"Be careful, we’re setting off!"
As the ship master shouted, two ship workers pushed the bamboo pole together, slowly steering the ferry away from the dock.
This wooden boat was the most common type in Shan State, about ten ters long, carrying goods in the back and capable of transporting over a dozen passengers in the front.
At this mont, Li Yan and two others were sitting at the bow.
Their appearance was indeed too conspicuous, a bald man with a fierce expression, a young bladesman, and an old Daoist. Without asking, one could tell they were from the pugilistic world.
The boat was heading toward Luonan, carrying rchants and commoners, who naturally kept their distance upon seeing the trio.
Bored, Sha Lifei struck up a conversation with the ship master, "Hey, when we get to Luonan, will there really be another boat to take us further?"
"There might be," the ship master said vaguely.
Impatiently, Sha Lifei snapped, "Hey, that’s not what you said before boarding. What, now that we’re on the boat, you’re reneging on your word?"
Seeing Sha Lifei’s fierce look, the ship master silently cursed the ddleso worker who, unaware of the type of individuals they were, had misled them aboard.
There were many ferries at the dock, and they scrambled to take on each passenger; thus, sotis vague confirmations were given, promising routes they couldn’t deliver, since once people disembarked, the money was still made in full.
It seed the fool of a worker had misunderstood and let these people on the boat.
Thinking this, the ship master plastered a pleasing expression on his face, "Honored guest, it’s not that we’re deceiving you, but ships heading north are indeed scarce, and I can’t guarantee availability."
Then lowering his voice, he added mysteriously, "Also, I advise you all, once you reach Luonan, better stick to the mountain paths for safety."
"That stretch of river is not very peaceful..."
Li Yan frowned, "What do you an by ’not very peaceful’?"
Choosing the mountain path would cost them a lot of ti, especially since they had heard about a water route past Luonan that, at its end, only required crossing over a mountain to reach Lantian.
There’d be no reason to go through Luonan if they followed the ship master’s suggestion.
"You folks might not know..."
Scanning the distance, the ship master patiently explained, "This matter goes back to the Tang Dynasty."
"At that ti, to alleviate the pressure of grain transport, Cui Shi and others repeatedly petitioned the court to connect the Dan and Ba rivers, forging a canal through Nanshan, turning Shang Mountain’s land transport into water transport."
"Later, Cui Shi was sent by the court, ordering tens of thousands of workers, but due to the difficulty of the excavation, three to four out of every ten laborers perished, and the waterway often jamd and broke down due to sumr mountain floods, eventually being abandoned."
"Folks, there are so things that I dare not speak of on the boat, fearing pressing the wrong buttons, but you can ask around yourself once we reach the Luonan Ferry."
"That place indeed isn’t so tranquil..."
Upon hearing this, Li Yan and his companions exchanged glances...
...
At Luonan Ferry, the chilly wind whipped harshly.
This ferry was quite small; after disembarking, locals left imdiately, and there wasn’t much transfer of goods, so only a few sparse teahouses remained.
"Dang coward, took the wrong turning!"
After making inquiries, Sha Lifei ca back and sat down, saying helplessly, "I asked around, that river truly isn’t peaceful. Had to pull so tricks to get the real reasons."
"The porters say that too many locals died during its excavation, their grievances fill the air. Those who ride boats there sotis inexplicably jump into the water, purportedly lured by water ghosts."
"Especially this sumr, there was a big incident—a flash flood completely blocked the canal. So grain traders from the south wanted to hire people to clear it to save ti."
"But a disaster struck on that very day, killing many workers, causing an uproar. Those grain traders fled, and to this day, that route is clogged, no one dares to use it."
Li Yan frowned, shaking his head, "Miscalculated, could it be we have to return by the Qin Chu ancient path? That’ll set us back seven or eight days."
"Guest, don’t listen to their nonsense!"
Just then, the teahouse owner laughed, "Those ship masters, they just feel that route isn’t profitable, so they don’t want to go, and the porters just repeat what they hear."
"At that ti, it was a sudden sumr flood, many workers drowned unprepared, and before the grain traders fled, they concocted a story to scare people."
"Just before dawn today, I still saw boats passing through..."
Li Yan asked, "What if the waterway is blocked?"
The teahouse owner chuckled, "If you fellows want to get to Lantian, just find a pathway halfway up the mountain, and cross over, that’s the lowest part of Qinling, any other path would be a detour."
Sha Lifei shook his head, "All this talk, what good is it without a boat?"
The teahouse owner hastily responded, "I have one!"
...
"Is this your boat?"
Looking at the shabby little wooden boat, Sha Lifei was so angry he nearly jumped, cursing, "Damn it, it’s always open season for deception, isn’t it? You all just hustle and deceive, right?"
"Guest, you jest, how could this be a deception?"
The teahouse owner hurriedly approached and slapped the boat soundly, "Don’t mind this old fellow’s appearance; it’s really quite sturdy. I’ve been running around on the river for years and haven’t had a single incident."
"Besides, nobody else is taking it..."
Wang Daoxuan sighed and shook his head, "Forget it, let’s just go this way, if we can disembark earlier, we might save so ti."
With things having reached this state, the three had no choice but to board the boat.
As the teahouse owner pushed the bamboo pole, the small boat imdiately entered the river.
Watching the ferry dock fade into the distance, Sha Lifei chuckled, "You rascal, only caring about making money, aren’t you even going to tend to your teahouse?"
The_TEACHER_ICON_PREMIUM Just technical issues, will be back soon!
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