The thick smoke was billowing with a foul smell that made people want to vomit.
"gone."
Li Xiuyuan waited for the fire to extinguish and it was already dawn, then ordered the guards to continue on their way.
The guards put out the remaining fire, carried the boxes, prepared the carriages and horses, and soon the group set off again towards Wangchuan Mountain.
In fact, Wangchuan Mountain is not far away, but there were some delays on the way, and the carriage could not move quickly, so it took several days.
"Young master, the scholar named Wang Ping is still unconscious. Should we leave him in the inn? This scholar has a lot of troubles. Even the evil ghost wants to save him. I think if we take him with us, he will be a
"Trouble." Tieshan rode over at this time and asked.
"No, take him with you and wake him up when we get to Wangchuan Mountain. Although Wang Ping is a dull scholar, he has a good heart after all." Li Xiuyuan said.
Tieshan responded and walked away, instructing the guards to put Wang Ping on the carriage.
The journey was uneventful.
By noon, everyone could already see the mountains in the distance.
"Young Master, Wangchuan Mountain is just ahead." A guard said.
Li Xiuyuan nodded: "By the way, how is Li Zhong, who was injured yesterday?"
"Back to the young master, Li Zhong's life is no longer in danger after he vomited yesterday. It's just that the evil ghost opened a bloody gash on his back. Although the wound was stitched and bandaged, the injury is still not serious. He has a high fever now.
"Retreat, I'm a little worried that Li Zhong won't be able to survive," the guard said.
"Hurry and go to Wangchuan Mountain. There are doctors there who can help him treat him," Li Xiuyuan said.
Just at this time.
Suddenly, a dozen riders galloped towards here on the mountain road in the distance.
The guards subconsciously became vigilant.
Tieshan said at this time: "Young master, this is Wu Fei, Han Meng and the others are our people."
Li Xiuyuan nodded, letting everyone lower their guard.
"Uu~!"
More than a dozen riders quickly arrived, led by a bald man named Wu Fei, who had a sinister look on his face that was intimidating.
A few days ago, this man led his men into the county government office in Guobei County and killed Magistrate Liu with one knife.
"Young Master, why are you here just now? I thought something happened to the Young Master on the road, so I sent several people to find out. Today I just discovered the whereabouts of the Young Master and others." Wu Fei touched his bald head and grinned.
Laughed.
Li Xiuyuan said: "I encountered some trivial matters on the way and I was delayed for a while. How is my father? Is he okay?"
Wu Fei hesitated for a moment and said, "I'm fine. I'm recovering at Wangchuan Mountain. It's just that my injury has worsened."
"Isn't there a doctor on the mountain?" Li Xiuyuan frowned immediately.
Han Meng next to him said: "The doctor is not good at his craftsmanship and cannot cure me."
"It seems we have to go to Guobei County to find Dr. Fan."
Li Xiuyuan said: "But I have to see the specific extent of my father's injury before drawing a conclusion."
Everyone nodded.
Li Xiuyuan said again: "By the way, there is a sleeping scholar in my car. I met him while passing by. Wu Fei, play the villain for a while and drive him away. I am here to redeem people this time. This play
You have to perform the whole thing to avoid leaking the news."
"Young Master, there is no one around here. It is better to kill the scholar with one knife, so that there is no possibility of the news being exposed." Wu Fei touched his bald head and smiled a little.
Li Xiuyuan glared at him: "How can we casually take other people's lives when they have no grievances against us? I killed Magistrate Liu before because that corrupt official was greedy and wanted to take over my Li family.
I just came up with this plan, okay, stop talking nonsense and go do your thing."
"Well done, young master." Wu Fei responded and walked to the carriage with a few evil-looking men.
"Little brother, wake up, wake up."
Wu Fei grinned and patted Wang Ping's face with the cold knife back.
Wang Ping woke up dimly: "Oh my God, it's dawn... Hey, who are you?"
When he saw a steel knife dangling in front of him, he was so frightened that he almost jumped up.
"I, Wu Fei, are the robbers in Wangchuan Mountain, you have been robbed." Wu Fei said with a vicious smile.
"robber?"
Wang Ping was so frightened that he suddenly turned pale. He immediately thought of something and hurriedly covered his face with his sleeves. Then he hurriedly said: "I understand, I understand, I understand everything."
"What do you know, kid?" Wu Fei said.
