Stepping on the knee-deep stream, Luo Huzi gently shook the boat-shaped wooden bucket from side to side, the sand slipped out of the gaps on both sides of the wooden bucket, and under the thin bamboo net, a few points of clear yellow light, like fire, burned fiercely on his heart.

"Gold! Gold! ”

He screamed inwardly.

He was farming on a fertile field, and behind him was a tiled house, where his father and mother were raising his life, and his daughter-in-law was spinning yarn with a baby on her back.

In the depths of the heart burned through the fire, this picture scroll became clearer and clearer.

But a statue of a god suddenly blocked this picture scroll, with armor on his top and a long knife in his hand, on his delicate face, which was not a few years older than him, his eyes were like knives, and his heart that pounced on the picture scroll was suddenly shattered.

"Whoever fights and disobeys the order, kill!"

"Wealth-swallowing scruffler, kill!"

"Leak secrets, kill!"

The cold words of the god statue, like ice water on the head, poured Luo Huzi's boiling heart into the cold.

With a long sigh like green smoke floating in his heart, Luo Huzi took out the movable drawer under the wooden bucket and poured the gold sand inside into the leather bag on his waist.

"Since you have chosen to be a guard, you have to bear the poisonous oath you made to the fourth brother at that time."

Five days ago, Luo Huzi remembers it clearly.

Li Shi bought them, and they, the children of the exiles, were Li Shi's servants. But Li Xian was not interested in raising people in vain, and gave them two choices, one was to become an apprentice of furnace workers, carpenters, and kilnsmen, of course, there was no special treatment, and they were only guaranteed food, clothing and housing.

Another option is to be a guard for the Qingtian company set up in the village, which is the same as Zhuang Ding, in addition to preventing thieves and thieves, and rescuing Zhuang people, there are also some special jobs. Li Shi set a generous treatment for Si Wei, food and clothing are the minimum, one meat for three days, new clothes every season, miscellaneous money of five dollars of silver per month, and teach them to read. At the same time, he also promised that when they grow up, this treatment will be improved.

Although Li Xi repeatedly stated that being a Si Wei was to kill them, and being an apprentice only required their sweat, Luo Huzi remembered that everyone chose to be a Si Wei without hesitation at that time, and swore a poisonous oath according to Li Shi's words. How much are their lives worth? The previous experience of being so hungry that they were dizzy for three days and didn't even have the strength to walk made them look down on their lives.

"Well, from now on, your lives are mine."

There was no surprise on Li Xian's face, and then he announced the three killing orders. The teenagers didn't care much, in their opinion, as long as they were honest and obedient, the three killings had nothing to do with them.

But now, Luo Huzi was faintly scared, he only felt that his mind just now had crossed the line drawn by the three killing orders, and he really wanted to hide the piece of puppy head gold that he had found at the beginning, this is ...... It's really gold.

These teenagers were first dragged to the wasteland of the river, outside the Zhuangzi that was scheduled to be built, and were trained for five days by orphans from nine villages, including Jia Wu. During these five days, the training was all about daily life, hygiene and organizational discipline. Jia Wu and the two are in charge, and there are seven orphans of the Chinese character generation, each of whom takes care of three, and implements joint sitting, and punishment is shared for mistakes. Guan Luohuzi's team is Hu Hanshan, a stocky young man with broad shoulders and a round waist.

At this time, Luo Huzi finally understood why Hu Hanshan always looked at them like thieves, that is, he was on guard against them at any time. When they went up the mountain today, Li Shi deliberately emphasized the three kills order again, but when they first found gold in the stream, they all fell into a state of frenzy.

"This is the last time to repeat the three-kill order, and to hide gold is to swallow wealth and run rampantly."

Li Xi said this coldly to the teenagers who were ambushed.

Luo Huzi kept it in mind, he withstood the restlessness in his heart just now, but he was a little worried about the other two people in his team, looked up, and saw that the two were also looking at each other vigilantly, and his heart suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.

