At the deepest point of the alley, there is another turn, an alley, and a wooden door at the end. This short distance of more than 20 steps is all plain.
The young man frowned, not knowing what to say when they met.
After gathering his thoughts, the young man shook his head. Wu Liuqi, who had never spoken to Wei Nuo, trotted forward and raised his hand to knock on the door.
No one responded, and Wu Liuqi gave three more taps. The alley was very empty.
Still no one responded, Wu Liuqi turned to look at the boy.
The young man was also puzzled. Logically speaking, if there was such a change in the family, the girl should stay at home when she came back. There was no way there would be no one there.
At this time, a courtyard door opened behind him, and a rickety old woman stuck her head out and asked, "Who are you looking for?"
The young man did not hide anything and explained his purpose of coming. He just used the guise of the government and said that the government sent people to visit him.
The old woman sighed and said: "That girl from Zhuangyuan didn't stay long after she came back. Oh, poor baby, such a thing happened to her at such a young age. This little girl was also lucky. She just had a few words with her father. He ran away and escaped this disaster. But it was only two months before we were separated from each other. Who could bear it? Her parents, grandparents, and his younger brother who had just entered school were all gone. She was just a girl. Yes, what can you do? The funeral affairs are all done by the help of the neighbors. You officials and family members keep talking about suppressing thieves and destroying bandits. Those beasts who have been stabbed a thousand times have come to the city to commit crimes. You You are still asking people here and there, how can you look like a member of the official family?"
The old woman became more and more angry as she spoke, her voice became thicker unconsciously, and the topic turned from this poor family to the government, which in her eyes was a people-eating business.
The young man was speechless.
On the other hand, Ada had no idea what the old woman said. In his opinion, he was not an official because he was guilty. Ada said: "Do you know where that girl went?"
"I don't know!" The old woman, who obviously didn't have a good impression of this group of officials and family members, sounded more serious. She turned around and slammed the courtyard door.
"This old man!" Ah Da cursed and was about to step forward. He had never been so angry since his time as an assassin in the Western Region. Not to mention the common people, none of the criminals in the camp would be polite to him. To be polite? As soon as he lifted his feet, he was pulled from the side by the young man, and Ada cursed in a low voice again.
No matter how arrogant a person like him is, he is still instinctively frightened in front of officials and family members, for no other reason than simply because of the hierarchical difference between officials and people since ancient times. The problems left over from history do not affect a particular person. It is like a senior official crushing a person to death regardless of height, shortness, fatness or skinny. It is just the untouchable mentality in the subconscious mind.
The young man put his hand into his arms and suddenly remembered that the silver coins he had brought with him when he went out were in the robe of the charcoal-bearing snow dragon colt. When he thought of this, the young man's mind moved, and he put his index finger into his mouth, and a loud whistle resounded through the sky, and then there was no movement. Only then was he sure that the girl from Zhuangyuan was really gone, otherwise the psychic treasure would never have made the decision to leave. Something about the new owner.
But when Wu Liuqi over there saw the young master from the capital who had been told by the prefect Qian Dingzhu and Wan to serve him well, he put his hand into his arms, so he hurriedly took a few steps, took out the silver coins that the prefect had given to him when he went out, and handed it to him. To the young man.
The young man was slightly surprised and lamented that this child's eyesight was definitely not what his peers had. At least a few years ago, when he was his age, he had to think twice about his mother's words, not to mention words and expressions.
Taking the heavy bag of silver, the young man waved his hand towards the outside of the alley. The two guards, big and small, understood and turned out of the alley, guarding one on the left and the other on the right.
The young man walked up to the door of the old woman's courtyard, raised his hand and knocked on the door three times. He waited for a few breaths but did not open the door. The young man was also quite patient, and raised his hand and knocked again. This time it was opened.
"Is there anything else?" When I opened the door, I saw that it was still the official family member. The old woman's tone was still very aggressive.
