He tied up the bundle, put it into a small stone cave, and pressed it down with a small stone. Then he swept away the traces and took Xia Xin away.
Walking, walking, Zhou Yin hugged Xia Xin into his arms, his voice trembling slightly, "Xin Niang, I'm sorry for you..."
The voice was almost inaudible, but Xinniang heard it clearly. Her eyes were reddish. She pushed him away and saw a man in black standing behind with a sword, looking at them up and down with a pair of sharp eyes.
The uneasiness that had been lingering in my heart suddenly fell into place.
The man in black looked at them indifferently and asked: "Did you meet two people at the foot of the mountain before? The donkey cart they rode belonged to you and your wife?"
Zhou Yin pulled Xia Xin behind him to protect him, nodded and said: "Yes, we will hand over all the money. There is really nothing left. Hero, can you let us go?"
Xia Xin hid behind Zhou Yin and nodded repeatedly.
The man in black sneered, holding his sword and approaching the two of them, "Do you think I am a fool? Will Bai Qi steal people's property? Where is the thing he gave you?"
"I don't know who you are talking about, but we did meet two people at the foot of the mountain before. They were very fierce and said they wanted to borrow our car. I didn't want to borrow it, but they were covered in blood and looked fierce. We were scared.
I left the car to them and ran away for my life."
The man in black looked past him towards Xia Xin, and said with a ferocious smile: "If you don't tell me, I will find a way to make you tell me. If the thing is not on Master Bai Qi and his servant, it must be on you."
After that, he jumped deep and landed behind Zhou Yin, reaching out to grab Xia Xin...
But Zhou Yin was not slow in his movements. When he leaped up, he quickly turned around and stood in front of Xia Xin. He stretched out his hand to push her to the other side and shouted: "Run, run towards me and you just now."
Run in the direction you said——"
Xia Xin fell to the ground and saw Zhou Yin fighting with the man in black, so she wiped the tears on her face, got up and ran away.
She had not run far when Zhou Yin was kicked in front of her. Xia Xin screamed and rushed to help him. She saw that he had been slashed on the face with a sword, the wound was bone-deep, and there were wounds on his waist and abdomen.
There is a bloody hole that keeps bleeding...
She was so frightened that she reached out to cover his wound, "Zhou Yin, Zhou Yin..."
Zhou Yin tried his best to sit up, pulled Xia Xin behind him, raised his eyes to look at the man in black who kept approaching him, a sharp look flashed in his eyes, but the next moment his face was pleading, "Hero, we really don't have what you said
If you don’t believe me, I will take off my clothes and show it to you, and ask a good man to let me go. I have a sixty-year-old mother at home and a child waiting to be fed. I really can’t die..."
"If you're afraid of death, hand over your things..."
Zhou Yin almost gritted his teeth. He defended Xia Xin with a tangle in his heart. He was reluctant to let Xia Xin die here, but...
He raised his eyes and looked at the men in black. These people had some speculations and could kill him without evidence. How many people died for that evidence...
At this moment, many things flashed through Zhou Yin's mind, including brothers and sisters-in-law, daughters, and master and servant Bai Qi. Finally, he turned slightly to look at his wife.
Xia Xin burst into tears, hugged him from behind, and said with a sigh of relief: "He will not let me go..."
Yes, they can't escape if they don't hand over the things. If they hand over the things, they will die even more. Moreover, the baggage also contains the household registration and road directions that they brought with them when they went to pick up the things. Once they find out, they may not be able to escape again.
Get rid of the roots and find Qili Village...
Zhou Yin suppressed the sourness in his heart, held Xia Xin's hand tightly, and whispered: "I'm sorry for you, I was too confident..."
I thought no one would come after me.
Xia Xin shook her head, "No, you are not sorry for me."
Although the sword was in front of him, Zhou Yin was not willing to give up. He grabbed a handful of dirt, raised it when the man in black came to him, stood up, grabbed Xia Xin and ran away.
He said to Xia Xin: "Even if you can't run, you have to run. You must run forward and don't look back. My daughter is still waiting for you at home. Maybe God will take pity on us and let us live?"
Because of Zhou Yin's words, Xia Xin supported him and kept running.
The man in black who was blinded by the dirt was furious and filled with rage. Seeing that they wanted to live so much, he simply chased after them with a sword and started teasing them, "Two ants, are you still trying to survive?"
