After Su Qiqi and Qin Chuan returned to the reed marsh, they immediately breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that everyone was safe and sound. They told everyone what happened to her and Qin Chuan, and everyone was very emotional. Zheng Miao and Yan Ruoyu even pulled Su Qiqi aside and repeatedly warned: "Don't act rashly next time."
Su Qiqi smiled and comforted the two of them, and everyone continued on their way on the escort boat.
On the other side, Ouyang Qi was also in a hurry after going down the mountain. After walking for about an hour, we arrived at the gate of Weiyuan City. Seeing the bustle and bustle around him, he felt less nervous. After entering the city, he found an inn to stay and picked up a book to review the content of the scientific examination.
In a blink of an eye, the sky darkened and it began to rain lightly. Ouyang Qi felt a little chilly and hurriedly dug into his baggage to find a thicker round-neck sweater and put it on. Then I continued to read for a while, until I felt uncomfortably hungry, then I got up and went to the lobby downstairs, asked the waiter for a bowl of plain noodles and a plate of peanuts, and ate them hungrily.
Ouyang Qi was eating when he suddenly felt a burning gaze on his back. He subconsciously looked back and saw a short and fat man walking behind him at some point and looking at him intently. Touching the back of his head, he said nothing.
Ouyang Qi put down his chopsticks in a panic, stood up, cupped his hands and said, "Brother, do you need my help with anything?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the short and fat man smiled strangely, and then made a hoarse voice: "Little brother, do you mind if I sit down?"
Ouyang Qi was stunned for a moment, then shook his head with a dry smile and said: "Where, where, brother, please sit down!" After saying that, he took out a piece of broken silver from his arms and waved to the waiter: "Help me add another plate of white slices. Meat and a jug of good wine…”
The waiter ran over with a teasing smile on his face, quickly collected the money, and then brought out a plate of plain meat and a jug of good wine.
The short and fat man was not polite. He lifted the wine bottle with his dark and rough hands and poured a glass for Ouyang Qi. Then he also filled the wine glass in front of him and drank it all in one gulp.
He drank two or three glasses in succession, and then he said, smelling of alcohol, "I would like to ask, little brother, what's your surname? Where do you live? Why are you here?"
Ouyang Qi swallowed the noodles in his mouth, took a sip of the soup, and said with a smile: "My younger brother, Ouyang Qi, lives in Yanping Mansion. I passed by here in order to go to Beijing to take the exam. I saw that it was dark and it was not safe to walk at night, so I stayed here temporarily. One night... I wonder what I call my brother? Are you a local? How do you make a living here?"
The short and fat man pondered for a moment after hearing the words, and said with a bitter expression: "I am from Hengzhou, and I passed here on business years ago. I was robbed by thieves and had no money to return home. I unloaded goods at the dock here to earn some hard money. Living hand to mouth..."
After hearing his words, Ouyang Qi suddenly felt sympathy for each other and warmly invited the short and fat man to have dinner with him. The two of them finished off all the wine and side dishes on the table, and then continued chatting.
While chatting, Ouyang Qi suddenly felt that his eyelids became heavy and his consciousness gradually became blurred. He was about to say something, but he suddenly fell unconscious on the table.
The short and fat man stood up, leaned forward, and pushed Ouyang Qi's shoulder with his hand. Seeing that he was still motionless, he smiled slyly, called the waiter to come over and tied Ouyang Qi up, while he put his hand in In Ouyang Qi's arms, he took away all the remaining broken silver and prepared to put it into his pocket.
At this moment, a dagger was placed in front of him. His eyes froze and his hand stopped in mid-air, feeling at a loss.
"Girl...girl...what do you mean?" the short, fat man said guiltily.
Su Qiqi snatched the broken silver in his hand with lightning speed, put it on the table where Ouyang Qi was lying, and said seriously: "First of all, tell me honestly, why did you steal my friend's things?"
The short and fat man was startled when he heard this. He turned around and looked at Ouyang Qi, who was still unconscious, and the waiter who was kicked to the ground. He then looked at Su Qiqi and Qin Chuan, who was standing aside with an unkind expression. He felt a little confused for a moment. He became nervous and said with an incoherent smile: "My hero, misunderstanding! Misunderstanding! I will untie your friend and get him some wake-up medicine soup..."
Su Qiqi stared at him calmly for a while, then shouted: "Go quickly, if there is any problem with my friends, I will kill you..."
The short and fat man nodded hurriedly, and shouted to the waiter who was still sitting on the ground with a dazed look on his face: "Go and pour the awakening medicine soup..."
The waiter finally came to his senses and crawled on the floor to get something from the kitchen.
Su Qiqi put away her dagger and said to the short and fat man: "You guys... isn't this the first time?"
The short and fat man chuckled and said hesitantly: "No... no... this is really the first time we have done this kind of thing... we just made a temporary profit..."
Su Qiqi sneered and was about to continue questioning. Qin Chuan grabbed the short and fat man by the collar and said fiercely: "Be honest and think clearly before answering, or I will cut you off bit by bit with my sword." Tongue, see if you still dare to talk nonsense..."
The short, fat man was so frightened that he trembled all over and stammered: "Sir, spare your life. I must tell the truth. Don't dare to hide anything anymore..."
Qin Chuan and Su Qiqi looked at each other and continued, "Okay, I'll ask a question and you answer."
