Chapter 222

Two hundred and thirty, Wang Beiying

"Thump!"

A basket full of stones, tied with a rope, smashed into the water.

It stirred up a large splash and quickly sank to the bottom.

This boat that had just arrived at the pier quickly stabilized its shape and slowly stopped at the shore.

Liu Ashan withdrew his gaze from the splash. This object is called an "anchor" by the workers who run boats on the Xunyang River.

It is thrown into the bottom of the water when docking, and the boat is anchored by its weight.

The taciturn man who helped put down the anchor stone clapped his hands, bowed to the boatman, and thanked him in a muffled voice.

Before the boat's boarding ladder was fully lowered, Liu Ashan agilely turned over on the deck and jumped off the boat impatiently.

Both feet stepped firmly on the familiar gray-black bricks of the Peng Lang Du pier.

By the Peng Lang Du pier, the morning sun shone warmly on his skin, and Liu Ashan looked up and took a deep breath.

An indescribable feeling welled up in his heart.

It was like walking on a wobbly tightrope for many years, and suddenly being able to walk around freely on solid ground.

Peace of mind and stability.

He looked left and right at the bustling and noisy ferry streets.

On Liu Ashan's taciturn face, which was tired from the journey and slightly dark-circled, a smile could not help but appear. He muttered:

"'Looking at my humble home, I run with joy...' The Master said, this sentence means seeing one's own simple home from afar, but being unable to wait to run towards it with joy.

"The Master is worthy of being a Metropolitan Graduate and a top scholar. Even a casual whisper is so reasonable."

Liu Ashan subconsciously learned to rub his face like someone, and lowered his head to check the moonlight long sword at his waist.

He reached into his sleeve again, and his fingertips felt a cold touch belonging to bronze metal.

Confirming that everything was brought, Liu Ashan turned his head, waved goodbye to the boatmen unloading cargo behind him, and left the pier.

Liu Ashan passed through the busy streets and the West Temple all the way, unable to help but look around on the road.

Before meeting the Master, he had worked as a porter at the pier.

Under the large old locust tree in front, taking advantage of the manager's nap in the shade, he had once gone to hide from the heat for a while with his workmates. That was the only place to slack off during the day.

Later, as he grew older, his father died early, and he suddenly encountered a great flood that year, which destroyed their house and fields.

The family was poor and destitute. In the disaster year, they entered the lowly status of government slaves early and were mortgaged to the Gu Yue Sword Shop. Later, he and his younger sister had to come to the pier every day to cross the river to work on the west bank.

Liu Ashan was diligent. After the work at the Gu Yue Sword Shop was finished, he squeezed out some time to secretly do odd jobs at the pier, saving money quietly, wanting to redeem his sister and mother.

It's just that before the Master came to Longcheng, the hard-earned money he saved for seven or eight years was not enough to redeem half of his sister.

Not to mention building a new house, marrying a wife and having children, etc. Perhaps in the normal trajectory, he would have to toil for a lifetime to save enough, and that's provided he didn't encounter major disasters or illnesses.

Liu Ashan's expression was calm. The morning sun fell on him as he walked on the streets waking up and bustling in the early morning, looking back at the roadside from time to time.

At the corner, that sesame oil cake stall, the sesame oil cakes are unique.

I heard that the boss came from Guangzhou Prefecture in Lingnan Circuit, and the craftsmanship is an old brand: make glutinous rice flour into balls, use osmanthus sugar and kumquat as fillings, pour hot oil on them and fry them, with a "sizzle" sound, steaming hot, and the sesame on the cakes is golden and oily...

His sister and mother loved to eat them, but they never said it.

Liu Ashan used to bring his sister to the pier to take a boat across the river every morning. It was only when his sister often looked back while passing by that he saw it.

Later, he silently bought a sesame oil cake for his sister to eat. After his sister took two small bites and asked him not to eat it, she wrapped it in oil paper and stuffed it into her bosom, bringing it to her mother in the evening, but was scolded by her mother who was weaving.

She also scolded him for wasting half a copper coin to buy a piece of oil paper to wrap the cake. Wouldn't it be better to just pick a lotus leaf from the pond by the road to wrap it?

"'Looking at my humble home, I run with joy...'"

Liu Ashan muttered.

It's really strange.

Such a piece of land that didn't carry many beautiful and happy memories, why did he only leave for a short while, and was eating and drinking well on the boat outside.

