It was still dark, and Linchuan City, which was bustling and bustling during the day, was like a dormant giant beast, silent in the silent night.

At this time, it was only a quarter of the Yin hour, and the city gate opened for the first time.

Because it was still early, there was no one walking at the city gate for the time being. There were only a few soldiers guarding it, making it seem a bit deserted.

It was winter, and the weather was extremely cold. Even though he was wearing thick clothes, standing in front of the city gate, the cold wind was biting, and the soldiers guarding the gate couldn't help but shrink their necks.

"Damn! It's so cold today!" one of them yelled, waving his hands.

The other short man couldn't help but stamp his feet a few times, "Yes! On a day like this, it's so comfortable to stay in your own room, warm yourself by the fire, and drink a few glasses of wine with your brothers!"

"Don't mention it..."

"Meow!" A shrill meow came from somewhere, and then, a black shadow quickly jumped out from the grass.

"This cat meows so loudly, it seems it's time to go into heat again."

"hey-hey."

The shorter one smiled with an unknown meaning, "Brother, let's go out and have a few drinks together tomorrow..."

After that, he poked the person next to him with his elbow.

Seeing this, the people next to him shouted, "Old Liu, it seems you can't hold it in any longer... You'd better get a wife as soon as possible!"

"I have to marry a wife."

"They all talk about wife, children, hot bed..."

"Hahahaha..." Several people laughed, which dispelled a bit of the winter desolation.

On the empty street, the cold wind blew past, shaking the branches of the trees on the roadside.

Not far away, an ox cart squeaked across the stone road and slowly drove towards the city gate.

The oxcart carried a large barrel, and I didn't know what was inside. It looked so full that even the old scalper pulling the cart had to use all his strength.

As the bullock cart got closer and closer, an unspeakable smell came.

The soldier guarding the gate looked at the ox cart approaching, couldn't help but cover his nose, frowned and said: "Go quickly, go quickly!"

Sitting sideways on the bullock cart, the porter was wearing a gray old cotton coat, his hands were in his sleeves, and the reins of the bullock cart were held in his sleeves.

Hearing this, he couldn't help but chuckle, showing his yellow teeth, and said: "How many days are you on duty today? Thank you for your hard work."

It was a cold winter day, and when he opened his mouth to speak, a cloud of mist came out.

The soldier with his nose covered said in a low voice: "It's all like this, Lao Zhao, hurry up! It's so fuming."

The porter laughed and said, "Okay!"

After saying that, he took out his hand from his sleeve and raised his whip gently, and the old scalper pulling the cart also moved a little faster.

The ox cart loaded with several fully loaded wooden barrels swayed past the city gate and headed out of the city.

After the bullock cart had gone away, the gatekeeper put down his hand and took a deep breath. The cold winter air entered his throat and chilled his whole body. He couldn't help but shiver.

Silence gradually returned to the city gate. It was still early and there were not many people coming and going. A few gatekeepers were leaning on the city gate and dozing off.

Suddenly, the sound of rapid horse hooves was heard coming from far and near, running towards the city gate from the official road.

The soldier guarding the door quickly stood up straight and looked in the direction he came from.

There was still a bit of mist in the winter dawn, and in the gray sky, a man and a horse came forward, and soon they arrived at the bottom of the city.

"Stop! Get off your horse and check!" The guard guard stretched out his spear and stopped the man.

"Neigh!" Hearing a high-pitched neighing sound, the man pulled the reins and stopped suddenly.

He took out the token in his arms and flashed it: "I am from the He family in the city. I have to return to the city in an emergency."

It was the He family. The soldiers looked at the complicated patterns, then took off their spears and let people go.

The man raised his whip and hurried into the city, one man and one horse, running farther and farther into the dawn, with only the clatter of horse hooves echoing in the silent streets.

I don't know what happened.

As soon as this thought passed through their minds, the soldiers leaned against the city gate and fell asleep.

Linchuan County is a large county under the rule of Jiangzhou, and the official roads outside the city are also neatly built and flat.