The short, fat man blinked his eyes, nodded and said, "My hero, please speak."
Qin Chuan glanced at the situation in the store and asked, "How many people are there in your store?"
The short and fat man thought for a moment and said: "Three people, me, the waiter and the shopkeeper."
"Oh? What about the shopkeeper?" Su Qiqi glanced at every corner of the store again, staring at the short and fat man with sharp eyes and asked.
The short, fat man wriggled his lips and said vaguely for a while: "Upstairs... upstairs..." As he spoke, his eyes subconsciously glanced at a room upstairs.
Qin Chuan immediately flew up to the second floor and headed straight for that room.
Zheng Miao was a little worried when she saw her brother going up alone, so she called Yan Ruoyu, and the two of them ran up the stairs to support.
Escort Lu stayed in the lobby on the first floor, guarding the door.
The short, fat man and the waiter became even more panicked when they saw this formation. The two of them frequently made eye contact, as if they were making the last desperate struggle.
Su Qiqi glanced at them indifferently and said to escort Lu: "Brother Lu, take a few people to guard the front and back doors. If you see anyone running out from here, stop them first..."
Escort Lu nodded knowingly, walked out of the inn door, and walked towards the carriage parked outside. Several of the tour operators waiting there met escort Lu and learned about the situation inside the inn. They all cooperated and guarded the front and rear entrances of the inn according to escort Lu's arrangements.
The second floor of the inn. A woman with a half bun ran out in a panic and ran towards the stairs. While running, he shouted: "Help! This is indecent!"
Qin Chuan followed her not far behind, with a speechless expression on his face.
The woman continued to scream exaggeratedly: "Fat Luo, I'm being bullied, won't you come over and help me?"
The short, fat man curled his lips in disdain and muttered: "Black Rose, stop pretending..."
The woman nicknamed "Black Rose" calmed down her expression and said in astonishment: "You, who are you? Why did you come to my store to cause trouble and beat my clerk like this?"
Su Qiqi didn't listen to her and said directly: "Your guy drugged my friend and stole my friend's money. Isn't it too much for me to teach them a lesson?"
"Black Rose" was stunned for a moment, then suddenly smiled coquettishly and said: "Oh! So that's it? I'm so sorry! But..." As she said that, her face changed, the topic changed, and she said accusingly: "You too You have to take care of that friend of yours. Just when he was about to change clothes, he broke into the door..." As she said that, she squinted her eyes and glanced at Qin Chuan who had already walked to Su Qiqi's side. .
Qin Chuan rolled his eyes at her and sneered: "Haha, I didn't expect the shopkeeper to have the habit of standing upside down on the ceiling to change clothes..."
"Standing upside down on the ceiling..." Su Qiqi couldn't guess what Qin Chuan said.
Zheng Miao was worried that Su Qiqi would misunderstand, so she hurriedly stepped forward and explained: "She was not changing at all. When my brother pushed the door in, Ruoyu and I followed... At that time, she was standing upside down on the ceiling, holding a trap for animals. Catch us..."
"Ah? Animal trap?" Su Qiqi's eyes widened in surprise, and she looked at the innkeeper "Black Rose" in disbelief.
"Black Rose" no longer covered up what he had done, and sneered: "Yes, we are originally a black shop, and what we do is to make money and kill people... Your friend is not the first, and he will not be the first one." the last one……"
"Haha, you are really shameless...if you meet us, you will never have another chance to harm others!" Zheng Miao looked at the shopkeeper's sullen look and said angrily.
"Black Rose" glanced at Zheng Miao nonchalantly, and said without changing her expression: "Perhaps you still had a chance just now...now? But it's hard to say..." As she said that, a cunning light flashed in her eyes.
Su Qiqi's heart tightened and she thought to herself: Could it be that she secretly cast some colorless and odorless poisonous gas? Thinking of this, she looked around quickly and sniffed slightly.
Zheng Miao saw Su Qiqi's unusual behavior and hurriedly approached her and asked in a low voice: "Sister, what's wrong?"
Su Qiqi replied softly: "Be careful, she may have secretly released poison gas..."
"Ah?" Zheng Miao exclaimed involuntarily, then stared at the shopkeeper nervously and looked up and down several times, then approached Su Qiqi again doubtfully and asked: "I didn't see any little tricks she did... …”
Yan Ruoyu on the side heard Zheng Miao's words, came over and comforted her in a low voice: "It's okay, let's just wait and see what happens. It could also be that the other party is playing psychological warfare, planning to deceive us and take the opportunity to escape..."
Zheng Miao thought for a while and felt that what Yan Ruoyu said made sense. She suppressed the doubts and fears in her heart and whispered a few words to Su Qiqi and her brother. She stepped forward to help Ouyang Qi, who was still not fully awake, and put him on the carriage first. Asking a waiter outside the door to take care of him, he returned to the inn lobby again.
When she entered the lobby again, she was shocked. Su Qiqi, her brother, Yan Ruoyu, the shopkeeper, Fatty Luo and others were all missing. There were only tables and chairs with missing arms and legs in the lobby.
how so? I've only been away for a few minutes! Where will my brother, Qiqi, Ruoyu and the others go? Why are those bad guys missing? Zheng Miao felt that her brain was buzzing, and she couldn't understand the scene she saw in front of her.
