Start with a red name

Chapter 123: Peaceful Hundred Sources, Drifting Under the Moon

For the next period of time, Anleji lived a busy and fulfilling life every day in a mixture of pain and happiness.

The reason for the pain was very simple. One was the Wu family's absolute confidant, the other was Anleji's thug, two living Marrow Refining Realm powerhouses, only two cold heads were left.

Medicinal materials worth hundreds of thousands of taels and a lot of cash also disappeared along with the disappearance of the entire convoy.

These are things that can make An Le Ji heartbroken.

In comparison, the deaths of the other thirty-odd Anleji guards and their companion Zang Zigao were not so worrying to them.

Instead, their heads were all chopped off and specially arranged into a human head tower. Such a direct and fierce face-to-face attack made all the senior executives of Anleji feel like they were slapped in the face and it hurt.

As long as the murderer is not found and severely retaliated against, and the loss of hundreds of thousands of taels of silver is not made up, this "pain" will not disappear and will stick to their hearts like a thorn in the flesh.

This is "pain".

The reason for happiness is even simpler.

By accident, they were able to capture the entire Baiyuanji without any bloodshed.

Although the power of Anle Market far exceeds that of Baiyuan Market, there are more than just Baiyuan Market and Anle Market around Chiwu Mountain.

Compared with any one company alone, Anleji is certainly a standout.

However, Anle Market would never dare to take direct action to attack or invade other surrounding markets.

A single move will affect the entire body, and by then Anle Market will have to face the collective condemnation of all the markets around Chiwu Mountain.

When that time comes, Anleji will be the absolutely weaker party.

Therefore, although Anle Market has a bad reputation among other markets, its dealings with other markets must abide by basic rules and bottom lines, and they do not dare to overturn tables or smash the market directly.

Over the years, Anleji has been using various means to infiltrate Baiyuanji, and using benefits to win over some forces within Baiyuanji to its side, gradually increasing its influence in Baiyuanji in this subtle way.

This is certainly a gratifying achievement, but it is nothing compared to having Baiyuanji completely in his pocket.

This time, it was Feng Yu and his people, as well as those former double-dealers, who knew what was good for them and took the initiative to leave, leaving them with a "clean" Baiyuanji.

But even if they refused to leave, Anle Market would have a legitimate reason to intervene in Baiyuan Market, which other markets could not blame.

——Dozens of people from the Anleji convoy were wiped out, including two powerful men in the Marrow Refining Realm, and goods worth hundreds of thousands of taels were lost. The master of the Baiyuanji convoy had many suspicions that could not be explained.

With such reasons, any action taken by Anle Market against Baiyuan Market can only be regarded as a private grudge between the two markets, and cannot rise to the level of violating the bottom line and rules that all markets are taboo against.

If the death of two people in the Marrow Refining Realm and dozens of guards, as well as the loss of hundreds of thousands of taels of medicinal materials are considered as the price of obtaining a clean and complete Baiyuan Collection.

All the senior executives of Anle Group suddenly felt that such a price was completely acceptable.

Not to mention, after obtaining a clean and complete Baiyuan Collection, Anle Collection's overall strength did not suffer any loss, but instead increased greatly.

Although they lost two Marrow Refining Realm masters, they also gained several Marrow Refining Realm masters who had long been loyal to Anle Ji.

Dozens of guards died, but the blue-clothed guards reorganized in Baiyuanji and the guard forces of various guilds reorganized according to Anleji's will directly made up for the losses several times or even dozens of times.

A loss of hundreds of thousands of taels is completely tolerable in front of Baiyuanji, which can lay golden eggs continuously.

In view of the huge interests and complex situation of Baiyuanji, when the latest news was passed back to Anleji.

Anleji's chief master Wu Yi led the team personally and brought nearly half of Anleji's forces.

The first time he arrived at Baiyuanji, he warmly received those former leaders of Baiyuanji who had long been loyal to Anleji and who immediately stepped forward to maintain the order of Baiyuanji after Feng Yu and others left, as well as some other leading figures of various guilds who took the opportunity to rise to prominence.

