In the midsummer of June, the sun was shining brightly and the heat wave was overwhelming. On the official road thirty miles outside Xiangyun City, a tea stall had a pavilion several feet square. Many travelers stopped here to have a big drink.
Tea.
It was crowded and lively, and from time to time someone would chat and talk about the recent temple affairs, Jianghu affairs, and local experiences.
Whether the news was true or false, most people would just listen to the excitement, quench their thirst and laugh, then get back on their horses and continue their journey.
At the same table, several merchants were discussing the famous thieves in Yunzhou, with a hint of fear in their words.
Suddenly, a hoarse voice came from the table next to him: "Aren't they just a few little frog thieves? What a fuss."
The speaker's voice was like a crow's strange cry, and he deliberately raised his voice, which not only attracted the attention of the few merchants, but also the attention of almost the entire tea stall.
But I saw that there was only one person at the table. This person's appearance was more weird than his voice. His face was sallow and stiff, his hair was as messy as a bird's nest, his chest was hunched over, and his fat robe had many gaps and dust. There was a bamboo basket next to him, covered with linen.
It's open, I don't know what's inside.
One merchant sneered and said, "Brother, did you encounter robbers on your journey and were robbed? I pity you for your bad luck, but the few we are talking about are thieves with incredible stealing skills. Even if there are heavily armed merchants,
The kind that even the army can't resist, and even many high-ranking officials and wealthy businessmen are deeply troubled by it. The mere gangsters who cut off the streets cannot be compared to it at all."
The hunchbacked man opened his chapped lips and continued in an ugly voice: "In Yunzhou, only the 'tea pickers' can be called the master thieves. Haha, the master thieves you call only mess with ordinary people and dare to put their hands into the pockets of martial arts sects.
In?"
The merchant was speechless for a moment, picked up the big bowl of tea in front of him, and took a dejected sip.
Some people who were ignorant and ignorant didn't know why, so they asked others who the tea pickers were, and they found out that the "tea pickers" were a mysterious thief who had become famous recently and only stole magical weapons.
The tea pickers' stealing skills are amazing. Regardless of the handed down sword of this clan leader or the custom-made sword of that clan leader, anyone with a name on the Yunzhou weaponry tree may be stolen by his skilled hands, and even a family member may have it stolen.
The darts hidden in the compartment of the bellyband of the patriarch's wife were all stolen.
He came and went without a trace, and no one knew whether he was a man or a woman, old or young. However, every time he succeeded, he would leave some tea leaves at the scene as evidence, hence the name "tea picker".
Some people say that the tea pickers are righteous thieves who only steal weapons and never hurt anyone. Others say that among the targets of the tea pickers, there are many heroes, who must be members of the demon sect. Others say that the tea pickers disappear.
The long-standing descendant of the Thieves has made a name for the Thieves to return to the world... There are different opinions.
In the past month, 16 of the thirty-three cities in Yunzhou have been visited by tea pickers, and each faction has lost more than forty magical weapons.
Seeing that the topic at every table at the tea stall jumped to the "tea pickers", people's faces showed various expressions of surprise, fear, envy, and the hunchbacked man chuckled, stood up from his seat, and pulled up the bamboo basket next to him.
Just as he was about to leave, he heard a voice coming from the other table and stopped immediately.
"The 'tea pickers' are nothing more than roosters and dog thieves. They only dare to use sneaky means to assassinate small sects. How dare they avoid hiding when they encounter a famous sect?"
The speaker was a young man in a white robe, white shirt, white trousers and white boots, with a childish look on his face. There were six men and women dressed the same as him but older sitting next to him. Each of them had a
The sheathed knife.
The hunchbacked man put down the bamboo basket, and the contents inside made a metallic crunching sound. He sat down again, but did not continue to talk, but looked at the group of people with a glance.
"A small sect? You really dare to say that." Someone at the tea stall disagreed with the young man in white, "Among the forces patronized by tea pickers, the 'Iron Fist Gang' and the 'Black Turtle Sect' are all powerful, and the government
Everyone needs to give me some respect, the 'Jue Ya Sect' has been passed down for more than 300 years and is one of the most powerful sects in Yunzhou!"
The young man in white had a sarcastic look on his face, and was about to speak, but was stopped by another senior brother who was slightly older than him: "Junior brother Liu, people have many ears, so don't talk too much."
"Yes, Senior Brother Qi."
