The latrine in the west courtyard is very large, and it is a row of thatched huts. Because it was necessary to meet the toilet needs of nearly 300 people in the West Courtyard, the Xu Mansion specially vacated a large courtyard. As soon as Lu Xin entered the hospital, he was so dizzy from the smell of rancid smell that he almost threw up.

In modern times, he is the son of a wealthy family. Usually there is a nanny to take care of, clothes to reach out and eat to open the mouth. Not to mention cleaning the toilet, I haven't even touched the broom at home.

"Damn Feng Li, Dad, I'll kill you sooner or later!"

Lu Xin carried the bucket in his hand and couldn't bear not to think about the situation in front of him. After wrapping his mouth and nose in a clean, damp cloth, he walked into the courtyard little by little. After a cursory look, there should be thirty or forty thatched pits in the courtyard. Some used rocks and toilet paper are everywhere and very dirty.

Together with Lu Xin, there was also a middle-aged man who was in charge of cleaning the latrine. Although he is only forty years old, he looks very old. His name is Mute Wu and he is said to have been born unable to speak. It's been seven or eight years since I entered the Xu Mansion, and I've been cleaning the latrines.

"Alas, they are all miserable people. Uncle Wu, these past few days, thanks to your care, I have been able to survive. ”

The mute Wu was kind, and Lu Xin did not have any communication with him in the first few days. But every time he encounters some particularly dirty pits, the mute Wu always takes the initiative to help Lu Xin clean up. Gradually, Lu Xin developed a good impression of this uncle who couldn't speak.

The Xu Mansion is so big, but the only one who is really willing to help him is the mute in front of him.

The days of cleaning the latrine are a month. Lu Xin gradually got used to this kind of life, calm, stable, and seemed to have no troubles. After staying in it for a long time, I don't feel that it stinks, and I don't even need a wet cloth to wrap my nose. Sometimes looking at the starry sky outside the window at night, Lu Xin even thinks that it seems good to live a lifetime in Xufu like this.

Comfort, which can be numbing at times.

At the beginning of each month, it is the day when the Xu government pays salaries. On the first day of May, Lu Xin received fifty yuan from the account office. Listening to the tinkling of copper coins in the bag, Lu Xin was in a good mood. This is the first time he has earned money with his own hands since he was a child. At this moment, he forgot his situation and his original dream.

Lu Xin walked into the toilet compound humming a song, and the mute Wu frowned when he saw him so happy.

"Uncle Wu, the wages have been paid. It was the first money I made in this world. When I leave the house, I'll bring you something to eat. ”

The food in the West Courtyard is very poor, and although he doesn't know how much he can buy for fifty yuan, Lu Xin still wants his only friend to have a good meal. But today, the other party didn't seem to be very happy, his expression was serious, and he pulled him aside hard. The mute Wu wrote a few words on the ground with a branch, and he was very emotional, and it was the first time Lu Xin had seen him like this.

"Uncle Wu, are you literate?"

Lu Xin was very surprised, how could a naturally mute person recognize words? Moreover, the Tang Dynasty was not modern, not to mention a subordinate who was born disabled and sold into slavery, even ordinary people with fields at home had the opportunity to study.

"You still want to leave...... Xufu, is it? ”

The mute Wu's handwriting on the ground was clear and neat. Because it was sunny for several days, the ground was actually very hard in the sun. But the dumb Wu was stunned to draw deep marks with a branch. But at this time, Lu Xin didn't think much about it, and after barely understanding what the mute Wu wanted to express, his expression began to become lonely.

"Why, how could you not want to. But now I can't help it. If you want money, you don't have money, and you don't have martial arts. This Xu Mansion has high walls and deep courtyards, how can I get out? Uncle Wu, I know what you mean. But I'm too weak, and all I can do now is try to make myself happy...... What's more, he is kind to me. If I just run away like this, won't I be ungrateful? ”

Lu Xin lowered his head and spoke, his voice was very small. It's not like answering dumb Wu's question, but more like comforting himself. Seeing him like this, the mute Wu frowned and was silent for a while, and was about to bow his head to write. At this time, two people suddenly staggered out of a thatched hut not far away. Lu Xin suddenly felt a strange fragrance coming to his nose, which was very strange.

"Uncle Wu, it's this fragrance again, I don't know how many times I've smelled it. What is it that can hide the smell of the latrine? ”

It's not the first time Lu Xin has smelled this fragrance, and in the past month or so, there have been no less than dozens of times. And this incense is very strange, it looks like some kind of floral incense, and it looks like sandalwood used to worship the Buddha. The mute Wu should know the inside story, but he has always refused to say it.

The two people who came out of the thatched house, Lu Xin recognized, were both about thirty years old. He is very strong, but his complexion is unusually vain. One of them, Fang Wu, picked up a stone from a distance and threw it at the dumb Wu.

"Fucking stinky dumb, Lao Tzu has long told you to put toilet paper in the thatched house, do you dare not listen, do you want to die?"

As soon as Fang Wu finished scolding, another man named Hong Er stepped forward quickly, raised his fist and smashed it, beating the dumb Wu six or seven times in a row. Lu Xin was frightened on the spot, only to see the mute Wu squatting on the ground with his head in his hands, letting others beat him, and he didn't dare to fight back at all. It wasn't until he was beaten and bleeding that Lu Xin came back to his senses, his eyes were bloodshot, and he was already in a state of anger.

