The atmosphere at the outpost was depressing.

The kerosene on the torch dripped on the ground. Wu Tian strode past and stamped out the drop of kerosene.

"Everything is fine, everything has been searched, and there is no one in the backyard."

After Wu Tian reported it, he couldn't help but cursed angrily.

"Damn, these birds..."

Qiao Ju was very calm, with his hands behind his back, scanning the outpost.

There were eighteen soldiers squatting on the ground with their heads in their hands. They were all under Hong Deyi's command. This had been confirmed.

Qiao Ju did not interrogate them immediately, but observed them first.

In this way, if you have your own judgment in your heart, you will not be distracted by other people's confessions.

"Tell me, what's going on?" Qiao Ju finally spoke and pointed at a soldier, "You tell me first."

"Yes, the leader here is the adopted son of a Mongolian nobleman. His name is Tuotuo. He is very enthusiastic and invites the centurion to have a drink with him. After drinking, they go to relieve themselves together. After relieving themselves, the centurion lets

We drank here and said that he took the sentries out to hunt for fugitives...that's what happened."

Upon hearing this, Qiao Ju understood that it was Tuotuo who held Hong Deyi hostage.

He glanced around, pointed at another person, and said, "Do you think there is anything else you want to add?"

"The centurion and Tuotuo had a very good chat, and they treated each other like brothers. They walked arm in arm when they left."

Qiao Ju picked up a chopstick and put his hand on Wu Tian's shoulder. The chopstick touched Wu Tian's back. If it were a dagger, it could penetrate into the heart with one stab.

"is that so?"

"yes."

"How long have they been gone?"

"It's been more than half an hour."

Qiao Ju sighed and asked again: "You have eighteen people left here. Are there still six personal guards beside Centurion Hong?"

"It seems, I remember everything very clearly."

"How many fugitives are there?"

"There were about a dozen people in total, but we really didn't pay attention."

Qiao Ju thought for a while and ordered Wu Tian to go out and continue the search.

He himself sat down, took out a pen and paper, and said, "Think carefully about the characteristics of those people."

"That Tuotuo is very young and handsome, with his hair spread out like this. He looks like he is not an ordinary person. I have never seen anyone like that..."

The soldier waved his hand and made gestures, as if he didn't know how to describe it.

"Free and easy?" Qiao Ju used one word.

"Yes, yes, everything is right."

Qiao Ju took notes and gradually sketched an image of a person in his mind, muttering to himself: "Tuotuo..."

After a lot of careful interrogation, there was suddenly a burst of noise outside.

Qiao Ju put down his pen and walked out.

At this time, the sky was getting brighter, and a thin layer of twilight appeared in the distant sky. He rode his horse and rushed to the vicinity where the sound came from, and heard someone shouting in front of him.

"Don't let him run away! Chase him quickly!"

"Chase……"

The sound of horse hoofbeats was rapid, and it seemed that soldiers nearby had found the Song people and were chasing them.

"Du Shi, six bodies were found!"

Qiao Ju quickly entered the woods and saw Hong Deyi's six personal guards lying under the tree.

When I touched it with my hand, the body was already cold.

Qiao Ju then asked Wu Tian: "Did you send soldiers to stop the people who escaped just now?"

Wu Tian responded: "Yes."

Qiao Ju closed his eyes, shook his head, and said, "Then they have completely escaped our siege."

The sky brightened quickly, and another shout came from the distance.

"Caught one!"

"Keep chasing!"

"It seems to be an empty horse? There seems to be an empty horse in front..."

After a while, the soldiers tied up a man and arrived in front of Qiao Ju.

"who are you?"

The man opened his mouth, but all he heard was "wow".

Qiao Ju pinched his face and looked at his mouth carefully.

"The tongue was cut, it was a new injury, and the bleeding was stopped. There is a very powerful doctor among the fugitives... are you literate?"

The mute man shook his head.

Qiao Ju picked up a stone, a hemp rope and a rag from the ground.

"They blindfolded you and gave you a stone. It took you half an hour to break the rope and free yourself. When you saw six corpses surrounding you, you were frightened. Then you saw a horse, so you got on the horse and ran away.

,Yeah?"

The mute man nodded wildly and kept pointing at the back of his neck.

Qiao Ju went over to take a look and saw that the Zhang family's mark was branded on the back, and the mark on the front was the mark of the prisoners of the Mongolian army when they were expelled.

"Zhang Rongzhi's people?"

The mute man nodded again.

Qiao Ju sighed with some regret, turned around and left, saying calmly: "Your master is dead, you can't survive."

Wu Tian understood and waved his hand. A soldier came forward and wiped the mute man's neck with a knife...

~~

On this day, Qiao Ju was busy until evening.

"It's all business. The guard at the west gate of Xiacaicheng said that at dawn and as soon as the city gate opened, Hong Deyi led fifteen sentries into the city."

"Search carefully, but be sure not to disturb the people."

"yes……"

"Everything has happened. We found it. They booked five rooms at the Wanghuai Inn in the city. But when I arrived, I only found these sentinel clothes. They changed their clothes, so I'm afraid it would be difficult to search. In addition, Hong Deyi was found.

, in the woodshed of the inn, they chopped off the head and placed it in front of this thing."

Qiao Ju took it and took a look and saw that it was a piece of firewood with the words "Sacrifice my Twelve Brothers" written in blood on it in bold and bold handwriting.

He remained silent, his expression becoming increasingly grim.

"Everything, the clue...seems to be broken?"

"Then let's look for clues." Qiao Ju said: "Control the Huaihe River, don't let them escape back to the Song Dynasty, force them to continue going north. I'll catch them in the north."

"Do you know where they are going?"

"The reason why they took that official road was probably to go to Yingzhou, which is one of the few prefectures in Henan that is not guarded by the Zhang family."

"But Yingzhou is so big..."

"It doesn't matter." Qiao Ju said: "In this way, you block all the official roads in Shouzhou for ten days. I will go back to Haozhou first and transfer people to Yingzhou to catch turtles in a jar..."

~~

Outside Xiacai City.

A group of fifteen fugitives had disguised themselves as civilians, divided into three groups, and found three villages and towns to rest.

Li Xia, Han Chengxu, Han Qiaoer, Liu Jinsuo, and Bai Mao entered Guiji Town as a group.

Liu Jinsuo and Bai Mao were careless and rested in the Tutu Temple at the entrance of the town, while Li Xia took the Han family's grandparents and grandchildren to find a private house to stay overnight.

After settling down, Li Xia and Han Chengxu lay down and asked, "Does Mr. Han know about Hao Jing?"

Han Chengxu said: "I have heard that he was born in Lingchuan with the courtesy name Bochang. He was from the Hao family in Taiyuan. The Hao family lived together for generations. They practiced Confucianism and taught in the countryside. They were a prominent family in the county, but they did not serve in the Jin Dynasty. She Bochang became famous.

At that time, I had returned to the Song Dynasty, but because I paid more attention to the affairs of my hometown, I knew that he was very famous and was a great scholar in the world."

Li Xia asked again: "Qiao Ju is the disciple he taught. He is very powerful?"

"In these troubled times, those who can become famous must have real abilities..."

Han Chengxu said, his voice gradually getting lower.
To be continued...