The Seven Heroes and Five Righteousness of Crossing

Muye Mountain is located in Yongzhou, Shangjing. It is the place where the Khitan people lived and where the Khitan Khans of all dynasties were buried.According to legend, their ancestor Qishou Khan rode a white horse upstream along the Tuhe River. At the intersection of the Huangshui River, he met the Goddess Kedun who was walking on the cow. The two saints fell in love at first sight and got married. Settled in the past, opened branches and scattered leaves, and multiplied to this day.Since the founding of Tai/Zu, the Yelu royal family has built the Ancestor Temple in the mountains, offering sacrifices year after year, and the status is more respected than before.

It's just that it is not easy to get close to such a sacred mountain.Because it is surrounded by water on both sides in the northwest and Haijin Mountains in the east, only the southern entrance on one side remains, and it is still a stretch of sandy land known as "eight hundred miles of vast sea".

In Yongzhou, the wind, sand, dryness and heat are no longer comparable to those in Nanjing.Counting, among Pan Pan and his group of four, only Lie'er was born and bred, and the rest are from places with abundant water, so it's unavoidable to suffer in this sunny, hot and rainless weather.

At sunset, the Huoshaoyun came up, surging layer upon layer, gradually dipping half of the sky into blood red.Bai Yutang looked at the sky, subconsciously licked his chapped lips and said, "This place is so weird. It's been more than half a month since we left the customs, and there hasn't been a single raindrop."

Shuangxia was concentrating on driving. Hearing what he said, he pulled off a water bag from the front shaft with a smile and stuffed it into his hand: "It's not uncommon to see no rain for several months on a sandbar. Drink some, don't put yourself in the water." Very thirsty."

Bai Yutang clasped it in his palm and lightly weighed it twice, looked back at the curtains of the carriage, handed the water bag back to him, and said softly: "Forget it, I'll leave it to them."

Pan Pan couldn't see his eyes, but his hearing was good, he vaguely heard outside drinking water modestly, and hurriedly said: "Brother Lao Bai is thinking about it, Lie'er has had enough milk before, I don't feel thirsty."

Shuangxia frowned: "Since you are not thirsty," he held the rein in one hand and the water bag in the other, pulled out the cork with his teeth, raised his neck and gulped a few mouthfuls, "Then I won't be polite."

"You, you...you're so stupid!" Seeing him like this, Bai Wu hurriedly reached out to snatch it away, "Save some for me!"

Ding Zhaohui smiled brightly: "I invite you to drink, but I want to take Joe, and I will come to grab it again in this meeting."

This small half bag of drinking water is as good as the fine nectar and jade dew compared to the exhausted Chinchilla. He sipped his mouth, squinted at the two heroes and said, "I don't want to have sex with you."

Sitting in the carriage, Pan Pan couldn't help laughing when he heard the childish conversation between the two of them.

After walking for about half an hour, I finally came across a small town. I think it was because of the proximity to the sandy land. The street was very deserted, and there were few lights on the street. It can be described as a world of difference.

There is only one chain store in the town, where the accommodation is top notch and horses can be exchanged.The host family is an elderly Khitan couple, who are very considerate and considerate in hospitality.

Everyone felt hungry and thirsty, sat down and asked for a lot of hot soup to eat.After a while, the old shopkeeper brought them all up, and said with a bit of self-reproach: "My mother's hands and feet are slow, and I kept everyone waiting for a long time."

Ding Zhaohui respected his old age and hastily saluted him: "Old man speaks seriously."

The Khitan old man saw that the two heroes had good looks and respected courtesy, so he welcomed him very much, he said with a smile: "Look at your clothes, you are from the south? It's a crime to come to Yongzhou in this hot weather."

"Yes." Ding Zhaohui nodded, and asked casually, "Old man, can I inquire about a deal?"

The old shopkeeper responded quickly: "You say."

Shuangxia thought about it and said: "We want to go to Muye Mountain to look for an old friend, maybe we can find a suitable guide in this town?"

