Ling Yun and Li Haoyang walked into the door of the inn. The layout inside was simple. There was a large courtyard. There was a pool in the courtyard. There were some lotus leaves floating on the water and carp swimming in the water. There was a rockery in the center of the pool, with various kinds of flowers on both sides. A pine tree.
Several people walked upstairs along the wooden stairs on the left side of the inn. The waiter led them to a guest room on the far right, took out the key and opened the door. The waiter opened the door, turned around and said to them, "You two gentlemen, how do you like this guest room?"
Li Haoyang and Ling Yun peeked inside. Li Haoyang asked, "How much does it cost to stay in this hotel for one night?" The waiter said, "The store is in a remote location and the price is affordable. One tael of silver can stay for ten days, and you can get another day for free. How about that?" ?" Li Haoyang frowned slightly, and the waiter continued: "It seems that you two have come from afar, right? How about I tell the shopkeeper that you can stay for ten days and get two days free?" Li Haoyang said: "That's it, then. Thank you very much, little brother!" After saying that, he raised his feet and walked in, followed by Ling Yun.
The waiter said: "Two guests, the hotel room fee needs to be paid in advance. Who will follow me downstairs to register and check out?" Ling Yun took off all his belongings and placed them on the square table in the room. He only took two taels from the cloth bag. Broken silver followed the waiter downstairs to register, paid the room fee, and said to the waiter: "Brother, get some hot water quickly." The waiter said: "Okay, you go up and sit for a while, the hot water will be available soon. Delivered!"
Back in the room, Li Haoyang had packed his luggage, and their swords were placed on the square table. Ling Yun entered the room and called "Brother Yang!" He closed the door and the two sat down face to face in front of the square table. , Li Haoyang's mouth moved, but he didn't say anything. Ling Yun asked: "Brother Yang, do you have anything to say?"
Li Haoyang looked around the room, then immediately withdrew his eyes, and said to Ling Yun with some seriousness: "Ling Yun, we grew up together. How much older am I than you? As an elder brother, I still want to make some things clear to you! "
Ling Yun was a little confused, not knowing why Li Haoyang suddenly spoke like this, but seeing his serious eyes, he had to listen patiently, so he said: "Brother Yang, if you have anything to say, just say it directly, I will listen to you!"
Li Haoyang nodded and said: "Ling Yun, we all come from poor families, especially you. You grew up eating the food of hundreds of families. You have never had a good life since you were a child. You are extremely cautious about money. You have been reluctant to spend it since you were a child. One cent, but this time I came to Jinling City, I feel that your whole person has changed, especially after you got those windfalls, you don’t seem to care about money at all, although Brother Yang is also happy for you, buy I also like those clothes very much, but I still have to advise you. We grew up in the mountains and forests. Without any skills, it may be difficult to survive in Jinling City. If we use them today, the clothes in your hands will You can't afford a few squanderings of silver. If you like this Jinling City, let's find a master to learn a craft, and from now on, we can settle down in this Jinling City."
After hearing these words, Ling Yun realized that he was blushing a little. He understood that Li Haoyang said these words for his own good. He lowered his head and said to Li Haoyang: "Brother Yang, I understand."
Li Haoyang's serious face relaxed, but having said that, at least they no longer have to worry about insufficient money, so he reached out and patted Ling Yun on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Okay, neither is Brother Yang. I blame you, those silver coins should be yours, you can spend them however you want, and Brother Yang won’t stop you, but as an elder brother, I will remind you to prevent you from being careless and going astray." After saying that, he stood up. Standing up, he said "Hey" and Ling Yun asked: "What's wrong, Brother Yang?" Li Haoyang replied: "Nothing, did you tell the waiter to send hot water?" Ling Yun replied: "I did. Yes, I’ll be there in a moment.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard several heavy footsteps coming from outside the house. After a while, the door was knocked. Li Haoyang asked: "Who is it?" The waiter's voice came from outside: "Sir, is it? I'm here to bring you hot water!"
After hearing this, Li Haoyang stepped to the door, opened the door, and saw the waiter and two waiters stopping at the door carrying four buckets of hot water. Li Haoyang stepped aside and stepped out of the way. The waiter and the two waiters carried the hot water into the bathroom and poured it into the tub. Four buckets of water just filled the tub.
