Although the distance between Xishan Island and Gusu City is not a thousand miles, they are still separated by more than a hundred nautical miles.
As the saying goes, the sky is different ten miles away, not to mention that in areas far apart between the sea and the land, the weather should be different, which should be a common scene.
However, even with the barrier of thousands of mountains, the scene above Xishan Island today is no different from that of Gusu City.
However, in the afternoon, dark clouds covered the sky and the sun was covered. In front of us was a gray and gloomy scene, which was not at all like a paradise. It seemed that the children in the sky were naughty for a while, and the ink on the inkstone was filled with water.
Let’s have a blue sky.
After being awakened by Liu Qi, Jiang Yichen came to the bow of the boat and looked towards the shore of Xishan Island, which was about a mile away.
There are many more boats than usual at the ferry port on the shore. Could it be that they are used to transfer people on the island?
But as Liu Qi continued to row towards the shore, the smell of blood in the air gradually filled his nose.
"I am most familiar with the waterways here. Every time people are transferred on the island, the old man will let me participate. Of course, he will inform me in advance to arrange relevant matters. However, there has been no message from the old man recently. Today, there are more ships on the island.
Quite a few, but it's very strange." Liu Qi expressed his concerns.
It is said that the spiritual sense of animals is much sharper than that of humans. When the wooden boat was getting closer and closer to the shore, General Black, who had always been calm and composed, lightly stepped on the horse's hooves, and it was definitely not the one who was about to land on the shore.
Excited, but anxious from within.
Obviously, General Black has sensed something unusual on the island.
"Xiaochen, can you smell that fishy smell?!" Liu Qi suddenly said in shock.
People who have been dealing with water all year round will never be surprised when asked about the smell of fish. What would shock Liu Qi was the smell of human blood.
Jiang Yichen didn't look back, and Liu Qizi didn't see the young man's frown, he could only hear the urging voice coming from the wind in front of him, "Brother Liu, paddle faster."
When Liu Qi heard this, he stopped talking, threw away the short oar, replaced it with a long bamboo pole, inserted it into the bottom of the water that had gradually become shallower, and used all his strength to push the boat forward to speed up.
When he was still several feet away from the shore, Jiang Yichen's feet were already on the edge of the bow.
Seeing that the boat was close to the shore, Liu Qi stopped punting and allowed the boat to move closer to the shore with the inertia. With one hand free, he put his thumb and index finger together, stretched out his mouth, and blew a crisp and sharp whistle.
The sound spread to the water bank.
Not long after, there was a response from the distance.
Accompanied by the crisp and sharp chirping of birds, a gray shadow spread its wings and flew out across the sky. It hovered for a moment. After confirming the source of the whistle just now, it swooped down. The sharp arrow must have shot out of the string at that speed.
It's hard to compare with it.
The gray figure also attracted Jiang Yichen's attention. When he flashed past him, he was almost blown into the water by the wind.
When he looked back, a gray bird with outstretched wings had landed firmly on Liu Qi's shoulder.
"Little Gray?" This gray bird belongs to the peregrine falcon family, with long and pointed wings, and white horizontal stripes densely covered under the wings and tail. Jiang Yichen has seen it several times on the island, so it is not difficult to identify it. However, Liu Qi did not know how to identify it.
Zhao Zhao, why is it used?
"This is Xiaolan. Look at the small moustache on her head. It's blue." Liu Qi pointed at Xiaolan's head, and Jiang Yichen saw that she was right.
Liu Qi gently caressed Xiaolan's folded wing feathers and said: "In addition to Xiaolan and the Xiaohui you mentioned, there is also Xiaoyan. I am not very familiar with them and have not observed the detailed differences between them.
The three of them are our good partners. If we need to deliver urgent news, with their speed, we can fly to Juyuan within a day."
As he spoke, the hull of the ship shook slightly and it was already docked. But at some point, Liu Qi had a small piece of paper in his hand. He bit his finger and quickly made a few strokes on the paper.
Although the handwriting was scrawled, Jiang Yichen, standing at the other end, could vaguely see the two bright red characters "有change".
Liu Qi stuffed the folded piece of paper into a small slender reed stem. Xiaolan naturally bent down and bit the reed stem, then raised her head and stuck it at the end of her beak.
, shook it twice, and after confirming that it was stable, gave a soft cry as a farewell, and then flapped its wings and flew towards Wanzhong Mountain.
"We only recruited Xiaolan. If Xiaohui and Xiaoyan were not on the island, they must have rushed to Juyuan to report the news before we came. I believe that the old man will respond soon. Let's go and explore the situation first.
