Chapter 72
"Shopkeeper, there is nothing unusual on the second floor." After checking the second floor, the waiter came to the door of the shopkeeper's room and knocked on the door to report.
"Got it." The shopkeeper pushed open the door, yawned, and waved at the waiter, "I won't be guarding it anymore. You keep watching. Don't let any thieves steal our things!"
"Don't worry, boss, no problem!" The waiter patted his chest and showed his white teeth.
The shopkeeper closed the door with a sleepy look on her face, bolted it, and walked to the bed to sit down. When she heard the footsteps outside fade away, she sneered silently at the door: Idiot.
After a quick inspection of the entire room, the shopkeeper quickly locked onto the large wardrobe in the room. When she walked over and opened the door, she found that there was nothing inside. A look of surprise appeared on her face: "Sure enough, it's here!"
After glancing at the doors and windows to make sure no one was watching, the shopkeeper slipped into the closet and fumbled around inside, searching for a mechanism. The next second, the sound of a mechanism emanated, but it wasn't the kind the shopkeeper was expecting. With a clang, an iron bar dropped from above the closet, trapping the shopkeeper, or rather the thief impersonating him, inside.
"Damn it, where did I reveal my flaw?" The thief patted the iron fence in frustration: "Come out, I give up." He had never seen such a cheating mechanism, there was no trace of any operation at all.
The room was silent and no one responded.
Snitch: "..."
"Why aren't you coming out yet? This is too much, isn't it? Is it fun to play tricks on people like this?" Sitting down in the cabinet, the thief knocked on the iron fence to accompany himself, and muttered like chanting: "Hello, is anyone there? Hello? Hello? Is anyone there?" If you don't come out, I'll annoy you to death!
The room was still silent.
Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, the thief rolled his eyes, stood up, and tried to squeeze himself out from between the iron bars. Unfortunately, the gap between the iron bars was very small. After squeezing for a long time, the thief finally retreated with a grimace, rubbing his sternum and gasping for air in pain.
"Damn, my bones hurt... Is there anyone here? Hello..."
A moment later, the shopkeeper, bound and shackled, woke up groggily under the bed on the other side of the room. After seeing where she was, she rolled over, peeking out from under the sheets that hung to the ground to survey the surroundings. After confirming the safety of the area and that the thief was trapped in the closet, she finally rolled out from under the bed.
"Oh, you're finally not pretending to be asleep anymore?" The thief was already grumbling tiredly. When he saw the real shopkeeper finally roll out from under the bed, he thought she did it on purpose and sneered on the spot: "Tell me, what are you going to do to me?"
The headmaster ignored him, jumped up from the ground, stood up straight, and hopped all the way to the table to sit down. He raised his foot, hooked a thin line under the table, and pulled hard.
"Boss, are you asleep? I have something to tell you." The other end of the thin wire was connected to a bell on the roof of the waiter's duty room. Upon hearing the bell ring, the waiter on night shift immediately rushed to the door of the shopkeeper's room and knocked three times: "Boss, are you still alive?" A squeak was a sign to give his subordinates a hint.
The shopkeeper, with his mouth blocked, kicked the table leg three times: Come in, I'm fine.
"I'm coming in?" The waiter kicked the door open and ran into the room to untie the rope for the shopkeeper: "Oh, shopkeeper, who did this to you?"
"Who else could it be, a thief! Bah! Cough cough cough!" The shopkeeper tore off the cloth that was gag him, took out a handkerchief and wiped his eyes, rubbed the swollen bump on the side of his head with his other hand, and glanced at the thief who was lying in the closet and banging his forehead against the fence: "I have never seen such a thief who is so uncouth, he throws smoke directly into people's eyes." When the shopkeeper was dodging backwards, he accidentally let go of his hand that was holding the window, and as a result, his head was hit by the window, and it was swollen.
"I lost this time, but I didn't lose to you, I lost to this mechanism!" The thief kicked the wardrobe a few more times in dissatisfaction: "You are so cruel. You actually hit such a sturdy wardrobe to deal with me!" Although the thief is a thief, he has some skills. It is completely normal for him to smash and kick ordinary wooden furniture. However, this wardrobe is like iron, and the thief couldn't kick it open no matter how hard he tried.
Despite being unable to escape, the thief wasn't worried. He'd been watching the inn for a long time and knew the innkeeper wasn't a murderer. Capturing him would simply send him to the yamen to collect the bounty. He had no prior criminal record, so he could easily find an opportunity to escape from the yamen.
That's right, it was him. This thief was a man. He had been targeting the female shopkeeper for three months, imitating her mannerisms and way of speaking. Today, he was pretending to be the shopkeeper, intending to make a big move at the inn. After planning for so long, he successfully brought down the shopkeeper, but was stopped by a trap.
"Boss, he is actually a man..." The waiter looked shocked.
