Mrs. Cao looked at the bottle from left to right, holding it with both hands without using any strength, so she tried to rotate it left and right.
“Creak…”
As the bottle rotates, the wall where the sound was heard previously also opens to one side.
The two young men looked at each other, a little scared and a little excited. When the wall was opened enough for the two of them to enter side by side, Mrs. Cao took Xiao Ru's hand and walked in quietly.
Fortunately, there were oil lamps on both sides to illuminate the road so that we could see the road clearly, but the smell was not very pleasant. The two young men covered their noses and entered the passage. After walking about ten steps, their eyes suddenly opened up. This was a secret room about the size of three rooms. But the scene in the secret room completely shocked the two boys into statues.
I saw a long table in the middle of the empty room. On the long table, knives, sticks, hammers, scissors... various weapons were arranged neatly.
There are more than a dozen wooden frames nailed to the wall in a circle, and ropes are tied to the wooden frames. Apparently, there are eight children tied to them. The oldest is ten years old and the youngest is only five or six years old. Among them are boys and girls.
At this time, they all looked the same, with their heads hanging down, hanging on the wooden frame by the tension of the rope. There were injuries on their faces, and there was blood on the ground. They could not see whether they were alive or dead, but the hands and feet of several children could be seen. It was in an irregular shape and had obviously broken.
At this time, one of the boys slowly raised his head after listening to the voice. Seeing the two stunned boys in front of him, the boy spoke with some fear and hope, "Are you... here to save us?"
This question made several children around him wake up. When they saw these two boys who were different from beggars, a light of hope gradually appeared in their eyes.
The two young men came back to their senses and nodded numbly.
When the children saw this, the light of hope suddenly bloomed in their eyes, and they were so excited that they couldn't help themselves.
But the two boys became a little nervous, because only six of the eight children woke up, and the other two children still did not move.
The two boys looked at each other and slowly approached one of the children who was motionless. Xiaoru stepped forward and gently touched his shoulder and shook it twice, but there was still no movement.
Xiao Ru stretched out her finger with a somewhat frightened expression and placed it tremblingly under the child's nose. After testing it for a while, she fell to the ground.
Mrs. Cao quickly stretched out her hand to hold her, and when she saw Xiao Ru's pale face, she understood everything in an instant.
"They contradicted them and were beaten. They probably couldn't hold on..."
The child who spoke just now spoke again, confirming their suspicions.
"These beasts!"
Miss Cao's face was ashen, and her body was trembling uncontrollably.
"Xiao Ru, let's go!"
Her voice was as cold as frost, like the biting wind deep in the glacier.
"Ah, won't you save them?"
Xiao Ru looked at Mrs. Cao, her face full of confusion.
Mrs. Cao didn't reply to her, but looked up at the pleading children and explained solemnly, "Don't worry, we'll let you out soon after we go out and get rid of the trash outside."
Xiao Ru was taken away by Mrs. Cao and said to her on the way, "Let's see what he does!"
The battle outside the room was coming to an end at this time. Hall Master Wang could fight ten people without losing. Brothers Wang Fu and Wang Gui were also able to circle five or six opponents each. The remaining stragglers were fighting. The sages of the Juxian Hall who have drunk chicken blood are no match at all.
After the furious Lady Cao joined the battlefield, the battle ended quickly.
All the members of the Beggar Clan, including the unknown leader just now, fell to the ground and were wailing all over the place.
"All tied up!"
Wang Zhi spoke, and all the sages took out the ropes that had been prepared in their arms and tied the hands and feet of the Beggar Clan one by one.
"Search the house!"
Wang Zhi spoke again, and the sages immediately howled happily and rushed towards the houses of the Beggar Clan. Their posture was no different from that of bandits entering the village.
Seeing that Wang Zhi was about to look towards her, Mrs. Cao quickly called out to Xiao Ru and pretended to get into a room.
Not long after, I heard a young man exclaim, "Come and see what I found!"
Wang Zhi heard the words and went over, only to see a few wise men move a box out of a dilapidated old cabinet. After the box was opened, stacks of white silver dazzled the wise men's eyes, and there were also strings of money stacked neatly together. Place.
At this time, "Qian Yin" evolved from "Jiao Zi", with more exquisite pictures and printing. It was originally planned to be one thousand coins, but the value of Qian Yin depreciated due to the arbitrary increase of the imperial court's issuance. One min is only worth four to five hundred coins, so the people do not recognize this kind of banknotes. Most of them are still traded in copper coins and silver, which is only used by some merchants who have business dealings with the imperial court.
There were gasps and gasps all around, and a young man exclaimed with gleaming eyes, "How much does this cost!"
"It must be at least seven or eight thousand taels!"
"These are a bunch of lousy beggars. They usually wear rags and stretch out their hands to ask for money. People who don't know it think they are very poor, but they are actually so rich."
