Chapter 12 Poplar Mountain Swamp

If he took one more step forward, the kid would be a meat pie.

The child grabbed the rattle on the ground, coughing non-stop due to the dust raised by the horse's hooves. The parents finally squeezed out of the crowd, picked up the child and ran without looking back.

Some people on the street accused him, but the passenger in the white robe seemed not to hear and looked up at Uncle Hao.

Uncle Hao had no expression on his face.

Liu Baobao was right next to He Lingchuan and coughed hard: "Who are you? Do you know that riding a horse in a busy city will be punished by whipping?"

"Who will do the punishment?" The young man in the white robe laughed, not hiding his contempt, "You?"

The man's eyes were like needles, and Liu Baobao's face was numb because of the stare, and he couldn't help shrinking his head: "The laws and regulations in Blackwater City are strict, why don't you try to run a few more steps?"

After saying this, the young man ignored him and only turned his eyes to He Lingchuan, as if he knew that he was the mastermind.

He Lingchuan smiled at him, but the other party stared at him carefully before urging the horse forward again.

The gray-clothed passenger behind him never looked up.

After such a short period of turmoil, the two men slowed down their riding speed. Men, women, old and young on the street watched them disappear at the corner of the street.

That direction was to go out of the city to the northeast.

Uncle Hao said at the right time: "These two people have cultivation, especially the gray-robed guest behind, I can't tell the truth. The white-clothed kid may be a military man."

He Lingchuan raised his eyebrows, a little surprised.

Uncle Hao once slaughtered more than ten wealthy families in the capital at night. Later, he was enlightened by the Taoists, learned magic, eliminated his anger, and had profound cultivation. He enjoyed high-level worship in the He family. He said that the gray-robed guest was amazing, and He Lingchuan had no doubts.

These two people are not ordinary merchants. What are they doing in the borderland?

At this time, several people came to the center of the street. They were the patrolmen of Blackwater City. They were also alarmed and asked the people around them: "What happened?"

"Two people rode through the market and almost trampled a child!" The crowd talked about it.

Only two people? That's not the eldest master of the He family. Fortunately, it's okay. The patrolman was even angrier. When he looked up, he saw He Lingchuan leaning against the window to watch the excitement. He quickly greeted him, his face relaxed, and the corners of his mouth curled up, "How is Lord He?"

"Good, very good." He Lingchuan smiled, "Are you here to chase people?"

"Chase!" The patrol captain was righteous. I told you not to ride your horses, but you insisted on doing so. Isn't this contempt of the law? "You must be severely punished!"

He Lingchuan showed them the way: "The two men went to the northeast gate."

The patrol captain thanked them and took his men to chase them.

After they left, Uncle Hao said: "Several patrolmen can't keep them."

"I know, just throwing a stone to test the water." He Lingchuan shrugged, "This is Blackwater City, can they start a war in broad daylight?"

But the patrolmen returned about a quarter of an hour later, empty-handed.

He Lingchuan was not surprised by the result, but he wanted to know the truth: "Where are those two people?"

The patrol chief didn't expect that he was still waiting for the result here, and he was a little embarrassed. He coughed and said: "Those two are the generals of the Northern Expedition and the governor of Xunzhou. They came to Heishui City on official business and showed the official documents with fire seals."

He Lingchuan let out a long "Oh".

He knew that the patrol chief was talking about the general of the Northern Expedition, Nian Zanli, who led the governor of Xunzhou, that is, the top military and political leader, with much more power than the governor of Jinzhou.

The prefecture is the county. When He Chunhua, the governor of Qiansong County, saw the general of the Northern Expedition, he would also respectfully call himself "your subordinate".

Several patrols left quickly, and Liu Baobao looked a little uneasy: "Those two people should not remember me, right?"

"What's the big deal? Is it worth worrying about it?" He Lingchuan comforted him without sincerity, but he was thinking in his heart, what did the governor of Xunzhou send his men to Heishui City for?

At this moment, two thunders rolled through the sky, rumbling and making people's ears hurt, and also making the dogs on the street howl a few times, then tuck their tails and run away.

The people of Heishui City were not surprised, and they continued to do what they had to do.

He Lingchuan looked west and found that there was a large area of ​​thick dark clouds on the horizon.

The storm was coming.

…

"The storm is coming." The young man in the white robe looked at the sky, then looked at the man in gray, "Look, is this okay?"

The two of them were in Hulu Mountain.

It has seven peaks, three of which are exposed and rough like a bald man.

Although it doesn't look good, Hulu Mountain is actually rich in rats, rabbits, foxes, and deer, and sometimes people can hunt wild boars and gray wolves.

The two stood on an animal trail, and had just checked several caves.

"Although the soil and water are not rich, there are many living creatures, and the number is barely enough." The gray-clothed man had a purple-gold pestle in his hand. On the top was a monster with bulging eyes and a big mouth. Under its feet were four hanging rings, and the ends were sharpened like cones, shining with a metallic luster.

With a shake in the wind, the more than one-foot-long pestle turned into a seven-foot purple-gold staff.

The gray-clothed man stuck the purple-gold staff into the soil for more than one foot, and when it stood up on its own, he asked the white-robed boy for a green copper coin and stuffed it into the mouth of the beast.

The mouth of the beast closed by itself, biting the copper coin, and the red light in its eyes gradually became stronger.

The gray-clothed man began to shake the top of the pestle.

The hanging rings under the feet of the monster suddenly jingled and clanged. It sounded chaotic at first, but if you listen for a while, you can find that it repeats and repeats according to a specific rhythm, over and over again.

And each time is clearer and louder than the previous one, and... it can be heard farther!

The chirping of insects and birds that originally filled the forest disappeared, leaving only the sound of the bell, which continued for a long time.

The young man in white robe took a long breath.

With his concentration, he listened to the bell carefully, but soon he felt dizzy, his heartbeat and tinnitus, so he had to lose his concentration and stare at the distant mountain in a trance.

Distracting his attention made it bearable.

After about a cup of tea, there was a "rustling" sound behind the two of them, and an angry voice came over:

"Stop shaking, stop, stop ringing!"

The purple golden pestle stopped at the sound, and the two looked back and saw a poplar tree shaking its branches and leaves, rustling, and the sound seemed to come from the leaves.

The poplar tree was twisted and vigorous, and had been weathered. It looked at least three or four hundred years old, and it was the largest tree nearby.

The white-robed boy spoke first: "Are you the local Shanze?"

"I am the Shanze of Huyang Mountain, and I was appointed two hundred years ago. Now this place is called Hulu Mountain." The sound of Huyang Shanze was very strange, like the vibration of countless leaves rubbing against each other. It was a little vague at first, but it became more and more fluent as he spoke.

It was like someone who had not spoken for many years, getting used to the ability to speak again. "I have been sleeping for a long time, even the local officials can't wake me up. Who are you?"

It then sensed the copper coin held by the purple gold pestle beast head and was very surprised: "Hey, this is the new dynasty's state order, it seems to be called... something kite?"

"Kites coin." The gray-robed man patted the beast head, and the green copper coin fell into his palm. If there were idle people watching, they would see that this thing was slightly larger than an ordinary copper coin, with a hole at the top to facilitate tying a rope.