When Pan Suxuan and Zhao Niantong saw each other, they hurriedly hid in the dark and watched the boys loading the boxes onto the carriage. The shopkeeper also got on the carriage. The groom did not dare to raise his whip loudly, but just shouted slogans and drove the carriage slowly. Head west.
With Pan and Zhao behind them, the carriage was heavily loaded and moved slowly. It was not until the east was exposed that it reached the gate of the west city. It was not yet time for the city gate to open, and the officers and soldiers guarding the city were still napping. The shopkeeper came to an officer-looking man and woke him up softly. The officer was very unhappy and said loudly: "Who is it? Are you disturbing my dream!?"
The shopkeeper nodded and bowed and said: "Master Jun, I have important business and want to leave the city. Please make it easier for me." The officer said angrily: "What city? What time will you leave the city? Is Jinling City owned by your family?"
The shopkeeper smiled and said, "Master, I'm sorry to bother you. Please take this little note to drink tea." After saying that, he took out a piece of silver and stuffed it into the officer's hand. The officer weighed his weight and said: "I have no problem, but you see there are so many brothers, this..."
The shopkeeper immediately understood, and hurriedly took out two more pieces and handed them over, "Master, please take the brothers to have some breakfast. I'm treating you." The officer then smiled and said, "How can this be so embarrassing? Next time, brothers will be the host. Let me have a drink with you, brother." As he said this, he put the silver into his arms, and then kicked and kicked the men around him to wake up, and eight or nine people worked together to open the city gate.
Seeing that the city gate was open, Pan and Zhao hurriedly hid under the carriage while the shopkeeper was getting on the carriage. They followed the carriage out of the city gate and continued westward. Not far away, he heard the sound of horse hooves behind him. Pan Suxuan grabbed the bottom of the car with his right hand, leaned out and looked out, and saw two fast horses rolling up the loess and galloping towards them. This is already the city, there are no homes around, and there are no passers-by in the early morning. It seems that the target of the two horses must be this carriage.
The shopkeeper heard the sound of horse hooves, raised the curtain on the carriage and looked back. He saw someone chasing him and hurriedly urged the coachman to leave quickly. The driver raised his whip, shouted, and drove the carriage forward quickly. The country road was filled with dust, which made Pan and Zhao miserable. They crouched under the car and ate a lot of dust.
No matter how fast the carriage was, it couldn't beat the horse, let alone carrying four people and so many boxes. It wouldn't be long before it was overtaken. Pan Suxuan couldn't see clearly the faces of the people on the horse from the bottom of the carriage. He only felt that although they caught up with the carriage, they just drove alongside it calmly and did nothing else.
The shopkeeper on the carriage also noticed this, and the panic in his heart slowly calmed down. He cupped his hands to the man on the horse and said, "Two...two strong men, I wonder...what advice can you give me?"
The two of them immediately stopped talking to each other and continued to ride forward on their own. The shopkeeper asked three times in a row but got no answer, and he couldn't help but panic again. As they were walking, they suddenly shouted: "Stop!" The driver didn't know what was going on and hurriedly tightened the reins. The carriage stopped suddenly, almost throwing Pan and Zhao off.
Just listen to the shopkeeper say: "Two friends, let's not talk secretly. If you two are short of money, although brothers are not rich, they are still willing to help. If there are other things that need to be done by brothers, please feel free to do so." Draw a line, what does it mean to be so silent?"
Pan Suxuan thought to himself: "It seems that the shopkeeper is also a Taoist person. What he said is quite reasonable."
I heard the person on the horse say: "You know the rules quite well. Since we have said this, we will not go around in circles. If you put the box down, we will spare your life."
The shopkeeper was stunned and thought to himself: "How do they know about the box? Could it be that because I was so careful, the news leaked out?"
Seeing that the shopkeeper didn't speak, the man on the horse sneered: "What are you thinking about? Why don't you leave quickly? Are you going to lose your head?" The shopkeeper said: "My friend, I was also entrusted by someone to transport these boxes. , if you insist on taking it away, you can at least leave a name on it so that when the person entrusted with it asks about me, I can have an explanation."
Immediately the man laughed and said: "You can know my name if you want, but what's the use if you know it? If you don't give me the box, you will die. If you give me the box, the original owner will kill you." , as a mortal person, what’s the benefit of knowing so much?”
The shopkeeper snorted and said, "Your Excellency, you have such a strong tone. If you want to kill me, I have to see if you have the ability first." As soon as he finished speaking, Pan Suxuan felt the car sway, and then heard the sound of weapons clashing. The sound must have been that of the shopkeeper who was already making moves with the man on the horse. Taking this opportunity, Pan Suxuan rolled over and got out from under the car. Seeing that the five people around him were sleeping poorly, he reached out and pulled Zhao Niantong out from under the car.
The two hid behind a mound on the roadside. The dust in this area turned into a protective color, hiding their figures. Looking at the shopkeeper over there, he is gradually unable to hold on. The dagger in his hand can only be used to parry, but has no power to fight back. The man on the horse was very relaxed, wielding an unsheathed short sword, pointing, cutting, whittling, and splitting with ease.
The man on the horse had his back to Pan Suxuan, so he couldn't see his face, but the knife in his hand, although it was placed in the scabbard, looked very familiar. Zhao Niantong also whispered: "Brother, could the short sword in the hand of the man on horseback be..." "Yes, it should be the black jade sword!"
Zhao Niantong said happily: "That's great. Let's snatch it back and bury it in front of Zhang Daxia's grave. It can also comfort his spirit in heaven." Pan Suxuan said: "Don't worry, I was thinking that since they have black jade in their hands, Knife, indicating that the two of them must be the men in black who appeared in the woods that day, that is, the accomplices of the old man Apocalypse. But these boxes were also placed in the inn by their accomplices. Why did they want their own people to rob their own things? Woolen cloth?"
Zhao Niantong said: "The men in black that day were not all subordinates of the old man Tianqi. Didn't some of them come to participate in that meeting?" Pan Suxuan said: "Others may not, but these two people must be their insiders. "
"Oh? Why do you see that?" "It's very simple. These two people are obviously well prepared. They already know that the box will be transported to the foot of Qinglong Mountain early this morning. If they intercept it in the city, if the city guards are alerted, the box will definitely We can't take them all away. If we do it when we are almost at the bottom of the mountain, it will be bright and it will inevitably be discovered by others. Therefore, the best place is the desolate place just outside the city. At this time, the sky is dark and there will be no pedestrians on the road. , it’s a good time to take away the box.”
Zhao Niantong said in confusion: "Since they are in the same group, what's the point of performing this act? Why bother when you are trying so hard to grab your own things?"
Pan Suxuan pondered for a moment and said: "Unless...there are deep conflicts between them and they have begun to secretly restrict themselves."
