Chapter 30: The man from Fenglin Village rubbed his hands together, looking very honest...
The chief clerk and the legal advisor had not lied to him. Not long after, the strong man who had robbed them outside the county town appeared in front of them. When the strong man smiled, the two pounds of fat on his face shook non-stop. He did not look like a bandit at all, but just an ordinary citizen, and his whole body was full of idiocy.
According to Li Zhubu, this man was originally a butcher in the city. His mother was seriously ill and he had lost all his money, so he came to Li Zhubu for help. Later, when bandits were rampant outside the city, he sent him as an undercover agent. Because his mother was still in the city, Li Zhubu was not worried about his loyalty.
"What brings you two to this mountain stronghold? Is there anything I can do to help you?"
The man rubbed his hands together and looked quite honest.
"I'm just looking for someone for my sister. I've already looked through the case files in the city, but there aren't any clues. I have no choice but to take the risk and search in this village. As for facing them, just say that I've offended the city's masters and am seeking refuge with them."
After hearing his explanation, the man nodded, as if he accepted his words, or perhaps he was just being polite to do things for his superiors and didn't want to know too much.
Following behind the two of them was An, who always managed to go unnoticed when he kept silent.
Entering from the valley at the foot of the mountain, crossing several streams, the road was rugged and difficult for pedestrians, let alone livestock. In just half an hour, we saw a huge rock lying across the road, which had rolled down from the mountain in an unknown year. After walking a few hundred steps and turning over the ridge, we suddenly saw an open flat land and a high wall made of stones. There were high towers on both sides for observation and defense against the enemy, and in the middle was a gate made of sharpened logs.
The strong man shouted twice and gave a secret signal, and the door slowly opened inward.
The strong man led them into the mountain stronghold. Just as Mr. Chihua had investigated two days ago, Xiao Wangshu saw many women washing clothes or farming on the way, and even children chasing and playing.
If you come here by chance, you will just think it is an ordinary village.
With the sudden entry of outsiders, Xiao Wangshu and An naturally received a lot of stares, but they did not feel uncomfortable.
"A Xiu, I'll have to ask you for help tomorrow."
Following the sound, I saw a middle-aged woman in a short brown jacket, smiling sweetly, holding a girl's hand affectionately. The girl was different from other girls in the boudoir. She was dressed in black, with her black hair tied up high. Her eyebrows were full of heroic spirit. If she had a beard on her chin, she would probably look like a boy.
"Call me Second in Command!"
Before the heroic girl could speak, the short middle-aged man next to the woman frowned and expressed disapproval.
"Uncle, you can call me whatever you want."
The woman waved her hand, obviously not caring about the address. After hearing what she said, the middle-aged woman glared at the man with obvious pride, and then said affectionately to the girl named A Xiu:
"Xiu, take this egg back home and use it to nourish you and your brother."
The girl named Ah Xiu started to panic. She pushed the basket with both hands and stepped back, shouting as she ran:
"Aunt, I don't want it. If I take it, my brother will scold me. Besides, helping is my duty. I don't want it."
After saying that, he disappeared in a flash.
The aunt and uncle smiled at each other helplessly and went into the house.
The man leading the way also said with a smile:
"A Xiu is our second in command, and her brother is our first in command."
Then he led his men towards the largest building in the village.
As soon as I entered the house, before I could see who was there, I heard a rough male voice.
"Don't be so reserved, just sit down."
The next second, he saw a big man wearing a tiger skin with half of his arm exposed. The big man had very thick eyebrows, lush hair, copper bell-like eyes, a tuft of thick black beard, and calluses on his palms, as if he often used knives, guns, sticks and clubs. At first glance, he was a martial artist.
He seemed to be very strong, and it looked like he could lift two Xiao Wangshus with one hand. Xiao Wangshu knew without any introduction that the man was the leader of the village.
Xiao Wangshu had guessed this before they met, and now that they met, there was no way he couldn't recognize him. This was an "acquaintance" from his previous life.
"Mr. Xiao, just stay here. The city will never find this place."
