Blue, Red and White Dark Abyss Cauldron

The next day, several people said that there was food and drink here, no wolves, tigers or leopards, and no soldiers from Jinyang City were chasing them, so they might as well stay here for a few more days. Huai Xiaomeng immediately objected, saying that those who wanted to die here could stay, but he had to leave. He pulled Chu Xiaomu over and said, "Use the spirit-asking technique quickly to find the Snow Countryman Bai Yixing, and I will kill him alone!" Yu Aqi, Hai Wuqing and others only then realized that the person they were looking for was named Bai Yixing.

There was a short guy in the crowd, about fifteen or sixteen years old, named Lingweidou, who was also from the Snow Country. He said, "That guy's surname is Bai, so he should be from Ice City. How could he be an enemy of you when he is so far away from you across the West Sea?"

Yang Dou said, "What are you asking about, little kid? Do you want to tell on someone?" Ling Weidou stopped talking.

Chu Xiaomu said, "Xiao Meng, don't be so impatient. We all have to leave. We can't die here. But we were very hungry the past few days. We should be well prepared for this trip." Then he told them about his plan to wait a day or two before hunting two more bison. Yu Aqi and others also said that this was the best way. They were very hungry the past few days. Huai Xiaomeng didn't say anything more.

In the evening, the herd of buffaloes appeared by the lake to drink water. The people surrounded them and killed two of them. They cut the beef into long strips and smoked them over the fire overnight. The meat was half dry and easy to eat to satisfy hunger. They also cleaned the stomachs and bladders of the cattle to store clean water.

The group set out again on the third day, feeling quite reluctant to leave.

Yu Aqi said: "I don't know if this lake has a name. It's such a beautiful place. I want to come back again if I have the chance."

Yingdan said: "Whether there is a name or not, we can choose one now."

Chu Xiaomu said: "Uncle Youzhu has read the most books. If he were here, he could give us a better name."

Huai Xiaomeng said, "Don't mention him anymore. He smells sour and rancid, so his name must be sour and rancid as well."

Yingdan thought for a while and said, "The wild bulls by the lake saved us in a big emergency. They are very loyal to us. Why not call it 'Yiniu Lake'?"

Among the four countries, only Cangmu has cattle, and the number is small. After being domesticated by humans, they are only used to plow the land and carry heavy objects, and they are very close to the breeders. Although there is also a custom of eating beef in the seven major cities, it is only during the worship season of the rich or officials and other wealthy families that they occasionally slaughter cattle for sacrifice and eat meat. Apart from this, unless bandits secretly slaughter cattle for farming, beef is not usually eaten. Except for Chu Xiaomu and the other two, everyone else knew about this festival, so they all nodded in agreement.

Yang Dou said: "Then should the horse we ate before be called 'Yima' and the fish we ate before be called 'Yiyu'? It's too unfair to just call the cow 'Yi Niu'."

Yu Aqi knew that the three of them did not understand the customs of the Cangmu Kingdom, so he explained them in general terms. Only then did the three of them suddenly understand.

Yiniu Lake is wide and deep, so everyone can only find a way to go around the lake.

However, going west directly would be shorter and reach the official road between the two cities faster, but it was too close to Jieyun Pass between the two cities. In order to avoid unnecessary troubles, and not to worry about arriving early or late, they decided to go east first, bypass Yiniu Lake, turn west, take the official road, and finally reach Bicheng.

Chu Xiaomu had no idea about the terrain and roads in this area, so he had to follow the arrangements of Lin Zhen and others.

Yiniu Lake is very large, and it took everyone until dark to reach the other side, so they had to stay another night.

The opposite bank is exactly the foot of Jieyun Mountain. Jieyun Mountain stretches for hundreds of miles from east to west. It is tall and steep. There are several high cliffs on the lake side that are impossible to climb.

It was unknown how far they would have to go if they continued to go east, and the group was at a loss as to what to do. They could only head west along the lakeside and then find a way to climb the mountain when there were no cliffs.

Although there were small hills and ridges beside the lake, it was much flatter than the forest. Everyone had food and water, and being young and strong, they could walk sixty to seventy miles a day. In less than three days, they were almost at Jieyun Pass.

It was almost noon, the sun was blazing, and there was no place for shelter. They had to put their clothes on their heads to block the scorching sun. After walking tired, they found a small hill to eat meat and drink water to rest. After eating, they climbed to the top of the hill and saw a straight road about four or five miles away to the west. It stretched from north to south and had no end in sight. It was the official road between Jinyang City and Bicheng. Although it was still in the territory of Jinyang City, as long as they crossed Jieyun Mountain, they would reach Bicheng.

As they were lost in thought, they suddenly heard Yu Aqi say, "Look, there are so many people over there." Everyone looked in the direction he pointed, and saw a long line of black figures moving slowly northward on the official road in the south. There were so many people in the line, forming a long line, and they were walking very slowly.

Chu Xiaomu hurriedly told everyone to lie low to avoid being seen by the group. Yu Aqi had the best eyesight among the group and said, "These people have ropes tied around their hands and feet. They must be slaves."

Lin Zhen said: "This is absolutely impossible. Among the seven major cities in Cangmu Country, only Bicheng never sells raw slaves." Yingdan and others also said that they had never heard of Bicheng selling raw slaves, and even buying raw slaves was extremely rare.

Yu Aqi said, "I'm not mistaken. Look, there are people on horseback driving this group of people. Look at their armor and clothes, they are all warriors from Jinyang City." Sure enough, everyone saw a lot of black spots moving back and forth beside the crowd. They were obviously maintaining order, but they were too far away to see clearly.

Yang Dou said: "We all know that Brother Aqi has the best eyesight. I believe he is right. These must be raw slaves. Even if Bicheng didn't sell them before, maybe they started selling them yesterday or today." He was making a fuss and everyone spat at him.

As the long line of people approached, they could gradually tell that their hands and feet were tied together with ropes, and they could also tell at a glance that the people riding horses were warriors from Jinyang City. Only then did they believe that these people were indeed slaves, and after a rough count, they found that there were as many as three or four hundred.

Yu Aqi frowned and said, "Gao Yijue was arrested, Liu Zang was also arrested, and..." He named seven or eight names in one breath, all of whom were slaves who lived in the same slave house with Chu Xiaomu and Yu Aqi at the time. Chu Xiaomu, Hai Wuqing and others who knew Gao Yijue were shocked, thinking that they were indeed arrested when they were close to Bicheng, and their efforts were in vain.

Looking in the direction Yu Aqi pointed, one could vaguely make out the figures of Gao Yijue, Liu Zang and others.

Yang Dou gloated, "They deserved to be arrested. We told them not to go down the old path but they insisted on going down it. They also said something like 'the most dangerous place is the safest'. It's complete nonsense!"