Wu Youxin was reprimanded in public, and Wu Youxin also publicly apologized for his inappropriate words and deeds after entering Baiyuanji that day.

Then, they became as close as a family. Oh, no, under the encouragement of some enthusiastic people, the grand master of Anleji, Wu Yi, bravely took over the position of the grand master of Baiyuanji left by Feng Yu after he resigned, and the two families officially became one.

Afterwards, in order to make the two families get along better, Master Wu Yida performed a trick to move the world.

The president of Baiyuanji's pharmacy was transferred to Anleji, where he also served as the president of the pharmacy.

He was also allowed to go with a group of his trusted aides. He had no intention of putting him on a pedestal. Instead, he tried to help him take root in Anleji Pharmacy and gain a firm foothold.

The president of Anleji's pharmacy came to Baiyuanji with his trusted aides.

This is not just true for pharmacies, but for other guilds as well.

Not only the guilds, but also many of the blue-clothed guards of Baiyuanji moved to Anleji along with their families.

There were also many guards from Anleji who brought their families to settle down in Baiyuanji.

Familiar faces disappear every day.

There are new "family members" arriving every day.

In this way, Baiyuanji gradually turned into the shape of Anleji in a calm but undercurrent situation.

He already had great power in Anleji, and other leaders were more like his subordinates than allies of the same generation.

After this maneuver in Baiyuanji, the power of the two markets became more and more concentrated in his hands.

Other leaders are increasingly lacking the strength and confidence to challenge him head-on, and are shifting towards the role of regional leaders.

The Wu family's status became increasingly transcendent.

In the two episodes, more people with strength, potential and ambition threw themselves into the arms of the Wu family like moths to a flame.

Everyone is so busy, and watching the changes every day makes me feel even more fulfilled.

Although I often think about the murder case that has not made any progress so far, I also feel that more people should be assigned to handle this matter.

But the actual situation is that those who were first transferred to Baiyuanji to deal with the convoy murder case, faced with the "sudden change" in the two episodes, also showed their magical powers and took the opportunity to grab the benefits that should have belonged to them.

If he just stupidly lowered his head to investigate the case, and after two episodes the situation calmed down again, and his companions around him were all promoted, but he was still standing there without moving, wouldn't he be a complete idiot?
In this case, it can even be said that Feng Yu and his group are more worthy of Anleji's attention than the truth of the convoy murder case.

Even though Anleji has tried its best to complete the devouring and absorption of Baiyuanji, the "Feng Yu bloodline" remaining in Baiyuanji cannot be completely eradicated in a short time.

In order to dilute the proportion of this "bloodline" in Baiyuanji as quickly as possible, Wu Yi even adopted the method of introducing part of it into Anleji.

This certainly reduced the proportion of "Feng Yu bloodline" in Baiyuanji, but at the same time it also spread part of the "Feng Yu bloodline" to Anleji.

This is a hidden danger that no one can ignore.

One way to eliminate this hidden danger is time, years and months of time.

Another way is to let Feng Yu die completely, or else, to completely cut off the possibility of his return.

It can be said that in the current Anleji, the convoy murder case is something that everyone believes must be taken seriously, and everyone has verbally expressed their determination to take it seriously.

But in reality, there is no one important enough to dare to put aside other things and devote himself to this strange event.

As time goes by, some remaining traces that have not been completely removed are silently eliminated bit by bit by the wilderness, the jungle and the power of nature.

……

Geng Xuan sat in the front seat as the driver, guiding the giant "centipede" with a total length of more than 500 meters from head to tail, winding forward at a speed of 20 kilometers per hour in a tunnel located in the belly of the remaining range of Chiwu Mountain.

In the carriage behind him, the families of Hong Quan, Cheng Hui, and Xie Hang, as well as two other guys who escaped from his hands because they looked "friendly", were all placed there.

