Chapter 176: Pick up another wave of missed chickens to honor the monkeys
When the tall, dark red-haired horseman stood up, he was twice as tall as Rong Zhen, appearing agile and powerful.
A man of insight is a wise man. She took a half step back in the mud with difficulty, and when she looked up, she felt the hot breath of the horse after it dropped its hoof.
Well, there's no need to be so enthusiastic. He just stared at her with his horse eyes and sniffed at her when they first met.
The owner of the chestnut horse is much more aloof, reserved and polite than it.
He was completely wrapped in a straw hat and a straw raincoat, with only a hint of hidden white brocade visible from the tops of his black boots that were resting on the stirrups.
After reining in his horse, he cupped his fists towards her and asked, "Excuse me, lady, is this Hongye Town in Taolin County?"
A hoarse voice came from behind the black veil, and it didn't sound like the voice of a good person.
Rong Zhen nodded cautiously: "Exactly."
The original owner had previously asked the maid to ask the escorts, and they knew that they had entered the territory of Taolin County, and another two or three kilometers ahead was Hongye Town, which was under its jurisdiction.
"Thank you, this is a gift." He casually threw something from his horse and continued to ride away.
Rongzhen subconsciously caught the thing and found that it was a roll of oilcloth tightly tied with hemp rope.
In ancient times, oilcloth could be made into raincoats.
The rain was still coming down, and after being in the rain for a while, the clothes she was wearing were almost soaked, and she urgently needed a raincoat to protect herself.
The other party is such a good person.
Rongzhen retracted her suspicion that he was not a good person, hurriedly untied the hemp rope, unfolded the oilskin, and put it on herself.
The oilskin coat, made according to the male's body shape, was wide and large on her, just enough to completely cover her now bloated figure and baggage. The excess part could be lifted up to cover her head and hide most of her face.
The remaining hemp rope was also useful. Rongzhen used it to tie the oil coat around her neck to secure it.
Then keep moving forward.
After trudging for about a kilometer, Rong Zhen was already exhausted and out of breath. Just as he was about to stop and rest for a while, the sound of fierce fighting suddenly rang out on the road ahead.
This made her ears move and she quickly hid in the grass by the roadside.
I dare not hide behind a big tree for fear of being struck by lightning.
Swords and knives have no eyes, so she didn't dare to take the risk of going up to check the situation. She didn't want to miss out on the fun and get caught in the crossfire.
The fighting ended quickly, and Rongzhen waited patiently for a while before coming out and walking forward.
After walking a few steps, a man sitting upright on a horse holding a silver sword appeared in front of him. A large group of masked men in straw raincoats were lying on the ground, each with a line of blood hanging from their necks. The blood drops, accompanied by rain, spread a faint red color on the soil.
When the chestnut horse saw Rongzhen, it neighed.
The swordsman on horseback immediately turned around and looked at her, staring at her silently through the rain.
Rongzhen couldn't see his eyes and expression behind the veil, but she knew what she had broken. She began to think very quickly, thinking about how to save her life.
It was only not long ago that she changed her impression of him and thought he was a kind man who brought oil coats in the rain.
Alas, things are unpredictable and everything changes.
She stammered and was about to say something when a frail scholar walked out of the woods by the roadside, leading a donkey. He wore a fu hat, a green shirt and a straight robe, official boots, and held an oil-paper umbrella, looking like a man of letters and elegance.
If it wasn't for the heavy rain and the fact that the ground was covered with blood, mud and water, and the environment wasn't right, someone who didn't know the situation would have thought they were on a picnic instead of at a murder scene when they first saw him like this.
The scholar panted heavily with every step, and the donkey he was leading brayed every three steps. He staggered to the foot of a large tree and could not go any further. He bowed from a distance and thanked the sword-wielding man on the red horse: "I thank you for saving my life, benefactor. I have no way to repay you. I can only..."