"Yes, I saw it. Bring me another pot of boiled water that I can drink immediately." The shopkeeper coughed twice, picked up the teacup on the table and was about to drink it, but after glancing at the thief, he put it back.
"I don't accept it!"
"Whatever you want, it's the same no matter how many times you do it." The shopkeeper rolled his eyes at the thief. "You've found the right place. The money is indeed in the secret room behind the wardrobe. However, the unlocking method requires the cooperation of the forum. You, a local, will never be able to open it in your next life!"
Shopkeeper: And that money isn't mine, it's the inn's money! Our inn is state-owned. If you took our income, how am I supposed to report it later? Huh? Believe it or not, I'll spend all my savings over the past few years on a bounty for you, you bastard!
At this moment, Bei Qiao, who had already fallen asleep, inexplicably dreamed of being hired to hunt down a thief: such a huge grudge, and yet the reward was so high. If only this wasn't a dream, alas...
Outside the inn, the night watchman passed by, banging a gong. The innkeeper sent the waiter back to the duty room. He stretched his limbs, which were numb from being bound, and pulled a flute from under the bed. He knocked the thief unconscious through the iron bars and ripped off the disguise on his face. "Go to sleep. You can go to the cell tomorrow when you wake up."
The thief was knocked down before he could say a few more words: Why don’t you just tie me up? Why do you have to hit me? Are you taking revenge?
The innkeeper didn't know if there were other thieves in Langyu City, but this was the only one who had come to the inn. He had to go to work tomorrow, so he carefully closed the wardrobe door and quickly logged off.
Shopkeeper: Even though everyone calls me shopkeeper, I am actually just an employee working for the government.
The next day, after dreaming of chasing a thief for most of the night, Bei Qiao went online to the front desk to check out. He happened to see the waiter carrying the thief down from upstairs. To prevent the thief from escaping, the shopkeeper had tied him up like a dumpling and even patched his head, ensuring he would sleep like a baby before being sent to the government office.
"Hey, is this a burglar?" The guests having breakfast in the hall stretched their necks curiously.
"Isn't it the thief? Our innkeeper caught him right after he arrived at the inn, hey!" The waiter carried the thief around in front of everyone as if he were displaying a commodity: "Don't worry, our inn is absolutely safe!"
Bei Qiao followed the others and went over to take a look: If the thief knew about this advertisement, he would probably be so angry that he would wake up... Strange, why does this thief look a little familiar?
Putting this fleeting thought aside, Bei Qiao checked out and drove out of the inn through the backyard, heading north out of the city. She didn't join the others at the government gate to watch the thieves. She was now very close to the capital. As long as everything went smoothly, she would arrive there that evening.
However, the journey to another world was not always smooth sailing. Even on the highway, accidents could happen, let alone in another world where there were no cars.
"I'm on this road... Damn it! Why didn't you just listen to what I said?" The highway robber angrily chased after him, machete in hand: "You hit me with your carriage? I'll chop you to death!"
"What else?" Bei Qiao grabbed the reins with one hand and reached into his waist pocket with the other, grabbed a handful of stones and threw them at the bandits behind him.
After so many days of traveling, Bei Qiao finally found a relatively cost-effective weapon: the ubiquitous stones. Normally, in the county town, where the crowds were high and the environment was relatively safe, there was no need to collect stones. Once outside the city, however, he could simply grab a handful of stones from the street, which would generally be enough for the entire journey. If not, he could always find other supplies.
After throwing two handfuls of stones, Bei Qiao successfully knocked the bandit off his horse. These horses were obviously not the bandit's own horses. After the bandit fell off, they immediately neighed and ran away happily, even faster than Bei Qiao's carriage.
There were five bandits on four horses. After being knocked off their horses, two of them fell unconscious on the side of the road. The remaining bandits barely got up and chased for a few steps before giving up. Only one bandit who was good at light work continued to rush forward.
"Really? Why bother? Huihui and Honghong, run steadily." Bei Qiao loosened the reins and pulled out a shovel from under the car. When the bandit who was good at light work was still in mid-air and had no place to gain leverage, he jumped up with the shovel and hit the bandit back like hitting a ball, and he collided right with the other two bandits who could still run.
"It sounds good." Bei Qiao landed on the roof of the carriage and knocked the shovel with satisfaction: Although using a sword is cool, using a shovel is comfortable, and it feels like the strength he exerted is not wasted at all.
The bandits' horses had already run away to who knows where. Seeing that the bandits did not continue to catch up, Bei Qiao was too lazy to pay attention to them. He jumped onto the horses' backs, pulled the reins again, and continued to rush towards the capital.
"I can finally see the capital of another world. Fortunately, the novice village has a good geographical location and is not far from the capital." I miss the highway outside. It would be great if the monks' magic tools could be rented. It is really uncomfortable to stay in the carriage for a long time, and clearing out bandits is also very annoying.
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