Dahuang and Baxiao were also in this carriage, and Geng Xuan had specially made a comfortable nest for them with soft animal skins.

Da Huang stayed quietly in his seat throughout the whole journey, but Ba Xiao was only quiet for a short while before starting to run around in the carriage.

They didn't care where they got to, as they couldn't see clearly in the dim environment. Anyway, as long as there was a gap, they would hum and squeeze forward, treating it as a special game.

At the beginning, everyone in the car stayed in their seats properly, not even daring to stretch their legs or move their butts, but they were frightened by the "nonsense" of the eighth grader.

However, as time passed, everyone gradually got used to them running around them, and some children would even reach out to touch them when they passed by. The tense atmosphere in the car gradually eased a lot.

When the convoy stopped again, it was more than 60 kilometers away from Baiyuanji.

Geng Xuan didn't give any further instructions, but just asked everyone to take turns to rest and continue their journey after daybreak.

Hong Quan and the others finally had time to stay with their families. However, because they were concerned that the vicious Geng Xuan was right next to them, they did not mention any sensitive information in their conversations and only spoke in ordinary, everyday language.

After eating and drinking something, the others followed the strict schedule set by Luo Qing and others, leaving some people on duty while the others soon fell into a deep sleep.

Starting from the basement of Kangleji, it seemed to take only a day.

But even without mentioning what great things everyone had accomplished during the day following the gang leader, their spirits were like on a roller coaster with no moment of rest.

Just the fact that they walked so far following Geng Xuan that day would be enough to shock many people.

Originally, under the stimulation of the excited emotions, I was barely able to hold on mentally.

But at this moment, as everyone put down all their burdens and lay down, fatigue and sleepiness swept over everyone from physical to mental like a tidal wave.

Soon, everyone fell into a deep sleep.

Geng Xuan was not in a deep sleep. After swallowing two blood-replenishing pills, he leaned against the carriage, feeling the medicinal power of the blood-replenishing pills spreading in his body and finally transformed into power to further improve his marrow refining level.

Geng Xuan took the opportunity to give a relatively detailed review of his current achievements in body tempering.

At this moment, ten days have passed since he broke through the Marrow Refining Realm.

With sufficient resource supply, not only has the marrow refining level made great progress, but other aspects have also not stagnated.

However, because the focus during this period was on marrow refining, the improvements in other aspects were not very obvious. But if you look at them all together, the changes are still huge.

The leather refining skill was increased by 0.1%, from "80%" to "81%";
Like Iron Skin Skill, the "Tidal Breathing Method" has also reached the Grandmaster level and can continue to improve. It has increased the level of flesh refining by 0.30% from ten days ago, from "72%" to "75%";
The blood refining level went from "60%" to "62%," an increase of 0.2%;
There was no change in the bone refining level, still "51%," the same as ten days ago.

As for the reason, it is also very simple. The "bone shrinking method" of the great success realm can only push the bone refining achievement to this level.

Even if there is potential to go a little further, it will take more time.

Thinking of this, Geng Xuan immediately chose to consume twenty-four points of luck to upgrade his "bone shrinking method" from the great success realm to the master realm.

Then, Geng Xuan thought about it and decided to consume another forty-eight points of luck to upgrade his disguise skills from the master level to the grandmaster level.

He also consumed eight points of luck to upgrade the Listening Hammer and Spirit Snake Whip techniques from the minor success realm to the major success realm.

I have improved four skills in succession, and my head is filled with all kinds of insights, feelings, and experiences.

Geng Xuan did not continue to improve, but began to slowly digest what he had gained this time.

After this upgrade, a total of ninety-six points of luck were consumed.

The total number of red luck also dropped from "2319" points to "2231" points, and the current total number of black luck is "168" points.

With so much good luck being wasted, in the past, Geng Xuan would have to weigh the pros and cons carefully before making a choice.

Now, Geng Xuan, who has a huge sum of money in his pocket, no longer has this concern for the time being.

Of course, this doesn't mean he will spend money recklessly.

