It rained heavily that night, and the strong wind brought the rainstorm, washing the filthy Songjiang City.

The rainwater under the eaves, in the alleys and on the streets gathered into small streams and flowed into the ditches beside the road.

Soon, the water level in the canal rose visibly.

The rat hiding in the ditch quickly jumped out and sought refuge in a high place.

Suddenly, two rats as big as humans jumped out of the canal.

The beggar who was taking shelter under the eaves was so frightened that he fled into the rain, screaming, "The rat has become a demon!"

How could there be monsters in this scientific world? So they were actually the Xu brothers who escaped from Tuisi Garden.

When Xu Fan and Xu Ying stood up from the stinking ditch full of mud, the heavy rain washed away the mud on their heads, faces and bodies. The two finally understood a truth: some birds are born to be caged... bullshit!

They are now cold, tired, hungry, and almost fainting from their own stink. How can they still have the ability to think?

The two did not dare to stay where they were, supporting each other and running away.

They had planned to go back to Xu Ying to catch their breath before deciding on the next step. But when they went through a long detour and finally arrived at Afang Garden in the west of the city, they saw that the gate was sealed and there were officials guarding the door, so they dared not fall into the trap again.

The two stray dogs and drowned rats quickly retracted their heads and ran away for a long distance in one breath.

"No, no, I can't walk anymore..." Xu Ying sat down under the eaves of a house's door, shivering and gasping for breath.

Xu Fan was a generation older than Xu Ying, and was usually quite self-disciplined, so his condition was better. Seeing Xu Ying lying there like a dead dog, he had no choice but to sit down, take off his outer Taoist robe, and wanted to squeeze out the water. But he smelled a strong stench on it, and he threw it away in disgust.

"Brother, what should we do?" Xu Ying asked tremblingly after he recovered his breath.

"First of all, we must not let Hai Rui catch us. If he is caught, we will be dead." Xu Fan looked at Xu Ying and thought that at most he would be sent to exile.

"It's not that serious, is it?" Xu Ying was shocked. "Isn't it just a crime of surrender? Is it worth the death penalty?"

"Are you not going to settle Lin Run's account?" Xu Fan glanced at his idiot little brother.

"Ah?" Xu Ying was stunned and asked, "Isn't it about returning the land?"

"Naive! If it weren't for the fact that we are carrying Lin Run's case, even if Hai Rui is the real King of Hell, he wouldn't dare to come to our house and make trouble!" Xu Fan said in hatred, "This guy is taking advantage of the situation and finding an excuse to completely destroy my Xu family!"

"Alas..." Xu Ying cried, "If I had known this would happen, I would have returned all the land."

"Go tell that to the old man, what's the point of telling me?" Xu Fan gnashed his teeth and said, "When I fought with Lin Run, I hoped to lose money to avoid disaster, but you are all misers..."

"What's the point of you saying this now?" Xu Ying didn't want to hear it anymore, and muttered, "Why don't you think about the next step quickly?"

"Hmm..." Xu Fan suppressed his anger. Besides, who could have expected that Hai Rui would be so crazy that he would not even care about his own career?

After holding it in for a long while, he said in a muffled voice: "Let's escape from Songjiang first."

"Ah?" Xu Ying opened her mouth wide.

Zhao Hao kept the news secret, and the two of them didn't know that Lin Run had woken up. Otherwise, they would not have embarked on this tragic road of no return...

"What?" Xu Fan glared at him, asking him not to disturb the residents, and lowered his voice and said, "Didn't you hear about it in the sewer? Our family was wiped out. All of our relatives have family members imprisoned in the governor's office. If we go to them now, we might be taken away and exchanged for our family members."

"Oh." Xu Ying felt sad when she heard that. She asked helplessly, "Where are we going?"

"Let's go to Huzhou!" Xu Fan looked to the west and whispered, "There is a house and manor that my grandfather bought when he was an official in Huzhou. My father was born there. When my father was young, Zen Master Shuiyun Yuexin told him that he would 'be born in Zhejiang and eventually return to Zhejiang'. He took it seriously and has been asking me to take good care of that place all these years."

After a pause, he sighed, "I didn't expect it to become our shelter."

Xu Ying nodded. Huzhou is in Zhejiang, and Hai Rui can't reach it. If there are still reliable people there, it is indeed a good place to go.

"Once we get there, I will contact the officials in the court and bring down the guy named Hai to clear the name of our Xu family!" Xu Fan said hatefully.

"Yeah." Xu Ying finally ignited a little hope and gritted her teeth and said, "I must fight back!"

Then he said weakly, "But it's 300 miles to Huzhou, and we have no money. Are we going to beg for food?"

"Who said we are penniless?" Xu Fan said, pulling off the jade hairpin on his head and taking off the topaz ring on his finger. "Aren't these all money?"

"Yeah, I have some too." Xu Ying took off the gold belt buckle on her waist, the golden hair bun on her head, and the gold ring on her hand: "If these are exchanged for silver, it will be enough for us to comfortably go to Huzhou, right?"

"Any one will suffice." Xu Fan nodded in satisfaction and said, "But we can't pawn it in the city, as we have too many acquaintances here. We have to go to Jiashan County to find a pawn shop."

The neighboring county, Jiashan County, was under the jurisdiction of Jiaxing Prefecture and was already part of Zhejiang Province.

In fact, Songjiang is indeed convenient for escaping. Not only is it next to the sea, it also borders a neighboring province.

"This is sixty miles away from Jiashan County." Xu Ying wailed.

"Let's understand the situation. We are fleeing. It's better to suffer a little than to be caught!" Xu Fan glared at him: "Sixty miles, we can get there in one day!"

"Oh, okay." Xu Ying accepted his fate helplessly.

"Hurry up and sleep for a while. We'll leave the city at dawn." Xu Fan said, closing his eyes and leaning against the door. He didn't forget to teach his silly brother a lesson: "When fleeing, you must seize every opportunity to rest."

"But brother..."

"Don't talk anymore and close your eyes." Xu Fan was displeased.

Xu Ying held it in for a long while, then asked quietly, "How do we get out of the city?"

"Uh..." Xu Fan was stunned. How could he have forgotten this? The government would definitely check at the city gate.

"How do we get out?" The two of them stared at each other.

As the rain gradually stopped and the sky began to turn white, and voices were heard in the yard behind her, Xu Ying became extremely anxious.

"Brother, haven't you figured out a solution yet?"

"Shut up, I'll get it soon!" Xu Fan's face flushed with embarrassment. He had thought of more than a dozen ways, including but not limited to dressing up as a woman, a young girl, an old woman... but they were all rejected one by one. He didn't practice martial arts with his father at ordinary times, so how could he have the confidence to dress up as a woman at this time?

It will definitely be exposed.

Just as I was wandering anxiously, a familiar bell rang on the street.

"Ye Xiang, collecting Ye Xiang..." The two brothers looked in the direction of the voice and saw an old man collecting Ye Xiang, pulling a mule cart coming from the street corner.

There were six huge wooden barrels tied to the mule cart, each big enough to hold a person! Only in a big city like Songjiang City could you see such a magnificent manure cart!

The two brothers looked at each other, both thought of a way to leave the city, and then they started to vomit at the same time.

Obviously, this is a strong method.

ps. This is the first of three consecutive updates. Please give me your monthly votes!