After exploring the area near this vegetable stall for a long time, I found nothing strange. Gu Xiao carefully recalled all the details of what happened today. Raising his head suddenly, Gu Xiao seemed to have thought of something. He looked up at the opposite side of the vegetable stall and saw the black flag on the blacksmith shop that was particularly conspicuous.
Immediately understanding something, Gu Xiao stared at the flag closely. After a long time, Gu Xiao calmed down, walked through the crowd, came to the blacksmith shop, looked up at the rustling iron flag, and then looked back at the street across the street.
"Miss Lin'er, do you ever remember what color flag was hanging on the blacksmith shop when you were listening to the story of the old vegetable seller at this vegetable stall?" Gu Xiao asked Lin'er in a low voice.
Lin'er was still thinking about what Gu Xiao just said, but when she heard Gu Xiao speak, she came back to her senses and said hurriedly: "What did you say? Flag? I never noticed it."
Gu Xiao didn't know what the girl was thinking, but he just thought that Lin'er hadn't noticed it, so he continued in a low voice: "If I remember correctly, when Uncle Li and Xue Hu and I came to this vegetable stall looking for you, I caught a glimpse of this There was a red flag hanging on the blacksmith shop, but now it has been replaced by black, which is extremely strange. Please wait outside for a while and I will go in and take a look."
After saying that, Gu Xiao took out Ta Xue, who was still grinning at him, from his cloak. Lin'er took Ta Xue, and the fat ferret's grinning expression disappeared instantly, and he just let Lin'er obediently hold it in his arms and caress it.
"Be careful in everything and don't act impulsively!" Lin'er was recalling what Gu Xiao just said about the blacksmith shop flag. She also felt that this matter was not simple, so she said to Gu Xiao.
Gu Xiao nodded and then stepped into the blacksmith shop.
The shop is not big, only about ten feet square. In the middle of the shop, a hot flame is burning in an oven. Anvils, water tanks, and bellows are all available on the side. Several strong men are sweating profusely.
In winter, it was freezing outside the shop, but the heat was rising inside the blacksmith shop. A strong man was pulling the bellows hard, and the fire in the oven was stirred by the wind and spewed out tongues of flame. The muscular man standing in front of the oven was sweating profusely due to the heat of the flames. He took off his single clothes, revealing his strong muscles.
Seeing that the iron in the oven was burning red, the shirtless man grasped the iron pliers tightly with one hand, quickly pinched out the post, and walked quickly to the big anvil.
The other man waiting by the anvil was much thinner than the shirtless man, but he seemed to be carrying the sledgehammer with one hand effortlessly.
After the iron tool was placed on the anvil, the two men began to beat it with a hammer. A series of nails clanked, and the sound of hammering the iron tool had a unique rhythm.
Gu Xiao did not disturb the others, but quietly watched these strong men hammering the iron tools. After beating for a while, the red color of the ironware gradually faded away. The shirtless man watched for a moment, then set up the ironware and stuffed it into the oven.
The shirtless man did not turn around, but turned his back to Gu Xiao and said, "Sir, after looking at it for a long time, what are you going to hit?"
"I want to make a sword." Gu Xiao said.
Although Gu Xiao said these words in a very soft voice, the strong men in the room who were sweating profusely seemed to be attracted by these words. They stopped what they were doing and looked at the guests in front of the door.
"Oh?" The shirtless man seemed not to have expected that the man behind him was going to fight with a weapon, and turned around to look at the guest who was speaking.
He is wearing a dark-colored cloak, with black hair shawl, sharp eyebrows and starry eyes, and a slightly green face. The shirtless blacksmith looked at the guest in front of him. This man was not very old. Although he was covered by a big cloak, it could be seen that his figure was slightly thin, just like an ordinary scholar. If he wanted to cut kitchen knives or even farm tools, the blacksmith would not do it. Will be surprised.
But he wanted to forge a weapon, so the blacksmith became interested and ordered everyone to continue working. He casually pulled a sweat towel, wiped the sweat from his body, and then pulled a single piece of clothing and put it on.
Walking in front of Gu Xiao, he looked Gu Xiao over. The blacksmith grinned and said, "Guest, I see you are young. Weapons are not children's playthings. They can hurt people."
"It's not the weapon that hurts, but the person holding the weapon." Gu Xiao looked at the blacksmith in front of him, drew an arc at the corner of his mouth, and said.
The blacksmith looked past Gu Xiao and looked outside the shop. A girl was looking into the shop across the street. The blacksmith withdrew his gaze, looked at Gu Xiao carefully, and then said: "The shop only forges some farm tools and household items. We don't have any materials needed for weapons. We are really helpless. Please help your customers."
The blacksmith gave the order to expel the guests, then turned around and walked among the busy people to get busy. After a while, the blacksmith looked back and saw that the young man in the big cloak did not leave, but sat down at the table beside him, holding the teapot on the table and started to drink.
The blacksmith put down the tools in his hands, sat next to Gu Xiao, and said in a softer tone: "Brother, it's not that we won't help you fight, it's just that my small shop does not have the fine iron needed to make weapons. ..."
Before the blacksmith finished speaking, Gu Xiao took out a hundred taels of silver note from his arms, placed it gently on the table, pushed it towards the blacksmith with his fingers, but stared at the expression on the blacksmith's face.
When the blacksmith saw the hundred taels of silver note, his expression remained unchanged, but he put on an awkward smile and continued to decline: "Brother, this is not a question of whether there is money or not, it is indeed..."
Seeing another hundred taels of silver notes being handed out, the blacksmith was still puzzled: "Please forgive me, the customer, but the shop cannot accept this job."
