It was approaching dusk when we approached a remote village. Looking around, we saw a desolate and sparsely populated place in the distance. We could only see vast fields and scattered houses and villages.
Jiang Hengdang rode a tall horse in front with an even expression, and there were four riders behind him.
Among the four of them, one looked like a frail scholar, with an extraordinary handsome face, a gentleman's modest and gentle appearance, and he was clearly the Su Yu whom he had met before.
In addition to this, the other three people were stout, but their faces were almost the same. They were middle-aged men carved out of the same mold. They also rode horses and followed them from a distance.
These four people were the subordinates selected by Jiang Heng. According to the rules of the Zhenfu Division, every official member of the Black Guards could choose four subordinates to follow them on missions.
Su Yu was acquainted with him before, and Jiang Heng felt that this person was not far from being a top grader, but his martial arts attainments were slightly lacking.
As for the other three, they were the three Yang brothers selected by Jiang Heng from the school grounds.
Although these three people are still some distance away from reaching the top grade, their basic skills are not bad at all.
The three people are Yang Bing, Yang Wu and Yang Wen.
However, Jiang Heng preferred to call them Dalang, Erlang and Sanlang.
Sanlang and Erlang are not good at words.
On the contrary, Yang Dalang was very good at conversation. He soon chatted a lot with Su Yujiang along the way, and the relationship became closer.
As I gradually got to know him, I found that this person was very stable, and his temperament was much calmer and more reliable than Erlang and Sanlang.
Saburo has a more straightforward temperament and a bit more of a charlatanism, more like a child who has not grown up.
As for Erlang, Jiang Heng felt that he was the only one among the three brothers who didn't talk much, but was more decisive in doing things.
This is the so-called type of person who is ruthless and doesn't talk much.
The three of them were chatting and laughing, and soon greeted each other, and naturally their relationship became much closer.
Although the three brothers were considered to be arrogant people among the group of Qiu Ba in the school, they also knew the gap between them and qualified warriors, so naturally they did not dare to be presumptuous in front of Jiang Heng.
What's more, the person in front of me is a ruthless character who can almost kill Mr. Yue with one punch during the assessment!
The three brothers have a good relationship, and all three are good at swordsmanship and combined attack. They can compete for a long time even against first-level warriors. The three brothers have different personalities. The eldest is good at dancing and talking and is well versed in the ways of the world. The second is not good at speaking.
But he was very serious about his work. The third child had a hot temper and was full of gangsterism.
This place is quite deserted, and there are obviously many fields and ridges, but there are not many people working there.
Occasionally I saw an old man working hard in the fields.
The old man was an honest farmer in the countryside. How had he seen these tall men riding tall horses with weapons on their bodies?
My legs were trembling with fear. I just glanced at it from a distance, then bent down and stood aside for fear of offending these gentlemen from the city.
He even exhaled his breath in several parts.
Jiang Heng rode his horse forward and looked down at the old man not far away, and said in a calm tone: "It's really weird here. It's obviously farming time, but there are few people in the countryside."
"Yes! Sir, a few days ago a merchant who passed by this place reported to the government office that this place was strange. This merchant passes by this place every month. According to him, this latest time he passed by this place, he noticed that there were a lot of people missing from the village.
The merchant felt something strange, so he turned around and asked the merchants he knew. After asking, he learned that several groups of merchants who were walking along this trail had disappeared mysteriously recently.
If you can't give birth to a child and don't see a corpse, then you should report it to the government!
The government office was handed over to our Zhenfu Division the day before yesterday!" Dalang turned his head slightly and whispered to Jiang Heng.
Looking around, he saw that he didn't see many people. Jiang Heng then lowered his head to look at the old man, forced out a warm smile and said: "Old man, we were passing by here, but I wonder why there is no one cultivating it during farming time? Leave it alone.
Isn’t this great fertile land wasted in vain?”
Hearing this, the old man looked at Jiang Heng and his group strangely. Perhaps because of Jiang Heng's gentle words, the old man relaxed a lot.
"I wonder how many of them are...?"
"It's like this. We are travelers on the road. I am not familiar with this place. I wonder if I can stay overnight in your place? Don't worry, I am a kind person. I will certainly give you some reward!"
Unexpectedly, when the old man heard this, his face turned aside, he waved his hands and frowned: "You guys, please leave this place as soon as possible before it gets dark!"
Seeing the old man like this, Jiang Heng's heart sank slightly, but with a puzzled look on his face he said: "Old man, why is this? We are really short of men and horses, and we hope that the old man can do something convenient for us brothers.
Are you going to sleep in the middle of nowhere?"
"It's better to sleep in the wilderness than here!"
The old man ignored Jiang Heng's plea and flatly refused again.
"You old guy is so unreasonable! Do you think you are treating me as a strongman?"
Yang Sanlang had a hot temper. Seeing how ignorant the old man was, he patted the hole in the money bag around his waist and scolded him.
People who practice martial arts are inherently strong and muscular, and even Su Yu, the most elegant among Jiang Heng's group, has a body that makes his robes bulge.
The old man had never seen anything like this before, and he was so frightened that he quickly shrank his neck.
"Hey! Mo Yan scared the old man!" Jiang Heng hurriedly yelled, then turned to look at the old man again, still saying gently: "Old man, you see that my brothers and I are really helpless, so why not make it easier."
Hearing this, the old man could only sigh and said: "Oh! It's not that the old man doesn't want you to stay overnight. It's just that there has been a lot of evil in our village recently, and dozens of people have disappeared. It is really inconvenient in the village, but a few distinguished guests still
Leave quickly.
Twenty miles further west from here is the next village. You can go and stay there for the night!"
Jiang: "You, an old man, are not afraid here every day. We are all young and strong men, so what should we be afraid of?"
Jiang Heng said a little suspiciously.
The old man sighed helplessly: "Well, if it weren't for me, old man, who has no relatives, I would have gone far away. If I stayed here, I would just guard this three-quarter acre of land to make a living. We are really evil here.
, you guys better not let your quick pleasure endanger your life!"
Yang Sanlang was impatient. After hearing this, he directly pulled out the sword from his waist and cursed: "You old man is so verbose and ignorant. If you talk any more, I will chop it up for you first!"
The old man glanced at Sanlang with some fear, and then helplessly led Jiang Heng and his party into the village.
The village is indeed quite quiet and deserted, without the slightest presence of people. There is no movement at the door of every house, and some even open the door and it is pitch black inside. There are even very few signs of the presence of poultry in the village.
There are not many houses in the village. It can be seen that this is not a very big village. There are probably only about a hundred households in total. Not a single person was seen along the way.
After walking for a while, I saw that most of the surrounding houses were thatched houses, and occasionally there were some houses made of mud bricks, which were considered to be relatively well-off families in the village.
However, as they walked, everyone paused slightly, because not far away was a very huge mansion!
This can be said to be a first-class large family in this village. It covers an area of nearly dozens of acres. The white brick walls and tiles are considered a good and good residence even in the county town.