After the guides introduced themselves to each other, the head of the Tao family began to speak enthusiastically.
"Thank you so much, Boss."
Hearing the boss's agreement, Xiao Wangshu naturally breathed a sigh of relief. If it were someone else, he would still have to make backup plans, but if it was this boss Tao, he wouldn't have to worry so much. The boss Tao's full name was Tao Hean, and he was a simple, honest, upright and very enthusiastic person. He could not tolerate any flaws in his eyes, and he especially hated corrupt officials.
In his previous life, he was recommended by the old general and became famous for ambushing the southern barbarian army and defeating the larger force with a smaller one. He was then appointed as General of Cavalry by the old emperor. No one in the court knew his background. They only knew that he joined the army for revenge. However, at that time, General Tao was alone and had no family.
"We are brothers, why be so polite? If you don't mind, just call me Brother Sheng Tao. You can stay here with peace of mind."
Tao He'an couldn't stand these flowery words, but he also had some respect for scholars, but that was all.
Not wanting to waste any more words, he simply walked to the side of Xiao Wangshu and An, put his arms around them, and led them to the arranged residence.
In this way, Xiao Wangshu and his companions could stay in this village.
The arrival of unfamiliar faces in the village is bound to attract the attention of the indigenous people. These "villagers" dare not approach them, but are full of curiosity about them.
The first ones to come out to "investigate" were the children in the village.
"Brother can actually read, how amazing!"
Several little kids squatted in a circle, with Xiao Wangshu in the middle of them. He was holding a long wooden stick he had picked up at random and writing and drawing on the ground. The little kids would exclaim in surprise from time to time as he gestured.
In the shadow of the eaves of the house, An was leaning against a bamboo with an expressionless face. He clasped his hands together and looked in the direction of Xiao Wangshu, as if he was distracted. But suddenly he raised his head and looked towards the gate of the courtyard. Within a few seconds, he heard the rough voice of Brother Tao.
"Mr. He!"
Looking towards the source of the sound, several little kids stood up one by one, including Xiao Wangshu. At this time, Tao Hean had already stepped over the threshold and walked towards Xiao Wangshu and the others.
"What is Mr. He doing?"
When he got closer, Tao Hean could clearly see the beautiful small characters on the ground. Although he could not read a single word, he knew that they were words. After thinking for a moment, he suddenly smiled and said sincerely:
"My parents were gone when I was young, and I never read this sage book, but I did hear a saying that there is gold in this book. Village, ahem, ahem, to be honest, I grew up eating food from hundreds of families. The people in the village treated me well, so of course I have to repay them.
Mr. He is a scholar and a great gentleman. I wonder if he is willing to teach the children to read. I know the rules. If Mr. He agrees, I will cover all his expenses for food, clothing, housing and transportation during the next few days."
After saying that, he patted Xiao Wangshu's shoulders twice, as if entrusting him with an important task.
Nowadays, one has to bow his head under the eaves. Xiao Wangshu came here to find out the strength of the village, but the people in the village avoided him like the plague. Only these little kids were willing to communicate with him. Now that he has an identity, he can get closer to the residents of the village.
"I came here to seek refuge because of Brother Tao's kindness. Since Brother Tao asked, I naturally agreed. However, since I want to teach, there is no need to limit age. I will teach anyone who is willing to learn."
With Tao Hean's order, the venue and time for the teaching were quickly arranged, and Xiao Wangshu didn't need to do much. However, after a few days, the people in the village changed their attitude towards him. They called him "Sir" all the time, and even if they had stewed meat at home, they would send him two pieces.
Taking this opportunity, Xiao Wangshu also found out a lot of information. Just as he had guessed before, this village was indeed formed by the gathering of nearby villagers. It was also because of the complicated taxation in recent years, and the impact of the flood in Licheng a few years ago, that the village became larger and larger.
Although they became bandits, fortunately they had not killed anyone and were not extremely vicious. It seemed that the mysterious disappearance of the people in the city had nothing to do with them.
Now that he had figured out the origins of this village, Xiao Wangshu should leave. However, he was reluctant to leave these children, and he also had to think of a foolproof escape route for the villagers in this village.
