The two people over there were still in shock, but Xiao Ning and Chu Yue had already come out. A boy led the horses, and the two mounted their horses and rode out with whips in hand.
Not far away from the door, Chu Yue seemed to have something to say, but Xiao Ning winked at her and shook her head gently. When she was hundreds of feet away from the gate, Xiao Ning coughed lightly, "Friend, it's so far away." No need to send it away." After saying this, no one responded in the dark. Xiao Ning sneered again, and called Chu Yueyang to whip the horse and gallop away. After the two people passed by, a figure flashed out from the side of the road. Upon closer inspection, it was the hall master named He who was in the shadow just now. He looked at the two people walking away, shook his head and walked back.
Only then did Chu Yue turn her head and ask, "Brother Ning, what's wrong?"
"It's nothing." Xiao Ning said with a smile, "There was a tail in the village, but now it's gone."
"Alas," Chu Yue also frowned, "People say that reading thousands of books is not as good as traveling thousands of miles. Practicing alone is not enough. Who knew there could be so many ways in the world."
Xiao Ning also shook his head, "Everything in this villa is weird. Ever since we arrived in the third courtyard, I felt like someone was watching us secretly. I thought it would be over when Li Sanniang came out, but I didn't expect that feeling to disappear. And it doesn’t look like one person, it didn’t end until the person who was drinking away just now.”
Chu Yue made his hair stand on end as he stood on horseback. Xiao Ning glanced at her and said with a smile: "Sister Yue, don't worry, whether this villa is weird or not has nothing to do with you and me. We will have less communication in the future. I hope this time, alas..." He shook his head and sighed, then just hurried on in a muffled voice.
It was only three or four miles away, and a town was in front of them. It happened that there was an inn that had not been closed at this time. The two of them came in and had some food, and asked for two upper rooms to rest.
After a night of silence, when he hit the road again in the early morning of the next day, the old things in the villa were brought up again, which made Xiao Ning miss his parents even more, making him worried for a while. When Chu Yue saw it, she could only advise: "Brother Ning, don't think too much, let's inquire carefully first, and then wait for the news from the village."
"That's all." Xiao Ning also sighed. At this time, the two of them had no intention of visiting the mountains and rivers anymore, and rushed straight to Sanmen Village. That is to say, on the 89th, Qingshi County is already in sight in the distance.
To go to Sanmen Village, you must first pass through Qingshi County, because there is an official road through Qingshi County, but Sanmen Village must turn to a country road. Chu Yue knew that he was anxious and did not stop when he arrived at the county. He just urged him to get on his way in a hurry.
Xiao Ning looked sideways at her, Chu Yue shook her head and said: "Dad has moved everything to Xiangzhou, and there is only the old housekeeper at home. There is no point in going back. Why don't we go back to Sanmen Village first? .”
Knowing that she was afraid that she would be impatient, Xiao Ning could only keep this warmth in her heart, and the two of them rode through the city. Just at this moment, he accidentally glanced at the back of a shop in a shop by the road, which made him take another look. However, as he was getting closer to home, he didn't care about anything else, so he just walked past.
Who would have thought that the two of them forgot the time in their anxiety. It was already afternoon when they arrived in Qingshi County, and when they arrived at Sanmen Village, the sun was already setting. Xiao Ning and Chu Yue looked at each other and smiled bitterly, secretly wondering how they could make such a mistake. Now that they were only a short distance away from the village, they couldn't go back because they were just around the corner. After thinking about it, Xiao Ning was shocked by the scene in front of him.
Although not many Chu Yue came to this village, Xiao Ning grew up here. He could clearly feel the more than 200 households in the village even with his eyes closed. But looking at it today, all he could see were ruins and layers of weeds. Covered on it, there are still dozens of households with smoke rising from their roofs, and a few people are looking for something among the rubble.
Xiao Ning rode closer and looked around, and finally saw someone familiar among the figures. Then he dismounted and shouted: "Second Brother, Second Brother Lu, is this Second Brother Lu in front of you?" Someone in the rubble heard that Sheng raised his head and saw that it was Lu Er who went to the county government to report the case that day.
Lu Er looked carefully for a long time before he recognized who it was. He clapped his hands and walked forward, "Mr. Xiao, is that you?"
Xiao Ning handed the reins to Chu Yue and took a few steps to meet him, "Second brother, it's me. What's going on?"
"Oh, don't mention it." Lu Er's eyes suddenly turned red, and he shook his hands and said, "More than two years ago, a group of bandits came from nowhere and rushed into our village, killing people and setting fires, and they were shouting about revenge. Yes." As he spoke, he raised his sleeves and wiped the corners of his eyes.
"What happened next?" Xiao Ning asked anxiously.
"It must have been going on for more than half an hour. The elders and the village soldiers seemed to be unable to resist anymore, so the county soldiers came over. The military leader asked everyone to run away first." Speaking of this, Lu Er trembled. After he spat, he continued, "Everyone who could run away at that time ran away. Later I heard that few of these soldiers were left alive. The villagers, young and old, who couldn't run away, let these beasts kill them all. As a result, no one dares to come back." Lu Er's tears couldn't stop streaming down. "It's been two years, and many villagers can't live outside anymore. Anyway, the land deeds here are still there. Now, some people have the courage to come back one after another, but when they come back, alas..." Looking at the ruins, he shook his head, "How can we live like this?"
