A group of emaciated children huddled in the secret room, dark and damp all around, the stinking water reaching their ankles, and their bodies itching unbearably. The children secretly clung to the affected area, not daring to make a sound, for fear that the steward would hear and be abused.

"Uncle, let me go, I'll be obedient!" A girl's screams echoed through the cell with the sound of men beating and scolding. The children hugged each other, shivering, and their necks were chained with iron chains, cold and heavy.

"Quack!" seemed to have broken her hands and feet, and the girl's screams stopped abruptly and she fainted.

The children bit their lipes and cried, frightened. After a while, torches illuminate the secret room, and a middle-aged man walks into the tunnel and throws the girl into the water prison, splashing a large cloud of sewage, and the air is filled with a pungent stench, which is disgusting.

He glanced at the children and warned viciously: "Here Lao Tzu is the king's law, whoever dares to resist, she will end!"

The girl's eyes were closed, her hands and feet were broken, and she threw herself into the water, spasmodic and convulsive, not knowing whether she was alive or dead.

……

The birds chirped, the morning sun lit up the streets, and the afterglow poured into the windows, Luo Caiwei kicked off the quilt, turned over on the bed, smacked her lips, and reached out to scratch her white belly.

"Knock Knock Knock ......"

Lin Yi was woken up by a knock on the door, leaned against the edge of the bed and opened his eyes, hugged Hanguang in his arms, and asked softly, "Who?"

"Morning guest officer, I'm running the hall. The man outside the door replied, "The proprietress asked me to bring you a pot of hot water to wash your face." ”

"Got it, come right away. Lin Yi got up with a knife, opened the door and took a look, the little guy in the hall was carrying a kettle, nodding his head.

"There's Brother Lao. Lin Yi thanked him, ran to the hall to say goodbye and left, and closed the door to wake up Luo Caiwei. The two combed their hair and coughed, tidied up, went downstairs with their bags and checked out, and as soon as they closed the door, they heard the bustle in the lobby.

Luo Caiwei leaned on the railing and looked over, more than a dozen men below occupied the main hall, the leader was about thirty years old, wearing a nursing uniform, and shouted loudly: "Everyone, let Huang disturb for a moment!"

When the eyes of the diners came, he continued: "The contemptible person is Huang Tingxuan, the nurse of Jiang Mansion, everyone listen to me. During these days, the children in our city have disappeared repeatedly, and the granddaughter of the Jiang family has not been found. Please take care of your children, don't let the gangsters succeed, if you find a suspicious person, go to Jiang's mansion to report it quickly, there will be a heavy reward!"

"Something happened to the daughter of the Jiang family?" The hall was full of uproar, and the diners put down their dishes and chopsticks and looked at each other.

Huang Tingxuan's face was haggard, and he said worriedly: "Don't hide it, Miss was abducted at the door last night, we searched for it all night, but there was no trace, the old man was furious, and the notice was posted all over the city tower." ”

He put a thick stack of papers on the table, and said, "The villain begs all the villagers, if you have time, please help Jiang Fu find someone, a hundred dollars a day." If you find a young lady, or provide a key clue, you will be rewarded with ten taels of gold, and you will never break your promise!"

"Ten taels of gold!" the diners looked horrified and rushed over to ask for a notice.

"Abducting children?" Lin Yi touched his chin and groaned, his eyes cold, "Could it be the Immortal Sect?"

Luo Caiwei hurriedly said: "Brother Lin, we will also go to help." ”

"Hmm. Lin Yi nodded immediately, went back to the house with her to put down her luggage, ran to the lobby, and greeted her, "Huang Huyuan, can you give me one?"

Huang Tingxuan looked at it for a while, although they were two children, but now it was the time to employ people, so he didn't care about picking, and hurriedly handed over a notice, and said gratefully: "Thank you two teenagers, if you find a clue, go to Jiang's mansion to report it quickly." ”

"Well, the boy will do his best. Lin Yi spread out the paper and took a closer look, and there was a little girl painted on it, about seven or eight years old, combed with two buns, looking good, wearing a silk thin shirt, and the clothes were elegant, which was the dress of the children of rich families.

