"I really regret it, I should have listened to my eldest brother if I had known that I would have stayed in Zhangye for a long time, and I would not have suffered today's misfortune, and Rui'er would not have been snatched away, I really regret it!"

In the room, Conwood wiped tears while recounting their misfortunes, and Kang Dazhuang comforted the second uncle on the side that he would definitely save Rui'er.

Li Zhen sat on the side and pondered silently, he felt a little strange in his heart, this time a total of nine Sogdian girls were robbed, all young girls under the age of twenty, and the money was not robbed much.

It shows that the goal of this horse bandit is not money, but only robbery by the way, and their target is Sogdian maidens.

"Second Uncle Kang, how many of them are there?" asked Li Zhen after pondering for a long time.

"I don't know, about twenty or thirty people, suddenly broke into the Persian mansion, and we were all terrified. ”

"Lao Li, have you realized that they actually have a plan? Jiuzhi whispered to the side.

Li Zhen nodded, he had already heard it, the goal of this group of horse bandits was very clear, there were only nine Sogdian girls in the caravan, and all of them were snatched by them, which only showed that they had already stepped on the plate during the day.

Merchants are mobile, but there are many locals in the Persian mansion, and there must be something inside, otherwise how would these bandits know where the maiden lives?

snatched them away so quickly, they had to find this internal response, and they would have clues.

Li Zhen was very anxious in his heart, he was worried that Kang Rui'er was ruined by horse bandits, even if he was rescued, it would bring a heavy blow to Second Uncle Kang, and he had to find clues tonight.

And simply guess, there are indeed a lot of clues in this, and the key is to sort out the clues and find the insider.

Li Zhen asked Kang Dazhuang to send the second uncle back to the Persian Mansion to rest first, he pondered for a moment, and then said to Jiuzhi: "You go and find the bartender at the afternoon dinner, I have something to ask him." ”

Thinking that dealing with a bartender should not be risky, Jiuzhi turned around and walked quickly, and after a while, he pushed the bartender into the room, "I'm looking for you for something! ”

The bartender rubbed his neck and glared at Jiuzhi fiercely, the bastard almost broke his neck, at this time, Li Zhen stepped forward and asked him, "Are you a local?"

"Of course, three generations are locals, what's the matter with you?"

Li Zhen sat down, groaned and asked, "During dinner in the afternoon, I heard you say that there are only bandits in Kongtong Mountain, and there are no Taoist priests, are the bandits you are talking about the horse bandits who appeared tonight?"

The bartender's face turned white, and he hurriedly shook his head, "I just said casually, I don't know anything, don't ask me!"

He turned around to leave, but was pushed back by Jiuzhi, Li Zhen stared at him for a long time, saw that his eyes were getting more and more flustered, and he lowered his head, Li Zhen knew in his heart that this bartender must know something.

At this time, the bartender sighed, "You go and ask others! Many people know about this, don't ask me, I won't say anything." ”

Li Zhen took out two Sogdian gold coins and held them in his hand, "I only need you to give me a clue, these two gold coins are yours, and I promise not to betray you." ”

The bartender was a little moved, two Sogdian gold coins could be exchanged for two thousand five hundred yuan, which was equivalent to a month's income for him as a bartender, and he was silent for a moment and said, "If there is only one clue, I can sue you." ”

"Say it!"

The bartender whispered, "Didn't you notice? ”

Li Zhen suddenly came to his senses, yes, this important clue was indeed ignored by him, and the city was closed at night, which is the law since ancient times, and the city gate of Fulu County was actually opened at night, indicating that the city defenders and horse bandits colluded.

Li Zhen threw two gold coins to him, "You go!"

The bartender pinched the two gold coins, glared at Jiuzhi again, and then hurriedly went out, Jiuzhi hurriedly said: "This clue is too wide, it's not worth two gold coins!"

Li Zhen smiled, "I already understand, this matter has nothing to do with the county order, it is impossible for the dignified county order to collude with the horse bandits, but he must know something, so he is silent, as long as I find the officer on duty tonight, I will definitely know the details of the horse bandits." ”

"I think this guy knows, why go to some officer?"

"He's only in general knowledge, and it's impossible to know the details, and we don't have time to find out the whereabouts of this group of bandits at once. ”

Fulu County is not a military town, there is no garrison in the city, only 200 local county soldiers, two brigade commanders each lead 100 people, unified under the command of the county lieutenant, generally responsible for local security, and patrol the night to guard the door, the brigade commander on duty last night is surnamed Liu, a native of Fulu County, and his home is near the north gate.

There were horse bandits in the city last night, Liu Lvshuai was busy until the fifth watch before going home to rest, just walked into the courtyard gate, a black shadow flashed out of the door, and the snowy dagger pressed against his throat, Liu Lvshuai was frightened, "You are"

Before he finished speaking, he had a sharp pain in the back of his head, his eyes were dark, and he fainted, and when he woke up, he was now tied to the bedroom, and his mother and two sons were tied to the corner, with a cloth in their mouths, and they were crying.

Liu Lvshuai was shocked, and when he turned around, he saw several black-clothed people standing next to him, all with their faces covered, and one of them was holding a sword at his son.

