Zhou Zhi is the only literate person in this small banner, he is Ma Wu's assistant, and is responsible for writing and transmitting information. Xu Tangyi, who was born at night, attached great importance to intelligence collection, so he specially arranged for Zhou Zhi to enter this small banner.

Late at night, Zhou Zhi crumpled the secret letter he had secretly written, stuffed it into a pill and sealed it. Pretend to go outside to pee and throw the wax pill off the cliff. The small boat, which had been waiting for a long time at the bottom of the cliff, heard a sound, and the people on the boat rowed to scoop up the Ramaru, and then quietly rowed back to the shore.

After a day's work, Niu Erdan dragged his thin and tired body back to the dungeon. He regretted very much that he went to the Qi family to take over this unlucky messenger. Now that he is locked up here, no one is human, no ghost is not a ghost, and he can eat a little sour and smelly meal a day that dogs don't eat, and not being starved to death has become his greatest luxury.

Niu Erdan was lying on the grass pile in the dungeon, thinking about how to get out of this ghost place, who would be the familiar face he saw when he was forced to build the wall today? He tried to think about it, and suddenly he remembered that this person was very similar to Ma Wu, his height, body shape, and face were all similar, except for his beard, everything else was similar! Isn't he the head of the He family? Why did you go up to the mountains and become a bandit?

If he had been a bandit and was now watching over himself, he would have recognized me. With the two whips he whipped today, it can be seen that he will not gain much in the future. Before figuring it out, Niu Erdan decided to observe it for two days without showing his face.

*************

Xu Tangyi hurriedly came to He Mansion, found He Shaoyun and He Zhiyuan's father and son, and said eagerly: "Ma Wu, they have sent news, there are now about more than 300 bandits on Ma Qi Mountain, and the number is still increasing. He also brought the unexpected news that Niu Erdan was still alive and was now locked up in the dungeon of Ma Qi Mountain, repairing fortifications under the supervision of Ma Wu during the day. He asked what should be done about the person's situation? ”

"Niu Erdan is still alive?" Father and son asked at the same time.

He Zhiyuan thought quickly in his mind, it was not surprising that Niu Erdan was locked up in Ma Qi Mountain. The key is his reaction after recognizing Ma Wu, if he informs him, Ma Wu and them will be in danger. Yes, he said: "Niu Erdan, this person is a ruffian, if he recognizes it, Ma Wu and them will be in danger, tell them to try to get rid of it as soon as possible." ”

When He Shaoyun heard his son say this, he felt that it was too ruthless to do so, and stopped: "Although Niu Erdan has a bad character, he is a victim of being imprisoned by bandits after all, and if he kills him, he will inevitably end up with the truth." ”

"Dad, you're too bodhisattva-hearted. As the saying goes, 'Mercy does not lead the army, love does not stand on the ground', and we cannot pin the lives of ten brothers on the mercy of a scoundrel." Take a step back and say, keep him now, and after he survives in the future, when he knows that we designed him to go to prison and almost lose his life, won't he bite you back? ”

"The virtuous nephew is right, this person must not be kept!" Xu Tangyi also said.

He Shaoyun was reminded by his son like this, and he also felt that he was not thoughtful, and he was too grandmothery. I thought that my son is a person who does great things, and he will definitely be better than me in the future, so he can't be soft-hearted when he does big things. He was so mature and wise that his mind was by no means like that of a fifteen-year-old. In the future, I'll take care of these things and let him do it, he will definitely do better than me. For a while, he had the idea of retreating.

****************

In the afternoon of the next day, Zhou Zhi avoided Niu Erdan and said to Ma Wu: "Brother Ma, I heard from the brothers that Niu Erdan has been asking about your name openly and secretly today, and asked how you got up the mountain." Did he find out what we were doing? ”

Ma Wu thought for a while and said, "He may recognize me, but he can't be sure, so he wants to inquire about me." ”

"Will he tell us about our old bottom?" Zhou Zhi asked.

"At least not now, keep an eye on him. Tonight, Captain Xu will bring the news of Niu Erdan, wait and see. Ma Wu said.

Late that night, after hearing the pre-agreed bird call, Zhou Zhi came to the edge of the cliff with a long thick cotton line and pretended to pee unexpectedly. He tied one end of the thread to a stone, slid it down slowly, and after a while he slowly lifted it up again, and there was an extra folded note on the other end of the thread.

Zhou Zhi found a secluded outside, lit the fire fold, unfolded the note and saw the words "quick kill Niu Erdan". After seeing it clearly, he tore the note to shreds and threw it off the cliff.

At noon the next day, it was the hottest time of the day, when Niu Erdan was sweating profusely and bending over to move stones, he heard the people around him exclaiming, he looked up and was shocked, a boulder was rolling from the wall! He was so frightened that he threw away the stone in his hand and crawled towards the dense forest outside the wall. The stone was blocked by the tree, but it didn't hit him, and he finally picked up a life.

Zhou Zhi and Ma Wu didn't smash Niu Erdan to death, the two looked at each other, and Ma Wu whispered: "Kill him!" ”

Then the two of them ran over, picked up their whips and whipped them at Niu Erdan, and said as they smoked, "Let you run!" Let you run! ”

Niu Erdan was whipped and screamed again and again, and shouted in his mouth: "Come on, kill someone......"

At this time, Thursday threw away the whip, drew the steel knife, raised the knife and prepared to kill him with a knife.

At this time, I heard a shout: "Stop! ”

At this point, he had to stop. When I looked up, it was Chu Ying standing on the side, and Niu Erdan saw that it was Chu Ying, as if he saw his father, and said in a loud voice: "The second master, save me, save me!" I didn't run! ”

Chu Ying ignored him and asked Ma Wu: "What's the matter?" ”

"I see him burrowing into the woods as if he was going to escape, or what else would he do in the woods?" Ma Wu said.

