From the outside to the inside, it is not an exaggeration to describe it as a "grass people".

It's just a person who looks so honest on the outside, and as soon as he heard that He Lingchuan was here to "buy red rope", he immediately persuaded the neighbors who were doing good things away.

He didn't dare to close the courtyard door, because there were still a few big men behind He Lingchuan.

Fortunately, these big men did not enter the courtyard, only He Lingchuan asked him.

"The red rope of the lantern grass? Yes, yes, even passwords. Lao Liu Zhengse said, "But this is a good thing, and the price is not cheap." ”

He Lingchuan was very polite: "Mr. Liu might as well come and listen." ”

Lao Liu's mouth moved, and he spit out a number as if he had made up his mind:

"Five ......"

Before he could say one word, his voice became hoarse, and he quickly coughed twice: "One price, five thousand taels!" ”

"The lion has a big mouth." He Lingchuan gave him back three thousand taels, and he traded it immediately.

Lao Liu rubbed his hands. Three thousand taels of silver, a huge sum of money that he can't earn in two lifetimes.

His fingers trembled a little, and He Lingchuan could see that he wanted to agree, but Lao Liu's wife suddenly coughed vigorously in the house.

Lao Liu was stunned, and immediately came back to his senses: "Uh, I, we have to think about it again." Will you come back in two days? ”

"I'll be in the mountains right away." He Lingchuan stared at him and said, "Three thousand taels of silver, what are you not satisfied with?" ”

"I—we're just, think again."

He Lingchuan could see that he really wanted the three thousand taels of silver, but now he wanted to forcibly stop it, and the reason could only be-

"Oh, and someone else is bidding?"

Lao Liu was told by him, and his eyes flashed twice.

Indeed, two days ago, someone came to buy the red rope and bid five hundred taels. Lao Liu and his wife were stunned by this number, and agreed without thinking about it.

They were asked to accompany them up the mountain after the death of the White Bear King, so they hadn't paid yet.

Today, He Lingchuan also came to buy, he tried to shout five thousand taels, but He Lingchuan counteroffered three thousand taels!

This, this is a strange commodity to live in! If you wait a few more days, will you be able to wait for a bigger number?

Otherwise, why not let them bid against each other? The hearts of Lao Liu and his wife suddenly opened up.

He Lingchuan smiled: "The more people who know that you have the red rope in your hands, the more dangerous you are." To be honest, if it weren't for the fact that there was still a code word hanging and you had to go up the mountain to check the authenticity, you would be dead by now. ”

Lao Liu's face changed color, but before he could speak, the woman in the house rushed out first: "In broad daylight, you dare to threaten us?" Believe it or not, we're going to report to the police and arrest you strangers! ”

"Then the three thousand taels of silver will be gone." He Lingchuan knew that seeing is believing, so he grabbed a bag of gold from his arms and threw it on the bamboo table.

When the mouth of the bag was opened, a few gold cakes, gold bars, and gold balls rolled out, shining charmingly in the sun, and also made Lao Liu and his wife swallow saliva together.

The world is chasing a lifetime, isn't it just for this little thing?

"Three thousand taels, do you know how many bags of gold it is?"

The couple didn't know.

"I'm willing to give three thousand taels, but others may not. Guess what they would do if they didn't want to take the money, but they wanted the red string? He Lingchuan said with a smile, "The security of your knife town has only improved in the past few years?" What was it like before, and I don't remember it so soon? ”

Once upon a time? The husband and wife glanced at each other, went to the side and whispered a few words, and finally agreed.

Lao Liu couldn't help but be overjoyed by this windfall, and his mood improved, and he answered all questions.

It turned out that his father had also been in the limelight, and by chance he had a red thread with the bright light grass, but he died of illness within two years of returning from the mountain, and passed on the secret of the bright light grass to him before he died.

He didn't have much ability on his own, and he caught up with years of war, and tried his best to live a life that was out of the ordinary.

"Who ordered the red rope from you before?"

"I don't know, it's seven or eight people, who said they came from the east, waiting for this thing to help. I said money first, but they refused, and agreed that after the White Bear King was exterminated in a few days, we would go up the mountain together. ”

Lao Liu added: "I don't think they look like they're very rich." ”

In order to verify the authenticity of the red rope and the secret words, of course He Lingchuan had to take Lao Liu to Baimao Mountain, while his wife could wait here.