As he spoke, he put his hand into his sleeve, as if he wanted to take out something to express his gratitude.
But the next moment, the silver sword flew over and pierced his neck, leaving behind a pale and stunned face and a hidden weapon falling from his sleeve.
Rongzhen: !!
Judging from his appearance and his attire, he was probably an important character, but he was killed the moment he showed up.
The scholar obviously hadn't expected this. Covering his neck with the blood that was pouring out like rain, he paused and asked unwillingly, "Why? Where did I reveal my weakness?"
A weak scholar who was traveling on a rainy day was surrounded by unknown people from the martial arts world. He urgently needed the young swordsman to draw his sword and help him. After that, he would naturally thank them. Then, he would take advantage of their unpreparedness and shoot them with the poisoned Rain Pear Blossom Needle. Even if he failed to kill the target, he could still poison him successfully.
What a perfect plan, he had planned everything.
As it turned out, man proposes, God disposes, and the show started off badly.
"Idiot." The swordsman spat out two words, not intending to give the other party an answer, leaving him to be the only one who understands.
The scholar spat out two mouthfuls of blood, but his breathing was soon blocked by the rapidly flowing blood. He struggled and twitched a few times before becoming motionless.
The donkey that he had just led and brayed every three steps was silent now. It lowered its head and opened its mouth wide to bite the dead scholar's hat, pulled him to the ground, and stomped on him madly with its front hooves.
With a snap, the scholar's neck was accidentally broken by the donkey's hoof. He should have died, but he raised his head, widened his eyes, and spat out the last mouthful of blood, finally dying completely.
Rong Zhen covered her mouth in shock and fear. Fortunately, no one stepped forward, otherwise she would have been dragged down with him before his death.
After the donkey confirmed that the man was dead, it let out a long bray towards the sky.
Rongzhen could tell there was probably some kind of love-hate relationship involved, but she had no idea what it was specifically.
All the damned people were dead. The straw raincoat swordsman riding the chestnut horse looked at Rong Zhen again.
Rong Zhen quickly expressed her opinion, shaking her head and saying firmly, "Don't worry, I didn't see anything and I don't know anything."
swordsman:"……"
He squeezed the horse's belly, turned around, and whipped the reins.
Rong Zhen was left there, looking at the scene that hadn't been cleaned up. He shouted to the man and horse who were about to run away: "Brother, don't you want the spoils anymore?"
The sound of rain was pouring down, and naturally there was no echo.
Someone who knew that food and daily necessities were expensive and that he needed to support his family quietly added, "Then I want it?"
After a long time, there was still no response.
So Rongzhen began to act.
She carefully approached the masked corpses, picked up a sword, and mustered up the courage to strike each of them twice to prevent anyone from coming back to life and attacking her.
After repairing the sword, she looked at the donkey that had returned to normal, took out the dry food soaked by rain from her bag, and tried to feed it.
The donkey looked at her with its big watery eyes for a few times, then took the dry food from her hand and chewed it.
Rongzhen took the opportunity to touch the donkey's ears, head and neck to cultivate a relationship with it.
After getting familiar with each other, she pulled the donkey's bridle and let it walk beside her, accompanying her to collect the things from the scholar.
First, there was the hidden weapon that fell on the ground. Rong Zhen didn't dare to pick it up easily with his hands. He first used a branch to pull it over, then found a piece of cloth and rags, used the rags to pad his hands to wrap the hidden weapon, and stuffed it into the cloth.
Secondly, as for the dead scholar, don’t even think about taking his clothes or anything like that. At least give him some dignity.
Besides, she was also worried that the other person might be poisoned.
So she just used a branch to pull out the dagger and purse hidden on his body and took them away.
The donkey was very smart. After realizing what she wanted, he stepped forward and bit the scholar's official boots. The soles of the boots were torn open in a few bites, revealing two stacks of gold leaves wrapped in a small piece of oilcloth inside.
Wow, now I have enough money to raise a donkey.
