Chapter 398 Encounter at the River Mouth
After a few days, the remains of the shocking battle on the shores of Hongze Lake were completely destroyed in the raging flames.

Hu Yun brought his remaining troops back to Yangzhou to report. Before leaving, he strictly ordered Wohu Village to deal with the remaining grain transport households nearby.

At the same time, Fang Jiu and his group managed to escape thanks to Hu Jinghui’s heroic resistance to the enemy’s pursuit. They took Guo Laulu and other elderly, weak, women and children to take refuge in the nearby Luzhou.

Ge Tianba and his gang hurried to Shanggou Village and were ready to start a killing spree, but they were one step too late and gained nothing.

Fang Jiu was always concerned about Hu Jinghui’s safety. He ventured back to the battlefield several times to try to find Hu Jinghui’s whereabouts.

However, the surrounding waters were vast and he only had a few companions to help him, so the number of people was too small and he ultimately failed to find any clues.

Everyone recalled the tragic scene that night when flames shot up into the sky and illuminated half the sky red. In addition, Hu Jinghui had not returned yet and the search had yielded no results, so they all thought that he was in great danger.

But Fang Jiu was deeply indebted to Hu Jinghui and had great respect for him, so it was difficult for him to accept such an outcome.

“I’m going to Yangzhou to file a complaint with the imperial envoy as ordered by Brother Wang!” This was his response when everyone in Shanggou Village urged Fang Jiu to accept reality.

After experiencing the thrilling scene of being chased by arrows from a large ship, the other villagers in Shanggou Village were all frightened and tried to persuade Fang Jiu to give up and not throw his life away in vain.

But Fang Jiu fled alone when Hu Jinghui’s life or death was uncertain, and his heart was filled with guilt.

Now there is no news from Hu Jinghui and his life or death is unknown, which makes Fang Jiu even more ashamed. He vows to fulfill Hu Jinghui’s last wish.

“That imperial envoy is a friend of Brother Wang. He will definitely help and avenge Brother Wang! At the very least, if Brother Wang encounters misfortune, we should inform his friends and family.”

“How could a hero like Brother Wang die in such a small place without knowing why?” Fang Jiu thought to himself.

Seeing how stubborn he was, the people of Shanggou Village could not persuade him and had no choice but to let him go. Of course, no one was willing to take the risk with him.

Everyone was timid. Although Fang Jiu was annoyed at their ungratefulness, he did not force them: “If you don’t go, I can go alone!”

There was only one small boat left, which was not convenient for Fang Jiu to use alone, and the others did not want him to take it away, so they left it for transportation in the village.

Fortunately, he had the money left by Hu Jinghui in his hands, so he took enough dry food and set off alone.

Along the way, Fang Jiu overcame all obstacles, slept in the open air, and did not dare to delay for even a moment.

This evening, Fang Jiu was exhausted from running around continuously. Just as he stepped into a small town, light rain suddenly began to fall from the sky, and the rain became increasingly dense.

The sky was getting darker, thunder could be heard in the distance, and the rain was getting heavier.

Fang Jiu touched the letter hidden in the core of the bundle: “This shows that it cannot withstand water!”

After much thought, he decided to rest for a night in the town ahead, just in time to wait for the rain to pass.

He wrapped the bundle tightly in his clothes and ran towards the town with big strides, splashing water under his feet.

At the entrance of the town stands a boundary marker, on which are engraved three large characters in official script – “Hekou Town”.

Hekou Town is not very big. There is only one inn in the town for people to rest. It is located at the entrance of the town, with a convenient location and easy to see.

Before Fang Jiu had even run a few steps, he had already seen the small shop with the word “Zhang” hanging on its sign.

Strangely, the door of the inn was closed. There were six or seven people standing in front of the door, all of them strong and powerful, knocking on the door.

“Is anyone there?” Li Yuanfang walked forward with an umbrella and knocked on the door gently.

The raindrops hit the umbrella with crackling sounds, and there was no sound in the store.

Di Renjie walked up, stretched out his hand and knocked on the door, saying: “Shopkeeper, a traveler is here to stay, please open the door!”

There was still no sound from inside the door.

“Not at home!” Li Yuanfang shook his head gently. He looked around and said, “Sir, there is only this inn on the street, and it is closed. It seems that we have to find someone else to stay with.”

Suddenly, there was a “bang” from inside the door, as if a bench had fallen to the ground.