Li Haoyang and others walked to the door and were about to close it when they saw the two dark-skinned guys standing at the door with poles and buckets, unwilling to go out. Just when Li Haoyang didn't know what this meant, the waiter in the shop leaned into his ear and said, "Sir, these two are shop assistants. They rely on brute force to make a living. You can just give them a little."
Li Haoyang still didn't understand and asked: "What are you giving?" The waiter stretched out his hand and rubbed his fingers and said, "This!" Li Haoyang suddenly realized that although he still didn't understand why he had to give money, he finally knew that these two dark-skinned people What was the guy doing standing there?
So, Li Haoyang asked the waiter: "Brother, do you think how much should I give?" The waiter said: "Sir, just give it as you see fit. One or two cents is not too little, and ten or eight cents is not too much." !" Li Haoyang asked again: "What about this water?" The waiter said: "The hot water is provided by the store, and it is included in the room fee!" Li Haoyang thanked him, then returned to the room and took out the water from under the pillow. He took out twenty coins from the money bag and came to the two men. He handed it into the hands of the two waiters and said, "If you are kind, please bring us four buckets of hot water."
Although the reward was not much, it was enough to keep the two of them from going hungry for a day. The two guys took the money and went downstairs happily, followed by the waiter. After a while, the two guys picked up four more buckets of hot water and placed them against the wall outside the bathroom according to Li Haoyang's instructions. Ling Yun was already soaking in the bathtub, taking a bath comfortably.
After the two guys left, Ling Yun said: "Brother Yang, life in Jinling City is so comfortable!" Li Haoyang leaned on the bathroom door frame with his arms folded, and sighed: "One tael of silver lives for twelve days, one year It's just over thirty taels. We are not much better than those two guys. If we rely on brute force to make a living, how can we get a foothold in this city? In my opinion, it is better to play around for a few days and gain experience before returning to the town. !”
Ling Yun asked: "Hey, Brother Yang, what do you think the people in Jinling City do for a living?" Li Haoyang said angrily: "Didn't you see it? He works as a waiter in the store, selling sesame cakes and candied haws. , what is better, open a small shop to sell some groceries, you choose one? However, these businesses cannot support your current life! "
After hearing this, Ling Yun felt a little frustrated and said nothing more. The two were silent for a moment. Li Haoyang said: "By the way, I forgot to tell you something. After we came out of the pawn shop today, I kept feeling that someone was following us. , we have to be careful at night, don't make any mistakes!" Ling Yun said: "No way, we just arrived in this city and we didn't provoke anyone, how could someone follow us secretly? Did you read it wrong? ?”
Li Haoyang said with certainty: "It's not wrong. You know, we have been hunting in the woods since childhood. Any disturbance within ten feet cannot escape my eyes and ears. It is better to be careful." Ling Yun nodded: "Brother Yang, let's be careful at night."
The two briefly chatted for a while. After they both finished taking a shower and put on underwear made of white cotton, Li Haoyang called the waiter to bring some snacks and tea. Li Haoyang sat at the table, drank tea, and started eating. After a snack, Ling Yun lay on the bed with his eyes closed.
Suddenly, a black shadow flashed past the window. Li Haoyang was startled. He stood up suddenly, opened the door and hurried out. He looked around for a week and found no one. He frowned and walked through the long door. Walking downstairs from the corridor, I happened to meet the waiter at the top of the stairs, and asked: "Brother, have you seen anyone come up just now?" The waiter said: "No, sir, let me tell you the truth. The shop has had little business for a long time, and you two are the only distinguished customers in the shop today."
Li Haoyang said oh, touched the back of his head, turned around and went upstairs again. When he returned to the house, he saw that Ling Yun was still lying still, so he asked: "Ling Yun, did you see anyone just now?" Ling Yun was surprised when he heard this. He stood up suddenly and said: "Brother Yang, didn't you go inside?"