"Don't fight, you're going to die. Uncle Wu, you fight back. We are not animals, and we can't let them bully like that. ”

Lu Xin was so angry that he had forgotten to be afraid. After roaring, he got up and hugged one of Hong Er's arms. But the opponent's strength was very strong, and he threw Lu Xin away in an instant, and then turned around and kicked him to the ground.

"Little brute, who says you are not livestock? What is the difference between waste like you, who can only clean latrines, and livestock? What Lao Tzu asked you to do, you have to do it, hahahaha......" Hong Er laughed wildly, so crazy that he didn't look like a normal person at all. He was yelling and screaming, but he was still kicking Lu Xin. Blood soon came out of the child's mouth and nose, and his face was horribly pale.

"We, we...... No, not animals! It's human...... Uncle Wu, you, don't be afraid, I won't let them bully you again......" Lu Xin was already dying, but he didn't beg for mercy. He wanted to resist, but his consciousness gradually blurred, and he finally fainted.

When he woke up, Lu Xin found himself lying on the bed of the mute Wu. It was already dark, there was no light in the house, only a ray of moonlight falling from the window. There were bursts of snoring in my ears, one after another. Lu Xin was a little upset when he heard this, and wanted to get up and go out, but there was a stabbing pain in his chest immediately, and he couldn't get up. After about five minutes, the mute Wu walked in from outside the house and signaled from a distance not to speak. Then he walked to the side of the bed and helped Lu Xin up, and put an earthy yellow pill into his mouth. It's strange to say, after Lu Xin swallowed the pill, the mute Wu pressed his chest and back a few times with the palm of his hand, and the pain in his body instantly lightened by seven or eight percent, and he would soon be able to fall to the ground.

In the middle of the night, the mute Wu took Lu Xin back to the toilet compound. He still writes on the ground with a twig, but this time the mute Wu is very fast. Lu Xin only saw that he had just picked up the branch, and more than a dozen words appeared on the ground in an instant. And the mute Wu at this moment, whether it is breath or standing, is the same as before. The branch in his hand was like a sharp sword with broken hair, wielding a trajectory that ordinary people could not see clearly. Lu Xin was a little stunned, and he even felt that the mute Wu's movement of waving the branches was the fastest speed in the world.

"I used pills and internal force to dredge your meridians, but I can only temporarily remove the blood stasis in your body and suppress the pain. If you want to fully recover, you have to rest for half a month, and you can't move. ”

"Uncle Wu, do you know martial arts?"

Lu Xin was surprised and delighted, although he couldn't fully understand the words written by the dumb Wu, he could basically understand the meaning. According to the mute Wu's account, the pill he had just taken was an elixir he took from outside the Xu Mansion, which had a strong effect of invigorating blood and removing blood stasis. And Hong Er and the others have been beaten to cripples and left the Xu Mansion......

Although he had a general understanding of the events of the day, Lu Xin couldn't figure it out a little. The person in front of him is obviously a martial arts master, why should he be bullied to such an extent? It wasn't the first time he had seen the mute Wu being bullied, and almost everyone in the West Courtyard had laughed at him. But the dumb Wu was stunned and never resisted, and he didn't even get angry.

"Uncle Wu, you can beat Hong Er and them away immediately, why do you have to endure being beaten in vain? I, I thought ...... You're going to be beaten to death by them. ”

When Lu Xin said this, his expression was sad, and tears couldn't help but appear in his eyes. But the mute Wu didn't answer him immediately, just touched his head and continued to write on the ground. And this time, the mute Wu finally talked about his origins.

He was originally a famous swordsman in the rivers and lakes, born in a family, and became famous all over the world when he was young. But ten years ago, the enemy family came to seek revenge and slaughtered the entire family. The mute Wu took advantage of the chaos to escape, but he was also cut out of his tongue and suffered serious internal injuries. Later, it was Mr. Xu who happened to find him dying in a forest and brought him back to the house for resettlement, which was ten years. Mute Wu said that the Qiu family is still looking for his whereabouts, and it is safest to continue to stay in the Xu Mansion. And Xu Fu has a life-saving grace for him, he doesn't show his martial arts, and he doesn't want to bring trouble to Xu Fu.

Lu Xin originally wanted to ask the mute Wu what his full name was and where he lived. But about these, the dumb Wu refused to disclose any information. And as soon as he mentioned the matter of the enemy's family, he immediately covered Lu Xin's mouth, looking very frightened.

"Hey, Uncle Wu. If only I had such a powerful martial arts as you, I wouldn't have to be afraid of being bullied, let alone being a slave to others. By the way, Fang Wu and Hong Er usually look quite honest. Why is it that every time I come to the toilet, it seems like a different person? Uncle Wu, you must know what that aroma came from, right? ”

It had been more than a month since she had been cleaning the latrine compound, and the only thing that puzzled Lu Xin was the aroma wafting in the latrine from time to time at that time. And he suspected that the behavior of Hong Er and the others must be related to the aroma. After listening to this, the mute Wu frowned and was silent for a moment, and wrote a few words on the ground with a branch.