The boy in white stopped talking to others, his face was full of pride.
Ordinary people only think that these are a group of fledgling sect disciples who have never seen the world, but the hunchbacked man has noticed from their gestures and speech skills that four or five of these seven people must have cultivated profound internal strength. After thinking about it,
I made a rough guess about their identities.
"Everyone is dressed in white, and everyone has a knife. Where can he be from... I know, they are here to deal with me. But with their stupid looks, they will only give me a few more knives.
.”
The hunchbacked man remained calm and waited until the group of boys and girls in white finished drinking tea and rode off on a group of white horses. Then he put down the tea bowl in his hand, picked up the bamboo basket, rode on a black donkey, and rushed to Xiangyun City.
After entering the city, the hunchback man found a rough inn, gave the waiter a couple of coins, asked for a side room with a closet on the top floor, and ordered him to feed the black donkey. When he got to the room, the hunchback man took off the bamboo basket first.
, put it in the closet, then took out a copper lock from his arms, locked the closet, and then lay down on the bed to sleep.
He slept until the end of the moon. After the hunchback opened his eyes and stood up, he checked the brass lock, then jumped out of the window.
After jumping out of the window, the hunchbacked man flew seven or eight feet through the air as if the wind was blowing beneath his body. He reached another house, raised his toes to the eaves, and silently took off again.
It's seven to eight feet.
The hunchbacked man flew over Xiangyun City, as agile as a swallow flying in the rain. Even if the top martial arts masters in the world saw it, they would still praise his handsome skills. It is so fast to do Qinggong.
It's not difficult, but where it falls there is no dust and no sound, which is rare in the world.
In a short time, the hunchback flew all the way to the center of Xiangyun City, and finally stopped and squatted down when he reached a two-story pavilion.
More than ten feet away, there was a high-rise courtyard. There seemed to be many night-light lamps in the courtyard, making it look like daytime. Outside the courtyard, there were many people wearing the same clothes and holding swords patrolling.
The hunchbacked man grinned and flew around the pavilions near the high-rise courtyard for a short time. Finally he found a lone patrolman. He raised his right hand and shot a thin needle out of the air, hitting him on the back of the neck. The patrolman
The man fell to the ground without saying a word, and the hunchbacked man jumped down to hold him up, then jumped up and carried his body into the dark alley a few feet away, without a breath.
In less than half an hour, the hunchbacked man had put on the patrolman's clothes and walked out, but the original patroller was already sleeping like a dead pig in a pile of debris.
At this time, the hunchback was no longer hunched, and his face had changed. He was almost exactly the same as the previous patrolman, except that his expression was very stiff. The hunchback disguised as a patrolman returned to the courtyard wall and took just two steps to pretend.
, and met another patroller head-on.
"Brother." The hunchbacked man suddenly bent down, startling the man, and said, clutching his stomach, "My stomach hurts. I need to go to the latrine to relieve myself first. You can help me for a while."
As he spoke, there was a "pop" sound behind him, as if he farted.
"Go quickly!"
The man quickly covered his nose.
The hunchbacked man then trotted all the way into the gate. After entering the door, he glanced at where the darkness was and ran towards it. Along the way, others saw that he was sweating profusely, bending down to cover his belly, and there was a "puff" sound coming from behind his buttocks.
Everyone frowned and covered their noses, but no one stopped to ask questions.
Smelling a hint of stench, the hunchbacked man actually found the hut. After entering for a while, he returned to the courtyard and pretended to patrol with a knife. There were many people walking around with swords in the courtyard, and the hunchbacked man laughed in his heart: "
Beware of the mysterious thieves. It is better to have fewer people than more people. Once there are too many people, it is easy to take advantage of troubled waters."
At this time, the hunchbacked man suddenly heard a burst of hearty and heroic laughter coming from the living room: "Hahaha! You young heroes are here to take charge. As long as the 'bamboo cutter' dares to come to seize the sword, I will discipline him."
No return!"
The hunchbacked man was stunned for a moment, then walked to the living room, looked sideways, and found that all the boys and girls in white that he had seen at the tea stall during the day were among them. There was a burly middle-aged man sitting in the middle of the hall, his face full of joy.
I mean, it was obviously the one who laughed just now.
This scene was quite expected, but the hunchbacked man was slightly confused: "Who is the 'Bamboo Flayer'? Isn't it because of me that the disciples of the 'Yunmo Sect' came here?"