It took two hours to turn almost the entire village upside down, but no other standard weapons were found.
Seeing the sun rising higher and higher, everyone's stomachs began to growl. Xiao Chen once again looked at the small courtyard where the weapons were found: "Let's go back. Maybe I am really too sensitive. These arrows
It was just lost by the guardsmen and accidentally picked up by the villagers."
With that said, he got on his horse and planned to leave.
"Tongzhi Wei is supervising the disaster relief in the city. In a few days, all the victims will be able to return to the village. Or, while we are out, we can go for a walk in the mountains to see if we can encounter any wild animals.
Are you going to go back and satisfy their cravings?" Duan Tianming licked his lips and said with a smile.
"Captain Duan is pretty good. He also knows how to win people's hearts with food."
Duan Tianming grinned: "What does it mean to win people's hearts? This means sharing weal and woe. We are busy with disaster relief every day, and everyone is working hard. We need to eat some meat to replenish our bodies so that we can continue to work."
"Then what?" Xiao Chen held the horse's reins with one hand and looked at Duan Tianming mischievously.
"Then organize the people and start building water conservancy projects."
"You mean, we won't participate in the construction of water conservancy projects?"
"Of course I have to participate." Duan Tianming scratched his head, "But first find out all the relevant personnel who ambushed us, and then deal with what needs to be dealt with. These days, the more I think about it, the angrier it becomes. Our Dongchang, what?
I have never been so arrogant."
Xiao Chen nodded: "The factory owner doesn't know about this yet. If he knows about it, he will definitely let us put down everything we are doing to investigate the case."
Then he looked at the surrounding Dongchang captain: "Brothers, don't worry, none of these people can escape. When the time comes, I promise everyone that they will be tortured enough before sending them on their way."
The captains all had livid faces and nodded vigorously.
This hatred, not only has not faded with the passage of time, but has weighed on everyone's hearts even more heavily.
There is a fire in everyone's heart.
"Okay, let's go into the mountains and see how many prey we can catch today." Xiao Chen raised his right hand and waved towards the hilltop behind the village.
Gongchang is experiencing drought, and the fields are almost scorched earth.
But in this mountain, the trees are lush and lush.
The streams in the valleys make a pleasant gurgling sound, nourishing the trees and grass on both sides of the river and flowing slowly.
"If this stream can be led to the fields, we won't be afraid of any drought," said Duan Tianming, who was walking at the front.
"In places close to mountainous areas, there are such streams at the mouth of every valley, so it should be more convenient to build water conservancy. But in places a little further away, a lot of manpower may be needed to dig ditches and divert canals."
Perhaps because no one has stepped on it for a long time, the two-foot-wide path along the stream and deep into the valley at the bottom of the valley is covered with weeds.
Moistened by the stream, it was almost half the height of a man. The horses had to slow down.
"The fields are outside at the foot of the mountain. What do the people in the village do when they go into the mountain to create a two-foot-wide road?" Duan Tianming muttered as he drove his horse forward.
"Aren't you like you and want to eat some meat?" Xiao Chen laughed from behind.
"That's not right." Duan Tianming shook his head, "I have been to other valley entrances, and there is a narrow path leading into the mountain. But here, the road is actually two feet wide."
"Let's go, we'll find out when we go in and take a look."
After traveling for about half a mile, the weeds at the bottom of the valley gradually became sparse and replaced by pieces of collapsed rocks.
The uneven terrain and boulders blocking the road made it difficult for the horses to move.
"If we can't get through, how about we change to the valley entrance?"
Looking at the pile of rocks and sand in front of him, Duan Tianming backed down.
"Leave the horses behind and let's go in on foot to have a look." Xiao Chen said.
The village outside is not big, and there should not be many people there. A two-foot-wide road has been trampled into the valley, which is very abnormal.
"Okay." Duan Tianming got off his horse and handed the reins to the captain next to him.
The others stayed where they were, while Xiao Chen and the two jumped onto the pile of rocks and continued heading inside.
The collapsed mountain was only five to sixty feet tall.
After several jumps, the two reached the end of the landslide.
It is still a stream, but the sides of the stream are covered with pebbles, making it impossible for weeds to grow.
Looking from a distance, the entire valley suddenly seemed to open up.
