Gu Shengchao couldn't imagine it. He looked for clues and suddenly saw a dart on the window lattice. It was about the size of a copper coin, with jagged edges and a cold light.
The masters sent by the Changqing County Sheriff's Office and the Ministry of Punishment were chasing him and Zhong Lei's shadows at night.
Gu Shengchao stopped delaying and immediately went to ask the innkeeper. At first, the waiter hesitated and hesitated. After stuffing money into his hand, the waiter immediately became energetic. He pulled Gu Shengchao to where no one was and said, "Today, Morning, I was going to open the door in the courtyard when I heard the sound of fighting in that room. I didn't dare to go there. I secretly saw three people jumping out of the window from a distance. One of them looked like a woman, and the other one looked like a woman. I was carrying a long package. There seemed to be a person in the package, and there was another person holding a steel knife. The shopkeeper was afraid of causing trouble and wouldn't let me say anything. The eldest brother saw that he was a good person, so he told me, don't tell outsiders. Say I told you."
"Thank you, I won't tell anyone else." Gu Shengchao patted the waiter on the shoulder.
He immediately brought two newly purchased bay-red horses from the stable, got on them and galloped away.
Gu Shengchao and Liu Ximei took a boat down the river. If they returned by water, it would be a long distance, and going upstream would be time-consuming and laborious. Therefore, it was unlikely that they would go by water, and they could only go by land. The Ancient Sage rode very fast and slept in the open air all the way. He asked inns one by one along the way. Fortunately, money can make all the difference, and the waiters at several inns provided valuable information. Even so, after chasing for more than ten days, he still couldn't find it.
The two horses took turns riding, which also gave Gu Shengchao more time to catch up. In the next few days, the traces of Liu Ximei and his party seemed to have suddenly evaporated, and they could no longer be traced. Gu Shengchao was worried. He calmed down and thought about it, wondering if he had chased too hastily and missed some details. The other party led Liu Ximei with three people, and they were definitely not as fast as him. If they found a way to make Liu Xi'e obey, wouldn't it become four people?
Thinking of this, Gu Shengchao immediately turned his horse's head. This time he was not in a hurry and moved forward slowly.
At dusk that day, Gu Shengchao came to a small village. There was only one inn in the village for accommodation and dining. He has been here before. The village is located in a remote place. It is deserted for hundreds of miles and is very desolate. He led the horse and was about to enter the inn, but was stopped by the innkeeper: "Guest, I'm sorry. There was a plague in the shop yesterday. It is being cleaned and cannot be opened for the time being. Please forgive me."
Gu Shengchao looked inside and found that it was deserted. Only two people were spraying medicine in the yard, presumably to deal with the aftermath. He turned around and looked at the streets. They were all closed and there was no one in sight. He asked, "You are the only inn here. It's getting late now, where should I rest?"
The man pointed in the direction outside the village: "Three miles to the east, there is a large house that has been abandoned for a long time. You can stay there for a night."
Gu Shengchao secretly took out a piece of silver and whispered: "Thank you for your hard work, brother, can you help me find a family to stay at? I really don't want to stay in the wilderness overnight."
If someone is soft-spoken and short-handed, no matter who he is, he would have already pocketed the money and started making money. But this guy was determined not to, and waved his hand and said: "Sir, you are trying to kill me. The superiors have spoken. Anyone who dares to take in any foreigner who comes here will be killed. This is a matter of losing one's head. There is really nothing we can do about it. Sir, please leave quickly." The waiter hurried away without waiting for Gu Shengchao to speak, as if he was avoiding the god of plague.
Gu Shengchao raised his head and saw that the sky was cloudy and it looked like it was going to rain, so he had no choice but to ride his horse and head east. Not far away, there was a really big house. Most of the courtyard gate and walls of the house have collapsed, leaving only two tall stone lions sitting there, talking about the glory of the past. Fortunately, the big house in the middle has high eaves and carved beams. Although it is mottled, it looks solid.
He walked over and tied the reins to the pillar under the eaves. The sky was gloomy at the moment, and the room was dark and dark. Gu Shengchao vaguely sensed that there was someone in the room, and clearly heard the "bleating" sound of a sheep. When he came to the door, one of the doors was damaged. First he saw a flickering fire in the corner. He said "Sorry to bother you" and walked in.
The man inside said "hmm" but didn't answer.
After about a cup of tea, Gu Shengchao gradually adapted to the dark environment, and then he saw clearly an old man squatting in the corner, puffing out a long cigarette stick in his hand, and holding two sheep beside him.
Suddenly, a flash of lightning flashed across the sky, like daylight, and everything in the room was clearly visible for a short moment. The old man looked at the old man with piercing eyes. The two looked at each other, as if they both wanted to understand each other's thoughts. Then there was a thunderous sound, as if the sky and the earth were shattering, the old house in disrepair also trembled, and dust shook off. The two sheep were so frightened that they huddled together and screamed.
Not long after, it rained heavily, and along with the dense raindrops, a team of people rushed over. Like Gu Shengchao, the riders tied their reins to the pillars under the eaves. The two carriages had no shelter from the rain. People were busy moving the things in the carriages into the house. The two people who came in first lit torches and stuck them on the wall. The dark room finally became bright.
