Chapter 50: The Inner Ghost

"It's me, Maozi, it's me."

As the voice came, an old figure of a dragon bell walked out of the shadow of the tree with a lantern.

Mao Zi looked at it, put down the short crossbow in his hand, and beckoned: "It turned out to be Patriarch Zhou, I said that you can say hello from a distance in the next big night when you come to the camp at night, the black rumbling, I thought it was a ghost fire flickering." ”

Zhou Shibiao said with a smile: "I don't have something to do with the group training envoy, I was in a hurry for a while, and I forgot to inform you." ”

"The regimental training envoy is in the camp tonight to invite General Lin and them to dinner, or I will report it for you." As he spoke, Mao Zi turned around and wanted to run to the camp.

"Alas, slowly, slowly." Seeing this, Zhou Shibiao grabbed him, and he asked Mao Zi with some doubts: "You mean that the group training envoy is still feasting?" ”

Maozi nodded,

Zhou Shibiao then asked, "You didn't receive it tonight.... Forehead..... For example, what kind of defense news? ”

Mao Zi scratched his head, thought about it carefully, and said: "How do I know this, but if we need to adjust the defense, General Lin will definitely notify us, but so far, we have not received any notice." ”

He looked at Zhou Shibiao, who was frowning and staring in the direction of the camp, and asked, "What?" Why did the patriarch suddenly ask about this? ”

Zhou Shibiao hurriedly retracted his gaze and said, "Ah.... It's okay, it's okay, I'll just ask casually, oh, then you stand guard here, I'll go find the regimental training envoy by myself. ”

Mao Zi knew that Zhou Shibiao often came to this military camp, so he didn't think too much, so he nodded and said, "Okay, then the patriarch will go by himself, and the adults will be in the back camp." ”

Zhou Shibiao thanked Maozi and went straight to the back camp.

He walked through the school yard to the back camp, and saw a small room with bright lights in the distance, and he thought that it should be comfortable for them to drink in it.

News had already come from above saying that An Yi and his men and horses would be transferred to Shuangliu Village tonight, but Mao Zi said just now that he had not received a notice.

Did you change your mind on the fly? Then there should be a letter from above, huh? Zhou Shibiao thought so, and for a while he couldn't figure out what the situation was. Although he has come here, it is not good to go in recklessly, and let him say anything when he goes in? Let him ask a patriarch why the regimental training envoy didn't gather troops to adjust the defense?

As he pondered, he wandered through the doorway, inevitably feeling a little anxious. I have already informed the head of Jingyun that as soon as the time passes, you can come to the village to do errands, but now in this situation, if An Yi really doesn't leave, then won't they send it to the tiger's mouth? However, there is no definite news, and he doesn't dare to tell Jingyun Daoist to cancel the operation now, in case An Yizi adjusts his defense on time, then the good coordination between the two sides will be disrupted by him, and he is afraid that his head will not be enough to cut off.

Zhou Shibiao stopped his wandering footsteps, gritted his teeth, turned his heart sideways, and walked towards the house. I was still thinking in my heart, if An Yi asked, it would be said that I heard the rumors that Shuangliu Village was in trouble, and I don't know if I need our support.

Yes, that's it.

He made up his mind, and then gently pushed the door open, and even the smiling faces of An Yi were ready in advance.

But.......

The house was empty!

There are bowls and plates scattered on the table, a few wine jars are crooked to the edge of the table, and the hot soup in the soup bowl is still steaming, but where have all the people gone?

"Is Patriarch Zhou looking for me?"

A familiar voice sounded from behind Zhou Shibiao, which really startled him who was standing in front of the door.

He turned his head to look, An Yi, Jiang Ruyue, Lin Muzhi, Jin Mingyin, Meng Qi, including Sun Hu and others, holding torches, followed by a team of soldiers, and the one headed by the soldiers was Mao Zi who had just been photographed at the door!

