The babbling river flowed "rattling", and the sparkling water set off thin waves, flowing in the direction from which Liu Wei and the others came.

Walking up the river, Liu Wei saw a waterwheel supporting the river from a distance. Along the riverbank, leading an army of nearly 7,000 people, marching to the waterwheel, Liu Wei stopped and looked up at the waterwheel that was still in operation.

The wheels of the waterwheel rotate under the wash of the river, and the bucket picks up the clear water of the river and pours it into the tank, which flows down the tank towards the village.

"Yuanfu, do you remember how happy the villagers were when the waterwheel was running that day?" Pressing the hilt of the sword with one hand, Liu Wei looked up at the rotating waterwheel and asked Zhou Cang, who was standing not far behind him.

Hearing Liu Wei speak to him, Zhou Cang walked behind Liu Bian, also looked up at the waterwheel, sighed and said: "Yes, the villagers were very happy that day, but they didn't know ......."

Having said this, Zhou Cang did not continue. But even if he didn't finish his words, Liu Wei knew what he wanted to say later.

"Enter the village!" Furrowing his brows and staring at the still operating waterwheel for a while, Liu Wei beckoned to the team behind him and walked towards the village with his feet raised.

In the Bishan area, Taojiazhuang can be regarded as a relatively large village. There are more than 100 families living in the village, and although the houses are dilapidated, there are hundreds of houses.

As the scout said earlier, when he entered the village, Liu Wei found that the entire Taojiazhuang was already empty of people, not a person, even if it was a dog, he didn't see a single one.

The village, which used to be quite populous and lively, is now a dead silence. Walking into the village, the only sound Liu Wei could hear was the footsteps of him and the officers and soldiers as they walked.

"Camp in the village tonight, waiting for the scouts to report back!" Standing in the open space in the village, Liu Wei frowned, looked around at the empty houses, and gave the order to the officers and soldiers behind him to be stationed.

Having received the order, the soldiers, under the guidance of their respective officers, went to look for rooms to stay in for the night.

Liu Wei pressed his sword and led Xu Shu and the others straight towards Tao Hu's house.

The door of Tao Hu's house is closed, and the two old wooden doors are very clean, and it can be seen that people have not been away for a long time.

The doors of private houses are different from those of wealthy people.

In addition to the main door of the rich and noble, which is divided into two inward openings, the internal rooms are all sliding doors like today's island countries. In ordinary people's homes, the main entrance is also two doors that are pushed inward, but there is no door panel in the house, only a hollow door opening.

As soon as Liu Wei walked to the door of Tao Hu's house, the two personal soldiers hurriedly stepped forward, pushed the door open, and stood on both sides of the door.

took Xu Shu and others into the hall of Tao Hu's house, Liu Wei found that the house was very messy, and a dilapidated hemp wool was dragged to the hall and thrown on the ground indiscriminately. There are still some blood stains on the ground, and the firewood knife that Tao Hu carried when he went into the mountains to hunt in the past is not in the house.

After looking around the hall, Liu Wei furrowed his brows slightly, raised his feet and walked towards the ear rooms on both sides. After entering the ear room, Liu Wei found that the ear room was empty, not only did he not store sharp tools such as hoes, but even half of the cover was not left.

"Recall the scouts now!" Back in the hall, Liu Wei said to Zhou Cang, who entered the village with him: "The villagers of Taojiazhuang were not captured by the thief army, they fought with the thief army here, and now they should be hiding in the mountains. ”

"How did Your Highness know?" Hearing Liu argue that the villagers of Taojiazhuang were not arrested by Dong Zhuojun, Zhou Cang, who was also worried about the safety of the villagers, hurriedly asked.

"Let the soldiers check the houses they are staying in, mainly to find out if there are sharp tools such as firewood knives and hoes in the house." Turning his head to look at Zhou Cang, Liu Wei said to him: "Tao Hu's family doesn't have a firewood knife, and even the hoe is nowhere to be found. If we arrest someone, can we leave them with a sharp tool? ”

"Definitely not!" Zhou Cang first gave an order to the two soldiers who followed the house, asking them to inform all the officers and soldiers to inspect the house, and then said to Liu Wei: "But with the strength of the villagers, it is okay to kill some bandits, if you fight with the officers and soldiers, I am afraid it will be ......."

"I'm afraid the casualties are not small!" Walking to one of the walls of the hall, Liu Wei reached out and touched the blood stains splashed on the wall, and said to Zhou Cang: "If the sharp tools of the whole village are not there, then strengthen the prevention at night, the villagers are very fond of their hometown, especially there are many old people, women and children in the village, and they will definitely not go too far!" ”

"No!" Hearing that the villagers might not have been arrested, Zhou Cang hurriedly answered, turned around and walked outside the house.

Xu Shu, who was standing on the side, listened to Liu Bian's analysis, a faint smile hung on the corner of his mouth, and he already understood a little bit in his heart that Liu Bian was able to successfully escape from Luoyang with Tang Ji.

