"County Lieutenant ......"

"County Lieutenant."

"Is the county lieutenant going out of the office?"

One afternoon, when Ma Gai walked out of the county office, two county guards on duty outside the government office greeted him with a look of longing on their faces.

"Ah, go for a walk in the streets." Magai replied with a smile.

His response was flattered when the two county guards were flattered.

Walking to the street, most of the people in the county in the past recognized Ma Gai, even if they did not dare to offend and greet Ma Gai, but they also cast a respectful gaze, this respect came from Ma Gai's extermination of the vicious bandits in the county - the Black Tiger Village group.

But...... Has the bandits really been exterminated?

Looking up at the clear sky that had rarely been seen in recent days, a flash of melancholy flashed in Ma Gai's eyes, and he walked aimlessly through the snow to the distant street.

During the battle of the Black Tiger Village, he gathered the strength of Kunyang, Runan, and Yexian counties to uproot the cottage of the Black Tiger Thief in one fell swoop, during which not only the leader of the Black Tiger Thief, Yingshan Tiger Yang Tong also died in the chaotic battle, but even the ordinary villagers were killed more than half, but ...... There are still fish that slip through the net.

The leaders of the black tiger thieves are still at large.

Judging from the tactics used by the Black Tiger Thieves to escape from the encirclement and suppression of their officers and soldiers that night, it is clear that this group of bandits has elected a new leader.

It is precisely because of this that it is said that Gao Chun, the county lieutenant of Ye County, went to Luyang County and asked Luyang to assist them in chasing and killing Yu Kou of Black Tiger Village, but according to the news from Luyang, their county did not say that they did not find Yu Kou of Black Tiger Village, and there was not even a single case of robbery by bandits.

How is this possible?

The remnants of Black Tiger Village have no food, how can they survive the winter?

Could it really be as the county magistrate Liu Bi guessed, that group of thieves died in the depths of Yingshan?

For this speculation, Ma Gai simply scoffed.

Just as it is impossible for a living person to be suffocated to death by urine, what can't a hungry bandit do? There were no looting incidents in Luyang County, so there were only two possibilities: either the black tiger thieves were not lurking in Luyang, or they had obtained food in unknown ways, and it was impossible for them to sit and wait for death in the mountains.

It's a pity that Liu Bi, the county commander of Kunyang, didn't listen to his advice, and insisted on closing the case, and escorted the subordinates of the black tiger thieves who had been temporarily placed in Fengcun to the county.

Ma Gai had an ominous premonition about this, and his decision by Liu Bi, the governor of Kunyang County, was afraid that it would anger those black tiger thieves.

Because he knew that those black tiger thieves would come back......

"You're the Lieutenant of Ma, aren't you? The lord of the village asked me to say hello to you."

In Ma Gai's mind, he suddenly recalled the greeting that the kid named Xu Fen had said to him.

At that time, his first reaction was to kill people.

Immediately, he immediately reacted that Black Tiger Village wanted him to take care of those women and children.

Realizing this, Ma Gai also had another conjecture at the same time: the bandits would one day return to his Kunyang.

"Why does it have to be Kunyang?!"

Clenching his fists, a little resentment flashed in Ma Gai's heart.

Since Zhang Jing, one of the Five Tigers of Chenmen, pointed out that he was the internal response of the Black Tiger Village, the fear in Ma Gai's heart has increased day by day.

Although the people in the county government regarded it purely as a joke after learning about this incident, and even ridiculed Zhang Jing in private, thinking that the so-called Five Tigers were nothing more than that, the dignified general led the team to crusade against a group of bandits, but caused heavy losses to the officers and soldiers where he was located, but he actually had to shift the fault to others, and slandered him Ma Gai, the county lieutenant of Kunyang, for colluding with the Black Tiger Village......

But only Ma Gai himself knows that Zhang Jing is a very powerful character, and his identification is also unmistakable.

Yu Kou of Black Tiger Village, is it dead or alive?!

This question has been driving Ma Gai crazy lately.

He was eager to kill Xu Fen who knew his secret several times, and completely covered up the evidence that he had colluded with the black tiger thieves, but he was afraid of offending those black tiger thieves who were still alive, and it was precisely because of this that he told Xu Fen about the decision of the county commander Liu Bi, and instigated him to go deep into Yingshan and go to Luyang to find Yu Kou in the Black Tiger Village.

However, the outcome is unknown.

"I don't want to!"

