Chapter 19 Chapter 19 Hezhou stood at the gate of Chen Mansion...
Hezhou stood in front of the Chen Mansion and watched as Xie Xunzhi was taken away, walked through the alley and disappeared into the street. He repeated the words he had just heard over and over in his mind.
They were walking on the western road, and further ahead was Zhao An's territory. Did Xie Xunzhi want him to block the road first?
But the road was not flat and connected to the forest, so it was not necessary to pass through it. Hezhou felt anxious and his nails dug into his flesh.
Whatever! Let's take a gamble and find a general direction first.
A group of people stood in front of the door with their heads exposed, looking out. The housekeeper had left at some point, and the servants who were watching the show did not dare to step forward, for fear of being noticed and retaliated against.
Hezhou turned his gaze to the maids he had just interrogated.
"Which way does your wife take to go home?"
The maid folded her hands and pointed in the opposite direction, "My wife usually takes the road to the east back of the mountain."
"East?" Hezhou stepped forward, a cold glint in his dark eyes. "Are you sure?"
The maid was startled and took two steps back, nodding woodenly, "Yes... Madam's home is in Taodu, so we have to go east."
Hezhou followed the guard's path and ran to catch up with him. Soon, they were completely confused and there were more people around. It didn't look like a guard was passing by at all.
He looked around but found no trace, so he grabbed a passing child and took out a few copper coins to weigh in front of him.
"Can you help me by going to the government office and asking someone to come to the Chen Mansion to look for someone?"
The child was holding a windmill and had three teeth missing. He made a five sign with his hand and stammered, "You have to pay more!"
"Okay! Can you remember what I said?" Hezhou agreed readily.
"Of course! Go to the government office and ask them to come to the Chen Mansion to look for someone. I'm well-known in the surrounding counties..."
After listening to the first half, Hezhou bent down, put the copper coin into his hand, and ran towards the east.
Xie Xunzhi walked backwards with small steps as the guard did. He had been bending his waist for a long time and his physical strength was no longer able to keep up. Even if the other party scolded him, he still couldn't speed up. There were many small scratches on his neck.
The guard urged him into the alley, found a straw rope as thick as a finger from a waste basket, tied him up, then changed his hand, took the knife, and pushed Xie Xunzhi forward.
Xie Xunzhi smelled a faint smell of mutton from the rope, and he felt the tip of a knife poking at him from behind.
"When did you let me go? Or did you never plan to..."
The guard grabbed him and said in a strange tone, "Don't worry, I'll let you go after we pass the next two hills."
Xie Xunzhi looked back with a frown on his face. The tip of the knife was touching his clothes, and he wondered if it had pierced them. He should have known not to wear new clothes.
He followed with his hands hanging down into the narrow and deep alley. The people around him seemed to have moved away long ago. There was silence and chaos. Every house was locked, and the remaining Spring Festival couplets on the door had long turned white.
"Why did you insist on stealing the jade pendant? Given your knowledge of this place, you should be out here often. Why don't you just run away?"
The guard sneered, "You really don't know anything? The jade pendant is a token of trust between the Chen family and the bandits on the mountain. Without it, I can't even cross the mountain."
He let out a long sigh and continued, "Ask more questions. I won't survive if I go back anyway."
Xie Xunzhi frowned. No wonder the governance of the three counties on the mountain was so bad. It would be strange if the businessmen and bandits colluded with each other.
"Then what can you do if you go back now? You might as well go and look for the Third Madam properly."
The guard suddenly jumped up and put the knife to his neck, leaving a long cut that slowly oozed blood.
"Are you deaf? I told you that the Third Madam is not allowed to go back! If I am transferred to the security guard position, I won't even be qualified to go back with her!" The security guard shouted at the top of his lungs, his eyes full of rage and he wished he could tear him apart in the next second.
Xie Xunzhi was pushed against the wall, his eyes staring at him calmly. "What I mean is, there's nothing you can do if you go back now. It's a dead end, isn't it?"
