The four of them found a recessed sheltered mountain nest and sat down to rest. It happened to be next to a mountain spring, flowing through, the sound was very beautiful, A-Ning led the little monkey to the spring to get water, Shi Suo sat on the stone and stretched his waist, and said to the monkey man: "Brother, tell me another story, the four wonders of the rivers and lakes and the like, I haven't heard enough." ”

A-Ning hugged the little monkey and said, "I haven't heard enough. ”

The monkey man took out a handful of hazelnuts from his bag, gave them to the three of them to eat, and said: "Okay, anyway, there is nothing to do while sitting idle, so I will say one more thing, this is a robbery I heard about, it is a case of theft of a national treasure, some people say that it was done by the four strange people of the rivers and lakes, some people say no, as for the truth, I have not heard of it now." ”

"A national treasure?"

"Well," said the monkey man, "after the abdication of the Qing Emperor, according to the agreement, the treatment of the Qing Dynasty royal family was retained, so a large number of treasures in the palace were not confiscated at that time. The treasures I am talking about came out of the palace, and it is said that Zhang Xun, a handsome pigtail, quietly made a personal relationship with the royal family. These things include a seal, two jade ruyi, and an ancient jade cong. ”

Hu Xuan is a student of archaeology, so he naturally understands the value of antiquities, and when he heard this, he couldn't help but widen his eyes and asked, "Can you tell me more about these things?" What is the word on that seal? Is the jade cong the one unearthed in Shu? ”

The monkey man smiled apologetically, "I don't understand this, I also heard from others." ”

"You know that, you know a lot." A-Ning looked at Hu Shuan and said admiringly.

"That's right," said Shi Suo triumphantly, "he's a well-known genius in our area." ”

Hu Xuan said to Aning: "Don't listen to his nonsense, that's what I learned." Archaeology at university is a study of antiquities. He turned to the monkey man and said, "Go on." ”

The monkey man said: "These antiquities were taken by an old eunuch and came to the south to find the pigtailed handsome, accompanied by an original palace guard, and his martial arts were also very strong. The two secretly went out of Beijing, put the treasures in a very ordinary wooden box, quietly disguised themselves as ordinary business travelers, and went all the way south to Hunan. This wooden box is usually carried by the guard around his waist, and when he sleeps at night, he sleeps under his head, which can be said to be foolproof. ”

At this time, the moon rose, a bright full moon, in an instant illuminated the mountains and mountains, the mountains and fields were silent, the distant peaks were shaded, there was no charm in the moonlit night, Hu Shuan stood up and said: "What a big moon, let's go." The night of the green mountain, it is also rare, it seems to be said in the ancient poem, the bright moon shines among the pines, the clear spring stone is upstream, enjoying the beautiful scenery, stepping on the moonlight to hurry, the poetry must be there, plus the beautiful story, tonight we are this way, walk very well. ”

The monkey man stretched out his fingers, "Little brother, what a talent." ”

Shi Suo urged: "Those treasures, how's that?" ”

The monkey trickster said: "On the day of the treasure accident, it was in a prison in a county town. ”

"In prison?" All three were a little surprised.

"That's right," explained the monkey man, "the guard, unusually alert, suddenly felt that someone was staring at him one day, but when he looked for the suspicious figure, he couldn't find it, and he knew that the news of the treasure must have gone away, and someone was eyeing it, and the road ahead must be full of dangers, but fortunately it was very close to the destination, and in a day or two, he could deliver the treasure and complete the mission." So, he came up with an idea, the chief official of the county here, who was an old acquaintance of the past, he asked the official to lock himself in prison and send additional guards to guard it. ”

"Good idea." Stone Lock screamed.

It was a good idea, but that night, something went wrong. There is a small window in the room, nailed with finger-thick iron bars, the iron bars are palm-wide, and people's heads can't get into them, outside the cell, there are prison guards standing guard, the courtyard wall is one and a half feet high, there is another night guard on the corner tower, and there are more than 20 people living in the military police guarding the courtyard. The guard lay in his cell, the wooden box resting under his head. ”

"Hey," Stone Lock said, "to say that the iron bucket is similar, that's still a light sentence." ”

"This can also steal the treasure out, so who is it?" A-Ning looked at the black mountain peaks in the distance and said leisurely.