Liu Lvshuai was angry and annoyed, his dignified brigade commander was actually targeted by thieves, but his two sons and his wife were in the hands of others, so he couldn't help him, so he had to hold back his anger and said: "The money is given to you, and my family is released." ”

A man in black shook his head, "We don't want your money, we just want to ask you a question." ”

These masked black-clothed men were naturally Li Zhen and them, and they knew the name of the officer on duty and his home address from the mouth of a soldier, so they took the first step to prostrate themselves.

Li Zhen already knew that it was this Liu Lvshuai who had the right to open the city gate at night, even if he was not an accomplice of the horse bandits, but he was also a real insider.

When Liu Lushuai heard that he didn't want his money, he was a little relieved and said, "What do you want to know?"

"I want to know where the horse bandits who entered the city tonight, where is their lair, and how many are there?"

Liu Lvshuai laughed, "What a bunch of fools, if you want to ask about this, I can sue you, if you don't want to die." ”

"Just say, don't talk nonsense!"

"In fact, many people in Fulu County know it, and the county magistrate also knows that that group of people is not a horse bandit, they are a Hu search team, haven't you heard of the Hu search team in the Hexi Corridor?"

Li Zhen had vaguely sensed from his tone that the group of horse bandits was extraordinary, but when it was about Kang Rui'er's life, he still had to ask clearly.

"Keep talking!"

"I don't know the details of the Sohu team, but I heard that they have a very big background, and they only arrest young Hu women, I don't know why you want to stand up for a group of Sogdians, but I can tell you that if you are an enemy of them, you will not survive even if you have nine lives. ”

"You don't care about this, you sue me, where is their nest, how many people are there?"

"I don't know!"

Li Zhen's long sword brushed against his youngest son's throat, and said coldly: "Do you want to force me to kill people and kill people?"

Liu Lushuai's face changed greatly, and he suddenly roared, "You group of dog mongrels, you want to send me to death to fulfill you, they are in the Taiyi Palace at the northern foot of Kongtong Mountain, there are thirty or forty people, you go to die!"

Li Zhen stared at him for a moment, then turned back to Kang Dazhuang and said, "Take his youngest son, let's go!"

Kang Dazhuang grabbed the child on the ground, and the four of them quickly left Liu Lvshuai's house, Liu Lvshuai was speechless for a long time, these bastards took their son as a hostage

Kongtong Mountain is located about 40 miles south of Fulu County, is a large mountain with a radius of nearly 100 miles, the mountain is densely wooded, and the ravines are vertical and horizontal.

Although it is not the Taoist holy place of Kongtong Mountain in Pingliang County, there are also several Buddhist temples and Taoist temples on the mountain, but these Buddhist temples and Taoist temples are closed to the Qing Dynasty, do not provide accommodation and supplies for business travelers, and do not accept donations from pilgrims, and most of them make a living by collecting medicines.

Li Zhen and the four of them left the county, and went all the way south, at this time the sky was just dawning, the morning glow shot out from the clouds, and the golden light of ten thousand roads set off the majestic Kongtong Mountain to be extremely spectacular, the clouds were steaming and the clouds were blue, just like the fairy mountain outside the Saiwai.

Liu Lvshuai's five-year-old son took the tranquilizer that Xiao Xi fed him, and slept groggily all the way, without making trouble or crying, and after half an hour, they finally arrived at Kongtong Mountain, and saw the dome of a Taoist temple located on the mountainside from a distance.

"Lao Li, I think since they are horse bandits, the nest should be at the foot of the mountain, halfway up the mountain, it's not easy to go up and down the mountain!"

Jiuzhi's Jianyì won Li Zhen's praise, "He is worthy of being a military advisor, and his mind is very active!" But it doesn't seem difficult for this Taoist temple to go up the mountain. ”

Li Zhen pointed to a faintly visible trail on the mountain and said, "From that trail, you can go up the mountain on horseback." ”

It was also a coincidence that there was a person in front of the deserted official road, riding a mule, looking at the age of about sixty years old, the beard was white, looking at the medicine hoe and medicine basket he carried, he knew that he was a medicine picker, Li Zhen urged him to immediately step forward and saluted: "Old man, we want to ask about the road?"

The old man said with a smile: "What is there to ask about the road here, follow the official road all the way south, and you can arrive in Zhangye in four days, and there is no accommodation in the middle!"

Li pointed to the corner of the Taoist temple dome exposed on the mountainside and asked, "It seems to be a Taoist temple there, is it Taiyi Palace?"

The old man's face changed, he no longer paid attention to him, and urged the mule to leave, Li Zhen hurriedly stepped forward to stop him, and said sincerely: "We have relatives missing, it is said that in Taiyi Palace, begging the old man to show us the way." ”

The old man sighed, "If your relatives are missing, it's right to go to Taiyi Palace, they have only been here for a few days, I don't know if they are gone, young man, the government doesn't dare to ask about it, I advise you to die! ”

"Thank you, father-in-law, but our relatives have been taken captive, and we have to take care of it. ”

"I'm just saying, whatever you want, you just follow the trail up the mountain. ”

Li Zhen nodded, handed Liu Lushuai's son to him, gave him a gold coin, and asked him to help him take it back to the county seat, the old man shook his head, and urged the mule to leave with the child.

"Ah Zhen, shall we go up the mountain now?" Kang Dazhuang was anxious, he was afraid that something would happen to Rui'er.

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