Time Travel: The Survival of Li Zhi

Chapter 413 Blackwater River

Li Zhi and his companions didn't have to wait long before the scouts who had gone out to investigate the situation came back at full speed.

He dismounted with a happy look on his face, and before he even stood firmly he could not wait to speak, bringing an exciting piece of good news - there was indeed a boatman's family not far away.

According to the scout's observation, the boatman owned two rather spacious boats.

The boat looks sturdy and has ample space. Even though Li Zhi and his group are carrying a lot of items and a lot of people, they should be able to cross the river smoothly as long as they transport the items in several batches.

Li Zhi was overjoyed. Without any hesitation, he immediately ordered all personnel to move forward in the direction indicated by the scout.

Since the scouts were riding fast horses and traveling back and forth very quickly, it felt like not much time had passed.

However, when Li Zhi and his entire team took action, the situation was very different.

They were carrying a lot of items and the team was so large that it was difficult to speed up their progress.

When they finally arrived at their destination, it was already getting dark.

The afterglow of the setting sun shines on the river, casting a golden glow, but it can hardly conceal the shadow of the coming night.

Li Zhi looked up and saw a simple thatched hut by the dim river.

An old man with a hunched body and a weathered face was standing outside the house, looking eagerly. Apparently, the scout had just told him that they were going to take a boat, so the old man was waiting here early.

When the old man saw Li Zhi and his team finally arrived, his wrinkled face instantly showed joy. His eyes were shining, as if looking at Li Zhi and his team was like seeing a huge income.

After all, Li Zhi and his team have a large number of people and carry a lot of items. If this business trip is successful, he can make a lot of money.

The old man shouted, "But we need to take a boat?"

Li Zhi walked forward quickly, nodded slightly, and said, "That's right, father-in-law, we need to cross the river, and we need your help to send us a way."

The old man smiled and said: "No problem, but the cost..."

The old man rubbed his hands as he spoke, and his meaning was very clear.

Li Zhi understood, took out a silver ingot from his arms and handed it to the old man.

This silver ingot is shiny in color. Although it is engraved with the word "Yongguo", Li Zhi is not worried that the old man will not accept it, because gold and silver are commonly used hard currencies everywhere.

The old man carefully held the silver ingot in his hands, his face full of surprise. He weighed it in his hands and estimated, based on his years of experience, that the ingot weighed about twenty taels.

The old man's smile became brighter and brighter, and the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes were squeezed together.

You know, he lived by this remote river, and although he made a living by ferrying people, business was not good on weekdays, and not every day people wanted to take a boat across the river. These twenty taels of silver were almost equivalent to his income for most of the year.

The old man secretly rejoiced in his heart and said: Fortunately, I listened to the old woman and cut down all those trees. If these people want to cross the river, they can only come to me.

Thinking of this, he felt even more proud.

Then the old man shouted into the house: "You little bastard, get out and work!"

A thin young man quickly walked out of the house.

The boy had dark skin, obviously from working outdoors for a long time, but his eyes were exceptionally bright, revealing a sense of cleverness.

He glanced at Li Zhi and the others, then turned to the old man and said, "Grandpa, there are so many of them, we can't pull them all in one trip."

The old man rolled his eyes at the dog and said unhappily, "Do I need you to teach me? If I can't pull it in one trip, can't I just pull it a few more times? You dog, you can't even do this?"

The dog curled his lips and muttered to himself.

He remembered that a while ago, a group of people wanted to take the boat, and Grandpa complained that the money they gave was too little, so he taught him to say this to the guests. Unexpectedly, the situation was different this time, and Grandpa's attitude was completely different. He was scolded by Grandpa for saying this.

The old man looked at Li Zhi, and his face was immediately full of smiles. He said, "My dear, there are so many of you and so many things. Let's go in multiple trips."

Li Zhi nodded. He knew in his heart that although the old man's boat was much larger than ordinary ships, it was indeed impossible to carry so many people and the tributes at once.

The old man's boat can only carry about twenty people at most.

So Li Zhi arranged for some people to stay and wait for the next river crossing, while he took some people on board the boat first.

Li Zhi and several civil servants from the Ministry of Rites boarded a boat rowed by Gou Yazi, while Duan Heng took another boat with some soldiers from the Qiongqi Camp. The rest of the people stayed on the shore and waited for the next trip.

Although Gou Yazi was young and thin, his movements were very agile and neat. He manipulated the oars skillfully, and the boat under his control was like a light boat, moving slowly and steadily on the surface of the Blackwater River.

Li Zhi stared at the inky black river water and asked Gou Yazi, "Little brother, do you know why the river water is so black?"

When Gou Yazi heard Li Zhi's question, he replied without hesitation: "This is the Black Water River, so it is naturally black."

Gou Yazi's answer caused several civil servants from the Ministry of Rites beside Li Zhi to laugh softly.

One of the civil servants raised his lips and joked: "The Black Water River is black, and you are called a dog, so are you a dog?"

After hearing what the civil servant said, Li Zhi felt unhappy and frowned slightly.

In his opinion, as a member of the Yongguo delegation, it was really unbecoming to speak so rudely. However, these civil servants were not under his jurisdiction, so he could not interfere too much, so he did not say much.

Su Liang, who was standing by, also frowned, with a serious look on his face, and scolded unceremoniously: "What nonsense are you talking about! As a member of the Yongguo delegation, don't you have any etiquette or rules?"

After being scolded by Su Liang, the civil servant immediately showed an embarrassed look on his face. He lowered his head in embarrassment and dared not say any other inappropriate words.

Su Liang looked at Gou Yazi, an apologetic look on his face, and said gently: "I am not being restrained in my words, I hope you can forgive me, little brother."

Gou Yazi looked calm, with a faint smile on his face, and said, "It's okay, my grandfather said that I was indeed like a dog when I was a child, so he named me Gou Yazi."

Li Zhi knew that in some places, the elderly would often give children some seemingly humble nicknames, saying that this would make the children's lives easier to raise.

Seeing that Su Liang had already reprimanded the civil servant and apologized, and Gou Yazi didn't care, he changed the subject and said, "Little brother, have you heard any stories about the Black Water River?"

Li Zhi was full of curiosity about the Black Water River. After all, it was extremely rare to have an existence that could make his five ghosts feel fearful.

After listening to Li Zhi's words, Gou Yazi thought for a while, then suddenly raised his head, a glimmer of excitement flashed in his eyes, and said: "Hey, I really heard my grandfather tell a story about the Black Water River."

Seeing this, Li Zhi was immediately interested and hurriedly urged, "What's the story? Tell me quickly, little brother."

His eyes were full of anticipation, and he couldn't wait to know the legend of this mysterious black water river.