Yao Bai was stunned for a moment, and then said, "Brother Tang, is there a suitable candidate?" ”

Haitang smiled: "Originally, I was going to ask other people for help, but now that you are here, I naturally want to trouble you." ”

"You can come over for dinner—"

At this moment, the sound of the old city came from the liquor store.

"Eat first." Begonia said, took the lead in getting up, and walked towards the wine shop.

After the meal, everyone discussed it again, and finally decided to find more people, and the caravan pretending to be a merchant entered Panyu first, and then asked Yao Bai and others to go to the city lord's mansion to inquire about the news and collect information.

After that, in Begonia's words, it's time to reveal the truth.

The next day, on the outskirts of Hangzhou.

It's still early morning at the moment, the morning sun is shining obliquely, the earth bathed in the morning glow looks vibrant, and the people standing in the open space are also full of vitality-

"Brother Tang summoned me and others to come, I don't know what happened?"

Liang Zhi asked the few people in front of them, a hint of excitement in his eyes.

Still last night, Haitang asked Xiaoyue to contact four people, including Liang Zhi, and early this morning, Haitang called Duan Li and Yaobai, and Xiaoyue came to the place agreed with Liang Zhi and others.

At this moment, Duan Li was already stunned, even if she had stayed in Panyu since she was a child and never stayed away, but she still knew one of the four people in front of her - it was the Qiang general who spoke just now.

Haitang first explained the situation to everyone, and then said: "Liang Zhi, Wang Quan, I want you to sneak into the city lord's mansion in Panyu with Yao Bai to see if you can find out any useful news, Zhou Ziheng, Chen Wen, you will dress up as a caravan with me to go to Panyu." ”

"Okay." The few people named replied without hesitation.

"Then gather here at noon tomorrow, and then we will set off for Panyu."

Everyone decided the matter, Liang Zhi and the four decided to stay in Hangzhou for a day, and Haitang returned to the wine shop with Duan Li and others.

On the way back to the wine shop, Duan Li kept chattering.

"Brother Begonia, those people just now were all your subordinates? That Liang Zhi is the Liang general of the Qiang Kingdom, right? ”

Haitang glanced at Duan Li, who looked excited: "Liang Zhi should be the General Liang in your mouth, but they are not my subordinates, they are some of my former guests and friends." ”

Duan Li swallowed, her focus was on the first half of what Haitang said: "In that case, the three people who were with General Liang should also be famous and bigwigs?" ”

"What's so surprising," Xiao Yue said on the side, but her tone was a little low.

Duan Li wanted to say something more, but was stopped by Haitang, and the suddenly cold atmosphere enveloped everyone, and they just walked all the way to the wine shop.

Xiao Yue seemed to be in a bad mood, and when she arrived at the wine shop, she said hello to everyone and went to the backyard, and the old city was not open today, so she also followed Xiao Yue to the backyard.

Duan Li was a little embarrassed: "Did I say something that shouldn't have been said?" ”

Haitang smiled: "It's okay, she just remembered some bad things from the past," and then he said to Yao Bai, "Brother Yao, let me emphasize again, you must be hidden when you go to the City Lord's Mansion to inquire about the news, you have to record the time when Duan Qi enters the City Lord's Mansion and leaves the City Lord's Mansion every time, and Duan De must try to find out what he did before Duan Qi leaves after he leaves." ”

Yao Bai nodded: "I understand, Brother Tang can rest assured." ”

Half a month later, Panyu.

At this time, Panyu is the hottest day of the year, and the scorching temperature makes the scene in front of people shake slightly.

Everyone successfully entered the city in the form of a caravan, and they first stayed at the Ping'an Inn, and then Yao Bai and the others left the inn and went to the city lord's mansion. After such a month or two of getting along, Duan Li has become familiar with everyone, although she admires the skills of Yao Bai and the others, but the strict security of the City Lord's Mansion makes Duan Li still a little worried, but seeing that everyone is unmoved, she has to take this worry to heart.

"Guest officer," the innkeeper was still so enthusiastic, "I haven't seen you for a month or two, there are a lot of people here this time." ”

"The shopkeeper has a really good memory, my sister and I joined the caravan, no, this time I happened to come to Panyu, so I told the captain, come to your hotel," Haitang replied with a smile, "Shopkeeper, in the past two months, what has happened in Panyu?" ”

"Yo!" The shopkeeper clapped his palms, "Don't say it, it is said that the daughter of the city lord disappeared a few days ago, and the people guarding the city said that she seemed to have left Panyu with a man and a woman - this won't say that it is you brothers and sisters, right?" ”

"How is it possible," Haitang snorted, "we don't have that ability, and besides, if we kidnap the city lord's daughter, will we come back?" ”

The shopkeeper also laughed and said, "Just kidding, in my opinion, it is deserved, this is the retribution suffered by the Duan family!" ”

After chatting with the shopkeeper for a few more words, Haitang returned to the room he had booked, and at this moment, except for Yao Bai and the others, the rest of the people were already waiting for him here.

