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Zhao Ran returned to Junshan Temple, and his mood was extremely comfortable. Speaking of which, when he went to White Horse Mountain that day, he had been living in Wuji Courtyard for two years, but when he returned a few months later, he didn't feel like a wanderer returning home. But at this moment, facing this Junshan Temple, which has only been gone for a month, I always feel very cordial, and I feel a little excited to go home.

It's a pity that Zhao Ran shouted several times in front of the temple, but no one came out to greet him, which surprised him.

Pushing open the temple door and stepping in, the temple was empty, and there was not even a figure. Zhao Ran had a vague bad premonition, and when he entered the dormitory, there was no one either, but fortunately, the room was very tidy everywhere, and there seemed to be no signs of trouble, which made him feel a little more relaxed.

When I went to the courtyard next door, I finally saw Uncle Xu and his wife who had been invited to cook and clean. When the old couple heard the movement, they just got up from a nap, and when they came out, they bumped into Zhao Ran, Zhao Ran hurriedly asked about the whereabouts of the others, and Uncle Xu replied that he went to Cointreau Mountain to suppress bandits. Zhao Ran was taken aback, and asked again, but Uncle Xu couldn't say clearly.

Zhao Ran had no intention of waiting in the temple, so he hurriedly went out of the temple gate again, rode the old donkey and rushed to Cointreau Mountain.

Cointreau Mountain is located in the east of the Junshan area, and it is also within the jurisdiction of the Junshan Temple, Zhao Ran has never heard of bandits in the mountain, so it is strange and worried, and he galloped all the way, and came to the bottom of the mountain pass for more than an hour.

I saw a few familiar villagers at the mountain pass, all of them were young and strong people who came to open up the wasteland with Zhao Ran, and they rushed up when they saw Zhao Ran.

"Zhao Miaozhu, your old man is back!"

"Daochang Zhao, I finally looked forward to you!"

"Zhao Shenxian is back. It's good to come back, these bandits who killed a thousand knives!"

......

Between the gossip, Zhao Ran roughly understood what happened. It turned out that after he left Junshan Temple, within a few days, there were bandits in the mountains, and I don't know where more than a dozen bandits came over. It's really fierce. In just a few days, several households were robbed, and rumors spread everywhere that in the future, every household would have to provide them with food, not only to pay for it, but also to obey the distribution.

Of course, the people didn't allow it, so they complained to Junshan Temple, and Jin Jiu, who acted as the temple celebrant, has never been a loser, and can be called the representative of the world's gentlemen. He has long regarded the Junshan area as his own territory, where can others come in and stir up food. So Jin Jiu called Shangguan Er, Lu Jin and Lin Shuangwen, and gathered more than 100 strong men, each with a plowshare, an iron rake, a wooden stick, a short axe and other things into the mountains to search for bandits.

Cointreau Mountain is ten times larger than Xiaojun Mountain, and it is not easy to search for bandits in the mountains? Guan Er and Lu Jin each took one road. This division of troops is a taboo for soldiers, although the bandits only have about a dozen people. But all of them were outlaws, looking for an opportunity to attack Lu Jin's way, killing two people on the spot and injuring more than ten people. After Jin Jiu and Guan Er heard the news, the bandits hid in the mountains and disappeared without a trace in a blink of an eye.

Jin Jiu suffered a big loss. Finally became cautious, so he mobilized more than 200 people in the three villages, gathered enough 300 people, went into the mountains again to search, and agreed on the way to advance and retreat between several people. Now Jin Jiu has been taking people into the mountain for several days. So far, there has been no sign of the bandits.

While speaking, the young man who led the way had already led Zhao Ran to a hill, Zhao Ran looked up, and saw a simple tower several zhang high built on the hill, Jin Jiuzheng and Lin Shuangwen were watching around on the tower.

As soon as they saw Zhao Ran coming back, Jin Jiu and Lin Shuangwen hurriedly came down, Jin Jiu first shouted "Senior Brother", and then said indignantly: "I don't know where the thieves came from, they are so hateful, I can't kill them all one by one, so I can relieve the anger in my heart!"

Zhao Ran comforted Jin Jiu a few words, and asked in detail about the current situation, as if he was a mirror in his heart, knowing that these thieves were engaged in the "guerrilla warfare" method, ordinary people still have a serious headache when they encounter it, even if ten times the manpower is out, it is difficult to block these thieves, so it is normal for Jin Jiu to fail in the roundup last time, and it is not a crime of war.

Zhao Ran inquired about the injuries of the injured again, and knew that they were now recuperating in the village, and he felt a lot more relieved.