Geng Xuan would not take advantage of his good luck to learn some random skills.

As of now, all the skills he has cultivated have their own unique features that cannot be fully covered by other abilities.

This is also the most important consideration for whether to practice a certain skill in the future.

Thinking of this, Geng Xuan reached out and pressed his chest.

Right where his hand was pressing, Geng Xuan could feel the outline of a book through his clothes.

This is a secret technique found in Zang Zigao's collection of books, "Medicine and Stone".

……

After a night's rest, when the caravan set out again, both the people and the horses were obviously in much better spirits.

But the convoy only moved forward for more than an hour before stopping again.

It’s not that Geng Xuan doesn’t want to move forward, but there is no way forward.

Yes, there is no way.

It’s not that the tunnel ahead was blocked artificially, but that the tunnel really stops here after going more than 90 kilometers deep into Chiwu Mountain from the direction of Baiyuanji.

"Could it be that this is actually an unfinished project?" Geng Xuan couldn't help but think so in his heart.

The reason why he had such an idea was because Geng Xuan, relying on the special induction gained from the Grandmaster's practice, started from Kangleji, Changpingfang, and went deep into the tunnel of Chiwu Mountain;
The tunnel he is in now, which starts from Baiyuanji, passes through the foothills of Chiwu Mountain and goes deep into the depths of Chiwu Mountain, will eventually intersect at a certain point.

Moreover, the location of this intersection is not too far away.

The tunnel starting from Kangleji goes about 150 kilometers deep into Chiwu Mountain, and the tunnel below starting from Baiyuanji goes about 120 kilometers deep into Chiwu Mountain.

If the directions of the two tunnels remain roughly unchanged, the error will not exceed ten kilometers.

This was also the reason why after discovering the tunnel, he dared to drive the convoy at a rapid pace without even finding out the situation.

In any case, the general direction is correct.

It would be best if the two tunnels really intersected deep in Chiwu Mountain.

Even though they do not intersect, the distance between the two tunnels is getting closer.

This will also be beneficial for him to transport the convoy, or even the entire convoy's supplies, back to Kangleji.

As for why he tried every means to transport these supplies back to Kangleji, the reason was very simple. Only by returning to Kangleji could these resources be converted into silver and money.

You know, although the supplies in this caravan are precious, except for a very small portion of cash and other resources that can be easily converted into cash, the vast majority are medicinal materials.

After the autumn hunt, the medicinal materials in each village have only undergone simple and rough processing, but they are still very original.

Among them, a large portion of medicinal materials have a very short shelf life, and the longer the shelf life, the lower the quality, and they may even become worthless waste.

However, these herbs have basically no effect if eaten raw, and they even taste terrible, and some are even poisonous.

It must be processed by professionals and turned into medicinal wine, blood-replenishing pills, essence pills, or finished products with specific functions such as detoxification, hemostasis, acceleration of body recovery and consolidation, deworming, fetal protection, and mental nourishment before it can be quickly converted into cash.

Where to find professionals?
The only thing Geng Xuan could think of was Kangleji.

Although, this is still a vague thing now.

But it is still much more reliable than taking great risks in transporting it to other markets, or just leaving it somewhere and abandoning it.

……

At the end of the tunnel, the space is quite spacious.

Geng Xuan even discovered some traces of people living and residing here in the past.

Next to it is a tunnel entrance that leads directly to the outside mountains and forests.

The light shining in from there makes this space much brighter than other tunnel areas.

Geng Xuan walked to the entrance of the tunnel, but found that the entrance was on a cliff more than 20 meters above the ground.

And more than 20 meters below was not the ground, but a river with a very fast flow.

"..."

Seeing this, Geng Xuan's heart sank.

I thought that walking down this tunnel would not only better conceal my tracks, but also save more time.

Even if the two tunnels do not intersect, as long as they are approaching each other, this is beneficial.

In any case, it is definitely much less troublesome than leading a convoy directly through the primitive dense forest.

