The Thief Saint is very depressed tonight. This is not the first time he has been to the Duke's Mansion. Even if he suffers a small loss occasionally, he will not be as embarrassed as tonight.
The people in the Duke's Mansion are like dogs with noses tonight. No matter how hard they hide, they will be found.
After wandering around the city for a long time, not only could he not get rid of those people, but he was almost caught up by a few good guys in the pursuit.
If he hadn't been so good at qinggong and his martial arts were not bad, he would have confessed long ago.
"Over there, he's over there!"
The leader of the pursuit took the scarecrow sensor and pointed in the direction of the Thief Saint. He didn't even look at the other side roads, and a group of people came straight from the correct path.
Seeing this, the Thief Saint felt a toothache. What is going on with these guys? Why can you lock your position so easily?
The Thief had no choice but to climb over the city wall and leave the city.
The walls of Shoushui city are high and the city is deep. Logically speaking, it would be a fool's dream to get out, but the thief saint is a thief saint, and it is not comparable to ordinary people.
Taking advantage of the darkness, the Thief Saint grabbed the wall with a homemade simple hook and quickly climbed up the slope of the wall, all the way to the top of the city.
Generally speaking, even if you go to the top of the city, you will definitely be discovered by the soldiers on the top of the city.
But at this time, Shoushui City's lax vigilance became apparent.
It was late at night, and only one group of soldiers was responsible for patrolling the city. The key was that this group of people were also drowsy. It is estimated that if the weather had not been too cold, this group of people would have fallen asleep directly at the city.
The soldiers who were shivering with cold did not notice that the Thief Saint had gone to the top of the city. He was still there with his hands in his crotches to keep warm, suffering and waiting for dawn.
The Thief Saint took the opportunity to find a blind spot, turned over and used his claws to get down the city wall, and successfully left the city.
After leaving the city, Thief Saint breathed a sigh of relief.
He's already out of the city. There's no way these dogs can find him again, right?
Just when the Thief Saint was taking this for granted, there was a sudden shout from behind, followed by the sound of the city gate opening.
The people from the Duke's Mansion are chasing him out!
The Thief Saint was shocked, he didn't expect that this could be found.
The key is that the guard of the Duke's Mansion who left the city was still riding a horse. No matter how good his qinggong was, he couldn't compare to a four-legged horse.
In desperation, the Thief Saint could only flee to the east outside the city. There was a forest over there and horses were not allowed to enter.
...
Ma Zhen was digging a hole with a shovel to bury things in the woods to the east outside the city.
Before, Ye Ming asked him to go to the shabby thatched hut in the east of the city, so he actually went. As a result, he found a pot of priceless jewelry hidden by someone in that shabby thatched hut.
Seeing this, Ma Zhen admired Ye Ming. He dug out all the jewels and took them outside the city, intending to bury them in a place where no one would come.
As soon as the soil was filled, before Ma Zhen could make a mark, he heard the sound of horse hooves outside the woods, and at the same time, a man in black rushed into the woods.
This made Ma Zhen nervous, wondering where the man in black came from.
The Thief Saint also didn't expect that there were other people in this remote forest, and someone who could appear here at night must be extraordinary. But now that he was being hunted, he had no time to do anything else, so he had to run for his life.
When Ma Zhen realized that the pursuer was from the Duke's Mansion, his expression changed.
There are quite a few people in the Duke's Mansion who know him. If they see this, it will be completely unexplainable.
He immediately covered his face with a rag, turned around and ran away.
The Thief Saint was very happy when he saw that this man also had a guilty conscience. At this time, it would be great to have someone to share the pressure.
Therefore, Thief Saint took the initiative to approach Ma Zhen.
When Ma Zhen saw this, he cursed this man for being shameless and sped up.
The pursuers from the rear arrived outside the woods and found that there was another person beside the Thief. Although it was too dark to see the figure clearly, there was no doubt that he was an accomplice of the Thief. Someone immediately shouted:
"Discovering the Thief Saint and his accomplices, everyone dismounted and gave chase."