"I asked the shopkeeper," Haitang said as he closed the door and sat down at the table, "During the time we left, no major events of note happened in Panyu - Duan Qi still ran to the City Lord's Mansion every day, Duan De still rarely showed up, and Duan Qi began to buy things with stones again. ”

"Brother Tang, what are your plans next?" Zhou Ziheng asked.

Haitang thought for a while and said, "Wait for Yaobai first, if my prediction is correct, the City Lord's Mansion will definitely be able to find out a lot of useful news, and if you want to verify any news at that time, I'm afraid you two will have to trouble the two of you." ”

"That's our pleasure." Chen Wen said with a smile.

"Since it's a caravan, in order not to make people suspicious, let's do some things that caravans should do these days." Begonia said again.

Several days passed like this, and the three of Yao Bai went back and forth between the City Lord's Mansion and the inn every day, and Haitang and the others sorted out the news they had heard.

Duan Qi would go to Duan De's room in the City Lord's Mansion at noon every day, and he would not leave until it was close to sunset - during which Duan De would occasionally appear, but the rest of the time they would stay in the room - after he left, the inspection of the City Lord's Mansion would be much heavier, and Duan De would no longer show up, for several days in a row, every day, but unfortunately the guards around Duan De's room were too tight, and it was obviously impossible to get close there and eavesdrop on the conversation between the two without being detected.

After Haitang learned about these situations, he asked Yao Bai and others to continue to investigate, and at the same time asked Chen Wen and Zhou Ziheng to go outside the city to investigate some situations, while he, Xiaoyue and Duan Li continued to stay in the inn and wait for news.

Until—

Five days later, the Duan family.

The Begonia brothers and sisters stood outside the gate of Duan's house with Duan Li, and when they came to Panyu, Duan Li was wearing a disguise, and at this moment she was still wrapped in a cloak and buried her face deep in the hood.

"Let's come to see Duan Qi, you go and report it, and say that Begonia is here." Xiao Yue stepped forward, and while taking out a sign engraved with his name that was given to them during the last time he came to Panyu, he said to the guards guarding the door.

"Wait a minute." The guard looked at the sign in Xiao Yue's hand and said respectfully, and then he turned around and ran inside.

A moment later, Duan Qi walked over with a big belly.

"Two masters, I've been waiting for you for so long," he said with a laugh, and then looked at Duan Li wrapped in a cloak next to them, "Who is this?" ”

"Why don't we go in and talk about it, do you want your secret to be heard by the others?" Xiao Yue didn't answer his words, raised her eyebrows, and pointed to the guards on the side and said.

"Hey," Duan Qi clapped his hands, "Okay, everyone, please come in, let's come in and talk slowly." ”

The three of them followed Duan Qi to Duan Qi's bedroom again, everyone sat down at the wooden table, Duan Qi rubbed his hands, and asked, "Who is this?" ”

"My name is Ruan Whale Luo." Duan Li said, taking off her hood, "Ruan Whale Luo", this is the new name she gave herself, she has already decided, and when things come to an end, she will live in the pen and painting.

"You," Duan Qi was stunned for a moment, and then was shocked, "What's the matter with you?!" ”

"Let's talk about it one by one," Begonia coughed, "First of all, let me reveal who stole your treasure and how we helped you get it back." ”

"......" Duan Qi looked at Duan Li, who called herself Ruan Whale Luo on the side, and then at the begonia on the side, and chose to be silent.

"Master Duan, can you open the lock of the box?" Begonia asked with a smile.

Duan Qi didn't say a word, walked over and opened the lock, and put Qiankun Ding on the table. Duan Li - or Ruan Whale Luo, it was the first time she had seen this Xiao Ding.

"Master Duan, take a closer look," Xiao Yue said, "Is this Ding your Qiankun Ding?" ”

Duan Qi frowned: "What do you mean by this, is this not mine or yours?" ”

Haitang shook his head: "You take a closer look." ”

When Duan Qi heard this, he stared at it for a moment: "This, this is my ding?" ”

"Then what do you think is the difference between this real tripod and the fake tripod?" Begonia's eyes narrowed.

"The difference?" Duan Qi was stunned for a moment, "Naturally, it is impossible for the fake tripod to help me turn the stone into gold." ”

"What else?" Begonia asked again.