"Mother-in-law, I am Zhuang Yuan's friend. I am not familiar with Loulan's place of life, so I asked the official family to bring me here. In the past few months, Zhuang Yuan has been with me. At that time, I received the news that Zhuang Yuan was riding fast. The horse hurried back first, and I was only a few days behind because my horse was not strong enough. Zhuangyuan came back in a hurry, and all the silver coins were kept here. I have been able to thank the neighbors for helping me these days. I think Zhuangyuan’s temperamental departure was also sudden, and these broken pieces You keep the money first and share it with the villagers when you have time. If you don't have enough, just come to me."
What he said was knowledgeable. He first made his relationship with Zhuang Yuan clear, and then used the silver coins Zhuang Yuan put here to dispel the other party's doubts. Let’s not talk about whether the old woman was jealous of the money. Anyway, after the young man finished speaking, the expression of the hunched old woman softened a lot.
Naturally, the young man would not care whether the old woman who took over the silver coins from the young man would keep it for herself without conscience. She added, "If my mother-in-law knows the whereabouts of Zhuang Yuan, please let me know."
The old woman turned her head and looked at the two Shou Zhu Lang, one big and one small, wearing official uniforms outside the alley.
The reputation of Shou Zhuolang and his gang is actually not very good in the city. After all, they are all criminals brought in by assassins. It is unlikely that they will change their ways. The government only restricts rather than controls. They just want to use it to punish evil. He used evil methods to make the public security under his jurisdiction relatively stable and improve his performance during his tenure.
The old woman looked away, lowered her voice, and said: "When the girl was leaving, she was stopped by the second son's house next door. They asked her what she was doing. The girl said she was looking for revenge on the horse thief."
The young man frowned slightly, "Should a horse thief be found when he wants to? Every year, the Governor's Mansion sends people to look for him, but they never come back. Where can a girl like her find her?"
The old woman's expression was solemn and her voice was even lower, "There is an earthen castle thirty miles north of the city. It is occupied by residents, but secretly it is the stronghold of horse thieves."
The young man was obviously taken aback, then suddenly realized again.
In fact, it's not surprising that these ordinary people know about it. They live at the lowest level, are welcomed and sent to home every day, and see and hear many more people than the officials and their families in high positions. They knew it and didn't go to the government to report it, but they were just timid and afraid of getting into trouble. If the government didn't handle it well and let the thieves know who was talking, they would be playing with their own lives. This kind of thankless task is most in line with the self-preservation psychology of the people at the bottom. It is better to do less than to do more. Life is the most important thing.
The young man thanked him politely, turned around and hurried out of the alley. Just as he was about to ask Wu Liuqi to find a fast horse, another big horse galloped across the street. It was still dressed as a postman, but this time it stopped at Three people came forward.
The postman dismounted, bowed and clasped his fists, and without waiting for any of the three to speak, he said: "The prefect asked me to report to the Young Master that there were traces of fighting thirty miles north of the city, and four corpses of horse thieves were found ten miles west."
The young man strode forward and grabbed the postman's horse, turned over and, without saying a word to a few people, galloped out of the city.
The postman was stunned for a moment and said at a loss, "My horse."
The guard caught Lang Ada and slapped the postman on the head, scolding him: "Why don't you give me back your damn horse? Ten horses are not enough to compensate for the accident."
Xiao Shou caught Lang Wu Liuqi and looked at the young master from the capital who was going away, then at Ah Da, and said his first words, "What are you doing?"
In normal times, it would be inevitable to laugh at this kid who speaks a dialect. At this time, Ah Da no longer had this intention. The prefect repeatedly told him to take good care of this young man who did not know his identity but had noble credentials. If something happens, I'm afraid I'll have to stay in this ungrateful place and suffer for the rest of my life.
"I'll chase him. You go find the prefect and send Chief Yin here." After quickly confessing, Ada ran away.
——————————————
The young man naturally thought of the outcome he least wanted to see, and his heart tightened, and he kept urging the horse to run faster, hoping that the horse would be able to grow wings, and go faster and faster.