Lao Zhao drove the bullock cart and walked leisurely, so he didn't have to worry about spilling the contents of the bucket.

Although the content in this bucket is filthy, it is good for farming manure. It is collected from the city, dried in the sun, transported to the countryside, and sold to farmers, and they can make a lot of money.

Lao Zhao now relies on this to support his family.

Others thought it was dirty and smelly all day long, but he didn't mind.

Anything that can make money is a good thing. How can people like them be so picky?

What's more, compared to farming, porters can make a lot of profits. In the past, some people even fought over the land for harvesting night fragrance.

The quality of the night incense produced in different areas of the city is also classified as 3, 6 or 9 due to the different population of residents. The higher the quality, the higher the selling price, the more people compete for it, and the competition becomes more intense.

Lao Zhao is mainly responsible for the west part of the city. The people living in the west part of the city are all ordinary traders, but even so, this work is earned by their family through hard work.

I heard that in the previous dynasty, there was a man named Luo Hui who took this as a career and actually made a fortune of tens of millions. He, Lao Zhao, did not seek to be rich, but he also wanted to earn a salary as a member of the Communist Party of China.

The ox cart walked along the official road for about ten miles, turned around, and entered the trail. This road was not as spacious and easy to walk as the official road. Old Zhao's hand holding the reins moved slightly, and the ox cart slowed down.

speed.

There are weedy forests all the way along the road, and the cold wind blows and the withered grass rustles.

This path is not far from Chu Mountain. He walked it every day and was very familiar with it, so Lao Zhao was not afraid.

Gululu...

At this moment, my stomach was filled with butterflies.

Lao Zhao secretly spit: It really comes at the wrong time.

It's such a winter. If you take off your pants and squat in the wasteland, most of your buttocks will be numb from the cold.

He scolded his mother, then stopped the cart, pushed aside the withered grass, found an open space in the forest, picked up his cotton coat and squatted down.

When the cold wind blew, Lao Zhao instantly felt that half of his butt was unconscious. He just wanted to fight quickly, but his stomach kept rumbling.

Lao Zhao secretly cursed again, it really came at the wrong time!

A rustling sound came from behind.

Is there still a rabbit in this winter? Old Zhao turned his head.

It was already dawn, and since it was winter, there was still a light mist in the forest, so I could see vaguely.

I saw a small earth bag slowly rising on the flat ground about two feet away, and with a soft rustling sound, the earth kept shaking downwards.

Hoo! Lao Zhao was overjoyed. Isn't it a rabbit digging a hole?

It is said that a cunning rabbit burrows three times. It is winter at this time, and perhaps the hare wants to dig a few more holes for his escape at any time.

If that's the case, we can add some game today.

Lao Zhao couldn't help but rub his hands, which were stiff from the cold wind.

He was afraid that the rabbit would run away, so he didn't care about his stomach that was still churning. He hurriedly vented his anger, picked up his pants, and walked softly towards the small mound of soil that was still rising.

Wild rabbits are particularly nimble. Lao Zhao's footsteps were very light, and even his breathing could not help but be a little lighter.

As I got closer, I saw that the small mound was getting higher and higher, and the dirt was still falling to the ground.

The surrounding land is not frozen as solid as other places, but is somewhat loose. It must have been dug out by the rabbit earlier.

When Lao Zhao was thinking about digging out the rabbit hole, he suddenly saw a hint of white underneath.

Hey, it seems to be a white-haired rabbit, which is rare in the wild.

Lao Zhao picked up a dead branch from the side, moved closer, and bent down to dig out the rabbit.

He saw that the plain white was showing more and more, and then a hand stretched out from the soil. The hand was pale, wasn't it the white rabbit he thought before?

The pale palm stretched out from the mound and moved, shaking off the soil covering it, and then a forearm was exposed.

He waved his mud-covered forearms, as if he was groping for something.

Then, the entire area around the small mound began to move, and soil began to fall down.

Lao Zhao's mind went blank and he was stunned for a moment before he screamed: "Ghost--"

He ran away.
Chapter completed!