The masked guard fell to the ground instantly, and what was chilling was that his right hand was replaced by an extremely sharp steel claw.
At this moment, it had just penetrated Ma Jiang's chest and was still bleeding.
"move on."
The guard shouted coldly, as if the killing just now had nothing to do with him.
Du Hongqing hugged his companion's body, but he could only grit his teeth tightly and hide his deep hatred.
The carriage and the masked guard drove past indifferently.
As for those companions who were equally indifferent, no matter what they thought in their hearts, they did not dare to show even a little bit of dissatisfaction.
In fact, they didn't even care to see the death of their companions.
Being a little sentimental, he could only use his sympathetic eyes to secretly signal Du Hongqing to leave quickly.
But Ma Jiang's death also made them feel as if a rabbit had died and a fox had died.
But it's useless.
They had already realized one thing when their first companion was thrown to death for bumping into someone in the carriage - they were the victims.
If you can successfully complete the mission and be lucky enough to come back alive, you will be extremely lucky.
In the end, Du Hongqing could only take Ma Jiang off to the roadside and bury a thin layer of snow to prevent him from dying in the wilderness.
Then he put away his sad expression, kept shrinking his neck, and followed the team silently, making himself an unconscious puppet.
Finally, when the sky was getting dark, they saw a narrow pass in the distance.
Anyone who knows the road knows that if you pass through it, you will reach Elder Zhao's territory.
Those who were lucky enough to survive until now could not help but breathe a sigh of relief.
The thought came to this point, as long as they could complete the task obediently, no more deaths would occur.
The masked guard followed the daily rules, and when the last light was about to disappear, he signaled everyone to take a break.
Everyone immediately got off their horses and performed their duties.
Some people are responsible for collecting firewood, and some are responsible for cooking.
But they all have to stay far away from the carriage, otherwise
In the dark night, they huddled together to keep warm.
Otherwise, even if they freeze to death and starve to death, the people on the carriage and the masked guards will never be afraid.
Drinking snow water that didn't taste very good and nibbling cold hard dry food, these people sent by the Presbyterian Church could only look secretly in the direction of the carriage.
Fortunately, the people in the carriage did not order them around.
Because there was plenty of charcoal and food on the carriage.
Not long after, the tempting aroma of broth came.
Those people gnawed on the dry food and could only twitch their noses behind their backs, trying to lighten the dry taste with fragrance.
When the people inside have finished their meals, the remaining leftovers will be dumped directly on the roadside.
Some people couldn't help it anymore and wanted to dig some out and eat them.
In hunger and cold In front of the cold, human dignity seems to have become no longer important.
But no one dared to go.
They were really afraid of the people in the carriage.
As long as those things are not for them, no one is allowed to pick them up even if they are still on the roadside. Otherwise, it will be a cruel punishment.
Du Hongqing had been sitting in the corner, leaning against his horse, chewing the dry food in his hand dully.
Under the cover of the crowd, his eyes would occasionally fall on the carriage.
But soon, he looked away and lowered his head, wondering what he was thinking about.
Both parties gradually became quiet.
Du Hongqing covered himself with all the thick clothes, leaving only a pair of eyes, looking tiredly and sadly at the waning moon in the sky.
He didn't know how long he could live, and he even pessimistically thought that maybe all of them would die here.
Even if he could survive, he didn't know how long he could endure such inhuman torture.
Wrapped in layers of sleeves, she held a small gold leaf tightly in her hand.
It was Ma Jiang's relic, something he always hung around his neck and carried close to his body.
He knew that Jin Yeye was Ma Jiang's youngest daughter who had just turned one year old, and she had won a fortune when she captured Zhou.
He still remembered how happy Ma Jiang was that day.
But now, Ma Jiang can never go back to visit that lovely little girl.
Suddenly, his hand tightened, and the sharp tip of the gold leaf pierced into his palm.
The pain made him sober in an instant.
At this time, he heard a sound coming from the carriage.
Listening carefully, although he did not dare to move, the sound sounded like someone walking back and forth, and he even heard a suppressed shout.
After about half an hour, the voices quieted down.
At the same time, he heard footsteps approaching and was so frightened that he quickly closed his eyes.
The footsteps got closer and closer, and finally, he heard a very subtle sound of clothes rubbing against each other.
After that, an unusual smell suddenly hit me.
He immediately closed his mouth and nose.
Fortunately, he was wrapped up tightly before, so it couldn't be seen from the outside.
After that, he heard the sound of water flowing, and smelled some blood on the tip of his nose.
Du Hongqing's heart trembled.
Could it be that someone wants to kill someone in the dark?
But after the sound of water passed, the footsteps became distant again.
He originally wanted to open his eyes to check, but the strong sense of crisis made him continue to close his eyes tightly, pretending to be sleepy.
About another time after burning the incense, the sound of footsteps that I had never heard before suddenly appeared from
came to my ears.