Therefore, Rongzhen was particularly kind and inserted a sword in front of the scholar's body as a reward for taking his things and erecting a tombstone for him.
After that, she quickly led the donkey back to the main road and continued to collect the masked man in the straw raincoat.
With the gold leaves as the base, she no longer cared about their straw raincoats. However, Rongzhen considered herself a thrifty person, so she still took off everyone's straw raincoats, tied them together, and tied them to the donkey for it to carry, and then exchange them for money in the town.
Before doing this, she had taken special care to check and found that this group of people were really plain. Not only did they not have any markings on their clothes, they also carried very little, except for a sword and some small silver and copper coins.
The sword was also of ordinary style, without any decorations, but it was slightly sharper.
The people who sent them were extremely cautious. It was inconvenient for the people they assassinated to track down the real murderer, but it made it convenient for Rongzhen to take advantage of the opportunity and make a fortune.
She inserted the sword into her straw raincoat and wrapped it with a large piece of cloth. Then she dug in the grass by the roadside, making a row of shallow pits. She moved all the corpses she had robbed into the pits, covered them with soil and stones, and a simple grave was made.
The heavy rain hampered her performance and the work took a long time to complete in fits and starts.
Some people may think that Rongzhen is hypocritical, or that she doesn't need to do this, but she just wants to have a clear conscience.
Well, I have a clear conscience about taking the money and things.
After finishing all this, Rongzhen wiped the sweat off her face and prepared to return to the main road. Turning around, she saw a small tung oil carriage parked under a big tree on the side of the road. The driver in a straw raincoat was sitting on the shaft, silently controlling the horse, and the curtain was lifted to reveal a pretty face.
The other person blinked his extremely bright eyes and asked her curiously, "Are you the legendary corpse collector?"
Rongzhen: “…”
Which family did this young lady come from?
What kind of corpse picker? She is just picking up loose ends to make a living.
The more you say, the more mistakes you will make. Rongzhen did not answer, but just stood there looking at them with a serious look.
The young lady suddenly felt bored, pouted and lowered the curtain, then opened it again the next second and said angrily, "I'm asking you a question, and if you don't answer me, I'll seem very uncultured."
Rongzhen was confused and said, "Are you crazy? Who said you have to answer when you are asked a question for no reason?"
What about etiquette and good manners? Who do you think you are? Do you think you can control everything and decide whether others speak or not?
Rong Zhen said unhappily, "It doesn't matter who I am, but if you stay under that tree any longer, you'll probably encounter disaster."
As if to confirm her words, almost at the moment she finished speaking, the scholar's body lying under another big tree and the tombstone sword stuck in front of him were struck by lightning.
The big tree he was leaning against also suffered the disaster. It turned completely black and emitted black smoke.
The eldest lady was shocked: "How could it be?!"
The horse pulling the carriage was also startled. Without waiting for the eldest lady's orders, the horse ran forward quickly with the carriage, kicking up a cloud of mud.
The coachman took control of the carriage and pulled the young lady away from the tree.
Rongzhen sneezed comfortably and felt sweaty and rainy. She had to rush to Hongye Town to recuperate as soon as possible, otherwise she might get sick.
Money is important, but life is more important.
Fortunately, she had already picked up everything she needed to pick up, so she could ride on her donkey and set off immediately.
The donkey was well fed by her and did whatever she asked it to do. It ran on the road without slowing down at all, carrying her and a few bags of things.
Although the speed was still not as fast as the swordsman's chestnut horse and the eldest lady's tung oil carriage, Rongzhen was already very satisfied. At least she had a means of transportation and no longer had to walk in the rain.
A distance of three or four kilometers would only take more than half an hour for a normal person at his walking speed, let alone a horse or a donkey, the time would be even shorter.
Not to mention that Rongzhen had already walked more than a kilometer, and the rest of the distance could be reached in a short time by riding a donkey.
