The next morning, Fang Lei took Xia He and the little fox to carry light work, along the mountain path, over the hill like walking on flat ground, walking over the flat land like flying, and went straight to Yuxi Town.

Later, the three of them came to the town, and they met more than a dozen thieves from the White Horse Cottage to collect protection money, they went from shop to shop to collect, some of them were slow, and they were scolded: "Lao Tzu is willing to collect your protection money, because he looks up to you, is to protect your property, not to be robbed by others, slow down, don't you want to live?" ”

Some of them couldn't get together, so they robbed the goods on the shelves as protection money, and threatened: "I'll let you go this time, and next time I don't have any money to pay, I'll tear down your signboard and burn your shop, so that you don't even have to do business, see whose loss is greater?" ”

Some of them couldn't pay and the goods were not suitable for their use, so they were punched and kicked, and even the shelves were pushed to the ground, scolding: "I can't even make this money, what kind of business are I doing?" It's better to go home and farm, and if you don't pay it next time, you will kill your whole family! ”

After the thieves left, the shopkeeper sighed and said, "These bandits! Coming over and over again to extort money, how can we live! ”

Fang Lei was angry, he wanted to go up and solve them in three times and five by two, but this would startle the snakes, so it was better to be patient first, and after understanding their details, it would not be too late to annihilate this gang of thieves in one fell swoop! ”

When the three of them came to the inn, the thief who collected the protection money had just left, only to hear the innkeeper say: "Send this group of thieves, and tomorrow another group of thieves will come, what about the day after tomorrow?" It's another group of thieves, one is more fierce than the other, and one is more ruthless than the other, how can we, the unarmed street people, afford to provoke it? ”

While checking in for accommodation, Fang Lei asked, "Shop!" How many batches of these thieves collect protection money? ”

The shopkeeper said, "There are three batches in total!" On the 147th, the thieves of the White Horse Cottage came to collect, on the 258th, the thieves of the Qilian Cottage came to collect, and on the 369th, the thieves of the Cuiyun Cottage came to collect, and only after 10 days, the shopkeepers were calmer! ”

Fang Lei said unevenly: "These thieves are really rampant enough!" ”

"Isn't it? Not only do they collect protection money during the day, but they also block the road and rob people, kill people and steal goods, and at night, they go to rob houses and houses, scourge the people, make the people's livelihood miserable, and complain! The innkeeper said.

Fang Lei asked: "If such a thing happens, won't the town office send the arrest house to come out and take care of it?" ”

"There are only five or six arrests in the town's arrest room, and they usually patrol the streets to maintain law and order on the streets, or is it okay, once they encounter bandits, it's too late to dodge? The street residents jokingly said that in Qingxi Town, rats are bigger than cats, and every time the thieves go down the mountain, there are one or twenty people, and the town catches quickly, only five or six people fill the façade, and it is not enough to help people light cigarettes? The innkeeper said.

Fang Lei asked: "Why didn't they report the situation to Linhe County?" ”

"In the past, Xu Zhixian was a good official who was honest and honest, but later when investigating the robbery of Guanyan, the king of Lingnan sent someone to kill his whole family in order to protect himself, and changed to a donor to the county magistrate, who was an insatiable filthy official, who only knew how to make a lot of money, loot the people's fat and ointment, and where he took care of the lives and deaths of the people? Reflected, it was always prevaricated on the grounds that there were too many thieves and could not be cleaned up! The innkeeper said.

Fang Lei sighed: "Yes! At that time, the prefect of Duanzhou was Zhu Weiping, a dog official, a mud bodhisattva crossing the river, and it was difficult to protect himself, so he could take care of these? Besides, he can't mobilize the Duanzhou garrison, and the chief soldier knows that he is already a grasshopper after the autumn, and he can't jump for a few days, will he still listen to him? ”

"According to what Gongzi said, the current Duanzhou prefect can mobilize officials and troops to exterminate these three thieves in the cottage?" The innkeeper asked.

Fang Lei said affirmatively: "Of course! Needless to say? ”

"How do you know?" The innkeeper asked.

Fang Lei smiled but didn't answer, but the innkeeper believed it, in fact, this was also his wish, and said: "That's good!" Only by exterminating these thieves can the common people have a chance to live! ”

"The so-called good and evil will be rewarded in the end, just fight for early and late, these thieves have done so many things that hurt heaven and reason, there will be retribution!" Fang Lei said.

The innkeeper clasped his hands together and begged, "I hope God will open his eyes and punish these thieves!" ”

Fang Lei took the opportunity to ask: "Yes!" In which direction are these three thieves located? ””

"Who doesn't know about the people in Qingxi Town? The White Horse Mountain Thief Village is more than 20 miles south of the town, the Cuiyun Mountain Thief Village is more than 30 miles west of the town, as for Qilian Mountain, it is an old thief village, more than 10 miles north of the town, the thieves on the mountain were all annihilated before, and the hut was also destroyed by a fire, and it was built again after only two or three years! The innkeeper said.

Of course, Fang Lei remembered that the thieves on Qilian Mountain were exterminated by the special combat team led by him, and even the thatched hut was burned down by him, and now it is a resurrection, and a group of thieves have gathered, this time, they will not be able to escape the fate of the annihilation of the whole army.

He asked deliberately, "Shop!" Why did the thieves build the thief village on the Qilian Mountain again and again? ”

"I heard that the mountains there are dangerous, there are cliffs on three sides, there is only one path in front of the mountain, easy to defend and difficult to attack, it has always been a place where soldiers must fight, it can be said that a man is a pass, and he can't open it!" The innkeeper said.

Fang Lei said with a smile: "There has always been a place where soldiers must fight, but there is no evidence, but the place where thieves must fight, that is a fact!" ”

The innkeeper said with trepidation: "Now, not only Qilian Mountain, but even Qingxi Town has become a battleground for thieves!" ”

"Qingxi Town is not only unsafe to defend, but it doesn't even have a high wall, what are they fighting for?" Fang Lei asked puzzled.

The innkeeper said, "Everyone is fighting for this piece of fat!" You see, during the day, there are three thieves from the cottage who come to collect protection money, and at night there are also thieves from those small gangs, who come to rob money and grab things. ”

Fang Lei asked: "For these rogues, can't the street people organize and fight against them?" ”

"Childe doesn't know that these people who do business come from all over the world, and sometimes they fight openly and secretly in order to grab business! Who doesn't sweep the snow in front of their own house and rest the frost on the tiles of others? When a thief comes, he is against the door of his house, hiding in it and not daring to come out, once he is knocked open the door and robbed of someone's property, he will consider himself unlucky, and no one will help you! The innkeeper said.

Fang Lei said: "No wonder some thieves and thieves also dare to come to the town to rob, it turns out that everyone is like a plate of scattered sand, only by uniting and confronting the enemy can they not dare to do anything wrong!" (To be continued.) )