In the cage, Fu Ming collapsed on the ground like a corpse.

And Su Xiao sat lazily in the corner, and raised his hand and beckoned when he saw Lu Dingjiang.

"Elder Lu."

"See you again."

As soon as Lu Dingjiang stretched out his hand, he directly pushed open the cage door.

Looking at Fu Ming, who was still unconscious, Lu Dingjiang's expression became even more gloomy: "What's going on?" ”

Before Su Xiao could speak, the disciple who followed behind Lu Dingjiang said, "This...... Senior Brother Fu said that he took your order and came in to see this kid, so we didn't stop him. ”

"Fart! When did I give him an order? ”

Lu Dingjiang was angry: "Get him away, this embarrassing thing!" ”

Several disciples hurriedly came over and carried Fu Ming out with all hands and feet.

Only then did Lu Dingjiang look at Su Xiao again, squinting his eyes slightly for a while.

"You...... Always here? ”

"How?"

Su Xiao shrugged his shoulders: "Is Elder Lu trying to invite me to walk around?" ”

“……”

"Get out!"

Without the slightest politeness, Lu Dingjiang directly drove Su Xiao out.

Su Xiao didn't linger either, and quickly walked away from the old house.

And the look under his mask was extremely solemn.

Although he discovered the secret passage just now, Su Xiao did not rush in. He didn't know how much time he would spend exploring, but he knew very well that the person who was hiding the secret passage would come to stop him as soon as he knew that he had entered the old house.

Therefore, Su Xiao did not enter the secret passage, but pulled the oil lamp mechanism again to let the secret passage hide again, and he returned to the cell at the beginning, pretending that he had never gone out.

Just as he thought, not long after he returned to the cell, Lu Dingjiang rushed over.

Now it seems that the person who hides that secret passage is most likely him!

Combined with the smell of balm he smelled in the old house and the purse he found, Su Xiao speculated that what was hidden behind the secret passage was very likely to be related to the recent disappearance of girls in nearby towns.

And the Blood Eagle Group had already found out that those girls had all been to the medical hall opened by the Cloud Sword Sect's Divine Medicine Hall before they disappeared.

Su Xiao originally only thought that this matter was related to the Divine Medicine Hall. However, judging from the clues that have been available so far, it is not possible to confirm what role the Divine Medicine Hall played in the girl's disappearance.

However, the law enforcement hall ......

To be more precise, Lu Dingjiang must be inseparable from this matter!

Su Xiao soon came to a secluded place, looked around to make sure that there was no one nearby, and then blew a strange whistle.

Not long after, a figure appeared, quickly came to Su Xiao and bowed his head.

"Door Master!"

It was Chen Qingshan.

Su Xiao took out the purse he found in the old house.

"Give this to the Blood Eagles."

"Let them ask the families of the missing girls to see if they know anything about it."

Chen Qingshan was a little surprised, but he still took it with both hands.

"Yes!"

Chen Qingshan immediately left. Su Xiao was still standing in place, staring in the direction of the old house.

"Lu Dingjiang, you old dog...... What the hell are you doing? ”

The days were not quiet. The next morning, the Sword Casting Hall rarely had guests other than Lu Meng.

Liu Wushuang took Yao Qianshan, He Weiwu, and Lu Dingjiang and knocked on the door of the Sword Casting Hall early in the morning.

A few people were greeted with a sigh, and Su Xiao quickly walked out. Seeing Su Xiao's flower-faced mask, Liu Wushuang looked at it for a moment before he spoke out expressionlessly.

"This flower face is better looking than the original broken hood."

Su Xiao forcibly suppressed the revenge and anger in his heart, and bowed slightly: "This thing was given by a friend, and the disciple thanked the sect master for the praise on behalf of the friend." ”

"A gift from a friend?"

Liu Wushuang slowly approached, and said meaningfully: "It seems that you, a friend, look up to you very much!" ”

"But the big hero who sings is just a drama after all......"

As soon as the words fell, Liu Wushuang suddenly shot without warning!

Grabbing Su Xiao's wrist and raising it suddenly, his eyes looked at his cuffs!

Everyone was amazed!

"Sect Master, who are you?"

Liu Wushuang ignored Yao Qianshan, who was silent, and still stared at Su Xiao's sleeve.

The cuffs are clean and undamaged.

"Frostless Sect Master, is there anything wrong with the clothes I'm wearing?"

It wasn't until Su Xiao spoke out that Liu Wushuang let go of his hand and shook his head expressionlessly.

