Volume 7 Returning to Daze Chapter 34 Sleeping at the foot of the mountain
The waiter looked at this posture and found that Li Dan looked young but was the leader of the group. He hurriedly went in and found the shopkeeper who was leading people to clean up the room.
The shopkeeper was a tall man with a fat face and a very festive smile. When he came up, he handed over his hands and apologized, saying that he did not expect that there would be a large group of cars and horses coming to stay at such a late hour, and he was in a hurry for a while.
Li Dan smiled and said it was okay, and then took out the official documents from the county and asked him to read them, saying that all the people like him were serious officers.
The shopkeeper looked at it, handed it back, and said, "It turns out to be Mr. Li's house. I'm disrespectful! I'm disrespectful!"
Looking at the beads of sweat on his forehead, Li Dan deliberately made a joke and asked: "May I ask the shopkeeper, 'My old shop', is it your shop, mine, or whose shop it is?"
"Ahem!" The boss smiled hoarsely: "I thought the young master would be calm enough not to ask. How many people have asked this!"
"Oh, how do you say it?"
"The villain's surname is Wu and his given name is Zhen. He is the descendant of Wu Can, Sun Quan's tutor during the Three Kingdoms period. During the former Song Dynasty, his ancestors went south from Huaijian and settled in Zhejiang.
In the late years of the previous dynasty, he came to this mountain to avoid war and opened this old shop. He also opened thirty acres of paddy fields on the mountain behind the shop and made a living by scrawling.
The person who met the young master at the door earlier was the eldest son of my family, named Wu Kun.
The second son, Wuxiao, is running a livestock and fodder business in Wannian City. His daughter is also married to Wannian. His son-in-law is from Dusi Marching Army and his name is Jiao Conghu. I might see you tomorrow.
There is also the old San Wu Ji, but I let him go to school, and now he is boarding at the county school."
It turns out that my family's surname is me. I am kind and talkative. I introduced my family in a bamboo tube. It seems that I have told people countless times and I have already mastered it.
Li Biao, who was nearby, heard this and said: "The Jun family has many men and is supported by a son-in-law. No wonder they don't care about the bandits. Some travelers have been robbed before and dare to let us stay overnight."
"There are only three or five thieves there." Wu Zeng waved his hand:
"One, two people walking without being stopped and searched by them, how dare they come to my place to run wild? Let alone a group like yours."
"Do you know where their home base is?" Chen Sanwen intervened and asked.
"In the Fire Temple." Wu Zeng gestured with his hands: "The mountain behind us is the boundary ridge, the southern slope belongs to Wannian, and the northern slope belongs to Yugan.
More than four miles further ahead, there is a Fire Temple on the mountainside. The guy settled there. But that side belongs to Zhaitang Village and is the boundary of ten thousand years.
In front of the temple, there is a mountain platform about four feet high with sharp cliffs, which is the Axe Ridge. There has been only one way to get here for ten thousand years. In the valley below the ridge is the West Pearl River on one side and the official road on the other.
There were no strong men before, because this place is less than twenty miles away from Wannian City. This group of people only came here recently, but they have located the most critical point at the junction of the two counties."
"No matter what, there are only three or five of them. Right, shopkeeper?" Gu Da saw several people frowning and immediately said loudly.
"That's true," my shopkeeper immediately responded:
"And tomorrow morning when he discovers dozens of you armed with swords and guns, he will definitely not dare to do anything. He will just stare and stare. So the team leader's decision to stay overnight is a wise one!"
"Okay, don't slap me anymore. Hurry up and ask the kitchen to make a few pots of good soup and bring the white rice. If it's too late, we can bring the pickles ourselves. Brothers, there are still many things to do after eating and drinking." Li Dan said with a smile.
.
"How can I ask you to eat pickles? The kitchen has already prepared them, and the food and wine will be brought to the young master's room in a moment." Wu Kun walked in the door and said quickly after hearing this.
Li Dan looked at the room they had prepared for him and nodded, but immediately pointed to Mao Zaidi: "Whatever I eat and where I eat it is up to you to follow his instructions. There is no need to bring it specially to this room."
