"There is something that the south may not know yet. I just heard it from a caravan that was resting there two days ago."
The bonfire crackled, sending sparks flying from the shop where we were resting. Horses neighed and donkeys whinnied. People came in from time to time, shaking off the snow. Most of them were travellers from all over the country, and there were also vendors transporting goods, who came here temporarily to drink and keep warm while waiting for the snow to pass.
The waiter who served the wine and dishes shouted, "Sir, here's the hot wine and two servings of lamb. Please enjoy!" He put down the wine and a plate of food for the customer, returned to the counter and continued what the man had just said.
"Sir, what is the news? Tell us, could it be that the Turks have surrendered?"
On the other side of the fire, the thin dark man who had spoken earlier rubbed his palms and exhaled a puff of white air.
"Brother, you really guessed it right. The battle at the beginning of the year really had a winner and loser last month. I heard from the merchant that 80,000 Turks came back, but were ambushed by General Shi halfway and almost wiped out. Shaboluo didn't even have a chance to escape."
A few years ago, when Zhou and Qi were still in power, the Turks were very rampant and often went south to plunder. Now they were defeated and even the Great Khan was gone. This immediately aroused the interest of the people nearby, and they all spoke up.
"Who is General Shi?"
"Hey, you don't even recognize General Shi? He was a famous general of our Sui Dynasty! He was here when we attacked the Chen Dynasty. I heard that the first one to stand on the top of the city wall had arms as thick as pillars. How could he not be fierce?"
"No wonder the Sui Dynasty was able to replace the Zhou Dynasty. This is really a great honor."
There was a sudden chorus of agreement in the store. After all, who doesn't want their country to be powerful and to be able to speak with their backs straight when they go out? However, there was also a voice snorting in the corner.
"It's just a sneak attack by a rat."
The man who was talking by the fire tilted his head, and the passengers who were resting around him also looked over there. There was a square table in the corner where three people were sitting. They were all dressed as outlaws. There were weapons on the corners of the table and the wall. One of them was holding a wine bowl with a grim smile on his face. The person who originally wanted to argue pursed his lips and sat back down.
Seeing that the people around them didn't dare to speak, the three men snorted even louder. The man weighing the wine bowl put his foot on one end of the bench and glanced around the store.
"… You are also considered people of the Chen Dynasty. Your Majesty is still alive. You all call yourselves people of the Sui Dynasty. Are you worthy of the late emperor? If the Northern Sui Dynasty had not sneakily attacked across the river, they might not have been able to reach the shore. They also won over the villain Xiao Moke. If it weren't for him, how could the Sui army have arrived at the gates of Tianzhi City?"
His companion next to him pulled his hand and signaled him not to speak. Only then did the man suppress his anger, pick up the wine and drink with his two companions and eat meat.
The store was silent for a moment. With the three outlaws present, no one dared to talk about what had just happened and someone changed the subject.
"By the way, I heard a few days ago that Lu Lang from Qixia Mountain got married."
Many of the passers-by and vendors who were resting in this store had passed by here and had naturally heard of this name. Some of them were very familiar with it. Someone nearby took a bowl of wine and sat next to the fire.
"My dear, your news is so old, and Lu Lang is not married yet."
"Not married yet? My brother came back last month and told me that Lu Liangsheng got married and even personally delivered wine and drinks to Lujia Village."
There are also people around who walk the mountain trails of Qixia Mountain all year round and can testify for that man.
"It really didn't happen. I heard that they pretended to kiss in order to lure out a monster. A lot of people saw it that day, so it couldn't be fake."
When the three outlaws at the square table in the corner heard the words "Lu Lang of Qixia Mountain", they looked at each other, put down their drinks, and listened with their ears tilted.
…
"Monster? Are there any monsters that dare to go to Lujia Village? They are asking for their lives."
"Let's not talk about Lu Lang, who is a star from heaven and has great magical powers. The eight big men in the village alone are enough for those mountain spirits and foxes to eat a pot. Thinking of that body of meat, tsk tsk... I'll have a drink first."
"That's right, Wang Banxia from Fushui County is also considered a Taoist master. He is always accurate in his predictions. Didn't he also take Lu Lang as his master? I heard that he has three disciples. Have you seen them?"
"I've heard of two of them, and they seem to be in Chang'an."