Before dawn that day, the sounds of dogs barking and chickens crowing filled the village, just like any other day. However, several discordant noises emanated from the village gate.
The people in the village were in a state of chaos, and they were rushing towards the village gate. Xiao Wangshu went out upon hearing the noise, and saw the girl behind the door. There was a light layer of frost on her hair and shoulders, and it was obvious that she had been waiting for a long time.
Although he had never met this person, he had met her several times. She was the sister of Brother Tao, the girl named Meixiu.
Although she is a girl, she has the heroic spirit of her brother, which makes people want to be on good terms with her.
"Sir, my elder brother has asked you to seek refuge."
She performed an awkward scholarly gesture, which I guess she learned in class a few days ago.
"Well, I wonder what happened outside."
He agreed and waved to An, who had been standing in the side room for some time, telling him to pack up his things, and then he started to inquire about the situation outside.
"No need to clean up, sir, just follow me."
She said this, but An didn't listen. He had already entered the house and came out in a few seconds, bringing all the key things with him. Tao Meixiu thought she had listened to her, so she turned around and took the two of them to follow the crowd deeper into the valley.
The crowd was very quiet and not in a panic. From time to time, one could hear conversations between two or three people. If it weren't for the clear shouting coming from the village gate, one would have no idea that they were rushing to seek refuge.
"Listen up, everyone in the village! You have become bandits and openly rebelled against the imperial court, and you deserve death. If you hand over your leader, you will be forgiven of all your crimes. If you continue to be stubborn and refuse to change your ways, don't blame me for charging into the village!"
It sounded like someone from the imperial court. After a moment's thought, Xiao Wangshu realized that the person outside the village was probably the General Wang, whom he had never seen but only heard of.
It’s just that he had never heard of this person’s deeds in his previous life, and he didn’t know his background well.
In the previous life, it was two years later. It was the fiftieth birthday of His Majesty. He held an imperial examination to appoint officials. Local officials were rotated every five years. The officials sent here found that the people of the city, along with the officials, had mysteriously disappeared.
The matter was of great importance and was reported to the capital at all levels. The emperor sent imperial envoys to investigate the matter, but there was no result. In the end, the case was hastily concluded in the name of plague. Although he felt that something was wrong, he was deeply involved in the struggle for the throne at that time and was too busy to do anything else.
"Somehow the evil officials in the county figured out our village's location and dispatched troops overnight to eliminate us! My eldest brother said there must be a traitor in the village."
Hearing the sound coming from outside the village, Tao Meixiu, who was walking quickly in front, clenched her fists and gritted her teeth, and said a few words in the local dialect. Xiao Wangshu didn't understand, but from the tone of her voice, he guessed that she was cursing.
Several thoughts turned around and around in Xiao Wangshu's mind.
"Have you found the traitor?"
Just leading the way, Tao Meixiu said without turning back:
"I don't know about that. Big Brother just told me to take good care of the people in the village."
Since he didn't know, Xiao Wangshu didn't ask any more questions. They arrived at Fenglin Village, the place where they took refuge, in silence.
This place is indeed not easy to find. First, there is a main road leading to the depths of the valley. On the waist of the tree stands an old locust tree that requires two people to hug it. Behind the old locust tree is a collapsed house. As for the broken walls, there are overgrown weeds, interspersed with a few unknown small flowers, which are very beautiful.
It's just such an inconspicuous place. Who would have known that behind the broken wall of the old house, there is a long and narrow deep cave. There are patches of thorny vines at the entrance of the cave. You have to push aside the vines to reveal an opening that is only wide enough for one person to pass through.
Not to mention late at night, even if someone entered the cave during the day and blocked the entrance with stones, the guards wouldn't be able to notice anything, but it still made Xiao Wangshu feel suspicious.
Knowing that the leader of the village was General Tao, Xiao Wangshu couldn't help but have some guesses. If there was such a place to hide the people in the village, why did General Tao go alone to join the old general and become a soldier to kill the enemy.
He probably didn't know all of this.
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Minor repair
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