Early the next morning, Wang Chen left Zhang Mansion.
Zhang Zhongxiao gave him 20 coins as a gift before leaving. Wang Chen did not refuse and secretly kept this kindness in his heart.
When the couple arrived at the county government office, Wang Shenliang showed Wu Chengsi a sign. The guard didn't dare to neglect, so he immediately went in to report.
Not long after, the Shanyin County Magistrate, County Magistrate, County Lieutenant and Chief Registrar came out to welcome him.
The Shanyin County Magistrate took the token, confirmed it, and said with a smile: "I wonder what your name is?"
Wang Chen said loudly: "My wife, Wang Chen, this is my wife Fei. My husband and I were appreciated by His Highness the King of Zhou when we came to Beijing a few months ago. We planned to move to Chang'an and join the Shenhuo Camp. Who knew that when we moved back to Shu,
Encountered a group of thieves..."
He immediately told the story about the group of men in black and the reward offered by Green Forest.
The Shanyin County Magistrate was immediately furious: "What a bold thief, how dare you act recklessly in our Shanyin territory!"
Wang Chen hummed, "I came to the county government office a few days ago to report a case and told the story about a thief in my home. However, after a few days, I don't know why the government office still has no results."
The Shanyin County Magistrate looked cold and said with his hands behind his back: "Zhao County Lieutenant, is this a problem?"
The Shanyin County Captain was a tall middle-aged man. He took a step forward and said, "My Lord, please wait a moment. I'll go check it out."
The Shanyin County magistrate took the opportunity to invite Wang Chen and his wife to the back hall for tea.
Not long after, County Lieutenant Zhao came back with a very ugly face and a famous policeman by his side.
Zhao County Wei said in a cold voice: "Your Majesty, this is indeed the case. Captain Hou took over the case, but he did not investigate it."
He turned his head and glanced sideways at the catcher behind him, and said coldly: "Hou Gui, I asked you just now, but you refused to answer truthfully. Now that the county magistrate is here, why don't you still explain it!"
The Shanyin County Magistrate said angrily: "Hou Gui, someone reported a crime, why don't you investigate? Are you tired of being a headhunter?"
There was a red slap mark on the catcher's right cheek, but when he refused to answer just now, he was slapped by County Lieutenant Zhao.
His face was full of grievances, and he whispered: "Your Majesty, I am responsible for your humble position, so I have to report this to you."
The Shanyin County Magistrate snorted and said, "If you have anything to say, just say it here!"
Capt. Hou quickly came to the Shanyin County Magistrate and whispered something to him.
The Shanyin County Magistrate's face changed drastically: "You, what you said...is it true?"
"Even if I have great courage, I would not dare to deceive you on this matter!"
The Shanyin County Magistrate's expression changed several times.
Wang Chen was confused: "County Lord, what is going on?"
The Shanyin County Magistrate hesitated for a moment, then said with an apologetic smile: "Master Wang, the county will personally investigate your family's affairs, and we will definitely catch those bandits. You don't have to worry. I will send someone to take you to Qinzhou City tomorrow.
"
Wang Chen frowned, always feeling that the Shanyin County Magistrate was hiding something from him.
But since he was a magistrate, he couldn't keep asking questions, so he had no choice but to nod in agreement.
After the two of them came out of the back hall, Mrs. Wang suddenly said: "Brother Shen, I don't know why, but I always have a bad feeling."
Wang Chen comforted him and said, "Don't think blindly. There are people from the government escorting us. Unless those people dare to kill the officials and rebel, there will never be any danger."
Mrs. Wang shook her head: "But I still don't understand who wants to kill us husband and wife and yet offers so much reward!"
Wang Chen's expression changed uncertainly and he did not answer.
At this moment, Mrs. Wang suddenly turned her head and looked towards the back hall.
"Madam, what's wrong?"
Mrs. Wang's face turned pale: "There was a quarrel inside, it seemed...it seemed like County Magistrate Zhao was quarreling with the county magistrate!"
Wang Chen thought for a while and said: "This is an internal matter within the yamen, so let's not interfere too much."
Another day later, the Shanyin County magistrate kept his promise and sent twenty government officials, led by Hou Captou himself, to protect the two people as they headed to Qinzhou.