"Impossible! Impossible!" The old shopkeeper's face changed drastically, and he waved his hands again and again, "The guest officer doesn't know something. There is a saying in Yongzhou called 'June's sand sea is a deadly day'. Right now is the season when quicksand is raging. The guide is willing to come out to pick up the work. I advise you to wait two months before making plans, so as not to have to go and never return."

The old man's tone was solemn, and Ding Zhaohui thought that what he said was true: "This..." He frowned, and there was no countermeasure for the moment.

After Bai Yutang watched the two heroes chatting with the old man for a few words, a sad expression appeared on his face, and he couldn't help knocking on the rim of his bowl with a wooden spoon, reminding him: "The soup is cold. Why are you so absorbed in thinking?"

When Pan Pan heard this, he was also a little puzzled, and asked cautiously: "Second brother of the Ding family, that old man just now spoke in a very excited tone, what did he say?"

Ding Zhaohui didn't want to hide the truth, so he told the truth: "The shopkeeper said that the quicksand in summer is extremely dangerous. If you want to cross the 'eight hundred miles of sea' to Muye Mountain, I'm afraid...it's more than auspicious."

Bai Niannian was so angry that he hummed and said, "Isn't it possible to go back home?"

Quicksand is the most ingenious mechanism designed by nature... Pan Pan suddenly remembered a narration of Lao Zhao in the animal world, and then the scene of a camel being swallowed by yellow sand began to replay in his mind... Is this going to happen... She trembled all over, and couldn't help shivering.

"You..." Seeing the change in her expression, Shuangxia turned to Bai Yutang and said, "The temperature here varies greatly between day and night. Fifth brother, take a piece of clothing and put it on with her and the child."

Pan Pan couldn't care less about thanking him, he tried to dissuade him: "You two elder brothers, what the old man said is right, the sandy land is indeed hard to get through. We need to think long-term about going to Muye Mountain."

Bai Yutang thumped his palm in frustration: "How long will it take to leave?"

The two heroes were contemplative and silent, and the three of them sat frozen for a moment without saying a word.

At that time, the old shopkeeper led two burly Liao people from the back hall.One is about fifty years old, the other seems to be in his early thirties. Although there is a huge difference in age, they look very similar. They both have high cheekbones and sunken eyes, and have yellow beards. They wear black narrow-sleeved robes and leather boots. , a machete at the waist.

The old and the young sat down at the adjacent table, with two pairs of sharp eyes measuring the two heroes and their party.

Bai Yutang was about to reprimand them for being rude, the old shopkeeper approached, pointed at the elder Liao man and said to Ding Zhaohui: "Guest officer, this is the leader Xiao of the camel team. Their father and son have been traveling in Shahai for many years. Just in time to go to Muye Mountain to deliver an urgent shipment, you might as well go together for a while, rather than looking for a guide everywhere."

You must know that when traveling through the desert, the larger the camel team, the more stable the movement will be.Shuangxia never expected the situation to turn around so quickly, and couldn't help but be overjoyed, first thanked the old shopkeeper for the connection, then clasped his fists at Xiao's father and son and said: "Boss Xiao, we also have important matters to rush to Muye Mountain, please take a handy one as a convenience." Procedure."

The old man surnamed Xiao was noncommittal, and suddenly pointed to Pan Pan who was holding the child in his arms and asked, "Women and children are going too?"

Shuangxia nodded and replied: "My sister's family is going."

The old man turned his back, gestured to his son a few times, and then turned his head and said straightforwardly: "According to the custom on the road, individual travelers and teams are paid two gold per person, women and children are troublesome, and more should be added. The four of you, even if Twelve."