"What do you care about me?" The guard pushed him forward without exerting any strength in his hands. Xie Xunzhi staggered and almost bumped into the pile of dry grass that was burning.
"Looking at your physique, you really look like you're from Beijing." The guard curled his lips sarcastically, pulled him up nonchalantly, and continued pushing him forward.
Xie Xunzhi pursed his lips and said nothing. He hid a handful of fireweed in his sleeves. The roots of the grass pricked his palms. He took a long breath and slid the hay down along his clothes.
Neither of them spoke. They walked quietly for a while until the scene in front of them gradually became familiar.
Xie Xunzhi had walked with his back turned for a while and didn't notice the change in direction, but during the conversation he knew that the Third Madam was going home by the east direction. He just didn't know if Hezhou would know, as it would be difficult to find her once she entered the mountains.
"Why don't you ask me why I go back?"
Xie Xunzhi paused while breaking the grass, lowered his eyes and shook his head, "Not interested."
"Hmph! Then I'll tell you what I'm saying. The last time I came back, someone sent a message saying my wife was having a difficult labor. At that time, I begged the Third Madam not to take me away!" He patted his chest heavily, his expression extremely painful. "Can you understand how I felt at that time? I don't have any parents. How would she survive after giving birth to a child? After that vicious woman came, she shattered my last bit of hope!"
Xie Xunzhi continued talking, but took the opportunity to throw the dry grass more covertly. He had prepared for the worst and wanted to leave some behind to take to the mountains.
The guard continued to mutter to himself, "She is a vicious woman who enjoys seeing people suffer..."
He pointed his spearhead at Xie Xunzhi, the blade against his waist. "Why didn't you say anything? Weren't you very talkative just now?"
Xie Xunzhi felt a little helpless. He tried on his clothes and found that they were probably torn. He had finally found some cheap clothes that had not been sold for a long time.
"Does the Third Madam know that you are married?"
"Of course."
Xie Xunzhi rubbed the dry grass in his palm and nodded, "Then she is indeed not human."
This time, it was the guard who remained silent and escorted him to the edge of the county town.
Xie Xunzhi was shocked and went up the mountain now! This place is not easy to walk to or find.
Fortunately, we just walked around the foot of the mountain to a dilapidated temple. The inside had not been cleaned much and there were large bloodstains on the ground. The already dilapidated temple became even more dilapidated after the case happened.
He opened the door and pushed Xie Xunzhi in, then tied him up against a pillar inside. There was a hole not far above his head, and the wind blowing in blew on him.
Xie Xunzhi watched the guard find the bag he had hidden long ago and asked, "So you were already prepared to take someone hostage?"
The guard patted his dusty bag and said, "What else? If I sneak out, I'll be taken back in less than a day. Who knows what the government will say then?"
"Then what can you do if you go back? Won't you still be arrested?"
The other party took out a piece of bread and started to eat it. He looked at him and laughed softly. "I can only say that I am lucky, thanks to you! As long as I can go back, I won't die."
Xie Xunzhi did not ask any more questions. He looked around and saw that the guard had only prepared two water bottles and five cakes. If he really followed the time of the two hills, he would definitely run out of food the next day, so he could not enter the mountain.
He rolled up the dry grass into a ball and put it in his sleeve, and there was not much left.
"You just said that before you came here, someone sent you a letter telling you about the difficult birth?"
The guard stopped and rolled his eyes at him. "Right?"
"That means your wife isn't from your family. You signed a death contract. Even if the rules aren't strict, how did you get in touch?"
"It was fate, of course. I met her when I was running errands, and fell in love with her at first sight!" The security guard smiled sweetly, and the biscuit in his hand shook and fell into pieces.
Xie Xunzhi heard this with a contemptuous tone, "It's the Third Madam who thinks you're secretly cheating!"
"Nonsense! She's a vicious woman! She's just jealous that I have a child!" The guard stood up with a gloomy expression. "If she were a human being, she would have released the indenture and allowed me to become an ordinary citizen!"