"This valley is quite big, it doesn't look very narrow like the mouth of the valley." Duan Tianming jumped down to the stream with an excited look on his face, squatted down, and washed his face.
Xiao Chen also jumped down.
However, he did not play in the water as excitedly as Duan Tianming.
Instead, he bent down and looked at the clearly visible road on the river beach, frowning slightly.
"This water is so cold, come here and wash your face before we go in." Duan Tianming shouted.
But there was no response for a long time.
Looking back, I saw Xiao Chen half-bent over and looking at the ground carefully. He couldn't help but stand up and walked towards Xiao Chen.
"There is money on the ground, are you looking at it so carefully?"
"Look, what kind of trace is this?" Xiao Chen pointed to a trace in the middle of the road, two inches wide and extending several feet away.
Duan Tianming was startled and looked at the ground carefully.
There are more than one traces of this two-inch width, and they are intricately crisscrossed back and forth.
"This is a rut." Duan Tianming exclaimed, "I just said that the road in this valley is so wide. It turns out that someone drove a carriage in."
Before he finished speaking, he shook his head again: "That's not right, the two-foot-wide road cannot accommodate a carriage at all."
"This should be a folk wheelbarrow." Xiao Chen squatted down, stretched out his fingers, and roughly measured the size of the rut.
"The kind of wheelbarrow most caravans use when crossing mountains and ridges?"
"Probably." Xiao Chen nodded, "Aside from the unicycle, I can't think of anything else that could leave such a mark."
"But when I searched the village, I didn't see a wheelbarrow at all." Duan Tianming said in confusion.
"Then there is only one explanation: these traces were not left by the villagers." Xiao Chen stood up and looked deep into the valley.
Duan Tianming also stood up and looked deep into the valley: "On the map, this valley is a dead end and cannot be passed through at all. There is no reason for the caravan to choose a dead end, right?"
"Maybe it's not a caravan." Xiao Chen looked away and looked at the arrows carried behind Duan Tianming.
Duan Tianming reacted instantly, and his face became very serious: "I'll call a few more people over, and let's go in and explore together."
Xiao Chen nodded: "Yeah."
Two people were left to guard the horses, while the other captains jumped over the collapsed gravel piles and joined the search.
An hour passed by and everyone reached the end of the valley.
The stream tumbles down from the towering cliffs, forming a waterfall.
The splashing water was crystal clear in the sun, but there was no way for everyone to walk.
"It shouldn't be. The rut has obviously come here, but why didn't you find anything?" Duan Tianming stared at the ten-foot-square pool under the waterfall, and Duan Tianming couldn't figure it out.
"Perhaps, this is where they hide things." Xiao Chen raised his head and looked at the nearby hillside.
As if he had come up with a good idea, Duan Tianming looked at the pool with gleaming eyes: "Tell me, will you find anything in this pool?"
"There are fish in the pool." Xiao Chen couldn't help but roll his eyes at him, "There are things hidden in the water. Are you a little fanciful?"
"Am I just using my imagination?" Duan Tianming scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.
"Whether it's food or weapons, there's no water visible. If it's really hidden at the bottom of the pool, we don't have to look for it. Most likely, there should be a hidden cave nearby." Xiao Chen said.
"But doesn't the rut end near this pool?"
"Perhaps they just came here to drink water or wash their faces?" Before he could finish his words, Xiao Chen froze on the spot.
I just followed the ruts and ignored the hills along the way.
"Everyone started to search the hillside and kept searching towards the mountain pass." Xiao Chen shouted.
In the prison of Gongchang Mansion, Ding Xihou was sitting in a pile of straw in the corner. He reached into his arms with his left hand and took out a brown paper bag.
With trembling hands, he slowly opened it, revealing the white powder inside.
Put the paper bag on the ground, pinch some white powder in your right hand, and stuff it between the nails of your left hand.
As if he was afraid of something wrong, he stuffed the gaps between his two fingernails, then knocked over the paper bag randomly, crumpled it into a ball, and stuffed it into the grass under his body.
He looked at the oil lamp on the wall, stood up, and knocked the lamp down on the straw pile.
Then he ran to the cell door and shouted loudly: "Come here, there's a fire."
