On the top of the hill, a group of officials who looked like mud monkeys gathered in front of the stones tied to the ropes.

Zhao Zhutou waved his hand, and the two catchers quickly dropped the cliff with a large roll of ladders made of ropes, and the length had just reached the mouth of the cave.

Li Senjun also looked at it, okay, his originally pale face instantly turned green.

"That, County Lieutenant Liu, this road is the road to the top of the mountain you said?" Li Senjun pointed to the rope ladder that was swaying in the wind, and asked tremblingly.

County Lieutenant Liu nodded and said, "Yes, when the lower official went down for the first time, there was only one rope. ”

"Nonsense!" Zhao Zhijian opened his mouth and said: "The so-called gentleman does not erect a dangerous wall, who is Li in the army, how can he use this kind of thing, what if he climbs halfway through, his hand slips off the rope and falls off the cliff!" ”

His words made Li Senjun, who was already afraid, tremble instantly.

For the first time, he showed a smile to Zhao Zhijian: "What Zhao Zhijian said is also reasonable, it is okay to give up this body for national affairs, but the heavy responsibility on his shoulders has not been completed, and he needs to cherish this body!" By the way, what about the little righteous man who discovered this cave? ”

"Here, here, here!" Zhao Zhutou replied loudly, and dragged the dog who had just run up from the mountain road to him and said, "This is Li joining the army, and it's almost over!" ”

The dog clenched his fists and bowed respectfully.

"Come on, come on, Xiao Langjun, come closer!" Li Senjun smiled and beckoned to the dog.

The dog first wiped the sweat mixed with rain on his face, then turned around and spit, and saw Zhao Zhutou's angry face in the corner of his eye, and quickly explained in a whisper, "This time it's true!" ”

Afraid that he would be mad, he quickly turned around and showed his little white teeth and said, "Master Li!" You shout at me? ”

"This baby is really leather!" Li Shenjun smiled left and right: "Xiao Langjun, come and tell us how this coal cave was discovered, right?" ”

The dog was stunned for a moment, looked left and right, it was raining and windy, and a group of officials were listening to their stories on the top of the mountain?

looked at the senior official who was questioning again, saw that he looked encouraged, and then secretly looked at the county lieutenant Liu next to him.

"Li Senjun asked you to say it, so you quickly said, where are you doing!"

"Oh, County Lieutenant Li, you're so anxious, it's going to scare him if you say this!"

County Lieutenant Li arched his hand and said, "Yes, join the army!" ”

Then he looked at the dog with a smile.

The dog shuddered and hurriedly clenched his fists and said: "Back to join the army, I was passing at the foot of the mountain, and when I saw a hole in the mountain, I ran up to take a look, and then I found the coal. ”

Li Shenjun said: "And then? ”

The dog immediately replied, "Then I ran in with the rope and found the coal!" ”

"And then?" Zhao Zhijian next to him interjected and asked.

The dog arched his hand and replied: "Then he ran to the yamen and sued the official." ”

Looking at them and asking them again, the dog continued, "Then you will call me!" ”

Li joined the army and coughed, and County Lieutenant Liu pointed at the dog and said angrily: "Get out of here!" Out of tune all day! ”

The dog hurriedly arched his hands and ran away.

You're in the mood to listen to the story, but you're not in the mood to tell it!

Seeing that the scene was embarrassing for a while, County Lieutenant Liu arched his hand and said: "Join the army, why don't you send two sergeants down to the cave and take some charcoal to take a look?" ”

Li Senjun's eyes lit up, and he waved his hand behind him, and Ding Yuhou and Wang Chengju hurriedly ran over.

"You two take a few sergeants and go down and fetch some coal!"

The two of them sang a promise, turned around and selected a few agile soldiers, carried a bamboo basket and a torch, and followed Master Yao down the rope ladder.

Although the rain on the mountain was light, the wind was stronger than at the foot of the mountain, so a few people walked a few steps inside, gathered in the center of the mountaintop, and chatted some interesting things to pass the time.

