A stranger calls himself a woodcutter? What does that mean?

"Sir, we hide during the day and go out at night, so we are not familiar with the firewood seller, but we will go and ask him tomorrow." One of them stammered.

"But those are the only people selling firewood, so it's easy to ask." Another one also reacted and said quickly.

The man looked at them without saying anything, as if he was thinking about something.

"Master Baihu."

There were footsteps coming from the night, and four men came over with shouts.

Seeing these people, the man let go of his hand.

The two night watchmen suddenly huddled together, shivering.

"How is it?" the man asked, looking at the person who came.

The four men shook their heads.

"No sign of him," they said.

They were indeed looking for someone. The two night watchmen trembled. Was he a woodcutter? Could a woodcutter offend the Jinyiwei?

Just as they were daydreaming, they saw a cold gaze coming towards them and they both froze.

Fortunately, the man waved his hands.

The two night watchmen were as if they had been pardoned. These people looked very ordinary, not as scary as the Jinyiwei in the county city. Instead, they looked very friendly and not at all eye-catching. They were dressed like ordinary people.

But after learning their identities, I dare not treat them as ordinary people no matter what.

The two men didn't even bother to take the night watchman's bell and ran away in a flash.

"Did your Excellency find anything?" a man asked.

The former centurion looked at the night.

"I've been cooking here for two days and haven't found anything of value," he said, pausing. "But do you think he'll go cut some wood and sell it for money?"

He smiled when he said this.

"After all, he is a woodcutter."

…

"I remember now."

A night watchman who had walked a few streets away finally realized that he had lost his gong and remembered something.

"I know a kind of woodcutter."

The other one was a little puzzled.

"Are there any courageous woodcutters?" he blurted out.

This sounds a bit strange.

"Originally, woodcutters didn't have any species, but wood became different. So woodcutters also became different." The night watchman said meaningfully, "You forgot that a long time ago, in Mobei there was a kind of wood that was not a tree, but a person, so there was a new kind of woodcutter."

"Could it be the woodcutter from Subi Lake?" Another night watchman also said suddenly, his expression suddenly became a little complicated. "That's a legend." [Note] That's a legend.

A long time ago, before the fall of a powerful dynasty, there was a group of fierce soldiers who took pleasure in killing prairie horse thieves and called themselves woodcutters. Among them, there was a strong man from Subi Lake who was the most legendary.

These legends were lost in the dust of history. Until Duke Cheng entered the Northland, a group of people who recalled their ancestors' warriors secretly formed a team of woodcutters.

They often went alone into the Jin territory to rob and kill Jin soldiers, just like the warriors of their ancestors. They called this action like chopping wood, and they were woodcutters.

These people were extremely brave and valiant, which made the Jin people very angry. The most important thing was that these people had strange identities. They were not soldiers of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and no one knew who they were. They appeared and disappeared mysteriously.

"The Jin people once offered a reward for capturing these woodcutters, but now you don't have to catch them. You will be rewarded if you just describe what they look like," said a night watchman.

"So powerful?" another night watchman exclaimed, and then covered his mouth.

The two were walking cautiously along the alley.

"Yes, later on, the Jin official who issued the document was found by a woodcutter. The woodcutter said, 'You want to see what I look like? Give me money.' So give me money and I'll show you enough." A night watchman continued in a low voice, unable to help imagining the woodcutter's actions and tone in the night.

"What happened next?" The other one couldn't help but feel nervous and excited, and asked anxiously while biting his fingers.

"Later, the official was beheaded by the woodcutters." First, a night watchman suddenly waved his hand on his companion's neck.

My companion screamed in fright.

The cry was particularly penetrating in the dark night, and the frightening night watchman also cried out in fear. Lights were lit on both sides of the alley, accompanied by voices asking questions.

The two night watchmen ran away quickly.

"You scared me to death."

"You are too timid."

"What happened next?"

"The woodcutter hung the official's head on his horse and was said to have placed it in a room and walked in and out of it, saying that he would keep his word and let the official have a good look at it if he was paid."

"Oh, it's really scary, but, then aren't these woodcutters warriors? They are doing good for the Great Zhou, so why do they want to arrest..."

"It's probably because these woodcutters are disobedient, disobey the government and the military camp, and act on their own."

"Oh, stop talking about this. It's none of our business. Let's go."

The night fell into silence again.

The pot on the stove was lifted up and the bubbling spicy hot pot was scooped out.

The ordinary and friendly man acted like a real boss, steadily placing the soup bowls one by one in front of the four people sitting at the table.

The four of them sat upright, as obediently as children waiting for their elders to share their meals.

"Captain, why don't we investigate these people who are chopping wood?" one of them asked.

The man who was called an adult put the pot back on the stove and wiped his hands with the towel at his waist. His movements were so skillful that it seemed as if he had been cooking here for his entire life.

"We can check it out," he said, "but let the local Royal Guards do it. Let's continue south."

As he spoke, he stretched out his hand and drew a direction on the table.

"We will increase the number of personnel in Huaiqing Caizhou Prefecture."

A man sitting at the table picked up the bowl and drank the soup in big gulps. The spiciness made him stick out his tongue.

"It's almost June and we still haven't caught this guy. I really want to send him as a wedding gift for Master." He spoke vaguely with his tongue sticking out.

"You are kidding. Why would you want him as a gift?" The captain said kindly, "You are not familiar with him."

The four men stopped talking and picked up their bowls to drink soup.

"But why did the captain ask us to go south to investigate?" A man put down his bowl and said, "He should have fled back home after escaping. Why would he flee south? Isn't that walking into a trap?"

The captain shook his head.

"What the Lord says is always right," he said. "Just do as it is said."

The four of them responded yes, drank the spicy soup without saying anything else, and got up to leave. The captain then cleaned up the dishes skillfully and swiftly, humming a little tune while washing them in the summer night, wiped them clean with a towel, put them in the dish box, and extinguished the fire one by one. Then he left slowly with his hands behind his back.

At daybreak, four or five men in an inn stood cautiously by the window and looked out.

"It's really strange. Why are there suddenly so many Royal Guards everywhere?" one of them whispered.

"It doesn't matter how many there are. They do their thing and we do ours. We don't interfere with each other." said another.

Before he could finish his words, he was slapped on the forehead by the person in front of him.

"Why don't we interfere? What are we doing that is above board?" the man said with a glare. "If we act this way, we will easily be targeted by the Royal Guards. They are the best at making trouble out of nothing. It would be a small matter to startle the enemy, but it would be troublesome if we involve the adults."

The man shrank his head and replied yes.

"What should we do?" He whispered again, "Then we won't treat the paralytic in the Fang family anymore?"

The men around him glared at him and closed the window.

"If you don't want to see him, then don't. He won't hide in Runan City forever." The leading man hesitated for a moment and said, "Tell the adults that the plan has changed. Wait for arrangements."