The master said not to judge people by their appearance

After drifting on the Mian River for more than half a month, they finally officially entered the Cangjiang River Basin, and there was still some distance from Cangzhou City, but neither Shen Fan nor Xie Yunlan wanted to continue taking the boat.

Xie Yunlan was not seasick, but he was a northerner who seldom went into the water, and he was somewhat unaccustomed to drifting on the river for a long time, so the two simply disembarked at a nearby ferry.

It's not far from Cangzhou City here, it's almost a day's walk, not even a day, with Xie Yunlan's footsteps, half a day is enough, it's faster if you use lightness kung fu, one day is the time Shen Fan dawdled.

However, Xie Yunlan still underestimated Shen Fan. After walking for an hour, Shen Fan stopped and said, "The sun is shining brightly, let's leave later."

Xie Yunlan looked up at the sky, the end of July and the beginning of August, it was midsummer, and now it was almost noon, the sun was indeed very hot, but it was not impossible to go.

But...he took another look at Shen Fan's white and beautiful skin like suet jade, and thought that it's a pity that he got tanned, that's all, he has been dawdling for so long and there is no rush for a while.

There happened to be a cool tea stall at the intersection, so he took Shen Fan there to sit and rest, preparing to set off after avoiding the midday sun.

Xie Yunlan ordered two bowls of tea. The tea stalls on the roadside in the country are naturally no better than the teahouses in the capital. They say it is tea, but in fact they add some cheap tea foam when boiling the water. Sheng, it's on the table.

Drinking water is only to quench your thirst, Xie Yunlan doesn't pick the taste, and pours down half a bowl, feeling that the dryness in the summer has dissipated a lot.But Shen Fan stopped after taking a sip, frowned and said, "This tea is so astringent."

"Just drink it, and you don't want to see what this place is?" Xie Yunlan motioned Shen Fan to look at the side of the road. There was nothing but a piece of fields. It was completely different from the prosperity of the capital. There was such a tea stall for them. It's good enough to rest your feet and enjoy the cool.

Shen Fan's expression was tangled, and in the end he couldn't stand the increasingly hot sun, sighed, and drank his tea in small sips, with an expression of resistance as if it wasn't some tea, but an unpalatable traditional Chinese medicine.

There was no one at the tea stall, and the stall owner was idle, so Xie Yunlan asked for directions: "Boss, how far is it from Cangzhou City?"

"It's more than 20 miles away. After passing Hekou Village, it will be half a day's walk." The stall owner pointed to a village in front of him.

Xie Yunlan said thanks.

After sitting for a while, the sun was rising and the sun was so hot that you would sweat profusely just standing in the sun. If you continued to work, you might suffer from heat stroke. The farmers working in the fields temporarily put down their agricultural tools and came to the tea stand in twos and threes. Ready to drink some water and take a break.

There were more people at the tea stand, most of them were peasants with dark skin, not to mention Shen Fan, even Xie Yunlan was much fairer than them, the clothes and appearance of the two were even more outstanding, and there was an air of being different from ordinary people around them Such a demeanor, not to mention that you can't see it in the countryside, even in the city of Cangzhou, I'm afraid it's hard to see such a character, they will inevitably be looked at twice by everyone.

Shen Fan didn't mind being looked at by others, he was always in the center of everyone's attention along the way, although he didn't understand why people always looked at him, but he was more or less used to it.

Xie Yunlan didn't mind either. It's human nature, and when you see unusual people, you can't help but take a second look, but that's all.

Xie Yunlan suddenly put down the tea bowl in his hand, and there was a "bang", neither light nor heavy, but enough for the people at the next table to hear. At the same time, he turned his sideways eyes and gave a warning look.

The people at the next table were just ordinary peasants, frightened by this look, they hurriedly lowered their heads, not daring to look any further.

"What's wrong?" Shen Fan was alarmed by the movement of Xie Yunlan putting down the bowl, he still didn't know what happened.

"Nothing." Xie Yunlan said casually.