There were more and more injuries on Zhou Yin's body. The other party seemed to like to draw swords on his face and legs. Seeing his face covered in blood, his wife screamed in shock and crawled forward dragging her injured leg.
He was very happy.
The man in black teased them for a long time and seemed tired of it. Then he landed directly in front of them and blocked their way. He pointed his sword at Xia Xin and asked Zhou Yin, "I'm asking you for the last time. Are you going to tell me?"
Zhou Yin was covered in blood at this time. He got up from the ground and wanted to hide Xia Xin behind him, but Xia Xin held his hand, tears fell drop by drop, dripping on the back of his hand, and whispered
: "Don't be afraid..."
After saying that, he turned around and pounced on the sword. The sharp sword entered his body, and Xia Xin fell to the ground softly.
Zhou Yin's pupils shrank, "Xinniang——"
He climbed forward to catch her and reached out to cover her wound. Xia Xin held his hand tightly and said, "I know you are afraid of me alone. There is no need to be afraid now."
She said softly: "I don't regret it, so don't regret it either, okay?"
Zhou Yin hugged her and smiled, but he couldn't help but tears fell on her face drop by drop. He nodded and said: "Okay, I don't regret it, I don't regret it."
Zhou Yin said that he didn't regret it, but he still felt a faint regret in his heart. He shouldn't have taken Xia Xin out today. He should have kept her at home. His daughter was still so young, and she needed her mother's company. How could he be so stupid?
Has she come out of the tropics?
The luster in Xia Xin's eyes gradually dissipated. Zhou Yin hugged her and no longer had any reason to escape. He raised his eyes to look at the man in black, reached out and grabbed his sword, his eyes were full of madness, "What are you waiting for? Do you think you are?"
What else can you learn from my mouth?"
"you!"
Zhou Yin held the blade of the sword with his hand and pulled it toward him. The man in black suddenly pulled the sword back, his face full of provoked anger, "Do you think I really won't kill you?"
He stabbed his arm, but Zhou Yin moved his body, and the sword penetrated directly into his chest.
The man in black was furious and drew out his sword. When he saw the two of them falling together holding hands, their eyes closed, their breath getting weaker and weaker, and finally there was no sound, he was so angry that he slashed them several times to vent his anger.
When he calmed down, there were only two quietly bleeding corpses on the ground. He stepped forward and looked through them. There was indeed no evidence on them, not even anything to prove their identities.
The man in black frowned and was thinking about taking the body back for closer investigation when a firework exploded in the dim sky, which was an emergency call signal.
He looked down at the two corpses on the ground, kicked them and turned around to leave.
The thing might not really be on them, but in the place where the fireworks exploded.
Zhou Yin and Xia Xin did not return home all night. Although the old Zhou family was confused, they were not too worried. They thought they had not received anything, so they stayed in the county town one more night.
It rained heavily that night, and it was groggy the next day. It didn't look like it was sunny, so Zhou Jin took only Zhou Dalang and Zhou Lang to the fields, leaving Zhou Dalang and several younger brothers to clean up the house.
.
Zhou Lang felt that no matter how much he tidied up the thatched house, it would still be low and dull, and not much clean, so he touched around here and there, and when he saw his friends poking their heads outside, he immediately ran out, "Second brother, I'm going into the mountains."
Looking for mushrooms.”
Zhou Erlang chased him out with a broom, and only had time to see his back, "You are lazy again——"
Zhou Yin shouted without looking back: "I'm going to find mushrooms for my uncle. The mushroom stew is delicious."
A group of friends ran up the mountain with bare hands, laughing and joking, not sure if they were really looking for mushrooms.
When they got to the mountain, everyone spread out to look for mushrooms by themselves. Zhou Lang not only wanted to find mushrooms, but also pheasants, rabbits and the like, so he walked further. He hummed a song and walked around two trees. The two people on the ground were like
It came into view so suddenly.
Zhou Lang was startled, and his hands and feet were a little cold. It took him a while to find his voice, "Little, uncle?"
He crawled up and knelt down to take a look. The ground was covered with blood. The face of the person who fell on the ground was pale and white, with scars on his face one after another. He could hardly look human.
But no matter how hard it is to tell, this is also the uncle he met yesterday morning, and Zhou Lang can still recognize him.
He stretched out his hand to push someone, but he didn't dare to touch him.