Wu Kun was stunned, and Mao Zaidi pulled the two of them to whisper a few words. Only then did Wu Kun understand what it meant, and couldn't help but look at Li Dan in surprise.
My shopkeeper answered some more questions about the road situation tomorrow and then left. He pulled his son over and asked what the young man said just now.
After Wu Kun repeated it in a low voice, shopkeeper Wu turned his head in surprise and saw Mao Zaidi standing at the door holding the bronze-tipped eyebrow-leveling stick.
"This young master wants to dine at the same table with the elders in the hall below? This is the first time I've heard about this in my whole life of running a restaurant." My shopkeeper shook his big round head and said:
"At such a young age, you know how to discipline your subordinates and share joys and sorrows. I'm afraid that your future prospects should not be underestimated!"
After eating in a hurry, Li Dan gave everyone some instructions at the table.
Liu Hongsheng was in charge of the first shift, asked Wu Kun for some firewood, and led the brothers who were camping outside to light two fires, and then continued to make unfinished bamboo spears on the fires.
Yang Xiaoyi and Zhang Bo led people to use the remaining bamboo to make stakes. The thicker end was cut diagonally, three and a half feet high and one foot apart. They were connected with six ropes in the middle to form a fence wall. Each section was eight feet long.
After making it, knock the diagonally chopped end into the soil, and a simple defensive fence will be formed.
Xiao Niu was responsible for arranging positions and taking turns on duty at night. Li Dan called Gu Da, and the two of them talked in the room while scalding their feet.
After washing the feet, we have already discussed how to restrain everyone after entering the city tomorrow, how Li Dan will report to the Marching Department, how to meet up with Ma Jiu and others who arrived earlier, etc.
Gu Da went downstairs to check on the camp, while Mao Zaidi quietly packed up his bed and opened it near the door.
Li Dan thought about today's situation under the oil lamp, and used the brush on the table to lick the ink on Beixi's small book nailed with a string and record some thoughts.
There was still a lot of noise outside at first, but then it gradually became quieter.
Li Dan stood up, pulled on his cloth shoes and walked downstairs. He first looked around the camp outside, tested whether the fence was firm with his hands, looked at the tents of the brothers, and told those who were not sleeping to be careful about the campfire.
Then I went to look at the precious carriages with their harnesses unloaded, one after another parked outside the wall; then I went back to the yard to look at the mules and horses under the trough, and fed Zao Liu a handful of beans.
After thanking the brothers who were guarding the gate and patrolling the courtyard for their hard work, he finally went upstairs to sleep. From the beginning to the end, Mao Zaidi followed him, helped him cover him with quilts and lay down, and then went back to make his own bed.
I had just fallen asleep when I suddenly heard someone shouting outside, and then I heard the sound of a bamboo flute calling the police.
Li Dan turned over and sat up. Mao Zaidi turned out to be sleeping with his clothes on, and had already jumped to the door with his waist knife in hand. "What happened?" Li Dan asked while tying his belt.
"It seems that someone is shouting "Catch the thief." Mao Zaidi listened carefully and looked back at Li Dan: "Yes, they are indeed shouting about the thief and the bandit."
"Ah?" Li Dan smiled in astonishment: "Could it be that this gang of thieves is so bold that we didn't provoke them, but he found them on his own?"
Before he finished speaking, he heard the sound of footsteps in the room where the chiefs lived, and Gu asked loudly and anxiously:
"What's the matter? What happened? What kind of lunatic screamed so wildly at night that I couldn't even sleep properly?"
Someone reported loudly downstairs: "Second Master Gu, a thief came to steal the horse. He was discovered by the brothers on night watch and ran away after hearing the siren."
At this time, Yang Yi's voice said: "Is someone out to chase? Ming Jin, call the chasing brothers back. We don't know where to chase in this dark place. If one or two more are injured, it will be bad."
The man hurriedly agreed, and soon the gong sounded.
Mao Zaidi had already taken out the matchmaker and lit the oil lamp. When people outside saw them, they came to knock on the door. Song Xiaoniu asked: "Sanlang, are you up?"
"Come in." Li Dan said briefly. Mao Zaidi opened the door and four people rushed in. Li Dan glanced over and saw Zhang Bo, so he immediately asked: "Brother Zhang?"
