Shang Yunze never considered himself a gentleman.
But at this moment, facing the defenseless person in his arms, he had to force himself to be a gentleman. Some things and some people, once they want to cherish in their hearts, they will have more worries, and they will not easily do things that exceed the rules.
It was a bit cold at night, Mu Qingshan leaned into the arms of the person next to him again, and slept more and more soundly.
Shang Yunze patted him on the back with his right hand, feeling that it was actually a beautiful thing for the two of them to have such a long and smooth relationship.
The weather in the Cangwu Mountain is unpredictable. After a gust of howling wind, heavy rain will come at any time. Zhao Yue took Wen Liunian and jumped up a cliff, and found a cave to shelter from the rain. Not long after, Hei Feng also ran up, shaking the rain off his body, and lay down to take a nap.
Zhao Yue took out the fire pack from his bosom, picked up some dry firewood from the cave, and quickly ignited the fire.
Wen Liunian said, "All the heroes from Shadow Chasing Palace also come in together."
Zhao Yue was a little surprised, "How did you know someone was following you?"
"Guess." Wen Liunian smiled, "They probably wouldn't let the boss take me out in the middle of the night."
"You're only half right." Zhao Yue turned on the fire, "I followed, but when you looked at the stars, you already went back."
"That's good." Wen Liunian warmed himself up to the fire, "Otherwise it will inevitably rain."
Zhao Yue found a long branch to dry his clothes so as not to catch cold again.
Wen Liunian yawned lazily, then took a nap with his knees hugged. Zhao Yue had just paved hay for Hei Feng, when he turned around and saw him staggering, he was startled immediately, and hurried forward to pull him back.
Wen Liunian shuddered, "Is there something wrong with the boss?"
"I'm not afraid of falling into the fire!" Zhao Yue fiercely knocked him on the head.
Wen Liunian's eyelids drooped together, "Sleepy."
Zhao Yue: ...
It was windy and windy outside the cave, but inside the cave was dry and warm. Wen Liunian lay on Zhao Yue's lap and fell asleep drowsily. His body was covered with a large robe, and there was hay under his body, which was soft and comfortable.
Zhao Yue was bored, thinking while fiddling with the fire, the nerd and the horse are both ancestors, one is more difficult to serve than the other.
The next morning, Wen Liunian stretched vigorously, feeling a little itchy on his face, and when he opened his eyes, he saw a huge...horse face.
"Morning." Wen Liunian sat up, hugged its head and rubbed it.
Hei Feng flicked his tail and wandered outside the cave to have fun.
The fire had already been extinguished, and Wen Liunian followed him out of the cave, just in time to see Zhao Yue coming back with a few fish.
"Master." Wen Liunian greeted with a smile.
Zhao Yue said with a paralyzed face, "Are you a dog?"
Wen Liunian was puzzled, "Why did the big boss say that?"
Zhao Yue stretched out his hand in front of him, and there was a circle of tooth marks on the back of his hand.
Wen Liunian: ...
Zhao Yue gritted his teeth, "This is not the first time." How could there be such a nerd who would bite when he fell asleep
Wen Liunian calmly said, "Probably had a nightmare."
"If you get married in the future, you will be killed sooner or later." Zhao Yue wrapped the fish in clean grass and relit the fire.
Wen Liunian squatted aside to watch him busy, "What a fat fish."
"White water fish is only found in the streams of Cangmang Mountain, and it is delicious when roasted dry." Zhao Yue said, "If it is fried and then boiled with fermented soybeans, it will be even more delicious in the world."
Wen Liunian swallowed.
"Go back after eating." Zhao Yue said, "It's rare to go to the mountain."
"Yeah." Wen Liunian stared intently at the fish on the fire, "It smells pretty good."
Looking at his expression, Zhao Yue felt from the bottom of his heart that if nothing else, even if it was just to eat white water fish every day, he should do his best to suppress the bandits.
"My lord and the head of the family haven't come back yet?" Hua Tang frowned after hearing the news in the government office, "What are you doing, how can you stay in the Cangwu Mountain all night."
An Wei said, "Looking at the stars." Then he added, "It looks like we had a good chat."
Everyone at the breakfast table was quite relieved, and they went out to look at the stars together in the middle of the night... Although it sounds like something is wrong, it is a good thing that it is no longer the point of the needle.
After another half an hour, Wen Liunian followed Zhao Yue back to the Shang Mansion, carrying a lot of fish.
Lu Zhui praised, "It's really fun to be the head of the family." He even jumped into the river to catch fish.
Zhao Yue glared at the nerd.
