel knife into his hand with a kick of his hand, Nia's father had a pain in his chest, a mouthful of blood blurted out, and fell to the ground with a bang, the man's knife had been slashed towards Nia's father's throat, seeing that Nia's father was about to die, but a figure fell to Nia's father and protected Nia's father with his body。 It was Nia who pounced on her father, and at the critical moment she rushed forward and threw herself into his arms.

"Don't hurt the woman. Several voices shouted out together, and the people who came out of the shouting were masked men, men from southern Xinjiang, and officials of the Han nationality. The three of them shouted together, looked at each other and laughed. The masked man said: "Lord Wang is really a person who pities the fragrance and cherishes the jade, and admires and admires it." ”

The masked man looked at the man under him, who had already put the knife back and put it on Nia's father's neck, and looked at Nya and her mother who were crying without saying a word.

"Nia, let's go with Lord Wang, otherwise your father will die without a place to be buried, can you bear to watch your father die?" said to Nia.

"You let my father go, and I'll go with you. Nia stood up crying, turned around and walked slowly towards them, and the man with the knife put away the knife and watched triumphantly as Nia walked towards the king. The surrounding Miao Jiang people all lowered their heads, they couldn't bear to look at it anymore, silence is better than sound, no tears are better than tears, and sometimes the helpless choice is also the most painful choice.

The king laughed, stretched out his hand and hugged Nia, but with a bang, he hugged a man with a knife, only to feel a pain in his chest and fell to the ground, began to vomit, he opened his eyes in a daze, and saw a man in soap-colored clothes standing in front of them, looking at them with a smile. (To be continued......)