Lu Ming

Chapter 662 Rescue the thief (eight)
May 1635, 5, March 8 of the lunar year Yihai.Wind direction, east, weather, rain.

For the Greater Wuhan area, which is densely covered with rivers and lakes, frequent rains are commonplace in May every year.

In the morning of the next day, as Nan Wang said, the light rain first fell on Hanyang City.But even so, the weather is still sweltering and hot. Experienced natives know that there will be heavy rain later in the day.

At this juncture, Xiao Guan, who was closely monitored, was as stable as a dog. He got up early and was busy making preparations for a long trip.

First, I bought a bamboo hat and a rucksack at the grocery store at the intersection.Next, Xiao Guan went to a clothing store to buy a full set of coarse cloth outfits for traveling.

After that, he went to Luoma City and negotiated a carriage to Xiaogan.

After finishing all this, Xiaoguan happily went to the restaurant to pick up a few dishes, and bought some refreshing oil and Dieda ointment at the pharmacy on the way.Finally, he returned to his small courtyard and had lunch with his wife.

Xiaoguan's father died early, his mother was widowed and brought him up, the two really depended on each other for life.In this era when girls are generally married in their teens, Xiao Guanniang is actually not very old, just in her early 40s.

The sallow-faced little Guanniang, due to perennial lung disease, often coughs, speaks weakly, and can't lift her spirits.But seeing that Xiao Guan was in high spirits today, Xiao Guan's mother was happy to have an extra bowl of rice with her son.

After swallowing the last bite, Xiao Guan lowered his head and put the bowl on the table, seemingly finally making up his mind.The next moment, he raised his head and said, "Mother, what I said about seeing a doctor last time has some clues."

"Oh, I've given up on this illness a long time ago. My son, don't worry about it anymore."

"It's the miraculous doctor that master is looking for, and it's in Ezhou."

The little Guanniang was taken aback when she heard the words: "Your master. This is born in Ezhou, but you have to cross the river."

Xiaoguan nodded: "Well, we've got everything in touch, and we'll just cross the river and stay for a few days. Mother, I'll go out and wait for the boat. In the afternoon, if Brother Wu, who is next to Master, hires a car to pick you up, you can get in the car and come find me. .”

In this era, it is an iron law for women to obey their husbands when they marry, and obey their sons after their husbands die.The matter of going out to see a doctor was actually decided the moment Xiao Guan said it.

Although Xiao Guanniang objected verbally, she was powerless to change the ending.In the end, Xiao Guan Niang could only acquiesce in this matter, but she still kept nagging habitually: "Oh, how much money will it cost? There is no cost, do you still want to marry a wife?"

Seeing that the old lady turned her attention to the money, Xiao Guan smiled and slowly leaned on the recliner: "Don't worry about the money. You can earn money by working these few days."

"Hey. When I saw your master later, my mother should thank him well. How much you have helped us in the past few years."

"Yes. There are a lot of people to meet this time." Xiao Guan looked up at the rainy day outside the house, clasped his hands behind his head, and fell into deep memories
At noon a few years ago, it was also sultry and rainy.At that time, he was still the little manager of the luoma market. He was robbed of the escorted livestock by the three brothers Ma, a bandit outside the city, and he was murdered to silence him.

So the little tube should not die.It happened that Huang Zhong, who was still in the incubation period at the time, passed by delivering the goods, and when he saw that something was wrong, he rescued Xiao Guan, and by the way, he took his buddy, chopped up the three brothers Ma and sent them to the government to be imprisoned.

After that, Xiao Guan logically became a peripheral member of Huang Zhong's intelligence network.And as time went by, when Huang Zhong discovered that Xiaoguan had intelligence talent, he secretly opened the "Xiangtang", pasted a silhouette portrait of "Patriarch Cao", and accepted Xiaoguan as the "personal heir" of "Iron Umbrella Gate". disciple".

The so-called "personal disciples" are actually the official secret service personnel registered at the headquarters.It is difficult to discover and train such official personnel. Huang Zhong's conditions in Wuhan were poor, and he only discovered Xiaoguan and Xiaowu for such a long time.

At that time, the ignorant Xiaoguan thought that the Tieshanmen was a well-known sect in the Jianghu.He actually didn't know what kind of huge organization he was joining.

However, none of these affects Xiaoguan's enthusiasm for becoming a direct disciple of the mysterious sect—Huang Zhong's life-saving grace, support, and even the sense of steadiness that "there is an organization to rely on" finally make Xiaoguan feel that he has suffered through life. The tormented widow's son followed Huang Zhong wholeheartedly from the very beginning.

After that, through secret training and secret resource support, Xiao Guan grew up rapidly.

The more he messed around, the better he was. First, he defeated all competitors in Luoma City, paid the full fee, and became a gangster.