"Nothing."

Su Xiao secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, last night he found that his sleeves were damaged, and after careful recollection, he finally determined that it was most likely that Liu Wushuang was bathing under the waterfall on the tree that day, and was scratched by him when he noticed that he was running away, so he quickly and carefully sewed to ensure that there were no flaws.

At least, at first glance, it's hard to spot that the sleeves have been mended.

sighed and stepped forward: "Sect Master, why did you come here today?" ”

Liu Wushuang glanced at it and sighed.

"There's something I want you to do in the Sword Forge Hall."

"Just got the message. This time, the four countries exercised martial arts, and the western Xinjiang side also sent an embassy over. They don't participate in martial arts exercises, but if they want to watch the ceremony, they have to arrange a reception for them. ”

"Western Xinjiang?"

Sigh Bugui was a little surprised, and even Su Xiao next to him frowned when he heard it.

Western Xinjiang and Southern Xinjiang originally belonged to one family, but many years ago the clan split and later became two families. The Western Xinjiang clan is not like the foreign races in Southern Xinjiang, and it is full of malice towards the four countries of the Central Plains, but it is not very close. After all, in the final analysis, they are also of the same origin as the other races in southern Xinjiang.

This time, Xijiang wanted to come to the four countries to perform martial arts and watch the ceremony, which can be described as quite sudden, and there was no warning at all before.

sighed and looked puzzled: "Then this ...... What does it have to do with our Sword Forge Hall? ”

"This four-country military performance is a major matter, there are many sects that participate, and there are many people who come to watch the ceremony, and the imperial court will also send people to come."

Liu Wushuang said, sighing vaguely: "In order to prepare for receiving them, the sect has already spent a lot of money. Now that the Western Frontier is also coming, the sect has no funds to call. ”

"So, you need to collect taxes from the surrounding places. The other three halls have already contributed a lot before, and this time you Sword Casting Hall will be in charge of this matter. ”

"Another tax?"

Sighing and listening to Liu Wushuang's words, his face was suddenly full of embarrassment.

"Sect Master, this year is not more than halfway through, and we have collected taxes from the surrounding areas nearly twenty times. Now it's going to be taxed, it's ......"

As the largest sect in Chibei, the imperial court assigned this surrounding area to the Cloud Sword Sect as a fief. The Cloud Sword Sect can freely collect taxes from all the people in the fiefdom, and the government in this area is also useless in front of the behemoth of the Cloud Sword Sect, and the delay in finding a clue in the girl's disappearance case is proof of their incompetence.

Before he finished speaking, Yao Qianshan walked up.

"Sigh elder, the sect doesn't raise idlers. How long has it been since you have done anything for the sect, don't you know? ”

Yao Qianshan looked contemptuous and sneered: "This year, but the disciples of your Sword Casting Hall are going to participate in the Four Kingdoms Martial Arts Exercise. Now if you want to do something for the sect, you will push back and block. Do you think it's appropriate? ”

sighed and fell into silence, and He Weiwu on the side was silent.

After a long time, he sighed and let out a deep sigh.

"But...... What is the reason for the tax this time? ”

As soon as these words came out, Yao Qianshan suddenly stopped talking, and the other elders also frowned and thought about it. Obviously, they had already thought of taxing the people under a lot of names.

"Sect Master, what do you think?"

Liu Wushuang thought for a moment and said coldly: "This time, let's collect the double foot tax." ”

"Double-footed tax?"

Sigh and stunned.

Liu Wushuang said expressionlessly: "The land around here is ours, shouldn't those untouchables pay taxes if they have two feet on the land that doesn't belong to them?" ”

"This ......"

"So, how much should I charge?"

Liu Wushuang thought for a while: "It doesn't take too much, according to the head, each person can pay two taels of silver." ”

Listening to these understatements, I sighed and listened, and I only felt my heart tremble.

Two taels of silver, it doesn't seem to be much in Liu Wushuang's mouth. But for ordinary families, it is basically equivalent to two months' expenses, and if you save some, you can at least let a family of three live for three to four months.

In addition, it has been taxed many times before, and the sudden appearance of a "double-foot tax" of two taels of silver will definitely bring a huge burden to the surrounding people!

After a long hesitation, he asked again, "If it is...... What about the people who can't pay their taxes? ”

"Can't hand it in?"

Liu Wushuang snorted coldly without hesitation.

"Since it's a double-foot tax, if you can't pay it, cut off one of your legs."