comeback [rebirth]

In the slightly shaking cabin, although it is much better than the deck, there is still a faint smell of sea water.

Both of them put on clean clothes at this time, their hair was dried and combed again, and they no longer looked embarrassed.

——Jiang Yuanming put the clothes in the cabin in advance as a backup, in fear of waves hitting halfway through the trip, but I'm afraid even he himself didn't think that it would come in handy in such a situation.

The bandage on Cen Yuan's hand became loose due to the action just now, and Yan Xuan unwrapped it again for him, but he remained obedient, with his head down, like a child who has done something wrong.

"Yan Xuan." He called out.

Yan Xuan: "What's wrong?"

With his right hand in the opponent's hand, Cen Yuan curled up like a conditioned reflex.

"I don't regret it."

Just four words, I don't know whether he refers to the injury caused by holding the blade under the water, or the impulsiveness when he faced Zhao Yu just now.

There was chaos before, all his actions were almost instinctive, and he didn't even think about the consequences.But looking back now, if something really happened to Yan Xuan...

It's nothing more than walking the old road again.

Hearing this, the movement of Yan Xuan's hands obviously stopped for a moment, but soon, he re-wrapped the bandage for Cen Yuan, and tightly squeezed that hand between his two.

"Promise me." His face was stern, but his tone and eyes were still gentle, "There will be no next time."

Cen Yuan didn't respond immediately, and quietly avoided Yan Xuan's sight, but at this moment, there was a knock on the cabin door.

"Your Highness." Lou Yuanbai came in and reported after receiving the consent, "I received news from the shore earlier that the two elders of the He family have been protected, and all the people near the He family have also been taken into custody. Now they are all included in the Qingjiang County Government."

After hearing this, Cen Yuan still lowered his eyes and simply said "hmm".

"As for the Patriarch of the Jiang family..." Lou Yuanbai said, seeing that His Royal Highness finally raised his eyes to look at him, he speeded up his speech, "People who have been following him a while ago said that Patriarch Jiang has been busy in various shops recently. I contacted the He Brothers, except for the business, the rest only talked about taking His Highness on a trip today, and I didn't deliberately avoid it during the period."

Cen Yuan's eyes moved slightly, and finally he looked a little relieved.

It's just that before, he didn't arrange for people to follow the Jiang family members - even at this time, he still feels soft-hearted when facing this uncle who is rare but always likes to pick leaves with him when he was a child.

But luckily, he's not alone.

Yan Xuan said beside him: "Sorry, I sent someone without authorization."

Cen Yuan shook his head and asked Lou Yuanbai: "Where is Brother Qing, how is the situation?"

"We are already in the sea area he mentioned." Lou Yuanbai said, "Most of the ships are searching nearby, and I believe there will be news soon."

Cen Yuan responded, "En."

At this time, the person at the helm has been replaced by Brother Qing, and the direction they are heading is not Qingjiang Wharf, but even further away.

Although Yan Xuan said to go home earlier, if he didn't take advantage of the victory to pursue at this time, after the rest, the opponent might come up with countermeasures, and if he wanted to go deeper at that time, he might not have a chance.

So in the end, they decided to go to the Central Bank of the Sea according to the original plan and according to Brother Qing's words.

——After being suddenly pushed into the sea, Brother Qing didn't think about the reason.

When a person is in a crisis, his mind can always get a brief burst of thought. When he is struggling in the sea, he remembers the recent things instead, and soon realizes something different.

It seems that after the beginning of summer, every month he can hear the news of one or two accidents on official ships, but it is not that this kind of thing has never happened before, at most, the frequency is a little higher, so in addition to being more careful when traveling , he didn't pay too much attention to it.

The day of the accident was sunny, and shortly after leaving Qingjiang Wharf, the captain told him that the route had been temporarily changed and asked him to go deeper into the sea. Later, he was allowed to stop in the middle of the sea for a short time on the grounds of inspecting the ship.