Well, remember, do what you can." Liu Qichong said to Jiang Yichen after the two of them watched Xiaolan leave.
"Yeah." Jiang Yichen agreed.
Immediately, one person held a sword and the other held an oar, led by General Black, and galloped towards the island.
After walking into the island for only a moment, you can see three corpses on the ground in front of you, soaked in red. Two of them are dressed in black, and the other is dressed as a fisherman. Although he is lying on the ground, he is covered by a bamboo hat.
Looking at his head, he could see a three-foot-long waist knife beside him, and Liu Qi was able to confirm the identity of this person.
"Old Liu!" Liu Qi shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice trembling a little.
Jiang Yichen and Liu Qi got off their horses and quickly came to the fisherman's side.
Liu Qi slowly took the bamboo hat off the fisherman's head. No surprise, it was Liu Yiheng, a wanderer from Songzhu.
Seeing the red tide under Liu Yiheng's body, the two of them could guess the miserable state of his chest and abdomen without turning him over. They stretched out their hands to carefully explore his body surface. There was no warmth at all. They thought he had been dead for a long time.
Jiang Yichen checked the two men in black again, but could not identify them, so he silently returned to General Black and waited for Liu Qi.
Liu Qi knew that Jiang Yichen was worried about the safety of other people on the island. After gently closing Liu Yiheng's eyes that had lost their vitality, Liu Qi did not dare to delay too much and hurriedly continued to the island with Jiang Yichen.
General Black's steps were fast and powerful, but the hearts of the two people on horseback became heavier and heavier amidst the clattering sound.
During the subsequent march, more and more corpses appeared in front of the two of them. Due to their familiarity with the people on the island, the two of them treated the corpses lying on the ground as if they were just now, eliminating the enemies dressed in black.
In addition, you only need to take a moment to look at his clothes, identify his body shape, and you don't need to get off your horse and get a closer look at his face, you can already know whose body it is.
Jiang Yunfeng, Lao Zheng, Aunt Li, etc., without exception, all lay in a pool of blood.
The black general did not stop again, and the people on the horse never dismounted again, but their eyes were gradually dyed blood red.
It is not an exaggeration to describe the scene they saw as littering with corpses. The two did not dare to stop because they wanted to see people who were still standing, and they hoped to hear some sounds besides the sound of horse hooves.
The sounds of fighting, cries for help, even wailing sounds are better than the silence with the sound of horse hooves. They eagerly want to know whether there are any living people on the island...
Jiang Yichen's breathing became increasingly rapid. Regardless of General Hei's pain, he directly hit him with his sword scabbard, urging him to speed up and run towards Xiaoxiang Valley.
"There are so many strange ships at the ferry. Apart from these dead ones, there must be thieves who have not yet left. Xiaoxiang Valley is deep inside the island. They must not have found it yet. Don't panic." I felt the hair of the young man in front of me.
Liu Qi comforted his trembling body.
The horses were galloping, and no matter how fast they walked, they couldn't move faster than the beating pulse at this moment.
The cold wind is biting, and no matter how cold the temperature is, it can't compete with the cold heart at this moment.
"Mom will be fine, nothing will happen..." Jiang Yichen's words were already unclear, but he still kept talking, not only to keep himself calm, but also to seek God's protection.
Going further from Diecuitan is Caiwu Cliff, and Xiaoxiang Valley is just around the corner.
However, what was supposed to be a pool of emerald green water now turned into a big dye vat, reflecting the sky red.
There were several black corpses floating on the surface of the pool, and the number of black shadows lying motionless on the boulders beside the pool was no less than a dozen.
Raindrops fell from the sky, as if they were about to play a soul-burial song on the green pools.
Suddenly, I caught a glimpse of a man in red clothes leaning against a rock on the mountain path beside Diecui Pond, who seemed to be still alive.
After getting a little closer, I realized that the man was wearing white clothes, but the color had been changed by scarlet red. His long hair covered his entire face, and what people couldn't ignore was the huge figure on his chest.
It seems that only a heavy hammer from his chest could have caused this shocking wound.
The remaining scars all over the body have been eclipsed by this hole. This is a real fatal injury!
After suffering such a blow, it would be a miracle if this man could still survive.
There is a sword on the right hand of the man in red, and this sword seems to be the key to keeping him from slipping to the ground.
That sword looked very familiar to Jiang Yichen.
The whole body is crystal clear, as thin as cicada wings, but it can break ice. This sword is the ice-breaking sword, the ice-breaking sword of Gushuang swordsman Xue Qing!
"Uncle Xue!" Jiang Yichen fell off his horse and shouted.