Thinking of this, Du Ru accelerated the speed of paddling, but fortunately, after a few strokes, the river was only waist-deep.
Ignoring the sharp gravel at the bottom of the river, he staggered to the shore, and his body went limp, and he collapsed on a huge rock.
After taking a few big breaths, Du Ru stroked his chest, which was still throbbing suddenly, and got up and walked towards the dark woods next to him.
But before he reached the edge of the forest, he suddenly heard a "bang" behind him, as if something jumped out of the water.
He was so frightened that the blood all over his body was cold, and his legs trembled like chaff, and he didn't dare to move again.
But after a while, he couldn't hear any movement behind him, so Du Ru turned his head tremblingly, but when he caught a glimpse of a figure standing behind him, he felt an unprecedented relief.
"Brother, you frightened me, I thought the monster was chasing after me again."
His tone was filled with the joy of the rest of his life, his body seemed to move in an instant, and he limped towards the man, and asked with a shy face, "Big brother, can you take food with you?"
Can you give some to my little brother first?
I've been swimming for a long time, and I'm hungry now. ” The man stared at him, his eyes motionless, and suddenly asked, "Why is the monster chasing you?"
” Du Ru was stunned by his question, and then remembered that he was excited for a while, and he actually said that he had gone away, so he laughed dryly, "Hey, what kind of monster is there, it's just a big fish, how long is a person, that big mouth is open, it's scary."
"What I'm asking is, why is the bird chasing you, and why is it going to kill you all."
The man's voice was not loud, but when it penetrated Du Ru's ears, it was like thunder, scaring him into a spirit.
"Who are you?"
Du Ru asked these three words, but his feet slowly moved back, ready to escape when the man was unprepared.
But as soon as the words fell, there was a gallbladder-like pain in his wrist, and he raised his arm blankly, only to find that his right hand was gone, and it was now lying at the man's feet, still spurting warm blood.
The man lifted the axe, and the blood dripping from the blade slid down his dead white cheek, making a thrilling mark.
"Say, Who are you?
What exactly did you do on this canal sixteen years ago?
” Du Ru cried and shook his head, kneeling down beside the man's shoes as soon as his knees weakened, he looked at his right hand that was still warm, crying like a newborn baby.
What did he do sixteen years ago?
At that time, he was just a minor child, and what did that deeply buried history have to do with him?
If he hadn't heard Zhong Zhiqing mention it a few days ago, he wouldn't even know that the case of burning a boat that shocked the whole country was actually committed by his cousin Du Heilong and Du Heihu.
That year, under the instruction of Zhong Zhiqing, the two brothers went to the dock to rob the salt boat, but in a panic, several people actually overturned the oil lamp on their ship, they abandoned the ship and fled, but the small boat wrapped in flames took advantage of the wind to rush to the dock and ignited more than 100 salt ships chained together, causing the fire that shocked the whole country.
Zhong Zhiqing was afraid that the truth would be revealed, so he ordered someone to put the torches of the box army on one of the salt boats and put all the fault on Yan Zhengyang.
When Yan Zhengyang heard the news, he knew that he had been wronged by others, the evidence was conclusive, and there was no way out, so he simply didn't do anything, led his brothers to flee into the mountains and forests, and never showed up again.
That year, there was another person whose fate was completely changed, and he was Xu Danian.
After burying the remains of his relatives, he left his hometown and searched for Yan Zhengyang for 16 years.
On the day of Lixia this year, Xu Danian finally inquired about the whereabouts of the man who had been remembered by him for 16 years, it turned out that he had been hiding in a deep mountain on the northern border, and he had never come out for more than ten years.
After Xu Danian got the news, he was happy and sad, happy that he had finally found the enemy, and sad that the person had lived for 16 more years, which was really cheap for him.
But when he came to the small mountain village, he was so disillusioned that he almost fainted.
Because the village has long been in ruins, and the ruins and broken tiles are full of traces left by the war.
It turned out that this village had been ransacked by the Liao army nine years ago, and all the people in the village were dead, including the man who had already changed his name and surname - Yan Zhengyang.
Knowing that Yan Zhengyang is no longer in the world, Xu Danian's heart is full of despair, his only hope in this life is to be able to kill the enemy and avenge his relatives, and now this only pillar is gone, he only feels that his heart is like ashes, and he can't wait to jump from the mountain stream immediately.
But just as he closed his eyes and was about to jump off the cliff, an old voice suddenly came from behind him: "Xu Danian, if you die, they will really be trapped in the canal and will never get out again." ” Xu Danian stared at Du Ru's godless eyes like this, and stared at about half a pillar of incense.
In the end, Du Ru was no longer afraid, because the blood on his body seemed to have flowed, and his body was as cold as a thousand-year-old black iron, and even his head became groggy and unable to think.
Finally, Xu Danian spoke, his voice was very low, but Du Ru could vaguely hear the madness inside.
"Are you saying that Yan Zhengyang is not the real murderer at all, and the real murderer is Zhong Zhiqing, the current servant?"
Du Ru nodded weakly, he was a little glad, glad that Xu Danian finally understood his words, he was clear, at least all this could be over, whether it was life or death, now he didn't care.
But what he didn't expect was that Xu Danian suddenly laughed, and at the end of the laugh, tears overflowed his eyes, and he aimed his axe at Du Ru, "Do you think you can hold me?"
Zhong Zhiqing is an inspector sent by the imperial court, if something happens to the salt boat under his nose, won't he also be punished?
” Du Ru smiled weakly and said intermittently, "Zhong Zhiqing, this old fox, who is he, he has already thought of a way back for himself, it is nothing more than repeating his old tricks and putting all the responsibility on others, when the time comes, he will be able to retreat with his whole body, and there will be no loss." ” Xu Danian's eyes lit up, and he looked scary against the backdrop of the dark night, "Who is he going to push?"
” "Li Bingwen, the commander of the Xiang Army, that person used to work under Yan Zhengyang, and he was very loyal to Yan Zhengyang, Zhong Zhi saw that he was unhappy early in the morning, so he took this opportunity to get rid of him."
Xu Danian clenched his fists, and a pair of bull's eyes were round like copper bells, "He is so ruthless?"
”