With the protection of the government officials, the journey was indeed smooth. Two days later, they left the territory of Shanyin and found a home shop to work at night.
Early the next morning, after Wang Chen and his wife got up, they went to the room next door to Capt. Hou and knocked on the door.
Unexpectedly, when I opened the door and saw that the house was empty.
After pushing through several rooms where government officials lived, they found no one inside, and even their luggage was missing. The couple looked at each other with a bit of panic in their eyes.
When I went down to the first floor, there was no sign of the government officials.
Wang Chen hurriedly stopped the waiter and asked, "Man, where are the official servants who came with us last night?"
The waiter said strangely: "They packed their luggage and checked out in no time, didn't you know?"
Suddenly, his eyes became alert: "They said that the rent will be paid by the two of you. Are you trying to default on the bill?"
Wang Chen was shocked and angry, these government officials left without saying goodbye!
Before he could think about it, a heavy banging sound came from the door.
I saw a bald man kicking open the door and walking in, accompanied by two companions.
These three people all have sinister faces and fierce eyes, and you can tell at a glance that they are not decent people.
This kind of wild shop can survive in the countryside and has its own way of survival. The shopkeeper took two steps forward and said with a smile: "You three gentlemen, the wine of this small shop is the most famous. We deliver several jars to Heishiling every day. Do you want to try it?"
taste?"
Heishiling is the largest cottage nearby. This sentence clearly told the three of them that the backing of this store is Heishiling.
The bald man yelled: "I'm not here to find you, so don't talk too much about me!"
After speaking, a pair of protruding eyes moved around, and soon stopped on Wang Chen and his wife.
"Well, the husband is short and ugly, and the wife is white and beautiful. You can't go wrong! Second child, third child, the idea is still there. It seems that our brothers' luck has come this time!"
The other breakfast guests in the store were all shocked, knowing that these three murderers were going to do business.
None of these people were the kind of nosy heroes, so they either hid in their rooms or hurriedly paid their bills and left.
The shopkeeper wanted to stop these three people from causing trouble, so he interrupted: "Young masters, these two came with more than a dozen officials. Could you have found the wrong person?"
The bald man gave him a backhand slap and said sternly: "If you dare to talk too much, I will pull out your tongue!"
The shopkeeper didn't dare to talk anymore and fled back to the back hall.
In an instant, only Mr. and Mrs. Wang Chen and three men were left in the lobby.
Wang Chen gritted his teeth, took out his crossbow and said, "Who are you, and who asked you to kill us?!"
Seeing how small the hand crossbow was, the three of them looked at each other, laughed in unison, and walked towards the couple together without explaining.
Wang Chen was about to shoot the crossbow bolt when, at this moment, there was the sound of footsteps and two more men walked in outside the door.
One is tall and the other is short, one is dressed in black and the other is white, their faces are sallow and there is no expression on their faces, they look like two living zombies.
As soon as they came in, the expressions of the three big men changed, and the bald man lost his voice and said: "Two evil spirits in Shu?"
The tall man wore white clothes and was nicknamed Bai Sha. He grinned, showing his yellow teeth.
"You still have some eyesight, but for the sake of your tricks, I will spare your lives today, go away!"
The bald man's face suddenly turned the color of pig liver.
He knew that these two people were extremely dangerous, but seeing Wang Chen and his wife right in front of him, and thinking of the reward of one million dollars, he really couldn't bear to leave like this.
"Um...these two people were discovered by the three of us brothers first...please see...can you give some of the reward to us brothers?"
There was a flash of black light, and a stream of blood spurted out from the neck of the bald man, and then he fell to the ground with a thud, a look of horror remaining on his face.
Mrs. Wang screamed and hid behind her husband.
The two companions of the bald man shouted in unison: "Brother!"
The two of them looked at each other and ran towards the door in unison, running away very fast.
Bai Sha grinned and said: "Now that I have taken action, do you still want to survive?"
The shining black sword in his hand slashed twice in the air, two black lights flashed, two human heads rolled to the ground, and two headless corpses fell at the door.
Not only was Mrs. Wang stunned, but Wang Chen was also frightened.
Feeling his wife trembling slightly, the courage in his heart immediately poured out continuously, and he said loudly: "I am an official of the Shenhuo Camp of Chang'an City, you can't mess around!"