When Gu Xiao heard this, he glanced at the blacksmith, then he put away the banknotes and stood up, saying, "What a nuisance!"
Seeing that the stubborn boy finally stopped being persistent, the blacksmith stood up and returned the greeting: "My guest, please forgive me!"
Lin'er saw Gu Xiao coming out of the blacksmith shop. The relaxed expression in the blacksmith shop before turned to a thoughtful one. Lin'er said: "Why, looking at you like this, what did you find?"
Gu Xiao was about to reply when he suddenly caught a glimpse of a small mark under the wall on one side of the blacksmith shop from the corner of his eye. If others saw it, they would think it was a child playing, but when Gu Xiao saw the mark, his eyes lit up.
"This is not the place to talk, Lin'er, just follow me!" Gu Xiao whispered to Lin'er.
Lin'er looked at the blacksmith behind Gu Xiao and instantly understood what Gu Xiao meant. Then she remained silent and followed Gu Xiao away.
After walking a hundred steps away, Gu Xiao turned his head and whispered beside Lin'er: "An ordinary blacksmith, let alone a hundred taels, will take over the job of forging sword blades for ten or twenty yuan. I am the second blacksmith in this shop." One hundred taels, he didn’t ask me about the style or the quality, he just excused himself and said he didn’t have the materials to make the sword.”
Lin'er's apricot eyes moved slightly and said: "Two hundred taels? If an ordinary blacksmith hears about this business and has no materials, even if it is a robbery, he will have to get some sword-making materials."
"Yes, but the blacksmith was just trying to shirk the business and never looked at my banknotes from beginning to end." Gu Xiao gave Lin'er a determined look.
Then he said firmly: "This blacksmith shop is by no means as simple as what we saw. When I came out of the blacksmith shop just now, I saw the unique mark left by Uncle Li in the corner."
Lin'er said: "You mean, we can find him by following the mark left by Uncle Li?"
Gu Xiao looked around, then raised the corner of his mouth slightly, and touched another corner of the wall with his mouth. Lin'er looked in the direction indicated by Gu Xiao, and saw Lao Li's special mark on a wall.
Since Uncle Li's mark was discovered, it naturally indicates that Uncle Li is safe and sound. Gu Xiao's eyebrows, which had been frowned for a long time, finally relaxed, and he joked to Lin'er: "Didn't you just say that if you disappear one day, why don't you also get a unique mark, and then I will look for it?" How about I search for you all the way to the mark?"
Which pot should not be opened? After Gu Xiao said this, he caught a glimpse of Lin'er's mouth twitching slightly. Just as he was wondering, Gu Xiao heard Lin'er say: "Two hundred taels to make swords is quite rich. If I find a place to redeem the British and leave the post in the future, I hope the hero Gu can be so generous, huh." Lin'er said. After finishing, Ta Xue twisted his body, strode forward and looked for Uncle Li's mark.
Gu Xiao, who was left in a daze, was messy in the wind, scratching his head and muttering to himself: "What's going on?" Watching Lin'er go away, Gu Xiao really couldn't figure out the reason and could only sigh. : "A woman's heart is like a needle in the sea, I don't understand."
Suddenly reacting, Gu Xiao made a mistake and said: "Salvation for Yingli's post? How can I have so much money? Hey, Lin'er, everything is easy to discuss." He then caught up with Lin'er and continued to search for Uncle Li's mark in the city. .
Outside the blacksmith shop, the blacksmith stood for a long time. Looking at the retreating figures of the young man in the big cloak and the young girl in green clothes, the blacksmith's slightly cloudy eyes narrowed slightly, with doubt and uneasiness in his eyes.
After a while, the blacksmith turned around and walked into the shop, and said to the lean man holding the hammer: "Ma Biao."
When the lean man heard the blacksmith calling him, he quickly dropped the hammer, quickly came to the blacksmith and whispered: "Brother Yuan, call me."
The blacksmith looked solemn and said: "Today, something is not right. Take a few people with you. One of them will go to the store to ask if there is anything special. The other will find two strangers and follow the couple just now."
"Okay!" Ma Biao wiped the sweat from his body and left.
Not long after, two ordinary, more ordinary men walked out from behind the blacksmith shop and chased in the direction where Gu Xiao and Lin'er disappeared. Ma Biao also changed his clothes, left the blacksmith shop and went straight towards Yuelai Tower.
Gu Xiao and Lin'er traveled through Liangzhou City following the mark left by Uncle Li. It was getting late at this time, and the vendors on the street had closed their stalls. Gu Xiao and Lin'er followed the mark to the secluded alley.
Seeing Uncle Li's mark on the corner of the alley, Gu Xiao saw that the alley was quiet and silent, and alertly said to Lin'er solemnly: "You will follow me when you go in. If there is any movement, you go first, and I will stop behind."
Although Lin'er was angry with Gu Xiao for not understanding her thoughts, she saw his solemn look and nodded immediately.
The two figures then gradually disappeared into this secluded alley. All this was seen by the two men facing ordinary people at the corner of the street. One of them said to the other: "Tell brother about the situation here, I will keep an eye on it."
The other man nodded and quickly ran towards the blacksmith shop.
——
In Yuelai Building, both diners in the city and foreign merchants all know that there is a new and charming shopkeeper in Yuelai Building. She rarely appears in the store on weekdays. She only appears in the store on the first few days of the month when doing accounts, or sometimes The landlady will show up only when a distinguished guest comes to visit the Yuelai Building.
It was already getting late, and the Yuelai Building was already full, and the waiter skillfully shuttled between tables. The drinkers are changing glasses, and the diners are chewing slowly and savoring the dishes of Yuelailou.
I saw a woman passing through the tables and chairs in the store and coming towards the store from a distance.
