Chapter 33: The Ringing Horse
After making up your mind, you can naturally sleep peacefully. While I was sleeping soundly, I heard a voice calling, "Hey, get up and eat!" β
I have to say, this is the best way to wake me up! I jumped up happily to see a skinny child, probably only twelve or thirteen years old, standing outside the fence gate, unlocking the iron lock on the door. It seemed to be dawn outside, and there was a light shining on, and I could see a tray on the ground with porridge, steamed buns, and pickles.
He opened the door, pushed the tray up, and turned to leave.
I was unwilling to let go of this opportunity, and hurriedly shouted: "Little brother, it's hard work, every time I trouble you to bring me food!" β
He glanced back at me, and there was a complicated look on his immature little face, a little like sympathy, a little like boredom. But he didn't talk to him, and he had to leave again.
"How did you get to such a place at such a young age? Aren't you scared to see those people outside with bones? "I don't have anything to say.
He turned to face me, crossed his hands on his hips, and said with anger on his brow, "How did you talk so much! If you have something to eat, don't hurry up and eat it! β
I quickly nodded and said, "Okay, okay!" I'll just eat it, but you'll have to come back to get this plate and bowl in a while, so why don't we talk here? You'll take it away after I'm done? β
He glared at me, went outside, locked the door, but didn't leave.
I laughed secretly in my heart, listening to this little brother's tone, sure enough, as I expected, Tao Zhihuan had been here before.
But the management of this bandit's den is too loose, and he actually called a child to open the lock and deliver food, when I Tao Yong is eating white rice!
But after a little consideration, I decided not to act rashly for the time being. Even if I escape from here now, I still don't know what to do next, so let's go along the vine and compete with this group of bandits!
After a night of tossing yesterday, I was already so hungry that I was close to my back, although it was just a small dish of porridge, it was very attractive, and I immediately ate and chewed it. From time to time, I peeked at the child, and saw him sit down on a big rock next to him, his expression a little stunned, not knowing what he was thinking.
"Yesterday I saw your king in charge, so young to be able to take care of so many things, it's really amazing!" I pretended to be casual while eating.
"yes!" The boy said, "He's a very good guy." β
"Then who is more powerful, he or that Qiu master?" I asked.
It's obviously a clichΓ©, but he doesn't doubt that he said: "They are not the same, there is no way to compare." β
"yes, what's the difference?" I tried to make my tone as innocent as I could, so much so that I got goosebumps when I heard it.
"The martial arts of the big master are good, and the second master is smart. Both of them are heroes of Weilong Mountain! He replied.
Although it was a few simple descriptions, I saw a hundred points of praise and adoration on his face. But what kind of hero are bandits? How can a hero covet someone else's family heirloom and casually lock people in a dungeon? I'm a little unconvinced.
"What about you? You must be very good at being with heroes, right? I asked again.
Hearing this unwarranted compliment, his face was a little shy, and he continued: "I can't do much now, but I will definitely be like them in the future!" β
"But do you dare to kill? They must have killed a lot of people, right? "I don't want a kid to think of being a bandit as his ideal.
"They...... They kill all the bad guys! He pleaded eagerly.
"Those who hang on the shelves are bad people?"
"That's fake...... They're all good guys anyway! β
"Oh, I see!" I lowered my head and drank the porridge to hide my laughter.
It's too incongruous for such a scheming child to appear here, plus what he said, it seems that there is another mystery in this Weilong Mountain, not necessarily what I imagined.
"I ask you, why did you come back?" The child suddenly asked rhetorically.
"I ...... I was tricked back. I prevaricated.
The child looked at me, and his face showed the complicated expression just now, and after a long time, he said: "I have heard about your family, don't blame Weilongshan, we are doing this for a reason." β
"My family?" I was surprised. I'd love to ask him directly: what's wrong with my family? But not at the moment. Being noticed by anyone that I am not 100% Tao Zhihuan may have very serious consequences!
At the moment, I can only remain silent and endure it.
So I smiled faintly and said a pun, "I understand that some things are not what they appear to be." β
The child sighed and fell silent. I didn't bother him anymore.
After eating and drinking, I said to him gratefully, "Thank you! β
He opened the door again and walked in, picking up the utensils and saying, "It's strange that you seem to be a different person when you come back this time." β
"How has it changed?"
He looked at me and said, "You didn't say a word to me the last time you were here." β
I was stunned for a moment, and when I saw that he was about to leave, I hurriedly shouted: "Go and tell you the second master, I plan to tell him the answer!" β
When the child who delivered the meal took me to the ground, I realized that it was already three poles old! Last night's fire had been extinguished, the drum was still in place, but the drummer was gone. Looking around, I saw that this cottage was built around the mountain, including a flat land including Weilong Pavilion, just a platform on the mountainside, looking at the mountain, there seemed to be many such platforms, and I saw a lot of flags with dragon-shaped marks fluttering from a distance.