Not only is there no road, one has to go around in circles looking for it, and one also has to guard against attacks from wild beasts deep in Chiwu Mountain that could occur at any time.

Also be careful not to leave too many traces...

In short, it must be a much worse experience than traveling in a tunnel.

However, when Geng Xuan looked at the rushing river below and confirmed the geography of Chiwu Mountain that he knew in his mind, his eyes suddenly brightened a lot.

Geng Xuan instructed Luo Qing, Wang Lu and the others who had come to his side:

"Let everyone rest where they are. Also, ask Qian Dong if there is any good way for us to switch from land transportation to water transportation without spending too much time."

"I'll go check it out."

After saying that, Geng Xuan jumped out directly.

Their hearts skipped a beat and they quickly came to the entrance and looked down.

However, they saw that their gang leader had not fallen into the water at all. He was already sticking between the cliff and the river, with his feet on the rugged and uneven rocks, rushing downstream.

Soon, the figure disappeared into the distant jungle.

Geng Xuan hurried along the river bank all the way downstream. About half an hour later, after rushing more than 20 kilometers downstream, Geng Xuan suddenly stopped.

Looking at the familiar mountains in the distance, Geng Xuan finally confirmed that the river under his feet was the mountain forest line that divided Wanfufang and Changpingfang.

If you go down along this river, you can even reach Kangleji.

You can even walk to your own doorstep.

Because as far as he knew, the river behind his courtyard was a tributary of the big river that branched out from a place about ten miles upstream of Changpingfang.

Moreover, this river, which originates from the depths of Chiwu Mountain, becomes wider and the water flow becomes slower as it goes downstream. The cliff by the river where Luo Qing and others are now is the watershed where the river channel changes from narrow to wide and the water flow changes from fast to slow.

Whether it is traveling or transporting materials, river transportation is a complete dimensionality reduction compared to the hardships of ants moving in a mountain tunnel.

“So, this is most likely not an unfinished project, but something that was done on purpose?!”

"The intersection of the two tunnels will certainly bring a lot of convenience, but it will also require more work and there is the risk of bringing up mud with it."

“Moreover, the greatest value of the tunnel is that it is an incomprehensible black box to any outsider.

Everyone gets dizzy when they enter an unfamiliar network of tunnels for the first time.

Once tunnels belonging to different entities are connected to each other, there is a risk of information leakage.

Once the tunnel lines spread and become known to outsiders, the risks will increase dramatically."

“So, it would be better to deal with it this way now.

It not only ensures their independence, but also makes use of natural rivers or other natural terrain to both divide and connect them.

Let different tunnel networks seem connected but not connected, and disconnected but not disconnected.”

With this thought in mind, Geng Xuan stopped exploring forward and turned back to swim upstream.

About half an hour later, Geng Xuan returned to the tunnel on the cliff.

As soon as they came back, Luo Qing and others brought Qian Dong to report.

Qian Dong said:
"Boss, if we want to switch to water transportation, it would be better to build some rafts and transfer all the carriages onto them.

I just checked and it's not hard to get wood suitable for making rafts."

Geng Xuan nodded and asked, "How long would it take to make a raft that is big enough to carry all of us, our carts, and our horses?"

Qian Dong had obviously thought about this question long ago, and immediately replied:
"If everyone cooperates, I am confident that all the rafts needed will be ready by the end of the afternoon." (Around 5 p.m.)

This took significantly longer than the previous modification of the carriage.

Qian Dong also explained:

"Logging and processing logs takes quite a bit of time, but as long as there are enough processed logs, assembling them doesn't take that much time."

Geng Xuan nodded gently and said, "The end of the month of Shen and the beginning of the month of You? Sure.

...There's no need to rush, you can postpone the completion time for another hour, and we can set off after dark."

If it is daytime, there is a possibility of encountering hunting teams from Changpingfang or Wanfufang.

There is no such worry at night.

The autumn hunt has just ended, and there are already few hunting teams.

At night, even if they did not return to the neighborhood, they would rest overnight in the stronghold they had used during the autumn hunt a few days ago.