Huang Tingxuan asked his subordinates to take out the money bags, and everyone received today's reward, and they walked out of the inn and knocked on the door to ask from door to door in the city.

Lin Yi took Luo Caiwei to the street, took the portrait to passers-by for consultation, worked all morning under the sun, tired and dry, but did not get any useful news.

Returning to the inn to rest, the rest of the people also came back, Lin Yi counted carefully, it was much less than when he went out in the early morning, and most of them took the money and slipped away.

Huang Tingxuan propped up on the table with one hand, sighed, and the family members were lying down and napping. The shopkeeper kindly sent a pot of tea and distributed it to everyone, Huang Tingxuan took it with a wry smile, poured it into the cup, and drank it all.

The shopkeeper walked here, poured two cups of tea, handed them to him and Luo Caiwei, and smiled. Lin Yi hurriedly thanked him, took a sip to moisten his throat, and saw the female shopkeeper staring at him, and asked in a strange voice: "Shopkeeper, what advice do you have?"

The female shopkeeper's lips opened, she wanted to stop, and after a few breaths, she shook her head and turned to leave. Lin Yi was surprised, but he didn't want to ask too much, so he rested for a while, and then took Luo Caiwei out to look for someone.

Dangling to the street, goodbye to the girl who was a performer yesterday, the yellow-haired monkey hid behind her, looking at the audience around in fear.

Lin Yi stared at the girl, stunned, Luo Caiwei grabbed his palm and said, "Brother Lin, what are you looking at?"

Lin Yi looked at her with pity and explained, "Little Senior Sister, look at that girl, her arms are covered with rashes. ”

Luo Caiwei followed his gaze, and the little girl rolled up her sleeves, picked up a bamboo whip, and commanded the monkey to somersault, mottled with red ringworm on her rough skin. The monkey made a mistake and fell, causing the spectators to boo again and again, but the girl was reluctant to whip and hurriedly helped the yellow-haired monkey up.

"This girl has lived in a damp place for a long time, and her life is hard. Lin Yi said sadly.

After the performance, the crowd dispersed, and the two pointed out the silver reward given by Huang Tingxuan and gave it to the little girl. The girl was grateful, leaned down and bowed, Lin Yi held her elbow, and said softly: "No thanks, girl, ask you something, have you ever seen this child." As he spoke, he pulled the portrait from his bosom.

As the portrait was unfolded, the little girl's pupils dilated, she lost her horror, her face flashed with fear, her shoulders contracted, and she whispered, "No, no...... I've seen it. ”

"Huh?" Lin Yi raised his eyebrows in surprise, when people were forced to ask, if they didn't intend to shrink their shoulders, they just wanted to turn their heads and dodge. And not mentioning yourself in the words is also a kind of lying.

Feeling her fear, Lin Yifu turned his head to the side, and saw a middle-aged man squatting in the corner a hundred steps away, secretly aiming at this side.

Seeing what he saw, the man immediately withdrew his gaze, turned around and went into the alleyway, and disappeared.

Lin Yi remembered the man's appearance, five feet two inches tall, with sharp-beaked monkey cheeks and a mole on his chin. He came back to his senses and asked the little girl, "Girl, is someone coercing you?"

The little girl's face was terrified, and she shook her whole body into a sieve, rudely slapped his arm away, picked up the monkey, clutched the money and fled.

"Brother Lin, what's wrong with her?" Luo Caiwei said inexplicably.

"It's strange, this girl obviously knows Miss Jiang's family, but she doesn't dare ......to admit it," Lin Yi replied in a deep voice.

"Could it be that she kidnapped Miss Jiang - let's chase after her!" Luo Caiwei was about to rush out. Lin Yi grabbed it and persuaded him: "Little senior sister, you can't chase it, you will startle the snake." ”

"But Miss Jiang has been missing all night, and it will be too late to find it!" Luo Caiwei stomped her feet, sweating profusely.