But once he returned, these things that he originally regarded as normal, or even suffering, fell into his eyes and became exceptionally dear?

Speaking of which, this was Liu Ashan's first time leaving Longcheng County, where he was born and raised. The furthest he had gone before was just following old fishermen to fish on the river when he was young.

But at this very moment, stepping on this land again, an urge to never leave home again suddenly welled up in Liu Ashan's chest.

Don't know why.

The sentence the Master said was also repeatedly appearing in his mind.

He is not a person who likes to show off his literary talent, but he just feels that this sentence, "'Looking at my humble home, I run with joy,'" is very, very well said.

Liu Ashan got off the boat at Peng Lang Du and didn't delay, returning straight to Luming Street. He chewed and savored this sentence all the way.

However, before leaving the West Market, Liu Ashan went to the sesame oil cake stall at the corner of the busy street, silently took out six copper coins, and handed them to the boss.

By the way, he added half a copper coin later.

Liu Ashan stuffed the two hot sesame oil cakes wrapped tightly in oil paper into his bosom, his chest warm, and returned to the county government office on Luming Street all the way.

Although lotus leaves are cheap and easy to use, his sister likes paper folding. After eating the cake, the oil paper can let his sister fold paper and stack flowers.

The taciturn man, dusty from the journey, covered the object in his chest and nodded.

This time he turned back to Longcheng. Before leaving Miss Ye and the official boat in Jiangzhou, Miss Ye tearfully stuffed him with a lot of silver as travel expenses.

Let Liu Ashan return to Longcheng as soon as possible to stop Ouyang Rong.

But Liu Ashan didn't spend much, just endured the heartache and found a cargo speedboat returning to Longcheng County at Xunyang Ferry. As for the food and drink along the way, Liu Ashan ate with the boatmen while squatting on the deck.

He had originally prepared to buy some gifts for his sister and mother after arriving at Nanlong, but it seemed too late now, so he could only bring two sesame oil cakes back nearby.

As for the remaining money, he would return it to Miss Ye later.

The taciturn man was meticulous. After he silently sorted out the logic, he also arrived at the intersection of Luming Street, and could see the familiar county government gate from afar.

"At this time in the past, the Master had already come to the county government to take office, unless it was really as Miss Ye said... Wait, why are there so many people at the door."

Liu Ashan, who was talking to himself, opened his eyes wide.

I saw that at the gate of the county government office ahead, there were officials of all kinds going in and out, walking in a panic; the carriages or fast horses parked on the street in front of the door almost blocked the entrance of Luming Street.

There was a faint trend of noise and chaos.

Liu Ashan's memory was quite good. Seeing some familiar clothes in the hurried crowd entering and leaving the gate, he immediately recalled:

"Aren't those the long-term officials stationed at the water level monuments at several ferries upstream? Why did they run back? What are they doing at the county government office? Looking for the Magistrate?"

Liu Ashan frowned, as if reacting to something, and suddenly looked up at the sky.

The scorching summer sun was bright.

"How is it possible in this season... In the past, the upstream had never risen in a great flood in this season."

Liu Ashan shook his head, his expression incredulous. He rushed forward, merged into the crowd, and entered the county government office.

But soon.

The taciturn man's firmness was destroyed by the chaotic news and panicked conversations he kept hearing on the left and right.

With his eyes wide open, the information in his ears was quickly summarized:

It is true that there has been no rain in the upper and lower reaches of Yunmengze for half a month at the summer solstice.

But,

This morning, at the first quarter of the Chen hour,

The water level of Yunmengze near the Di Gong Gate began to rise unreasonably!

There were officials who stumbled over and shouted with anxious faces:

"Where is the Magistrate? Where is the Magistrate? Go and notify the Magistrate quickly, the water level is rising too fast! We, we simply can't find the reason.

"The water level that rose in one day and one night during the last heavy rain has now risen in less than two hours. This speed is too terrifying..."

There was a long-term official left in the county government office who was dumbfounded and stammered: "The... the Magistrate asked for leave and is not here. Registrar Diao is acting in his place..."

"Then other adults, where is Registrar Diao? Where is he? Go and report to Registrar Diao quickly, and ask what we should do now? The colleagues upstream are very panicked and need instructions from the county government..."

"Registrar Diao didn't come to work this morning. He took half of his colleagues to the Zhe Yiqu side to attend a ceremony celebrating the opening of the canal..."