Ma Zhen, who was escaping in front, also heard the shouting and looked at the person next to him with some surprise. Unexpectedly, this person was actually the rumored Thief Saint.
The Thief Saint saw him looking over and smiled sheepishly.
"Brother, I'm sorry. I'll buy you a drink when you have time."
In his opinion, this person should also be a shady thief. He was naturally with him, so he felt a little more stable.
Ma Zhen had a bitter look on his face. This time, yellow mud really fell into his pants. It was either feces or feces. It was hard to explain.
The advantage of a small number of people was clearly reflected in the woods, and the two quickly distanced themselves from the people behind them.
Seeing this, the leader of the rear team chased after him with the scarecrow. However, because he was too concerned about his own speed, he ignored the protection of the scarecrow in his opponent's hand. A branch passed through and cut off the scarecrow's head.
By the time the team leader reacted, it was already too late, and the scarecrow almost fell apart.
The team leader was shocked. He used the scarecrow to feel the location of the Thief Saint, but there was no reaction.
Even if I pick up the scarecrow's head, it's useless.
"What should I do?"
Seeing that the target was lost and the treasure given by the master was destroyed, a group of pursuers panicked.
After chasing for a while, they found that the two people were completely missing. The group of people suddenly fell silent like eggplants beaten by frost.
The team leader was somewhat responsible and decided to take everyone back to apologize to the Duke.
Because he was absentmindedly walking back, one person accidentally tripped over something.
He stood up and looked at the thing. It turned out to be a shovel.
Looking at the soil at the shovel, it is very fresh, not even snow.
This immediately attracted everyone's attention, and several people helped to dig out the contents easily.
It turned out to be a pot of jewelry, which looked like it had been newly buried in the ground.
"This... is the Thief. We must have discovered the jewels hidden here by the Thief!"
One person suddenly shouted excitedly.
Others heard the words and reacted.
Although he has lost track of the Thief Saint, he has found the place where the Thief Saint's treasure is buried. That is still a credit. In this way, it is not difficult to balance the merits and demerits.
After understanding this, everyone was overjoyed and dug around for a long time. After finding nothing else, they went back.
...
On the other side, Thief Sheng and Ma Zhen escaped from the woods and breathed a sigh of relief after finding that they had successfully escaped their pursuers.
"I'm sorry for what happened today, brother."
The Thief Saint gasped and apologized to Ma Zhen.
But Ma Zhen suddenly took action and grabbed one of Thief Saint's arms.
The Thief Saint was startled and immediately fought back.
But it is a pity that Thieving Saint Qinggong is a master. Although his martial arts is not bad, he is far from the opponent of Ma Zhen, a veteran of hundreds of battles. After being restrained by one of his arms, he is no longer a match for Ma Zhen. He grabs the joints and pins him to the ground. .
The Saint Thief who had never been caught since his debut fell into the hands of a veteran today.
"Such skill? Which hero in the world are you?"
The Thief Saint was surprised by Ma Zhen's ability and asked.
"Not a hero, just a veteran."
Ma Zhen said, already taking off his belt.
When the Thief Saint saw this, his chrysanthemums tightened:
"Brother, don't, I don't like that bite!"
"Don't get me wrong, I just want to tie you up."
"What are you kidnapping me for?"
"Of course it's to be sent to the official."
"What's the benefit of sending me to see an official? You don't really think you can get a reward, do you?"
"I am not short of money now. I will send you to see an official. I am just doing harm to the people."
"Who did I harm? Who are the people? Since I started my career, I have never harmed the poor. I have always targeted the families of high-ranking officials. When have I ever harmed the people?
Those big men are really harming the people! "
Hearing what the Thief Saint said, Ma Zhen paused in his movements, thought for a moment, and let go of the Thief Saint.
"Forget it, let's go."
The Thief Saint regained his freedom, moved his body, looked at Ma Zhen and said:
"Brother, are you a soldier? Are you having a bad life and drinking the blood of soldiers?"
