C37 (1/2)

The coachman reined in his horse, slowed it down, and made a slight bounce. The little Daoist anxiously said, ”If we walk slowly like this, will we reach the Three Purities Pavilion today?” The coachman couldn't help but say, ”You guys are afraid of things, but also afraid of things too fast. How am I supposed to catch it? If you can do it, then hurry up. ” The little Daoist kept arguing with him. The three girls tried again and again to persuade him. The car jolted through the night, and only when the sun rose did they arrive at the town of Gutta.

In the car, the four of them were in so much pain from being jolted that they preferred to abandon the car and walk. The four of them got off the car and stretched their muscles before finally feeling comfortable. The coachman followed. The little Daoist asked a man who was taking a morning walk: ”Would it be good to go to the Three Purities Pavilion Road from here?” The man said, ”Don't talk about going there. The roads within a hundred miles of us are all smooth and easy to walk on. ”The road to the Three Purities Pavilion is the easier one to take.”

The little Daoist was happy to hear this, but felt conflicted and said, ”It's not easy to walk on the road from the ditch to this place after a bumpy night. ”What's going on?”

The man said, ”Why did you come all the way to the Three Purities Pavilion? Wrong way. That road is to Jinzhou, very easy to walk. The driver must have been unfamiliar with the road and thought it was so close. This road you have come to is used by the villages to pull in crops for temporary use. The grass is deep, and no one is going. ”

He then asked, ”Where are the people driving the carriage?”

”He's from Gouzi Street,” said the little Daoist.

The man laughed and said, ”Is he not familiar with this road? ”They have evil intentions.”

The little Daoist thanked the man for his advice, and went to the coachman to argue, ”To think that you are such a clown, taking us this way. That mister has already said that you have evil intentions! You're too bad! Too damaging! To take money from someone is not loyal. You have taken the wrong way, tormented us, missed our time and our journey. ” The coachman was silent. The three girls were afraid that he would continue to play tricks on them, so they advised the little Daoist, ”Forget it, forget it. At least he was here. Little brother, don't say too much. ”

The little Daoist did not say anything, but stared at him. Walking into a restaurant in town, the little Daoist said to the driver, ”You've also had a hard night, so I'm sorry to trouble you. I asked someone if I could go to the Three Purities Pavilion Road. We went into the restaurant and had dinner before we left. ” The three girls were glad to hear the way. After taking a look at the front of the restaurant, he then went to the restaurant to buy some food.

The driver rolled his eyes and the bad idea came again. He said to the little Daoist, ”Please, Master. I went to drink the cattle. ” The little Daoist looked at him as if he wanted to make a fool of him, and said, ”Let you eat for free.” I'll spend money on food. ” The coachman smiled and said, ”Sure, sure. ”You go in first.” When the little Daoist saw that he was really heading to the well to drink some cattle, he turned around and walked into the house.

The little Daoist entered the room and saw three old men drinking at the same table. They ate and told stories. Listening carefully was the story of the strong from ancient times until now. An old man said, ”Now the bandit chief, 'A Lamp', has surpassed his predecessors. In broad daylight, under the solemn rule of the Republic of China, he dared to raise a flag to recruit troops and gather a crowd to rebel. How could the country not fall into chaos in the future? The people still want to live peacefully? ”

The little Taoist and the three girls were eating while listening to the story. After the meal, the coachman had not come in yet. The little Daoist said, ”It's already been half a day and the food has already turned cold. Why hasn't he come in yet? I'll go hurry him up. ” The three girls followed him out, fearful that he was going to quarrel with the coachman. The four of them searched the front yard and back, but there was no sign of the car. The little Daoist said, ”Did he go to another restaurant to eat? I told him to let him eat my money for nothing. ”

At this moment, a woman walked in. She seemed to have just returned. A dustpan with a gong on one side and a broom on the other. Lady Lin stepped forward and asked, ”How many restaurants are there in this town? Is there anything else around here? ” The woman said, ”One for each West Street, East Street, and three for this house.” The woman left. Lady Lin said, ”Dao brother, quickly go find him. There are also two other restaurants.” The little Daoist first went to the restaurant on the west side to see if he could find it, then ran back to the restaurant on the east side to find it. The little Taoist came back and told the three girls, ”This is bad! I've looked for both restaurants, and there's not even the shadow of a car. ” When the three of them heard this, they panicked.

So the coachman's name was Wang Huan. Because he had a lot of bad ideas, he had been given the nickname ”Worse”. He often hoodwinks at foreign merchants. No one in the area uses his car. When the little Taoist and the three girls got into the car, he discovered that all four of them had money on them; they were up to no good. The little Taoist was frightened by the fact that he drew his sword when the car came to the deserted area to arouse his suspicion.

After dark, he repeated to himself, ”A person with martial arts skills, regardless of gender or size, is good at hitting people. This little old Daoist had a treasured sword in his hand, and he was also clever, making him difficult to deal with. Once I make a move, even if the four of them were to beat me, I would definitely not be a match for them. I ended up losing my money and my life. ” The little Daoist was on guard against him. Even if he walked until daylight, he would not be able to do anything. He took advantage of the little Taoist's arrival to finish his drink and ran back to the ditch in the car.

The four of them were anxiously looking for a car when a woman walked in from the back street. The four of them went up to ask, and the woman said, ”You guys can stop looking. The driver was notoriously bad. I saw him in the car, clawing at the animals, running away and out of the street. They had run a few miles. How do you use his car? You're not going to pay up? ”

The little Taoist said, ”My master hired the car and paid for it. I didn't like him when I came here, and sure enough, he lied to us. Left us on the way. ”

The woman said, ”That person could be damaged. Earning unscrupulous money was still petty. I'm from Gouzi's mother's house. I came to visit last month with my child and came back to take a ride in his car. There were a few pairs of socks in the bag, but they were gone when he got home. Sitting in a car, who would have thought to be on guard against him? When I saw him driving away, I thought he was afraid I'd want socks. ”

Having lost all hope, the four of them went back to the old man and asked him, ”May I ask how far it is from here to the Three Purities Pavilion?” An old man said, ”Let's leave now. We can only arrive at dusk.”

”How far is it to Jinzhou from here?” The old man said, ”But this one is close. We'll be there in just a couple of hours.”