"Reporting now, going back and forth, it will take at least an hour, and the day lily will be cold. At such a critical time, why are both adults not here!"

"Brother, go this way, go and find Constable Yan quickly. Both adults are temporarily absent. Constable Yan has the highest authority and is currently summoning urgent colleagues in the main hall of the county government."

"Yes, yes, yes..."

In the long corridor, officials who rushed over by fast horse were guided and ran towards the main hall of the county government.

Liu Ashan walked slowly from behind and looked in the direction where the former left.

Liu Ashan had seen many urgent officials similar to this one all the way from the gate of the county government, and they were everywhere, rushing over from various places along the upper reaches one after another.

Although Longcheng County is remote in Jiang Nan Circuit, it is a large county with nearly ten Battalion Commander. In addition to the commoners living in Longcheng County in the lower reaches, there are also many villages and towns along the upper reaches, gathering many villagers and commoners.

Once the Di Gong Gate blocking the Yue Nu Gorge in the upper reaches collapses, the flood stored at a high level will pour down and surge, which can instantly submerge the villages and towns along the water. Therefore, these local village and town officials and commoners are the most urgent.

"The Magistrate is temporarily absent, is Brother Yan here..."

Liu Ashan was stunned, and followed the urgent officials ahead to the main hall of the county government.

He thought there would be a backbone, and the main hall of the county government could be quieter.

But unexpectedly, as soon as he walked into the courtyard where the main hall of the county government was located, the whole person was drowned by the noisy sound waves.

In the main hall of the county government, there was no one at the official desk at the head.

The back of the familiar young Magistrate was long gone.

At this moment, Yan Liulang stood directly in front of the empty official desk, trying his best to appease everyone with his subordinates.

The urgent officials gathered from all over the place were talking all at once, each with urgent matters and worries.

Anxious emotions spread in the main hall of the county government, which was difficult to suppress.

Yan Liulang was busy and exhausted.

"Everyone, be quiet. I have already ordered people to whip the horses and notify Registrar Diao. Registrar Diao will be back soon. Everyone, don't be anxious, don't be impatient. For the matter of rising water, follow the previous warnings first..."

An elderly official said anxiously:

"Still warnings, the previous preparations are about to be useless. This time it is really different from the previous few times. Little Constable Yan, the water is rising too fast.

"Within today... or even waiting until the afternoon, by noon, it will exceed the last highest water level.

"Most of the plans made by the county government before are useless, and it is even too late. What should we do now? Do we want to evacuate the commoners immediately?

"Why not enable the refuge camp plan of Mount Dagu and transfer the commoners there first."

"This..." Yan Liulang's expression was hesitant.

A young constable beside him sneered and retorted:

"Without the official documents of the two adults, who dares to make deployments easily and issue orders to evacuate all the commoners in the city?

"Such a large-scale mobilization, in case there is an accident, or after the investigation by the imperial court, the Di Gong Gate could have been rescued to resist the flood, but the opportunity was missed. It belongs to the mistake of the officer's cowardice and abandoning the city. Who will take responsibility."

In the main hall, an official who didn't like it stood up:

"At what time is it now, still worrying about responsibility and being afraid of taking the blame. If you don't take action, it is the real mistake of the time."

"That's fine, no need to wait for the two adults. Little Constable Yan, listen to you. Brother Zeng, you come to command..."

"You!"

An elderly official stood out to smooth things over:

"Alright, alright, don't argue, and don't say sarcastic things, and don't look at what time it is."

After a pause, he suggested again:

"By the way, should we first figure out the reason for the sudden rise of water upstream, and then make measures, otherwise we will be blind, and we will get half the result with twice the effort, or even be counterproductive... Little Constable Yan, what do you think?"

"I think..." Yan Liulang stopped talking.

A disheartened voice came from the crowd:

"Find out the reason? In the middle of summer, the water level rises sharply, who knows why. Soldiers come to block, water comes to cover with earth, what else can we do?

"This year has just passed more than half, and there have been three floods that have succeeded or extinguished. Maybe... maybe it is heaven that wants to destroy us. Is there really a so-called Long Wang in Butterfly Creek..."

Such words, someone said it for the first time, and the whole scene exploded, with different opinions.

"Alright! Don't argue!"

