Chapter 31 Dust in the retort
Han Shengchen, I don't know who he is, when he was sensible, there was only one one-eyed grandfather by his side, that grandfather's name was Zhao Shengyun, it is said that he was a thief when he was young, his eyes were fast, and his blind eyes were injured when he fought with officers and soldiers, and he became famous in a war, so he was called [One-eyed Sheng] in the rivers and lakes, and the name Han Shengchen was said by his grandfather that after picking him up in a forest that day, he saw a bag next to him, which was written on it.
Han Shengchen has been smart since he was a child, and his grandfather saw him as a good material and taught him a lot of stealing skills, hoping that he would be able to make a living after his grandfather's death in the future. However, Grandpa set the only rule for him: don't steal from the poor.
Han Shengchen never knew where he came from, and he didn't pursue it, because his grandfather told him that the rivers and lakes were sinister, and some things were better to let it pass. Grandpa rarely told him about the past of stealing, except for one time when he was drunk, he vaguely revealed that he had entered the palace to steal Mobao. Later, his grandfather died, leaving nothing for Han Shengchen, he was only sixteen years old that year, and after burying his grandfather, Han Shengchen left the mountains and entered the city.
In the days after entering the city, he was a junior second, and even a beggar, and he didn't use everything that his grandfather gave him, until he met the [Thief Door] and was favored by the owner Li Shan, so he officially entered, but he didn't forget the rules that his grandfather set for him, and no one even knew the relationship between him and his grandfather. It wasn't until the thief was taken by the emperor that he broke up, and finally became what he is today.
Han Shengchen woke up from the inn, he dreamed of his grandfather and his past again, and at this time it was raining outside again, not very heavy, gently, with a breeze.
Han Shengchen lit the oil lamp, he sat in the center of the room, poured a cup of tea, and listened to the sound of the rain. He began to ponder, pondering what he had seen and heard today, especially the woman who looked like Chu Xiang, which made him wonder. At this moment, Han Shengchen suddenly felt something flying towards him, he quickly dodged, only to see that thing inserted in the wall, and at a glance, it turned out to be a hidden weapon - however, there was a roll of paper on the hidden weapon, Han Shengchen stepped forward to bring it, called, and said: See you in the birch forest outside the city, you have something to ask for.
After reading it, there was a groan outside the window, and Han Shengchen was startled and shouted, "Who is it!"
After speaking, when he came to the window, he saw a black-clothed and masked person, Han Shengchen was furious, dragged the man in, grabbed the collar, and pulled off the veil, which surprised him even more, it turned out to be a woman.
The woman wore her hair tied up, she looked delicate and cute, but her face was a little red, she pushed Han Shengchen away, a little shy: "You... What are you doing!".
Only then did Han Shengchen react to his rudeness, and hurriedly apologized: "... I'm sorry... This girl... I don't know under ...".
"I don't know what I mean. They just peeked at you...".
"Are you peeking at me?" Han Shengchen suddenly realized.
"It's not... Oh, well, you see, people have traveled thousands of miles to send you letters, and you have already discovered them anyway, so you don't have to go outside the city!"
Han Shengchen understood a little, but now he was confused: "This is your letter to me?"
"Then who else will come to your room in the middle of the night" The woman was unhappy, and her face turned to the side, as if she was angry.
Han Shengchen nodded, a little skeptical, and asked, "What are you looking for me?"
"Hey, why are you so reckless, can't you pour a cup of tea for this girl" The woman was still angry on the chair, I don't know if it was pretending or real.
Han Shengchen was helpless, so he had to pour tea for the woman: "Girl, please."
At this time, the woman couldn't help laughing and said with a smile: "Haha, why are you so serious, I hate it to death."
Han Shengchen was even more helpless, just about to sit down, there was a commotion downstairs, like the voice of officers and soldiers, the woman heard it, immediately turned off the lights, jumped on the bed, only showed her head, and said: "If those officers and soldiers come to check, you can help me hide it."
Sure enough, soon the officers and soldiers came up and shouted to investigate, Han Shengchen lit the lamp, and several people came in, looked around, and Han Shengchen asked: "I don't know what happened to the officials."
"It's nothing, it's just that a thief broke into the county master's house just now, and took some things, someone said that they entered this place, and I was just ordered to check it" The head catcher who took the lead looked at the woman on the bed, "Is this person your insider?"