Li Haoyang was stunned, glanced around the room, and said to himself: "No! The money bag you hung on the bedside is missing." Ling Yun turned to look at the bedside, and sure enough, the cloth bag hanging there had disappeared, and Li Haoyang was alone. He rushed into the room, took the big knife from the table, slowly pulled it out, and walked towards the bathroom step by step. Ling Yun also touched the table, took out the long sword, followed Li Haoyang, and slowly approached the bathroom.
Li Haoyang put his hand on the bathroom door and pushed it hard. He saw a black figure turn over and jump out of the window. Li Haoyang quickly came to the window, opened the window and looked down. It was still dark at this time, and the two of them were faintly visible. I saw a dark figure running towards the city gate. Li Haoyang glanced at the ground again. The window was more than a foot high from below. If he jumped like that person, he would probably break his leg. Li Haoyang hurriedly turned around and rushed out of the bathroom, saying to Ling Yun: "Chase!"
The two of them ran quickly down the stairs and out of the inn door. Seeing this, the waiter shouted at their backs: "Two guests, what happened in such a hurry?" Li Haoyang and Ling Yun had no time to pay attention at this time, and their heads were turned upside down. He chased towards the city gate without looking back.
The man in black in front injured his foot when he turned over and jumped downstairs. He stumbled along the way. Looking back, he saw Li Haoyang and Ling Yun chasing after him. Although the pain in his foot was unbearable, he couldn't care less and continued on. Run forward.
Li Haoyang and Ling Yun were not vegetarians either. They ran all the way down and without even catching their breath, they were already within ten feet of the man in black. Seeing that the man in black was about to be overtaken, he suddenly found that the city guards were closing the city gate at this time, so he ran towards the city gate at all costs, and arrived at the city gate when the city gate was about to be completely closed. The guards guarding the city stretched out their hands to stop him and prevented him from leaving the city. Li Haoyang and Ling Yun behind him saw that he was about to run away, and they became anxious and shouted: "Stop him, stop him quickly!"
It was okay not to shout. When the four guards heard someone shouting, they all turned around and looked over. The man in black took advantage of the chaos and pushed them away and rushed out. Seeing this, the guards had no choice but to continue closing the city gate.
Li Haoyang and Ling Yun rushed to the guards. Two of the guards stepped forward, stretched out their hands to stop them and said, "Stop!" Li Haoyang was confused and asked, "Sir, why didn't you stop him?"
One of them, who seemed to be the little leader of the guards, said with a serious face: "The city lord has ordered that the city gate must be closed every day at midnight. If the time is missed, if the time is missed, something happens in the city, and the city lord will be blamed. Can you afford it?"
Li Haoyang said: "My lord, the man in black just stole my brothers' money. Can you be accommodating and let us go out of the city to recover him?" The guard still said seriously: "No, if I let you go The two of them have gone out, how can my brothers explain to the city lord?" Ling Yun stepped forward from behind Li Haoyang and said: "The city lord is not here, how can he know?"
The guard glared at him, clenched the hilt of the knife with his left hand, and said: "How dare you!" At the same time, he raised his right hand and pointed behind Ling Yun and said: "Look back, there are so many people here watching, how could the city lord possibly Don’t you know?”
Ling Yun and Li Haoyang turned their heads and found that nearby passers-by had gathered around, discussing and pointing in their hands, as if they were wondering why these two people didn't understand the rules of the city. Ling Yun was about to say something else, when Li Haoyang saw this, grabbed him, and smiled at the guard: "Hey, sir, we two brothers are new here and don't know the rules of this city. Please forgive me!" With that, he Want to pull Ling Yun away.
Ling Yun was still unwilling to give in and wanted to come forward to argue a few words. Li Haoyang pointed at him and whispered: "Look at us!" Ling Yun then looked at Li Haoyang intently, then looked down at himself, and then realized that he The two of them chased each other in a hurry, and came out wearing obscene clothes. They felt extremely embarrassed for a moment. Fortunately, they were both grown men, and the sky was already dark, so they couldn't see clearly.
The two were about to leave when they heard rapid knocking and shouting from outside the city gate. The two guards were the first to notice something strange. They approached the city gate and listened carefully. Someone was indeed shouting outside: "Open the door quickly, help!" ! Let me in quickly!"