Yan Liulang roared, turned his head sharply, and scolded in the direction where the disheartened voice came from:

"The Magistrate hates people who are superstitious about Dragon Kings and ghosts and gods. When he rescued the gate upstream, he said that those who confuse people's hearts should be beheaded. Whoever dares to spread words of accepting fate and believing in gods again, I, Yan Liulang, will take your head and hang it on the flag!"

The whole scene was silent.

Yan Liulang panted, held his knife and looked around, and everyone avoided his gaze.

Just when he was silent for a while and was about to speak again, he suddenly felt his sleeve being pulled. He frowned and turned his head, and was suddenly surprised:

"Brother Ashan, why are you back?"

Liu Ashan pointed to the back hall behind the main hall of the county government, indicating it.

Yan Liulang looked back, appeased everyone for the time being, and then followed Liu Ashan to the back hall.

In the back hall, the tired-looking Yan Liulang looked curiously at Liu Ashan, who was dusty, and felt that his emotions were a bit wrong.

The taciturn man's face was surprisingly calm, and he asked directly:

"Brother Yan, where is the Magistrate? Have you seen the Magistrate recently?"

Yan Liulang was stunned and asked back:

"The Magistrate asked for leave to return to Nanlong, didn't you know?"

"The Magistrate is not in Longcheng? After Miss Ye's boat left, the Magistrate has not appeared?"

"Definitely, that day, didn't the Magistrate take Miss Ye and the others on the boat? You also asked for leave, didn't you go together?"

Yan Liulang frowned and asked back: "On the contrary, Brother Ashan, why did you run back from Nanlong? Is it so fast to go back and forth? Also, isn't the Magistrate with you? Is he in Longcheng?"

Liu Ashan opened his mouth, and some words were swallowed.

"Yan..."

The questions he wanted to ask seemed to have answers. There was a "buzz" in Liu Ashan's ears, and he was suddenly drowned by a burst of white noise.

He didn't hear a word of what Yan Liulang said later.

Stood still.

When he found Ye Weilai in the boat cabin a few days ago, the latter's words still lingered in his ears:

"I don't know where he is going, but I know that Tanlang is leaving... I can see that the preparations he made are to say goodbye to us forever..."

Liu Ashan lowered his head in a daze, staring straight at the moonlight long sword at his waist.

This was the last thing the Master gave him before he left after eating dinner at his home the night before he sent Miss Ye back to Nanlong, and left it behind with the Mirage Beast Mask.

Liu Ashan clearly remembered that at that time, he was worried that he would not be able to handle the things the Master explained, and was sincere and fearful. The Master patted him on the shoulder at that time, turned around and left with a smile, waving his back to Liu Ashan:

"You handle things, I am at ease...

"Ashan, you have always followed behind me and listened to my instructions, but one day, I will not be there. At that time, you have to learn to be on your own.

"Ashan, if you think of it, then do it. Don't be hesitant when you stand out. We must protect the people or things we want to protect. I am like this, and so are you..."

It turned out that Miss Ye was right. The Master had long been prepared to leave, and even secretly said goodbye to him. Only he was still stupidly kept in the dark.

Liu Ashan suddenly muttered: "'Looking at my humble home, I run with joy...' This is what the Master said, but why did you fly away and not want your home..."

This is his last puzzle.

In the back hall, the taciturn man wearing a long sword swayed slightly.

"Brother Ashan? Brother Ashan?"

Seeing Liu Ashan suddenly in a daze and talking to himself, with an expression that was not right, Yan Liulang couldn't help but reach out, push Liu Ashan, and called twice with worry.

Liu Ashan raised his head in a daze, looked around, and looked at Yan Liulang again, his eyes a little confused, and asked softly:

"Brother Yan, if there is no Master anymore, what should we do?"

Yan Liulang wanted to speak, but at this time, the noise in the main hall of the county government ahead became louder and louder.

"Not good, must go out and stabilize the scene!"

Yan Liulang turned his head and said it was not good, shaking his head with a sad face:

"I don't know if Registrar Diao is back, why hasn't he come back yet! The Magistrate handed over all the affairs to him, but he is good, he is not there at the critical moment, and he went to attend some celebration ceremony..."

Liu Ashan did not answer, lowered his head and looked at the moonlight long sword, as if lost in thought.

Yan Liulang couldn't take care of Liu Ashan's state, didn't even have time to drink the tea on the table, and quickly left the back hall.

Return to the main hall of the county government!

The noisy sound waves rushed over.

