Seeing the team leave, the old woodcutter secretly wiped the sweat on his forehead: "Damn, these grandsons turned out to be from the imperial court, it seems that the Hou Ye is in a worrying situation!" ”

After cutting a few bundles of firewood in the mountains and sending them to the Taifu of Tianjin Prefecture, I took a dozen copper coins and bought two taels of wine, and then drank the wine and went out of the city.

The old woodcutter always turned back, intentionally or unintentionally, but there was nothing behind him.

Staggering to the house, the old woodcutter fell asleep, as if he had forgotten that there was anyone else in the secret room.

On a tree not far from the thatched house, a man in black held a clairspirit and looked motionless in the room. The cold winter wind blew on his body, with a piercing pain, and the man in black hiding in the dead tree was like a puppet, motionless.

The raged hunting startled the voles foraging in the distance, and a sound of rustling quickly disappeared into my ears.

The third watch, when people are most likely to lose vigilance, is also the time when people are most tired.

The old woodcutter on the bed seemed to be a little tired from sleeping, and turned over in bed.

If anyone stood beside him, he would find that the old woodcutter's eyes were open, he did not get up, and his eyes, which were not cloudy, were staring closely at the window lattice.

In the second half of the night, the iron-like man in black finally couldn't support it anymore, and his upper and lower eyelids kept fighting, but the old woodcutter in the thatched house in the distance was sleeping soundly.

Shaking his head vigorously, the man in black put down the clairvoyant mirror, then quickly picked it up, and at the last glance, he slid down the trunk of the tree to the ground very smoothly, and disappeared into the wilderness in a few verticals.

The sleepless old woodcutter on the bed still didn't mean to get up, and his hand, which was very rough because of his axe, was holding the yellow mud on the wall little by little. Before I knew it, a small pile of powder had been piled up on the ground.

About half an hour later, the old woodcutter rolled over again, this time unfortunately, to the ground.

The steamed buns and meat that had cooled were placed at his feet, and he didn't look at the food, but staggered up and went to bed again.

When the day was light and the rooster was singing, the old woodcutter turned over and sat up, rubbed his eyes, walked to the door with solid steps, and released the chicken in the cage first.

After feeding the fowl some food, he turned and went into the house and closed the window.

By the time he came out again, he had an extra axe in his hand. It looks like he's going out to chop wood again to make ends meet.

Last night, fifty feet northwest of the dead tree where the man in black was, in a bush, two men with clairglasses in their hands and yellow cloth strips lying motionless in the grass.

After the old woodcutter was gone, the two got up very quickly, and after moving their torsos in place, the younger man asked puzzledly: "Why do you say we are staring at him like this, that person is just an ordinary woodcutter, what's the use of staring at him." ”

The older man tore off the yellow strip of cloth on his body, and said expressionlessly: "The adults above let us watch, we have to watch." My lord said that we must not let go of the slightest clue. Cut off the man's right arm before he can attack the man. ”

The young man said disdainfully: "Hmph, a bunch of eggless things, I brought people who were several times the enemy in the past, but failed to kill people, but asked us to help." ”

"You'd better swallow it back for me, you know exactly what those people are, and what will happen if you offend them, you should know in your heart." The middle-aged man's face sank, and he grabbed the remaining strips of yellow cloth and slammed them on the ground.

The young man pouted, no longer arguing about anything.

The middle-aged man raised his leg and walked forward, and the young man chased after him and asked, "Then are you still coming tonight?" ”

The middle-aged man said succinctly: "If you don't come tonight, you will come tomorrow night." ”

Although I don't quite understand what middle-aged people mean, young people who still respect middle-aged people don't talk much.

Another day passed, and the old woodcutter's life didn't seem to change at all. After sending the firewood to the prefect's yamen, he bought two taels of wine again. When he got home, he opened the window and fell asleep again.

The two of them, who were staring at the thatched hut in the grass, did not move, but this time they changed places, and the angle was just right to monitor the old woodcutter's every move in the thatched hut with a clairvoyant mirror.

The old woodcutter muttered on the bed, "A few ground mice are so patient that they come to my bottom every other day." Hmph, alas, you met me. ”

It was another unfruitful night, and the young man, who was already a little uneasy, became even more restless, and as soon as the old woodcutter went out, he began to mumble as soon as he got up from the ground.

"What's the matter, they hide in bed and are comfortable, so that Lao Tzu can come here to suffer this kind of living sin."

"No, no, if I continue like this, I'll go crazy, I won't come tonight, you have to come by yourself."

"You'll say something then!"

The annoyed middle-aged man snorted: "I won't use it here in the future, this old woodcutter is probably fine." ”

The young man said, "Are you so sure?" ”

The middle-aged man said confidently: "If we show our tracks on the eve of the big night, the Pegasus will come out to breathe if they don't find any clues on the eve of the night, and we will definitely relax our vigilance last night." Observe for several days in a row, your old woodcutter's habits and movements are consistent, if not very deliberately, then it is a fact.