There was no need to worry that they would appear by the river and discover their whereabouts.

Qian Dong smiled and said, "Then I have no problem."

Soon, everyone left the tunnel except the elderly and the weak who were unable to participate in this matter.

All the members of the Giant Bear Gang, plus Cheng Hui, Hong Quan, Xie Hang, Cheng Hui's brother and father, and Hong Quan's wife and father.

Although their cultivation strength cannot be compared with Luo Qing and others, they still have some cultivation and can do what they can.

There were also two people who had managed to survive Geng Xuan’s clutches, one a senior in the Flesh Refining Realm, and the other a beginner in the Blood Refining Realm.

A group of 41 people, with the help of several rope ladders made by Qian Dong during the time he was away, went down from the more than 20-meter-high tunnel to the river, and waded into the dense jungle nearby.

Geng Xuan stood on the shore, looking at the more than 20-meter drop, and asked Qian Dong next to him:

"With such a high drop, how are the carriages going to be transported to the raft? Have you figured out a way?"

He was still thinking that if Qian Dong had not thought this matter through, he could still provide some ideas.

Unexpectedly, Qian Dong said confidently:
"Don't worry, boss. This is easy to handle. I guarantee that all the carts and horses can be safely and securely removed from the top."

Geng Xuan nodded and said, "That's good."

Under Qian Dong's command, everyone quickly began to cut wood in groups.

After watching for a while, Geng Xuan understood why logging was the most time-consuming.

This is deep in the Chiwu Mountains. The trees near the river that are suitable for making rafts are generally very tall, thick, and large.

The tools everyone used for felling trees were swords that they carried with them.

Taking into account the inevitable damage, a large number of weapons captured from the convoy and the Lu family during this operation were also brought in as backup.

But these are not professional logging tools. Swords and knives can be used to chop trees as thick as a bowl or even as thick as a neck, but it is too difficult to chop trees as thick as a waist or even too thick to be hugged with both hands.

I didn't see anyone using strange weapons like saws. Two people used axes, which are considered the most professional logging tools.

Geng Xuan, who had not originally planned to participate, felt that it was meaningless to waste time on this.

He walked over to a burly gang member holding an axe in both hands and said, "Give me the axe... Hey, it's quite heavy."

Geng Xuan carried a large axe weighing about thirty or forty kilograms and came to a tree nearby that was thicker than he could hug with both hands.

"The diameter should be more than 80 centimeters."

Geng Xuan made a judgment in his mind, raised the huge axe in his hand high, and with a "hey" sound, he swung the axe and chopped at the tree.

The moment the axe blade touched the tree, tremendous force burst out in waves, and the tremendous force penetrated into the tree through the sharp edge of the axe.

"Oh!"

The whole tree shook violently.

Immediately afterwards, there was a light "pop" sound, and a faint axe-blade-shaped energy was seen coming out from the broken tree opposite.

Finally, it shattered and dissipated after five or six steps.

Its size is much larger than the actual axe blade.

It should be a wave of powerful energy that penetrated into the tree in the form of a sharp axe blade, tearing the tree apart while spreading outwards.

Geng Xuan came to the other side and took a look. He could clearly see a long and smooth crack appearing where the axe blade energy came out.

But even so, the tree did not fall down because it was too thick.

Geng Xuan changed direction and said to the people standing in front, "Make way."

After everyone had moved away, another axe came down.

"Oh!"

The big tree shook violently again, and when another axe-shaped energy broke out of the tree, the big tree finally fell forward with a "crackle".

A tree over thirty meters tall, with its dense, vast crown, slammed heavily onto the ground, splashing up countless dead branches and leaves.

Geng Xuan asked Qian Dong, "How many do you want?"

"For trees this big, twenty... thirty will be enough. If they are smaller, just cut down a few more." Qian Dong said quickly.

Geng Xuan nodded, and after finding the target, he started to attack with a bang.

After swinging the axe less than a hundred times, Geng Xuan had basically prepared the wood needed for the raft.