Bai Sha shook the blood on his sword, grinned and said, "I've never heard of the Divine Fire Camp. Boy, I'll lend you my head!"
He leaned forward and stabbed Wang Chen in the throat with his long sword.
Wang Chen was stunned by his ferocity, and his reaction was half a beat too slow. The tip of the sword reached his throat in the blink of an eye, and it was too late to fire the crossbow bolt.
At this moment, Bai Sha suddenly retracted his sword and swung it behind him, and Hei Sha also swung his sword and slashed.
There were two clanging sounds, and the two men struck something with their weapons. It turned out that someone had fired a concealed weapon at each of them.
The faces of Heisha and Baisha were frozen, and they saw more than a dozen people approaching outside the gate.
The first person was wearing a tiger fur coat, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, and strong arms, thicker than the thighs of ordinary people.
Heisha asked: "Are you from Heishiling?" His voice was sharp and thin, as if he was holding his throat to speak.
The man in tiger clothes said proudly: "I, the great master of Black Rock Ridge, are the Zhentian Tigers. This is Black Rock Ridge's territory. Isn't it against the rules for you two to touch the prey on my territory?"
Heisha chuckled: "We are called the Shuangshu, and any ideas from Shu are shared by our brothers!"
The man in tiger clothes said coldly: "Are you two trying to steal business from me?"
Bai Sha grinned and sneered: "You are wrong. You just attacked my two brothers. This is a bad relationship. From now on, there will be no signboard of Black Rock Ridge in this area!"
The man in tiger clothes widened his eyes and said with a hey, "That's not a small tone. Others are afraid of you two ghosts, but I, Black Rock Ridge, are not afraid. If you want to do it, just do it!"
The two demons let out strange screams and rushed towards each other first.
Wang Chen and his wife looked at each other and quietly retreated to the backyard. The two groups were fighting fiercely, but they didn't care about them.
The two found the back door and were about to run away when suddenly they saw the shopkeeper and the waiter coming over with knives.
The shopkeeper of the valley store said coldly: "You two, where are you going?"
Wang Chen said angrily: "Are you the same as them, wanting to kill us in exchange for reward?"
The shopkeeper snorted and said: "I just want to open the shop safely. Those rewards are very hot, and I don't dare to accept them."
"Then why did you stop us?"
The shopkeeper said: "You are the people that the head of the family wants. If you leave, the head of the family will never forgive us, so I feel sorry for you two to stay here!"
Wang Chen immediately took out his crossbow and said to the shopkeeper: "If you dare to stop me again, I will shoot you to death!"
The shopkeeper and the waiter were suddenly startled. They quickly threw the knife on the ground and shouted: "Hero, spare your life! We have no choice but to do it!"
Wang Chen snorted, opened the back door, and ran away with his wife.
The shopkeeper and the shopkeeper knew that the boss could not spare them, so they packed up their gifts, abandoned the shop and fled!
Unexpectedly, as soon as they walked out of the back door, they saw two groups of people standing outside, blocking the back door. Wang Chen and his wife were also blocked at the door.
The shopkeeper has been running the shop for many years and has a very broad eye. After seeing the two waves of people, he lost his voice and said: "Qingshi Castle, Huangyang Mountain!"
It turned out to be two big cottages again!
The two groups of people were clearly distinguished, sizing each other up and counting each other's numbers.
Wang Chen and his wife were both looking forward to a fight like the two waves did, but the leader of Qingshi Castle suddenly said: "Brother Bian, if we fight, not only will both sides be hurt, but the boss will probably take the opportunity to escape."
The leader of Huangyangshan said: "Brother Pang is right. I wonder if Brother Pang has any good ideas?"
The leader of Qingshi Castle said with a smile: "What do you think, brothers, our two families have joined forces and won this deal together, and you and I will each share half of the reward?"
The leader of Huangyangshan laughed: "Brothers have this intention, let's do it like this, everyone will get half a million yuan!"
The leader of Qingshi Castle said repeatedly: "Okay, let's take action quickly to prevent someone else from stealing the business!"
The leader of Huangyangshan immediately gave the order and his men surrounded Wang Chen and his wife.