"Your Highness, sure enough!" After Zhou Cang went out, he turned back after a while, and said to Liu Wei when he came to Liu Bian: "I haven't even found a sharp farm tool in the village!" ”

"It seems that the villagers have armed both the old man and the woman!" Liu Wei frowned tightly, and muttered for a moment before he said to Zhou Cang: "Pass the order, before we find the villagers, we will be stationed in the village." The soldiers must not light a fire, lest the thieves find this place, and everyone can only eat the dry food they bring with them! In addition, I ordered the soldiers to look for traces left by the villagers in the village and at the entrance of the village, and even if they found a woman's hair, they should report it to me! ”

"No!" The villagers who were worried about Taojiazhuang in their hearts, and got the order to temporarily camp in Taojiazhuang and carefully survey the inside and outside of the village, Zhou Cang hurriedly responded and walked out of Taohu's house again.

Under the command of Zhou Cang, almost all the officers and soldiers were searching for this small village located in the mountains. Not only did they turn over the inside and outside of the village, but they also searched carefully for the cemetery outside the village.

Leading a group of soldiers past Honggu's grave, Zhou Cang paused, turned his head to look at the small grave bag, lowered his eyelids and sighed softly, and went straight to the village.

"General!" As soon as he led a group of officers and soldiers back to the village from the cemetery, a soldier ran to Zhou Cang, clasped his fists and said to him: "I have found many footprints at the entrance of the village, and I have come to report to the general!" ”

"Take me there!" Hearing that footprints had been found at the entrance of the village, Zhou Cang hurriedly ordered the soldiers who reported the news to lead him to check.

The place where the soldiers found their footprints was at the entrance of the village on the other side, far from the river, and from this village entrance you could walk a short distance into the vast mountains.

Now that the hour is late, and the sky is a little dark, following the messenger to the entrance of the village, Zhou Cang really saw a messy footprint on the ground.

The footprints were so messy that it was impossible to tell that the villagers were running in that direction. It looks like there was a group of people outside the village at that time, bumping into each other without a brain.

"Go and report to Your Highness!" Squatting in front of these footprints, Zhou Cang really couldn't see any clues, so he gave an order to a group of soldiers standing behind him.

One of the soldiers answered, turned around and ran towards the village.

After a while, Liu Wei, who received the soldier's report, ran out of the village with Dian Wei and several guards.

"Yuanfu, where are the footprints?" As soon as he arrived at the entrance of the village, he saw Zhou Cang squatting on the ground, and Liu Wei shouted to him.

Hearing Liu Wei's shout, Zhou Cang hurriedly stood up, stood sideways, pointed to the messy footprints on the ground, and said to him: "Your Highness, there are many footprints here, but they are too messy, and I really can't see where the villagers are going." ”

Squatting in front of the footprints, Liu Wei carefully checked it, and then turned his head and said to Zhou Cang: "Strengthen the inspection of the village entrance on the other side, and send more secret sentinels, especially at night, you must pay more attention!" ”

"But......" Zhou Cang first turned his head and ordered the soldiers behind him to carry out Liu Wei's order, and after several soldiers were ordered to enter the village, he looked down at the footprints on the ground, and asked Liu Wei with a confused face: "The footprints are here, how can you send more people at the entrance of the village on the other side?" ”

"Tao Hu, they have also grown!" Hearing Zhou Cang's question, Liu Wei stood up, looked down at the chaotic footprints and said to him: "The footprints here are deliberately left by them, but they are still inexperienced, when leaving footprints, it is too messy, anyone who has some tracking skills, can see at a glance that they are just a false shot, the real escape route should be at the entrance of the village on the other side." ”

Liu Wei was trying his best to analyze Zhou Cang, but Zhou Cang's mind had not turned for a while, and the suspicion on his face did not subside, but became a little thicker.

"When I enter the village, they will come back to the village to check!" Gently patted Zhou Cang's arm with a suspicious face, Liu Wei led him to the village, and said to him: "Before you find the villagers, you will lead people to guard the entrance of the village, the villagers are familiar with you, and it is most appropriate for you to guard there!" ”

Zhou Cang was appointed to guard the entrance of the village, and Zhao Yun was ordered to be in charge of the defense of the village, and everything was arranged, and Liu Wei led Dian Wei back to Tao Hu's house.

Night fell quietly, Taojiazhuang was quiet, if it weren't for the snoring sound of Dian Wei sleeping in the hall, Liu Wei would even think that he was alone in a deserted village with no people.

The evening breeze swept through the open space in the village, and Liu Wei stood in front of the window, listening to the "rustling" of the leaves of the old trees in the open space under the evening breeze, hoping that the villagers would find out that they had entered the village and secretly come back to investigate.

Dong Zhuo had ordered the people and scholars near Luoyang to move to Chang'an with them, and those who refused to move would be slaughtered.

Although the villagers have some combat experience and their courage has been tempered by Liu Wei, Dong Zhuojun is not comparable to a bandit, and if the villagers are allowed to fight Dong Zhuojun, the final result will only be that the villagers will be annihilated by Dong Zhuojun.

What Liu Wei has to do is to find and send the villagers to a relatively safe place before then!

"Stop!" Just as he was looking out the window, Liu Wei suddenly heard a loud shout in the distance, and then he saw more than 100 black figures jumping out of the houses and rushing towards the entrance of the village on the side of the river.