If this old woodcutter can pretend to be like this, then we will lose. ”

Although the young man kept complaining, he was still a little worried in the face of the white-bearded middle-aged man, and he asked with a smile: "How do you explain when you go back?" ”

"Report it truthfully!" After speaking, the middle-aged man raised his legs and left, this time, it was brisker than the day before yesterday.

As soon as the two of them left the ambush site, the old woodcutter on the hill suddenly turned around and glanced at his thatched hut.

On this day, he still followed his own trajectory, bought a pot of wine, drank it while going home, and slept with his head covered when he got home.

After another seven or eight days, the old woodcutter's rhythm of life was really interrupted, and every day when he went back, he no longer opened the window, but closed it.

In the secret room, after more than ten days of cultivation, Xie Lun, who was slightly injured, was able to move around at will, and among the remaining four, except for the most seriously injured one, he could only lie down, and everyone else could move more or less.

The old woodcutter lifted the camouflage of the secret room, got into the hole, walked about forty or fifty feet, and turned seven or eight turns, only then did he reach the real place of the secret room.

In fact, the location of the secret room is under his thatched house, and the tunnel is complicated, just in case. The slightest sound in the thatched house could be heard clearly in the secret room.

"I've worked hard for you these days, there are a few ground rats, whose people are still unknown, it is estimated that it has something to do with the eunuch I met the day before. You rest in here first, and every day I will bring in food as before. Don't go out unless you have to, I'll try to get the food hot and bring it in. As soon as the old woodcutter entered, he said to Xie Lun.

Xie Lun nodded, and then ordered: "Pay more attention to the situation in Tianjin City these days, especially the situation on the side of the sailor. ”

The old woodcutter said: "It's useless, now the water division is not leaking, all the recruits who are training are not allowed to enter and exit, and the water division camp has been completely sealed." I heard that a group of people from the imperial court came to the prefect's yamen, and those people wanted to meet the commander of the water division, but they didn't succeed, and there was a lot of conflict.

Now the people of the prefect's yamen do not dare to mix blindly, for fear of causing a mutiny among the sailors.

There is no new news coming out of the capital, and what is the situation of Hou Ye now, people here in Tianjin don't know. ”

Xie Lun stretched out his hand and patted the old woodcutter on the shoulder: "It's hard work." ”

The old woodcutter shook his head and straightened his waist: "Doing things for the Hou Ye, there is nothing hard or hard." It's not Master Hou, we people may be like the ground rats we met that day. When someone wants to use you, give some money, and your life is someone else's. When others don't use you, you're nothing.

Joining the Soaring Cloud Ride is an honor for those of us who are in the rivers and lakes.

Our family was well arranged, and our abilities were put to good use.

So as long as Master Hou says a word, I can lose my life. ”

Xie Lun smiled: "It's not as serious as you said, Master Hou's hope is that everyone lives well." ”

The old woodcutter turned around and said, "All right, rest well!" ”

With that, he walked out.

A light rain fell outside the window, and foraging sparrows chirped and flew by, hurrying to unknown locations to escape the wind and frost. It was overcast, and in the evening, there was a heavy snow falling.

The earth is covered in silver, like a girl who can only be watched from a distance and cannot be blasphemed.

Tianjin prefect yamen, sitting on the main seat is a young man, the original prefect has disappeared. In front of the young man, a middle-aged man with a white face and beard was full of resentment, and seemed to be very resentful of the young man.

"Go back and tell your factory governor that not everyone can touch this Tianjin Mansion." The young man said unceremoniously.

The middle-aged man straightened up: "Lord Yang, the factory father asked me to wait to investigate the remnants of the White Lotus Sect, and it doesn't seem to have caused you any inconvenience!" ”

The young man slammed the table: "Fart!" Tianjin Wenxuan was washed in blood overnight, the big shopkeeper Xie Lun was nowhere to be found, and dozens of people were killed. Do you know how much money the imperial court loses every year! His Majesty ordered someone to ask Zhang Yuanwai how to deal with this matter, do you know what Zhang Yuanwai said. ”

The middle-aged man was silent.

The young man continued: "Hmph, he said that he doesn't know whether his person is alive or dead, and Xie Lun is the only one in this world who knows all the cash flow of the Wenxuan. If you continue to toss in this Tianjin Mansion, then you will have to come out of the silver yourself. If you touch the head on your neck yourself, is it enough to cut the knives of those executioners in the capital? ”

The middle-aged man from Dongchang had nothing to say at all, this person was a leader among young civil officials, and he was a powerful representative of the pro-Zhang faction.

This time, the imperial court sent this person to Tianjin, and it seems that it is impossible to complete the affairs of Tianjin.

"Take your people out of Tianjin, and then let the official see you in Tianjin, and kill you!" The young official said majestically.