"I know it, but I can't be reckless, but I'll make a mistake. Lin Yi's expression was calm, the thoughts in his mind turned sharply, and he suddenly spoke: "Let's go back and ask the shopkeeper, she may know something inside." ”

The two ran back to the inn in a hurry, and found the female shopkeeper in the stove room, she heard the meaning, sighed, wiped her hands with a linen cloth, and said weakly: "Let's go to the guest room and say." ”

The three of them entered the house, closed the door, and the shopkeeper glanced at the black eagle and the long knife, his expression was stunned, and then he retracted, sat down at the table, and said in a casual voice: "Both, this matter has nothing to do with you, it's best not to worry too much, so as not to harm yourself." ”

"Shopkeeper, what do you mean by this?" Lin Yi was puzzled.

The female shopkeeper looked at the two of them, remained silent, and said after a long time: "This is for the good of you both." ”

Luo Caiwei slapped the table and interjected impatiently: "Big sister, human life is at stake, why don't you report it!"

The female shopkeeper sneered and sneered: "Two yellow-haired children, do you really think you are someone? If you provoke each other, I am afraid that there will be no bones left in the chew, and the slave family will persuade you bitterly, don't know the hearts of good people!"

Lin Yi walked in the room, pondering the meaning of her words, and stood up and spoke: "Shopkeeper, have you heard of the spirit officer?"

"Spirit Officer!" The female shopkeeper was shocked, and shouted in a broken voice: "Of course I have heard of it, that is a master of the Heavenly Book Mansion, all of them have great powers-don't tell me, you two are spirit officials?"

"We're not. Lin Yi shook his head gloomily.

The female shopkeeper shook her legs and cut her legs, and said angrily: "Then why mention it, scare me?"

Lin Yi laughed, and his voice changed: "But the two of them are under the guidance of the spirit officer, although the martial arts are not strong, but they are also a little hot, and they can't help the two of us at all." ”

"Really?" the female shopkeeper softened her attitude and was overjoyed.

Lin Yi nodded in acknowledgement, and took out the letter of introduction from the bookcase, stamped with the name of the spirit official. The female shopkeeper took the closer look, and said with admiration: "The slave family has eyes and does not know Mount Tai, and it is rude to be suitable, please don't be surprised by the two young heroes." ”

"Can you say it now?"

"This matter should be done by the beggar gang, please Shaoxia to eliminate the harm for the people of Yan Kingdom!" The female shopkeeper moved to bow, tears came out of her eyes, and she said in a trembling voice: "Have you heard of the beggar gang?"

"Shopkeeper, please get up. Lin Yi helped her back to the bench, "I haven't heard of it, and I'm tired of the shopkeeper explaining it in detail." He secretly said in his heart: "It turns out that this matter has nothing to do with the Immortal Sect?"

The female shopkeeper wiped her tears and said: "This is the largest gang in the world, with members all over the four countries of SAARC, and its power is huge, specializing in collecting those homeless beggars. ”

"Hmm......" Luo Caiwei ate a piece of pastry, puffed out her mouth, and said vaguely: "This is a good thing?"

"A good thing?" the female shopkeeper covered her chest, heartbroken, and reprimanded: "Those beasts, despicable and vicious, cruel and arrogant, are as good as the Northern Ghost Thieves!"

She breathed a sigh of relief and continued: "When the store first opened, the beggars came to ask for silver, and I thought about why I wanted to give them the silver, so I flatly refused. The next day, a group of beggars blocked the door and prevented customers from entering. ”

"So shameless?" said Luo Caiwei angrily.

"If that's all there is to it, it's just that. The female shopkeeper laughed miserably, "Because I insisted on refusing to compromise, they were annoyed, picked up two buckets of dung, splashed them at the door, and disgust......ed the last few guests."

Lin Yi slapped the table and shouted: "It's really despicable!"

The female shopkeeper raised her head sadly and angrily, and looked at her with tears in her eyes, "Two, have you ever seen a human dog or a spirit monkey?"

"What's that?" asked the two in unison.