"No, it smells of blood..." As the two approached, Xiao Rui exclaimed, patted his horse and rushed towards the carriage quickly.
It's a pity that we arrived a little late. There were bloodstains all around the carriage, and there were several corpses. It seemed that they were servants and guards. They should be a group of bandits who robbed passing merchants.
Xiao Rui smashed the frame of the carriage to pieces with one palm, and said with hatred: "In the Tang Dynasty, in broad daylight, such a tragedy would happen. What does the local prefect and county magistrate do to eat?"
Li Shengnan was more understanding: "In the chaotic times of the late Sui Dynasty, countless grassroots fell into bandits. It had only been ten years since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, and most of the rebels had been wiped out. However, not all of these people had surrendered to the imperial court. Youdao is a hundred feet. Although the insect is dead but not stiff, many people still return to the life of occupying the mountain and being the king. Alas..."
Xiao Rui lamented: "Is this the so-called internal and external troubles? The imperial court is busy dealing with Jieli's two hundred thousand prairie wolves and has no time to concentrate on suppressing bandits in the territory, so it suffers from these merchants and common people?"
"Huh? What is this?" Li Shengnan found a piece of paper left in the carriage. Judging from the paper, it turned out to be quite fine. "Why does it look so familiar? Brother Rui, collect that book from me." Take out the Journey to the West storybook."
Xiao Rui was confused, why did he want this suddenly? But I still took out the Journey to the West Storybook from the storage ring.
The matter of the storage spirit ring was originally inexplicable. Apart from keeping it secret, no one believed it. Once it is revealed, others will treat you as a god. What should you do?
But fortunately, Journey to the West paved the way unexpectedly. When she told Li Shengnan, her reaction was not surprise, but the surprise of a curious baby. Is this the one mentioned in Journey to the West, Mustard Naxumi? Does the Wuzhuangguan Zhenyuan Immortal have everything in his sleeves? Brother Rui, are you a god?
After learning this secret, Xiao Rui didn't even tell his parents or Xiangcheng. Li Shengnan's heart felt as sweet as honey. It turned out that she was so important in his heart. This is our secret.
"Look, I said it looked familiar, but it turns out it's the back cover of the Journey to the West picture album." Li Shengnan compared it, and sure enough, from paper to size, they are exactly the same.
Because they are all handwritten copies, the paper used in this picture album is not cut to a universal printing size, but is a large book cut by oneself, which is convenient for copying and can be used to write a few more chapters of the story. Therefore, it is different from other books.
"So, the person who was robbed is our book friend?" Xiao Rui said in surprise: "No way, those who can afford this book must be rich or noble. There must be many guards when they go out. Who would dare to rob someone? ?”
The two began to search for clues around the carriage, and Xiao Rui found a wooden board that he had broken off accidentally, and exclaimed: "Sheng Nan, look, this carriage has an owner, and there is a word "Wei" on it! "
What? ? ?
"It's really the word Wei."
Xiao Rui was the king of secret agents in his previous life. Exploring clues was a piece of cake. He quickly analyzed the situation based on the scene: "This carriage should be used by a woman. There are spice residues in the carriage, and there are fragments of the woman's clothing. Moreover, This is not the first scene. The body should have been dumped here. The robbers killed people and stole goods... No, maybe they robbed the woman but did not kill her. No body was found. They all belong to servants. "
Li Shengnan said anxiously: "Brother Rui, can you find the whereabouts of this robber? We need to save her."
"Ah? Sheng Nan, what's wrong with you? Well, I'll look for it, it shouldn't be difficult." It's not that Xiao Rui is inhumane, it's just that he's too lazy to mind his own business. Since bandits are everywhere in the Datang Mountains, he can clear this mountain by himself. Bandits in one place are useless, we still have to find a way from the source.
Moreover, the family that was robbed was not related to him by chance, and had already been killed. It would be up to his family and the government to deal with it. There's no point in being anxious at this point.
