In the evening, in the wine shed.
I lit an oil lamp and went to the mountain tavern, which was careless. There was no lampshade, and I let a few small insects circle around the flame the size of my fingertip.
There are several dishes of vegetarian dishes and a bowl of white rice on the table.
Four people, Uncle Liu, Uncle Six, Aunt Li, and Xiao Yu.
The tavern is closed these days, and Uncle Liu has been living with Aunt Li at Aunt Li's house at the entrance of the village. Xiao Yu and Uncle Liu are staying in the tavern, so they don't have to worry.
After dinner in the evening, Uncle Six and Aunt Li went to Aunt Li's house under umbrellas.
Uncle Liu wanted to drink wine for a while, and Xiaoyu had to wait for a while as usual.
After Uncle Liu finished eating and drinking, he had to clear away the dishes, chopsticks, tables and chairs.
"Uncle Liu, uncle Liu said that it is the beginning of summer. There is a lot of excitement in the town to pay homage to the City God. Would you like to go and take a look?" Xiao Yu tentatively asked Uncle Liu, never thinking that Uncle Liu would give up staying in Geming because of a temple fair.
Uncle Liu waved his hand, "Of course I won't go, I'll go fishing at the water stack."
Xiao Yu said 'oh' and muttered again: "I also heard Luo Luo explain that Mr. Ge's birthday celebration in Gejiazhuang was very lively. It's a pity that it is a wealthy family. A poor boy like me can't go in and can't eat. A good meal.”
Hearing this, Uncle Liu smiled slightly and replied: "In a few days, I will catch a big fish. I will invite you to the largest restaurant in the city for a feast and a drink. What do you think?"
Xiaoyu heard this and said happily: "Uncle Liu, is it true?"
Uncle Liu: "Really, how can I fool a kid like you?"
"Okay, it's settled." Xiaoyu replied happily.
Uncle Liu drank the wine in the bowl in one gulp, threw the bowl on the table, stood up, pointed at the messy table, and said, "It's a deal! That's it, clean it up."
Xiao Yu stood up happily and said, "Okay."
What Xiao Yu was actually thinking was: Uncle Liu was afraid that he wouldn't be able to eat this meal. After all, the fish he wanted to catch was himself, and he would have to risk his life to eat the meal he invited.
He had to trade his life for food, but he couldn't afford it.
The first day of April.
beginning of summer.
It rains.
morning.
After hearing Uncle Liu leading the donkey away, Xiao Yu hurriedly got up and got dressed.
He cleaned the house cleanly, folded the quilt for Uncle Six, tidied his own bed, and neatly arranged the coarse cloth clothes that Uncle Six had prepared for him.
Finally, on top of the folded clothes, I left a note for Uncle Six, with the four words "Goodbye, don't miss it" crookedly written on it.
Uncle Six went to the Chenghuang Temple to worship today. Will he be back soon?
When he came back and saw the note, Ji Ruge had already killed Ge Ming and others, left Yangzhou City, and left Liushu Tavern.
Xiaoyu put on a raincoat and a bamboo hat, jumped up to the thigh-thick locust tree on the side of the wine shed, and took out the packet of oil paper that he had hidden under the haystacks on the roof.
Inside the greased paper was the reward for the first two tasks, which amounted to 40,000 taels in silver notes.
Xiao Yu opened the prepared package, put the banknotes in, wrapped it, carried it on her back, and tied it to her chest.
Facing the light rain, I walked slowly towards Yangzhou City, carrying the straight bamboo pole.
A corner room on the second floor of Yuelai Restaurant, in a deserted alley.
Xiaoyu looked around and saw no one around, then jumped in from the window. Everything in the house was still the same.
There was a set of coir raincoat and bamboo hat in the house, and he was wearing a set of coir raincoat and bamboo hat from Liushu Tavern. Xiaoyu took off the one he was wearing and put on the other one.
Putting down the package containing the banknotes, he only wore casual clothes and a sword, intending to go out to kill people.
Bring a coir raincoat and bamboo hat with you to protect yourself from the rain.
Xiaoyu held the sword in her hand, lowered her head, walked out of the house, walked straight down the stairs, and wanted to go outside the restaurant.
The shopkeeper Shen Yue looked at this strange guest curiously. He had not gone out for a whole day and had not eaten or drank. At this time, he strangely walked out of the door holding a sword with a green scabbard.