Just now, someone was quietly lurking next to him!
Du Hongqing felt that the hairs all over his body were standing on end. It was not until all movement disappeared and his companions gradually woke up at dawn that he pretended to wake up and opened his eyes.
His eyes quickly turned around and he found that everyone was there.
So what happened last night?
When there is something on his mind, he naturally loses focus frequently.
But every time my eyes fell on the carriage, huge doubts inevitably arose in my heart.
Could it be that the man in the carriage was really murderous just out of a momentary bad taste?
And are they really just bad luck, so they were sent by the Presbyterian Church to pay for their lives?
A series of question marks lingered in Du Hongqing's mind.
Finally, after several days of running around, they finally reached their destination.
At this time, Lin Mengya had already received the news.
It's just that Aunt Fang has been working hard all day and night, but Uncle Huo still shows no sign of waking up.
"Master, we are already outside the city."
Cairu keeps her updated with news.
Lin Mengya nodded and continued to look at Aunt Fang and Uncle Huo's room.
"how many people?"
"There is a large carriage, and a dozen guards, and there are also twenty or thirty others in total. But our people said that they still have people hiding in the dark, and their martial arts are good, and our people don't dare to
Too close." Cairu replied truthfully.
Lin Mengya nodded and turned back to her man's side.
Long Tianyu seemed not to be disturbed by the situation outside.
Around him, the world seemed to quiet down.
"You came back just in time, look what good things I found in the study."
He waved and motioned for Lin Mengya to come over and take a look.
Yu has not been idle these days.
You must know that in such a large hot spring resort, if you want to hide something, it will be too hard to find it.
Lin Mengya is also very busy now, so this important task is given to him.
Lin Mengya saw a stack of yellowed drawings on his lap.
She looked at it carefully and couldn't help but said in surprise, "Isn't this the Hot Spring Village? Doesn't it also have the architectural drawings of the Zhao Mansion?"
Long Tianyu nodded, his eyebrows slightly raised, his expression very happy.
"That's right. Another thing we didn't expect is that the underground secret room here is connected to the underground secret room in the Zhao Mansion."
"But, I have been to the secret room in Zhao's study. Although it is very hidden, I am sure there are no other secret doors."
"That's why I said they are cunning." Long Tianyu pointed at the drawings of Hot Spring Village and then the drawings of Zhao Mansion.
"Look at the Zhao family and the hot spring village. Is there something wrong with the courtyard part?"
If he hadn't said anything, Lin Mengya really wouldn't have had much idea.
Although she couldn't understand the floor plan, the system could simulate a physical model based on the drawings.
"What about these two yards? The front yard is obviously larger than the backyard, but in fact, the backyard is larger than the front yard. How could it be?"
She was familiar with both places, so of course she would remember them correctly.
Long Tianyu rubbed his wife's head, and patiently explained in a better mood, "This is also a kind of mechanism technique. By using the orientation and structure of the house, you can easily cover up places you don't want to be discovered."
"Think about it, is there some place that even if we live in the yard our whole life, we will never be able to remember that there is such a place."
When he said this, Lin Mengya understood.
indeed.
Most people rely on vision to judge direction.
If the big house blocks the small house in front, if you only look at the back of the big house, you will certainly not think that there is a small house in front.
Similar to this principle, whether it is Hot Spring Village or Zhao Mansion.
Some small corners are "hidden" in this way.
It doesn't matter even if someone finds out.
Firstly, such a hut must be guarded secretly; secondly, as long as the owner of the house doesn't say anything, no one will think of breaking open the door to see what's inside.
"This Zhao Laosi is really cunning!"
Lin Mengya couldn't help but sigh.
Unexpectedly, Long Tianyu poked her forehead and asked her meaningfully.
"Do you really think that Zhao Laosi came up with all this?"
She was stunned for a moment and then understood.
Long Tianyu put the drawings back into the box, pulled the person over, and whispered, "Zhao Laosi is indeed a bit smart, and his methods are vicious enough. But this kind of mechanism technique is not what he can think of."
"What's more, I heard that Huo Shujiang personally supervised the construction of Zhao Mansion. Many places were changed according to his ideas. No matter how long Zhao Laosi stretched his hand, he could not completely control Huo Shujiang's ideas.
"
"Otherwise, he wouldn't have forced them to take back the old lady, and would even secretly instigate Fang Rao and instigate Zhao Ziyan."
indeed.
Although Huo Shujiang was forcibly transformed into another person, he was originally a smart and strong personality.
After more than ten years, Zhao Laosi could not fully control him, let alone Huo Shujiang, who had just been transformed and whose psychological hints and acceptance levels were not as high.
"So, is there someone else helping him? Could it be the person behind him?" Lin Mengya guessed.
Long Tianyu put his head on her belly, gently caressed and greeted his daughter.
"We have to investigate this slowly. In short, Huo Shujiang's identity and the reason for selecting him may have profound meanings."