"none of your business."
"There is no way out as a soldier these days. I think you are quite capable. Are you interested in joining me in some heroic deeds?"
"I have my own things to do. Just go and don't force me to change my mind."
"If you let me go, don't try to catch me a second time. This is my dignity as a thief."
While the Thief Saint was speaking, Ma Zhen suddenly looked back and grabbed him. The Thief Saint swayed lightly and avoided Ma Zhen's grasp.
Seeing this, Ma Zhen made continuous attacks, but failed to catch the Thief Saint.
"See, I told you, you can't catch me."
The Thief Saint said with a smile.
Seeing that he really couldn't catch the Thief Saint, Ma Zhen didn't say anything and just walked into the woods.
It was exposed here tonight and not very safe, so he decided to move the jewelry to other places.
I looked back and saw that the Thief Saint didn't follow me, so I felt relieved.
But when he arrived at the place where the jewelry was buried, Ma Zhen was a little dumbfounded.
Poached by...!
Only then did Ma Zhen remember that in his desperation, he didn't have time to make a perfect shield, and even the shovel was left behind...
Suddenly I regretted letting the Thief Saint go. I took it to collect the reward. No matter what, I could still get a dozen or twenty taels of silver.
...
"Master, this is what happened. I am not doing my job well, please punish me."
The leader knelt in front of Duke Shou, with a broken scarecrow and a pot of jewels in front of him.
Duke Shou looked at these and said:
"This time the merits and demerits are equal, forget it and go on."
The leader of the team hurried down as if he had received an amnesty.
Duke Shou knew that Ye Ming was still in the house, so he sent someone to the living room to ask Ye Ming if there was any way to catch the thief.
Ye Ming said that he could only wait for the thief to come again next time to get a trace of his energy, so that he could lock it again.
After hearing this, Duke Shou knew that there was no other way for the time being, so he left Ye Ming to stay in his house temporarily.
Ye Ming happily agreed and went to communicate with the old monk Puzhai again.
When the housekeeper saw Ye Ming leaving, he stepped forward and whispered to Duke Shou:
"Master, please send a message to the capital."
When Duke Shou heard this, he frowned and asked:
"What did you say again?"
"The capital side wants to cut military spending."
"Another reduction!? This is the first time this year that you have said this?
What do people in the imperial court think? Don’t they know that once the Liang people’s civil strife ends, they will be the first to attack us?
They also cut military spending. Without military spending, how would anyone fight the war or serve the court? "
Duke Shou cursed for a long time.
The steward said: "But the imperial court has already made a decision. From next month, military expenditures will be halved."
When Duke Shou heard this, he was furious and cursed the court.
"Master, military expenditures have been greatly reduced, and my family's life may be tight..."
"No, haven't you seen that I'm starving and thin? Life can't be any tighter."
Duke Shou weighed his big belly and said,
"Forget it, no matter how hard you are, you can't hurt yourself anymore. Let's go hard on those stinky Qiu Ba in the military camp first.
Starting next month, no, starting from today, each camp will only provide food and not pay. "
"Ah, then if they make a fuss..."
"No, no, no, they dare!"
"These stinky Qiubaba are so anxious, there is really nothing they dare not do..."
When Duke Shou heard this, he was a little embarrassed. He thought about it and said:
"Then let's let each battalion lay off another five men and let them fend for themselves. In this way, they won't have the strength to make trouble even if they want to."
"More layoffs... Master, we have already eaten most of our empty pay, and the actual number of people in each battalion is not very large. If there are further layoffs..."
"We'll cut it off, why are you panicking? We're not on the front line here.
Isn't General Dong holding the front line? What are we worried about? "
Duke Shou didn't take it seriously. Now there was no Liang people causing trouble. He was living a very comfortable life and didn't worry about those troubles.
At this moment, a messenger shouted outside the door:
"Report, a letter from General Dong."
...
