Chapter 232

On the riverbank, ships of all sizes were docked.

The shore was filled with incense, accompanied by the sound of gongs and drums. Several Duan Gong, wearing red robes and crowns, were jumping and performing rituals.

They flipped, spun on the ground, and shuttled back and forth, cooperating with dazzling hand seals. The atmosphere was mysterious and solemn, and various pastries were thrown into the water from time to time.

This is the Duan Gong dance, which originated from the Chu palace dance.

The Duan Gong dance is divided into the upper altar and the lower altar.

The upper altar is for sacrificing to the dead and transcending souls, with serious and solemn movements.

The lower altar is for driving away ghosts and avoiding evil, praying for auspiciousness and blessings, with light and free movements.

The one in front of them is the lower altar Duan Gong dance.

At the same time, there were several men in Confucian robes, wearing high crowns and holding scriptures, standing by the river and chanting in a hoarse voice:

"The day is dusk, and I forget to return. Only the distant shore, I wake up and miss. Fish-scale house, dragon hall. Purple shell palace, pearl palace. Why is the spirit in the water? Riding a white turtle, chasing patterned fish..."

There were many onlookers, all solemn and silent.

Many of them were dressed as boatmen and fishermen.

Of course, some people were whispering.

"Is that thing still there?"

"Hmm, I heard it destroyed ships and ate people in Xiling Gorge, and a master has been invited to perform rituals to subdue the demon."

"Will it run to our Zigui County?"

"Who knows, but no one dares to go to Unlike Yichang anymore. Inviting Duan Gong to perform rituals today is just to hope that the ships going to Shu will be safe..."

Li Yan and the others were also in the crowd.

Some of the conversations of the people around them were in local dialects, which they couldn't understand at all, and some were mixed with official language, which they could barely understand.

Just as the Duan Gong dance was going on, there were also several ships on the river.

Red cloth hung on the bow, incense burners were placed, and a statue of a god was worshipped. The boatmen worshipped together, throwing paper money and five-colored pastries.

"It's the people from the Pai Sect."

Sha Lifei said in a low voice.

Li Yan nodded without speaking.

It seems that the river monster's mischief has also affected this place.

The Duan Gong dance on the shore was still continuing. According to the people around, it would last for three days and three nights, but the people from the Pai Sect had already set sail.

The boatman on the bow propped up a bamboo pole and sang loudly: "Weigh anchor!"

The surrounding boatmen shouted slogans, "Hey yo hey yo~"

"Pull the towrope and go!"

"Hey yo hey yo~"

"The ship is about to start!"

"Hey yo hey yo~"

"Hold the rudder steady!"

"Hey yo hey yo......"

Accompanied by the thick and powerful Yangtze River chant, the boatmen performed their duties in an orderly manner, controlling the huge cargo ship towards the land of Bashu.

At this time, the river mist was thick, and it soon disappeared from everyone's sight.

"The people of the Pai Sect are really bold."

"What can we do? We can't just be trapped and not go into the water..."

Just then, the sound of a bird chirping rang out.

Seemingly attracted by the liveliness on the shore, a cuckoo flew from the mountains and landed on a tree branch, preening its feathers and chirping non-stop.

"The cuckoo bird is here."

"It's the Qingming Festival, but there are strange things happening one after another, water monsters appearing, sigh~ an ominous sign..."

"Humph, Master Sanlu will deal with them!"

"Shh, do you want to die..."

Among the common people, many had faces full of grief and indignation.

Occasional low discussions were all cautious.

"Let's go."

Li Yan shook his head slightly.

After leaving the crowd, Sha Lifei muttered, "The atmosphere in this Zigui County is obviously not right."

"Brother Yan, should we go directly into the village, or find a place to stay in Zigui County first and ask for news?"

Li Yan pondered for a while, "This matter has caused quite a stir, people are panicked, and many parties are paying attention. The demon who is making trouble must also be prepared."

"If we go rashly, we might alert the enemy. The strong laborers in the village are locked up in Unlike Yichang Prefecture and must be full of resentment. We can't use the name of the City God Temple."

"Let's find out the news first, and then change our identities!"

Everyone nodded in agreement upon hearing this.

……

Zigui County seat is the ancient city of Guizhou.

Because it is close to the Yangtze River, the river network in the territory is dense. The people coming and going include both local Han people and many Tujia people.

Because it is close to Shu, there are also many people who speak the Bashu dialect.

The crowd came down from the riverbank mountain, took a detour, and came to the pier from the side. Looking up, they saw an ancient city built against the mountain.

The city is not big and is built of stone. It is full of ancient charm, solid and thick. It is small on the mountainside and large at the bottom, looking like a gourd.

Wang Daoxuan looked up and stroked his beard, "Before coming, I specifically asked about it. This city has a great background."

"In the past, when Guan Sheng died, Liu Xuande personally led 700,000 troops to march east from Shu to conquer Wu and built a city here by gathering soil, so it is also called Liu Bei City."

"Zigui County seat was originally in the old city of Chu King on the opposite bank. Later, there was a strange change in the celestial phenomena, heavy rain for several days, the city collapsed, and the river water poured back into a lake, so it was moved here."