"I didn't run, it was the big rock that was going to hit me, I was hiding from the stone." Niu Erdan argued.

Chu Ying said to Ma Wu very politely: "Brother Dahai, you continue to supervise the work." I'll take this kid back and lock him up. ”

After speaking, let the people around him return to the cottage with Niu Erdan, leaving Ma Wu and the others standing there messily. Suddenly, Ma Wu felt a huge crisis, he quickly recalled the loopholes during this period, and nervously thought about countermeasures.

After Chu Ying escorted Niu Erdan into the dungeon of the cottage, before he could start the interrogation, Niu Erdan said: "The second leader, that person is not Feng Dahai, he is very similar to Ma Wu, Ma Wu of Hejia Village." ”

"Ma Wu? Are you sure? Chu Ying asked, since the last time the spies confirmed Feng Dahai's identity, he no longer doubted him. Now that Niu Erdan said this, he became suspicious again.

"I'm not sure, but he looks a lot like Ma Wu." Niu Erdan was asked by him, so he had to tell the truth.

"Do you know Ma Wu? Are you familiar with him? You have to tell the truth, or I'll kill you right now!" Chu Ying then asked.

"I'm not familiar with it, but I only saw it when I was interviewing with Jiading, and I tried it with him, so I have an impression of Ma Wu." Niu Erdan knew Chu Ying's ruthless methods, and he didn't dare to lie.

Niu Erdan said this, Chu Ying was a little uncertain. He had no choice but to lock Niu Erdan in the dungeon first, and then hurriedly went to Ji Chao to discuss.

After finding Ji Chao, after explaining today's events one by one, he asked, "Big brother, this Feng Dahai has a lot of suspicions, do you want to lock him up for trial first?" ”

Ji Chao categorically refused: "No, now is a good time for the brothers from the other village to come and defect, if you lock him up just because of uncertain doubts, it will chill the hearts of the other brothers." Send reliable brothers to spy on them first, and report anything wrong immediately. ”

Chu Ying also felt that it was too reckless to catch Ma Wu now, he thought for a while, and came up with another idea, so he said to Ji Chao: "Big brother, we can send someone to Hejia Village to do this......"

Ji Chao was a little dizzy after listening to Chu Ying's words, and said, "Oh, I'm dizzy, if you think it's okay, send someone." ”

**************

At noon, a man about 30 years old came to the concierge of He Mansion, claiming to be Ma Wugu's cousin, and came to find Ma Wu for something.

The porter is a clever young man in his twenties, and he has already been informed that anyone who looks for Ma Wu, Zhou Zhi and others will report to the head of the family first. He asked the man, "Which village are you from?" What's the last name? I'll go and report it. ”

"I'm from Cuijiayuzi Village, and my surname is Cui."

After He Zhiyuan got the report from the porter, he immediately sent someone to find Xu Tangyi, and then said to the porter: "You let him wait in the gatehouse first, don't let him inquire indiscriminately, and watch him not let him go out and walk around." ”

After a while, after Xu Tangyi came in, He Zhiyuan said: "Uncle Xu, someone came to find Ma Wu today, saying that it was his aunt's cousin, surnamed Cui. ”

"Cousin of the aunt's family, surnamed Cui? No way. His father has two brothers, and he has no aunt at all, where is the cousin? Xu Tangyi said.

It turned out that since the last time he rescued Ma Wu from Niu Erdan's knife, Ma Wu and Xu Tangyi have become year-old friends who have nothing to say, and Xu Tangyi knows Ma Wu's situation very clearly.

"So, this cousin is a fake. At this time, a fake cousin came to Ma Wu, and this fake cousin must be a spy from Ma Qishan. He Zhiyuan said.

"I'll take someone to arrest him!" Xu Tangyi said.

"No, wait! Let me think. He Zhiyuan hurriedly stopped. Then he said, "Uncle Xu, if Ma Wu is here, what will happen to him if he knows that a fake cousin is coming to him?" ”

"Needless to say, he'll say he doesn't know."

"That's right. If we arrest him and this spy goes missing, the bandits on Ma Qi Mountain will become suspicious and expose Ma Wu instead. He Zhiyuan analyzed.

"If we say that he is not here today, and he goes back and says that he has not seen Ma Wu, the bandits will inevitably be suspicious. So what to do? Xu Tangyi followed his train of thought and analyzed.

"The best way is to find someone who looks similar to Ma Wu and interrogate him. He will show his feet. He Zhiyuan said.

So, Xu Tangyi immediately found a family member who looked similar to Ma Wu and came to the gatehouse. As soon as the family came in, he said to the porter: "I heard that a cousin surnamed Cui is looking for me? ”

The porter understood, and said to the man, "Ma Wu is here, let's talk." With that, he went outside.

The family looked at the man and asked, "Are you mistaken, I don't have an aunt at all, where is the cousin of the aunt's family?" ”

"Ah, Ma...... Cousin, I am from Cuijiayuzi Village, not my aunt, but my cousin's brother. The man said in a bit of a panic.

"Cui Jiayuzi? I don't have any relatives in the village, which cousin's family are you? What is my cousin's name? ”

"Well, it's the cousin of the third grandfather's family. My father's name is ...... It's called Cui Dashan. Fine sweat began to break out on the man's face, and he stammered.

"No, I don't have a grandfather who does three, you must be mistaken. You won't come to Hefu to cheat on food and drink, will you? The housekeeper's face changed and he became suspicious.

"Oh, it looks like I was mistaken. My cousin is not surnamed Ma, but Niu. It's Niu Five. I'm sorry, I'm sorry......" After speaking, he walked out of the gatehouse and left in a hurry......