Although he also had doubts at that time, he could only obey what he said and stayed in the wheelhouse all the time.However, his long-term experience allowed him to know only by the shaking of the ship and the weight of the ship when it set sail again that the other party was not just doing some inspections, but had unloaded something from the ship.

Later, everything seemed to be going smoothly again. He finished his work as usual, carried a boatload of grain and grass to the north, and then sailed back according to the original route.

Only this time, the captain didn't let him stay, but when he was about to reach Qingjiang, he was forced to take him to the deck and pushed him off the boat.

After being rescued, his consciousness has not fully returned to sobriety. The person who rescued him once asked him what happened at sea.

He couldn't see who the other party was, and he only vaguely remembered that the other party's voice was soft and heavy when he walked, as if he had a limp leg, but for an unarmed ordinary person, for a half-wisp of soul with half of his foot still at the gate of hell , since he saved his life, it was the only straw he could hold on to.

So he told the other party everything in detail, and what the other party replied to him at that time was:

"Don't worry, I believe that one day, there will be someone with predestined relationship to punish those monsters who have human faces but love to eat people. You just need to wait patiently, and by then, you will be able to go home."

……

- Tuk Tuk!

Cen Yuan raised his head instantly: "Come in."

"Report!" A soldier pushed the door open, "The third fleet found an island five miles north, and there are ships parked on the shore!"

Cen Yuan got up abruptly: "Notice, let the third fleet stand still first, the first and second fleets will follow us northward, and the rest of the fleet will go directly north according to the original search route, outflanking from the east and west sides respectively. The ninety fleet Work harder, go around to the north, and send the signal directly when you are in position."

"Yes!"

The soldier glanced at Yan Xuan again, seeing that the latter had nothing to add, he quickly left the arrangement.

Cen Yuan turned to Lou Yuanbai again: "Arrange some people to look after the captured person, especially the one surnamed Zhao."

He paused, and then said: "Find someone to stop the bleeding for a while, so that he doesn't die."

"My subordinate understands!"

After answering the words, Lou Yuanbai saw Cen Yuan waving at him, then bowed his hands to the two of them, and exited the cabin knowingly.

The shaking of the ship became faster and faster, heading straight towards the unknown island.

Cen Yuan's whole body was tense, and he didn't know whether to be excited or relax for a moment. He pressed his hands tightly on the table. Because of too much force, the veins on the back of his hands bulged, and the knuckles stretched out sharp on the skin. pale.

Yan Xuan covered his hand with one hand, and patted his back lightly with the other.

Under his comfort, Cen Yuan gradually relaxed, relieved his fingers, and leaned against the other side while the ship was shaking, and closed his eyes.

After an unknown amount of time, the shaking of the ship finally stopped, and someone knocked on the door, and the soldiers outside immediately reported: "Your Highness! Yan Shuai! Except for the two ships circling the north, the rest of the ships are already in place!"

Cen Yuan opened his eyes slightly, and heard Yan Xuan reply "Got it", and then the footsteps outside gradually faded away, mixing into the noise of the soldiers making preparations.

Cen Yuan raised his body, took a deep breath, and immediately grabbed Yan Xuan's collar and pulled him closer.

"Yan Xuan, only what you said just now, I can't promise you that there will be no next time."

The tips of their noses were almost touching, and their breaths were intertwined. Cen Yuan's eyes met Yan Xuan's at close range, firm and stubborn.

"If something happens to you, I would rather kill you by mistake than let it go, and let those people go down to be buried with you immediately."

"I do what I say."

After finishing speaking, before Yan Xuan could respond, he pushed the person away, turned around and left the cabin.

·

On the deck, the officers and soldiers were already ready to go, and they waited for the circumnavigating ships to arrive and send out a signal.

The environment tends to be calm, and the sky light finally penetrates the gap between the clouds at this time, breaks through the heavy fog and shines on the ship and the sea surface, revealing the island surrounded by jungle behind the mystery.

