Sword from Hengshan

Chapter 44 Yihuang
Long Changxu had already planned it. Before leaving the city, he specifically chose the lively and bustling streets so that merchants from around Hengyang could see the power of the escort agency.

Passing by the tea shop at Daxi Gate, Zhao Rong saw Qu Feiyan.

Not far behind her were Bao Butian and Wentai. The little girl gestured towards Zhao Rong, and Zhao Rong turned around and waved to her.

Lu Gui was beside Zhao Rong. After noticing his little movements, he also looked in the direction of the tea shop.

Suddenly, his eyes were as big as copper bells.

What? !

Isn't that the young owner of Benlei Villa? Why did he become a waiter with a teapot?

There was no time to confirm before the large group of people had already left the city.

Different from the previous escort route, this time Chang Rui did not board the ship from Luosu Pier, but took a detour to Anren, the former residence of Mr. Sang of the tea shop. At Sai Wan Pier over there, transfer to land and water.

There are far fewer merchants at Xiwan Wharf than in Hengyang City, and there are even fewer large ships. Almost all of them have been rented.

From here by land and water to the Xiang River, if there is a tail behind it, you can tell it apart at a glance.

Long Changxu seems to have a big heart, but in fact he is walking on thin ice.

Zhao Rong did not hesitate to praise him and praised the chief escort in private in front of Lu Shilai and Lu Gui.

"Regardless of whether he knows about Lai Zhirui or not, the chief escort is always careful, otherwise the escort agency would not be as big as it is now." Lu Shilai said the truth impartially.

Traveling by boat, it was calm the past few days.

During the day, except for the bodyguards on duty, everyone went into the cabin to sleep soundly. They did not step out of the cabin until the red sun set in the west, preparing to take up their duties at night.

Sleeping during the day and waking up at night are the rules of escorts on the waterway.

Because there are almost no river blocking and escort robberies during the day, only thieves often come to sneak attacks at night, so you have to be on guard.

When passing Yuanzhou Prefecture, there are mostly densely populated areas along the canal, with cities, towns, villages and villages facing each other for miles.

In those prosperous areas, teahouses and wine shops abounded, and Zhao Rong was dazzled by them.

"Flower boats" and "landscape boats" are often seen in the canal, and sheng, pipe, flute and Xiao are often played and danced.

On this day, Zhao Rong stayed at the string of the boat.

The Escort's boat happened to pass by the flower boat.

A window of the flower boat was pushed open, and the woman with colorful makeup in the window gave him a wink, and stretched out her slender and white arms to hold the gauze and fiddle with the sleeve handkerchief. Wu Nong whispered: "Little Master, come here Let’s play on the boat.”

"Sister, I'm young."

"You're not young anymore, sister will give you something nice to look at."

Zhao Rong smiled and shook his head, and the woman spat and closed the window.

Lu Gui, who was on duty with his partner, said, "It's so sad."

"In the past, the girls from Hua Chuan often invited me to have a drink with you. They looked at your thin skin and tender meat, as if you were a big meal, so I, an old bacon, was not welcome."

"The fragrance is overflowing and the golden cup is sitting in the wide ring, and the sound of the prostitutes is flowing in the water."

"When we get back to Hengyang City, I'll take you to the Qun Yu Yuan to have sex with prostitutes. How about that?"

Zhao Rong showed a look of disgust, "Not interested."

"That's right. Although the girl from Qunyuyuan is good, she is far from that girl Qiu. I see that she admires you quite a lot. Brother Rong is not impressed at all?"

"Personal emotional issues, I refuse to disclose."

"Tch, a young man who doesn't understand amorous feelings." Lu Gui held a piece of thatch in his mouth and went to play with Wu Xilei, the leader of the Red Wolf Gang. He was the leader of the thirty members of the Red Wolf Gang this time.

He was accompanied by two fierce dogs.

It's easier to be on duty during the day, especially near busy towns, where there are unlikely to be robbers.

But no matter how lively things are outside, you must not go ashore or move a boat to watch, because being distracted means missing the mark.

It was Zhao Rong's first time sending escorts. He had heard from Lu Shilai and others about the taboos of escorting escorts before.

At this time, the actual operation must be more careful than the old Jianghu people.

He practiced Qigong in his spare time, and specially selected the "Mingtian Drum" from the Marrow Cleansing Sutra to practice.

This function makes the nerves sensitive and enhances the hearing and hearing.

When passing by the flower boat, the primitive and chaotic sounds inside can be heard.

Zhao Rong and Lu Shilai mentioned that whenever they see people disembarking from the ship to buy daily necessities, they always ask him to follow them. No matter whether the person responsible for purchasing belongs to the Changrui Escort Bureau or the Red Wolf Gang, Zhao Rong will secretly keep an eye on them to prevent any moles.