After hearing this, Han Shengchen had no choice but to act at the opportunity: "Exactly, my wife and I came from Gyeongju and were about to rush to our hometown in Tokyo.
The head catcher looked around again, and there was nothing unusual: "Well, there are a lot of thieves these days, you have to be careful."
"Got it" Han Shengchen gave up his hand to see off the guests, and the head catcher also took people away.
"You are really good at acting" Han Shengchen closed the door, and the woman jumped up from the bed.
"You didn't say you were a thief," Han Shengchen responded.
“... Hey, how do you know".
"I'm not stupid, I saw you in such a hurry just now, and everyone knows how you dress."
After listening to this, the woman smiled smartly: "Ha, aren't you too."
"Do you recognize me?" Han Shengchen was a little dazed.
"Of course, otherwise why would I look for you, you have a great reputation in the eyes of thieves in the world!"
"I haven't stolen in a while, so why is anyone still worried about me."
"Hey, no, the dragon tooth that was stolen in Kaifeng Mansion, who doesn't know that the thieves on the rivers and lakes did it, you, the 'first thief in the world'."
"It wasn't my intention to steal the dragon's teeth, but I had to do it."
"Anyway, if you steal, you steal, help me anyway!" the woman said, her face tilting to the side again.
Han Shengchen was helpless again, and asked, "You haven't said your name yet."
"My name is Zhu Ling".
"Then what are you asking me to help?"
At this time, Zhu Ling was also helpless, and nodded at Han Shengchen's head: "Why are you so stupid, you have such a good reputation, and you are so good at stealing, of course I asked you to help me steal something."
"Oh, how do you think I'm going to help you?".
"Because someone called me to come to you!"
Speaking of this, Han Shengchen was puzzled, and just as he was about to speak, a crackling sound sounded downstairs again, and Zhu Ling exclaimed: "It's not good, it's them coming!"
"Who are they?".
"Shhhhhh
When they came to the outside, they found that the lights had been turned off outside, quietly, a little weird, and when they came downstairs to the inn, they looked and found that there were corpses everywhere, obviously the guests and shopkeepers of the inn.
At this time, Han Shengchen noticed the flash of the knife, protected Zhu Ling, and knocked the person who was sneaking up in the dark to the ground with one hand, and then looked, it was a masked person. After a while, many of the same people jumped out from all directions, and surrounded the two, and the two had to lean on each other and face these people.
"Who are you?" asked Han Shengchen.
"Who are you, our alliance leader has an order to take this girl behind you, if you don't want to have anything to do, leave quickly!" replied one of the masked men.
"Hey, you said you wanted to help me," Zhu Ling whispered behind Han Shengchen.
"When did I promise to help you?" Han Shengchen also whispered.
"Anyway, let's deal with these people first" After Zhu Ling finished speaking, she rushed forward, Han Shengchen had no choice but to help her.
At this moment, in addition to hearing the sound of raindrops outside, the sound of the sword colliding in the dark inn lasted for a long time, in which Han Shengchen found that Zhu Ling's martial arts were very good, fast and ruthless, and she was bloody, especially when she made the sword, it was extremely accurate and necessary, and it was impossible to prevent it.
The two sides were fighting fiercely, and when they heard that the officers and soldiers were coming and evacuated one by one, Han Shengchen also felt bad, called Zhu Ling, and fled together.
The two fled to the suburbs, saw the birch forest, hid in it, and rested under a big tree, at this time the rain also stopped, and the wind was refreshing.
"Who are those people?" Han Shengchen had already wanted to ask, but now he couldn't wait.
Zhu Ling was in a hurry just now, but now she was panting slightly, and said, "It's just Zhang Hetian's dog...!."
"Who is Zhang Hetian?".
"I don't know Zhang Hetian" Zhu Ling looked at Han Shengchen with some disdain, but she still looked smart and cute.
"Zhang Hetian is the leader of the League of Thieves."
"What?Thieves Alliance?" Han Shengchen was a little surprised when he heard these three words. It can be known that the Thieves League is currently the largest thief gang in the rivers and lakes, all the treasures in the world are stolen, and the thieves are still fighting against it from time to time.
Zhu Ling heard Han Shengchen so surprised, so she said, "What's wrong with you, it's just an alliance of thieves, what's there to be afraid of."
"How did you get into trouble with the Thieves League?".
"This... You go with me to meet someone first" Zhu Ling smiled lightly, a little pleading.