Afterwards, when Xiaoguan personally planned, stalked, poisoned, kidnapped and finally killed the three Ma brothers who were released from prison, he was considered to have handed in the nomination certificate and officially left the army.From then on, Huang Zhong began to disclose some information inside the organization to him one after another.

And when Xiao Guan finally found out that he was a formal "spotter" under the command of a certain southern general who "eat the emperor's food", it was already after Nan Wang and others came to Wuhan.

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In the deep thoughts, time always passes quickly.

When Xiao Guan was woken up by the sound of the rain under the eaves, he realized that he had slept for a long time.

Turning my head to look at the water leak on the table, I found that it was already Shen Shizhong (4 o'clock in the afternoon).

"It's just right." Xiao Guan lifted the thin quilt covered by his mother who didn't know when, jumped up, and energetically put on the going out outfit, put on the coir raincoat, and put on the bamboo hat.

At the end, I told my mother again that I must get into Xiao Wu's carriage, and Xiao Guan opened the gate of the courtyard.

After going out, he took a last deep look around the dilapidated courtyard where he was born, then turned and left.

When Xiao Guan's figure gradually became clear in the rain, in the noodle restaurant at the alley, two of Du Chong's apprentices threw down the melon seeds in their hands, gave each other winks, put on their bamboo hats, and went out to follow Xiao Guan slowly.

Unconsciously, Xiao Guan walked slowly along the way, heading straight for the east gate of the city.And the moment he left the city, there were already 4 figures behind him.

Unprepared, Xiao Guan continued to walk outside the east gate.About 10 minutes later, a purple bamboo forest appeared by the river.

With the purple bamboo forest, there is the Jade Buddha Temple.

Before the Jade Buddha Temple, there was still incense, but it was actually a nunnery.Now, the teacher doesn't know where to go, the abbot looks at the spring breeze several times, and the Jade Buddha Temple has been abandoned for many years.

The moment I came to the gate of the temple, the rain in the sky suddenly became much smaller.Reaching out to test the raindrops, Xiaoguan took off the bamboo hat, and then slowly pushed open the half-hidden temple door with a "creaking" sound.

After that, his figure disappeared inside the door.

This time happened to be the evening that Xiaoguan and the rebel had agreed upon, and the sky had already darkened.

At the same time, there was no need to hide some figures, they slowly walked through the bamboo forest from all directions, and gathered in front of the Jade Buddha Temple.

These figures are all dressed in black official robes, with bamboo hats on their backs, black headdresses on their heads, and various weapons in their hands, including but not limited to iron rulers, iron chains, iron chains, water and fire sticks, sentry knives, simple knives, etc. , and even two tiger head shields.

The leader among them is naturally the black-bearded Hanyang mansion captor Du Chong.Holding an iron ruler beside him is the prison chief Bao Shinan.

"Master, all three have gone in, let's get someone!?"

It was Du Chong's big apprentice who was anxious.

"What's the hurry, I have to wait for the thief to collude."

In Du Chong's view, since the three thieves met now, there is a chance that Xiao Guan will reveal the exact location of the buried silver to the two Shaanxi people in advance.In this way, after arresting the criminal, he may ask for the location from any person, and the workload will be much easier. Didn't you have a baby?

So Du Chong was not in a hurry at this time: "Is there any arrangement at the back of the temple?"

"Brother Hu Er is guarding the back wall."

"Well, check the equipment. Let me say it again, save the life of Xiao Guan, and watch out for the two thieves inside. They all cheered up Lao Tzu. I lost my life, but I can't make up for it!"

Because there are two real "high force value" rebels, Du Chong went all out this time.He called all his own private squad.Including the small group brought by Bao Shinan, a total of 12 people were dispatched.

These people are the real team of Du and Bao.If you bring more people, there is a risk of news leaking.

But 12 people is enough.With 2 guards off the back wall and 10 well-armed guards, with mental arithmetic or carelessness, it is definitely more than enough to deal with 2 Jiangyang robbers and 1 war scumbag.

After checking the equipment at the gate of the temple, Du Chong went through the action plan in his mind for the last time. After he felt that there were no omissions, he and Bao Shinan looked at each other and nodded at each other.

The next moment, with a soft shout, Du Chong, who was holding a simple knife, rushed into the Jade Buddha Temple first with his people.

The Jade Buddha Temple has been abandoned for a long time, and the wing rooms and apse of its two corridors have long since collapsed. Du Chong has already asked people to investigate this point.

So after rushing through the door, a group of people rushed to the main hall where the third Buddha was enshrined, and only the main hall is still available for people to meet and rest.

as predicted.After the group of arresters rushed into the main hall, they found that the thieves were sitting at the feet of the third Buddha and warming themselves by the fire.