"He went out to relieve himself and didn't come back. He must be still downstairs." Liu Hongsheng replied.
"I'm back!" There was the sound of footsteps on the floor outside, and Zhang Bo walked in quickly, clasping his fists and saying: "You're a little late, don't blame the team. I almost led someone to chase him out, why did I hear Ming Jin just now?"
"Do you know what's going on outside?" Yang Yi asked quickly.
"I heard from the brothers on night watch that they saw a black shadow coming out of the northwest corner of the camp. They asked who it was, but the other party got on his horse and ran away. Only then did they know there was a thief, so they blew the siren.
I just finished relieving myself and went out immediately. I heard the sound of horse hooves and chased toward the southeast. When I caught up to the official road, I heard the sound of three sticks and golden gongs, so I told everyone to retreat." Zhang Bo replied.
"How many horses were lost?" Li Dan asked.
"Three of them were all left outside." Zhang Bo said angrily: "Guri is very careful in what he does. We brothers slept like crazy, but he took advantage of us."
"How many people committed the crime?" Li Dan asked again.
"The night watchman didn't see them clearly, but he heard them talking. It must be at least two of them, right?"
"Two people stole three horses, all with bare backs and no saddles..." Li Dan thought while stroking his chin.
"If this is the case, it means at least two things: these two people have some skills and can control horses, and they can't run very far."
Everyone looked back and saw Chen Sanwen, who was sleeping next door, coming in and heard him continue:
"I once heard someone say that only horse bandits from the North can ride a bare-backed horse. Without a saddle and stirrups, they won't be able to sit still for several miles."
"Chen Sanlang, do you mean that the gang of robbers my shopkeeper mentioned did it?" Liu Hongsheng asked.
"Probably!"
"Then they must have gone back to the mountain temple again!"
"Sanlang, let's mobilize all our forces to destroy it!" Several voices said one after another.
"Hey, why didn't A Biao come?" Yang Xiaoyi suddenly said.
"Come on, come on!" As he spoke, Li Biao jumped in panting, followed by my shopkeeper who looked embarrassed. At this moment, there was obviously more sweat on his big round face.
"Third uncle, my shopkeeper and I looked around with torches. There should be three thieves. The two of them came over and went outside the front door first, and then walked around along the west side.
Maybe they discovered that there was an opening in the northwest corner of our house, so we went in through there to get the horses, and then went out to pick up the third person under the honey locust tree beside the official road in front.
Judging from the horse's hoof marks along the way, he must have run along the official road towards the mountains."
His words surprised several people in the room. They didn't expect that Li Biao, who was usually a careless person with a sharp mouth and a monkey's cheeks, could see so carefully while holding a torch. This is really called "you can't judge a book by its appearance."
"Oh, there is someone who can take over? Then he must be a veteran!" Chen Salmon smashed his fist in his hand and said with certainty.
"I still feel a little weird," Liu Hongsheng crossed his arms and smacked his lips:
"After this group of people did bad things, they went to Guandao and left huge horse hoof prints on the river beach waiting for us to chase them. Aren't they afraid of being exposed?"
Everyone was stunned for a moment. General Gu clapped his hands and shouted:
"Liu Jiaerlang is right, those guys seemed to have made up their mind to lure us to the house for a fight.
We have done it ourselves, and we have no grievances with this guy, so why is he looking for trouble? There is a hidden secret behind this!"
His words made everyone in the room take a breath. "Oh, it's true." Zhang Bo nodded:
“When I led people to chase him, the thief was very arrogant and shouted, ‘If you have the ability, come find me.’ Now, listening to everyone’s analysis, it seems that he was deliberately provoking us.
It’s just..., why? This doesn’t make sense!”
"It doesn't make sense because we don't know." Yang Yi said, and then turned to Li Dan to remind:
"Brother Dan, this is not the most important thing.
If we are still busy with this matter after it gets bright tomorrow morning, we will not be able to protect it for ten thousand years, and we will lose the time. That will be a crime that delays the military aircraft!
It's not worth it to ruin your future and reputation by taking such a big mistake for three horses. You should think twice about whether it's serious or not!"