Speaking of the north, the thin black man paused and subconsciously looked at the three outlaws, fearing that he might offend them. Seeing that they did not react, he lowered his voice and continued:
"I heard that they are all officials in the capital."
The wind mixed with snowflakes blew in, and the people sitting by the campfire at the door were so cold that they quickly moved away. The three people at the table in the corner saw that the snow outside had lessened a little, so they paid for their meal, bowed to the people in the store, put on their raincoats, took their weapons, and walked towards the white mountain path in the wind and snow.
"The Mr. Lu we are looking for is probably this Lu Lang."
"That should be it. Your Majesty said Qixia Mountain, there won't be a second one."
"What Lu Lang, Mr. Lu? I heard they even accepted Sui Ren as his apprentice. Humph, I look down on him!"
The person who said this was the outlaw who was weighing the wine bowl in the store. They came from the southwest and to get to Lujia Village in Qixia Mountain, they had to cross a mountain and take the road to the border between Tongling County and Fushui County.
"His Majesty and Mr. Chen will come here in two days. You should be more careful not to upset His Majesty."
"Oh, I know, I know, let's get going!"
The man with the knife on his back waved his hand impatiently and walked a distance on the snowy road. The fluttering snowflakes gradually stopped, and the three people left a series of footprints in the snow, extending across the mountains in front. However, the snow was too heavy and the road that should have been there was not visible at all. The further they walked forward, the more desolate it became, and all they could see was a vast expanse of white.
Occasionally, there is the rustling sound of snow falling from the branches, which makes people feel a sense of palpitations.
"We seem to be lost."
Among the three, the middle-aged man with a relatively honest appearance compared the sky with the map in his hand, and then looked around. It was so white in the ice and snow that it was difficult to tell the direction.
Do we have to wait until the sun sets before we move north and south
After the other two got drunk, they felt dry mouth and tongue. They scooped a handful of snow into their mouths, melted it and swallowed it, then looked around in confusion.
The younger swordsman simply took off his shoes and threw them into the air, pointing in the direction the tip of his shoe was pointing.
"Just go this direction."
At this moment, the man holding the map raised his head, as if listening to something, turned around and looked around for a while, then turned back and asked his companions in a low voice.
"Did you hear any noise?"
The other two people stood where they were and listened carefully for a moment. They seemed to hear it as well. It sounded vaguely like a man's voice singing. They couldn't hear it completely and didn't know what the words were, but the tune was extremely soothing.
"We are lost anyway, so we might as well follow the direction of the song and ask for directions to get out of this mountain."
After the three of them made a plan, they followed the direction from which the singing came and climbed up a ridge to the east. Snow was falling in the forest, and when they got closer, they could hear the sound of bronze bells echoing in the distance.
“… I leaned against the door and watched the old friend return in the snow, and woke up from a dream with white hair falling on my shoulders…”
An old donkey was running around excitedly in the snow, wagging its tail and kicking its hooves. A pair of copper bells under its neck were jingling and clanging. The three people looked over the snow-covered bushes. Not far away, there was the sound of "bang bang" of chopping wood. Over there, a young man in a blue linen robe and a fu hat on his head was holding a hatchet to shave firewood. He split the thick ones into two halves and tied them up separately.
"He's a woodcutter."
"Just asking for directions."
The old donkey playing over there twitched its ears and heard the squeaking of footsteps in the snow. It turned around and groaned twice. The woodcutter who was chopping wood also stopped his work. Three people came over in front of them. They were agile, all carrying guns and swords, and wearing close-fitting warrior robes.
The first one, with an honest face, saw the woodcutter looking at him, raised his hands and said with a smile: "Don't be afraid, young man, we three have no bad intentions, we just came here to ask for directions."
Across from them, the woodcutter looked at the three of them and nodded.
"It's icy and snowy, so it's normal to get lost. Where are you three going?"
The three looked at each other when they heard this. The woodcutter looked and spoke like a mountain man. One of them said, "Just asking... how to get to Honglian Temple? We are here to worship the temple."
"Honglian Temple? Well, my home is nearby, and I have almost finished collecting firewood. Why don't you three follow me?"
After saying this, the woodcutter called over the donkey, picked up the three bundles of firewood and put them on both sides, then took the reins and walked to the front. The three outlaws followed without hesitation, and there was also a look between the three of them, which roughly meant: "If this guy has any bad intentions, just kill him!"