The people in Qingshi Fort did not move. When all the people in Huangyang Mountain ran in front of them, the leader of Qingshi Fort shouted: "Do it!"
He ran up quickly and slashed the two Yellow Sheep Mountain bandits to death with two slashes of his sword.
The leader of Huangyang Mountain was furious: "You son of a bitch, how dare you trick me?"
The leader of Qingshi Castle chopped down two more people and said with a ferocious smile: "You are too stupid. Pang has never shared money with anyone in his life. Who are you, and you want to share half a million of my money?"
The two waves of people fought against each other in an instant, and Qingshi Castle occupied a favorable location and quickly gained the upper hand.
Wang Chen and his wife were very anxious. Although the two groups of people fought, they blocked the way out of the back door. They were afraid that when they decided the winner, the couple would still suffer!
At this moment, Mrs. Wang suddenly said: "Brother Shen, take a look."
Wang Chen followed her gaze and saw that the shopkeeper and shopkeeper had slipped in again. His heart moved and he said, "Let's follow them and take a look!"
The husband and wife had the same idea, and both guessed that they had another escape route.
Their guess turned out to be correct. They followed the two men and found that the shopkeeper and his assistant worked together to remove a stone from the west corner of the backyard, revealing a dog hole.
When they were fleeing, no one could control that much. After the couple escaped, they followed the two shopkeepers out through the dog hole.
Not long after they left, two evil spirits from Shu rushed into the courtyard.
The two of them were covered in blood at the moment, but it was all the blood of the Black Rock Ridge bandits, so they were not injured.
When they saw the back door open, they expected that Wang Chen and his wife had gone out through the back door. They immediately went out and saw the Qingshibao and Huangyangshan bandits fighting together.
The two of them looked around and couldn't see Wang Chen and his wife, and they felt anxious in their hearts.
Bai Sha said: "Brother, how about we kill them all and leave one alive for questioning?"
Heisha said: "Leave two alive, one on each side."
Baisha agreed, and the two immediately joined the battle group and killed everyone they saw.
They were agile and ruthless in their attacks, and they slaughtered all the two bandit groups in a short time, leaving only the two leaders.
Bai Sha used his sword to cut off an arm of the leader of Qingshi Castle, and asked coldly: "Where is that couple? Have you hidden them?"
The leader of Qingshi Castle screamed in pain: "They were at the back door just now, they must have escaped back to the inn!"
"Fart!" Bai Sha raised his sword and killed the leader of Qingshi Fort.
On the other side, Heisha asked the leader of Huangyangshan and got the same result, so he killed him too.
The two brothers returned to the backyard to search, and soon found the dog hole. They immediately jumped out of the wall and chased him out.
After not chasing for long, both of them were overjoyed. They saw Wang Chen and his wife running from the front, followed by the shopkeeper and the waiter behind them.
The four of them ran desperately, as if someone was chasing them from behind.
After seeing Shuangsha blocking the road, the four people's faces instantly turned pale.
The shopkeeper thought that their target was not me, and they might not pay attention to me, so he took steps to get around Shuangsha.
There was a flash of black light, and the shopkeeper fell to the ground and turned into a corpse.
Mrs. Wang had never seen a dead person in her first half of her life, but she had seen murder scenes one after another recently. She couldn't bear it anymore and knelt on the ground and cried.
The more Wang Chen saw his wife sad, the more he wanted to protect her. He pulled her back to a big tree on the side of the road and secretly thought about how to escape.
Seeing that they were not escaping, the two evil spirits in Shu did not immediately go over to take action. Both of them looked solemn and stared at the direction ahead.
After a while, the sound of horse hooves was heard, and a team of horses ran over.
They were all dressed in gray robes and red scarves, and the black and white evil spirits felt their hearts sinking, knowing that the "Red Gang", the largest horse thieves in Shu, had arrived.
When it comes to fighting alone, the two brothers are not afraid of anyone.
However, the Red Gang has a large number of people, and they fight on horseback. They are condescending and are really difficult to deal with.
The leader of the Red Gang is a powerful man with long arms and legs, carrying an iron spear on his back, with a black beard like a halberd, and eyes as big as two copper bells.
He glanced at Wang Chen and his wife, then looked at Shu Zhong Shuang Sha, and said in a loud voice: "These two ideas are the prey of our Red Gang, if you don't want to die, get out of here!"
