The carriage bumped all the way, and when it was too dark to see anyone, Liu Bancheng and Yao Yue were brought to the Elephant Manor.
The four large silver-white characters of "Elephant Manor" are engraved on what looks like rotten wood but is actually a complete beech board. It is lying beside the path on the hillside, which is particularly eye-catching.
The path looked like it could only lead to a carriage, leading deep into the dark woods.
Although Liu Bancheng had been a soldier, he was a little nervous at this time. After all, he was only bringing a woman with him. This woman was too valuable, so he asked, "Miss, is this Elephant Manor? Is this the right road?"
"You asked me if something was wrong. You were looking at that sign. Why is something wrong? Hey, stop being suspicious and just listen to what they are saying!"
Liu Bancheng no longer knew his voice.
So the carriage slowly turned one turn after another in the cold and damp forest. In front of it, there was a faint sound that seemed to be the sound of binding, the sound of returning wooden fish, and the sound of a suona. If you listen carefully, there are also sounds of falling and falling. The car swerved and wailed, and only then did I realize that these sounds were coming from a small bungalow that was vaguely visible in the distance.
That bungalow was where he, Lin Zongren, Meihua, and Rencheng had been.
Under the light of sparse torches, the flat house looked unremarkable.
Looking closer, we can see that a mourning hall has been erected in the center of the courtyard of the bungalow.
There were many people walking back and forth in front of the mourning hall, and the white cloth strips on the mourning shed were fluttering amidst the mournful cries.
The carriage stopped moving forward, Yao Yue jumped out of the carriage and led the carriage to a corner in the northwest of the yard.
Remove the cages from the three animals and find a tree root to tie them up.
A bale of hay was carried conveniently from the side and was still at their feet.
The three guys shook their heads obediently and started eating. Everything was so natural.
However, what Yao Yue did just now stunned Liu Bancheng. He tilted his head and couldn't figure it out.
This, this is not the eldest daughter of the Yao family. This is clearly a job that only the cowherd boys in her hometown have.
Before Liu Bancheng escaped from the car and recovered, the eldest lady had already arrived in front of the car and greeted him, "Come down, you're here, what else are you looking at!"
Liu Bancheng stuck his head out and subconsciously grabbed Yao Yue's little hand that was stretched out from below.
The little hands are hot and meaty, and they are particularly powerful when they are grasped.
After Liu Bancheng was picked up, he discovered that there was a one-meter-long sword hanging on Yao Yue's back waist.
Liu Bancheng didn't understand again. Liu Bancheng, who had been playing with kitchen knives for most of his life, had only seen women wearing swords in martial arts novels. Now that Yao Yue was in front of him, he was particularly excited about this girl's appearance, but also a little nervous.
He suspected that this girl must have other purposes for coming here.
The two people walked one behind the other, slowing down and approaching the mourning hall.
Unexpectedly, a middle-aged man on crutches limped towards them, and his speed was extremely fast. When he almost came to the two people, he stood on only one leg, picked up the crutches and pointed forward, " Who is coming?"
Liu Bancheng was blocked by Yao Yue and said, "I am the eldest son of the Yao family! Don't you recognize me?"
"It's the young master, offend, offend, then who is this!"
Yao Yue swung her pretty face to the left, "He is your distinguished guest, the master of the Xiangshan Hall of the Prime Minister's Mansion! Why don't you quickly ask the owner of your village to come out to greet him!"
When he heard that the person in front of him was Xiang Shantang's head, his voice suddenly raised an octave,
"Okay, okay! You are the Hall Master Liu. I finally found you. We wanted to find you, but you showed up at our door!"
It was too late but it was too soon. His crutch had already swept towards Liu Bancheng's side as he said. Liu Bancheng subconsciously ducked back, but it was obviously too late. The crutch was already beside his ear like the wind. , at this time, just hearing the sound of "Cang Liang Liang", Liu Bancheng's ears were shaken, and his eyes were filled with stars. Unexpectedly, the crutch that was swept down fell to the ground in the distance with this sound.
The middle-aged man is tall and has a square face. He stands on one foot and is at a loss.
Yao Yue put away her sword.
"How dare you be rude? If you don't report it quickly, you will die!"
The middle-aged man was already crying, "Master Yao, you don't know something, that is, this is the person!"
He pointed his finger at Liu Bancheng, put his hand on the ground, and squatted down.
"It's because of this man that he came to our place. Our village owner actually died that day without any illness! This is the spiritual place of my village owner. We must use his blood to pay homage to my village owner's spirit in heaven!"
Liu Bancheng never expected that the person lying in the coffin in the mourning hall was actually the master of this manor! "
It shows that unusual events have happened here in the past two days.