The reason why Hongye Town is called Hongye Town is because there are many cotinus trees planted outside the town. When the temperature drops in autumn, the leaves will all turn red, which is as beautiful as a red sky. The town got its name from this.
However, it was still early spring, and the sumac trees outside the town had not yet turned into leaves, let alone bloomed.
So Rong Zhen didn't pay much attention when he passed by the cotinus coggygria forests while riding his donkey. He was only thinking about getting into the town quickly to find a hotel to stay in, taking a hot bath and having a good sleep.
Because it was raining heavily, the town was very quiet. The donkey's hooves made a crisp sound on the bluestone slabs, and the donkey brought its owner to a two-story store with a wine flag.
It seems that it is very familiar with this place, and it is very likely that it has been here with its old owner before.
Rongzhen guessed something in her mind, landed, tied the bridle to the horse post in front of the store, and walked in carrying the big bag.
The lobby of the store was full of people. The originally noisy atmosphere became quiet as she walked in. Many eyes were immediately cast towards her, containing various obscure observations and evaluations with unclear meanings.
The waiter, who had just finished a busy day, came over to greet the customer. "Sir, would you like to stay overnight or have a meal?"
Rong Zhen ignored those looks and said to herself, "Stay in the hotel and add a donkey outside."
While they were talking, two ragged children chased each other and passed by. They accidentally bumped into Rongzhen, but she blocked them with her bag in time.
The blade that was supposed to hit her waist instead cut through her bag, and a pile of dry food and water bags fell out.
"whispering sound!"
The diners broke their silence, full of disappointment and disdain.
The child who got into trouble wanted to run away, but was frightened by the dagger that Rongzhen held against his neck. He pouted and his eyes were filled with tears.
"I'm sorry, sir. They are two little beggars who sneaked in to beg for food from the diners. I didn't expect them to be so dishonest. I will ask someone to throw them out immediately!" The waiter apologized repeatedly.
The diners in the lobby all looked like they were enjoying the show.
Rong Zhen took it all in. She tilted her head to observe the child in her hands, and immediately revealed his identity: "A childlike dwarf?"
The 'kid' broke down in a second, put away the pitiful look on his face, and yelled ferociously: "You are the dwarf!" and attacked Rong Zhen with his backhand.
Rongzhen cruelly slashed his neck.
However, he acted as if he didn't feel any pain, and regardless of the gushing blood, he insisted on stabbing the blade into Rong Zhen's abdomen. After that, he planned to take the opportunity to torture her and leave her with no chance of survival.
Unfortunately, Rongzhen's bloated "body" made him feel lonely.
The blade was blocked by the oil coat and the thick clothes wrapped around her, and it didn't even touch her oily skin.
And Rong Zhen was not dead. Even if she was not really hurt, she was still scared and attacked more ruthlessly.
After all, we have no grudges or hatred against each other, but you want my life. So it’s not too much for me to take your life, right?
Having experienced fighting in the previous world, Rong Zhen's attacks seemed more fierce and ruthless than those of ordinary people. His face was even more indifferent, as if he was looking at a dead object, which stunned many people present.
This is a tough guy who has seen blood!
This thought flashed through their minds at the same time, and they withdrew their gazes from scrutinizing and evaluating.
Rong Zhen achieved his goal and quickly ended the fight with the dwarf 'child'. He called the waiter who had hidden away and said, "God is merciful. Move him outside and let him take his fate."
The dwarf 'child', with blood gushing from his neck, his limbs severed, and a knife wound to his abdomen, was barely breathing: "......!"
The waiter and the diners: “……!”
The sting of a wasp is as poisonous as the heart of a woman. This is indeed true.
"It's pitiful enough that he looks so ugly. Why don't you just give him a quick death? Why torture him like this?" A female voice like a yellow warbler came from upstairs. A pretty and lively young girl appeared at the railing on the second floor, twisting her hair with her slender fingers and expressing her opinions while looking at the scene downstairs.
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