"Ma Er, I don't think you can see Huang Si idle for two days." Zhiwen quipped.

Ma Er smiled and said, "Xiao Zhi, don't we have to rush to the north end of Taihang Mountain as soon as possible, I wondered, if we go to the ground to find a foothold, is it a little slow?" ”

Hearing this, Zhiwen raised his head and glanced at Ma Er carefully, to be honest, he hadn't had time to think about this problem yet, it seemed that being able to have a place to live in a stable place, that general feeling was a temptation for people like Ma Er.

Seeing that Zhiwen didn't speak, Ma Er continued: "I plan to let Huang Si take a few people to the area first, and find a foothold, so that when we arrive, won't there be a place?" ”

"We don't know each other well, and it's too troublesome and a waste of time to investigate the scene one by one, so I think it can be faster to ask the locals. Xiao Zhi, look at Huang Si's face, is no one going to notice his existence if he is thrown into the crowd? So, he's the best fit for finding out in a crowded place. ”

"Huang Si, can you afford to run like this on a cold day?" Hearing what Ma Er said, Zhiwen also felt that it was necessary to explore the site first.

"Brother Zhi, Second Brother Ma, you can afford me, that's my Huang Si's blessing, I didn't say it, leave it to me." Huang Si is not afraid of hard work, and only when he has something to do can he show his value.

"That's okay, you can arrange the rest of the horses."

The next day, Ma Er let several of his other subordinates, together with Huang Si, rush forward.

......

The majestic and precipitous Taihang Mountain, when it arrives here, the momentum gradually declines, and the tall peaks are replaced by low hills, and gradually become shorter from northwest to southeast.

At dusk, it was time for dinner, and more than a dozen families in a small mountain village at the foot of the mountain were emitting smoke.

A young man, holding a dead branch the size of an egg with a pestle in his hand, stepped on the thin snow on the ground, and walked step by step towards a house at the head of the village, through the window, he could see the faint fire in the house.

"Tuk! Sincere! Sincere! ... Sincere! Sincere! Sincere! The young man politely knocked on the door of the courtyard three times, waited patiently for a while, and saw that there was no response in the courtyard, so he continued to knock on the door.

"Who?" An old man's voice came out.

"Passerby, uncle, begging for hot water to drink, okay?"

"Squeak!"

An old man put on a jacket and opened the door, walked into the courtyard, and said to the young man through the fence, "Passing? We don't have a lot of roads here, where are you from? "The eyes are quite wary.

"Uncle, we fled from the west of Jinxi, and we wanted to find some food in the mountains, but we got lost, and we didn't know why we came here." The man smiled bitterly, "We're really not bad people, I don't believe you." ”

After speaking, he untied the tattered felt coat, and let the old man look at it inside and out, "Nothing, right?" Uncle, I can't hurt you with this single branch. ”

"And what do you use to find food in the mountains?" The old man was still skeptical.

"Let's be honest with you, uncle, we still have a few people, they don't dare to come in, for fear of causing some misunderstanding, I'm kinder, so I came into the village to ask for directions, inquire about the news, a person in the mountains, then you can't let the wolf eat it, isn't it, uncle?"

"Squeak", the courtyard door opened.

"Come in." The old man said, "You man, don't blame me for being too careful, in this world, I have to have a snack." ”

"Why, uncle, you have experience."

"From Jinxi? Alas, if it weren't for these two snows, we would have almost run out of water here. If I do this next year, I'll have to run away. The old man babbled.

"Have you eaten?" The old man asked politely as usual, but after saying it, he regretted it, how could there be extra food at home.

"Ouch, uncle, I don't dare to find what you want to eat, just give me a bowl of hot water to drink." The young man said hurriedly.

The old man breathed a sigh of relief, "Wait, ah! ”

After that, he went into the house, and after a while, he held a large porcelain bowl in both hands, and slowly walked out, and the billowing white steam brought a touch of warmth to this cold winter dusk.

......

"How? Eleven, what do you ask? A plain and unremarkable face that made people forget at first sight raised from the side of the fire and asked, it was Huang Si, and there were three people sitting next to him.

This is a cave outside the village, where they will settle down tonight.

The young man, whom he called Eleven, was busy eating at this time, and after gobbling down a piece of bread, he raised his head and said, "There is an old man in that courtyard, and he wonders how we escaped from the famine and fled here, and he said that we should go through the mountains along the official road in Guangchang, Datong Prefecture, and it used to be Shuntianfu, that is, Jingshi, and it is not easy to beg for food." ”

Huang Si smiled, of course they passed by there, and inquired, although it was a border town in Datong, close to Jingshi, but there was still a distance away from Saiwai, he remembered Zhiwen's request, and the foothold should be as close to Saiwai and Jingshi as possible, so he didn't stop, and continued to go north with people, of course, there was a secret note left for Zhiwen nearby.

"The old man said, they are here in Baozhou, there is also an official road not far to the north, go along the southeast direction, you can also go to Jingshi, tell us not to run around to the north again, not far away is the Great Wall, that is the border town Xuanfu, there will be no relief."

"What is the name of the river we pass by during the day?" The location here Huang Si thinks it's not bad, there is a river next to it, although it has dried up into a stream, but it can be regarded as a water source.

"Zhuoshui." Eleven answered while eating.

"What about the bandits? Is there anything nearby? Huang Si then asked.

Zhiwen's requirements for the foothold, in addition to being close to the Beijing division and Saiwai, there are also many other conditions, such as being on the mountain, the terrain must be steep, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the official road should not be too far, nor too close, two to three days on foot is the best, and so on.

According to this requirement, Huang Si felt that it was most suitable to count the bandits' cottages, as long as he explored the location of a certain cottage, and when Zhiwen and them came, he would find a way to take it.

After Eleven finished eating, he clapped his hands and replied, "I didn't dare to ask, you said that we fled the famine, why did you ask the bandits?" ”

"Why can't you ask?" A person next to him asked rhetorically.

Eleven "cut" out, "What if he thinks we want to join the bandits, and bring someone to arrest us tonight?" ”

"Eleven has a reason to be worried," Huang Si said, "Tomorrow we will continue to go north, after arriving at the official road, we will divide into two teams, I and Eleven will go in the direction of Jingshi, and you two will go towards Xuanfu, if you two can't inquire about the situation of the mountain bandits within three days, you will turn around and chase us." ”

Huang Si felt that if there were no mountain bandits on the Xuanfu side for three days, there would probably be no bandits, after all, it was a border town, guarded by officials and soldiers, and the mountains over there were getting flatter and flatter.

On the contrary, there may be some drama in the direction of Jingshi, and you have to pass through the remaining veins of Taihang Mountain, and where there are mountains, there will be bandits.