No, gentlemen also guard against

Chapter 856 Adventure [Please give me a monthly ticket! ]

Ouyang Rong threw back the quilt, propped himself up, adjusted his eyes to the darkness, and turned to look out the window.

At dawn, it was quiet outside.

The fog was spreading slowly.

He woke up around the beginning of the morning and was in a trance for a while.

After returning to the Bell Tower from the Hongchen Inn yesterday evening, he washed up and went to bed early.

I had an important trip this morning.

The blood letter was taken out again and placed under the pillow. Ouyang Rong lay on the bed, supporting the back of his head with one hand and rubbing the blood letter paper with the two fingertips of the other hand.

"Fanyang Lu Clan...I see..."

Ouyang Rong looked up at the ceiling and murmured.

The scholar from the Lu family written in blood, he had indeed never thought much about the Five Surnames and Seven Families before. Who would have known that the Fanyang Lu family, as the most prominent family in the Northern Province, had ancestors who had fled to the south, and in this remote Taoyuan County.

Moreover, according to what Ouyang Rong knew in the past, the Lu family of Fanyang should have been entrenched in Hebei all along. This famous family had been operating in the local area for generations. It had a strong foundation and extensive influence. This was also its basic base. Its status in the hearts of the locals was even more prominent than the imperial power of Liwei.

But now think about it carefully, a big family like the Fanyang Lu family has more than one branch, and there are many main and side branches. It is not ruled out that one of the branches "migrated south" three hundred years ago.

It is similar to the Chenjun Xie family, to which my junior sister and my mentor belong, which has been operating in Jiangzuo for generations. The Jinling branch, to which my junior sister belongs, is the direct lineage of Jiangzuo, but there are also one or two branches within the Chenjun Xie family that are not in Jiangnan Road, but have migrated to the two capitals.

Therefore, Lu Changgeng should belong to a relatively special branch of the Fanyang Lu family. They once migrated to the south for a short period of time, and then migrated back silently... while the other branches of the family still stayed in the north.

It is not uncommon to see aristocratic families divided internally and taking opposing sides. Sometimes in troubled times, it is always wise to bet on many sides and not put all your eggs in one basket.

This is also a compulsory course for the children of wealthy and powerful families in troubled times. It is better than everyone going down the same path until the end.

"This explains why Cui Hao and this person exchanged letters. One is a descendant of the Qinghe Cui family, and the other is a descendant of the Fanyang Lu family. The two families are of similar backgrounds and often interact with each other. This person may have a close personal relationship with Cui Hao.

"Oh, if you think about it more deeply, this Lu Changgeng lineage might have been one of the spies of Cui Hao, who was almost the imperial master of the Northern Wei Dynasty, in the Southern Dynasty. This Cui Hao has a lot of hidden secrets..."

Ouyang Rong stopped stroking, put away the blood letter, and turned over in the darkness.

On the pillow, he shook his head slightly, his tone a little emotional:
"This blessing was not exchanged in the wrong way. It turned out to be fulfilled here. It was triggered by Song Zhian. What a wonderful cause and effect."

When Ouyang Rong was thinking quietly, he didn't notice that a small ink stick slipped out of his arms and slid out of the quilt like a long leg.

Ouyang Rong grabbed it, but she jumped onto the back of his hand and bit him.

"Hiss, let go."

The idea is vague:
“Mmmm…don’t grab this fairy with your stinky hands.”

"Then why do you bite with your mouth?"

"Bah bah bah."

Ouyang Rong was speechless: "Don't run outside, there are strange things in this town at night."

"I don't need your teaching. I am a loyal lady and I never abandon my followers. But let's talk about your question now."

Miao Si hummed, looked around, and said unhappily:

"What kind of place is this? Where did you get me? It's so dark and dull, and there's so little culture outside. Are there only illiterate barbarians? Why are you here?"

"This town is called Taoyuan, deep in Yunmeng, and there are many locals and people from the underworld."

Miao Si touched her chin, her face turned serious, and she asked him seriously:
"Little Rongzi, you are not going to take me to suffer with you, are you? Just like that old fellow named Tao?"

Ouyang Rong shook his head:
"Just be patient. Find the embroiderer, get the sword formula, and Cui Hao's relics, and I'll take you back. As the saying goes, after all the hardship comes happiness..."

Miao Si suddenly jumped up and interrupted:

"As the saying goes, you are asking for trouble. And there is a bigger loss than this!"

"Okay, you are saying exactly the same thing as that old guy back then. You are just trying to make me suffer! And you dare to quibble!"

The little black spirit got angry and bit his finger hard.

At this time, a familiar sound of footsteps was heard outside the bell tower.

Ouyang Rong was even faster. He used his backhand to slap the little ink spirit that was in the nest back into the state of an ink stick and stuffed it into his sleeve.

"Is Brother Liu awake?"

It’s Sha Ergou.

Ouyang Rong was not surprised at all. He got out of bed, took out the navy blue monk's robe and put it on, picked up the Peach Blossom Spring painting under the pillow, stuffed it into his arms, and went to open the door.