"It was originally an earthen city, and after several repairs, it became what it is today."

Sha Lifei on the side was not interested at all. He looked around and said in a low voice, "Daoist, forget about Zhang Fei or Liu Bei City, I only know that something is wrong here..."

But he saw a small merchant team coming from the shore, all speaking the Bashu dialect, with mules and horses pulling several large carts piled with sundries.

And in the distance, several yamen runners were walking over with hunting dogs.

"There's a problem, leave first!"

Li Yan had also discovered that something was wrong, so he pulled everyone away.

"Stop!"

Just as they retreated to the side of the road, they heard a loud shout.

It wasn't calling them, but one of the runners suddenly drew his sword and blocked the Shu merchant team.

"Officer, what's wrong?"

"Check!"

"This... please accommodate us."

The leader of the merchant team was a middle-aged man.

He was not tall, wearing worn-out coarse cloth clothes, with a white cloth wrapped around his head.

"Men and women in western Sichuan wrap their heads in white cloth; this custom is said to commemorate Marquis Wu."

This is a characteristic of the clothing of the Han people in Shu, which is said to commemorate Marquis Wu Zhuge and has been passed down to this day.

Although he was dressed as a commoner, one could tell he was a martial arts practitioner from his physique and gait.

He looked flattering, spoke in the Bashu official dialect, hurriedly stepped forward to say nice things, and secretly took out a few taels of silver from his arms, wanting to stuff them to the runner.

However, several officials didn't give him any face at all.

Slap!

The leading official waved his hand to knock away the silver in his hand and scolded angrily: "You are sneaky, you look like you have problems. Search, all of you stay honestly!"

As he spoke, he gave a wink.

Two subordinates immediately stepped forward, one holding a long spear in his hand, and the other leading a hunting dog, circling around the large carts.

"Woof woof woof!"

Suddenly, the hunting dog barked wildly at one of the wooden carts.

The official holding the spear didn't say a word and stepped forward to stab it.

The bottom of the wooden cart shattered in response.

Clatter! Many white lumps fell out.

It was table salt!

Li Yan was not surprised at all after seeing it.

He had already noticed something wrong just now and secretly used his supernatural powers, already smelling the smell of a large amount of table salt in the convoy behind. These people were all private salt smugglers.

The salt administration of the Great Xuan Dynasty was the "Kaizhong Method" in the early stage, and now it is the "Gang Method."

The so-called "Gang Method" is to compile merchants holding salt permits into a register, and merchants who are not in the register are not allowed to operate the salt industry.

Moreover, they must go to the designated salt field and are not allowed to cross the border to sell. During the transportation process, various inspection methods are extremely strict.

Once this method came out, it immediately created many wealthy merchants.

Basically, they all have connections with local officials.

Of course, there has never been a shortage of people who take advantage of loopholes in the world, and it has been like this since ancient times.

This salt gang is controlled by officials and merchants, and at the same time, various private salt smugglers have appeared, often people in the martial world.

For example, some famous swordsmen in Guanzhong make a living by selling private salt.

"Do it!"

Seeing that it was difficult to end well, these private salt smugglers from Shu pulled out daggers from their waists one after another, and two others pulled out long knives from the wooden carts.

!.

However, the three officials were not panicked at all.

They retreated quickly while leading the dogs.

At the same time, there were movements around them.

In several tea sheds nearby, merchants pulled out knives and weapons one after another and rushed out. Among the crowd watching the excitement, many people also rushed out.

This was clearly a trap!

Seeing these people rushing out, Li Yan frowned slightly.

Lu San's eyes sank even more, full of disgust.

He smelled a familiar smell from these people.

These imperial court runners were all like the subordinates of Qiao Sanhu in the past, all of them fierce-looking, not decent people.

The leading runner raised his eyebrows and sneered in a rogue manner: "According to the laws of the Great Xuan, those who sell private salt will be beaten one hundred times and exiled for three years. Those with military weapons will be punished one level higher, and those who resist arrest will be beheaded!"

"Behead your mother!"

A private salt smuggler scolded, and then directly made a move.

The boxing techniques of these people all came from the same school, with neat postures, rigid and powerful, short and capable, and they liked close-quarters combat.

Combined with daggers, it added a bit of fierceness.

Sha Lifei narrowed his eyes, "It's the Monk Sect boxing, it is estimated that they are neighbors from the same village who came out to roam the martial world."

Li Yan nodded, "A bit reckless..."

Monk Sect boxing was passed from Shaolin boxing to Emei during the Tang Dynasty and was researched by Emei Mountain monks combining the characteristics of the two boxing techniques, and it is widely circulated among the people in Shu.

These people are old and young, mostly from the same village.

Daring to fight and struggle, they can be considered people in the martial world.

It's a pity that the kung fu of these people is average, and there isn't even one at the peak of Ming Jin, all relying on fierce momentum to fight.

But the runners who besieged them were also not experts.

The two sides fought together, and soon lost their chapters, which was no different from the fighting of ordinary gangs.

