Three days later.

Tianyuan Ancient Town.

After a long journey, Hu Fei and everyone finally arrived at the destination.

This is an ancient town located on the border between the Ming Dynasty and the Bei Yuan Dynasty. Neither side has sent troops to garrison it. It looks like a no-care zone.

Hu Fei sat on horseback and looked at the ancient buildings in the town. He finally understood why this place was called an ancient town, because he had only seen those buildings in historical materials, and they were very far back, even older than the Ming Dynasty.

To be long lasting.

The streets are slightly narrow, but there is an endless flow of people. Merchants from all over the world can be seen everywhere. It seems that this place has become the center of trade between the Han and Yuan people.

Since there were many pedestrians on the street, Chundie and Pei Jie, one on the left and the other on the right, gathered closely around Hu Fei and carefully stared at everyone passing by.

Seeing that it was getting late, everyone found an inn to settle down.

The name of the inn is Mingtong, and it was opened by a Han Chinese.

After settling in the room, Hu Fei went to the lobby on the first floor, sat on a table in the middle, ordered a bottle of wine and two side dishes, and drank while looking at the lively streets outside the door.

Chundie stood in front of Hu Fei and was responsible for pouring the wine. Thirteen Golden Cavalry guards guarded every corner of the hall on the first floor, forming a tight defensive formation.

Pei Jie had already gone out with the Jin Yiwei people, responsible for inquiring about the whereabouts of Li Yu and Zhao Quande.

The owner of the inn, an old man over fifty years old, was standing at the door of the inn, looking around expectantly, looking for the second group of guests.

Hu Fei and the others walked in decisively because they saw that this inn was owned by Han people.

"Can we earn back our capital by opening an inn in a place like this?"

While drinking, Hu Fei looked at the boss at the door and asked lightly.

Hearing Hu Fei's words, the boss turned to look at Hu Fei, pursed his lips and smiled, but did not answer.

"why are you laughing?"

Hu Fei was a little curious and continued to ask.

"Is this your first time out of seclusion, young master?"

The boss leaned on the door frame and said slowly while looking at the street.

"Where did you see that?"

Hu Fei asked with a smile.

The boss hesitated for a moment, turned to look at Hu Fei, then looked outside the door, and finally returned to the inn with his neck hunched, approaching Hu Fei.

"Look at the tender skin and tender flesh of the young master. It seems that he rarely travels around. He must come from a good family. This must be the first time he has come to such a borderland, right?"

The boss looked at Hu Fei and started to make comments about him.

"You are very good at judging people."

Hu Fei smiled, nodded approvingly and said.

"That's natural!"

The boss raised his head proudly and showed no humility.

I have been running an inn in Tianyuan Ancient Town for more than ten years, and I have met so many people of all kinds that I have naturally developed some skills in identifying people.

"You haven't told me yet, can you make back your money by opening an inn in a place like this?"

Hu Fei smiled and asked again.

There was no news from Pei Jie yet, so he was bored for a moment, so he just started chatting with his boss.

"The capital has been recovered long ago. After all, this place has been open for more than ten years, otherwise it would have been closed down long ago."

"Usually, the business here is good, and the entire inn can be filled up almost every day by merchants. But for some reason, the number of merchants has dropped significantly in the past half month."

"Moreover, these merchants all arrive and return on the same day. They will leave even if the goods are not sold out. I don't know what kind of evil they have committed."

The boss frowned and said in confusion, with a trace of sadness between his eyebrows.

After hearing what the boss said, Hu Fei hesitated for a moment, and then couldn't help but squint his eyes.

When something goes wrong, there must be a monster, something must have happened.

"It is said that this is a Sangui zone. Neither the Ming Dynasty nor the Bei Yuan Dynasty sent troops to garrison here. You have been here for more than ten years, but have you ever seen anyone from the Bei Yuan court here?"

Hu Fei looked at the boss, thought for a moment, and asked lightly.

"You have already said that this is a no-nonsense zone. Since this is the case, the two imperial courts will naturally not send people here for no reason, so this place is usually filled with merchants."

"This is the trade center connecting Daming and Beiyuan. Merchants from both sides come here one after another to exchange what they need, which adds a lot of excitement to this border town."