Shaking his head angrily, Ma Gai turned and walked into a liquor store, sat down in the corner of the liquor store, and called the guys in the shop.

Most of the drinkers in the restaurant recognized Ma Gai and greeted Ma Gai with flattery and pandering, and Ma Gai reluctantly responded.

After a while, after a few bowls of warm wine, he was a little drunk, and finally relieved his tense nerves a little.

After settling the bill, and strolling through the streets, Magai remembered the purpose of his visit to the street.

With a pat on the head, Ma Gai found a shop selling jewelry and jade and walked in.

Here's the thing, because he has not been able to find the whereabouts of the black tiger thief Yu Kou recently, I don't know if he is dead or alive, although he has the heart to get rid of Xu Fen, who knows his secret, but he doesn't dare to act rashly, and he is worried about the leakage of his secret every day, under the torment of this anxiety, he finally didn't control it yesterday, just because his wife was concerned about his few repeated questions, he felt annoyed and roared, and his wife, who had been married for many years, closed the door and cried.

After calming down, Ma Gai wanted to apologize but couldn't pull his face, so he decided to buy his wife one or two small jewelry and gadgets to apologize.

However, he is really not good at picking jewelry, and in the end, it took him nearly half an hour to buy a hosta and a peach comb at the recommendation of the store.

Putting the two items wrapped in cloth into his arms, Margai strode out of the shop.

Before leaving the store, he touched the bulge in his arms, and a slight smile appeared on his face.

However, just as he was about to return to the county office, he suddenly met three children aged seven or eight, eight or nine years old, and said respectfully with a little timidity: "Ma County Order, someone gave us three dollars per person, let us hand over this bamboo tube to you." ”

As he spoke, one of the children handed Ma Gai a bamboo tube about two fingers thick and quickly left in a hurry.

Glancing at the three children who had left, Ma Gai looked at the bamboo tube in his hand that looked like a tongue of fire, and suddenly saw the word 'tiger' engraved on it.

His face changed slightly, and he walked quickly to a nearby alley, and after confirming that there was no one around, he immediately opened the lid of the cylinder and pulled out a rolled piece of paper from it.

After spreading it out, I saw a line of words written on it: Fengyue Inn, Tianzi No. A.

Other than that, there are no other words, but underneath this line is the silhouette of a beast resembling a tiger, with a long tail slightly upturned, lurking forward, like a beast approaching its prey.

Seeing this tiger-like pattern, Ma Gai chuckled in his heart, and a title suddenly came to his mind: Black Tiger Thief!

Subconsciously clutching the paper in the palm of his hand, he walked out of the alley quickly, vigilantly scanning the nearby streets, but unfortunately found no clues.

"What should I do?"

Slowly stuffing the crumbling paper back into the bamboo tube, and putting the bamboo tube into his arms, Ma Gai frowned slightly and thought.

No matter how you look at this, the remnants of the Black Tiger Village are calling him, but how did the remnants of the Black Tiger Village enter the city?

No, no, no, it's not difficult to enter the city, the question is where were those remnants of the Black Tiger Village hiding before?

With all his suspicions, Margai finally decided to find out, because he had no choice.

According to the address written on the paper, Ma Gai came to the Fengyue Inn in the city, an ordinary old inn.

Most of the inns in Kunyang are for merchants, rangers and other people to live, and Fengyue Inn is no exception.

When Ma Gai walked into this inn, the noisy travelers who had been eating and drinking on the first floor of the inn suddenly fell silent, and these people looked at Ma Gai with some consternation.

It's no wonder, after all, the official uniform on Ma Gai's body is too conspicuous.

Compared with those travelers, most of them only recognized the official uniform on Ma Gai's body, but the shopkeeper in the inn recognized Ma Gai's face, and when he saw Ma Gai walking to the counter, the old man who was over forty years old hurriedly bowed his hand and asked with a little apprehension: "Lord County Lieutenant, I don't know if you come to the store, what advice do you have?" ”

Ma Gai didn't mean anything, and asked: "Shopkeeper, who is living in the Tianzi room in your store now?" ”

As soon as he heard this, the shopkeeper hurriedly rummaged through the registered register, and replied respectfully after a while: "Back to the county lieutenant, it is a group of businessmen from Ye County, three or four men, with two children, they stayed last night." I booked all the rooms on the second floor in one go this morning......"