Wen Liunian scratched his face, very calm.
After eating the grilled fish in the morning, Zhao Yue originally wanted to take people out of the mountain together, but after walking two steps, Wen Liunian had to sigh with emotion, "The fish is quite delicious", which made his ears callous. In the end, Master Zhao had no choice but to turn back angrily, and went to catch more than a dozen fish and skewered them, so that he could stop talking.
How can there be such an annoying nerd! Zhao Yue was thinking while taking a bath, he just wanted to keep pinching his mouth and not let go.
"The master." Wen Liunian knocked on the door.
Zhao Yue's head was buzzing, why did he come again, why didn't he go back to the government office quickly
Seeing that there was no movement in the room, Wen Liunian stretched out his hand and opened the door to see what happened.
Zhao Yue soaked in the bathtub, staring at him with a dark face.
Wen Liunian: ...
Zhao Yue gritted his teeth, "What's the matter?"
Wen Liunian said, "Everyone is waiting."
Zhao Yue said, "The fish is in the kitchen."
Wen Liunian looked puzzled, "Everyone is waiting in the study for the boss to discuss the matter of suppressing bandits together." What does it have to do with fish
Zhao Yue: ...
"I'll go to the study first too." Wen Liunian helped him close the door.
Zhao Yue began to think about why his brain was not enough recently. When he saw the nerd, the first thing he thought of was not Cangmang Mountain, but peanut candy and white water fish, plus hot and sour powder.
"I heard that my lord had a good talk with the head of the family last night?" Huatang asked in the study.
Wen Liunian nodded, "Not bad."
"May I ask, what did you talk about?" Lu Zhui was really curious.
"It's nothing, just some past events and future plans." Wen Liunian said, "The master seems to like Cangwu Mountain very much."
"Because the days in the mountains are very quiet." Lu Zhui smiled, "There won't be too many worldly disturbances."
Thinking of those hideous scars on Zhao Yue's chest just now, Wen Liunian thought, people in the world really have a past.
After Zhao Yue came over, everyone began to discuss the night visit. Because they don't know each other's background, and Zhao Wu and Huatang are well-known in the world, there are very few people who don't know each other, so Wen Liunian insists on not agreeing to the two going together, and finally decides that Zhao Yue and Lu Zhui will go there and accompany them again With the two hidden guards—since they joined the Shadow Chasing Palace half a year ago, they haven't gotten to know each other well in the arena. Even if they are discovered, they can still be said to be Chaomuya's disciples.
It should not be too late, since it has been negotiated and decided, there is no reason to delay any longer, so the next afternoon, the four of them left the city in disguise and headed straight for Cangwu Mountain.
The Hutou post is located deep in the Cangwu Mountain. Even if the four of them are all masters, it was already midnight when they arrived. The entrance was pitch black, and the sky was starless and moonless, so quiet that one could almost hear the wind blowing leaves.
"Will there be a mechanism?" Lu Zhui asked, "Otherwise, the precautions will be too lax."
Zhao Yue looked around, and jumped onto the cliff. The black night clothes blended with the rocks, making it difficult to be spotted.
The other three followed closely behind and sneaked into the depths of the valley without a sound.
After turning a few turns, a stockade appeared in front of it, with a raging fire burning in front of the gate, and about seventeen or eight guards were patrolling.
Lu Zhui said, "The last time I came was two years ago, I didn't expect to become so grand now."
"Just by looting houses in the boundless city, I'm afraid it won't be able to achieve such a scale." Zhao Yue said, "It's really not an ordinary bandit den."
"Someone is coming." The dark guard whispered.
The four of them hid behind a huge rock, and saw three people riding horses galloping here on the mountain road in the distance. The first one was thin and thin, with two mustaches, and looked familiar.
"I saw a portrait in Master Wen's study, it is Zhang Shengrui." Lu Zhui said, "The son of Uncle Zhang in the Shantang."
"Looking at my attitude towards him, he should have some status in the village." An Wei said, "The posture of dismounting doesn't seem to be a skill."
"Bandits who are purely robbing houses will not need such a powerless literati." Lu Zhui said, "Go in and have a look, maybe you will find something else."
The darkness of the night made it more convenient for everyone. Taking advantage of the moment when the sentries were relaxed, they quickly sneaked into the Tiger Head Gang. After walking along with Zhang Shengrui and others for a while, they finally arrived at an exquisite house.
"It looks like a building in the south of the Yangtze River." Lu Zhui frowned, "How could it appear in the Cangwu Mountain?"
Zhang Shengrui fell asleep soon after washing up, and there was nothing unusual.