Lao Liu was very reluctant: "You have red ropes and secret words, just go up the mountain by yourself." I'm not lying, I'm here for you! ”

He Lingchuan only gave them one sentence:

"You can get three thousand taels at home, do you really think that money is so easy to make? But don't worry, the White Bear King is currently near the capital, not in Baimao Mountain. ”

This is also true, and the Liu couple have been hearing the news that the White Bear King has hurt people near the capital recently. But at the thought of entering Baimao Mountain, Lao Liu was still apprehensive.

Just look at, for the sake of the face of three thousand taels! They can't make that much money in their lifetime.

So, He Lingchuan paid a deposit of 1,000 taels first, then took away the red rope, and handed over the rest of the money to the township security. Ten days later, no matter whether Lao Liu returns or not, Liu's wife can go to the township security to get back the remaining 2,000 silver with the written evidence.

Juluguo has set up a special "township security" agency in the town, which is used for businessmen and ordinary people to do honest transactions, and in He Lingchuan's view, it is a third-party platform and has official reputation endorsement.

In this way, Lao Liu didn't have to worry about He Lingchuan and the others saving money by killing him after they got the bright lantern.

……

In the early morning of the next day, Jin Bai and the others set off for Hundus, and He Lingchuan walked with them.

After a night of thinking, Jin Bai seemed to have figured out the necessity of investigating the case, and cheered up to deal with He Lingchuan's questions.

Of course, the main reason is that he must cooperate with He Lingchuan to find out the evidence of the theft of tribute from the Hun Kingdom.

For this kind of interaction between countries, evidence is important.

Even if Mu Guo wants to make a move, he must have a target.

"From Xiaoyao Sect to Julu Harbor? During the escort of the tribute, I barely closed my eyes. Jin Bai Zhengse said, "I was basically awake in those days, only on the night I arrived at Julu Harbor, and I exercised pranayama for two hours. But there are six brothers guarding the door, and besides, I am pranayama, not sleeping, and I have also laid an enchantment, once someone approaches, how can I hide it from my ears and eyes? ”

All in all, the tribute disappeared on him, and he couldn't figure it out.

Dong Rui said leisurely on the side: "There are thousands of supernatural powers in this world, I wonder if you fell into the obstacle that night, and you thought you were in Julu Harbor." ”

When the Shadow Tooth Guard came to the Hun Kingdom, he didn't use much Yuan Power, and the illusion that could be easily detected was now probably a roadblock.

"We've thought about this too." Kimber replied matter-of-factly: "But if the thieves want to steal the tribute, they have to make the eyes and ears of a dozen of us fail at the same time." How can the other party do this? ”

The stolen light, the invisible thief.

Well, this case is really interesting. He Lingchuan thought for a while: "Is it possible that the tribute has been passive from the beginning?" ”

"You're saying that what I took from the Xiaoyao Sect was a fake?"

If this is the case, no matter how careful Jin Bai and the others are in the escort process, it will be useless.

"You haven't taken a lantern before, have you?" The last time the lantern matured was thirty years ago, and He Lingchuan looked at Jin Bai's age, not like he could come twice.

"No, it's the first time I've experienced it. But before I set out, I had seen the shadow of the lantern and read its information in detail. The bright lantern seen on the Snow Peak of Xiaoyao Sect is no different from Xiying. ”

"Shadow?"

"It is an image that exists in the jade slip, which completely imitates the real thing, and is more thoughtful and detailed than the portrait."

He Lingchuan let out a long sigh, is it so advanced?

"I've thought about that possibility, too." Kimber sighed, he wished it was so. If the lantern was stolen before he arrived at the Xiaoyao Sect, he would naturally not have to bear the crime of dereliction of duty, "But the lantern grass I saw, there were a few lantern moths perched on the leaves. According to the information, this moth will only find the lantern grass to borrow light when the lantern is ripe. So—"

Even the associated moths are coming, isn't it true?

"Also, when I took off the lantern with my own hands, Master Li of the Xiaoyao Sect was watching from the side. He won't admit his mistake, right? ”

"How old is this Master Li?"

"I'm over sixty years old. The last time the lantern was ripe, it was he who accompanied the Mu Guo's guards to go up the mountain to pick. ”

So this head Li has seen the bright lantern more than once, and he is the treasure guarded by his own sect, can he admit his mistake?

Jin Bai continued: "I also secretly asked someone to inquire if anything unusual had happened to the Xiaoyao Sect recently. But there is nothing new except that someone broke into the back mountain a few months ago. ”

He Lingchuan analyzed: "Then the top priority now is to find out whether the improvement of the second prince of the Hunguo is the credit of the bright light." ”

There are not many pedestrians on the road.