Gu Shengchao counted silently and found that there were eleven people in this team. Except for one elder, the rest were all strong men. The leader was young and his white clothes set off his elegant temperament. Everyone seemed busy, the division of labor was clear and organized, and calm returned soon. The man in white sat in the middle, with the elder beside him, and the rest of the people sat or stood around to protect and warn.
The heavy rain came and went quickly, and soon it became drizzle and was about to stop.
Gu Shengchao was thinking about whether to spend the night with these people or wait for the rain to stop and then go on the road alone. A woman's voice came from outside: "I blame you. You didn't come out as promised, but you wanted to drag me along with you. Now it's okay." She was not allowed to stay in the hotel and her clothes got wet."
A man said aggrievedly: "You can't blame me for this. Who knew that it would rain when God said it would rain, but there was a plague in the village. If I had known, I wouldn't have come out."
A man and a woman walked in and were startled when they saw that the room was almost full of people. The man cupped his hands and said, "Sorry to bother you, my husband and I are passing by here and want to stay overnight. Please forgive me."
The old man leading the sheep took a puff of smoke and said: "It doesn't matter, we don't know each other, we are all on the road and have nowhere to rest, so let's spend the night here!"
"Thank you, thank you so much!" The man thanked everyone with his hands in hand.
The woman was still reluctant: "If I had known this, I wouldn't have come. How can I sleep in this damn place? Do you have a pillow or a bedding? I'm not here. I'm going out to find an inn." After the woman said it, she said: go out.
The man grabbed him and begged: "Just calm down. It's still raining outside. Let me find a place for you to rest somewhere."
"I won't. Even if I leave, I won't stay in this wilderness." The woman was unreasonable and shook off the man's hand.
The man was usually henpecked, but he had no choice at this time. He pointed to the door and explained: "Look outside, you can go anywhere if you just walk. What should I do if you get wet and have some shortcomings?"
"Okay, you dare to curse me." The woman was furious and pushed the man hard: "This is the result of marrying you. Do you want to curse me to die early?"
The man took several steps back and came to the side of the group. He said helplessly: "That's just you. Everything I say is wrong. Okay, I won't say anything."
The woman cried instead, wiping her tears with a depressed look, and pushed the man angrily and said: "I'm so blind, why did I fall in love with you, a loser? I have to stay in a hotel today, and I don't want to live here." .”
The man had already retreated into the group. He argued to the people around him: "You guys judge, this is the only place around here that can take shelter from the rain. Let me find a place for her somewhere."
"I don't care, I want to stay in the hotel." The woman was arrogant and unreasonable, crying like a shrew and rushed over to the man.
"You're done." The man was pushed back by the woman, turned around in disgust and threw the woman out.
The woman staggered and fell towards the man in white. Seeing that she was about to fall, the man in white quickly stood up and reached out to help her.
The elder next to the man in white also stood up and stood aside vigilantly, saying: "Young master, be careful." The man in white and the woman were very close, and after hearing the elder's words, they were stunned for a moment.
In an instant, the woman had a dagger in her hand and stabbed the man in white.
The man in white pulled the elder back, and the woman followed up and stabbed the dagger in her hand one after another. The man in white protected the elder and was stabbed in the left arm by the dagger. The elder was anxious and stopped in front of the man in white.
"puff!"
The dagger pierced the elder's chest.
"Sir, be careful!" The elder warned with blurred eyes before slowly falling down.
Just now, everyone was watching the couple's joke, but when they reacted, the woman had stabbed the elder and then rushed towards the man in white. One of them didn't have time to reveal his weapon, so he rushed over and hugged the woman, not letting go even though the dagger in the woman's hand was stabbing her body crazily. Another person wanted to run over to help, but unexpectedly the man had already revealed his sword and struck him. The man's upper body suddenly fell down while he was running, and he saw his lower body moving forward. He lowered his head again, only to find that his body was broken. I don't know it for two parts.
After three casualties, everyone finally came to their senses. Finally, someone showed the ghost-headed sword and killed the woman. After the man stabbed another person to death, he was pierced through the heart by other people's swords.
The man in white was focused on the fighting among the people, but unexpectedly, the old man holding the two sheep had already discarded the rope tying the sheep and quietly slipped behind him. The old man turned the cigarette rod upside down, held the pipe and stabbed the man in white with the sharp cigarette holder.
Gu Shengchao saw it clearly. He raised his foot and kicked a stone away, hitting the old man's cigarette pole. The cigarette pole was thrown aside.
"Everyone, please stop, don't fight." Gu Shengchao shouted loudly. He had been wandering around the world since he was a child and had been ignored and discriminated against by people. Naturally, he resisted wealthy people like the man in white. He wanted to help no one, but the man in white was about the same age as him, so he couldn't help but feel pity. He couldn't bear to see him die on the spot, so he came to save him.
When the old man failed to hit the target, the man in white turned around and struck out with a palm. The old man retreated. Others had already swarmed up to protect the man in white. It was already too late for a sneak attack.
"Ruining my big job!" The old man was so angry that he glared at Gu Shengchao. He was so weak that he turned around and jumped out of the door.
