Rivers Town.

When Zhang Tao and the others first arrived at the nearest town in the Wuhe River Valley, the sky was already dark.

As night fell, they wandered the streets, looking for an inn to stay in, where they would rest for the night and never leave.

"Do you think this town is weird?"

Chu Chen looked around and found that white paper lanterns were hanging on the doors of every house, with big inscriptions, swaying in the wind, looking extremely weird and ominous in the darkness of the night.

Seeing such an eerie scene, his heart suddenly tightened, and he hurriedly came to Zhang Tao's side, and said nervously: "Every household hangs white lights, are they all dead?" ”

When the yin wind hit, he couldn't help but shudder, shrunk his neck, and squeezed where everyone was, as if this behavior could bring him a sense of security.

At the beginning of the day, the whole town is enveloped in an eerie atmosphere, with not a single pedestrian swaying on the streets, and the doors of every house are closed, which is very unusual.

"Be less nosy... Maybe hanging a white light is the custom here! ”

Zhang Tao was solemn, his eyes narrowed slightly, and a trace of gray light bloomed, and he looked at this five-river town seriously, and found that there was nothing abnormal.

Immediately, he led the people to the door of an inn with a wooden door ajar and ready to close.

"It's closed, it's closed..."

The shopkeeper, who was putting down the door panel in front of the store, saw someone coming, his face changed slightly, and he hurriedly said, "Guys, let's go somewhere else... The shop is full. ”

"Little Er, don't mind!"

Seeing this, Chu Chen raised his hand to stop the other party's action of closing the door, squeezed into the inn very flexibly, and said with a smile: "It's okay if it's full, let's just go into the house and drink a glass of hot wine to warm up." ”

As he spoke, he ignored the ugly look of the shopkeeper, opened the door panel by himself, looked at Zhang Tao and the others with a flattering face, and motioned for them to enter the house.

"Hey... Ladies and gentlemen, you don't know that our inn doesn't accept guests after dark. ”

Seeing that this was the case, the shopkeeper was not forcibly blocked, and when he saw Zhang Tao and the others carrying weapons, he found that it was not easy to provoke, so he immediately beckoned them to sit down, and then he began to close the door again.

When the door of the inn was all put down, he walked to the wine table with a sigh of relief, and sighed: "Recently, the town has not been peaceful, and a group of horse bandits have come, they burn, kill and loot, and do all kinds of evil. ”

"Horse bandits?"

Hearing this, Zhang Tao raised his eyebrows, felt a little strange, and asked: "Didn't the yamen in the town organize the arrest of bandits?" ”

Immediately, he asked, "What about the white lanterns hanging on the streets?" ”

"Bandits? Why didn't the yamen organize the suppression of bandits... It's a pity that they were all killed by horse bandits, especially the men of the big families in the town were almost wiped out. ”

The shopkeeper sighed, and when he mentioned the horse bandits, his expression changed suddenly, as if he was talking about a tiger, and he hurriedly explained: "If it weren't for our small business, and we were born in a poor family, I'm afraid we would have died in the hands of that group of murderers without blinking." ”

"According to you, those horse bandits are still a group of righteous men who rob the rich and help the poor?"

Chu Chen saw the stitches, and when he heard the other party's words, as if he had found a soulmate, his eyebrows fluttered and said: "If I have the opportunity, I must get acquainted with this group of heroes." ”

"Shut up!"

As soon as these words came out, Fang Zhibai's expression turned cold, and he scolded: "When I wait for the Sky Survey Guard to exist? ”

He was jealous and hateful, and enforced the law impartially, and when he heard that there were horses that killed innocents indiscriminately and robbed houses, he suddenly couldn't sit still.

"Lord Fang, you're right!"

Seeing this, Chu Chen immediately coaxed, and echoed very spiritually: "With all the adults and Zhang Shaoxia here, those reckless horse bandits don't have to worry." ”

Hearing his reminder, the shopkeeper found Fang Zhibai and the others wearing red falcon suits through the dim candlelight.

"Are the guest officers the Sky Patrol Guard?" He looked surprised.

Immediately, he happily ran to the account room, shouting as he ran, "The shopkeeper, the shopkeeper, the lord of the Heaven Survey Division has come to our inn." ”

There was a rustling sound in the bookkeeper, and then a middle-aged man with a goatee walked out.

"A few adults from the Sky Survey Division can come to the shop, it's just a lot of splendor!"

The shopkeeper looked delighted, and hurriedly beckoned everyone to sit down, enthusiastically speaking, and said, "Hurry up and serve good wine before entertaining all the adults." ”

As he spoke, he commanded the shopkeeper to prepare wine and food in the back kitchen, with a spring breeze on his face.

"Shopkeeper, how long has it been going on in your town?"

Zhang Tao took a sip of the hot tea in his hand, asked again without a word, and said, "Didn't the imperial court send someone over?" ”

Ever since he entered the inn, he had felt that something was wrong, and his instinct told him that there was something wrong with the town and the inn.

As for what the problem was, he couldn't say for a while.

"It's been more than half a month since the horse bandits came here to plague us, and hundreds of men and men have died in the town..."

The shopkeeper looked nervous, sighed, and explained: "The official master of the yamen sent several distress messages, but there was no response. ”

"Nine times out of ten, the messengers were killed by horse bandits." He added, shaking his head.

"It's rampant!"

As soon as the words fell, Fang Zhibai slapped the wine table angrily and stood up, scolding angrily: "Doesn't that mean that all the horses and bandits here are controlled? How unreasonable! ”

When the other Sky Survey Guards heard each other's words, they were also furious, and with the hilt of their swords in hand, they were about to rush out of the inn and kill the bandits who had done evil.

"Did all those tragic corpses sink into the river?"

Zhang Tao said a thoughtless sentence, and instantly asked the shopkeeper.

"Uh, this..."

The shopkeeper was stunned, a little hesitant, not knowing how to answer his question.

In the next second, the other party was hesitant, and Zuo Yan said: "It's not too early, I'll go and see if the wine and food in the back kitchen are ready..."

With that, he made an excuse and left the living room.

Looking at the back of the shopkeeper leaving, Zhang Tao's eyes turned, revealing a thoughtful look, and found that when the other party answered the question, his eyes changed slightly, and his movements were stiff, obviously there was something else hidden in it.

In the spirit of the mentality that more things are better than less, he didn't think too deeply.

As for meddling, he didn't mean to make a move at all...... His current goal was to arrive at Kyoto Castle safely and securely and join the Sky Survey Division.

Ever since he started in Tianwu Town, troubles and dangers have been finding him one after another, and he has felt a little tired and tired, with twists and turns.

"Zhang Tao, is there anything wrong?"

Fang Zhibai put down the teacup, saw that he didn't speak for a long time, his face was contemplative, and he couldn't help but ask curiously: "Is there something wrong with this inn?" ”

"It's fine!" Zhang Tao shook his head and did not express the concerns in his heart.

At this time, the shopkeeper and the shopkeeper came over with hot wine and food, and the aroma was overflowing.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the food and drinks are here, please use them slowly!" The shopkeeper said with a smile.