Not to mention the Tosblade Port and Yangzen Islands, even compared to the Takigawa Trade Road, the number of passengers on this official road is really small. Along the way, they saw more than a dozen teams.

Halfway through the journey, everyone passed a three-way intersection, and there was a street sign on the right side of the road, and an arrow was drawn, which read:

Honorable Castle.

Xuncheng is the capital of the Hun Kingdom.

Jin Bai didn't look at the sign, and still walked straight ahead.

Dong Rui was curious: "What does that street sign mean?" ”

Isn't the role of street signs just to guide the way? Why did the sign indicate that going to the right was the direction of Xuncheng, but Jin Bai and the others went straight as usual?

"Fake." Kimber then pointed to the sign, "I found that no, this sign is new." ”

Indeed, although the wood of the street sign is old, the words on it are new, and the sawdust has not been blown clean by the strong wind at the intersection.

"We walked this road last time and hired a local guide." "There are a few bandits around this trade route. They often remove signs from official roads and erect fake signs at forks in the road to mislead pedestrians and queues to deviate from official roads. ”

Once an alien traveler is fooled and walks into an unknown mountain road, what good end can he have?

"Don't you care? This can be regarded as the main road of the Hun country, right? ”

It is inconceivable that there is such chaos on the official road from the capital to the port.

Although the Takigawa trade route in the Panlong world was also robbed by water bandits in the past, it was a long distance, and it happened to be next to the Takigawa, and the geographical conditions were complicated, which gave rise to the problems that plagued Xiqian and Yuhengcheng.

But the length of this trade route in the country is only a few dozen miles, and there are actually several nests of mountain bandits!

He Lingchuan wanted to know, the density is so large, isn't the robbery work involved, and can the mountain bandits eat enough by eating on the road?

"This trade route is the only way for many inland countries to reach the seaside, and business travelers and goods from nearby countries have to go from here. The Hun Kingdom earned a lot of tax money from this road, and it is said that he would send troops to patrol back and forth to maintain law and order. Jin Bai pointed to the winding mountain road that had just appeared on the side of the road, "They don't care about trails like this. Someone complains that you don't have long eyes, who told you not to take the big road. ”

He Lingchuan pondered: "No wonder the products here are shipped out, and the prices are ridiculously high. ”

Jaya has banned the export of ore to the Yangshan Islands, which has to find alternative channels. In addition to Mu Guo, the best ore comes from the Flash Gold Plain, which is easy to purify and has few impurities.

However, the ore price of the Shining Gold Plains is more than fifty percent more expensive than that of Yaguo, and this is still in the case of no unexpected superposition. If there is a mountain closure, a coup d'état, or even the blockage and closure of Julu Port, the price of ore will fluctuate.

Now He Lingchuan understands why the mines here are expensive.

The cost is high, and the risk of uncertainty is great.

If it weren't for the rush to sell ore for money in places like the Shining Gold Plain, and the labor was cheap, the price of ore would have gone up.

Jin Bai nodded: "So the large caravan will definitely find guides and escorts to accompany you." ”

And this part of the cost will eventually be reflected in the price of the commodity.

Dong Rui smiled: "There is an official patrol, and you still look like this bird?" ”

"In recent years, the country has also been unlucky, there have been several battles inside and outside, and there were locust plagues in the first two years. I heard from the guide that King Hunwang has implemented two new policies since he came to the throne, but not only has the people's livelihood not improved, but has enriched the officials. In a fit of rage, King Hu went on a killing spree and executed many officials. ”

It's not that the country doesn't want to take care of it, it's that it can't be managed.

A gust of wind blew, and the ghost ape on Dong Rui's shoulder suddenly straightened up, sniffed a few times, and then jumped onto the nearest branch and swung all the way.

Dong Rui and He Lingchuan stopped and waited for it.

After about a dozen breaths, the ghost ape swung back and chirped a few times in Dong Rui's ear.

Only Dong Rui and Lingguang can understand this monkey talk.

Dong Rui translated: "It said that in the depths of the dense forest on the side of the road, that is, fifty zhang away, there were more than a dozen corpses exposed in the wild, all of which had rotted. There are also a few wild dogs eating there. ”

Everyone didn't go inside, and continued to hurry, Jin Bai said: "That's the end of going the wrong way." The people I hired said that some local guides asked for very low prices, but in fact, they were in collusion with the mountain bandits and deliberately pointed the wrong way to the business travelers. In this way, after the mountain bandits robbed, they will also get a piece of the pie. ”

"The people who will invite these black guides are all small merchants who don't have much money, and the number of people is not large, which is exactly what the bandits want."