As he spoke, he looked up at Ma Gai and asked with some apprehension, "County Lieutenant, these guests...... Guest, do you have any questions? ”

Hearing this, Ma Gai's originally tense face suddenly showed a little smile, and said with a smile: "Suddenly someone invited me to drink, I thought it was someone, but I didn't expect it to be a businessman from Ye County." ”

"That's ......"

The shopkeeper's heart was relieved, and he smiled and complimented: "I don't know how many people want to slap you." ”

Margai smiled, then pouted towards the stairs and asked, "Can I go up?" ”

The shopkeeper bowed and nodded: "Of course, of course." …… The county lieutenant please. ”

"You don't have to send it, I'll just go myself."

Waving his hand to signal that the shopkeeper did not have to follow, Ma Gai strode up the stairs on one side and followed the stairs to the second floor.

Passing by a room, he glanced twice into the room, only to find it empty.

“……”

With a slight sigh, he continued to walk forward, turning a corner along the corridor, and at this point he noticed that at the end of the corridor after the corner, there was a man with his arms folded against the wall, and seemed to notice him as well.

He gradually approached until he reached the end of the staircase, only half a foot away from the man, when he turned his head and glanced at the number of the room next to him, which was Tianzi A.

Ma Gaizhong took out the bamboo tube that looked like a tongue of fire in his arms, and hung the side engraved with the word 'tiger' in front of the man's eyes.

At this time, the man who was leaning against the wall and ignoring Ma Gai had a reaction, straightened up, knocked on the door with his backhand, and immediately made a gesture of please to Ma Gai.

Ma Gai was about to push the door in, but the man lowered his voice and said, "Don't play tricks. ”

“……”

Margai stared at the man a few times, but didn't recognize him.

This is not surprising, there were more than five or six hundred black tiger thieves in their heyday, and even more than 200 remaining thieves escaped under the encirclement and suppression of their officers and soldiers, including people whom Ma Gai did not know, which is not surprising.

With a creak, Ma Gai pushed the door in, and to his surprise, there was a faint fragrance of tea in the house, and it seemed that someone was making tea in the house.

He continued to walk a few steps, and then he saw a man sitting behind a low desk by the window in the room.

I saw that the man's left hand was propped up on the straw mat, his left leg was bent and flat, while his right leg was bent, and his right hand was resting on his right knee, and the whole person was sitting in a rather indecent posture.

However, what made Ma Gai frown was not because of the other party's sitting posture, but because of the other party's size.

Judging by his size, the man appeared to be a half-grown child.

As if noticing the margai, the boy turned his head.

At this time, Ma Gai noticed that the other party was wearing a tiger-like mask on his face.

"Is that him?"

A child immediately flashed through Ma Gai's mind, a child named Zhou Hu.

Behind the child, there was a man who seemed to be a child judging by his size.

What made Ma Gai more concerned was that the standing child also wore a mask on his face, a mask like a tiger face.

At this time, the child standing had slowly walked up to Ma Gai, raised his hand and said, "Lieutenant Ma, please take a seat." ”

"Female?"

Ma Gai was slightly stunned, judging from the other party's voice, it seemed to be a young girl.

Glancing at her, Ma Gai walked to the low table, sat down on the empty side, and then looked at the other side and said lightly: "Boy, what are you doing pretending to be a ghost?" ”

"Huh."

Zhao Yu, who was sitting opposite Ma Gai, chuckled, reached out and took off the mask on his face, revealing half of his face, but soon put on the mask again, and said with a smile: "Not bad, right?" I found a craftsman to make it. ”

It wasn't that he meant to put on that mask, he just didn't want to be remembered by Margai.

After all, the first two times he met Ma Gai, he was in that dark cave, and he was just a pawn at the time, Ma Gai may not remember his appearance, but now it is different, he is already the owner of the Black Tiger Village, he doesn't want to be remembered by Ma Gai, so that Ma Gai will inadvertently recognize his appearance in the future.

Zhao Yu's consideration, Ma Gai naturally wouldn't know, he didn't have the slightest interest in having an idle relationship with Zhao Yu, turned his head to look at the empty room, and asked lightly: "What about Guo Da?" Didn't he call me? ”

Hearing this, Zhao Yu shook his head with a smile and said, "No, this time I invited the county lieutenant to come." ”

"You?" Ma Gaihu glanced at Zhao Yu suspiciously, then frowned and said, "What does Guo Da mean by sending you?" Shouldn't he come out in person to meet me? Why, when he became the new leader, he was not as bold as before? ”

"Hehehe."