Looking from a distance, the branches and leaves of the jungle are swaying, and the young birds are flying high, as if they know someone is visiting, and they all line the road to welcome them.

--boom!

At this moment, two signal fireworks soared into the sky on the other side of the island, heading straight into the sky!

The horn sounded, and without waiting for Cen Yuan or Yan Xuan to issue an order, all the ships around the island followed the original instructions and approached the shore at the same time!

On the shore of the island, several people ran out of the jungle, scrambling and scrambling, and ran to the boat parked on the shore without even looking at them, but before they boarded the boat, soldiers came ashore on the shallows □□The point is surrounded by everyone.

The sea wind on the shore was so strong that people could hardly stand on their feet. Seeing this, the leading man in brown cloth knelt down on the sand with a plop.

"My lords, do me a favor!" The man shouted almost immediately, "I'll recruit! I'll recruit them all!"

Immediately afterwards, he saw a boat stop on the shore, and two people got off the boat, looking like the leader, so he hurriedly rolled and crawled over on his knees.

The circle around him also moved along with his movement, until he stretched out his hand to grab Cen Yuan's lapel, only then did the soldiers suddenly point the gun forward: "Don't move!"

He didn't dare to move immediately, and he almost prostrated himself on the ground, begging again and again: "My lord! The little one is only following orders, and the county magistrate surnamed Qu made him do it! The little one's family is still in his hands." Come on, my lord, you are perceptive!"

Cen Yuan took a step back, glanced at the hem of the clothes that was almost grabbed, and then his eyes fell on him indifferently: "Is there any evidence?"

"Yes! Of course there is!" The man immediately answered, "The younger one is only responsible for bringing the selected recruits to this island, using the boats that go north to transport food and grass on the [-]th and [-]th of every month. Come on, these ships have to depart in advance, which is too eye-catching, so since May, the surname Qu gave me two revised route maps, one is the normal northward route, and the other will go around here near the island."

As he said that, he hurriedly pulled out a piece of paper from the skirt of his clothes, and unfolded it with shaking hands: "It's these two, my lord, please take a look!"

Seeing this, the soldiers on the side quickly took it over and handed it over to Cen Yuan.

Cen Yuan took a look at each of them, and saw that the two routes led west and north respectively shortly after leaving Qingjiang Wharf. He then turned to the second one and handed it to Yan Xuan, saying, "This is Brother Qing's route." Said route."

"Brother Qing?" The brown-clothed man tensed his nerves, and immediately became alert when he heard Cen Yuan's voice.

"Yes... yes... and the people on the ship." He said, "It's dangerous at sea, and temporary replacements are likely to arouse suspicion from others, so we still use those people who were originally on the official ship when we act. Anyway, wait When we are about to return to Qingjiang, push them into the sea, and when we go back and say that there is a sudden storm, no one will doubt it."

He vomited everything in one go, and his voice echoed on the empty island, reaching almost everyone's ears.

And just beside the boat, a man wearing a black gauze hat just stepped off the boat, and after hearing his words, he yelled: "Old Zhang, don't come here and be safe."

The brown-clothed man who was replaced by "Old Zhang" followed the prestige, only to find the voice familiar: "You are..."

Brother Qing sneered, and lifted the black veil, "I don't know if you can still recognize who I am."

As all the coverings were removed, Brother Qing's deformed face was completely exposed to the sunlight. Let alone ordinary people who had never seen such a scene, they were well-trained soldiers. His face couldn't help frowning.

Someone behind the man in brown sneaked a glance, and one couldn't help but ran to the side and retched.

On the other hand, Old Zhang himself just opened his eyes wide after seeing Brother Qing's face, and murmured uncertainly: "You...you are Qing..."