At the same time, bad news came one after another from outside the county government office.

Yan Liulang, who walked out, frowned.

If the Magistrate was present, who would dare to be so noisy?

Yan Liulang sighed, and didn't feel anything when he followed the Magistrate before.

Only now did he realize how difficult it is to be fearless in a critical moment, stabilize the whole scene, and become everyone's backbone!

"Everyone, don't argue, be quiet!"

Yan Liulang took off his waist knife, patted the table fiercely, and roared. Only with such a stupid method could he barely suppress the anxious noise in the main hall.

Seeing the different eyes of the crowd, Yan Liulang turned his head and asked a trusted subordinate:

"Has the person sent to Zhe Yiqu to pass the message returned? Why hasn't Registrar Diao arrived yet? Send someone to call, it's been so long, even a turtle crawling would have crawled back to the county government, not to mention they still have large ships there, which can take the waterway."

The trusted subordinate lowered his head: "No news yet, don't know why, two batches of people have already been sent over..."

"Send someone again... no, you go yourself now!"

"Yes!" Ordered to retreat.

Yan Liulang turned his head and said seriously to the crowd:

"If we drag on, it will be too late. We must make deployments early?"

"What high opinions does Little Constable Yan have?"

"First... first organize the commoners to leave the city to take refuge..."

Yan Liulang said hesitantly. He tried his best to follow the Magistrate's plan last time. In fact, he didn't know much about water control. Most of the time, he was just the executor of the Magistrate's orders.

Moreover, in this situation that requires courage, Yan Liulang is also young and experiencing it for the first time, so it is inevitable that he will be easily swayed by other people's "opinions."

But at this time, a fat-faced official immediately asked with a difficult expression:

"Little Constable Yan, are you sure about doing this? What if this rise in water is just a false alarm, after all, it is the middle of summer... It will be difficult to end at that time."

Someone interrupted angrily:

"He Chen Lao San, do you want to see what you said? Is it human words? A false alarm? We are all locals, who doesn't know the situation of Yunmengze?

"In these years, which flood rise is not extremely dangerous? We who monitor the water level at the Di Gong Gate upstream, can't we distinguish between true and false, are we here to report falsely? The situation is already so dangerous, you are still lucky. If you miss the opportunity, you are the sinner of the whole county."

The fat-faced official immediately smelled bad, and said hard: "That's fine, you tell me what to do! You come!"

Just when the two sides were about to argue.

There was a younger official who looked puzzled and said:

"How did the Magistrate handle it last time? Can't we do the same?

"Isn't that batch of official ships still there? Where are the official ships? Go and mobilize them quickly!

"Learn from the Magistrate, let's split into two paths. One batch of people go to the Di Gong Gate upstream to rescue the gate dam.

"One batch of people stay in Longcheng County in the lower reaches to organize the commoners to go to Mount Dagu to take refuge, just in case, and then contact with the beacon tower... What a simple matter, why argue, the Magistrate has already demonstrated it once..."

It's just that he didn't expect that as soon as this word came out, the whole scene gradually became quiet.

Most people fell into silence.

You look at me, I look at you.

Only a few people nodded in agreement.

Finally, someone smiled strongly and opened his mouth:

"That's fine, then... then how do we distribute. Which batch of people will go to rescue the water gate, and which batch of people will stay in the lower reaches to organize the commoners to go to Mount Dagu to avoid the disaster."

Yan Liulang opened his mouth, wanting to say that he would take the latter one. He was most familiar with it. Last time, it was Yan Liulang and Registrar Diao who organized the Longcheng commoners to retreat to Mount Dagu.

As for rescuing the water gate, he was a young constable who hadn't read many books and didn't know much about water conservancy, so he was very unfamiliar.

But the next second, Yan Liulang's peripheral vision suddenly caught the dodging and avoiding eyes of the crowd.

His expression froze first, and then his heart went cold instantly.

It turned out that the root cause of all arguments was not that everyone had no effective plan in the face of disaster.

But the team's hearts were scattered, and everyone cherished their lives and was afraid.

So the previous chaos and suggestions were all excuses for each other to play their own little calculations!

Yan Liulang only felt cold all over, but there was a rolling hot fire in his chest.

His expression was blue and red for a while. At a certain moment, he walked forward with a straight face.

"Don't argue, the Magistrate is not here, I will take people to the upper reaches to rescue the gate..."

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