However, he accidentally glanced at the man squatting on the ground. At this time, he was looking up and glaring at Liu Bancheng.
Through the light of the torch, Liu Bancheng could see a lot of bloodshot eyes in the corners of this man's eyes, but the black mole in the middle of his forehead attracted Liu Bancheng. He hesitated for a moment, feeling that this person seemed familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen him before.
So he stepped forward and bowed,
"My dear friend, please calm down. I am indeed the Liu Bancheng you are looking for. Yes, I did come to your place the day before yesterday. However, I had a good talk with the owner of your village at that time, and he was not in serious health. , I came today just to see him. If I had harmed him, would I still have the courage to come to you? "
After speaking, Liu Bancheng walked around the middle-aged man squatting on the ground and came to the coffin.
He gently cleaned his sleeves, took out three incense sticks from the incense burner, lit them, put his legs together and solemnly inserted them into the incense burner, then knelt down and kowtowed three times.
People on both sides of the coffin were wearing linen and wearing mourning. When they saw someone offering incense and kowtow at the table, they all knelt down to return the gift.
Yao Yue, who was standing behind him, also put his hands together and bowed his head three times.
The man who was on crutches had already stood up, picked up the crutches in the distance, and kept watching the two people at the desk in the darkness.
Yao Yue called him over angrily.
"Come on, take us to see your boss quickly. We are still hungry!"
The middle-aged man nodded quickly and limped around the outside of the mourning hall to the bungalow at the back.
Liu Bancheng said close to Yao Yue's ear,
"I didn't expect that you, Miss Yao, have such good skills!"
Yao Yue did not hide back. She was only an elbow away from Liu Bancheng's face, and Liu Bancheng's eyes could be seen clearly under the light of the torch.
"What's wrong? Is it strange? Remember, outside, you will call me Mr. Yao from now on. Do you understand?"
"I don't understand!" When Liu Bancheng said this casually, he felt it was inappropriate. He knew clearly that the girl was wearing short clothes today and was pretending to be a man!
"Why is this happening?"
"What's wrong with this? Isn't it good? Oh, it's just for convenience. I'll tell you later!"
At this time, two ladies came in front and led Liu Bancheng and Yao Yue into the bungalow.
In fact, Liu Bancheng didn't notice the environment around this house when he came the day before yesterday.
This is obviously a house built with square stones one after another.
The doors are made from a single piece of wood cut in half lengthwise.
The indoor walls are all upright and tightly packed with mature pine wood, tightly protecting the room.
It seems simple to build, but in fact it has the function of a fortress.
You must know that Liu Bancheng has served as a soldier, knows some military theories, and has also done military disguise.
Such a house looks ordinary from the outside, but from the inside it not only keeps warm but also serves as a defensive fortification.
Liu Bancheng felt that there must be a story in it.
At this time, an old man sat up from the fire bed, with a gray beard and big eyes looking outward.
The people on the floor of the house voluntarily moved out of the way and invited Liu Bancheng and Yao Yue to sit on the fire kang.
Someone specially brought in hot flatbread and soup and placed them on the small square table on the fire bed.
Then someone brought a hot wine bottle.
Just as Liu Bancheng was about to pick up his chopsticks, someone brought a wooden basin over and asked the two of them to wash their hands.
Liu Bancheng cooperated with the movements and looked at the people standing on the ground from time to time.
The people on the ground, mostly men and women, are all old, but their bodies look strong, and their eyes are bright.
Moreover, Liu Bancheng discovered that they all had the same determination and solemnity in their eyes. A row of people stood there watching the people on the kang, but no one was moving. At a glance, it looked like a sculptured wall.
Liu Bancheng had been busy all day and had not even eaten a grain of food, so he was already starving.
Without thinking much, he picked up the pie and chewed it in his mouth.
He was startled,
The big cake in your mouth has an inexplicably familiar taste.
Liu Bancheng raised his head and looked at the people in front of him, and specifically looked at the old man at the head of the kang.
Unexpectedly, the old man was looking directly at him at this time.
The taste of this kind of cake was something I had tasted seven or eight years ago.
But that was on the border of Yan country, and it was the smell of my own innovative craftsmanship.
He turned to look at Yao Yue. Yao Yue was also looking at him at this time, and he also had the same stunned feeling.
Liu Bancheng hurriedly grabbed another one and handed it to her.
"Yao Da, ah, young master, please, please have a taste, how does this taste?"
Yao Yue laughed all of a sudden. Her smile was obviously very inconsistent with everyone who was in a sad mood.
"You! There are no brothers when you eat. Hurry up and serve me a bowl of soup!"
Liu Bancheng's hands were a little messy, but before Liu Bancheng could take action, the person next to him had already handed over a bowl, which was hot.