Wang Zhi was not surprised at all that the Beggar Gang had so much savings. He even felt that it was far from enough. How could a gang that had been established for hundreds of years and cultivated the city of Bianjing for so many years only have a net worth of seven or eight thousand taels? But just think about it. , it is impossible for them to put all their wealth in one place, there must be other places to hide money!
Wang Zhi turned around and wanted to ask the dog gang leader where the other money was hidden, but he saw a young man running over with a frightened look on his face. At the same time, he exclaimed, "Hall Master, Hall Master, come and take a look..."
Could it be that he discovered other places to hide silver? Wang Zhi was overjoyed. He stepped forward to support the young man and pretended to be dissatisfied: "Why are you so flustered? A man should always be calm and calm in times of crisis. You are so reckless. In the future, How can this be such a big deal!"
"Hurry, Hall Master, you will know as soon as you come with me!"
The young man did not explain, and without any explanation, he pulled Wang Zhi towards the house where the two young men of the Cao family had discovered the secret room.
Wang Zhi followed him, and all the sages followed him when they saw him. When the two young men of the Cao family saw him, they lowered their heads and followed silently.
A moment later, everyone appeared in the secret room where the children were detained. Seeing the scene in front of them, Wang Zhi almost fell down in fright. Fortunately, Wang Fu behind him helped him in advance, so he didn't make a fool of himself.
He, Wang Erlang, had been pampered and pampered for more than ten years. The most tragic scene he had ever seen was the dying Chang Qing in the smelly ditch. He had never seen such a cruel and inhumane scene.
The acceptance of tragic scenes is not even as high as that of most of the teenagers who came from poor backgrounds.
"Quick...quickly untie them." Wang Zhi commanded with some trembling.
After hearing this, all the sages stepped forward and untied the eight young men one by one. After investigating for a while, they came back to report.
"Hall Master Qi, two children have died, four children have broken arms and legs, and only two are still intact."
Wang Zhi didn't come back to his senses after hearing the words. He seemed to be unable to believe that the scene before him was true. Although he had heard about the cruel methods of the Beggar Gang, he only listened to them as rumors. After seeing such scenes with his own eyes, Only then did I understand what true cruelty is.
Although he, Wang Erlang, has led Juxiantang to have many physical conflicts with other gangs in the past two years, the most he has done is beat people until their noses are bruised and their faces are swollen. He has never even cut off people's hands and feet, and he has never thought of injuring vital parts. human life.
Affected by the memories of later generations, the concept of "human life is greater than heaven" was deeply rooted in his thoughts and behaviors, making him almost forget what era he was in.
This is an era of cannibalism! A feudal society where human life is as cheap as a dog!
"Go and drag in those dogs with intact hands and feet outside!"
Wang Erlang finally came to his senses and issued the first order.
All the wise men listened to the order and came out of the house one after another. The two young men of the Cao family also came out of the house to drag people along with everyone else.
Not long after, all the members of the beggar gang who had their hands and feet tied outside the house were dragged in, and there was a sudden howl in the secret room.
"Break all their arms and legs and tie them to the rack!"
Wang Erlang issued the second order without mercy.
"No…"
"Hall Master Wang, no..."
"Master Wang, please, please be so merciful as to overtake us..."
"I have money, I still have money, give it all to you, give it all to you, please let me go..."
There were many pleading sounds in the field, but Wang Zhi's face was firm and unwavering. Today, he saw that they killed two children and maimed four children. One can imagine how much harm they have caused after so many years. Even if an innocent child dies a hundred times, it will not be enough to wash away his heinous sins.
Thinking of this, Wang Zhi immediately waved his hand.
The sages were ordered to drag them one by one to the long table in the middle of the secret room. They picked up the many weapons on the table and smashed their hands and feet one by one. Then they were dragged to the shelf and tied up.
Even the two young men of the Cao family did not hesitate and got involved, breaking the legs and feet of the two beggars and tying them to the rack.
After all the beggars were tied to the wooden frame, Wang Zhi looked at the six surviving children and hesitated for a while, not knowing how to settle down.
Only a boy about ten years old and a girl about eight years old are intact. They must have been kidnapped before they had time to do anything. The hands and feet of the other four children have been broken. Although not all limbs are broken, they have one hand and one leg. What else can I do besides beg for food?
Just letting them out to fend for themselves is no different from killing them.
Wang Zhi thought for a moment and found no good solution, but he couldn't leave them alone. He could only give instructions: "Find a place to bury the two dead ones, and take these six children back to the hall first."
After speaking, he turned around and left without looking back. He didn't want to stay in this depressing and disgusting place for a moment.
It wasn't until I left the house, saw the sunshine, and breathed fresh air that my tense body relaxed a little.
There were some beggars with broken arms and legs lying on the ground moaning and no one cared about them. I guess they must have been children who came from the secret room. However, no matter how they were abused in the past, they had to lower their heads when they left the secret room. Driven, as long as they still want to live, they need to beg in Bianjing, they can only be driven by them, there is no second way to survive.