Seeing this, Zhou Shibiao hurriedly calmed down his shocked expression, and hurriedly changed to a smiling face and said: "Lord Regimental Training, it turns out that you are here, I am looking for you..."

When I was nervous, I forgot the words I had thought of, and in a hurry, thin beads of sweat appeared on my head.

An Yi's face was full of a very ceremonial smirk, and he said to him, "Patriarch Zhou, do you want to ask me why I still don't adjust my defense?" ”

Zhou Shibiao nodded hurriedly when he heard him say this, and explained: "Yes, yes, that's the case, I heard that there are bandits in Shuangliu Village, so I came to ask my lord if the time of the adjustment was changed." ”

As soon as he said it, he realized his gaffe and hurriedly changed his words: "No, no, no.... I asked my lord if he was going to go to support. ”

The smile on An Yi's face gradually disappeared, and was replaced by a cold face, pointing at him and shouting: "Zhou Shibiao! As the patriarch of a village, for personal gain, you actually colluded with the Wugu Sect and tried in vain to kill the villagers, this is also the village that gave birth to you and raised you, has your conscience been eaten by dogs! ”

"That.... I..... My lord.... You.... Listen to me. Zhou Shibiao was so frightened that he even lost his cane, and his trembling legs knelt on the ground without obeying the call.

"Left and right! Take it with me! ”

Lin Muzhi beckoned the soldiers on the left and right, gave Zhou Shibiao a big tie, and threw it into the table where a few people were having a banquet just now.

Jiang Ruyue smiled and said to An Yi: "Brother An is still thoughtful and hasn't forgotten this old thing." ”

An Yi said: "The last time there was an accident in Jiangning Village, I thought there was something wrong with him, and later Meng Qi told me that he used to be a member of the Wugu Sect, and he almost forgot about him for a while. ”

Sun Hu interjected on the side: "I really didn't expect that this Songling Village's own people are so ruthless to their own villagers, they should be killed!" ”

Jiang Ruyue listened to his words, and couldn't help but want to laugh, he glanced at each other comfortably, and said in his heart If it wasn't for Anyi's faster reaction, it would be him Sun Hu who was tied up inside at this time.

An Yi said to everyone: "That's the case, let's act according to the original plan, Ming Yin will prepare more of our new guns, and let them drink a pot." ”

"Yes!"

A few people took the order and left, and only An Yi and Jiang Ruyue were left in the open space of the back camp with a few soldiers.

An Yi pouted towards the house, and said to Jiang Ruyue: "Let's go, Ruyue, let's go in and see what else we can ask for." ”

Jiang Ruyue nodded, and the two walked into the house together.

Zhou Shibiao was tied up by Lin Muzhi and thrown in the corner of the room, and the excited expression just now gradually calmed down, he looked coldly at An Yi and Jiang Ruyue who walked in, and said: "You don't plan to ask something from my mouth, hehe, don't dream, I know that I am a death horizontally and vertically, and one more person will die, and you can still be a backing for me." ”

An Yi heard him say this, and his heart was itching with hatred, but his face was still unwavering, and he said: "You want to die so much, I'm not afraid to fulfill you, but you yourself are so willing to be someone else's substitute for death?" ”

Zhou Shibiao's ravine-crisscrossed old face was covered with gloom, "How can you say this?" ”

An Yi smiled and said slowly: "I know that you have a move tonight, and since you have reached this point, I will not hide it from you, the Five Grain Sect is coming, and I am going to make them come and go." But those old men in the court are not the ones who can stab the steel knife into their chests with my comfortable order. If you put this collusion and cult pot on your head, you will become a person who has been stinking in Songling Village for 10,000 years, and I am afraid that after you go down, your ancestors will not want to see you. And instead, they have become heroes of bandits and thieves, and they have been famous for eternity. ”

Zhou Shibiao just lowered his head and listened to An Yi talking, but he didn't answer. Because most of the villages have the same surname, there is a genealogy with the patriarch. The genealogy records not only everyone in the clan, but also everyone who settles in the village. In the Great Xia Dynasty, everyone wanted their name to shine in the family tree, and Zhou Moumou of his own clan was appointed as a scholar of Wenhua Temple on a certain day in a certain year, and this kind of thing will be remembered by future generations. It is a very dishonorable thing for a name not to be written into the family tree, and it is even a shame to say it.