"Even some of the inns on the roadside are black shops, where they put medicine on customers and loot them, or kidnap women and children to sell them for money. Therefore, it is best to take this road without hitting the sharp point and not staying in the store, and go directly to the destination. ”

He Lingchuan listened, but remembered the kite country.

Back then, he followed He Chunhua's army from Blackwater City to Dunyu, and he also saw countless human sufferings along the way.

Mountain bandits, black shops, homeless people, deserted villages, all available.

It is said that the poor mountains and bad waters are out of the people, and they say that the poor give birth to evil intentions, it seems that it is the same everywhere.

The mountain bandits here dared to kill people directly on the side of the main road of the official road, and the bandits in Xianling Village also chased He Chunhua's regular army of hundreds of people and ran dozens of miles of mountain roads.

In contrast, although the territory of Bailie and Qingguo is small, it is much richer and more peaceful.

While everyone was talking, someone in the woods on the side of the road suddenly shouted "help", and his voice was immature.

Immediately afterwards, a short figure rushed onto the road and stopped in front of the crowd.

He Lingchuan and the others had already heard the sound of stepping on broken branches, and deliberately controlled the mount, otherwise this person would be reckless in blocking the horse, afraid that he would not be trampled by the horse's hooves!

At first glance, it was a boy of four or five years old, with two patches on his coarse cloth short clothes, but his appearance was well-born, his face was full of blood marks drawn by tree branches, and a large black blue was knocked out of the corner of his forehead, and blood flowed down his cheeks.

"Help!" As soon as He Lingchuan's mount let go, he was about to come up again to pounce on the horse's hooves, "Save my father!" ”

He Lingchuan patted the horse's neck to calm it down, and asked the boy, "Where is your father?" ”

"They're going to arrest me!" Tears and blood mixed with his face, and the boy pointed behind him, "They arrested my daddy!" ”

There was a bang in the woods, as if there were footsteps again, but no one came out.

He Lingchuan glanced at the sound, raised his wrist, and went out with a swish.

In the next moment, a scream rang out in the woods.

The ghost ape on Dong Rui's shoulder immediately jumped into the forest.

After three or five breaths, a person was thrown out and rolled twice on the ground, just under He Lingchuan's horse.

Thinking that this person chased the child to the side of the road, he saw that He Lingchuan and the others were tall and big, and they didn't dare to come out.

He had a short arrow tied to his leg, and he was not happy when he got up, and he was pressed against his throat by the dragon spear that He Lingchuan touched out, and he didn't dare to move.

He Lingchuan asked him, "What about the child's parents?" ”

The man cautiously pointed into the depths of the woods, "That, over there." ”

"Still alive?"

"Alive, alive!" The robbers hurriedly said, "We didn't hurt them!" ”

Lingguang on horseback interjected: "What are you chasing this kid for?" ”

The robbers were speechless.

Jin Bai hugged his arms on the side and said, "I think I want to take away the child and sell it for money." ”

He Lingchuan asked again: "How many of you are there?" ”

"Fifty ......"

Before he could finish speaking, the tip of the gun flickered, piercing a hole in his shoulder. The robber shouted, "Sixteen, there are sixteen of us!" ”

As soon as he finished speaking, he was shot through the throat, and he went forward and came out.

He Lingchuan shook off the dead man on the gun, and said to Jin Bai lightly: "Everyone, wait a minute, I'll come when I go." ”

This cloud-turner is good marksmanship, Jin Bai picked up the boy and put it in front of the saddle, and nodded: "Okay." ”

He Lingchuan and Dong Rui rode their horses into the forest, and arrived at the scene of the incident within seventy or eighty zhang.

It's a gentle slope, not far from the main road, but the woods are too dense for the cry for help to be heard.

The victims were a small group of merchants, seven men and one woman. The men were bound to the ground, and the women were pressed to the ground and violent, presumably the boy's mother.

Another robber was already unbuckling his belt.

There were still ten zhang away, and He Lingchuan pulled out the floating knife and threw it with his hand.

The cold light swirled and brushed against the crack in the tree, not even a blade was hurt, but it passed through the neck of the violent robber.

The head of the good man flew high, and the blood splattered the woman's body!

(End of chapter)