Zhao Yu smiled, shook his head and said, "Lieutenant Ma may have misunderstood something, Brother Guo Da, he is not the new leader of our side."

"Oh?" Ma Gai was stunned when he heard this, and asked with a bit of mockery, "Who is that?" Liu Heimu? Chen Mo? Wang Qing? Chu Jiao? ”

Zhao Yu shook his head slightly, and said lightly: "The new leader is in front of the county lieutenant at this moment. ”

"Huh?"

Ma Gai was stunned for a moment, with an unbelievable expression on his face, and then said with a smile: "You? Are you the new leader? Hahahaha, boy, don't joke, hurry up and call Guo Da out, Ma has no time to talk to you. ”

Seeing this, Zhao Yu said lightly: "Ma Gai, is it not appropriate to talk like this to the life-saving benefactor?" ”

"A lifesaver?"

Ma Gai felt more and more funny, and said with a smile: "Boy, when did you save Ma Mou......

Speaking of this, his complexion suddenly changed, the smile on his face suddenly retracted, he stared at Zhao Yu with a look of surprise and confusion, and asked in a low voice, "When you attacked Xiangcun at night, was you?" ”

Zhao Yu's voice slowly came out from behind the tiger mask: "You are too careless, you were almost used by Zhang Jing, harming others and yourself." ”

This seems to confirm Ma Gai's guess in disguise.

Ma Gai looked at Zhao Yu with a shocked face, and said in horror: "You...... You are the 'Black Tiger Village Mastermind' who fought against Zhang Jing? ”

"Black Tiger Village Schemer?" Zhao Yu frowned slightly: "Who gave this up?" ”

"It's Zhang Jing......"

Ma Gai looked at Zhao Yu in disbelief, and said in a deep voice: "He said that there is a conspirator in the Black Tiger Village who is comparable to him......"

With that, he couldn't help but look at the child in front of him carefully.

As Zhao Yu guessed, although Zhao Yu and Ma Gai have met twice so far, Ma Gai actually did not remember his appearance, after all, who would think that a teenager is actually an important person in a group of bandits?

When I saw Zhao Yu the first time, Ma Gai just mistakenly thought that this kid called Zhou Hu was Yang Tong or Guo Da's nephew, who would have thought that this kid was the 'Black Tiger Village Mastermind' who was on par with Zhang Jing, one of the five tigers of Chenmen, and even, this son also saw through Zhang Jing's plan, and the battle of Xiangcun made Zhang Jing lose his prestige in the hearts of Huang Ben and Gao Chun, and by the way, he was seriously suspected by Zhang Jing at that time.

What's more, this son has now become the leader of the Black Tiger Village.

After knowing this, Ma Gai no longer dared to regard the child in front of him as an ordinary child, and he asked in a deep voice, "Zhou Hu...... Leader Zhou, Leader Zhou invited Ma to come over today, I don't know what advice you have? ”

Zhao Yu chuckled, and then said, "Why am I here, don't you know the county lieutenant?" Didn't you ask Xu Fen to come to us? ”

"Did the kid really find it?"

Ma Gai was a little surprised in his heart, and immediately, he quietly tried to say: "Speaking of which, Ma is really a little curious, I don't know where you are hiding these days?" ”

"The county lieutenant doesn't need to explore this matter." Zhao Yu said lightly: "I invite the county lieutenant to come today, first, to see the county lieutenant, and secondly, the county magistrate of your county wants Liu Bi to poke out the matter, and I hope the county lieutenant will help solve it." ”

"Sure enough, it's for that......

Ma Gai pondered for a moment, and said in a deep voice: "I'm afraid it's difficult for me to help with this matter......

Before he finished his words, he heard Zhao Yu laugh, he said with a smile: "The county lieutenant may have misunderstood something again, what I said 'I hope the county lieutenant will help solve it', it is just out of courtesy, and the county lieutenant only manages the solution and does it according to my wishes." ”

“……”

Ma Gai's face changed suddenly.

I saw him slam the low table, and said angrily: "Boy, you are too arrogant! ”

Zhao Yu stretched out his hand and slowly took off his mask, revealing half of his face, his exposed left eye looked at Ma Gai coldly, and said lightly: "Ma Gai, so far, I am defending you, calculate carefully, you have maintained you at least twice, Zhang Jing once, you were in disobedience to yin and tried your best to intercept and kill the rest of Bazhai once, if I didn't speak for you at that time, what you received afterwards is probably really your wife and children's broken fingers......"