Blood splashed, and the sound of shouting and scolding continued.

Soon, more than a dozen people lay in a pool of blood, breathless.

"Murder!"

Many commoners were so frightened that they retreated one after another.

And the timid ones among the private salt smugglers had already thrown away their weapons and knelt on the ground, being captured by the officials.

"Go!"

Li Yan shook his head slightly and led the crowd to leave quickly.

They really wanted to be low-key, but they couldn't be.

Sha Lifei goes without saying, tall and big, bald with a beard, full of danger. According to his portrait, he could definitely catch a few big thieves.

Wang Daoxuan has the demeanor of an immortal, and Lu San, who was the most normal originally, now carries a large gourd around his waist, an erhu on his back, and a little white fox poking its head out of his chest. No matter how you look at it, he is not an ordinary person.

On the contrary, Li Yan, dressed as a swordsman, is the most normal.

Sure enough, they were stopped as soon as they reached the city gate.

To prevent alarming others, Wang Daoxuan took out the white Daoist certificate.

The little soldier guarding the city took the certificate and looked at the stamp of Yunyang Prefecture on it, then smiled, "Yo, it's really lively today. Are you all here for Young Master Wu's illness?"

What illness of Young Master Wu?

Li Yan was a bit confused.

Sha Lifei rolled his eyes, took out a few taels of scattered silver from his arms, stuffed them into the little soldier's hand, and smiled, "This soldier, we came from another place, we are not familiar with the place, what is going on with Young Master Wu's illness?"

"You don't know and you still dare to come?"

The little soldier was a bit surprised, looked around, remained calm, put the silver into his arms, and said in a low voice: "Young Master Wu is possessed by evil. I heard he was bewitched by a female demon and has been crazy all day."

"Which Young Master Wu?"

"It's Young Master Wu from the County Magistrate's house..."

The little soldier wanted to continue, but after looking into the distance, his expression changed slightly, and he immediately said urgently: "Hurry into the city, don't get in the way here!"

Li Yan turned his head and saw that the battle over there had ended, and people were cleaning the battlefield, and people were escorting the private salt smugglers towards this side.

They didn't talk nonsense and entered the city immediately.

The leader of the runners who captured the private salt smugglers followed closely. Looking at the figures of the few people leaving, his eyes were full of suspicion. He pulled the little soldier guarding the city and asked coldly: "What is the background of those people?"

"Divine shamans from out of town, here to treat Young Master Wu's illness."

"Oh."

The leader of the runners breathed a sigh of relief, then immediately warned coldly: "It's not peaceful recently, many people want to find trouble with us, keep your eyes open, watch closely!"

"Don't worry, Head Luo..."

…………

Guizhou City is much larger than an ordinary county seat, and because it occupies the throat of the Yangtze River, it is very prosperous inside the city.

Several people found an ordinary inn, stayed there, and gathered together.

"The wind in this Zigui County is not right."

Sha Lifei shook his head, "I'll go get some intelligence."

"I'll go with you."

Afraid that something would happen to Sha Lifei, Li Yan also followed behind.

The two of them were familiar with the road, turned around the streets and alleys in the city a few times, and immediately found a martial arts shop.

This shop buys and sells news, also divided into wind, forest, fire, and mountain.

Sha Lifei is old in the martial world, and after blowing and talking to the shop owner, the other party couldn't figure out their background, but knew they were members of the Mystic Sect, so he didn't dare to be the slightest bit negligent and immediately told them about the situation in the city.

"Zigui County is not peaceful now..."

"On the official side, an official came from Yunyang Prefecture, urging the County Magistrate to invite several nearby Tusi to enter the city, looking like they want to appease them so they don't make trouble..."

"On the road, there are undercurrents. The local gang, the Chaoshan Society, has an unusual relationship with County Magistrate Wu and controls the salt transport. Now that the war is about to start, all places are hoarding salt, and table salt is in short supply."

"Unfortunately, this Chaoshan Society wants to eat alone and has fought several battles with the brothers on the road, both openly and privately..."

"What's more troublesome is that there have been many strange things."

"Oh, what strange things have happened?"

"In the village of Erbeiwan, the rice seedlings won't grow..."

"Over at the Old Official Temple, it is rumored that someone is crying in the middle of the night, but no one can be found, scaring the common people so much that they dare not approach..."

"There is a river monster on the river, you should know."

"Also, you two must be here for Young Master Wu's illness. Let me give you a piece of advice, don't get involved in this matter, you can't handle it!"

Sha Lifei was happy, "Isn't it just being bewitched?"

"How can it be that simple!"

The shop owner lowered his voice, "To tell you the truth, in the past half month, several batches of Mystic Sect members have come, and I heard that several have died."

"That Young Master Wu is not bewitched at all, but targeted by a powerful evil spirit."

Sha Lifei became interested, "What evil spirit is so rampant?"

The shop owner swallowed his saliva, "Have you heard of the midnight bridal sedan chair, the ghost bride?"

Li Yan's pupils shrank instantly, "What did you say?!"

(End of this chapter)