"Did he bring a sword yesterday?" Shen Yue pointed at the back of Ji Ruge going out and asked the waiter standing next to him.
The waiter thought for a moment in confusion and replied, "I don't remember."
Shen Yue thought about it carefully. There were so many guests coming and going throughout the day, so how could he remember one guest carefully? He shook his head helplessly and continued to greet other guests.
At this time, Xiao Yu is no longer Xiao Yu, but Ji Ruge with a fake beard and a disfigured face.
...
Huatan Temple.
On the bank of Xiyun Lake, there is a mountain and water stack behind it.
Uncle Liu naturally knew that Ge Changshou was the biological brother of Ge Ming of the Mingyi Sword Sect. There was no reason not to invite Ge Ming to Ge Changshou's birthday party.
Ge Ming informed Uncle Liu yesterday that they were going to have a banquet at Gejiazhuang at seven o'clock today.
Although Ge Changshou has withdrawn from the martial arts world, he is still considered to be half of the martial arts world. He knows that people from all the major sects in the south of the Yangtze River are at Huatan Temple to be on guard against Ji Ruge, so he specially sends invitations to the heads of each major sect. Invite them to the banquet.
Uncle Liu was kind to them. Ge Ming had already ordered someone to tell Uncle Liu that they would go to a banquet together today.
Everyone in the temple had agreed to set off at three o'clock. When the time came, a young monk from the temple would inform him, and he would go to the banquet with Ge Ming.
It was close to noon at 7:00 p.m., and the morning was very leisurely. Uncle Liu was still fishing in the back mountain water trestle.
A coir raincoat, a bamboo hat, a fishing rod, and an old man.
Water stacks, green water plants, light waves, drizzle.
This scene seemed familiar, but it was also the same as before.
While Uncle Liu was fishing quietly, a boy came to the temple to deliver a message.
There is also an empty sedan chair, and four bearers wearing straw hats and hats are waiting.
At the mountain gate.
The boy took out a letter from the clothes under his raincoat in the rain and gave it to the monk Zhike who was standing in the cave of the mountain gate.
"The owner of the Ge family village asked me to bring it to the head of the temple, please be sure to deliver it."
After hearing this, Zhike Monk received the letter, folded his hands and saluted the boy who delivered the letter, and turned around.
In the temple, there is a guest hall.
In a side room, Ge Ming called Lu Wei and Lu Fang.
Next to them, on a coffee table, there were opened letters.
A piece of letter paper, with neat handwriting written on it, "I received the greeting card this morning. This is included. Before the birthday banquet, I hereby invite three brothers to go to Gejiazhuang at three o'clock to discuss matters."
Beside the letter paper, there are three thumb-sized plum blossom seal jades.
Ge Ming frowned deeply, and Lu Wei and Lu Fang also looked a little unhappy when they saw the plum blossom seal jade.
Lu Wei said: "Who sent it?"
Ge Ming shook his head and replied: "I don't know, it didn't say anything in the letter."
Lu Wei asked again: "Is it Zhou Feng?"
Ge Ming replied: "Zhou Feng and my eldest brother are good friends. They are both in the silk and satin business. The two families have a lot of contacts, so they won't mention this old incident. Zhou Feng should be here at today's birthday banquet, and he shouldn't be the one sending it." Come."
Lu Fang pointed to the letter and said, "Brother Ge told us to go to discuss matters at three o'clock. It's a good time to get up and set off."
Ge Ming nodded.
Lu Fang said: "I'm going to inform the others and tell them that the village has something to do. Let's go help first and leave now."
When the three of them saw the plum blossom seal jade, they all knew that it was not a trivial matter. It was related to the Tong family murder case many years ago. They were all the masterminds. The fact that they could produce the plum blossom seal jade meant that the person who came knew about it.
This matter cannot be brought to light and must be dealt with privately, let alone anyone from other sects in the temple.
The three of them told the disciples and other heads to go to the banquet later. The three of them hurriedly left the temple without going to Gejiazhuang in advance.
At the entrance of the temple, the boy and the four bearers had been waiting for a long time.
"Please, you three. Mr. Ge ordered the young man to pick you up." The young man opened the curtain of the sedan chair and invited the three of them to get on the sedan chair.
The three of them didn't have any doubts, and hurriedly jumped up, got into the sedan, sat down, and closed the sedan curtain. They all had worried faces and frowned, recalling the past.