"If she really doesn't bring you here, what about the arranged marriage on your side?" Xie Xunzhi's eyes flashed and his tone was steady.
The guard's smile widened for a moment. He stepped forward and said, "So you knew that. But it doesn't matter. After all, we're just living together in this mansion. We can't get a divorce. You haven't given me any children."
He tore off a piece of bread and stuffed it into Xie Xunzhi's mouth. "It's better to say less and save some energy. I only said to let you go, not to let you leave completely."
Xie Xunzhi bit the cake, leaned against the pillar and tilted his head back, as if to prevent the cake from falling out of his mouth.
"Eat, it's time..."
The guard just turned around and took a step when he was immediately crushed to death by Hezhou falling from the sky. The ruined temple was quite high.
Hezhou jumped down and landed on the guard, who died completely in a moment.
When he got up, he couldn't move one of his legs and looked around in panic.
The guard on the ground had his eyes rolled back. There was a piece of bread stuck in his throat and the injury was so severe that he thrashed around a few times and then couldn't move.
Hezhou swallowed and took a while to untie Xie Xunzhi's rope. His fingers trembled and he tied the rope into knots several times.
The thick rope was not tied tightly, it just wrapped around too many times and fell to the ground with a dull sound. Xie Xunzhi moved his wrist and looked at Hezhou with concern.
"Are you... okay?"
Hezhou's vacant eyes gradually returned to normal, and his body couldn't stop shaking. "Xunzhi... let's run..."
"Run? Why?" Xie Xunzhi ignored the pain in his arm and raised his hand and waved it in front of Hezhou.
Hezhou grabbed his hand and said, "I seem to have crushed someone to death. What are you going to do? You don't have an identity yet. I can go to jail... but I just want to be separated from you... You might as well kill me..."
He spoke in a daze as if he hadn't reacted for a moment, holding Xie Xunzhi tightly in his hand, as if he was holding on to the last straw.
Xie Xunzhi pulled him with his backhand, walked to the side of the corpse and squatted on one leg. He stretched his slender hand under the guard's nose. There was no breath left, and the pulse was also very weak.
"There's a high probability that he won't survive."
"Then let's run!" He Zhou looked at him in panic. Seeing that he didn't move, his voice gradually became lower. "It's okay not to run. Can you come to see me every few days? I really..."
He wasn't greedy, so he asked Xie Xunzhi to come at least once every two days! Otherwise, he would really go crazy.
Xie Xunzhi squeezed him hard and said, "Brother He, don't worry. He is guilty of treason, theft, and kidnapping. According to the law, he should be executed or severely punished. Don't worry, just give some compensation to the Chen Mansion."
"If the Chen family says they didn't report it to the police, then kidnapping me is true. We'll just execute them on the spot and go back to complete the formalities."
Hezhou hugged Xie Xunzhi and buried his head in his neck. The familiar fragrance made him feel at ease. "Then now..."
He always forgets that this is not the era he is familiar with, and human life here does not seem to be so precious. Just now, Xie Xunzhi was almost cut in the throat by the knife, and the only person in the world who knew him well was gone.
But he was also sick. His first thought was not guilt, but the thought that he would not be able to see Xie Xunzhi if he went to jail.
The wet touch spread across Xie Xunzhi's neck like an electric current. He opened his eyes wide and covered his neck with his hands. Hezhou had just licked his wound.
"Let's go find Elder Song first! Collect... the body... Have the Chen family notify the family, and if no one comes, cremate it..."
"Okay, let's go together." Hezhou was stubborn like a child who had not grown up yet, lying on him with his hands tangled in his hair.
"Brother He...are you okay..."
Hezhou lowered his head and pushed him out of the dilapidated temple. "Xunzhi, wait until the money comes, and then we'll find a fortune teller to calculate this temple!"
There was also the road at the foot of the mountain. Both accidents happened nearby. He thought that this dilapidated temple was the result of both natural and man-made disasters, and perhaps there was something wrong with the feng shui.