Li Haoyang, Ling Yun and the other two guards saw this and came over. The four guards didn't know what was going on outside, but as guards in the city, it was related to the safety of the city, but they did not dare to open the door easily. The guard leader said to Someone shouted from outside the door: "Who is outside? Why are you so alarmed?"
People outside were still knocking on the door hurriedly and shouting: "Brother Ma, I am Ergou. Brother Ma, please open the door and save me!"
Upon hearing this, the guard seemed to be an acquaintance and hurriedly ordered several people to open the small door in the city gate. This small door could only allow one person to enter sideways. It was also convenient for people outside to enter in case of emergency. If it was opened, If it gets too big, I'm afraid this city gate will be useless.
As soon as the door opened, a short and thin man in black walked in from the outside. His body and hands were full of mud, and he had a cloth bag on his waist. As soon as he came in, two guards immediately closed the small door again and inserted it. A thick door bolt was installed.
The man in black looked about eighteen or nineteen years old. He was about to say hello to the guard leader when he looked up and saw Li Haoyang and Ling Yun. At this time, Li Haoyang and Ling Yun also recognized the cloth bag on his body. The cloth bag hanging on his waist was Ling Yun's bag of silver.
Without saying a word, Li Haoyang stepped forward and grabbed the man in black by the collar. This short, lean man in black was like a child in front of the tall Li Haoyang, and he was almost knocked straight away by Li Haoyang. Picked it up.
Ling Yun stepped forward and took off the cloth bag from the man in black. The man in black was grabbed by the collar again by Li Haoyang. He was a little out of breath. He raised his hands and begged for mercy: "Great sir, please forgive me," he said anxiously. He turned to look at the guard leader beside him and said, "Brother Ma, save me!"
The guard wanted to step forward to stop him, but when he saw that Li Haoyang was a whole head taller than him, tall and burly, with a knife in his hand, he did not dare to step forward for a moment. When he heard the man in black asking for help, he had the courage to shout at Li Haoyang. : "Don't be presumptuous!" Li Haoyang thought to himself, this city is full of their people, it is not appropriate for us to provoke them when we are new here, but this man in black stole my brother's money and must get it back no matter what. Thinking of this, he gently put the man in black down and said to the guard: "Sir, it is this person who stole the silver coins of my two brothers just now. Since you are acquainted with him, we have also recovered the silver coins, my brother." Just let the two of you stop pursuing it!"
The guard looked a little weird. Although they were guards in the city and were protected by the city lord, the Li Haoyang in front of them was very tall and strong. Although Ling Yun on the side was thinner, he was not too far behind. Both of them held swords in their hearts. I can't help but feel a little scared. As the saying goes, a good man does not suffer immediate losses. He is just making a living under the city lord. He is not related to the man in black, so there is no need to risk his own life. If he angers the two people in front of him, he will do this for himself. It would be a big misfortune for me, but I am also the city lord after all, and I still have a few brothers under my command. There are so many people watching now. If I give in at this time, wouldn't it make people laugh? He slapped his face a few times and said: "Go, how could I, the dignified guard of Jinling City, know a little thief? Sir, I'm just afraid that you will kill him here, and I have to be ordered to arrest you. Since The silver has been brought back, so you two can go back first and just leave this little thief to us."
Li Haoyang cupped his hands and said, "Then I'll help you, sir!" After that, he pulled Ling Yun and left in a hurry. Behind him came the reprimanding voice of the guard: "What's the matter with you kid? I told you not to cause trouble, but you just didn't listen." ! If you hadn't met me, you would have been killed by those two people!" The man in black did not speak, and the guard said again: "What happened just now? Why did you run back in such a hurry after you ran out?"
The man in black said: "Hey, Brother Ma, what do you think I think? I almost lost my life as soon as I left the city and didn't even run a mile!" The guard asked: "What's going on?"
The man in black said: "I was running home along the road, when suddenly a big insect burst out of the field. It was about a foot long. I was so scared that I almost peed my pants. I was so scared that I almost peed my pants. I crawled on the ground and ran back. If it weren't for the blessing of my ancestors, the tiger didn't chase me. Otherwise, you would have to look for me in that guy's feces tomorrow morning..."
Li Haoyang and the two walked farther and farther away, and gradually they could no longer hear what they said.