If he talks nicely, Shuangshu may let him get a share of the pie.
Seeing how rude he was, Hei Sha laughed angrily: "Unfortunately, I happen to be a little tired of life. Which one of you from the Red Gang is kind enough to give me a ride?"
The leader of the Red Gang laughed loudly: "Okay, I'll help you relax your shoulders!"
Just as he was about to mount his horse, a person beside him suddenly whispered something to him. The leader of the Red Gang was taken aback and asked: "Are you two evil spirits in Shu?"
Heisha said lightly: "Yes, but with our humble reputations, how can we compare with your gang? Doesn't the leader of the Ma gang want to loosen his shoulders for me? I'll wait!"
The leader of the Red Gang laughed loudly: "Although Ma is arrogant, he also knows that there are many heroes who are stronger than my Red Gang in Shu. Apart from the government, the one Ma doesn't want to offend the most is Brother Xian. Just now Ma
I hope you two can forgive me for those crazy words."
These words flattered Shuang Sha, and Hei Sha immediately lost most of his anger: "It doesn't matter, let's talk about how to divide the bounty."
Wang Chen originally hoped that the two sides would fight again, but unfortunately the good luck did not last. This time the two sides seemed to plan to cooperate and share the bounty.
Just listen to Heisha say: "There are a lot of caravan leaders, and they are willing to give my brother 60%. I am very grateful. I will leave this to us. How about you and I taking one of the heads?"
The caravan leader said: "Okay!"
Seeing Hei Sha walking over, his face full of murderous intent, Wang Chen was filled with fear, he pressed the crossbow and fired a short arrow.
Hearing the sound of the crossbow bolts breaking through the air, Hei Sha was also startled. He hurriedly swung his sword to knock down the crossbow bolts and sneered: "You still dare to resist, believe it or not, I will cut you into a human stick?"
Wang Chen was greatly frightened, but thinking that his wife was behind him, he pressed the crossbow repeatedly, hoping to fight to the death.
Heisha kept swinging his sword, knocking down all the crossbow arrows. He came closer and slashed Wang Chen's right hand with his sword.
At this moment, a loud shout was heard from the distance:
"Stop! The government is here, you bandits will be captured soon!"
Hei Sha was startled when he heard the word "official" and saw a horse team of more than 20 people running towards them from the direction they came from.
Immediately there were government servants in public uniforms.
The master of these two brothers killed an official and was surrounded and killed by the government and bounty hunters, so he never dared to fight against the government.
Looking at each other, the two of them ran towards the woods on the right.
The leader of the horse gang also shouted: "Zhahu!" He turned the horse's head and the group of people fled in a hurry.
Wang Chen escaped from death and held his wife tightly in his arms.
Mrs. Wang suddenly said: "Husband, it seems that the person here is County Lieutenant Zhao."
Wang Chen turned around and looked, and sure enough he saw County Lieutenant Zhao dismounting his horse and walking slowly over.
Wang Chen stood up, cupped his hands and said, "Thank you so much, Lieutenant Zhao, for saving your life!"
County Lieutenant Zhao sighed: "I came late and frightened you two. I really can't apologize."
Wang Chen gritted his teeth and said, "Lieutenant Zhao, I would like to ask why Mr. Hou and the others left without saying goodbye this morning. Why did so many bandits come to kill us as soon as they left?"
County Lieutenant Zhao hesitated for a moment and said: "Well..."
He sighed and said: "Brother Wang, you'd better not ask any more questions. I will personally take you to Qinzhou later and won't let you be in danger again."
Wang Chen thought that the other party had saved him after all, so he couldn't press too hard and could only nod his head: "Then I'll help you."
The couple was immediately escorted by County Lieutenant Zhao on the road. The shopkeeper also had his life saved and did not dare to go with them, so they headed towards Shanyin County.
On the way, Lieutenant Zhao asked some questions intentionally or unintentionally, all related to King Wu Chengsi of Zhou. He also asked Wang Chen to show him the token of King Zhou again.
Wang Chen knew that he wanted to confirm the authenticity of his previous words, so he handed over the token. After County Lieutenant Zhao read it, he stopped asking.