"Please don't let there be a third case. I can't stand it."
"Okay, let's recruit some people first. If there's still money left, we'll ask someone to come and take a look." Xie Xunzhi patted him soothingly. The marks left by the rope on his face were particularly conspicuous against the white background.
Hezhou held his hand carefully, his lips moved slightly as if he wanted to say something, but then he thought about whether the person was already dead or it was his fault, so the words he wanted to say were blocked in his mouth. He was just angry at someone unknown.
This temple and this road cannot be kept.
The seals on the windows of the dilapidated temple have not been removed yet, but the seals on the door are missing. I guess the guard tore them off when he put his things away.
Hezhou moved a stone to block the door, and Xie Xunzhi stood in front of the door waiting for him.
"How do you know he would pass by?" Xie Xunzhi was a little curious, and even more curious about how Hezhou climbed up.
Hezhou smiled with his lips curled. "When I first heard them say that the Third Madam was going east to go home, I felt something was wrong. Then I saw the secret code you left on the road, so I naturally knew which way to go. I took the main road faster than you guys, but when I got there, I found that I could not see you and could not find the secret code. I was so panicked."
"And then? How did you climb up to the temple, which is so high?"
"At first I wanted to stand higher, so I climbed a tree, but I still couldn't see. So I stepped on the tree branches and jumped to the top of the dilapidated temple." Hezhou raised his eyebrows at him with some pride.
Xie Xunzhi looked at him disapprovingly. "Let's not talk about the trees surrounding the dilapidated temple. They're all quite a distance away. Besides, if you just jump up there, aren't you afraid of falling down due to the disrepair?"
"Wasn't I anxious? It did fall and scared me, but only a little debris fell off, and the person is fine, right? The most important thing is that I saw you when I went up." Hezhou smiled and winked at him, trying to take credit from Xie Xunzhi.
Xie Xunzhi didn't know what to say for a moment, he just walked forward quickly.
"Hey! Wait for me."
Hezhou fell to the ground as soon as he took a big step forward, still holding the corner of Xie Xunzhi's clothes in his hand, and even Xie Xunzhi couldn't stand steadily.
Xie Xunzhi reacted and immediately turned around to support Hezhou, "What's wrong?"
He lifted up his shirt and could see a large swelling through his clothes and socks.
"I think I got hurt when I jumped down just now..."
Xie Xunzhi squatted down and said, "Come up, I'll carry you."
"You?" Hezhou looked him up and down, then stood up on one foot awkwardly, raising one arm. "No, just hold on to me. I remember there's a small pharmacy across the alley ahead."
Xie Xunzhi patted his arm. "What's wrong? Are you worried that I can't carry you? After all, I am a man."
He Zhou pressed on him and waved his hands quickly, "How can that be! You were already seriously injured last time, and you thought the medicine was too expensive and kept delaying taking it. You haven't recovered yet, and you were kidnapped just now, and you almost lost your life again. Hey! What's this to you is nothing compared to me."
He leaned against Xie Xunzhi and spoke lazily, remembering in his heart that he still had to get some medicine for Xie Xunzhi later, as there was still a little left from last time.
Gradually, he felt something was wrong. Xie Xunzhi seemed to be leaning more and more towards him. As soon as his left foot touched the ground, he screamed in pain and fell directly into Xie Xunzhi's arms.
Xie Xunzhi smiled and said, "Be careful."
"Sir! Sir!" The shouting voice was getting closer, and Hehua came forward breathlessly to support Hezhou on the other side.
Chunjuan stood at the back and could not intervene. "Sir, we went to the west to look for no one. We went to the back alley to see if there was anyone there, but there was hay thrown on the ground all the way and followed us here. Fortunately, we found you."
"Chunjuan, go to the yamen and get the silver under the quilt in the closet in my room." Xie Xunzhi stopped.
"good!"
Hezhou was carried forward like this, with Xie Xunzhi beside him laughing softly.
"Brother He, take a rest first."
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