"The eldest and second eldest of the Zhong family are dead, I really have no shame to face Uncle Zhong......" Speaking of the deceased, Jin Jiu's eyes were red, and his face was angry and sad. Zhao Ran is also very sad, the Zhong family has a total of three sons, and they have always been the number one labor exporter among the people, and they are helpful, if other people's families have any difficulties, these three young men are willing to come forward to help. In those days when the temple was built, the three sons of the Zhong family were the best laborers, and they were rushing to do heavy work, and even Zhao Ran personally praised these three brothers in person, but he didn't expect to fold here.

"What about San Lang?" Zhao Ran asked.

"San Lang followed Lu Jin and ...... on the side of Beishan"

Without waiting for Jin Jiu to finish speaking, Zhao Ran angrily reprimanded: "You are confused! The Zhong family has only three sons, and now that they have gone to two, there is only such a lone seedling left, how can you still let him enter the mountain? If there is another accident, how can you tell Uncle Zhong to live?"

Jin Jiu said helplessly: "Senior brother, don't be angry, I didn't let him enter the mountain that day, but there was no way, not only Zhong Saburo wanted to go, but even Uncle Zhong came with him, saying that he didn't let them enter the mountain to take revenge, and they died in the mountain pass......"

Lin Shuangwen also said: "Miao Zhu, don't worry, Jin Daochang has already taken care of Lu Jin, this time you have to take care of Zhong Saburo no matter what, there are more than 100 people on their side, there will be no accidents this time." ”

Zhao Ran was silent for a moment and asked, "Where is Uncle Zhong?"

Jin Jiu said: "Just under the post, I sent him a messenger job, and it is impossible for him to come forward to fight." ”

"Call Uncle Zhong, I want to see him. ”

Lin Shuangwen hurriedly went down the hill along the path, and invited Uncle Zhong up soon after. Uncle Zhong's face is wrinkled and dark, and he looks like an old dealer, although he is old, his body bones are extremely strong, and he looks at his walking posture, not much worse than a strong guy.

As soon as Uncle Zhong came up, he bowed down to Zhao Ran: "I've seen Zhao Shenxian!"

Zhao Ran hurriedly bent down to help him up, patted Uncle Zhong's shoulder, and said, "Uncle Zhong, it's too late for Poor Dao to come back......."

Uncle Zhong's face darkened, and he shook his head and said, "It's all fate......"

Zhao Ran didn't know how to comfort the old man, for fear of making the old man uncomfortable when he mentioned the old things, so he said: "Uncle Zhong, the Zhong family has made great efforts for Junshan and Junshan Temple this time. When the thief is captured, the poor road will definitely avenge the old man. ”

Uncle Zhong sighed: "This is a matter of duty, killing the thief is also for our Junshan, but the two babies are not good......

Zhao Ran was moved in his heart, thought about it, and asked: "Uncle Zhong, I have seen your San Lang, a very honest and honest young man, I don't know if Uncle Zhong is willing or not, after this incident, I will let San Lang come to the temple to make a fire house, and I will definitely not treat him badly......"

Before he finished speaking, Uncle Zhong had already knelt down on his knees again, his face full of excitement: "Thank you Zhao Shenxian, thank you Zhao Shenxian!" If San Lang can enter the Junshan Temple, it will be my Zhong family's ancestor who has green smoke...... I really ...... old man Alas, thank you Zhao Shenxian anyway......"

Zhao Ran muttered and said: "Thank you don't have to, this is Da Lang and Erlang earned their lives, Zhong Bo rest assured, in the future, Poor Dao will definitely cultivate San Lang well, and always make your Zhong family get ahead." ”

Sending away Uncle Zhong, who kept wiping away tears, Zhao Ran carefully asked Jin Jiu and Lin Shuangwen about the appearance of the bandits, then rode on the old donkey, spread his hooves and ran down the hill, and went straight to the depths of Jun Mountain.

Although Junshan is not small, it is not big for Zhao Ran and the old donkey. Zhao Ran's ear power and eyesight are more than ten times better than ordinary people, and the old donkey's foot strength is also unusually fast and dexterous, and it is not difficult to search for the traces of bandits in the mountains.

Jun Mountain is divided into three layers, the outer mountain, the north mountain and the east mountain, more than ten large and small mountains, four mountain beams, five valleys, in fact, Jin Jiu gathered more than 300 people to search for bandits, manpower has been a lot, but the bandits are always jumping around, so it is difficult to find. But no matter how good the bandit's leg strength is, can he be faster than Zhao Ran and the old donkey, so for Zhao Ran, as long as he makes a good search plan, he will definitely be able to catch up with the bandit's whereabouts. (To be continued......)