In the dead grass on the back of the mountaintop, Tang Laoqi lowered his voice and asked the person next to him, "Little Er, the red-faced man who just went down is the one who killed Xiao San?" ”

Tang Xiaoer's eyes were fiery, and he nodded fiercely and said, "It's him, the catcher next to that little baby is the one who fights with me!" ”

"Bow your head, he's coming!" Tang Xiaoqi on the side suddenly spoke.

In the sensitive nature of his profession, Zhao Zhutou has felt unhappy since he came to this hill, and he always feels that someone looks at him again, and just now he felt a strong breath coming from behind him, so he turned his head to look, and no one looked at him except the dog, so he coughed and said, "You called me?" ”

The dog said, "No! ”

With a mutter, Zhao Zhutou saw that no one was looking at him before and after, so he paced to the edge of the mountain, and when he looked left and right, there was no one, so he untied his belt and released it happily.

Looking at the mass grave at the foot of the mountain, he suddenly found two small black spots, and with a light sigh, he hurriedly fastened his belt and ran to Lieutenant Liu, stretching out his head and muttering to him.

County Lieutenant Liu nodded, said, "It's smart" and turned around to talk to Li Senjun.

"Brother Seven, why did they go?" Tang Xiaoer turned his head and asked.

Tang Xiaoqi frowned and shook his head.

"Did you find something?" Xiao Er continued to ask.

Tang Xiaoqi looked at the foot of the mountain along the direction where he had just caught and relieved himself, and was shocked, "Dad, why is our donkey on the official road?" ”

Tang Laoqi on the side hurriedly looked, and sure enough, the little donkey he rode when he came was gnawing the bark on the roadside on the official road at the foot of the mountain.

"I'm bolted into the col! How did it break free from the reins, Xiao Qi, should I go over and take it away! ”

"No!" Tang Xiaoqi hurriedly stopped: "This neighborhood is full of officials, your sudden appearance here will attract their suspicion, and the limelight of chasing Xiao Er has not yet passed!" ”

As the saying goes, it is easy to go up the mountain and difficult to go down, when going up the mountain, the head looks at the mountain just to climb the steps, when going down the mountain, the head looks at the foot of the mountain, step after step, it is not tight and laborious and scary, especially the stone platform is covered with smooth mud.

Although the road was difficult, the mood of the crowd was higher than when they went up the mountain, and coming down the mountain meant that the time to return to the yamen was not far away.

It took more than half an hour for the group to go down the mountain, and the raindrops suddenly became heavier again, and at the entrance of the thief cave behind the mass grave, Ding Yu waited for a few soldiers who went down to the cave to get charcoal, and stood respectfully with a basket full of charcoal.

Seeing the group coming, Ding Yuhou took two steps quickly with the basket, and when he came to him, he pointed to the coal in the basket and said excitedly:

"Join the army, there is a big carboniferous vein in that cave!"

When Li Senjun heard him, he hurriedly looked at the charcoal in the basket, and couldn't stop smiling on his face.

Regardless of the dirty charcoal, he pinched a piece and looked at it in detail, and the more he looked at the smile on the corner of his mouth, the more obvious it became.

"Good, good! With such quality of charcoal, half of the urgent matter in Longzhou can be solved! ”

He took out a few pieces of black charcoal from the back basket and examined it, then gave up his hand, washed it directly in the puddle on the ground, turned around and said happily: "You are fortunate, let's go, let's go back!" Let the old man have a feast, thank you! ”

A group of people clasped their fists and said, "Thank you for joining the army!" ”

After getting the charcoal, the sad face that had lingered between the eyebrows of Li Senjun for many days was finally relieved, his heart was happy, his steps were bigger, he quickly got into the sedan chair, gave an order, and a group of people hugged the sedan chair and walked towards the city.

"Brother Zhao, you were still driving a donkey when you came?"

"No, dog!"

"And where did this donkey come from?" The dog pointed to the little donkey running around the field in confusion.