"......" Ma Gai was stunned, and a few hints of surprise flashed in his eyes.

At this time, Zhao Yu continued: "I am different from Yang Tong, I am very tolerant of my own people, I can tolerate you venting your emotions a few times but not punish you, but in the final analysis, the bottom line of my tolerance for you is just that you are a member of our side, if you want to stay out of the matter and refuse to help, then you are not your own person, you are worthless to me and us." I'm not so tolerant of outsiders. …… Look out the window. ”

Ma Gai held back his anger and turned his head to look out the window, but to his bewilderment, there was nothing unusual outside the window.

Just when he was confused, he suddenly heard Zhao Yu say lightly: "After tonight, this street will be plastered with your confession of the day...... I could have saved you from Zhang Jing's hands at the beginning, so that the dignified Chen Men Five Tigers could not find evidence to identify you, and now I can still make you ruined! ”

"You guy!"

Ma Gai was furious, and the whole person pounced, his left hand propped up on the low table, and his right hand grabbed Zhao Yu's neck.

But Zhao Yu's face did not change, and he snorted coldly and said: "Whether it is an enemy or a friend, you can choose for yourself." ”

With that, he put on the tiger mask.

Ma Gai's eyes erupted with hatred, and his right hand holding Zhao Yu's neck trembled slightly, but in the end, he slowly relaxed his right hand and sat back in his original seat.

At this time, Zhao Yu said lightly: "Don't have a next time, although I am much more tolerant than Yang Tong for my own people, I don't like to be choked." ”

"......" Ma Gai looked at Zhao Yu with an angry face.

After a while, he crossed his arms and said sullenly, "What do you want me to do?" …… I said it in front, Princess Liu has made up her mind, I can't convince you, if it weren't for that, I wouldn't let that kid named Xu Fen go to you. ”

"Without him, in your name, please invite Liu Bi to drink wine."

"......" Ma Gai's eyes flashed with a hint of puzzlement.

Immediately, he seemed to realize something, his face changed suddenly, and he pointed at Zhao Yu and asked in shock, "You...... You don't ......"

Zhao Yu chuckled, then raised his hand and said, "After talking for a long time, this freshly brewed tea should be at the right temperature, so let's drink it and leave." ”

The implication is that there is no room for Ma Gai to refuse.

Glancing at the masked Zhao Yu in front of him, Ma Gai hesitated, and finally picked up the tea bowl in front of him and took a sip, and then asked in a deep voice, "When?" ”

"Without further ado, tomorrow!" Zhao Yu said irrefutably.

Hearing this, Ma Gai's face showed a little struggle, looked at Zhao Yu and said, "I hope you know what you are doing." ”

After all, he finally nodded.

Looking at Ma Gai's tense face, Zhao Yu said with a smile: "Don't worry, I'm different from Yang Tong, I don't like to fight and kill, and I don't want to hurt innocent...... As long as all goes well, it will be a happy situation for all, and no one will be hurt or killed. ”

"Hmph, I hope so......"

Margai snorted softly.

When he returned home in the evening, Ma Gai stuffed the hosta and wooden comb he bought to his cold-faced wife Zou.

Zou was stunned, carefully opened the cloth bag that her husband had stuffed into his arms, and even when he saw the hosta and peach wood comb inside, Hui Xin immediately understood what was going on.

She held the two gifts in her arms and looked at her husband with a smile.

For the sake of these two gifts, she took the initiative to apologize knowing her husband's character: "Yesterday, the concubine was not in good health, and she knew that her husband had troubles in her heart and didn't want to disclose them, but she still had to force her husband to ......"

The husband and wife returned to harmony, and the Zou, who was in a better mood, couldn't wait to return to the bedroom to try on the hosta.

Looking at Zou's happy appearance, Ma Gai leaned against the door, and he was in a good mood.

But as soon as he thought of what he had promised today, Ma Gai's heart suddenly became heavy.

"That kid named Zhou Hu, he is even more dangerous than Yang Tong, and he actually wants to coerce me as the magistrate of a county in Kunyang?"

Margai thought to himself.

But for some reason, at this time, he felt a little less anxious, dazed and at a loss in his heart as he was some time ago.

It's as if ......

Found the backbone.

Maybe it's because the kid named Zhou Hu has a wisdom and strategy that is no less than that of Zhang Jing, one of the five tigers of Chenmen.