"What an evil scent." The dark guard sniffed vigorously, "I've never smelled it before."
Zhao Yue: ...
Lu Zhui: ...
Generally, when people in the rivers and lakes smell a strange smell, their first reaction is to hold their breath, as if someone would take advantage of it.
The dark guard took the initiative to explain, "I drank phoenix blood before coming here, and the general poisonous mist and miasma can be cured."
Lu Zhui was curious, "Is it the little phoenix raised by Palace Master Qin and Young Master Shen?"
The dark guard immediately shook his head crazily, that's my young palace master, who has to call the wind and rain and shoot thunderbolts every day. The phoenix blood was brought by the real Xingdou when he was a guest.
"The source of the fragrance seems to be ahead." Zhao Yue said, "Go and have a look."
Lu Zhui nodded, but before he could act in the future, there was a sudden loud explosion not far away.
The flames soared into the sky, almost igniting half of the sky.
The village was suddenly noisy, and the number of torches gradually increased. Taking advantage of the confusion below, several people rushed to the place where the explosion occurred. The closer they got, the stronger the aroma, and the smell of gunpowder and sulfur.
A house was burning, and many people around were pouring water to fight the fire. Zhang Shengrui also hurried over.
Zhao Yue said, "It looks like you are making alchemy?"
The dark guard immediately looked disgusted, "It turns out that the leader of the gang won't do it."
Lu Zhui: ...
Most people think that it is longevity or immortality, right
"It's so good, why did it explode suddenly?" A middle-aged man also looked anxious, stomping his feet while watching the flames soaring into the sky.
"It is estimated that the two boys were lazy." Zhang Shengrui said, "But now, nine out of ten have also been reduced to ashes together."
"What should I do?" The middle-aged man turned around, "The guild master will leave the customs tomorrow, and seeing that the elixir is about to be refined, but such things happen again, if the time comes to blame, who can afford it? responsibility."
"Things have happened, and it doesn't help to be anxious." Zhang Shengrui said indifferently, "Vice Chief Gao doesn't have to be so angry. Although the chief is a little irritable, he is not an unreasonable person."
The hidden guard tsk tsk, if you have impotence, you need to find a doctor, what's the use of retreat.
The fire has gradually diminished and was finally extinguished by water. Among the scorched charcoal, at least seven or eight human skulls could be seen.
The dark guard frowned, "Using living people to make alchemy?"
"No, otherwise it should be blown up together with the alchemy furnace, and it won't be so complete." Lu Zhui said, "It should be piled up in the house."
"What the hell kind of place." The dark guard shook his head, "The Demon Cult wasn't so vicious back then."
"Taking advantage of the current chaos, let's look elsewhere." Zhao Yue said, "I can't find any more clues here."
The sky was already turning pale. The four of them explored the village, and they saw white bones everywhere, and there were even a lot of poisonous insect pits. There were strange totems painted on the walls, like pairs of grievous eyes. The back will be numb.
At dawn, everyone quietly sneaked out of the cottage, and the dark guard's palms were sweating coldly, "This is not a bandit's den, it's clearly a devil's lair."
"I guess it's just a show to go out to rob houses." Lu Zhui said, "I don't know what I'm doing secretly."
"You go back first." Zhao Yue said suddenly.
"Let's go back first?" The dark guard was stunned for a moment, "What about the master?"
"I'll stay another night." Zhao Yue said.
Lu Zhui guessed, "The boss wants to wait for the leader of the Tiger Head Gang to come out?"
Zhao Yue nodded, "Since you're here, naturally you have to find out everything."
"Alright." Lu Zhui said, "I'll stay too."
Naturally, the dark guards would not have any objections, so one of them went back to report the letter, and the other chased with Zhao Yuelu and found a cave to wait until it got dark.
"Demon Cult?" Wen Liunian frowned after hearing this in the government office.
"Even if it's not the Devil's Cult, it's more or less the same." The dark guard said, "It's poisonous insects and miasma, as well as human bones and alchemy furnaces. It's not like a Jianghu sect, and it's even less like a den of bandits who rob houses."
"What do you two think?" Wen Liunian asked.
"It's not a normal place." Hua Tang said, "It sounds like a cult."
"Are there any records of such things in Cangwu City?" Zhao Wu asked.
Mu Qingshan shook his head, "Since I was born, I have never heard of such a thing."
"I haven't seen it in the file." Wen Liunian said, "It should have moved to Cangmang Mountain from other places, and then settled down, and then used bandits as a cover to hide what he really did."
Hua Tang and Zhao Wu looked at each other, looking at their posture, they probably had a headache again...