"Thursday, where did you go? Come and see, I found two bushes of mushrooms, and I'll give you one…" The friend came over as he spoke. When he saw the person on the ground, he screamed and leaned back.
He fell to the ground and rolled down twice before stopping, "This, this, this... why are there dead people here?"
Only then did Zhou Lang dare to reach out and touch Zhou Yin and Xia Xin. His hands were cold and lifeless.
Zhou Lang couldn't help crying, "Uncle, aunt, uncle..."
He turned around and cried to his friends: "Go back and call someone, this is my uncle-"
Someone turned around and ran towards the village. Zhou Lang reached out to hug Zhou Yin, trying to pick him up, but he was still too young and fell down after just lifting him.
When Zhou Lang ran up with people from the village, he saw Zhou Lang sitting next to Zhou Yin crying sadly. When he saw him, he burst into tears, "Second brother, my uncle is dead——"
Zhou Zhoulang looked in disbelief, and the villagers also looked in a daze. How could a person who was fine yesterday morning become like this in just one day?
Zhou Hu, who followed, shook his hands and said, "Erlang and the others are no longer useful. Let's carry Uncle Yin and Aunt back first."
Only then did the villagers come to their senses and hurriedly stepped forward to carry the people. Tuesday Lang and Zhou Lang followed quietly and carried the two people back to the village.
As soon as we entered the village, it started to rain heavily.
When Qian saw Zhou Yin and Xia Xin being carried into her home, she was shocked and fainted.
When she woke up, she still felt that she was dreaming, but when she heard the crying coming from the main room, she realized that it was not a dream.
She pushed herself out and walked out. Xiao Qian and others were kneeling on the ground crying. Zhou Yin and Xia Xin were lying on the mat, their bodies were still bloody. Apparently no one reacted much.
Qian asked with trembling lips, "Where is Zhou Jin?"
Zhou Lang wiped away his tears and said: "Dad and the village chief went to beg Mr. Bai. There must be bandits in our county. Dad went to beg Mr. Bai to go to the county government office and ask the county magistrate to send someone to exterminate the bandits to avenge my uncle."
Zhou Yin went to the county town to pick up the consigned property, but now the couple died unexpectedly, and there was no trace of the property or the donkey cart they brought with them. They must have been robbed.
The villagers in Qili Village all believed that Zhou Yin was killed by bandits, but they didn't know when there were such vicious people in their area. If they had known...
Zhou Lang wiped away his tears and said, "If I had known that we should have gone with my uncle yesterday morning, more people would have gone, and those bandits would not have dared to rob my uncle."
Mr. Bai didn't expect such a bad thing to happen in Luojiang County. He personally came to Lao Zhou's house to take a look at Zhou Yin and Xia Xin, and agreed, "I will follow you into the city when the rain stops."
Bandits have appeared in Luojiang County, can they go out with peace of mind in the future?
But before the rain stopped, someone from the government came into the village on horseback, looking for someone with a portrait in his hand.
Master Bai could not help but frown when he saw Zhou Yin in the portrait. The village chief and clan elders also felt something was wrong and did not dare to speak for a while.
Or Mr. Bai took the initiative and asked: "Who is the person in this portrait?"
"He is an important criminal wanted by the court. Have you ever seen him?"
The village chief rushed to Master Bai and said, "No, I haven't seen it."
The officers and soldiers looked over sharply and asked: "Have you really never seen it before, or are you hiding it?"
Zhou Jin swallowed his saliva, his hands and feet were cold, but he still said on behalf of the village chief: "I've never seen it before, sir. This is the first time I've seen an official in our village. My nephew has just been the village chief for a few years and he doesn't have much experience."
, I was frightened for a moment.”
The village chief took Zhou Jin and knelt down together, nodding repeatedly, "Yes, yes, I was scared. Don't blame me, adults. We really don't know this person. By the way, our village has a roster. If you don't believe it, I
Call everyone in the village and ask you to order some?"
When the officers and soldiers heard this, they nodded and said, "Okay, call them out."
The village chief turned around and stumbled to call someone.
Every village has a roster. He called all the people in the village. At this time, the rain had not completely stopped, but it had become lighter. The villagers came out silently and stood in rows at the entrance of the village.
Zhou Lang's face was pale, his hands and feet were shaking a little. He had just changed out of his bloody clothes. His daughter was hidden in the bed. She was sleeping soundly at this time. He didn't know if she would cry when she woke up and couldn't see anyone...