Before starting the meal, the cook also gave food to the two dogs brought by the Red Wolf Gang.

It's fine if the dog eats it, but if the person eats it, it's okay.

This was also suggested by Zhao Rong, which made the hall leader Wu Xilei a little dissatisfied, thinking that he was making a fuss out of a molehill.

I walked safely for five days without encountering any crisis.

After wandering around on the boat again, everyone was a little relaxed.

until
The sixth night.
The tranquility of the past few days was suddenly broken!

"Thieves!"

"No, there are thieves on board!"

The roar pierced the darkness.

Everyone on the boat was alarmed.

"Where are the thieves!" "Bow, bow!"

Everyone shouted and moved closer to the source of the sound, and the steward kept shouting:

"Hold the lamp and light the torch!"

"Don't make a mess! Grab your torches and don't set the boat on fire!"

A brief fighting sound suddenly sounded in the darkness, followed by the sound of "dong dong" falling into the water!

"Go to hell!"

"Brother~!!"

An angry shout, mixed with a wailing sound, made many people feel confused.

Wait until the torch comes closer.
I saw Wu Xilei, the leader of the Red Wolf Gang, holding the body of a companion, shaking in pain.

"It's Ma Ji from the Red Wolf Gang."

Zhao Rong recognized him at a glance and saw a short knife stuck in his chest. The knife penetrated his heart veins.

"It's a pity that I can't survive."

Zhao Rong shook his head slightly. Seeing a life disappear, a trace of sadness flashed through his heart, especially since this person had talked to him a few days ago and was an honest and simple man.

"Oh uh~~"

Before he died, Ma Ji struggled to grab Wu Xilei's clothes, as if he wanted to say something. Wu Xilei quickly put his ear to his ears, but Ma Ji couldn't say a word clearly, and for a moment he tilted his head to the side, and nothing happened again. movement.

"The throat bone was crushed." Lu Shilai checked the wound and found several black fingerprints on his throat.

"Master of the Wu Hall, what's going on?"

The leader of the Wu Hall reached out and closed the eyes of the person in his arms, and said angrily: "Two thieves came from the water and got on the boat. Ma Ji and I happened to see him. He was very close and was killed with a knife."

"By the time I rushed over to rescue him, it was already too late."

"One of them took a slap from me and fell into the water. The other one heard my shouting and didn't dare to fight, so he jumped in. I'm not good at water, so I couldn't chase him."

"You can't chase." Long Changxu frowned and said, "Once you chase, it's easy to fall into an ambush, and it's also easy to fall into the trap of diverting the tiger away from the mountain."

The stab wound to the chest was fatal.

Zhao Rong leaned over to look at the body and saw black claw marks.

This doesn't make sense.

The escort office was tightly guarded at night. Since the thief sneaked onto the boat and killed him with a knife after being discovered, why didn't he run away immediately? Why would he break his throat again?

Was he worried that other people would come and what he would say before he died?

The flames of the torch danced like snakes and demons, and Zhao Rong's eyes flashed like lightning.

"Witch Hall Master"

"Huh?" Wu Xilei looked at Zhao Rong with sad and angry eyes.

"Can you clearly see the martial arts skills of the person wielding the sword?"

People around listened quietly.

Wu Xilei pondered for a few seconds, "The thieves are very quick with their swordsmanship, and they travel together, much like the Huishan thieves who roam around Yihuang."

Long Changxu nodded, "It's close to the Yihuang area."

"Everyone be on guard, this place is not peaceful."

"When we get ashore, let this brother rest in peace."

Long Changxu also explained the pension issue and said that the escort agency would arrange it.

The next day, Lu Gui saw Zhao Rong nibbling dry food on the bow of the ship.

"If you don't eat porridge, rice, bacon, etc., why should you eat something that is hard to swallow?"

"I bought the dry food myself."

After Lu Gui heard what he said, his expression suddenly changed, and he pretended to dig his throat and spit it out.

Zhao Rong didn't expect his reaction to be so big.

"take it easy."

Zhao Rong smiled, patted his back, and pointed at the two dogs brought by Wu Xilei.

"The dog has already eaten what you are eating."

"They are vigorous and vigorous, are you afraid of them?"

Lu Gui looked at him intently: "Before I was escorted, you looked like a rookie. After I was escorted, you looked more like a veteran than me."

"Haha, just learn as you go, be careful and make the Wannian ship go wrong," Zhao Rong said soberly, "I can't force others, I can only be careful myself."

"after all."

"A fellow traveler died last night."

Lu Gui touched his chin and said quietly:
"The porridge and rice are no longer fragrant. Do you still have dry food?"

……

(End of this chapter)