The weather turns cooler in autumn, with a thin mist in the morning, adding a layer of frost to everything.

Sha Ergou also hugged his shoulders with his hands, and occasionally lifted his feet in the wind in front of the door, rubbing his arms with his hands.

His clothes were a little thin, a summer short shirt inside and a large straw raincoat outside, which he found from somewhere, as if he was using it to keep warm, which looked quite out of place.

But Ouyang Rong did not laugh. He threw the key to the bell tower into Sha Ergou's arms, went back into the door, and took out a felt hat and a stack of thick robes.

Ouyang Rong put the felt hat on Sha Ergou's short-haired head, stuffed the robe into his arms, and gave him instructions:

"Take the key. If you are thirsty, you can drink the water in the water tank. It was just replaced last night. I may be back at night. You have to ring the bell today. The wages will be yours."

Sha Ergou looked down at the robe in his arms and asked:
"Isn't Brother Liu cold?"

Ouyang Rong said nothing, walked to the water tank, scooped some water, washed himself, wiped his face with cold water, and took a deep breath.

Yesterday evening, he and Mrs. Li made an appointment to set out this morning and would meet up later.

Although the fake body provided by the bronze mask cannot touch water over a large area, this time it is just the task of leading the way and rowing, which is not difficult.

The reason why it is difficult to find a boatman is because the Yunmeng Lake behind the white fog is too mysterious. Few fishermen in the town dare to take it on, and at most they can rent a boat.

But Ouyang Rong had no such concerns, and this job was found for him by Song Zhian. Song Zhian herself probably didn't realize the seriousness of the situation. Ouyang Rong simply pretended to be the same as her, both new and inexperienced. Even if they were seen by someone in the town with ulterior motives, it would not arouse any suspicion.

Sha Ergou didn't have as many thoughts as Ouyang Rong. He looked at Jianmo's monk's back as he washed himself, and whispered:
"Thank you, Brother Liu."

After a pause, he asked with concern:
"Brother Liu, why don't you not go? Although the money is high, I heard from the elders that this swamp is very dangerous..."

Ouyang Rong pretended not to know and shook his head:

"I've already accepted the money, how can I regret it?"

Sha Ergou hesitated to speak:

"Okay, Brother Liu, remember not to go too deep into the fog..."

He suddenly remembered something and leaned closer to whisper:
"By the way, Brother Liu, do you know how much money the boss's wife spent to buy Maid Song from the trafficker?"

Ouyang Rong frowned slightly, looked back at him, and said nothing.

Sha Ergou couldn't help but say:
"Fifty strings of cash, oh, that's so much, how long will it take us to do odd jobs to earn that much? Brother Liu, are all the girls in Jiannan Road so pretty, like goddesses?"

Ouyang Rong, who was about to go out, couldn't help but stop and asked:

"You don't want to redeem her, do you?"

Sha Ergou seemed to be startled, his felt hat almost fell off, and he immediately waved his hands to deny it:

"How is that possible? I don't have that much money. Even if I sell my house and my hometown house, I still can't afford it. Fifty strings of cash..."

However, under Ouyang Rong's clear gaze, the young man lowered his head a little embarrassedly and said:
"But if I work hard for a few years, I should be able to save up seven or eight strings of cash. I wonder if there are any cheap ones among the human traffickers. I will then redeem a young girl. It would be best if she is from Jiannan Road. The girls there are really fair. I have never seen such fair girls in my hometown... I will not treat her badly. If she doesn't want to stay and can't get used to it, I won't touch her. I can also let her go home and give her some money for the trip..."

"Two dogs."

Ouyang Rong suddenly raised two fingers and put one down while speaking:
"First, don't encourage bad practices. The human tooth business is wrong in the first place. It's all about dirty people and dirty money." Sha Ergou said subconsciously: "But I..."

Ouyang Rong put down another finger and interrupted him:

"Second, don't try to be anyone's savior, especially if you secretly think that your actions are particularly noble and may move the other person, but you just won't say it out loud, and wait for the girl to be moved herself, not only not leaving but also completely devoted to you.

“No, never think like that.

“I don’t recommend you to do this, but you can do it. However, you can only do it for a purpose, that is, you simply want to do it - just like when you pass by a bush and can’t bear to see a flower being bent by a stone, so you move the stone - and this time is similar, except that you only spent a few strings of money and you put in a lot of effort, but it is no different from saving a small wild flower.

"Even when this wild flower immediately responded with gratitude afterwards, your first reaction was to regard it as a great insult to your personality. You would almost beat and scold her to drive her away. As for whether you can drive her away or not, as for whether she will leave in the end, that is her own business. What happens next depends on fate. It doesn't matter if it happens or not."

Sha Ergou was stunned when he heard this. He looked at Brother Liu who was "dumb" most of the time and now looked serious and earnest:
"Ergou, do you understand?"

Sha Ergou was actually a little confused, but he could feel that these were very sincere words, so he wrote them down first.

"Oh oh!" He nodded like a chicken pecking at rice.

Ouyang Rong seemed relieved.

Sha Ergou asked subconsciously:
"Brother Liu, you won't not come back, right?"

