At night, in Haitang Kingdom, there is an endless stream of people coming to Lake City.
There are several broad avenues that pass through the center of Laihu. There are carriages running on the roads. There are small carriages pulled by a single horse or two horses, and there are also "multiple carriages" pulled by several horses.
The downtown area is filled with rows of wooden buildings that are several stories high. Most of these buildings are built with an extremely tough "towering wood" as the basic building material, supplemented by extremely superb craftsmanship.
In the center of Laihu, there are many wooden buildings with more than ten floors.
One of the streets is full of weapons and iron shops, or shops selling antiques, jade, and the like. Weapons and antiques are the favorites of wealthy businessmen and high-ranking officials in Datang Kingdom and many surrounding countries. Among the collectibles, even ordinary households would probably have one or two heirloom swords, scimitars, or spears on display.
A vendor pushing a children's play cart was holding a small windmill embroidered with a small butterfly and handed it to the child next to the cart. The child clapped his hands and took the windmill, and the child's parents immediately took out coins and gave it to the child. hawker.
The vendor smiled and watched the family who came from out of town leave. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and opened a small tin can used to hold money on the trolley. It was full of silver notes and copper coins. Today, as usual, business is booming. This is a large seaside city with a population of millions - the downtown area of Laihu City, one of the most prosperous places in the world. There are so many tourists flowing in every day. countless.
The hawker stared at the tin can containing money for a long time, with mixed emotions in his expression, and then looked mysteriously to both sides behind him.
"Hey, what are you looking at? Do you want to sneak away?" A man with a short stature, big ears and a broad nose reached out and patted the hawker heavily on the shoulder.
The hawker screamed and was so frightened that he dropped the tin can in his hand, and his banknotes and coins rolled everywhere. He waved his hands repeatedly and explained loudly: "Of course not! Uncle He, how dare I?"
The short man with big ears and broad nose was called "He Wen". He snorted and didn't answer. He patted the long sword on his waist. The scabbard was carved with beautiful floral patterns. Compared with the swords in ordinary people's homes, it was much better. It is much more expensive. If you look closely, you will see that there is a circular symbol on the scabbard, which says "Chuang".
He Wen was followed by several followers, all of whom had swords hanging from their waists or carrying knives in their hands. The weapons were also engraved with the circular symbol of "Chuang".
The hawker blushed, sweating profusely, and put the money back into the tin can. He then respectfully presented the tin can to He Wen with both hands, while trying to explain the reason for the strange look on his face: "Everyone, are you here tonight?" Good morning, I was not prepared properly, so I was shocked..."
He Wen stretched out his hand and rubbed his broad nose and said, "What are you preparing for? Are you going to put all the big bills in your pockets and only give us a broken iron can that makes a clanging sound when it is shaken?"
The hawker's legs were trembling, and he shook his head repeatedly and explained: "How dare I, how dare I! If you don't believe me, you can search my body. If you dare to hide something, you can break my legs!" "
"Why did I break your legs? Wouldn't that make me a bully? Do you think we look like bullies?" He Wen let out a hey, then reached out and touched the tin can, and took away some of the silver coins with the largest denominations. ticket.
"No, no, all of you are heroes and great benefactors to our people from all over the world!" the hawker explained while still holding up the tin can, allowing the followers behind He Wen to put their hands into the tin can one by one. Take it out.
"Okay, hurry up and grab whatever you want. We have important things to do tonight, so don't delay!" He Wen ordered like this and led a group of followers away.
The hawker finally raised his head, took back the tin can, pursed his lips, opened the small cloth bag on his body, and poured the tin can into the cloth bag. There were only a few scattered sounds of copper coins clanking.
The vendor packed up the cart and stared blankly at He Wen and his accomplices who were walking away. They continued to move forward boldly, taking one banknote after another from each vendor's hand.
The vendor looked at the few small windmills left on the cart, and was hesitating whether he should continue to do business for a while. Suddenly, a green horse galloped very fast. The man on the horse was pale, his body was covered with blood, and he lowered his hand. Drooping, as if injured.
The green horse rushed past the vendor, and the strong wind blew the windmill whirring and spinning.
After the green horse, there were several fast black horses chasing him.
The man on the back of the black horse also had a weapon engraved with the word "Chuang" hanging on his body. The black horses roared past, obviously chasing the injured man riding the green horse earlier.
The hawker was startled. He remembered what the old man had just said casually, "There will be something important tonight." When he thought of this, the hawker speeded up and packed up the trolley, then reversed the direction of the trolley and turned it into the side. Alley.
*********
The green horse looked very tired, but its speed did not slow down at all. The lights hanging outside the streets on both sides flew backwards like meteors. The injured man on the horse swung the reins with one arm and looked back from time to time, his expression eager and resentful.
A vendor pushing a cart in the alley ahead blocked the road, as if he was frightened and overwhelmed by the rapid sound of horse hooves. With one kick, the green horse leapt across the entire road like a flying dragon and disappeared into the dark alley across the street.
After walking around several alleys, the green horse stopped in front of a large house. There was a large plaque in front of the house with the words "Wealthy Residence" written on it.
The man fell off his horse, and the door of Fugui Residence opened immediately. Several servants inside quickly came out to help the man. The man looked around, but the group of pursuers did not come after him.
The man followed several servants leading the green horse into the mansion, passed by the beautiful garden, and entered the main hall. A young man in white clothes looked uneasy in the hall. When he saw the injured young man coming in, he quickly stepped forward to help him.
"They are coming!", "There are their people outside, surrounded on all sides!" The servants were panicking and commotion. The young man in white picked up the long sword leaning against the big pillar and led a group of people holding sticks. The servant of the sword walked outside and suddenly turned back to the injured young man and said, "Brother Wu, I leave grandpa to you."
"Xiao Zhang, cheer up!" the injured young man responded, and then he and the two servants turned into the corridor deep in the hall, passed through several twists and turns, and stopped in a secret passage.
The servant reached out and turned the candlestick on the wall, then pushed it towards the wall. A narrow wall receded, revealing a small door.
The injured young man turned to the small secret passage, but the two accompanying servants quickly turned the candlestick, closed the secret passage door, touched his back, and took out his scimitar. The two looked at each other with determination in their expressions. .
"Let's go and help Brother Zhang." One of the servants said this, and the other one also responded. The two of them ran in the corridor one after another. When they ran to the hall, they saw that the garden outside was already on fire. There was a big fire, and many arrows flew in. The arrows were all tied with cloth drizzled with fuel, and they were like rockets.
There were sounds of fighting outside the courtyard. A group of servants in Fuguiju held swords and sticks to resist the men in black who climbed over the wall and entered.
The two servants looked at each other and rushed out.