…
The official took the booklet in his hand and went over one by one, frowning slightly. There were indeed many people there.
The village chief also calmed down a lot now, and he came up to him and said, "Master, the person in this painting looks pretty good, and his hair is well combed. At first glance, he doesn't belong to us country people, maybe he's from the city."
Woolen cloth?"
The other party glanced at him, collected the portrait and said, "If you see anyone who recognizes the person in the portrait, report it to the government immediately."
"Yes yes yes."
The officer then looked at Mr. Bai, frowned and asked, "Hasn't Mr. Bai seen this person before?"
The village chief and Zhou Jin stared at Mr. Bai nervously.
Mr. Bai paused for a moment and then shook his head, "I have no impression."
After the officials left, the village chief realized what he had done. Mr. Bai glanced at them and turned away, "This matter has nothing to do with me. I just pretend that I don't know anything. But if something happens one day, you can do something."
There is a good chance of being joined together.”
Zhou Jin gritted his teeth, turned around and knelt down in front of the whole village, "Fellows, this time it is our old Zhou family that has caused trouble to everyone, but please save Zhou Yin for the sake of saving everyone's life, please save him too."
My daughter, everyone knows our little Yin’s character, there is no way he can become a bandit.”
Zhou Dalang and his brothers knelt down together and kowtowed silently.
The village chief sighed and said: "I have told the official before that, and it is impossible to go back on this matter. Let's just pretend that there is no such person in the village, right?"
"But what about the children?" someone asked: "And they are still displayed in the main room."
Zhou Jin hurriedly said: "The child was born between me and Mr. Qian, they, they..."
He gritted his teeth and said: "I will bury them when I get back. I will not disturb outsiders. I just ask everyone to pretend that they don't know about it. My Zhou Yin has never come back since he sold himself. After so many years, everyone has forgotten
His appearance..."
The villagers looked at each other and finally agreed.
When Qian was helped back, her whole body was weak, but she did not fall down. Instead, she asked little Qian to take the baby out.
Nannan hadn’t seen her parents for a day. She cried a lot in the morning and was asleep at this time.
Mrs. Qian didn't dare to wake her up, so she hugged her and bowed to the two people on the ground, and then asked Xiao Qian to carry her down.
She suppressed her grief and said: "Dalang, you and Erlang and Sanlang go to dig a hole now and choose a piece of land next to your grandparents. Mrs. Feng, bring the quilt they brought back. It's too late to prepare coffins for them.
But use a good quilt..."
After the night darkened, Zhou Yin and Xia Xin were carried out and buried quietly. Nannan woke up and still couldn't see her parents, and couldn't help crying. Xiao Qian held her and walked around the house, coaxing and coaxing her.
I couldn't help but start crying.
When she cried, Nannan stopped crying. There were still tears on her face, but she looked at Xiao Qian with curiosity, not understanding why she was crying.
Zhou Jin and Qian were kneeling on the ground, pouring handfuls of soil onto the tightly wrapped quilt. They both still seemed to be in a dream. They really couldn't accept it. They were fine when they went out yesterday morning.
Why did people suddenly disappear?
There were many people who came to see them off. There were no firecrackers, and no one even dared to burn incense and paper money for incense candles.
After burying the person, they sprinkled the old soil on them so that no one could tell it was a new grave, and then helped Zhou Jin and Qian back home.
The faces of the couple were very scary. The village chief grabbed Zhou Dalang and said, "I think your parents' faces are not good. You brothers should be careful and don't let anything happen at this juncture."
Zhou Dalang agreed.
The village chief sighed and said: "Your brother-in-law was raised by them as their son. If something like this happens, they will be the most saddened, but you also have to tell them that there is another child in the family."
Zhou Dalang perked up, nodded and hurriedly chased his parents, saying in a low voice: "Dad, mother, my daughter is still at home."
Only then did Zhou Jin and Qian's expressions change, and they were helped to speed up their pace.
The little girl, who is only over half a year old, doesn't know anything. She is eating the egg custard that Xiao Qian made for her. She cried too much today and is a little hungry.
Seeing so many people pouring into the room, she felt a little timid for the first time, turned around and hid in Xiao Qian's arms.
Zhou Jin looked at her and said after a while: "From now on, she will be your sister, your biological sister. She will be ranked eighth with you, so let's call her... Zhou Man."