Ouyang Rong was stunned for a moment, then punched him on the shoulder:

"You want to take over my bell-ringing job? Don't even think about it."

"How is that possible? I'm not as strong as Brother Liu..."

Sha Ergou grinned and scratched his head.

Ouyang Rong also walked out the door with a smile, leaving Sha Ergou to ring the morning bell.

Soon, with the sound of melodious morning bells, Ouyang Rong arrived at the Hongchen Inn.

The door of the inn was open from morning till night because guests arrived from time to time, but the stables would be closed at night to prevent anyone from stealing horse feed.

When he arrived at the lobby, Ouyang Rong saw a big and strong woman standing by the counter, but no other young women.

"Hey, why are you here so early? Aren't you going to ring the bell?"

It’s boss lady Yu.

She was leaning against the counter, cracking melon seeds, looking up and down at the people passing by. At this moment, her eyes were directed at the tall and strong Ouyang Rong.

Ouyang Rong said in a muffled voice:

"I've got a job and I'll be leaving soon."

Mrs. Yu seemed to remember something: "It was a guest's request, right?"

"Ah."

Ouyang Rong looked around and asked;

"Is Maid Song here?"

Mrs. Yu ate some melon seeds and said leisurely:

"She's not feeling well and may not be able to come in the next few days."

After saying that, he sighed to himself and muttered:
"It's really a money-losing product. If it's still like this in a few days, I'll see if I can sell it. After all, I'm not running a charity...

"By the way, why are you looking for her? Do you want to redeem her?"

Boss Yu asked with a smile.

Ouyang Rong shook his head:
"I want to say thank you. She helped me find this job today. If her condition is serious, please let me know."

Mrs. Yu casually said:
"Yeah. But if you want to buy it, I can give you a cheap price. Well, then ninety-five strings of cash. I won't make any money from you..."

After saying that, she even covered her mouth and laughed.

Ouyang Rong lowered his head in silence, turned around and left.

Mrs. Yu glanced behind him and suddenly called out to him:

"Wait, where's Sha Ergou? He didn't come with you?"

The young man in monk's robes replied sullenly:

"Ring the bell in the bell tower and come to work later."

Mrs. Yu grabbed another handful of melon seeds and started eating them with relish:

"Oh. You're taking a day off today, right? Go get busy then."

Ouyang Rong didn't stay any longer and went to the backyard.

About an incense stick later, Lu Jinghong and Mrs. Li walked downstairs and met in the yard.

When the two sides met, there was no nonsense and they went out one after the other.

Lu Jinghong and Madam Li did not bring a carriage. Except for a small handbag carried by a plump woman, all the other luggage was handed over to Ouyang Rong.

Mrs. Li seemed to be quite familiar with this town. She knew the approximate location of her ancestral tomb, but she probably had never been there. She asked Ouyang Rong about the terrain nearby from time to time, as if she was slowly looking for and confirming the route.

The group wandered around and finally arrived at the ferry in the south of the city, where they rented a small fishing boat, boarded it and headed into the fog.

In addition to carrying the luggage, Ouyang Rong also had to act as a boatman and row the boat hard.

Following Mrs. Li's instructions, they arrived at a small island covered by fog just a quarter of an hour later.

Ouyang Rong found the tip of a dilapidated wild ferry and docked. He glanced at the isolated island. Having arrived there so quickly, the island must be not far from the land.

Lu Jinghong seemed a little excited. He stood at the bow and stretched his neck to look at the island:
"Mother, is this Zhuo Island? Why is it so desolate? How long has it been since our tribesmen came here?"

The woman remained silent and looked around the mountains and forests on the island.

The fishing boat docked steadily, and the three people went ashore. Following the instructions given by Mrs. Li, they trekked for half an hour and arrived at a valley.

I saw three small mounds of earth standing under a locust tree in the valley, and a monument was faintly visible.

It's a lonely grave.

Madam Li stopped in front of the valley and turned back to the young man in monk's robes who had been accompanying her in a dull manner and said:
"Thank you for your hard work, Liu... Liu Aliang. I and Jinghong are going to pay tribute to our ancestors, so it's a bit inconvenient. Please go to the boat and wait. We will come to find you after we are done."

After that, she smiled and handed over a piece of silver.

Ouyang Rong took it, lowered his head and took a bite, then smiled, put the silver away, turned around and left without any hesitation.

After the hired man left, Lu Jinghong and Mrs. Li stood in front of the grave for a while.

Mrs. Li squatted down, opened the bundle, and took out the yellow paper and incense.

Lu Jinghong looked around and muttered:
"Mother, this island is so desolate, what adventures can there really be? Is what the knife seller said true or not?"

Mrs. Li suddenly looked up at him, and Lu Jinghong immediately shut up.

The two of them turned around in tacit understanding and looked around.

The surroundings are desolate, with a thin mist filling the woods, making it somewhat quiet and eerie.

Madam Li and Lu Jinghong seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, turned around again and began to whisper.

But they didn't know that behind a tree not far away, there was a dull man standing silently.

(End of this chapter)