In the empty room, there was no trace of Jia Qian.
Dongfang Shiming immediately ran to the window and looked down carefully. This time he saw clearly that what was surrounding the center of the crowd was indeed the corpse of a big man with a black scarf on his head.
In other words, Jia Qian is indeed a scholar who eliminates evil?
Dongfang Shiming's heart became heavier and heavier, and the feeling of doubt made him feel that this matter was by no means simple.
There are too many doubts. If it is really Jia Qian, why is he so afraid? But if not, why did he flee in such a hurry? Questions, big and small, came one after another, and Dongfang Shiming decided to make this matter clear.
With this plan in mind, Dongfang Shiming hurried back to the room to pack his belongings and prepare to go back. He vaguely remembered that Jia Qian mentioned yesterday that he was from Fenglu County, and now he was "sent back to his hometown", so he must be going to Fenglu County now.
After careful consideration, he rushed downstairs to find the cashier to settle the account, and then immediately took a shortcut through the back door and followed closely.
Dongfang Shiming looked at the map and realized that Fenglu County was still hundreds of miles away from Jiangliang City, and Jia Qian couldn't get back immediately even if he traveled day and night. There is only one main road from Jiangliang City to Fenglu County. According to Jia Qian's character, he probably doesn't know how to take mountain trails, so there is only one place where he can rest before tonight, which is more than 80 miles away from Jiangliang City. Zhuoye Tun.
Dongfang Shiming's footwork is faster than Jia Qian's. Firstly, Dongfang Shiming had some martial arts skills with him, and secondly, Jia Qian was still carrying a heavy box and cage as a burden. Although he had an early morning and a late night, Dongfang Shiming was still sure that he could catch up with him before dark.
Galloping all the way, Dongfang Shiming chased towards Zhuoye Tun along the main road.
Although it was daytime, there were not many pedestrians and porters along the way. Because there were no close trade ties between the two places, Dongfang Shiming didn't think it was strange. The field of vision is vast. If you catch up with Jia Qian, you can see it at a glance.
However, after chasing him all morning, Dongfang Shiming still found no sign of Jia Qian.
Until noon, when the sun was getting hotter, he had no choice but to rest temporarily by the trees beside the road. After all, having been on foot all morning, fatigue is inevitable.
Leaning next to the tree, Dongfang Shiming wiped the sweat from his forehead while looking at the sunlight through the leaves between his fingers.
The weather today is cloudless and sunny. He now admires Jia Qian a little. He seems to be a weak man, but his ability to run away is quite good.
Dongfang Shiming didn't know when he left, so he couldn't calculate the distance between them.
He also considered two contingencies at the same time. One is that Jia Qian really has the cultivation of an expert, and there are other reasons for his previous performance; the other is that he sacrificed the near for the far, and took the mountain road in order to avoid attention. In this way, there is a reason why he cannot catch up with Jia Qian.
Thinking of this, Dongfang Shiming felt a little discouraged, but he still judged that neither situation was too likely.
If it were the worst case scenario, the two of them would finally meet in Fenglu County.
At this time, an old woman carrying a load came towards me from a distance. Dongfang Shiming thought about it again and again, and decided to inquire.
Seeing the old woman approaching, Dongfang Shiming stood up and stepped forward: "Mother-in-law, excuse me, I want to ask you something."
When she heard someone calling her, the old woman's brown cheeks raised a smile. She walked over with her load, stood under the shade, and asked kindly: "Young man, what's going on?"
Dongfang Shiming half-bowed: "Exactly, mother-in-law, have you ever seen a scholar carrying a bookcase on the road? He was going in the direction of Zhuoye Tun."
"Scholar?" The mother-in-law tilted her chin and thought carefully, then said to him, "There is one who seems to be walking in a hurry, as if he has stolen something. Young man, is that him you are talking about? He stole from you Something?"
Dongfang Shiming felt relieved when he heard the exact answer, which showed that his judgment was correct.
He nodded repeatedly: "Yes, that's him, thank you mother-in-law. But he is my friend, not a thief."
"It's good that he's not a thief, otherwise it would be a big deal if he comes to our Zhuoyetun at night." The old woman laughed.
Dongfang Shiming watched the old woman leave. Watching his mother-in-law walk away, he regained his energy and continued to chase her along the road in the direction of Zhuoyetun.
The sun moved westward, gradually reaching the afternoon, and then gradually reaching the evening. Dongfang Shiming chased alone on the empty road, his back stretched longer and longer by the red sunset.
The outline of Zhuoyetun can be seen faintly ahead of the road, looming behind the wind-swept grass ridge.
The bright red sunset is tinged with purple, and the grass is gradually turned into gray-brown by the dusk, looking like another unique kind of vitality.
Dongfang Shiming smiled wryly like he was mocking himself. He really chased her for a whole day. It seemed that he could only place his hope here.
After climbing over the low grass ridge, Dongfang Shiming finally saw this small mountain village lying in the valley.
Under the dusk sky, the quiet mountain village looks particularly clear, with faint lights flashing in the backlight of the woods and valleys. The smoke from the cooking pots curled up, and the smell of the farmhouse fireworks was particularly strong. Dongfang Shiming was affected by the scenery in front of him. He took a long breath and walked down the hillside with a smile.
The mountain village doesn't even have a village entrance, it's just a gathering place of many low-rise houses. Dongfang Shiming entered from one side and carefully searched for Jia Qian's traces.
After turning a few corners, Dongfang Shiming suddenly saw a human figure standing at the door of a farmhouse in front of him.
The man in the shadow seemed to be talking to the owner of the house, but the negotiation did not seem to be successful, and the owner of the house closed the door again. The figure looked a little annoyed, turned around twice, moved away and headed towards the other side of the road.
Although Dongfang Shiming couldn't see the man's face clearly, he could tell that the man was 90% Jia Qian just from the book he carried on his back.
His extremely tired spirit suddenly lifted up, and he quickly picked up his sore legs and heels to follow. This time he would definitely not lose track.