The monkey man smiled, "Who said it wasn't?" According to the instructions of the guard, the official found the person who received the goods the next day, and went directly to the prison to see the guard, there were more than ten of them, all carrying fast guns, showing off their might, to receive the treasures, they followed the prison officer, to the prison, the prison guard nodded and received him, and said, 'All right', and then the prison guard led the way, came to the guard's cell, opened the big iron lock, and entered the house, but saw the guard lying on the ground and sleeping, as if he was drunk.

Seeing this scene, the official knew that it was not good, and hurriedly pushed the guard, but he couldn't wake up, and then found the wooden box under the guard's head, but there was no trace. ”

"Then," Shi Suo asked, "didn't you see or hear anything from the prison guards in the prison at night?" The cell door didn't open either? ”

"No," said the monkey man, nodding his head, "the whole night, the prison was calm as usual, and no movement was heard, and everyone was naturally shocked when they saw that the treasure was missing, and they carefully inspected the inside and outside of the cell, and found that there was a thin rope hanging on the wall of the courtyard, which was used by the thieves, and there were traces of footprints on the roof of the cell, but the lock of the cell door was not moved, and as for how the thieves entered the room and took out the wooden box, they were puzzled. ”

After the monkey man finished speaking, everyone fell into deep thought, as if they had become the policemen who solved the case, the stone lock also stepped into the air, flashed and almost didn't fall, the monkey man smiled: "Be careful, after the treasure is lost, it will cause a sensation, so many people have solved the case, and they have not been able to solve it, can you catch the thief at this moment?" ”

Shi Suo thought for a while and said, "The guard fell asleep and didn't wake up, he should have been hit by incense and was stunned. ”

"Well, that makes sense." The monkey trickster nodded, "That's what those people said at the time. It's just that if you want to take the wooden box, what should you do? ”

Hu Xuan said: "If you know martial arts, take a rope and throw it through the window, use a small hook or something, hook the wooden box, can you drag it out?" ”

"Unlikely," said Shi Suo, "First of all, the iron railing on the window blocks the effect of throwing it in, it is difficult to throw it in place, the wooden box is smooth, and it is not easy to hook it when thrown, it is better to use a bamboo pole, you can directly hook the wooden box to the window, but with a bamboo pole, can you go into the prison without being discovered?" ”

The monkey man said: "That day, the guards everywhere were staring wide, and they did not dare to relax, if the thief was strong in martial arts, light as a swallow, quietly jumped over the courtyard wall, and climbed onto the roof, it is still possible, in fact, judging from the footprints on the roof, it is indeed the case." However, it seems impossible to take a long bamboo pole into the compound. ”

"And," Hu Xuan gestured with his hand and analyzed, "If you lie on the roof, it is not easy to lift the wooden box, because the roof should still be some distance from the window, and people will be very uncomfortable when they do the action." ”

Several people discussed for a long time, but they couldn't get the point, imagined several possibilities, and finally let themselves be overturned. In the end, A-Ning smiled: "Don't guess, we are not necessarily better than those policemen who solve the case." ”

Talking and laughing, it is already in the middle of the moon, the mountain road under the feet is like a white belt, winding into the darkness in the distance, the empty mountain is silent, the moonlight mountain always seems to hide a bit of mystery, taking advantage of the cool night breeze, a few people speed up their pace, and then turn a corner, the eyes are cheerful, and the monkey man said: "Okay, in front of the area, there is a village, a few miles ahead, there is a small inn, you can live first, and then go to Gujiazhuang tomorrow." ”

Shi Suo stretched, "It doesn't matter if you can't live in the store, you can just find a place to lie down overnight." ”

The monkey man smiled: "It's not impossible, I often sleep in the open, but there are occasional wild beasts in the mountains, which is not very safe, besides, today you encounter ghosts and thieves, do you dare to sleep in the open?" ”

The night wind blows through the mountains and forests, and the sound of the waves of branches and leaves turning. The group walked forward under the moon.