The echo was still circling in the woods, and suddenly a figure came out of the woods, "Mo shoot, don't shoot, it's me!"
The person who came was none other than the drunkard. He was seen running quickly, waving his hands in a panic, and yelling...
Li Qi and others all breathed a sigh of relief, but the tense atmosphere was still not relieved, and the entire army was still on alert.
"Beast, don't eat it. If you eat it again, you will die."
The drunkard rushed directly to the horse that was grazing in front of the woods, kicked the horse on the butt, then jumped up and ran towards Li Qi on the horse.
In an instant, the drunkard came to Li Qi.
"What's the situation inside?" Li Qi asked quickly.
"in---."
The drunkard just said two words when he suddenly stopped, frowned and looked at Li Qi, and said: "It's very similar."
"What's so similar?" Li Qi was confused.
The drunkard said warily: "Bu Shuai, tell me the truth, are you deliberately planning to harm me?"
"I---I designed to harm you?" Li Qi was confused by him and roared: "You think I have nothing to do, I designed to harm you. Tell me, what is going on inside?"
"That's true. Now you don't have the skills." The drunkard laughed slightly sheepishly and said, "When I first entered, I found that there were five people inside. When they saw me coming alone, they were ready to come forward.
They tried to capture me, but I almost caught them. Seeing that they couldn't beat them, they ran away quickly. But those guys ran pretty fast. With Ma Qiao's skills when he was ten years old, I wasted no time.
, caught up with one, knocked him unconscious, and was just about to bring him back, but fifty or sixty archers suddenly appeared. You know I am most afraid of bows and arrows, but luckily I was smart and used the unconscious boy as a cover, so I escaped.
Come out."
After Yue Fei and other generals heard this, they all felt incredible that one person could escape without a trace in the face of fifty or sixty archers. It was really terrifying.
Li Qi was not surprised. You have to know that this drunkard could face more than ten first-class killers and ride a horse in a narrow alley. He didn't take those people seriously at all. Of course, he didn't take them seriously either.
Taking it seriously, he asked: "Then did they chase him out?"
"Don't blame me. I tried my best to lure them, but they stopped chasing after a while." The drunkard shook his head dejectedly and said, "But those people are definitely not ordinary thieves.
Judging from their cooperation with each other, they must have gone through strict training and there is no need for you Long Guard Army to send them. Fortunately, it was me who went there and was replaced by Ma Qiao, haha, I don’t know about that."
After rigorous training? Could it be that ---? If this is really the case, that would be terrible. Li Qi frowned and his expression looked very worried.
Ma Qiao said angrily: "Drunkard, don't look down on others. If you hadn't run so fast, I would have gone."
The drunkard said hehe, "You can go now! Maybe they haven't gone too far yet, and let me see if you have made any progress in the past two years."
"Just go, I, Ma Qiao, am afraid of anyone."
"Have you two had enough trouble?" Li Qi shouted in a deep voice.
The two of them tilted their heads at the same time, just like two three-year-old children. Li Qi was helpless in his heart. How long has it been, and these two idiots are still in the mood to say this. He said: "Drunkard, what are you doing?
Have you seen clearly that there are really only fifty or sixty people inside?"
The drunkard said angrily: "Bu Shuai, in that case, how do you ask me to see clearly? Anyway, I only saw so many people. As for whether there is anyone inside, I don't know."
Yue Fei said cautiously: "Commander Bu, this may still be a trick of the enemy to lure the enemy. It is not advisable to act rashly."
"I know that." Li Qi nodded, feeling furious at this series of strange events, and said, "Since we have reached this point, we have no retreat, so we order the entire army to move forward at full speed.
, try to get to Linyou County before dark."
"yes."
The army immediately accelerated and moved forward. After walking for about half an hour, they finally entered Linyou County. Niu Gao suddenly pointed to the right and said, "Commander Bu, look where you are."
Li Qi turned around and raised his eyebrows. He saw a few farmers farming in the fields not far away. There were about twenty people, including old people, women and children, scattered everywhere. But facing this whole field
In terms of land, this small number of people seems very small.
Li Qi originally wanted to ask someone to go over and ask, but after thinking about it, he chose to go in person.
Li Qi took Drunkard, Ma Qiao, and Niu Gao to the four people who were farming on the edge of the field. When the four people saw Li Qi and others coming, they all stopped what they were doing, with a look of fear in their eyes.
Hold them.
One of them, a middle-aged man about forty years old and wearing a linen shirt, said in fear: "You--who are you?"
"Oh, don't be afraid, everyone, we are the army going to Weizhou and passing through here." Li Qi said with a slight smile.
"It turns out to be the military master. I have met several military masters before." The middle-aged uncle saluted fearfully. The others also followed suit.
"You don't need to be polite." Li Qixiao asked, "Uncle, why are you the only ones farming here? Do all these lands belong to you?"
The middle-aged uncle hurriedly said: "How can a villain have such ability? These three acres of land belong to the villain." As he spoke, he made some gestures with his hands.