"This ......" Duan Qi frowned.

"Did you notice that they weren't any different than that?" Haitang said as he stood up and slowly pressed his body towards Duan Qi, "You said before that you will make sure every day that there is nothing wrong with the Qiankun Ding, that is to say, you will come into contact with the Qiankun Ding every day, and you are used to the weight of the Qiankun Ding, but when you hold the fake Ding, you don't feel the difference in weight - you found that the Ding can no longer help you turn stones into gold before you know that the Ding has been transferred, and besides, you said that the fake Ding and the real Ding look the same, there is no difference, This shows that the thief's familiarity with Qiankun Ding is not an exaggeration to say that he sleeps with it every night, but you said that only the heads of the family in the past know about Qiankun Ding, and it is impossible for others to know, so how did this person know such detailed information about Qiankun Ding? ”

"Maybe you think it's some elder or brother of the Duan family," Xiao Yue also stood up and said, "They may have known the news of the Qiankun Ding before you, but why didn't they get this Ding before you?" ”

"Maybe they took it first, because they were afraid that I would settle accounts with them after I learned the news of Qiankun Ding." Duan Qi said with some reluctance.

"But you said that your father died before he could tell you, and you, you only found out the news of Qiankun Ding through a dream." Begonia replied.

"Besides, even if it is a low-quality tripod, the manpower, material resources and time required are very exaggerated, not to mention such a delicate tripod, and if I am a thief, I will steal it, why bother to leave you a fake?" Xiao Yue said again.

"What the hell are you trying to say?"

"We want to say," Xiao Yue and Begonia glanced at each other, "There are no thieves at all, from the very beginning, your Ding has not been stolen." ”

"Nonsense!" Duan Qi was stunned for a moment, and then shouted, "Qiankun Ding can turn stones into gold, and I have also used this gold to buy things, and I have also rewarded my descendants!" ”

"Ask yourself," Haitang chuckled, "If I am a small trader and learns that someone from the Duan family is here to buy something, even if I know that it is a stone, I have to admit that it is gold, and your subordinates will naturally not say that it is a stone in front of you—after all, they don't want to bury their lives." ”

Duan Qi's face bulged with a few thick green tendons: "But I saw it with my own eyes, and, didn't you help me find the real ding, I saw with my own eyes that the stone in your hand turned into gold!" ”

Xiao Yue smiled evilly: "Yes, you saw it with your own eyes, but only you saw it with your own eyes, in fact, we didn't do anything after you closed your eyes that day, just silently counted for a few seconds, and then let you open your eyes, that stone is still that stone - at least in our eyes it has always been that stone." ”

"But, but—" Duan Qi was anxious, his hands needlessly grasping in the air.

"Before I come to the final conclusion, let me talk about our thoughts," Haitang interrupted Duan Qi's words, "At the beginning, we were indeed very curious about the wonders of the Qiankun Ding, and we also believed that your Ding was stolen by someone - we actually arrived in Panyu a day or two earlier than you, and we found in the investigation that some traders complained that the people of the Duan family took stones to buy things and not that it was gold, and some other people of the Duan family were complaining that you sent stones to send them, and by this time we had doubts about the efficacy of this Qiankun Ding." Later, I simply made a bold conjecture, I suspect that you have nothing stolen at all, which is why I came to the girl that day to tell you to help you find the tripod - it turns out that your tripod has indeed not been stolen, and this so-called Qiankun tripod has no effect of turning stones into gold at all. ”

"Then why do I see all the gold, and, in a huge Panyu, how can I not hear even the slightest sound that my gold is stone?" Duan Qi's face was already a little pale.

"The answers to these two questions are very simple, first, the gold you see is just your illusion, and second, with your Duan family's inhumane governance of Panyu, who dares to speak ill of you?" Xiao Yue snorted disdainfully.

"Maybe you think it's incredible," looking at the look on Duan Qi's face, Haitang said coldly, "This is also proof that you don't understand the people's hearts." ”

"Even if what you say is right, then why am I hallucinating like this?!" Duan Qi's face turned pale.

"You're in a hurry," Xiao Yue looked at Duan Qi's face and his trembling body, "Deep down in your heart, you may also know that all this is an illusion, but you are deceiving yourself, and now that we have pierced it, you are in a hurry." ”

Haitang also looked at Duan Qi's pale face, and replied slowly: "I don't know, maybe it's because of your greed, your dissatisfaction, your dissatisfaction that gave birth to your hallucinations, or maybe it's other reasons." Our imagination can be absurd, but it has boundaries – we can't imagine what we can't understand – and reality knows no boundaries, and it's often more absurd than our most vicious and cruel imaginations. ”