The earthen fortress in the north of the city was empty. Judging from the dilapidated appearance of the ruined walls, it was obvious that this was just a temporary resting place for horse thieves. There are obvious traces of fighting on the walls of several houses, which are covered with sword marks and sword marks, staggered and densely distributed.
The young man dismounted and checked. There were not many traces of whipping. If you look closely, a few whip marks were stained with blood and were almost dry. It must have been left recently.
The young man's heart tightened again, and he hurriedly took a closer look at other places to make sure there was no more blood before he felt relieved. Then he stood up and jumped up to a low wall, whistled loudly again, and looked around but saw no movement. He jumped again. Get on your horse and continue galloping westward.
Ten miles further west, we are already in the desolate Gobi Desert, with jagged boulders and muddy gravel. The howling wind stirs the ephedra grass into a ball.
The young man rode up a hill and looked around. He saw a few corpses exposed in the sun. A few dog-headed vultures were circling directly above them in the setting sun. Handled, they will feast.
After urging the horse forward and taking a cursory glance, the young man felt relieved. He could tell by looking at the clothes that there was no Zhuangyuan. He raised his hand and whistled again. Obviously, it still didn't get the result he wanted. It only elicited a sharp response from the beasts above his head.
"Damn it!" Even the boy who had a good temper even when he was young was a little anxious at this time. He spat hard and frowned.
Further to the west was the sea of sand that he had only heard about from his uncles and aunts at home, "It's hard for a bird to fly back before it's old for its old horse." As far as the eye could see, it was a dull yellow color, and the scarcity of water meant that not a single blade of grass could grow. Not to mention being in it, the young man just stood on the Gobi Desert where there was still some life, feeling the strong wind blowing over there and swallowed unconsciously.
The rumors that had been left about this place that could eat people had to make the boy instinctively feel a little afraid.
"This is fun." The boy said to himself, "Isn't it a little late to go home and find someone?"
He made a little joke to himself to relieve the panic in his heart. The young man's heart skipped a beat. He looked at the horizon where yellow and blue intertwined and muttered, "If I find you, I owe you. If I don't find you, I owe you." owe you."
After checking the Mongolian wild horse that was only equipped at the Great Zhou Dynasty Station, there were still a few pieces of coarse grain cakes in the horse's saddlebags, plus a cowhide water bag that was less than half. The young man shook the reins, and he really gave birth to a wind. It feels like the water is cold.
He secretly wonders why he is so timid. Since he was a child, especially in these years, he has experienced things that no one of his age has ever experienced in his life. How come he is so afraid of wolves before and tigers behind?
The young man shook his head, gathered his thoughts, and put all the weird thoughts in his head behind him.
"etc!"
The young man urged the horse on his crotch. Before he had taken a few steps, there was a sound of kicking behind him. He turned around and saw Ada coming on horseback and shouting hello.
When this man who had killed someone for his mother-in-law arrived, he jumped off his horse without saying a word, ran over and reached out to grab the reins in the young man's hand. He didn't care about any difference in dignity and said hurriedly: "Wait a minute, wait a minute. .”
"Let go!" The young man got angry.
"Wait for one person first. It won't be too late to find him when he arrives." As he chased in a hurry, Ah Da huffed and puffed, but the reins in his hands did not loosen at all.
"Who are you waiting for?"
"Old Chief Yin."
The young man stared at Ah Da. Ah Da did not move away. He swallowed and gasped: "Thirty years ago, Xirong was instigated by the Gur Dynasty in the far west to rebel. The capital sent twelve people to assassinate Xirong. Emperor, it was Old Yin Chief and Third Master Yin who led these twelve people across the sand sea to the hinterland of Xirong."
The young man who had heard about the assassination so many times naturally understood the danger inside. Not to mention the twelve people who traveled thousands of miles to the west at that time, the youngest of whom was only fourteen years old, nor the twelve and a half-year-old children in the capital of Xirong. How to risk death and survive? Just the sight of crossing this sea of sand for a month made the young man break into a cold sweat.
This must be a wise old horse who hides in the city.