"Judging from the smell, footprints, and blood stains left at the scene, there were at least five or six people who dumped the body, and they had been away for most of the day. Their direction was..."
"Brother Rui, I remembered, this spice, this spice was used by Yanran, this is Yanran's carriage, it was Yanran who was robbed by the robbers, it was Yanran! We must save her." Li Shengnan was about to cry.
Xiao Rui was confused and hugged the excited Li Shengnan in surprise: "Don't rush, don't rush, please speak slowly. How is this possible? Wei Yanran? Old Wei's daughter? Isn't she in Chang'an? Why did she come to Hebei? ? It’s not such a coincidence, is it?”
Li Shengnan urged: "You can't be wrong. I am very familiar with this spice, plus the name of the carriage, and the picture album. Your journey to the west only sold less than a hundred copies at a time. There is this one in Chang'an City named Wei Besides Yanran, who else is the woman?"
Hiss...Then why is she here?
"Oh, don't ask any more. What if it's a sightseeing trip or a family visit? Hurry up and see how we can find these bandits. It's too late, it's too late, Yanran might..." Li Shengnan choked up.
"Okay, okay, don't get excited, I'm just going to find... I'm just kidding. Every crime must leave traces. As long as there are traces, you can't escape my eyes... This way!" He threw the horse to Li Shengnan and asked her to do both. The horse ran wildly on the ground, following clues to lead the way.
This group of bandits were habitual bandits from the nearby Niutoushan Mountain. They often killed people and dumped their bodies, so they didn't deliberately clean up their traces. They were very easy to track.
As for why the habitual bandits in Niutoushan are so arrogant? The reason is very simple. This place is at the junction of two provinces, far away from the official roads and located in a remote location. In addition, they have a huge power. There are five to six hundred people in Juxiao Mountain Forest, so the government is too lazy to bother to clear it. The county magistrates of the two provinces are pushing the blame with each other, and no one wants to have one more thing come over and lose their troops.
As for Wei Yanran, the daughter of Lao Wei, it is easy to explain why she went to Youzhou, but why she gave up her official career and came to this fork in the road, haha, maybe only she herself can explain it.
Suddenly, a sudden kite cry was heard not far away. Xiao Rui curled his lips and said, "I discovered their detailed outpost. It seems that these bandits are unusual. They are so cautious."
It was Li Shengnan's first time walking around the world, and he was just curious. After a while, he saw Xiao Rui grabbing a man from a tree dozens of meters away. The man was wearing a rough cloth, and the color of his clothes almost blended with the mountains and forests. If If the kite hadn't been exposed, I really wouldn't have been able to find him.
"Okay, don't bother to follow, there is someone to lead the way." Xiao Rui got on his horse and directly carried the sentry in his hand like a chicken.
"You, you'd better let me go, otherwise we in Niutoushan will not let you go. Once you enter the boundary of Niutoushan, if you want to get out, you have to give the nod of our boss."
Xiao Rui burst out laughing: "It's easy to say, take us to see your boss, we just need to see him if we have something to do."
"Huh? Just because you two are making melons and eggs, you look so soft and powerless, don't you want to imitate others' heroic deeds? Okay, since you are looking for death, don't blame me for not reminding you. Is this your wife? Just in time. , our eldest brother just grabbed a wife from Yazhai, we will get married tonight, your wife is so beautiful that she can be a concubine."
Li Shengnan was so angry that she gritted her teeth and really wanted to kill this guy with a sword. But when she heard that the wedding was to be held tonight, she couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief. It must be Yanran, so Yanran is still alive.
Xiao Rui broke off the guy's arm directly: "Stop talking nonsense and show the way!"
The sentry's eyes were filled with hatred and anger, and he used his other hand to guide the way.
As for whether he will still play tricks? Xiao Rui is not afraid. Seeing the hatred in this guy's face, he wants to take us to the village immediately to seek revenge from their boss.