Since the people at the next table came to this booth, their eyes have been glued to Shen Fan. Xie Yunlan doesn't know the reason, but along the way, there are many people who are confused by Shen Fan's appearance, even not limited to women. Guess it might be the same this time, just a warning, he didn't take this matter to heart.

In the afternoon, when the temperature dropped a bit, the farmers returned to work in the fields, and Xie Yunlan took Shen Fan on the road again.

It is only 20 miles away from Cangzhou City, which is already very close, but this distance is so close, because of Shen Fan, it has become unreachable.

Leaving from the tea stand, Xie Yunlan estimated that he had only walked three miles. Shen Fan stopped again and said, "I'm tired."

Either sunburned or tired, Xie Yunlan said angrily: "Didn't you just rest?! And you rested on the boat for more than half a month before, and you only walked a few miles to get off the boat?!"

Shen Fan always had a reason, he said: "The boat was too swaying, I didn't have a good rest."

"Then you just rested just now!" Xie Yunlan said angrily, he let Shen Fan rest for a full noon, according to Shen Fan's procrastination, today they can only sleep in the wild.

The summer heat and the anger in his heart rushed up together, Xie Yunlan was not used to him this time, and didn't listen to what Shen Fan said, and directly grabbed his hand and walked forward.

After dragging for two miles like this, they stopped again, and Shen Fan said sullenly, "I'm really tired."

This time Xie Yunlan dragged him and he refused to leave.

The anger in Xie Yunlan's heart had dissipated at this time, and he calmed down. Seeing that Shen Fan was indeed very tired, he suggested, "Shall I carry you?"

"No." Shen Fan refused, "It's so hot."

Just holding hands with Xie Yunlan, a fine layer of sweat broke out in the palms of the two of them. If they lay on Xie Yunlan's back, their clothes would probably be soaked in sweat.

This doesn't work, that doesn't work either, Xie Yunlan was really annoyed by Shen Fan, but there was nothing he could do about him.He pondered for a moment, estimated the remaining distance, and thought that an hour would be enough if he walked by himself, and he said in time, "Then I will go into the city, buy a horse, and then come back to pick you up?"

"Okay." Shen Fan agreed.

"Then you stay here and wait for me, don't run around." Xie Yunlan found a cool shade under a tree for Shen Fan, and urged.

"En." Shen Fan nodded obediently.

Xie Yunlan set out on the road alone. This section of the road can be said to be the easiest one he has traveled since going south. Without Shen Fan holding him back, he only took an hour to reach Cangzhou City. He bought a horse at the market, and then He drove the horse back, faster than when he went, and returned to the place where he was separated from Shen Fan in half an hour, but he did not see the person who should have been waiting for him here.

Xie Yunlan reined in the horse, looked around, but did not see Shen Fan's shadow.

Where did Shen Fan go?

Could it be that the roadside is too sunny, so I went to find another place to enjoy the cool?Xie Yunlan guessed that the sun is constantly changing, and the place where Shen Fan was originally staying is no longer in the shade, but directly exposed to the sun, which is very drying.

He walked along the road, slowly looking back.

But as he walked, Xie Yunlan felt something was wrong. He dragged Shen Fan, but Shen Fan refused to leave. How could he run so far by himself?

He even went all the way back to the tea stand where he enjoyed the cool afternoon, but he didn't find Shen Fan.

I'm afraid something went wrong.

Xie Yunlan frowned. He got off his horse and asked the stall owner who was clearing away the tea bowls: "Boss, do you see the guy with me? The pretty one."

The stall owner was a little surprised when he heard the words, but not that surprised.

"Missing?" he said.

"Yes." Xie Yunlan said briefly, "I asked him to wait for me by the side of the road, but within an hour and a half, he disappeared."

"Which side of the road?" asked the stall owner.

Xie Yunlan pointed in a direction.

The stall owner took a look, and continued to work on the task at hand, while saying: "Don't look for it, it should be gone."