However, after such a fierce attack, Geng Xuan felt a little exhausted. After returning the axe, he swallowed a blood-replenishing pill and walked aside to act as a supervisor.

Next, Qian Dong led everyone to circle around the big trees like ants.

All the suitable wood was transported to the riverside, and more detailed preparation and production began.

With the efforts of more than 40 people, all preparations were completed around one or two o'clock in the afternoon.

Qian Dong began to lead people to turn these woods into rafts.

About two hours later, rafts of various sizes were floating in the water.

When all the rafts are moored in a row on the water surface under the tunnel, it looks quite spectacular.

After everyone entered the cave and rested for a few hours, it gradually got dark.

Qian Dong directed everyone to take action again. At this moment, he had already set up a support at the entrance of the tunnel, extending from the cave and projecting outwards.

More than a dozen long ropes woven with the toughest part of the bark are passed around the wooden pulley on the suspended support, with one end leading into the cave and the other end hanging down to the river surface.

All the carriages and horses were quickly and safely transferred from the tunnel more than 20 meters high to the rafts.

By the time all the cars, horses, and people were on the raft, and even Da Huang and Ba Xiao had gathered around Geng Xuan, the last rays of sunlight had just sunk into the vast mountains.

After dealing with the head and tail of the tunnel, they untied the raft and began to drift downstream along the fast-moving water.

From time to time, the sounds of animals roaring and insects chirping could be heard from both sides of the river.

Silver moonlight shines down from the sky, and you can vaguely see dense jungles and undulating mountains in the distance.

As the raft drifted downstream, it seemed as if the surrounding mountains and forests came alive, running and jumping along with them.

Everyone stared at all this in a daze. For a moment, they were fascinated and felt it was absurd.

Before tonight, who could have imagined that at this moment, they would be sitting on a small raft with a group of people with such different strengths and personalities, and even separated by hundreds of miles of mountains, who should have no intersection in this life, leaning against each other, and calmly experiencing all of this?

The river does not flow fast, and it gets slower as you go along.

In the initial section, the speed was relatively fast, drifting more than ten kilometers downstream in an hour.

As time went on, the speed became slower and slower.

In the end, even with the help of a wooden pole, paddling while drifting, we could only drift forward eight or nine kilometers in an hour.

But when the moon passed the zenith and began to sink to the west, Geng Xuan asked everyone to use wooden poles to push the raft to the shore. The raft had already drifted for nearly 90 kilometers.

There was almost no consumption on either people or horses.

The river bank where the raft was moored was a gentle slope.

On the gentle slope is a dense jungle.

But Geng Xuan knew that there was a hidden tunnel entrance there.

It happened to be the entrance to the tunnel where Geng Xuan eliminated the nest of giant rats that day.

That day, after Geng Xuan got rid of the group of giant rats, he looked outside and saw a river.

He didn't think much about it at the time, but now he naturally chose this place as his first choice for abandoning the raft and landing.

Before commanding all vehicles, people and horses to start landing, Geng Xuan first led Luo Qing and others to identify the road, and then they made many arrangements along the way to minimize the appearance of a large number of wheel tracks and other traces.

It can be said that after this trip, everyone has become more and more experienced, and has evolved from considering cleanup after the event to taking precautions in advance.

The preparations took some time, but it made the entire convoy's landing more efficient.

It took the convoy two hours to return to the tunnel.

More than half an hour was spent on retrieving the rafts, moving them all into the tunnel, erasing all traces along the way, and restoring them to their natural state.

Finally, the team stopped near the underground of Changpingfang, behind the crude blocking wall that was originally intended to be used to "cover one's ears and steal the bell".

After stopping the team, Geng Xuan asked Luo Qing and others to untie the horses first, gather them together, and after giving them enough beans and drinking water for two meals, Geng Xuan comforted them one by one.

He ordered everyone to get off the car and take as much food as possible, and the old and weak were carried or embraced by others.

