"When the wind comes, the sky turns yellow, like a quilt on the ground."

The old farmer carried a cigarette stick and sat on a bluestone on the top of the hill.

"It's not an ordinary wind."

"The wind carries a knife, it can cut trees, it can blow stones to pieces......"

Just thinking back to that scene, his eyes were already straight.

I held my breath for a long time.

The old farmer relieved himself and took two puffs of his cigarette.

The texture of the tobacco is very poor, and he chokes a lot, but fortunately, he still can't help his rough lungs.

"Dead?"

Hong Fan sat on an adjacent stone and looked at the yellow earth several kilometers wide in front of him.

The turf, shrubs, and trees were crumpled and crumpled to paint a green onion.

"There must have been a few deaths."

The old farmer said in a casual tone.

"Who won't die?"

He laughed again.

Hong Fan bowed.

He took out a few pieces of broken silver and stuffed them into the old farmer's hand, watched the other party put them away treasurely, and then turned to the east.

Ten miles away, you will arrive in Pang County.

A small county town with less than 20,000 people.

The walls are only five meters high, and the top is so narrow that only two people can stand side by side.

Hong Fan looked at the city gate from afar.

A team of guards armed with guns and knives watched very strictly, and every person who entered or left had to check the formalities.

So Hong Fan went around to a secluded place and went directly over the wall into the city.

Pang County is very depressed, and the clothes and houses look old.

Hong Fan walked along the street generously, and encountered several waves of street patrol soldiers and street tigers along the way.

But no one cares about him, but he dodges a lot.

In this year of Huaiyang Kingdom, if you see a fresh face, people are handsome, well-dressed and neat, just looking at it is very evil.

So he turned around the small half of the county without hindrance.

Most of the shops that are open are deserted, and the guys don't take the initiative to solicit customers.

There are a few stalls on a few slightly crowded streets.

It's not things that are sold, it's people.

The seller is a real parent, and the children who are being sold are minors.

If he is over fifteen years old, one year old is worth one tael of silver.

Those under the age of ten have not yet had labor, so they can only be worth three or five taels.

Hong Fan looked at it for a moment, and his heart was not happy.

It's not that human lives are measured in money – human trafficking is not uncommon in Xijing.

But the prices here are too low.

Along the way, he found that there was something particularly strange in Pang County.

There are no beggars here.

Shen Shizheng (four o'clock in the afternoon), the sun is tired.

Hong Fan looked at Penghu and went to see Gaomen again.

The most spacious courtyard in Pang County is the county guard's office.

The county guard was surnamed Tang without accident.

The Tang family is the only second-class family in Anmin County.

In the past twenty years since Kazama's retreat, Duanli City, the capital of the county, has almost become an independent kingdom of the Tang family.

Hong Fan climbed in from the back door of the mansion and passed through the inverted courtyard and the garden pavilion, and he heard the sound of laughter coming out of the window.

In the side room connected to the main hall, seven or eight dancers are dressing up.

Hong Fan went up to the roof beam like a gust of wind.

The sound of silk and bamboo next door is shallow.

The women pounced on the hosta powder first.

Bai Jiaci once mentioned this thing - pour lead powder into the hosta flower buds and steam it in a pot, so that the mercury poison is removed, and the aroma of the hosta flower is retained.

They then put on rouge and snail thrush.

Then apply a little sesame oil to the washed hair until it shines in the light.

Sprinkler is the final process.

The sound of silk bamboo changed its tune.

The dancers lined up and walked into the main hall.

Jumping, spinning.

Hong Fan stood tall on the beam, didn't watch the dance, only looked at the first three people.

In the middle is the county guard, which is the noble breed of the Tang family.

On the left is the county magistrate, who is the magistrate of the county.

On the right is the lieutenant, who leads the military in the county.

After watching for a moment, Hong Fan didn't do anything in the end.

With his courage at this time, he can find a few people in the hall at will to vent his anger.

But tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, as soon as he leaves, someone will vent the same resentment on the heads of the people of Pang County in the form of setting up cards or searches.

Before the song was finished, Hong Fan quietly left.

He went to the kitchen of the county government, and wanted to eat up the dinner of the nobles.

However, looking at the several cooks who served the dishes like a great enemy, they finally left silently.

The suffering from Niutou Mountain to Pang County cannot be simply attributed to those few people who watched the dance.

Things like hosta powder and snails are certainly valuable, but they are not something that can fill your stomach.

In terms of luxury, the Tang family county guard is far inferior to Shen Tiexin and Liu Xingxian.

It's just that it's particularly eye-catching here.

The night is getting darker.

As Gan Deshou said, there is not a single inn in Pang County, except for the post station for officials.

In recent years, Huaiyang has been strictly controlled, and people cannot move around at will.

Fortunately, Hong Fan had been prepared before.

In the fourth bungalow in Orphan Lane, he knocked lightly on the wooden door.

"Is it Old Jackal's house?"

"Looking for whom?"

An impatient voice sounded inside.

"Come and buy the cow."

Hong Fan replied.

As soon as this cut came out, there was immediately a sound of hurried footsteps in the wall.

The door opened a crack, revealing a half-old face with furrow-like wrinkles growing over it.

Two triangular eyes with drooping eyelids glanced at Hong Fan.

"My cattle don't sell."

"Look at the assembly, right?"

After the incision, Old Jackal Chen took a step back and let people in.

He already knew that this person had come to spend the night on Niutou Mountain.

Hong Fan sat down with the old man in the dark inner room, habitually opened the way with a few taels of silver, and soon opened the old man's chatterbox.

"There used to be beggars on the streets, but they were all taken away."

Chen Lao Jackal replied.

He collected the money and lit a rare oil lamp.

"I've been arresting people for about ten years."

"There used to be less, now there are more; For example, in Pang County, we have to take away 100 small households a month, about two or three hundred people. ”

The old man glanced cautiously out the window.

"Do you know why you arrested someone?"

Hong Fan asked again.

"It's all said to be a levy for conscription."

Chen Lao Jackal replied without thinking.

"In fact, the person who left never came back - there are rumors that he is all tired to death, and some say that he was sold to Dahua......"

"It is also said that this levy is actually a means for the royal court to suppress the lower head, and the people who left have all lived in the royal city."

As he spoke, he secretly glanced at Hong Fan's face.

Hong Fan was noncommittal and had no face.

Seeing that the atmosphere was not good, Chen Lao Jackal scratched his head and took the initiative to get up, saying that he was going to go next door.

A moment later, he brought back two eggs and lay them on the stove.

Hong Fan did not refuse, and swallowed the other party's kindness in a few bites.

Chen Lao Jackal continued to flaunt his knowledge.

"Pang County, the most powerful person should belong to Captain Lu, right? It is said to be more powerful than the ordinary state of chaos. ”

"The Tang family's "Thousand Silk Thoughts" is very powerful, with a little finger, the sword will fly out and cut people by itself."

"The old lord of the Gong family is holding an earth god weapon, and it is said that a knife can cut out a sea of fire......"

Speaking of later, Hong Fan also spoke out in admiration.

"You know a lot, old man!"

"That's it, I don't have two ears longer than ordinary people, how can I do this, old man?"

Old Jackal Chen was triumphant.

PS: It's a bit of a thing to go back to my hometown in the past two days, but fortunately I saved up three chapters of manuscripts, otherwise I would have to cut off the cooking.

(End of chapter)