"It's me." Brother Qing admitted before he could actually say his name, "Captain, when you pushed me into the sea, did you ever think that we would meet again in this state. "

The person who should have been swallowed by the sea has returned from purgatory, and the person who once laughed after making a move can only kneel down and beg for mercy like a drowning dog.

Lao Zhang was in a state of mental tension right now, his thoughts were in a mess, and he really didn't know whether the other party was a human or a ghost who came to search for his soul, and he almost forgot even his fear.

He crawled two steps towards Brother Qing, and almost hugged him by the leg: "Brother Qing, Brother Qing, listen to me, if I didn't kill you at that time, it would be my whole family who died, so please forgive me... please forgive me!"

Brother Qing seemed to say something to him, but Cen Yuan and the others had already gone deep into the jungle and couldn't hear him.

Lou Yuanbai followed Cen Yuan and Yan Xuan, and asked quickly as they marched: "Your Highness, although this island is indeed hidden and far away from the usual route of official ships, in case someone deviates from the route out of curiosity, what can be done on the way?" How can those people find out that the world outside the sea is strange?"

He looked around: "If something happens suddenly, it's not convenient to get out of the body."

They were on a small hillside at this time, and there was only a narrow path that was faintly visible after being stepped on by someone. There were messy branches scattered around, and they would trip over if they were not careful.

Yan Xuan walked in the front, looked back at Cen Yuan, and stretched out his hand to him. The latter wanted to say "no problem", but after a moment, he stretched out his hand and held it tightly, and was led to step over a clump of branches with ease. , landing without a sound.

"Just pretend that there are no soldiers on the ship carrying soldiers." Cen Yuan immediately said, "It will take a lot of time to go out of the route, and you will be the time book on the pier and the ship's What are voyage records for?"

After finishing speaking, Cen Yuan suddenly remembered that when they first entered the Chu Kingdom, they met the Yue brothers outside Yuanhe, and the other party had said that if they delay the sailing time, their wages will be deducted at least, and their lives will be lost at worst.

In the eyes of others, it's just a cheap life, so why cherish it.

Even if he killed by mistake, it was nothing more than sacrificing one more dead soul to Hai Hai.

Lou Yuanbai was silent for a moment, wondering if he had realized something deeper, and said: "Previously, His Royal Highness asked his subordinates to deploy manpower outside the county magistrate's mansion, and they will act immediately when there is any movement, and find them as soon as possible. out of the voyage log."

"En." Cen Yuan responded.

They continued to walk up for a while, and suddenly, Yan Xuan stretched out his hand to stop Cen Yuan, raised his right hand and made a gesture, and all the soldiers behind him stopped in unison, holding their breath.

Yan Xuan walked forward cautiously, even stepping on the branches and leaves without making a sound.Cen Yuan followed behind him, came to the back of a tree on the top of the slope, and looked out.

"This is……"

Behind the tree is a downhill slope, and just a few miles away on the flat ground, there is no longer a large area of ​​bushes, but a wide and open space, with a Dianjiangtai impressively set up on one side.

——This is actually a hidden schoolyard!

Even if Cen Yuan had imagined such a scene, he couldn't help being shocked when he actually saw it.

Yan Xuan looked around quickly, and his eyes stayed on the large tents stationed nearby, and said, "Everyone is there."

Looking from a distance, there are still many people standing at the door of the tent. They are stopping at the door of the tent. The sound of small conversations floats in the air, but they can't hear what they are talking about.

"Where's the leader?" Cen Yuan asked.

"I don't know." Yan Xuan said, thinking that one of the people who ran outside just now was wearing a military uniform, so he said, "It should have run away."

Cen Yuan immediately tightened his hands on the tree trunk.

What would happen if they didn't come after them, didn't find the island, or were a step late and let those people drive away all the boats on the shore?

When all the food and supplies are used up, how will these people who are inexplicably brought to the isolated island survive?

Cen Yuan couldn't help but clenched his fist, and slammed it on the tree trunk.