Without command, the seasoned guards formed a semicircle in an instant, surrounding the three criminals sitting there warming up in a T-shape.All of a sudden, seven kinds of weapons were released, pointing at the thief, and the atmosphere on the field became tense.

The next moment, the three thieves sitting on the rotten bricks slowly raised their heads.

But Du Chong and his gang all took a step back: the three of them all wore a strangely shaped elephant face mask.Except for the two pieces of glass around the eye sockets, a long gray nose was connected to an iron box on the thief's waist.

"What the hell is this?"

While taking a deep breath, Du Chong suddenly realized that his family had shown their cowardice.So he didn't care about 21, and opened his mouth to let out a loud shout to boost morale: "Good thief, use a mask to play tricks! When things happen, hurry up and let go!"

"Hehehe, Mr. Du, I never heard that someone who warms up by a fire commits crimes. What kind of kingly law is this brother breaking?"

At this time, sitting between two Shaanxi big men, leaning against the small tube of Shakyamuni Buddha, he opened his mouth in a leisurely manner.It's just that the voice came out through the mask on his face, so it was inevitable that it was a little muffled.

"This little tube actually recognizes me?"

Although Du Chong felt that something was wrong, but now is the tense moment of arrest, so he can't allow him to think too much.So he continued to yell: "Guancai, it happened that you hooked up with these two rebels, and you still dare to make excuses, shut up and follow me to the official!"

"Master Du, if it's what you said about Yunke Lai. Hehe, Xiaogan has no money, who would have the patience to ask Tian Da about such nonsense."

Having said that, Xiaoguan stretched out his hand and grabbed a handful of sundries mixed with joss sticks, paper, money, wood, and straw, and put them into the clay pot in front of him, making the fire more vigorous: "That's what my station master taught me. It's a nonsense that I made up, it really can't be counted as Du Ye, but I'm really not a traitor."

"Nonsense?"

Hearing that Xiao Guan already knew what his family was doing, and looking at the three rebels in front of him, Du Chong's back felt cold, his scalp was numb, and his head was even a little dizzy.

Years of experience in participating in various ghosts on the front line made Du Chong instantly realize an impossible answer: he fell into an unknown trap today.

Forcibly calming down, Du Chong leaned on the simple knife with both hands, tried hard to control his shaking body, and asked in a difficult voice: "Stationmaster. Who is your stationmaster?"

"My stationmaster is the stationmaster. I can tell you that he is an old man, code-named 'chemist'."

Having said that, Xiao Guan pointed to the brazier in front of him: "No, this is the meeting gift that the station master entrusted me to give to Master Du. How about it, is it delicious?"

Accompanied by Xiao Guan's voice, there were two big men from Shaanxi laughing loudly: "It's true, it's true, it's true!"

The next moment, the sound of "dang bang bang bang" sounded.All the guards, including Bao Shinan, first dropped the weapons in their hands, and then stretched out their hands to grab their own throats, their eyes protruded, and they said "ho ho" in their mouths, and their legs kicked a few times, but they didn't move up.

"Why?" The only person on the field who was still persisting was Du Chong, who was leaning on a simple knife, salivating, and stubbornly wanting to know the answer.

"It's easy to teach Master Du to know." Xiao Guan stood up slowly at this time, slowly stretched out his arm, and gently touched Du Chong's forehead: "You are a public figure, but you are cheating and cheating, and you should be deceived out of the city." As a colleague, if you want to rescue the traitor tonight, it will be more convenient without the headhunter!"

"Uh" Following Xiao Guan's finger, Du Chong fell on his back.

At the same time that Du Chong was dying, the two brothers Hu Er, who was watching the wind behind the temple, were also killed by the hand crossbow from the back.

At this time, the action team members who had been in ambush appeared one after another.They met outside the temple, waiting for the three of Xiaoguan to carry the body out of the back gate of the Jade Buddha Temple.

Not far from the back door is the river bank.At this time, a fishing boat had already approached.

Soon, the corpses were loaded on a boat and tied to stones to feed the fish. This is the oldest traditional craft, an intangible cultural heritage, common both at home and abroad.

After finishing all this work, I changed into a clean outfit and hurriedly boarded the large transport ship of the Intelligence Bureau at the big pier outside Hankou Town just before dinner time.

After boarding the boat, Xiao Guan looked back.A dimly lit place, misty with rain and mist, is in the direction of Hanyang City.

I know that tonight in Hanyang City, there will be a key operation to rescue the rebels, but Xiao Guan is already in Hankou at this moment, and the gate of Hanyang City has been closed, so he will definitely not be able to catch up with this operation.

After sighing, Xiao Guan got off the cabin and saw his mother in the cabin.

"Mother, we're really going on a long trip this time. Rong'er will tell you in detail."

(End of this chapter)