Zhao Zhutou also said with a puzzled face: "I don't know, I guess it was lost by someone nearby, right?" ”

"Where did this mass grave come from, it should be a wild donkey!" The dog's eyes rolled.

Zhao Zhutou looked at the halter on the donkey's head, and said with a smile: "That's probably a wild donkey!" ”

On the top of the mountain, Tang Xiaoer's heart was pinched and he gasped heavily: "Fortunately, it was not discovered!" ”

Tang Laoqi nodded and said, "If you find out, you'll be in trouble!" ”

Tang Xiaoqi said: "Dad, our donkey was taken away by that little baby." ”

That night, in a temporary shed made of wooden sticks in the small courtyard of Nancheng, the sound of donkeys clattering kept coming.

On the fire in the house, Dasha said: "Brother Dog, the donkey has started barking again, is he hungry again?" ”

The dog said: "Don't worry about it, I guess I miss the old nest." ”

As the so-called old horse knows the way, the swallow returns to the nest. These animals, like people, will be a little unaccustomed when they suddenly change to an unfamiliar place after being familiar with an environment.

People have insomnia, and of course this donkey does.

"Brother dog, why don't I feed it again?" The dog on the side said.

"No, let me go, it's my turn!" Hu Xiaokang scrambled to speak.

Children, always like to raise some cats and dogs, suddenly came such a donkey, like it is not good, in the middle of the night three watches do not sleep at ease, a while to feed the grass, a while to carry a basin of water.

The dog didn't fight Hu Xiaokang, so he had to lie obediently in the bed, and didn't sleep, pricking up his ears and waiting for the donkey to bark next time.

At the door of the donkey pen, Tang Xiaoer heard the sound of the door, quickly threw the untied reins on the ground, and climbed out of the fence wall at the risk of waisting.

Hu Xiaokang carried a lantern, waited for the donkey pen, first bent down and picked up a handful of hay from the ground before opening the door of the circle, and said to the donkey: "Little donkey, little donkey, I came to see you again, do you want me?" ”

As he spoke, he handed the hay in his hand to his mouth, the donkey was also a greedy eater, and he stuck out his tongue and rolled it hard, and a handful of hay went into his mouth, squinting and chewing.

Hu Xiaokang took the opportunity to reach out and touch the soft fur on its head and neck.

As soon as he hugged the hay and ate the donkey, he sneezed with his nose, and then raised his neck, which meant that he was not allowed to touch it, Hu Xiaokang sighed and said to the donkey: "Little donkey, brother dog only let me feed it, and I will feed you next time!" ”

After saying that, he turned around and wanted to go out, but when he saw the reins of the donkey falling to the ground, he muttered, picked it up and tied it again to the pillar on the side.

"Ahem!"

Behind the fence wall, Tang Xiaoer coughed lightly, turned back to Tang Xiaoqi, who was watching the wind, and complained: "Brother Seven, these boys are so annoying, they don't sleep at night, as long as the donkey barks, he will run out!" ”

Tang Xiaoqi also said helplessly: "I don't know, you watch the person for me, I'll go in and take it!" ”

Tang Xiaoer shook his head and said, "Let me come, this thief and donkey will keep screaming when he sees you, and I can scream a few times if I go to lead." ”

Tang Xiaoqi nodded and said: "Go ahead, if you don't succeed at a time, come a few more times, my father has already found a hiding place, and when the city gate opens tomorrow morning, we can lead the donkey out of the city!" ”

Tang Xiaoer said hello, turned his head and saw that the lights in the room were out, so he tiptoed in.

This time the donkey didn't bark, Tang Xiaoer was secretly happy in his heart, untied the reins, opened the door gently, and led the donkey to sneak out.

As soon as I walked out of the courtyard, I heard a sudden voice from behind.

"Hey, this Hu Xiaokang doesn't bolt the reins, and the door doesn't close, look, the donkeys have run away."

"Whoa, whoa!"

At three poles in the morning, Aunt Zhang's big rooster stood proudly on the wall and reported the good news of dawn.