Han Shengchen pondered for a while, and after some hesitation, he had no choice but to nod: "Okay, I'm willing to go with you."
The two left, did not look for an inn to rest, but went to the post station to find a fast horse, and went to the southeast overnight. It wasn't until he arrived outside Xijing City that it was early in the morning, and Zhu Ling pointed to a towering mountain and said, "My people are on that mountain."
There was another bump, and along the way, Han Shengchen was full of doubts, who did he want to see, his curiosity became stronger and stronger, but there was no way, he could only wait to see it, but looking at Zhu Ling, he was not a dangerous person, and this trip should not be dangerous.
Han Shengchen was taken into a cave, the cave was pitch black, dripping water on the top, extremely cool, at this moment, I don't know how far away, there seemed to be light, looming, Han Shengchen didn't ask, just followed Zhu Ling, walked for about half a stick of incense, the light was close, it turned out to be just a torch hanging on the wall. They continued to move forward, and suddenly, a person flew out and quickly put the dagger on Han Shengchen's neck, that person was about the same age as Han Shengchen, handsome, dressed in black, with vigilance on his face, Han Shengchen did not panic, and said calmly: "This brother, I don't know what to do?"
"Ten lives, don't be rude, he is exactly the person we are looking for!" Zhu Ling shouted.
The brain named Shisheng was slightly startled, puzzled, and a little disdainful: "You are Han Shengchen?"
"Exactly below".
Shi Sheng was just about to say something, but Zhu Ling said again: "Okay, okay, let's take him in to see the master first."
The three of them went in and Zhu Ling led them, and the one called Shisheng still didn't care, when he passed through the cave, Han Shengchen found that people like Zhu Ling and Shisheng were dressed in black, and even some people with masks, Han Shengchen thought about it, these people should be thieves.
Soon after, the three of them came to a stone gate, and looked at the stone gate, which was tightly sealed, and they didn't know what was inside, until Zhu Ling arched his hand to the stone gate and said, "Master, the person has arrived!"
As soon as the words fell, the stone gate gradually came, Han Shengchen looked at it, and his heart was even more weird, Zhu Ling said: "Okay, go in, the master and his old man are waiting for you inside."
Han Shengchen did not hesitate, nodded, and went, but as soon as he entered, the stone gate was immediately closed, which shocked Han Shengchen, and then looked, the cave behind the stone gate was even more gloomy, there was no way, Han Shengchen had to continue to move forward, this cave was not big, just a small piece, it was full of vines, and the cave was a line of sky, under the light, Han Shengchen walked to the center, and the surroundings were empty, at this time, a piece of thing approached Han Shengchen, he was quick to catch the flying thing, and took a closer look, it was actually engraved with Han Shengchen's name。 Han Shengchen heard his grandfather talk about this thing, it was his grandfather who picked him up and left it beside him, although he had heard it, but today he saw it with his own eyes.
"I don't know who Your Excellency is, how can there be something from Han?"
"Hahaha, boy, now he's grown so big" came a burst of laughter, the voice was old, but a little cheerful.
Han Shengchen didn't speak, and sure enough, at this time, a person jumped in front of him, the person was gray-haired, bearded, messy, but with a smile, a little crazy, he walked around Han Shengchen, as if he was observing him, and said: "Hahaha, oops, this kid, really lives up to expectations!"
Han Shengchen was puzzled, and arched his hand: "What does this mean, old-timer?"
"Hey—didn't One-Eyed tell you," the old man looked like an old naughty boy.
"Grandpa?" Han Shengchen was taken aback, "Do you know my grandfather?"
"Ha, it's not just acquaintance, the three of us are brothers!".
"Three, who else?"
"Who else?" the old man's face became a little strange, looking very funny, "Of course it's Daddy Han's lame!".
Hearing this, Han Shengchen's heart was already full of infinite doubts, and he was so surprised that he couldn't hold back, and hurriedly asked, "Do you know my father?!".
"That is, the three of us were born and died, after the battle with the officers and soldiers, Zhao Shengyun was blind in one eye, Han Butian broke his leg, and I was fine, I was injured and later recovered."
"Dare to ask the senior's surname?" Han Shengchen was very anxious.
"My name is Wang Yang, and I am known as [Wang Camel]."
"Then how did the king's predecessor know about my father?".
When Wang Yang heard this, he was a little embarrassed and said, "This.... I can't say it."
