It was just daybreak and it was still a bit cold by the river. The waiter of the inn opened the door early and cleared the tables slowly.

On the official road, a carriage drove slowly.

The waiter knew that business was coming at a glance, so he hurried forward to wait, and asked loudly from a distance: "Sir, after traveling all night, do you want to stay at a hotel?"

The carriage stopped steadily in front of the boy. There was a tall man on the handlebar. He jumped down lightly and handed the reins over. The boy quickly caught it and listened to what he said.

"Boy, waiter, please take this horse and feed it some fodder first. We have to rest for a while and we have to hurry up. Let the kitchen quickly bring up two plates of beef, three or four side dishes, and a jug of wine."

"Okay, sir..." The waiter was just responding when he saw four more people getting off the carriage, a guard, a scholar, a maid, and a young lady. The waiter swore he had never seen them before.

Such a beautiful woman, I was stunned for a moment.

"Hey, there are so many worries about jackals, tigers and leopards in this forest. I'm exhausted after driving all night." The big man from before smiled and patted him on the shoulder. The waiter woke up and hurriedly led the horse to the stable.

Dare to look again.

"Qingshan, you're scaring people again." The eldest lady smiled upon seeing this.

Qingshan scratched his head and smiled innocently.

Ji Shu joked: "I think the blame is on the eldest lady because she is beautiful. Why not let the eldest lady wear a veil so as not to attract too much attention on the road."

"I won't wear it. Zi Yuan has a bad idea, and you forgot to call me sister when you go out!"

Qingyu's face was slightly red, how could he not hear Ji Shu's teasing intention, and was preparing to fight. Ji Shu quickly left everyone behind and sneaked into the inn first.

Qingyu couldn't act frivolously in front of everyone, so she could only glare at Ji Shu angrily.

Everyone sat down in a circle while chatting.

Not long after, the waiter brought the food and wine.

Qingshan felt warm after a glass of wine, as if the fatigue of the night had disappeared, and he felt very comfortable. Seeing the waiter come to serve the food again, he quickly asked the way: "Waiter, where is the Huyang Port Ferry?

While walking?"

"You guys want to go to the ferry?" The waiter was about to answer, but a voice asked first.

Ji Shu and others followed the sound and saw a young master walking in from the door with a guard. Seeing Ji Shu and others' wary faces, the young master looked familiar and walked to the side and gave a gentle salute.

"Don't get me wrong, I don't mean any harm. Everyone knows that although the Yellow Turbans are peaceful, there are still a lot of thieves on the road, so it's not peaceful. I always feel wary of having money on me."

"I am a person from Jiangxia. My surname is Huang and my name is An. I am about to go home. But there is something urgent on the way. I asked a few guards to escort some things back. Now I only have one person with me."

"So Xiaosheng is looking for someone to go with him. If you don't mind, why don't you go to the ferry with me, so that you can take care of me."

"Huh?" Qingyu glanced at Huang An in confusion, and said with a chuckle, "Just right! We are also going to Jiangxia. Mr. Huang... then let's go together."

Ouch, my eldest lady, why did you agree with all your words? How come you are not guarded against others? Do you believe what he said?

This pretty boy is not a good guy at first glance. As soon as he walked in, he glanced at the young lady! Is this normal? Is he a man? This is clearly a wolfish ambition and a desperate tactic.

"Sister, this is too hasty!"

Qingyu rolled her eyes at Ji Shu, waved her hand and said: "Anyway, when we go to the ferry, don't we have to find a caravan to accompany us? So what if we have multiple companions? We decided happily like that!"

Ji Shu is speechless.

"Young lady is so generous! Just call me Huang An. Waiter, here are three more side dishes." The young master was a little surprised. He glanced at Ji Shu and seemed to know what he was worried about. He smiled softly and sat next to Ji Shu to express his gratitude.

I didn't mean that.

Ji Shu secretly took a few glances at this Huang An, with delicate features, well-dressed, dignified appearance, a jade hanging from his waist, and a sword on his body. His whole person exuded a faint bookish aura, and Ji Shu could still vaguely smell the scent of a sachet.

Although I don't like the smell, I am sure that this person is a member of a traveling aristocratic family.

If a thief can pretend to be this far, he doesn't have to be a thief anymore. After sighing, Ji Shu didn't object anymore.

······

A large ship was moving slowly on the river.

A faint light shone through the window on Ji Shu's face.

He vaguely heard the sound of waves lapping outside, like a moving lullaby. Ji Shu opened his hazy sleepy eyes, stretched, forced himself to cheer up, and slowly sat up from the bed.

When he pushed the door open, he was greeted by a breath of fresh air, which made Ji Shu feel relaxed and happy, and most of his sleepiness disappeared.

"Brother Ziyuan, you're up too."

Huang An, however, went to the deck first to watch the scenery on the river. He didn't know when he got up.

"Brother Huang, it's so early." Ji Shu greeted quickly.