The branches and leaves made rustling sounds, and the fallen leaves whirled. The three or two soldiers outside the tent in the distance seemed to have noticed something with their ears, and looked towards the top of the slope.

Yan Xuan tilted his head slightly, and gestured forward to the soldiers behind him.

The young soldiers who noticed the abnormality turned their heads to look, and saw countless people in armor and armor rushing down from the top of the slope. Those who were sitting stood up immediately, and even the people in the tent seemed to be infected The suppressed dignified atmosphere came out from inside.

"what?"

"What's going on? Could it be related to those flares just now?"

"Could it be a surprise drill?"

After all, they were all young soldiers who had just been trained for a few months, and they failed to respond in time when faced with this situation. Only then did they seem to react, one by one suddenly stood upright.

And in the blink of an eye, the well-trained soldiers slid down from the top of the slope and surrounded everyone.

One of the excited soldiers even winked at the tall, thin man next to him, as if asking him: Is my standing still standard?

"..." The tall and thin man was speechless, but in that instant, many fragments passed through his mind.

He still remembered that after entering the temporary barracks in Chudi, someone came to the barracks suddenly, saying that they wanted to select a group of elite soldiers for special training alone, and he happened to be selected.

After that, they were taken to the official ship, which was said to be going north by ship, but halfway through the journey, they were taken to another ship and finally came to this island.

At the very beginning, it wasn’t that no one questioned them. At that time, the excuse given to them by the other party was still: Because you are special, you can train here alone, so that you can become qualified as quickly as possible. of soldiers.

Most of the team is full of passionate young men, and they get excited when they hear this, especially the one next to him named Liu Shuo, who always pulls him to repeat his ambitions every day when he is resting, which makes his ears tremble. Quick cocoon.

Even at this moment, he can be so heartless, thinking that this is a surprise drill.

While thinking about it, I saw two more people walking down the slope.

The two men were not wearing armor, only ordinary moon-white cloth shirts, but with their gestures, they could give people an invisible oppressive force from a distance.

He seemed to be careless, but in fact, together with the overwhelming tranquility in front of him, his body was already crushed so rigid that he could barely move.

On the other hand, the heartless Liu Shuo suddenly grabbed him, and he couldn't care less about standing in a military posture, and hurriedly shouted, "I've seen that person before!"

"..." He pulled his hand from Liu Shuo's, not paying much attention to the other person's words, but when the two approached, he couldn't help being stunned.

that man is...

Liu Shuo shouted excitedly beside him: "Don't you know who that is? You don't know who that is!"

The tall and thin man replied impatiently, "Of course I know!"

However, Liu Shuo couldn't stop at all: "It's General Yan Xuanyan! That's the one! Yan Xuan, the chariot general! Yan Xuan, who led the army alone for the first time and killed more than [-] enemies!"

"..." The tall and thin man almost roared in his heart: Of course I know!

They were the loudest voices in the entire school ground. The soldiers in front of the other tents quietly cast their gazes in their direction, but the soldiers in front of them remained unmoved, with their hands on their swords and their heads held high, their faces unchanged for a moment.

Soon, Cen Yuan and Yan Xuan walked up to the soldiers and happened to stop in front of the lively tent.

The school field was not an environment Cen Yuan was familiar with, so he took the initiative to take a step behind and let Yan Xuan stand in front of him.

The latter seemed to automatically become a standing pole just by standing in the field. He asked the person in front of him: "When did you get here?"

"Me, me, me!" Liu Shuo immediately raised his hand positively, "I'll be here in May!"

Yan Xuan looked at him: "What's your name?"

"Liu Shuo!" he shouted excitedly, "My name is Liu Shuo!"

Behind Yan Xuan, Cen Yuan naturally heard this answer, and looked up at Yan Xuan.

On the other side, Liu Shuo turned and tugged at the sleeve of the tall and thin man next to him: "General Yan asked my name! General Yan asked my name!"

The thin and tall man: "..."