The three of them looked at each other and smiled, and continued to bury their heads in gold panning, when they suddenly heard a deliberately lowered voice nearby shouting: "Ma Liu!" ”

Everyone looked and saw that a young man had just landed and didn't know what he had done. He glared angrily at the young man who spoke out, and a hint of anger rose on his face: "Don't sleep at night if you squeak again!" Beware of me pinching you to death with one hand! Try it if you don't believe me! ”

The orphans of the management team were all outside the stream, gathered together to listen to what Li Shi said, and did not notice them. Shocked by Ma Liu's cruelty, the teenagers didn't dare to speak anymore, but peeked at him with complicated faces, and their eyes were rolling. Luo Huzi knew that he was thinking the same as Ma Liu.

"In the past, we can't let it all go now, otherwise these twenty-one people are estimated to be less than half or more."

In the distance, Li Yan whispered, Wu Ya walked towards the stream with a few orphans, and the strange atmosphere suddenly dissipated.

"Do you want to tell Hu Hanshan, or don't you care?"

Luo Huzi raised this thought, but then pressed it again, just take care of yourself.

At the end of the day, the dog's head gold picked up more than a dozen pieces, and there were more than ten taels of gold sand. Guan Tian and other directors also went up the mountain, and Lin Dashu, who was in charge of logistics, boiled mutton soup in the cauldron on the backs of the teenagers. Eating the thin noodles with mutton and drinking the mutton soup, the teenagers were wrapped in the aroma of this oil and meat, and they only felt that this life was bittersweet.

After eating and drinking, the young people set up a tent under the leadership of the management team, and looked at Ma Liu, who had a smug face, obviously hiding the gold and succeeding, Luo Huzi muttered with a stomach, this is not fair...... But if he wants to denounce it, he doesn't have the courage. This Ma Liuben was famous for his bravery among the homeless boys, and all the teenagers did not dare to offend him.

Seeing that the sunset was about to set, Luo Huzi was still looking forward to continuing to listen to Jia Wu and the two of them tell stories in the evening, Hu Hanshan suddenly called the three of them out of the shed, and when they arrived at the stream, they found that everyone was there.

"Undress, come in a line!"

Jia Hao said with a cold face, and on the other side, Wu Ya led a few teams and faintly surrounded everyone.

The hearts of the teenagers were tight, and many people looked at Ma Liu, and saw that a look of horror flashed on his face.

The first team pointed to Ma Liu, and the other two teenagers did not hesitate and took off their fine light, but Ma Liu rubbed it off, and even took off his shoes in the end.

In charge of the sixth team was Xu Hanchuan, a skinny boy with a simple face, who carefully rummaged through their clothes and shoes, but did not find them.

"Ma Liu, do you hurt your foot?"

Jia Hao, who was staring at the side, suddenly spoke, making Ma Liu, who was slowly stepping into the stream, stunned.

"Catch him and take a good look at his feet!"

Jia Hao waved his hand, Xu Hanchuan followed another orphan, Yu Hanyi, and pounced, Ma Liu shook his feet in panic, but was pulled ashore by the two.

The dog's head with the tip of his finger was gold, three pieces, and was pinched between his toes by Ma Liu. When he was searched, Ma Liu's face was gray.

"Fourth brother, spare your life! I'm dazzled by this gold! ”

He threw himself on the ground naked, kowtowing vigorously to Li Xian.

This bit of gold, in fact, is less than one tael, only seven or eight taels of silver, but the magic of gold often makes people not even know this basic arithmetic.

The scene was silent, just waiting for Li Xi to speak.

"Kill!"

Li Shi only said one word, and immediately stirred.

"Fourth brother, this ...... This really kills!? ”

Guan Fengsheng exhaled lowly.

"If you are a first-time offender, you will be whipped dozens of whips, and you won't be an example."

Tian Dayu also spoke out to persuade him, he thought more. Although these teenagers are Li Xi's personal servants and can be disposed of at will, the murder is a lynching, and the government must be held accountable. 【1】

"Without blood, the three-kill order is empty words."

To Guan Tian and the others, Li Xi still had to open his mouth to explain, but his tone was extremely cold, and there was no room for doubt. Several directors looked at each other, and they only sighed helplessly, but did not say more. In their opinion, these teenagers are not from the village, and they are not worthy of protection.