When I saw the human bones hanging on the shelves by the fire, I couldn't tell how funny I was. It turns out that bandits will also play the trick of bluffing, using some fake things to scare people, of course it's no problem to deceive me as a layman, but if someone else sees through it and spreads it to the rivers and lakes, wouldn't it be disgraceful!
What caught my eye even more was a team of horses coming out of the depths of the cottage, and there was a muscular man sitting on the head horse, and some small braids on his head like Qiu Weilong, but when he walked past me, I saw that the position of his dragon-shaped decoration was not on the neck, but on the forearm.
I've seen some of the theories about the location of this tattoo in the novel. Whether it is a mountain bandit or a gang, if there is a unified totem, the higher the status in the organization, the closer the position of the ornament to the heart. If the position is equal, a symmetrical or similar pattern is tattooed at the same position in the front and back of the center to distinguish it. Judging from the position of this person's tattoo, he is probably just an ordinary small boss.
But I've always wondered if he gets promoted in the future, what about the tattoo?
He was followed by more than a dozen horses, and when he was about to reach the door of the cottage, he waved his hand to stop the people behind him, and took out a whip from the backpack on the horse's back, which was more than two meters long, black and shiny, and unusually strong at a glance, and the tail of the whip had a gorgeous tassel pendant.
I saw him sitting on a horse, raising the whip high with his right hand, shouting high in his mouth, and then waving his big arm sharply, the whip danced, and the whip shuttled through the air, making an extremely crisp and loud "crackling" sound!
The people who followed him heard the whip and shouted loudly with him, and the horses began to walk in place restlessly.
After about a minute or two, the door of the cottage creaked open, and a group of them rushed away, and they disappeared in less than a while!
It's the first time I've seen this kind of scene, and I think it's so fresh! Ask the children around you, "What is this called?" What a majesty! β
But he looked at me like an alien and said, "You don't know this? Have you never met a ringing horse? β
I've heard the word "ringing horse" from Rui Wei, and it originally refers to bandits! I'm so ignorant in this world, and there's so much more to see!
Walking into Weilong Pavilion, this time it was changed to the stairs on the right, although it felt that the layout was similar to the stairs on the left, but when I really walked inside, I found that it was not the kind of hall with tables and chairs, but a place similar to a study. There are a lot of wooden shelves against the wall, and there are a lot of leathers, paper, pens, slips, and carving knives, etc., and in the center is a wide platform on which nothing is placed, and I don't know what it is for.
And Wang Shaoting, who I came to see on purpose, was standing in front of the wall directly opposite the door, looking at a painting on the wall.
This scene somehow reminded me of the things I encountered with Wang Jianguo in the basement of Mr. Tian's house. Wang Shaoting, what kind of person are you?
I reckon he heard me come in, but he didn't look back. I had no choice but to walk over to him, and when I got closer, I realized that there was not a painting on the wall, but a leather map, and although it was very simple, it was immediately clear that it was a map of China.
It was a great surprise for me to see the map of this period, and I even took it seriously to look at it even without having to talk to him.
It turned out that Youzhou was indeed the area of what is now Beijing, Tianjin and southern Liaoning. I counted, there are a total of thirteen "states" on the map, it seems that the territory of the Eastern Han Dynasty is these thirteen states, except for the current Tibet, Inner Mongolia, and Northeast China, occupying most of the Central Plains and Jiangnan, Sichuan. The shape of the land looks like an eagle with wings spread.
Probably within the scope of today's Henan Province, the word "Luoyang" is written in a more eye-catching color. It's a little different from the Chinese characters I know, but I guess it's Luoyang, the eastern capital.
Turning his head to look at Wang Shaoting, his eyes were as cold as yesterday, so cold that he couldn't see a trace of emotion. At the same time, I found that his eyes had been near Luoyang for a long time, and he had not moved for a long time.
"Say it." I didn't know whether to interrupt him or not, but he suddenly spoke.
"For my Tao family, the Blood Rock Furnace is a matter of wealth and life, so I must be cautious." I say.
He was still staring at the map, not even looking at me, as if waiting for me to continue.
"Yesterday I did forget something, and now I remember it all," I continued, "and the thing wasn't with my friend, I hid it in a safe place." β
Wang Shaoting still didn't look at me, and simply asked, "Where?" β
"In the mountains near the town of Xiping." I said in a firm tone.
He finally turned his head, looked at me for two seconds, and then shouted, "Parrot, tell me to get my horse outside." β