An Yi looked at Zhou Shibiao's low face, and then said: "We cooperate, you tell me what you know, I will guarantee you to be a tainted witness, all this after your death, I guarantee that no one in Songling Village will know, and in the future in the genealogy, you Zhou Shibiao will still be the first patriarch of Songling Village!" How is it? ”

An Yi's words obviously poked Zhou Shibiao's sore spot, although he had not been able to become the patriarch of Songling Village as he wished, but after all, he was still a member of Songling Village, and he had been doing things for the villagers as an elder. It was only later that because of differences of opinion with the old patriarch and the pursuit of interests, he gradually lost his heart.

But in any case, when he was already discouraged, someone suggested that he could have a chance to write back into the family tree, which still touched his heart very much. And Anyi's words made him feel that he was removed from the family tree because he mentioned that those people in the court carried the black cauldron, which made him feel a little depressed in his chest.

"Can you guarantee that everything you say will come true?" Zhou Shibiao finally gave in, and he asked in a deep voice,

An Yi untied the rope for him, and nodded slowly to him, which was a simple promise.

Zhou Shibiao sighed, said secretly, and said slowly: "I came to Songling Village a long time ago, and my family's surname is Zhao. Before, it was because the poor were dying of starvation, but I heard that the Five Grains Church regularly came to help us poor people, so I became their believers. It was also because of the Five Grains Sect that saved my life in the most difficult time. Later, it was also a coincidence, I joined a big family in the village, so I changed my surname to Zhou. Because life is gradually getting better, I have basically cut off contact with the Five Grains Sect..."

"Then why are you re-entering the church now?" Jiang Ruyue on the side interjected and asked

"My wife gave birth to a son and a daughter, and I originally thought that my little life would go on peacefully for the rest of my life. However, I don't know if it's my Zhou Shibiao's fate, a strange disease in the village a few years ago took away many people's lives, and we are a family of nineteen, leaving me and two dolls, almost desperate! ”

Zhou Shibiao said while recalling, there seemed to be some pain in his cloudy eyes, as if he didn't want to think about the once beautiful but unbearable past,

He continued: "In order to escape the epidemic, I sent my two children to Chengdu County, and arranged for someone to take care of them and provide them with private school. But according to the law of the imperial court, if our family moves to Chengdu, then the family's acres of land will be confiscated. So I stayed in the countryside, guarding those few acres of thin fields, and I could barely make a living. Who knows later...."

An Yi continued: "Later, the Five Grains Sect began to collect 'Jishi Grain' from you, right? ”

Zhou Shibiao nodded, "That's right, later on, the 'Jishi Grain' of the Five Grains Sect was harvested more and more. We also went to report to the officials, but the lords in the yamen were all closed, and even the lawyers did not dare to take our complaints. Liu Lao Er in the west of the village was also detained for disturbing the county government because of the murderous trouble.

I had no choice but to join them and snatch back the food I had collected from someone else. At that time, I was young and vigorous, and I had the strength to do so, so I helped the Wugu Sect to collect a large number of 'Jishi Grain' from each village and household, and with the help of the Wugu Sect, I was appointed as a village elder. It is precisely for this reason that many years later, when the Wugu Sect began to collect 'Jishi Grain' from the village, there were many conflicts with the old patriarch. ”

"The old patriarch resisted paying the grain, and you turned to the side of the Wugu Sect, and you are the elder of the village, I think the Wugu Sect should have approached you many times in private, right?" An Yi asked him,

Zhou Shibiao sighed heavily again and said, "They asked me to find a chance to replace him..."