Xie Yunlan frowned: "What do you mean?"

"Your friend should have been kidnapped." The stall owner said.

Abducted?Xie Yunlan was stunned for a moment. The laws of Great Xia explicitly prohibit human trafficking. However, this kind of thing has been repeatedly prohibited in the past dynasties. Human traffickers often take risks for money. Abduction report.

However, these victims are basically young girls who are easy to attack. Although Shen Fan is a bit delicate and not good at skills, he is a man after all, and his stature is as tall as Xie Yunlan. It doesn't look like an easy target either.

Because of this, Xie Yunlan dared to ask Shen Fan to wait for him by the side of the road. If this was a woman, he would never rest assured that she would be left alone in the wild.

"You have a lot of trafficking cases here? Even men will suffer?" Xie Yunlan frowned, thinking this way, the scale of this human trafficking gang may be very large, and the prefect of Cangzhou allowed it to grow. It is unreasonable to report.

But the stall owner said: "Not many, and it's not 'even men will suffer', but only men will suffer."

It was even more difficult to understand what he said, Xie Yunlan asked: "What's going on?"

The stall owner said: "The matter has to start more than three months ago..."

Cangzhou City is close to the Cangjiang River, which is a place where thousands of waters gather. There are a large number of fish schools in the river all year round. They rely on the water for water. The villagers of Hekou Village also go fishing from time to time to subsidize their families while farming their fields.

This behavior has been going on for several generations, and the villagers have come here for generations. Almost every household in Hekou Village has a fishing boat, and the villagers have been drinking water since childhood.

However, more than three months ago, something strange happened in Hekou Village.

The head of Hekou Village, old man He, took his son into the water to fish as usual, when they suddenly encountered a heavy fog.The fog came strangely, and what was even more strange was that they met the river god in the fog.

Mountains have mountain gods, and rivers also have river gods. The gods in these mountains and rivers are different from the candle dragon. The dragon holding the candle is the righteous god of heaven and earth, and he himself has appeared in the world. Many of these mountain gods and river gods are fabricated by ordinary people. Come out, put on the name of a god, whether it actually exists or not, is another matter.

For example, Cangjiang, although Hekou Village has built a river god temple, and worships it every year, but the river god has not shown up for so many years, let alone blessing, when the Cangjiang River should flood, it will still It is more of a habit passed down from generation to generation by the villagers to worship.

However, this supposedly fictional river god suddenly appeared on that foggy day, and he made a request to Old Man He.

"The god of the river said that he was too lonely at the bottom of the river, and he wanted to marry someone and go back to live." The stall owner repeated.

Xie Yunlan has heard about the river god marrying his wife, it has happened since ancient times, but...

"What does this have to do with the man being abducted and trafficked?" Xie Yunlan was puzzled. When the God of the River married a daughter-in-law, he married a bride, a woman.

"Because this river god is not 'he', but 'she'." The stall owner explained that what the old man heard in the fog that day was a mournful and mournful female voice.

River goddess?This is really unheard of.Xie Yunlan asked: "And then?"

The stall owner said: "The Goddess of the River said that she wants to marry a groom, and one is not enough. The emperor in the world has 72 concubines in the Six Courts of Sangong, and she also wants to have one. He ordered old man He to present a young and handsome man to her every ten days. Otherwise, his family will be ruined and his family will be destroyed, and the Cangjiang River will be drawn to break the dam and flood the entire Hekou Village."

"He gave it?" Xie Yunlan asked.

"Of course I did." The stall owner said, not to mention the old man He would give it to him, he would probably give it to him if this matter was left on his head, that is the river god, once the Cangjiang River flooded and the dam collapsed, let alone Hekou Village Even the entire Cangzhou City will become a vast ocean.

The God of the River wanted a young and handsome man every ten days. At the beginning, the old man was looking for a man in the village. There happened to be a family in the village. The man died last year. He looked decent in the countryside, so old man He brought someone to his house to say goodbye.

