Chapter 103: Xiangzhou in Danger
Xiangzhou Wharf.
A huge passenger ship heading north slowly approached the pier. The ship's two-story building and the deck railing were crowded with passengers. Half of the passengers looked more or less unwell, but when they saw the land, their eyes lit up and they looked excited.
The boat owner stood at the bow and loudly announced the departure time:
"After one stick of incense, the ship will set sail again. Passengers, please pay attention to the time when you disembark."
The passengers agreed, and then sighed:
"Finally, we can go to land and rest for a while."
"Yeah... the eight days on the boat were a nightmare, I felt top-heavy."
"... "
The moment the boat stopped, the passengers all went down to the land like a swarm of bees. Some went down just to get some fresh air, some went down to Xiangzhou, some got off the boat carrying their belongings, and some got on board carrying their luggage.
On the second floor of the ship, in the rightmost box, Master Chen San was sitting cross-legged on the bed, slowly threading the sandalwood Buddhist beads in his hand.
Feeling the boat stop beneath him and hearing the noise from the dock coming into the box, Master Chen San looked at Master Chen Wu and the others sitting in the box. Including today, eight days have passed since they boarded the boat from Xunzhou, sailed north across the Huai River, and arrived at the Jingqu River.
The wounds on their bodies were only treated with the simplest treatment.
For a group of people who were still suffering from the crisis, this was almost the limit. Their complexions were not looking much better, and they had completely lost the spirit they had in the capital.
He saw in all of their eyes the desire to get off the ship.
"Let's all go down and take a look!" Uncle Chen San ordered calmly.
Chen Wuye immediately expressed his opinion:
"I won't go. Xiangzhou is the capital city. There's only one day left. You guys go!"
They were almost home, and he had to take good care of his third brother. He didn't want to be criticized by his mother and the others.
Feng Xiao immediately made it clear that he would not go.
The others looked at each other and began to hesitate.
Seeing the yearning and unwillingness in their eyes, Master Chen smiled and said, "You guys can go down! I'm not injured and can't get up. I don't need you to take care of me."
Since Mr. Chen San had spoken, the others stopped hesitating, bowed and left the box, excitedly following the other passengers off the boat.
Mr. Chen San ordered:
"Feng Xiao, you come with us and keep an eye on them."
He didn't like things getting out of control. As they were almost home, everyone relaxed their vigilance, but for Mr. Chen San, he became even more alert.
He had a feeling that the danger would increase the closer he got to the capital.
"Yes," Feng Xiao obeyed, turned around and walked out, quickly chasing after the boat.
Feng Xiao is a loner with an arrogant temperament. What he hates most is dealing with people. He never stepped forward, but just followed closely behind at a distance of several feet.
Xiangzhou is not far from the capital. Although it is not as prosperous as the capital, it is not called the Little Capital for nothing. Just at the dock, there are all kinds of businesses, and the sounds of hawking are endless, it is very lively.
This group of officials and guards may have been out for too long. They would take a look at anything they saw, and if they had money, they would buy a piece.
When the incense stick time was almost up, the group turned around reluctantly and prepared to return to the boat.
As they were walking back, one of them was suddenly caught off guard and bumped into someone coming towards them.
The man was of burly build, with a rough face and a knife-like chin dividing the two sides of his face. The aura he exuded was like a knife, intimidating.
Lord He, who was knocked to the ground and was about to yell, held it back.
The man's temperament was inconsistent with his image. He knew he had bumped into someone and immediately apologized:
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it." He wanted to reach out and help Lord He up.
But when he saw Lord He's face, he stopped moving.
When Lord He saw this scene, he felt puzzled, but he knew that this man was not someone to be trifled with. With the help of the guards who got off the boat together, he stood up, said "be careful next time", brushed past the man, and got on the boat.
None of them noticed that just as they entered the cabin, the man narrowed his eyes, a cold light flashed in his eyes, and he said to himself:
"On the boat! It's really effortless." He turned around and walked towards the passenger ship carrying the black box. Five or six small vendors followed him, who stopped running their stalls and immediately followed the man onto the passenger ship.
All this could not escape the eyes of Feng Xiao who was not far away.
Feng Xiao has not only learned martial arts since he was a child, but also learned detection abilities and lip reading.
Although he couldn't hear what the man said clearly due to the noisy dock, he understood that the man recognized Lord He and the others.
Feng Xiao followed closely behind them and squeezed into the crowd to get on the boat.
After the last passenger came aboard, the crew retracted the deck.
The ship starts at this moment.
Seeing that the group of men were well-trained and began to search the cabin, Feng Xiao quickly went up to the second floor, returned to the box, and explained the situation outside in a concise and clear manner.
As Feng Xiao finished his words, bursts of noisy sounds were heard outside, along with several deep, steady and quick footsteps.
"So fast?" Uncle Chen Wu's face was gloomy.
Uncle Chen San could not show any expression as he narrated:
"They know Lord He, so they must be acquaintances in the capital, and they are very likely to know me and the Fifth Master."
"What should we do now? Most of us haven't recovered from our illnesses yet..."
Outside the cabin.
The man with the scar on his face watched his men search from the bow to the stern without finding the target, and his fierce face twisted again.
"Boss, we have to search all the cabins on the ship, but they are not on this ship?"
"Are you questioning my words?"
The man glared at the subordinate who was speaking. He pointed at the only room left and said firmly, "There is still one room! I watched those people get on board. Since there are no rooms in the front cabins, decks, bows, or sterns, they must be in this room."
As he said this, he walked over, intending to search it himself.
I don’t know if it was good luck, but the last room was the room where Mr. Chen Sanye and his friends lived.
Just as the man was about to kick the door open, the owner of the passenger ship came over.
"My dear hero, it's useless." The passenger ship owner asked with a smile:
"I don't know what you are looking for, hero. If you are willing to tell me, I can send someone to help find it."
The man squinted his eyes and looked at the boat owner for a moment, then said a few words: "Please get out of the way."
The boat owner looked a little unhappy, but he smiled again in an instant, as if he had never seen that before. He said:
"I'm just running a small business, please don't make things difficult for me, hero," more than 20 crew members surrounded him from all directions.
The meaning is self-evident. Although they are just people who make a living by sailing, they cannot do whatever others want on the river.
The man put the box he was holding heavily on the ground.