It had just darkened and there was no one on the streets of the small town.
The small town is not as prosperous as the big city, but the lights in every house are particularly warm.
There is a faint fragrance of simple food in the air, and there are vaguely busy figures wearing aprons by the window. Occasionally, dogs barking can be heard from the deep alleys, and children's crisp smiles can be heard.
There are only two inns in the whole town, one is a government-run inn that ordinary people cannot stay in, and the other is the Zhangjia Inn at the east end of the city.
The Zhangjia Inn only has two rooms with two prices, one is Datongpu. Regardless of whether they know each other or not, after paying the price, they all squeezed into the same bed. Each other snored, gritted their teeth, farted, and slurred one after another, and they were full of foot odor.
Bad breath.
The other type is a single room, and the environment is not comfortable, just quiet.
Zhang Xiaoguo was sitting at the table, holding a wine glass in his hand, but he didn't drink for a long time. The sauced meat and vegetables on the table were not touched at all.
From time to time, he would look out the window anxiously, waiting for someone. But it was already dark, and the person he was waiting for still hadn't come.
Time passes slowly, and my heart seems to be crawling with a swarm of ants.
Bang Bang, the bang bang sound of the watchman on the street can be heard outside.
"Hai Shi has arrived, be careful of the flames!"
"It's already midnight, why haven't you come yet?" Zhang Xiaoguo's heart became more and more agitated.
Suddenly, a figure walked straight in from the door.
"All........."
"Sit down, don't talk!" The person who came in was none other than He Guangyi, the commander of the Jinyi Guards. They had booked all the single rooms in the inn and set up a dragnet.
"Why haven't they come yet?" He Guangyi stared at Zhang Xiaoguo, "Didn't you say that everything went smoothly when we met with them in the afternoon?"
Zhang Xiaoguo saw sweat on his forehead and said in panic, "To tell you the truth, when I met the monk in the afternoon, I answered according to the code words Tian Jiucheng said that day, without any mistakes!"
He Guangyi frowned and thought, "Since there is nothing wrong, why don't you see anyone?"
Zhang Xiaoguo bit the bullet and said, "Those monsters never follow common sense..."
They were talking when suddenly someone strode in from outside.
"coming!"
He Guangyi stood up abruptly, glanced at Zhang Xiaoguo, and then quickly ducked into the room next to him.
Footsteps could be heard in the courtyard, and the rhythm of those steps actually matched Zhang Xiaoguo's heartbeat.
Then a not tall figure stood outside the door and knocked gently. Three soft knocks and three hard knocks, all in a clear rhythm. At the same time, in the room next to him, countless pairs of bright eyes were staring at this side.
"Who?" Zhang Xiaoguo's nervous voice trembled.
"Me!" said softly from outside.
Zhang Xiaoguo in the room was startled, because this voice was something he had never heard before, an unfamiliar voice. The owner of this voice was definitely not the Tian Jiucheng he wanted to see.
"Who are you?" Zhang Xiaoguo asked again.
"Why is the donor so forgetful!" Outside the door, the shadow of a young monk appeared under the moonlight. "Didn't the donor make an appointment with the abbot to watch the sunrise this morning? The monk was ordered to come to pick you up...
..”
There was a thump, and Zhang Xiaoguo's heart dropped.
At the same time, He Guangyi, who was in the room next to him, was furious. "Fuck you!" he said, waving his hands fiercely, "Arrest him!"
With a whoop, dozens of guards in golden uniforms rushed out from the room next to them. The young novice monk didn't respond at all and was pushed to the ground.
The movement was so fast that in the blink of an eye, the little novice monk didn't even have time to utter a exclamation, and was directly gagged and dragged into the room.
"He is the only one in the hall, no one else!"
"I just saw it clearly, he came on foot!"
Reports from his subordinates entered He Guangyi's ears one by one, and his face became increasingly ugly.
Then, he slowly walked up to the little novice monk and whispered, "When I ask you a question, you must tell the truth. Any half-truth will directly kill you!"
"Woo!" The little novice monk's eyes were filled with horror.
"Tell me, why are you here?" He Guangyi asked someone to take out the cloth that was blocking the other person's mouth and whispered.
"I...little monk...have come to invite guests on orders from the abbot!"
"Why come late at night?"
"After dinner, the abbot told the young monk to take a nap first, and then get up in the middle of the night and walk to the county town to invite people." The young novice knew his words clearly, "The abbot said that when the young monk and the guests rush back, they will be able to catch the sunrise!"
Cold sweat fell down He Guangyi's forehead.
"Big...Sir...little people really don't know..."