The boss pointed to the door and explained clearly.

After listening to the boss's words, Hu Fei nodded thoughtfully.

"Young Master's identity is unusual at first glance. He can't be from the imperial court, right? What's your mission in this ancient town?"

The boss hesitated for a moment, looked at Hu Fei and asked.

Hearing the boss's words, Chundie's face darkened and she couldn't help but take a step forward. She was about to walk towards the boss, but Hu Fei reached out to stop her.

Seeing Chundie's actions, the boss was stunned for a moment and couldn't help but take a step back, with a trace of fear on his face.

"Why do you say that?"

Hu Fei looked at the boss and asked with a smile.

"Looking at the posture of your guards, I know that your identity is unusual. Looking at your words and deeds, it is not difficult to see some clues."

The boss smiled, pointed at the Thirteen Golden Cavalry Guards guarding the hall, and said slowly.

"You do have good eyesight, but I'm not here to perform any tasks, I'm just here to find someone."

Hu Fei looked at the boss in surprise and said calmly.

He didn't expect that in this borderland, even a small innkeeper could develop such a skill of observing words and emotions.

"Looking for someone? Who are you looking for?"

When the boss heard this, he couldn't help but asked curiously.

"Someone stole something from me. I have to find him and get it back."

Hu Fei smiled and said lightly.

"Thief?!"

"Then it seems that something very valuable must have been stolen. Otherwise, why would the young master come so far after me?"

The boss looked surprised and then said thoughtfully.

Hu Fei smiled and said nothing.

Seeing that Hu Fei no longer paid attention to him, the boss wisely turned around and returned to the door of the inn. After looking outside for a long time, he found that there were still no guests coming. He sighed helplessly, curled his neck and turned back to the small room next to the counter.

Hu Fei took a sip of wine and watched his boss return to the room. He then turned to look outside the door with a faint sneer on his lips.

I don’t know how long it took, but night gradually fell, and the number of pedestrians on the street gradually became sparse. Even the merchants collected their things and left slowly.

At this moment, the sound of footsteps was heard, and Pei Jie, who went to inquire about the news, finally returned to the inn.

"Master Jiu."

As soon as Pei Jie entered the hall, he respectfully greeted Hu Fei.

Hu Fei waved his hand and motioned for Pei Jie to come into the room before talking, then got up and walked upstairs.

Pei Jie nodded and followed Hu Fei upstairs.

In the innermost room on the second floor, Hu Fei was sitting at the table, with Pei Jie, Chun Die, Ye Qing, and the guide Fang Tian standing aside respectfully.

"Tell me, what did you find out?"

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Hu Fei gestured to Pei Jie and said calmly.

"Master Jiu, after my subordinates led people to investigate, it was confirmed that Li Yu and his wife had indeed appeared in this town, but they have disappeared now."

"My subordinates led people to search almost the entire town, but could not find any trace of them. It seems that they have left the town."

Pei Jie looked at Hu Fei and said solemnly.

After listening to Pei Jie's report, everyone present looked disappointed and seemed to feel a little heavy.

But Hu Fei didn't change his expression and looked like he had expected such a result.

"If my guess is correct, the two of them should have defected to Beiyuan, and I'm afraid we have walked into a trap that the enemy has set in advance."

Hu Fei hesitated for a moment and said calmly.

"trap?!"

After hearing Hu Fei's words, the faces of the people around him changed drastically, and they looked at Hu Fei in disbelief.

"Master Jiu, what did you find?"

Pei Jie looked at Hu Fei and asked in surprise.

"From the moment we entered Tianyuan Ancient Town, I felt that there was something strange everywhere here. As for the trap, the owner of the inn just told me about it."

Hu Fei nodded, smiled bitterly and said.

"Innkeeper?! He's a fake?! I'll catch him now!"

Chundie was stunned for a moment, then walked out.

"No need, he is not a fake, there is no problem, the problem is those merchants!"

Hu Fei immediately stopped Chundie and said in a deep voice.

He had noticed something was wrong a long time ago, but he never realized where it came from. But after he had a conversation with the owner of the inn, everything became clear.

After listening to Hu Fei's words, everyone looked at each other with confusion on their faces...


Chapter completed!