After everyone, including Da Huang and Ba Xiao, had passed through the blocking wall, Geng Xuan deliberately camouflaged the blocking wall more carefully, and then he led everyone out of the tunnel area.

Everyone had no idea where they were being taken; they just followed him closely, sometimes turning left and sometimes right.

It was not until Luo Qing and others came to a place where there were two rock walls within ten steps, and the narrow paths reserved by the two rock walls crisscrossed left and right, that they suddenly realized.

"Got home!"

Luo Qing, Wang Xun and all the other members of the Giant Bear Gang suddenly felt at peace.

Before leaving here, they couldn't wait to leave.

Because they have been here for a long time, they know best how narrow and cramped this underground space is.

But now, when they returned here after "wandering" outside, they all felt an indescribable feeling of peace of mind, security, and even warmth.

Geng Xuan led everyone forward for a distance, then suddenly looked towards a corner and said with a smile, "Zhang Ming, don't hide anymore, we are back."

"Boss? Boss, you're back!"

Soon, an oil lamp was lit. Zhang Ming, who was paralyzed from the waist down, dropped the sword in his hand, and came to Geng Xuan with a pair of wooden sticks, his face full of excitement.

Geng Xuan nodded and asked, "Nothing happened here during the two days I was away, right?"

Zhang Ming shook his head and said, "It's okay. I just couldn't help but feel a little worried when I saw that you guys had been gone for so long and hadn't come back."

As he spoke, he looked at the other people who were walking out of the tunnel one after another.

Naturally, he was not concerned about Luo Qing, Wang Xi and others, but a group of strangers with their families, including Hong Quan and Cheng Hui.

Geng Xuan patted his shoulder, looked at Luo Qing, Wang Yu and others, and said:
"You can talk to Zhang Ming about some of the situations, and you should also make arrangements for Hong Quan and the others.

I think you have all been through a lot these past two days. Take a good rest and don’t think about anything else for now.

I will come to find you when there are new arrangements."

After saying that, Geng Xuan did not stay here for long. He turned around and entered a tunnel.

Dahuang and Baxiao followed closely behind him.

Without the burden of others, Geng Xuan led Da Huang and Ba Xiao and quickly returned to the underground tunnel of Changpingfang.

After bringing Da Huang and Ba Xiao back to the underground space, Geng Xuan gave them a few simple instructions, took some water to wash himself, and then returned to the surface.

Geng Xuan looked at the sky outside and saw that it was not far from dawn.

He didn't think too much about it. All of a sudden, his bones seemed to turn into soft dough, and his whole body seemed to sink into the bed.

Almost the next moment, Geng Xuan fell into a deep sleep.

Geng Xuan himself didn't know how long he had slept. He was forcibly awakened by an intense feeling of hunger.

When Geng Xuan opened the door and walked out of the room, Chen Xiaoyu, who was boredly playing hopscotch in the opposite courtyard, suddenly turned her head to look at him and said abruptly, "Mother, Mother."

Zeng Rou hurried out from the kitchen next door. Just as she was wondering why her daughter was calling her so urgently, she saw Chen Xiaoyu pointing at Geng Xuan:

"Look, look!"

Zeng Rou turned around and saw Geng Xuan standing at the door of her house looking over here. She was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Xuan brother, you're back?"

Geng Xuan was also stunned when he heard this.

Zeng Rou's short question actually contains a lot of information.

Soon, he nodded and said, "Yeah."

At this moment, Geng Xuan's stomach suddenly growled.

He asked embarrassedly, "Auntie, is there anything to eat?"

Zeng Rou quickly waved and said, "Yes, I have everything ready, come here quickly."

Zeng Rou led Geng Xuan into the kitchen and brought a large pot of tender and boneless stewed meat that was simmering on the stove over a low fire to Geng Xuan.

Geng Xuan didn't hesitate and ate for a long time, which slightly relieved his hunger. Then he suddenly asked:
"Aunt, I'm not at home these two days. You and Uncle Chen know about this, right?"

(End of this chapter)