Xiao Ning also looked around, sighed, and asked bitterly: "Second brother, do you know where these beasts are from?"
"I heard from the county government that there is a place called 'Baihu Slope' more than eighty miles west of here. This group of people occupied this place. The government went to suppress it several times, but the lack of people was in vain. If there are too many, they will disperse at the sight of the soldiers, and it will be difficult to do anything." Lu Er said, shaking his head.
"Yes." Xiao Ning nodded and suddenly asked, "Second brother, has anyone been here since something happened to my family?"
Lu Er frowned and thought for a long time before saying: "At first, there were a few strangers walking around the village, and they seemed to have visited your house specially. Later, Wang Yuanwai sent someone to watch alone, and no one came again. .”
"What about this guy?"
"He's dead a long time ago. During the banditry, this man knew how to kill him with a few blows."
Xiao Ning then thought to himself, no wonder Uncle Wang never received the news. After chatting with Lu Er for a few more words here, he said goodbye and led the horse towards his home with Chu Yue.
The first house in the north of the village is Xiao Ning's hometown. The old man put a seal on the broken door. Now, the fire caused by the gang of thieves has completely burned down the door, and the house in the courtyard is still intact. It's just that no one has taken care of it for a long time, there are weeds everywhere, and purple-black blood stains can still be seen occasionally on the walls. When the two of them entered the courtyard, Xiao Ning smiled bitterly at Chu Yue: "It seems that we can only stay here for one night."
Chu Yue smiled slightly: "Okay, I'm tired anyway, so you've just arrived home." Xiao Ning shook his head, and the two of them packed up the house where he lived when he was a child and settled in temporarily.
While it was still dark, Chu Yue boiled a pot of water in the courtyard. Xiao Ning strolled into his parents' room, looked around but felt something was wrong, and couldn't help but frown. After looking at it carefully for a long time, there was a sudden "Ahhh" sound. Chu Yue was startled when she heard it in the courtyard, and rushed in. When she saw Xiao Ning, she frowned and stood by the bed.
"What's wrong, Brother Ning?" She looked around and saw nothing happened, she also frowned and asked.
"Someone has been to this house." Xiao Ning said solemnly.
"Oh?" Chu Yue looked around, "How do you know?"
"Here," Xiao Ning pointed to a shelf beside the bed, "there are all my dad's favorite books, and now there are none."
Chu Yue looked carefully in the direction of his finger. There was a shelf about seven or eight feet high standing in the corner of the house. It seemed that the fight had not been affected at that time, so it was still intact. At the moment, it was empty and just covered with smoke. There was a layer of dust, and she couldn't help but look at Xiao Ning and asked: "Brother Ning, are you sure?"
"Sure!" Xiao Ning said decisively, "I saw this place alone when I came here with Uncle Yu and Uncle Wang. At that time, this shelf was the most complete, and none of the books on it were touched. I was deeply impressed."
"Then let's look quickly to see if there's anything missing." Chu Yue's eyes lit up and she reminded Xiao Ning.
"Yeah." The two of them acted immediately and started searching in the three rooms outside here.
Seeing that the sky was getting dark, the two of them were busy and sweaty and sat in front of the fire in frustration. There were a lot of copper coins scattered in front of them, and occasionally a few dimes of broken silver. Chu Yue looked at the flames with her face drooped and her hands on her chin, Xiao Ning shook his head and smiled bitterly, "Except for those few books, there is nothing missing in this house." He lowered his head and looked at the money at his feet, "No one has even taken away these money."
"Brother Ning," Chu Yue lowered her head, picked up two coins and threw them in her hand, "This means that maybe uncle and aunt are really still there. Did they ask someone to pick up these books?"
"I hope so." Xiao Ning sighed, "At least there is hope, and it is not a rare book. I don't think others will care about those few books." After saying that, he lowered his head and reached out to pick up a book. The flaming wooden stick was flicking the charcoal fire, but suddenly his face turned cold, a cold light flashed in his eyes, and he shouted sternly: "Who is this person! Looking for death!" As he spoke, the wooden stick in his hand went straight to the roof with a stream of sparks.
Next to her, Chu Yue was suddenly startled. When she looked at the roof, two figures suddenly jumped up. One of them drew his sword to fend off the stick, while the other raised his hand and fired several hidden weapons downwards. Just as Chu Yue drew her sword to block the hidden weapon, she heard Xiao Ning shouting: "Sister Yue, be careful, wait here for me." As he spoke, he had already grabbed the steel knife, but the man jumped on the roof like a big bird, chasing the two The man went down.
Seeing the anxiety in her heart, Chu Yue quickly jumped up to the roof. When she looked into the distance under the moonlight, she saw three figures chasing out of the village like falcons. They disappeared after turning around. He wanted to pursue him, but he couldn't figure out where he was. He had no choice but to stomp his feet and jump back into the courtyard, hiding in the darkness and concentrating on guarding.