After getting along with each other for a few days, Ji Shu felt that he had judged a gentleman with a villain's heart before. This Huang An was full of knowledge and spoke well. He didn't know how much better than Ji Shu, a fake scholar. Moreover, this man was indeed a gentleman.

, He always treated Qingyu with courtesy, not like a cunning villain.

"The scenery this morning is beautiful! Brother Ziyuan has just arrived in Jingzhou. I'm afraid he has never seen such a beautiful scenery. Come and take a look."

"Oh?" Ji Shu took a few steps forward and walked to the side of the boat, observing with interest.

A heavy fog appeared on the river at some point, and the scenery on both sides of the river was hazy and blurry.

Not far away, there was a small boat, which sometimes showed its head, sometimes shuttled into the fog, and appeared and disappeared. It was unclear whether the fishermen were setting nets or fishing.

The big boat sailing on the river seems to be floating in the clouds.

Will he ride on the wind and travel thousands of miles a day?

This makes people suspect that they have broken into a fairyland. When I reach out and grab it, I seem to have caught the ray of fairy spirit.

"Wonderful! Wonderful!" Ji Shu couldn't help but become excited.

"That's right!" Huang An said proudly, "This is a unique scenery in Jingzhou. Such heavy fog is rare. Brother Ziyuan encountered it just after he came from the north. It was also thanks to my luck."

Ji Shu chuckled and did not refute. Looking around, he realized that many people had already gotten up and the deck began to become lively.

These are businessmen who travel between places with their goods to earn the price difference. Everyone will hire some guards on the road, and then get together on the road. Such ordinary thieves do not dare to provoke, and even when encountering a large group of thieves, they are a bit confused.

Negotiation capital, after all, bandits are human beings, and they have to be concerned if the losses are too great.

The so-called "scholars, farmers, industry and merchants", merchants in this era ranked last. Thinking of the capitalists of later generations, Ji Shu was filled with emotion.

"Look! What is that?"

There was a sudden commotion at the stern of the boat, interrupting Ji Shu's thoughts.

"It's over, it's over!"

"It's over now!"

The commotion soon became more and more intense, and there was a lot of noise at the stern of the ship. After a while, everyone on the ship was awakened. Ji Shu and Huang An couldn't help but look at each other in confusion.

“Go check it out!”

The two of them had just arrived at the stern of the ship when they heard many people exclaiming: "Black flag thief! Black flag thief is coming!"

Ji Shu looked far into the distance and saw a large ship appearing a hundred meters away from the stern.

In the fog, the people on the boat were blurred, but a large black flag was seen hanging on the boat.

Ji Shu looked at Huang An in confusion.

"They are water thieves! A group of very cruel water thieves"

Huang An explained solemnly: "You can occasionally encounter water thieves on the river. But most water thieves are not scary. They know that there are not only waterways but also land routes between Xinye and Jiangxia. If you go too far, the merchants will

Without water, they will all starve to death."

"So most water thieves, as long as the merchants don't resist, will only take 10% or 20% of the goods as payment for the trip. In this way, the merchants can still recover their costs after selling the goods, but they basically consider themselves unlucky."

"However, there are always exceptions. The Black Flag Thieves are an exception. They never follow the rules."

"Every time they plunder, they steal all the property. If they encounter a beautiful woman, they take it back and humiliate it wantonly. If they don't get what they want, they kill all the people in the boat. They are notorious water thieves. Many businessmen even survive.

, because all the goods were robbed, the capital turnover was unable to open, and the whole family was ruined, and there were many people who lost their lives.”

The more Ji Shu listened, the darker his face became.

"Ziyuan, what's wrong? Is it so noisy?" Qingshan and the eldest lady came out of the cabin to look for them because the boat was too noisy.

Ji Shu was anxious, but no matter what, he first discussed the situation with the two of them.

After listening, Qingyu looked gloomy, but she heard Qingshan say decisively: "If any little thief dares to come up, I will cut him in half with a knife. You can rest assured, young lady."

Ji Shu thought to himself, you are indeed brave, but it is difficult for you to fight with two fists. What's more, there are at least a hundred water thieves in a group.

On the deck, some merchants were ashen-faced and at a loss; some merchants seemed to want to dive into the water to escape, but they were hesitant due to fear and reluctance to part with their goods; some others were noisy, as if they wanted to fight with the black flag.

Thieves fight for blood.

Looking at the apocalyptic scene on the ship, Ji Shu suddenly felt a glimmer of hope.

"Let me ask you, do you want to die? Or do you want to live?" Ji Shu's hands were sweaty, but he shouted louder than anyone else.

Everyone stopped and looked at Ji Shu in shock.

"If you want to die, you can continue to sit here, you can continue to shout here, and if you are willing to give up goods and money, you can also jump into the river if you are willing to gamble your luck."

Ji Shu shouted with overwhelming momentum.
Chapter completed!