Ten taels of gold is equivalent to a hundred taels of silver, which was not worth mentioning in the eyes of wealthy households like Ding Er and Bai Wu.However, the two of them traveled in a hurry and did not bring a lot of silver with them. Before closing the door and leaving the customs, they helped some fleeing people. Now they are in the Liao territory, even though there are mountains of gold and silver at home, the water is far away and their thirst cannot be quenched.Shuangxia suddenly recalled the old days when he was with Pan Pan, and often heard him say things like "a man is a hero, money is a gall", "a penny kills a hero", which he always regarded as fallacies and heresies. same feeling.

Bai Yutang looked at Ding Er's expression from the side, saw that he was happy at first, and then faded away, so he was anxious to know where the Liao people brought by the shopkeeper came from, and immediately asked: "What did you talk to them about?"

Ding Zhaohui cleared his doubts and said: "His father and son work in camel caravans for a living, and now they are going to Muye Mountain. If we can go with him, it will be perfect for us."

After hearing this, Pan Pan secretly lamented that there is no unparalleled road, and said happily, "That's good."

Chinchilla said happily, "Then what are you waiting for? When are we going to leave?"

Ding Zhaohui smiled bitterly: "Although the route is good, the cost is a bit difficult."

The Bai family is very rich in Jinhua, and the fifth master has never worried about money. When he was drinking water, the two heroes suddenly said such a reply, and they couldn't help spit and choked. "Hello," Bai Wu coughed until his handsome face flushed, "Aren't you joking?!"

The two heroes raised their foreheads, turned their faces to one side, and asked the shopkeeper: "Old man, can you get some money for my carriage on credit?"

"Success." The old shopkeeper agreed, "Four horses and one cart, I'll give you 20 taels."

"Thank you, old man." Ding Zhaohui turned to look at Bai Yutang again, his face was normal, "I don't have the heart to joke with you. The travel expenses need to be ten taels of gold, and we may not be able to make up all the effort."

Pan Pan gasped: "Ten taels of gold, one hundred taels of silver, it's too late to grab them now..."

"Hmph! Although there is not much silver in hand," Bai Yutang said with disdain on his brows, he tore off a jade pendant from his waist, patted it on the table, and said, "No matter how bad this Xiuyu is, it can still be worth 30 taels of gold." ?”

In the early years, Shuangxia followed his uncle into and out of the Liao territory, and did some business. He was familiar with the trading habits of the Khitan people. They usually exchanged things for things, rarely converted into gold and silver. Such precious things as jade, silk, pearls and rhinoceros are not necessarily given away. in the eyes.Picking up the string, he slowly showed the jade pendant to Xiao's father and son, and said inquiringly, "Leader Xiao, there is a saying--gold has a price and jade is priceless. This piece of jade is my sister-in-law's personal favorite. It’s not expensive, and it can be used to pay for some travel expenses, do you two think it will work?”

The old man surnamed Xiao and his dumb son looked at each other, and the contempt was beyond words: "What do you Han people say, have nothing to do with us Khitan people? Even the best jade, in the eyes of this old man, is nothing more than a prettier stone!"

Ding Zhaohui's nose was full of ashes, but it was not easy to get angry, and it was even more inconvenient to pass the old man Xiao's words directly to Bai Yutang, so he had to suppress his heart, threw the jade pendant back to the Chinchilla, and said as if nothing happened: "The camel team If you don’t accept the equivalent, you and I need to collect some gold and silver.”

Bai Yutang furiously rummaged through the bag, picked out a few gold beads and five or six gold leaves, put together the Shuangxia's more than thirty taels of silver, and together with the broken carriage, the total was more than eight taels in gold.

"It's still short!" Bai Wufan held the knife in his hand, swept all the scattered gold and silver on the table to the two heroes with a look of disgust, and said angrily, "You just walk with them in a low voice, I will go on the road alone !"

Ding Er was already fed up with the plywood, and at this moment, when Bai Wu spoke out against him, he was inevitably annoyed, and said with a cold snort: "Fifth brother is an upright person, if you feel that the bad brother is not doing well, it's okay to speak up, and Why beat around the bush!"