"Fourth brother...... Please...... Li Shi! You're not an official! Why kill me! ”

Ma Liu was dragged by two teenagers towards a big tree, he was still struggling and begging for mercy, but seeing that there was no response, his violent surname finally broke out, and he raised his throat and scolded. In the end, he raised his fist and wanted to make a move against Xu Hanchuan and Yu Hanyi, who were pulling him.

There were two muffled bangs, Xu Hanchuan punched Ma Liu's face, and Yu Hanyi hit Ma Liu's waist with one knee, which immediately made him paralyzed. Although this Ma Liu was violent, Xu Yu Ershao had a life in his hands, and he shot quickly and ruthlessly, and the naked Ma Liu had no power to parry.

Luo Huzi and the others in the distance had their throats as if they were stuffed with cotton, and their breathing was extremely difficult......

"I'm coming!"

Seeing that Ma Liu was tied to the tree, Jia Hao pulled out a three-edged short sword and put it together with the wooden stick on his waist to form a five-foot-long short spear. Wu Ya wanted to rob him, but Jia Hao said, "Wait a minute, there will be yours" and let him retreat.

"Good walking, good reincarnation......"

Guan Fengsheng closed his eyes, and the other directors also had expressions that they couldn't bear to witness, and with Jia Hao's short but powerful stabbing forward, a terrible and distorted howl rushed into the sky, mixed with the sudden splash of scarlet, and pierced straight into the hearts of those homeless teenagers, causing them to tremble from the soles of their feet to the top of their heads.

Luo Huzi read vigorously in his heart, "Fortunately...... Thankfully......" he believes, and everyone else agrees with him.

Pulling out the tip of the spear, Jia Hao turned around and raised his hand to wipe the blood on his face, but his hand was also shaking. After taking two deep breaths, the young man's whole body calmed down, and his face was indifferent, and he couldn't tell that he had killed someone a few seconds ago.

"If the same team doesn't report it, they will be whipped twenty times!"

Li Xi continued to speak, but the two teenagers from Ma Liuyi's team breathed a sigh of relief, seeing that Ma Liu's head on the tree was drooping, and the blood in his heart was gushing, and they were worried that they would suffer the same fate.

At the edge of the stream, the crackling of whips and the sound of wailing and pain rang out, and the stripping checks of the other teams continued.

After a while, two more teenagers were dragged out, one of them was soft on the ground when he was called to undress, one begged for mercy, and the other was unscrupulous, so he hid the gold nugget in his shoes, and when he was searched out, he stiffened his neck, and always felt that Li Xian could not kill again.

So this hard bone was given to Wu Ya as a target for spear practice.

The third was Hu Hanshan's move, he wiped the blood on his face, walked up to Luo Huzi and the others, and said in a low voice: "You guys are not bad, but if you break your oath, I will not show mercy!" ”

The fear in Luo Huzi's heart gradually dissipated, his chest also stood up, and he didn't do anything wrong, what was he afraid of!?

Killed, beaten, killed, killed, Li Xi looked at the remaining eighteen homeless teenagers, and his words were calm: "When I say that my choice with you is not only to ask you to keep your oath. I will not be short of what I should give you! If any of them are said that I have broken my promise, you will ignore your oath, and I will not hold you accountable. ”

He raised his voice: "Keep the agreement with me and take your own choice." This is your oath to Heaven! It's not that I'm going to kill the one who broke the contract, it's that I'm going to kill on God's behalf! People are working, and the sky is watching......

Li Shi shouted the last three words in a deep voice: "I'm in charge!" ”

These three words not only shocked the teenagers, but also the hearts of Guan Tian and the others behind them jumped loudly.

"I understand, why didn't the fourth brother let the other boys in the mine come to pan for gold first."

Tian Dayou said in a low voice, and the others nodded in understanding.

[1: In the early Manchu Qing Dynasty, the government also tried to intervene in the relationship between the clan and the master and slave, and lynching was punished. After the middle of the century, the control over the local area weakened, and the clans and squires began to lynch, and the government mostly acquiesced. 】