After that, Han Shengchen half-knelt on the ground and bowed his head: "I hope that the old man can tell Han about his father!"
Wang Yang was embarrassed when he saw Han Shengchen like this, and helped Han Shengchen up aggrievedly: "Oh, you get up first."
"If the king's seniors don't say it, the younger generations won't get up."
"Okay, okay, get up and I'll say."
Only then did Han Shengchen get up and thanked him: "Thank you Wang senior!"
"Boy, let me ask you, why do you want to know about your father?"
"I won't tell you the truth, the younger generation has been getting along with my grandfather since I was a child, and I never know who my biological father and mother are, let alone why they abandoned me, so if the seniors know, I hope I can tell them."
"Your father didn't want to abandon you at the beginning...."Wang Yang also became serious and sighed.
"That's...".
"Back then, your father and I and Zhao Shengyun met for the first time, like-minded, and became brothers with different surnames, but at that time, the three of us had no ability, but stealing was a bit sharp, in order to make a living, we began to steal some things from rich families and sell them, and gradually became famous" Wang Yang continued, "Later, someone found us and gave us a big deal ......"
After hearing this, Han Shengchen had already guessed one or two, and then said, "Palace treasure theft?"
"That's right, it was the thing that made us famous, and even though we were hurt after that, we were very happy, and we thought it was worth it, but..."
"But what?".
"Alas, three years after that incident, the imperial court suddenly found out about your father, and your father died in Huai'an Village, northern Zhejiang, in order to protect your mother Li..."
Han Shengchen couldn't hold back the sadness in his heart, and asked tremblingly: "Later... And later....".
"Later, your mother ran around overnight to find us with you, and when she entrusted you to the two of us, she was exhausted and died, for safety, she finally gave you to Zhao Shengyun, and engraved your name on the two bags, hoping to reunite with them in the future, so Zhao Shengyun took you back to the countryside, and I led away the officers and soldiers of the court who were tracking us, and when the limelight passed, I also went underground....." Wang Yang finished speaking, sighing, and could see the sadness of the past.
Han Shengchen couldn't say anything, he was only sad on the side, Wang Yang came over and comforted: "Zhao Shengyun hasn't told you all this because he is afraid that you will seek revenge, after all, he is a member of the imperial court, how can you and I compete with it? I have been looking for you all these years, until I heard about the recent major events in the rivers and lakes, and mentioned you, but I am not sure, alas..."
At this time, Han Shengchen suddenly knelt down and kowtowed to Wang Yang, Wang Yang was shocked: "What are you doing here?"
"Thank you Uncle Wang for saving me back then, otherwise Chen'er wouldn't be alive today!"
Seeing this, Wang Yang helped him up and said slowly: "Alas, your father and I are brothers, and you are also like my son, how can I care, now that you and I are reunited, it should be a good thing!"
Han Shengchen nodded, very grateful in his heart, and suddenly knelt down again, Wang Yang was shocked again: "Hey, why are you kneeling again?"
"Chen'er thinks, Uncle Wang saved me back then, but now there is nothing to repay, so I would like to think that my father-in-law will repay the kindness!"
"This...."Wang Yang still hadn't eased up, and hesitated for a while, "Okay! Now that I have no wife and no children, I agreed!"
After that, Han Shengchen's face was much happier, and he looked at Wang Yang and smiled: "Thank you father-in-law!"
"Well, okay, okay, get up" Wang Yang was also a lot more happy, and helped Han Shengchen to get up.
"That's right, Dust.... And one more thing....".
"Father, please speak!"
Wang Yang wanted to speak, but he wanted to stop talking, so he had to call Han Shengchen to follow, and the two soon came to a secret place on the top of this mountain, which was clean and clean, and there were a few trees neatly planted around it. On closer inspection, there are two tombstones under the tree.
Han Shengchen seemed to realize something, his eyes turned red, and Wang Yang on the side said: ".... This is the grave of your father and your mother, and I will come here every day to clean it and .....talk to them."
Han Shengchen slowly moved forward, looking at the two tombstones, as if he saw the deceased father and mother, he knelt on the ground hard, kowtowed his head many times, and then said sadly: "Dad, mother... It's a child... The child has come to see you...".
In the sky, two mandarin ducks flew through the air together, flying slowly, as if watching something, perhaps, there is really something worthy of their memory on the earth......