Chapter 30 The Old Man by the Lake

Qi Li had never thought that the strange bird that King Sheng had raised, which he had been thinking about for a few days, was actually what the waiter had learned from the storyteller.

However, the storyteller, the old man surnamed Gao, was asking for information.

Inquiring? Did he learn about it from somewhere and seek confirmation?

With the waiter's guidance, Qi Li found the place where the old man surnamed Gao lived with doubts.

However, he learned that the old man surnamed Gao had just left after asking.

"Where did he go?"

"Old Gao said he was going to Bai Ze Lake."

Baize Lake?

Qi Li knew Bai Ze Lake, which was a lake south of Ju City, connected to the Ju River.

It was neither big nor small, and it was named because the water level dropped and the dew was shallow during the dry season, forming a hundred swamps.

The place where his group of five went yesterday was not far from Bai Ze Lake.

After a brief hesitation, he did not return to the inn to wait for the other brothers who went to other places to investigate to return, but moved directly towards Bai Ze Lake.

With a goal in mind, Qi Li moved very quickly.

He did not stop at all along the way, using the Taoist light body technique to rush to Bai Ze Lake.

But he did not notice that the crows in the trees on the side of the path were watching him.

At the same time, by the Bai Ze Lake.

Yao Yan, who was possessed by the old man, turned his head and looked back.

Although Old Man Gao did not have any official name and was not a wild cultivator, he was not an ordinary person.

At least, he knew a lot of unofficial history.

For example, this lake.

In Old Man Gao's memory, this lake became famous very early, and it may even have been named Bai Ze in the early days of the founding of the Great Sheng.

Moreover, in the unofficial history that Old Man Gao knew, there was a lake king in this Bai Ze Lake.

Old Man Gao knew about the children of the Bai family, the official wild cultivators, the demons and the like, but what he knew was relatively superficial.

Moreover, he could not be sure whether it was true or not.

After all, most of them were unofficial history, and even some things that he thought were completely novels and dramas were believed by Old Man Gao.

The reason why Yao Yan came to this Bai Ze Lake was for the "Lake Lord" in the unofficial history.

The matter of "Lake Lord" was what Old Man Gao would bring up from time to time as a storyteller.

According to the description of the unofficial history that Old Man Gao knew, this Lake Lord was a dragon king, and there was a saying of "Baize Dragon Lord".

While thinking, Yao Yan walked along the lake.

On this Bai Ze Lake, except for occasionally seeing a fishing boat in the direction of the entrance of Ju River in the distance, there were no people.

However, as he walked, he saw a wooden sign inserted by the lake. The wooden sign was rotten and even covered with moss.

There were a few big characters written on it in Shengshu, which looked like seal script:

"Baize Ferry"

Is this a ferry?

He looked across the lake from this place, and then looked around, but he didn't find any traces of the ferry, and there were no boats parked by the lake.

After a brief search, he found a small house in the middle of the sparse woods by the lake.

There were several piles of chopped wood near the house, and an old man was sitting on a tree stump chair next to the wood, stroking something that looked like a wine jug on the small table next to him.

Yao Yan walked over and shouted as he walked:

"Brother, are there still boatmen at Bai Ze Ferry?"

The old man turned around, not knowing whether he was surprised that someone came nearby or surprised by "Baize Ferry".

He stared at Yao Yan with his somewhat turbid eyes for a while:

"Ah, Bai Ze Ferry, Bai Ze Ferry, there are no boatmen, thirty, no, fifty years ago."

The old man seemed to be a little forgetful and couldn't remember how long it had been.

Yao Yan did not dwell on how long it would take, but walked to another tree stump seat next to the small table and sat down:

"Brother, do you know where there are boats nearby? I want to cross the lake."

He smiled and continued in an old man's tone:

"I can't get around it with my legs and feet."

"Can't get around it"

The old man, who seemed to be a little hard of hearing, muttered:

"Yes, it can't get around it. No one can get around Bai Ze Ferry, and no one can get around Bai Ze Ferry. It's impossible to cross it."

"Why did you say that, brother?"

Thinking about the things about Bai Ze Long Jun, Yao Yan continued to ask:

"Is it related to Hu Jun?"

Just when he mentioned "Hu Jun", the old man's cloudy eyes seemed to light up slightly, clearer, but soon fell back:

"Hu Jun is not here, not here."

"Why do you say Hu Jun is not here?"

Yao Yan asked patiently.

This old man, who looked much older than Old Man Gao, stretched out his hand tremblingly and touched the wine pot on the table.

Yao Yan could notice that the joints on his almost skinny and bony palms were as thick as bamboo, especially at the base of his thumb, which showed that he had been handling some tools for many years.

Then, he turned his eyes to the vicinity of the hut. In addition to the chopped firewood that should be used for burning, there were also some wooden boards that were obviously not used for burning firewood.

Scattered, it seems that they can form a small boat.

Like a sampan?

However, some of these wooden boards are almost completely rotten, while some look relatively new, as if they were cut quite a long time ago.

Glancing at the direction of Bai Ze Lake, Yao Yan seemed to understand something and asked directly:

"Brother, were you the boatman of Bai Ze Ferry before?"

Hearing Yao Yan's question, the old man slowly raised his head, and his cloudy eyes and expression revealed a little confusion. After a moment, he seemed to remember something:

"Ah, yes, I am a boatman, ferried people at the ferry twenty years ago, no, forty years ago."

The inconsistent statements and the slow response all indicate that the old man seems to have some dementia.

It's a pity that although it is a clue, it is not very clear.

Compared to continuing to talk to this old man, it may be faster to go directly to find him.

Thinking of this, he stood up, left the table, and casually said goodbye:

"Forget it, old brother, I'm leaving first."

"Oh, okay."

The old man with cloudy eyes responded a little blankly, fiddling with the empty wine bottle on the table:

"Have a good trip, Mr. Hu, I'll get you some good wine next time."

This sudden sentence made Yao Yan pause. He looked back and saw that the old man's eyes were blank and cloudy.

With his eyes slightly narrowed, Yao Yan did not return, but left the vicinity of the hut and returned to the side of Bai Ze Lake.

Looking at the calm surface of Bai Ze Lake, his sight paused slightly:

"It seems that something has really happened in this Bai Ze Lake."

It seems that he came to the right place, and he had an unexpected gain.

Then

He thought for a moment, then waved his right hand, and a white crow with sheep horns flew out of his hand, flying close to the water surface towards the center of the lake.

To no avail.

Yao Yan summoned a few more white crows, and they flew over the water in different directions.

Soon, he saw what he wanted to see.

In the upper left corner of the center of the lake, near the other side of the lake, a white crow flew by, and the water surface suddenly bulged, and a huge mouth rose from the bottom, as if to bite the white crow and drag it into the water.

Seeing this scene, he smiled as he manipulated the white crow to rise quickly.

Found it.