"Oh? Then why don't others come to farm?"
"this---."
"As long as you say it's okay, I'll just ask."
The middle-aged uncle nodded and said: "Oh, this matter started half a month ago. I remember that night, overnight, most of the villagers in the county disappeared at the same time, leaving only about thirty households.
.”
"How come all the people in the county are missing?" Li Qi asked in surprise.
The middle-aged uncle said honestly: "I don't know very well, I heard from people that those who left were looking for food. The military master didn't know that there has been a famine in Linyou County for more than half a year. There are already people in front of us."
A lot of people left."
"Looking for food?"
Li Qi and Niu Gao looked at each other and asked, "Then why are you still here?"
"Little people can't bear to part with these acres of fields." He sighed heavily and said, "It's a pity that so many fields are uncultivated. This year is much better than last year. If the folks can hold on for a few more months, they will definitely be able to cultivate it."
It will be a good harvest year, but this is all caused by natural disasters."
Li Qidao: "Besides that, is there anything special happening around here?"
The middle-aged uncle thought for a while and then said: "There is something, but it is not in our Linyou County. I heard that military rations were robbed in Qishan County, and I don't know if it is true.
I have lived here for decades, and this is the first time I have heard of such a thing."
Li Qi asked again: "With so many people leaving your county all at once, how did your county government handle it?"
The middle-aged uncle said bitterly: "When there was a famine last year, the county magistrate was afraid that the villagers would steal his food, so he ran away with his family. Now there is only an empty county government."
Ma Qiao said bitterly: "Another dog official."
It's true that the top beam is out of alignment and the bottom beam is crooked. This is true for high-ranking officials in the court, and it is also true for small county magistrates. When encountering difficulties, the first thing that comes to mind is to escape. Li Qi said: "Then no one will care about this matter?"
"The prefect has been here several times, but there is no food, no matter how many magistrates there are, it is useless, and no officials are willing to come here." The middle-aged uncle shook his head helplessly, his expression looking very depressed.
It seems that as the prefect said, there was no rebellion in the local area. Otherwise, it is impossible that no one would have known about it along the way, and it is not expected that there was a rebellion. Li Qi nodded, and had almost all the questions he wanted to ask. See you again.
It was getting late, so he said, "Well, uncle, I won't delay your farming. I'll take my leave."
"Master, walk slowly."
Li Qi returned to the team, and Yue Fei quickly stepped forward and asked, "How are you, Bu Shuai?"
Li Qi shook his head and said: "Let's go, let's go to the county seat first."
The army moved towards Linyou County again.
On the way, Li Qi kept silent, thinking about what the uncle just said, and suddenly frowned and said: "No, no."
Ma Qiao said: "What's wrong?"
"I don't know either." Li Qi shook his head and said, "Maqiao, did you feel that something was wrong with that uncle just now?"
Ma Qiao was stunned and said: "No!"
"What's wrong?" Li Qi was thinking hard, and suddenly he opened his eyes and said, "I thought of it, Niu Gao, please quickly send someone to arrest a few of them."
"ah?"
"Go quickly."
"oh."
Niu Gao hurriedly turned back with more than ten people.
Li Qi clenched his right fist and said angrily: "Damn it, I even ignored such an important detail."
Ma Qiao asked in surprise: "What details?"
Li Qidao: "That uncle is not a farmer at all."
"How can I see it?"
"Do you still remember that they all pulled their trousers down above their knees? The legs of the others looked very rough, which was obviously caused by long-term farming in the fields. However, the middle-aged uncle's knees were not rough at all, so
He is definitely not a farmer."
As soon as he finished speaking, Niu Gao rode over and said breathlessly: "Bu Shuai, those people are gone."
Li Qi's eyes flashed and he said: "It's true, but it's a pity that I was focused on the military rations and didn't pay that much attention. But what is their purpose here?"
After thinking for a long time, I was at a loss.
Niu Gao said: "Bu Shuai, what should we do now?"
"Let's talk about it first in the county seat."
Hurrying slowly, Li Qi finally arrived at Linyou County before dark, but not a single person could be seen inside. It was just an empty county, lifeless.
Li Qi had already prepared for this. Since it was getting late and he had no clue, he could only stay here for one night, so he immediately ordered Yue Fei and others to build defenses in case they were attacked by someone.
After dinner, Li Qi convened the generals in the empty county government office to discuss what to do next, but after discussing for a long time, they could not come up with a solution.
While everyone was distressed, there was a sudden commotion outside.
Li Qi's heart trembled and he asked, "What's happening outside?"
"Report."
A soldier came in and said, "Commander Bu, a cold arrow suddenly shot from outside." After saying this, he presented an arrow, but saw a small roll of cloth tied to the arrow.
Li Qi hurriedly took off the roll of cloth, opened it, and saw it said, "If you want to know the whereabouts of the army rations, go to Jade Girl Pond in the south of the city." (To be continued.)