Bang, before Zhang Xiaoguo could finish speaking, He Guangyi turned around and slapped the other person with a big mouth, causing him to lie on the ground with a thud.
"Let others finish it!"
He Guangyi's face was ferocious, "Light the fire and tell General Tang's people to take action. Notify the brothers at each level to take action!"
"Here!"
Ji Gang, who was following He Guangyi, agreed and took out a signal bomb from his sleeve.
It was lit with a bang and placed on the ground. Then, bang bang bang, several fireworks bloomed in the sky, extremely bright.
~~~
"Surround this bird temple for me!"
Officers and soldiers had long been ambushing in the mountains not far from the temple. When they saw the fireworks blooming in the night sky, Qianhu, who was leading the team, shouted loudly.
Hundreds of officers and soldiers who had been waiting impatiently lit torches and rushed towards Kek Lok Temple like wolves and tigers.
The leading officers and soldiers directly threw out the ropes and hung them on the wall of the temple. Then they climbed up and jumped into the courtyard with a knife in their teeth. Then the door was opened from the inside, and the officers and soldiers poured in like a tide.
"Teams A, B, and C will go in, and the T-shaped team will go along the periphery of the bird temple to stop any fish that has slipped through the net!" Qianhu, who led the team, ordered loudly, "Anyone who dares to resist will be shot to death!"
Suddenly, the temple was filled with exclamations and screams from monks.
Occasionally, there was the sound of weapons clashing with gold and iron, but it was immediately covered up by the sound of killing. The mottled Bodhisattva statue was stained red by a dazzling trace of blood at some point.
"Lord Qianhu, we captured thirty-seven bald donkeys and killed one of them." A Baihu, who was covered in blood, loudly reported to Qianhu, "Brothers are not dead or injured." After saying that, he came to Qianhu's side and said,
He said in a low voice, "But judging from my humble position, they are all ordinary bald donkeys. I haven't seen the abbot and others!"
As he spoke, he whispered even lower, "Sir, brother Sou Sou?"
The Qianhu looked at the shivering monks kneeling in the courtyard and nodded slightly, "Well, move more quickly, I guess the Jin Yiwei is coming!"
Hundreds of households were overjoyed. They picked up a monk and put the knife on his neck. "Tell me, where is the place where you hide the money?"
"Little monk, no...no...ah!"
The head of a hundred households was cut off with one knife. "What a stain!" He picked up another one and glared, "Say, where's the money?"
"In the abbot's house... there must be something in the abbot's house..."
As soon as the words fell, many officers and soldiers rushed to the abbot's room and started rummaging through boxes and cabinets.
At this time, the roar of horse hooves also sounded outside the temple gate.
He Guangyi didn't wait for the horse to stop and jumped down directly, "Did you catch it?"
Qianhu, who was sitting under the statue of Bodhisattva with his majestic horse and golden sword, stood up and said, "I have seen the commander-in-chief. I started to take action when I saw the signal from your Majesty. All the bald donkeys in the Bird Temple are here!" After saying that, he paused.
He paused, "But I didn't catch the abbot!"
He Guangyi looked ugly and said directly to the person behind him, "Go to the trial!"
After hearing this, Ji Gang and his men arrested several monks and entered the next room.
Not long after, Ji Gang came out and said, "Sir, they said they haven't seen the abbot since dinner. Not only have they not seen the abbot, but they haven't seen any of the elders in the temple either!"
"Can I still fly?" He Guangyi said angrily.
As he said that, he looked at the thousands of households and said, "I asked you to monitor this temple, but you didn't find anything unusual? Didn't you see anyone coming in or out?"
"When it was still daylight, people drove carriages into the temple. The humble people looked at it and said they were delivering food to the temple." The Qianhu said.
"You..." He Guangyi was furious, "Why didn't you stop me? Why didn't you check?"
Even though the opponent is just a Qianhu, as the commander-in-chief of Xi'an, Qianhu, the personal soldier beside the Shaanxi Dusi, is a powerful general with the rank of general.
This kind of military man has always looked down upon people like Jin Yiwei. Now seeing He Guangyi being rude to him, he rolled his eyes and said stiffly, "Tang Zhentai asked us to help you, it is not your responsibility!"
"Besides, Commander, you just told me to wait here and listen to orders!"
"You idiot!" He Guangyi was furious.
At this moment, bursts of cheers suddenly erupted from the room not far away.
"But there is a discovery?" He Guangyi was overjoyed.
Immediately afterwards, I heard a message coming from the room, "Brothers, I found the bald donkey's money!"