"The robbers you want are most afraid of showing their faces. If they see your people, they will kill them. I understand this rule."
Wang Ping trembled and said: "I won't look at your faces, so don't kill me. I'm a poor scholar. I don't have much money. I only have a dozen taels of silver pressed into silver cakes and put in my shoes. You all take them."
Take it all, I don’t want any of it.”
"Damn it, you don't mind putting money in your shoes. I don't care about your stinky money. I still have big business to do here. Get out of here, you poor scholar." Wu Fei cursed.
, and then kicked Wang Ping to get out.
Wang Ping covered his face with his sleeves and ran away quickly.
But halfway through, he ran back again.
"You poor scholar, why are you back again?" Wu Fei said angrily.
"Young Master Li of Guobei County has a life-saving grace for me. He is a good man. Please let this robber brother go. I am willing to give you all the money hidden in my belt." Wang Ping covered his face and said
Take off your belt.
"How dare you, a scholar, lie to me? It seems you don't want to live anymore." Wu Fei was furious and pretended to kill him.
Wang Ping was so frightened that he was trembling and speechless.
Li Xiuyuan couldn't help but smile and shook his head. This Wang Ping was indeed kind and loyal, and he actually thought of himself at this time.
But right now, he doesn't want Wang Ping to stay here any longer.
Immediately, he signaled.
Han Meng next to him immediately realized what he was doing. He took out a bag containing horse food, put it directly on Wang Ping's head, and then knocked him unconscious with one palm.
"He is going to Guo Beicheng to take the scholar examination. Drop him near Guo Beicheng and come back." Li Xiuyuan said.
"Yes, young master."
Han Meng immediately called a man to take the unconscious Wang Ping with him, and then quickly left on a fast horse.
"Hey, young master, this scholar is a different kind of person. You can't even scare him and you dare to come back." Wu Fei said.
Li Xiuyuan said: "It's not that he couldn't be scared, on the contrary, he was so scared that he almost fainted. It's just because he is a scholar and has morality in his heart. Even in a life-or-death situation, he doesn't want to lose this morality. Now I finally understand.
, why did Wang Ping encounter a ghost and not die?"
This kind of scholar is destined to be protected by someone in the dark, and will not die so easily.
This kind of protection can be described as blessing, virtue, kindness, etc.
In the world of Liaozhai, karma is everywhere, and good and evil are rewarded.
There are small evils and small good things in the world, and there are big evils and big good things.
But how long can this order of good and evil be rewarded last?
Nobody knows.
"Let's go up and look at the mountains and rivers."
After Li Xiuyuan saw him leave, he gave the order again.
Wangchuan Mountain is huge, with undulating mountains extending along a large river.
The top of Wangchuan Mountain that Wu Fei occupied was a peak near Guandao. Because the grass had fallen here a long time ago, he built a stronghold, took root, and settled down.
However, because they joined the Li family, they no longer engaged in the path-cutting business. Most of the brothers joined the escort bureau and became bodyguards. Only some family members, wives and children were left behind to live in Wangchuan Mountain.
It's more like a village than a bandit.
It's just that there was little information in ancient times, and Wu Fei had taken refuge with the Li family for many years. People in the area thought Wu Fei was a bandit.
And Li Xiuyuan also intentionally or unintentionally let Wu Fei maintain his identity as a gangster, which might come in handy one day.
"Wu Fei, you have become somewhat famous in Wangchuan Mountain these years. Why didn't you attract soldiers from the imperial court to suppress you?" Li Xiuyuan asked on the way.
"Hey, the eldest young master doesn't know where the imperial court in Wangchuan Mountain comes from. When I robbed the caravan before, they said they would send soldiers to destroy me. But what happened next? Those merchants spent money to clear the way.
Because of the relationship, when the soldiers were finally sent out, they could not get together more than a hundred people, and they were all old, weak, sick and disabled. How could those soldiers suppress the bandits? If they came, I would probably kill them.
Suppressed."
Wu Fei said this with some pride.
"To be honest, the salary of the soldiers in this court is not enough to support themselves. If some soldiers do not have some filial piety, they still need to rely on their wives to supplement them. However, any man with some ability will not become a soldier, but a guard or a
Escort, isn't it more enjoyable than this?"
"Besides, even if you don't want to, if you go to arrest thieves in the six gates of the imperial court, you can still get a large reward."