He said everything was good, he said that after marrying the river god, he would not have to worry about food and clothing, he would not have to work day and night like other country men, and he would get a daughter-in-law for nothing. However, if it was so good, how could he? Why don't you marry your son?Everyone knows that marrying the god of the river is actually sending you to death. After getting on a bamboo raft, you will drift along the Cangjiang River. When the bamboo raft reaches the middle of the water, you will sink to the bottom of the water with you and the raft, and you will never see him again. every day.

The mother and son naturally didn't respond, but they couldn't let this matter go. Old man He is the village chief, and his status in the village is high, and there are many brothers and relatives.

"There is such a thing." Xie Yunlan frowned, "Does the government not care?"

The stall owner said: "Where does the government care about this? This is Hekou Village's own business."

There is such a custom among the people that they do not go to the government for problems, but to the elders and uncles who are respected in the village to solve the problem, but petty theft can be solved by themselves. This can cause lives, and the government still ignores it, which is absurd!

Xie Yunlan wrote a note to the prefect of Cangzhou, and he continued to listen to the stall owner.

After that boy, two more people in the village were given to the God of the River. After another ten days, there was really no one left in Hekou Village. It's not easy to attack relatives. Moreover, these young people are of the right age, and they all look black as if they have been burnt, and they have nothing to do with the word handsome.

There is no one in the village, and the day has come again. If you don't send the bridegroom to the river god on time, your family will be ruined.So, the old man He and his brothers made a plan together, and decided to hit the people outside the village.

The Jiangnan generation has developed water transportation, and there are many merchants coming and going. From time to time, single travelers pass by their village, and many of them are young and handsome.

These tourists came from far away, without relatives and no reason, if they died underwater, they would not even find their bodies, let alone their heads?Simply the best candidate.

So, in the past two months, from time to time, young and handsome men disappeared near Hekou Village.

Even if there is no proof, everyone nearby knows that the people from Hekou Village must have done it.

"Come on, today is the day to send the bridegroom to the God of the River. When you and your friend were drinking tea at noon, one of the people sitting at the next table was He Zhu, the son of old man He. Your friend is really good-looking, what a pity. .” The stall owner sighed.

Xie Yunlan tightened her fingers and asked, "Where are they sending the bridegroom to the River God?"

"What are you going to do?" The stall owner didn't answer right away, but he kindly reminded, "Ding Xingwang, a man from Hekou Village, old man He's uncles, brothers, sons and nephews, all kinds of relatives together, there are nearly a hundred people."

"Please show me the way." Xie Yunlan handed over a silver ingot.

The stall owner couldn't earn a few copper coins after a hard day. When he saw this shiny silver ingot, he immediately accepted it with a smile on his face.

"Go along this road, turn left at the first intersection, there is a small pier next to the Temple of the River, that's where it is."

Xie Yunlan got the direction, immediately got on the horse, and went to the pier without saying a word.

His face was serious, and he had roughly pieced together the story of Shen Fan's disappearance from the information provided by the stall owner. Shen Fan was probably obediently waiting for him at the same place, but was followed by people from Hekou Village. Although Shen Fan was not an ordinary person , but his soul fire only has a strong restraint effect on evil spirits, but it has no effect on mortals.

Hekou Village does not need to send many people, only two strong men are needed, one is responsible for covering his mouth with a sack, and the other is responsible for tying him up with a rope. If Shen Fan is disobedient, he can kick him twice to make him grow lesson.

He is so squeamish, how can he suffer this kind of pain.

When Xie Yunlan thought of this, his heart became more and more anxious. He waved his horsewhip and rushed to the pier as fast as he could.

……

an hour ago.

Xie Yunlan had just left for half an hour, when Shen Fan was resting under the shade of a tree, a group of pedestrians passed by.

The leader was an old man. After seeing Shen Fan, he approached enthusiastically and said, "Is the young master waiting for someone? The sun is so hot here, do you want to sit in our village, eat some melons and fruits, and rest for a while?" "

Shen Fan: "Okay."