Cen Yuan asked him: "You are the second son in your family, do you have a younger sister at the right age to marry?"

"You... how do you know?"

For a young man like Liu Shuo who can treasure the portrait of General Yan Shao, he probably doesn't even know the name of the current prime minister, let alone an "idle" prince like Cen Yuan.

He looked at Cen Yuan suspiciously, guessing in his mind who this person was, and Cen Yuan briefly told him about meeting Mrs. Liu on Danlin's cruise ship.

"Impossible!" Liu Shuo immediately said after hearing this, "I obviously wrote back every month! It's a thick letter! How could I not receive it!"

The tall and thin man next to him was much calmer than him, and said flatly: "It seems that our letters are intercepted on this island every month, even ourselves."

Liu Shuo's initial excitement had long since disappeared in these few sentences, and now he was even more dazed when he heard the words.

Taking this opportunity, Yan Xuan asked them about their experience after going to the island, and the two of them did not ambiguous, and immediately told everything, even in detail.

In the end, Cen Yuan couldn't bear it any longer and yelled at Liu Shuo: "Short story!"

"..." Liu Shuo stood at attention and replied reluctantly, "Yes..."

Cen Yuan: "..."

But after another reminder from Yan Xuan, Liu Shuo managed to shorten his words a lot, summarizing their six-month experience on the island and telling the whole story.

After hearing this, Yan Xuan simply nodded his head and gave a "hmm", but at this moment Cen Yuan asked him in a low voice: "Did you smell anything?"

Because they had changed their clothes, they each removed the items hanging from their waists, leaving only the jade pendant that never left their bodies.

But Yan Xuan said: "The smell of eternal soul flower."

When they first arrived in the state of Chu, they were invited to a banquet at the palace of the king of Chu. At that time, the princess of Chu gave each of them a sachet, which contained the petals of the eternal soul flower.

The left and right are not poisonous, so the two of them wore them for a while, and their noses got used to the light and bitter smell of the Eternal Soul Flower.But at the moment neither of them are wearing them, where does this smell come from?

The soldiers had been told to rest for a while beforehand, so they all took off their armor at this moment and only wore single clothes.Yan Xuan walked around in front of them, and soon discovered the source of the eternal soul flower scent.

"Are you wearing a sachet?" He asked standing in front of Liu Shuo.

"No... Ah, that's what you're talking about!" Liu Shuo hastily took out a sachet from his sleeve.

Without waiting for Yan Xuan to ask, he went on to explain:

"I forgot what time it was, I went out to drain the water, and happened to see two people arguing, but at that moment I was really anxious, so I hurried to the latrine, whoever wanted to come back after draining the water, those two people had already disappeared, only I picked up this sachet on the ground. Later, I thought that if I meet again, it can be returned to the original owner, so I always carry it with me."

Seeing that Yan Xuan seemed very interested in the sachet, he immediately offered the sachet with both hands: "Take it if you need it!"

"Thank you." Yan Xuan took the sachet and asked, "Do you still remember who those two are?"

"I don't know each other, but one of them looks familiar, and he looks like he is in his 20s." Liu Shuo said, "I don't have much impression of the other one, who is older."

Yan Xuan nodded to show his understanding, then lowered his gaze to the sachet in his hand, and saw a delicate flower embroidered on the cloth of the sachet, and before he could say anything, Cen Yuan who was beside him took a look. He said, "It's a hydrangea."

Yan Xuan groaned silently, turned the sachet over, and slowly moved the finger holding the corner of the sachet away.

The next moment, Cen Yuan was obviously stunned for a moment, but then let out a sneer.

"I remember, Duan Xiang's word is Yixin." He looked at the word "Xin" embroidered on the corner, and said, "Tell me, is this called 'Skynet Huihui'?"

This time Yan Xuan didn't stay silent for a long time, and quickly replied: "I prefer to call it 'If you do many injustices, you will die yourself'."