How dare you refuse to do the work that your senior brother has arranged for you?"
Xie Wenlun pinched his waist and twisted his neck.
Lin Xiaodong nodded and said with a smile: "Dare."
"How dare you not listen to what I say?
Believe it or not, I will drive you down the mountain!"
Lin Binhai bared his teeth and roared.
"You have the final say?"
Lin Xiaodong tilted his head and stared.
Lin Binhai was furious: "Don't think that the master will favor you! Outer disciples must abide by the rules of outer disciples. If everyone were like you, wouldn't this mountain be in chaos?"
Xie Wenlun grinned and said, "If you become an outer disciple and don't work for a month, even the head master won't speak for you!"
Lin Xiaodong pouted: "Then go find the leader!"
"You have the guts!"
Lin Binhai turned around and left, followed by Lin Xiaodong, and the three of them went to find Taoist Linquan.
Linquan Taoist was in the backyard pavilion when Lin Binhai rushed in angrily and shouted: "Teacher! Lin Xiaodong has been an outer disciple for a month and has not done any work. I asked him to work and he dared to talk back to me! Why is this so?
No rules!"
"You, an outer disciple, don't even listen to your senior brother?
Do you still want to stay in the mountains?"
Xie Wenlun shouted.
Lin Xiaodong said calmly: "I don't want to."
"you?"
Lin Binhai was so happy that he was speechless.
Xie Wenlun said to Linquan Taoist: "Teacher, did you hear it?
He doesn’t take you and the Lingquan Sect seriously at all, for such an arrogant person, drive him down the mountain!”
Linquan Taoist looked at Lin Binhai and Xie Wenlun, knowing clearly what these two people were thinking, and asked Lin Xiaodong: "How long have you not been home?
Let’s go down the mountain and have a look.”
"yes."
Lin Xiaodong turned his head and pursed his lips, looking provocatively at Lin Binhai bowing to Taoist Linquan.
Seeing that Taoist Linquan refused to pursue the case, Lin Binhai pointed at Lin Xiaodong and said angrily: "Teacher, if all the outer disciples are like Lin Xiaodong, then no one will do the work on the mountain in the future!"
Linquan Taoist blinked his eyes and said: "Lin Xiaodong has to go down the mountain for a while. Let's talk about this when we come back."
"Teacher, student, take your leave."
Lin Xiaodong cupped his hands at Taoist Linquan and went back.
Seeing this, Xie Wenlun wanted to say something else, but Linquan Taoist waved his hand: "Everyone, go out."
The two could only follow them out. Lin Binhai threatened Lin Xiaodong and said: "Just wait, if you don't clean this toilet, I will drive you down the mountain!"
"I'm waiting for you to drive me away. I can't wait to see how many tricks you have."
Lin Xiaodong turned around and bared his teeth at Lin Binhai.
Xie Wenlun said fiercely: "Don't forget that you have only cultivated for three years, and you are still far behind me and senior brother!"
Lin Xiaodong nodded: "Don't rush and take your time."
After several people said harsh words, they went back.
Lin Xiaodong returned to the room and saw Pan Xiaoxing outside the door and asked him: "What's wrong?"
Are the Second Senior Brother and the Fifth Senior Brother causing trouble for you again?"
"fine."
Lin Xiaodong picked up his luggage calmly.
Pan Xiaoxing stared and asked, "What do you want to do?"
Lin Xiaodong smiled: "I will go down the mountain for a while and go home to have a look."
"Didn't your family...have everyone taken away by Mr. Lu from the county seat?"
Lin Xiaodong's eyes flashed fiercely: "That's why I went back."
"Then, take care of yourself!"
In Pan Xiaoxing's reluctant sight, Lin Xiaodong went down the mountain alone.
Not long after walking on the dirt road, he met a donkey cart going to the county seat, and Lin Xiaodong got a ride.
At noon the next day, less than five miles away from Baodi County, Lin Xiaodong suddenly felt a cool breeze and asked the driver: "Where is this? It's so cool."
The driver looked into the bamboo forest next to him and said, "There is a Shizetan here. The water is very clean. During the hottest time in summer, the water is cool and there is still a layer of water vapor floating in it."
"It feels like a good place. You can visit it when you come back."
Lin Xiaodong planned to wait until the matters in the county were settled and come here to take a look when he had free time.
In the evening, the donkey cart arrived in Baodi County. Lin Xiaodong thanked the cart driver and went to the place where Lu Hongda was repairing the garden alone, but found that there was no one there.
"Strange, where have all the people gone?"
After waiting for a while, no one was seen. After thinking about it, Lin Xiaodong decided to go into the city to inquire. When he arrived in the city, he saw a restaurant on the street. It was time to have dinner, so he walked in.
"Master Dao, please come in."
The waiter invited Lin Xiaodong to come in and sit down. Lin Xiaodong said: "A bowl of soup cakes and a plate of cold-cut mutton."
"Okay Master Dao, wait a moment Master Dao!"
After a while, the food was brought, and Lin Xiaodong took the opportunity to inquire: "Man, I want to ask you something."
"Master Dao, please tell me."
"Isn't Mr. Lu from the magistrate's house outside the city repairing his garden? Why isn't he repairing it now?"
After hearing this, the waiter raised his head and looked around, then bowed down and whispered: "Master Tao, you don't know that the wind has been very tight recently."
"oh?"
Lin Xiaodong raised his head.
"Master Wen Songcheng, the censor of Shannan Road, was coming to inspect. Master Lu received the news and scolded Mr. Lu. The garden was stopped and all the people arrested were locked up."
Lin Xiaodong hurriedly asked: "Do you know where he is imprisoned?"
The clerk said: "He was imprisoned in the county jail from the beginning, but the county magistrate Dai Jishidai cared about the people and couldn't bear to let the villagers suffer every day, so he secretly went to the jail to release him, but the news leaked out."
The clerk shook his head and said regretfully: "Master Dai has been charged with robbery and is in prison. He will be executed soon. As for those villagers, I don't know where they have been imprisoned."
Lin Xiaodong couldn't help but stand in awe after hearing this: "Master Dai spared no effort to save others. He is a good official."
"What's the use? I'll be beheaded soon."
Lin Xiaodong nodded, took two taels of silver and handed it to the waiter: "Thank you!"
"Master Tao, use it slowly!"
Lin Xiaodong thought while eating: "This Master Dai was wrongly imprisoned to save the people. We cannot let him die like this."
After dinner, Lin Xiaodong and his clerk inquired about the location of the county jail and went there alone.
The county jail is located southwest of the county government office. It was already dark when Lin Xiaodong arrived here. There was a large courtyard with two guards with knives at the door. There were many patrolmen in the courtyard.
"We must first know where Master Dai is before we can rescue him."
Standing on the top of the wall, Lin Xiaodong looked down and saw that there were two cells in the north and south. He couldn't find them one by one.
So he came to the gate, and two guards stopped him and asked, "What are you doing?"
"Sir, I'm here to visit the prison, and I want to visit Mr. Dai."
Lin Xiaodong cupped his hands.
The guard sneered after hearing this: "Where is Mr. Dai?
The only death row prisoner here is Dai Jishi!"
Lin Xiaodong chuckled, took out twenty taels of silver, and said, "This is to honor the two adults!"
The two guards exchanged glances, took the money, and one of them shook his head: "Come with me, tell me if you have anything to say."
The guards brought Lin Xiaodong to Dai Jishi's cell.
Lin Xiaodong looked inside and saw an unkempt young man with disheveled hair. His feet were tied with iron chains and his ankles were worn out. His face was so dark that he could barely see his facial features, but his eyes were shining brightly.