I took a breath, drank some water, and asked, "What's wrong with you?"

Bai Lu and Yun Wen wanted to look at each other, their expressions were a little strange, Bai Lu said: "Brother Zhou Bo, when we went to the river to fetch water this afternoon, we found a strange thing. Can you come and take a look after you rest for a while?"

"Was it found in the river, or on the river bank?" I asked.

"When we discovered it, the water was surging and there seemed to be living things. Sister Bailu and I kept your instructions in mind and hid when we encountered danger. We hurriedly left with the wooden barrel, but who knew that a strange thing would come out from the bottom of the water, a thing that we could never imagine. We then brought it back and now put it in the backyard of this house, waiting for you to come back." Yunwen said.

"Since this thing is so strange, why did you bring it back?" I asked.

"It can speak human language, so maybe it knows Yingchun's whereabouts. It might help you find Yingchun, so..." Bai Lu said with a sigh.

I remember when I was fighting with the red-eyed monster last night, it released maggots, and I jumped into the river in an emergency to avoid being penetrated by the maggots. Then when I was about to float to the shore, I heard some unusual movements under the water, and I found it very strange. Now I heard Bailu and Yunwen talking about the strange thing floating up from the bottom of the water, and I wondered if it was the same thing. If so, it could even speak human language. What exactly was it and where did it come from?

This made me more curious.

So I put down the package and put the things in place, and I followed the two of them to the backyard to check out this so-called strange thing. I thought that since two girls could carry it back, it must not be too heavy. Moreover, the fact that it was allowed to be brought back meant that it would not easily hurt people. I thought of many answers, and wondered if it could be some kind of ape again. But when I thought that apes did not know water, and if they fell into the river, the depth would be enough to drown them, so I ruled out other answers.

Finally, I shamelessly wondered if it was the legendary mermaid, and imagined her appearance, her pretty figure and face, etc. The more I thought about it, the more real it became. If there are mountains that appear all year round, why can't there be a beautiful mermaid girl?

It wasn't until I opened the door to the backyard and walked out that I saw no trace of the mermaid. My fantasy was immediately shattered. After checking again, I finally saw the so-called strange thing. It was just a wooden man made of rotten wood, but this wooden man looked more high-end in assembly, with more delicate carvings on the face and more joints made of round logs on the body.

From a distance it does look somewhat human-like, both in body shape and expression, but a wooden man is just a wooden man. No matter how carefully it is carved or how much it resembles a human, it is still a pile of rotten wood and not a human. In fact, because it has been floating in the water for so long, many parts have become rotten.

"Is this the strange thing you are talking about?" I asked disappointedly.

"Zhou Bo, don't you find it weird? It looks like a human but not a human, like wood but not wood, and can speak human language. It looks more magical than Pinocchio." Yunwen said.

At this time, the wooden man struggled to support his soaked body, opened and closed his mouth mechanically, and said in a weak voice, as if it was running out of power: "I am He Kui, the pioneer of the Milong Camp. Who are you?"

"Milongying? Are you Li Mufeng's subordinate?" I asked hurriedly.

The wooden man mechanically moved his body a few times, and then continued to speak word by word: "Can you lowly people call Envoy Li by his name? Come, take him away... Oh, they are all dead, and I am the only one left."

I didn't expect that I could still hear the ancients speak in my lifetime. Although this ancient man has long turned into a pile of rotten wood, it doesn't hurt to communicate with him. I just happen to have a lot of questions to ask him, and I finally got the chance. After thinking about it, the most important thing is the matter of the deputy envoy Wang Gang setting up the wooden man in the abyss. This matter has troubled me for a long time. Now that Milongying can personally answer it, isn't it better?

However, since ancient times, people have been divided into different classes. From his tone, if I asked in such a normal way, I would definitely be called a pariah or unqualified. Therefore, I had to find a way to solve this problem first. Once the direction was right, the method came immediately.

I pulled open my coat, took out the Milong jade adze from my inner clothes, held it in my hand and showed it to him. The wooden man named He Kui sat up immediately. The expression engraved on him could not be changed, but the pair of moving wooden hands were shaking. He gently touched the jade adze with his fingertips and stood there for a long time.

"This matter is complicated, but to put it simply, Senior Li Mufeng passed this jade scepter to me and asked me to take over the duties of the Dragon Envoy." I said.

He looked exhausted to begin with, and was shaking violently at this moment. I was worried that he would collapse at any moment.

However, at this moment, he stood up tremblingly, and knelt on one knee with all his strength, making a sound of "grunting". He raised his thumbs and crossed them in front of his chest, lowered his head, and said in a choked and trembling voice: "Your subordinate He Kui, I pay my respects to the Lord Milong! I am sorry for the offense, but I am not guilty of ignorance. I hope you will forgive me."

Hundreds of years have passed, and the etiquette has not changed. Even though the Milong Camp has long since disappeared and vanished in the long river of history, and even in unofficial history, it is difficult to find any trace of it. However, this pioneer of the Milong Camp still does not forget his duty and the basics, and acts according to his duty. This scene is really touching and makes people cry.

"It is no longer fashionable to kneel before others in the 21st century. Hurry up and stand up. You and I are both in the military camp, so we can just salute each other." After saying that, I also saluted him so as not to take advantage of him.

He paused and didn't move, so I had to say, "Get up."

He then propped up his wooden body and said, "Your Excellency, I am dying. My heart is already weak and I am afraid I can't hold out for more than an incense stick. If there is anything you need to know, please ask me as soon as possible to avoid delay."

"Okay, He Kui, I would like to ask you, what exactly happened after you arrived in Xiying City? And why did the deputy envoy named Wang Gang set up a mechanism under the tunnel of the post station and let us take refuge in this city? Is he trying to harm us? What is his intention? In addition, he said that a method to resolve the miasma under the abyss has been found here. What is it?" I asked.

He Kui's wooden body creaked continuously. It was afraid that it would not be able to hold out for much longer as it said. It said, "Your Excellency, as you expected, Deputy Envoy Wang Gang has bad intentions. His purpose is to lure future generations into this city. Speaking of the method to eliminate the miasma, it is a method of sacrificing living people... cluck cluck..."

It’s over, this guy is about to run out of power!

I quickly asked, "How can I keep you alive? Can I do CPR?"

He shook his wood and said, "Sir, the vitality has been lost, and the time of death has come. If a fish is out of water, how can it survive?"

"What do you mean? If we throw you back into the water, you will survive?" I asked.

He shook his wood again and said, "It's useless. Cluck, cluck."

"Okay, then the last question! Why are the actions of the wooden man in the abyss different from what he said? The direction it points to is where the real antidote is. Also, have you ever seen a girl come here alone?" I asked.

"The action was modified by my subordinates..."

After saying this, the wooden man lowered his arms, and his whole body relaxed, becoming a pile of truly useless rotten wood that couldn't even be used to make fire. I felt sorry for him for a long time, and just found it strange that why he could live until now relying on the body of a wooden man, but died without saying a word. What does it mean that "the vitality has dissipated, and the time of death has come"?

After all, this guy is also Yunwen and I's senior, so I planned to bury him, but Bailu pushed me away and asked excitedly: "Don't bury him! He hasn't told me where Yingchun is yet!"

As she said this, she looked at me sharply, as if blaming me for asking about Yingchun last.