Di Renjie was stunned, and quickly reached out and knocked on the door and asked, “Is anyone in the store?”

There was another eerie silence in the store, the only sound being the rain falling on the umbrellas and on the street.

Di Renjie and Li Yuanfang looked at each other and found it very strange.

At this moment, a slightly panicked voice finally came from inside the door: “Who is it?”

Di Renjie quickly replied: “I am a passerby who wants to stay overnight. Please open the door!”

After a long time, there was a sound of hurried footsteps from inside, and no one knew what was going on inside. Finally, finally, the door opened a crack, and a thin shopkeeper showed his head, but he didn’t say anything, instead he looked at who Di Renjie and the others were.

Di Renjie became more and more confused, so he asked, “Excuse me, are you the store owner?”

The shop owner nodded and said, “You guys want to stay in the hotel?”

“That’s right.” Di Renjie nodded naturally.

The shop owner looked embarrassed and said, “To be honest, our shop only has three guest rooms. I’m afraid it’s not enough for you guys.”

At some point, Fang Jiu also arrived at the store door. He heard the store owner say, “I’m alone! Can I stay at the store?”

Di Renjie and Li Yuanfang looked at Fang Jiu who rushed to their side. They saw that this man was in tattered clothes and was holding the bundle tightly in his arms.

When the shop owner saw another customer coming, he looked even more embarrassed and hesitated for a moment.

“Oh! Shop owner, could you please open the door first so that I can go in and take shelter from the rain?” Fang Jiu became more and more impatient.

He was anxious, worried that the letter would be damaged by the rain.

The shop owner was anxious because the customer’s request was reasonable and he didn’t dare to refuse: “Okay…Okay, come in!”

Fang Jiu was overjoyed and immediately rushed in to take shelter from the rain.

Seeing this, Di Renjie, Li Yuanfang and others naturally followed Fang Jiu and wanted to enter the store.

When the innkeeper saw that this group of people were so numerous and powerful and wanted to stay in the inn, he immediately stopped them and said, “Alas, sir, sir, there is no room for you with so many people!”

Di Renjie frowned, stopped and asked, “Are there any other inns in this town?”

The shop owner shook his head and said, “This…is gone. I’m the only one left.”

Di Renjie smiled and said, “Then we are just a bother. Just squeeze in. It’s okay!”

Seeing that Di Renjie and the others insisted, the shop owner hesitated for a moment, and finally nodded and said, “Okay.”

Di Renjie, Li Yuanfang and others looked at each other in bewilderment. They had traveled all over the country for so many years, but had never met such a boss?

The outer hall of the inn was short and narrow, and the lights were very dim. Led by the innkeeper, Di Renjie and his companions walked into the house and looked around.

As soon as Fang Jiu entered the store, he checked the condition of the letter. Seeing Di Renjie and others following in, he quickly put the letter away.

Di Renjie caught a glimpse of his movements and was secretly surprised: “Today is really a day of endless strange things.”

The shop owner picked up the oil lamp on the counter and said to Di Renjie and Fang Jiu, “Everyone, follow me!”

Di Renjie and Fang Jiu nodded and followed the shop owner through the outer hall and into the courtyard. There were four southern rooms lined up in the courtyard, and only the one at the westernmost end had a light on.

Di Renjie asked, “Hey, owner, you just said there are only three guest rooms in the store, but I see there are four in this courtyard!”

The owner’s expression changed and he stammered, “Ah, ah… the room with the light on is already occupied.”

Di Renjie nodded, not doubting him: “Oh, that’s how it is.”

As he was talking, the shop owner walked to the door of a room, opened it and said to Di Renjie, “Sir, this is the room. Do you still want to stay here?”

When Di Renjie and others walked into the room, a musty smell hit their noses. It seemed that it had not been cleaned for some time.

He looked around and saw only a table and a couch in the room.

But Di Renjie didn’t despise it. He nodded and smiled, “It’s already very good.”

The shop owner looked at Fang Jiu again and said, “Sir, there are so many of them. Why don’t you squeeze in with them?”

Fang Jiu hugged the bag tightly in his arms and looked at Li Yuanfang and other experts with a wary heart.

Di Renjie could probably see Fang Jiu’s nervousness, so he gently comforted him, “How about this, I squeeze in with you tonight?”

Seeing that Di Renjie was quite old and amiable, and did not seem like a bad person, Fang Jiu nodded.

　The weather is getting colder, please keep warm. I was freezing these past two days.

　
(End of this chapter)