Under the sky

Chapter 162

It turned out that Dian Cang's plunder that day left only fifteen days of food for the townspeople. Pingyuan Town was under the control of Qinglongmen. The person in charge was Liao Ming, the sub-rudder. He summoned all the townspeople and told everyone about Dian Cang's plans.

"If we run away and leave our hometown, where can we go?" Liao Ming said this. "There is no food left in the nearby villages and towns. The closer one is to Lingling, or Baoqing? Chenzhou? How far does it have to go?"

"If we don't leave, we will stay here. Eat less, fifteen days of food. We will eat one day for three days. We will eat everything, including scraping tree roots. We will stay here! These beasts like Dian Cang want to invade us. There are no doors in Hengshan! When Master Li comes back, we can drive these losers out of Xiangdi in less than two months!"

Liao Ming ordered all the valuable belongings in the town to be collected and filed in a register, saying that they would be returned according to the register in the future. He also collected all the food and stored it in his own home. He only distributed one meal every day in Shenmo.

All the townspeople's belongings were confiscated and they had no food, so they were forced to stay in the town.If there are sects that want to leave, they are not forced to stay, but they are not given food and are allowed to fend for themselves.

"We have been trapped like this for a month." Li Siliang said, "The food distributed these days is getting less and less."

"No matter how little you eat, you will always eat it all." Li Jingfeng also felt that it was inappropriate, "What are your plans, captain? If this war lasts too long, why don't we starve to death here?"

"The sub-ruler's wife is the sister of the leader of the Tieling Gang in Guangxi. There is no war there. The sub-rudder asked the Tieling Gang leader to transport food. It means crossing mountains and ridges. The roads are inconvenient and it will take time." Li Siliang said, "Now we can only wait." Yes... just have to endure it for a few more days."

Li Jingfeng said happily: "This is pretty good."

Li Siliang cupped his hands and said: "The purpose of strangers entering the town is to be inspected. This is a routine matter. The place is not peaceful recently. You two should leave the town as soon as possible tomorrow."

Li Jingfeng thought of the little girl again and asked, "You have a little girl here who is missing half of her ears. Which family is she from?"

Li Siliang frowned and asked, "What did she commit again?"

Just as Wang Meng was about to speak, Li Jingfeng said, "It's okay. I bumped into her on the road. Seeing that she is young, I was just a little worried."

Li Siliang said: "Her name is Amao. She usually hangs out near Zhenxi Courtyard. She is an orphan. Don't mess with her. Be careful not to get hurt."

Li Jingfeng raised his hand and thanked him.After sending Li Siliang away, Wang Meng asked, "Brother, why did you ask this girl?" He added, "We don't have food now, so we can't help her even if we want to give it to her. We are still short of food on the road."

Li Jingfeng smiled and said, "Actually, brother, I still have some left." He leaned over and fished out two oil-paper seals from under the bed, containing seven or eight steamed buns.It turned out that after he entered the room, he stuffed the two oil paper seals under the bed. It was dark and the people didn't search, so no one found them.He picked two steamed buns and put them in his arms, saying, "I'll come as soon as I go."

Wang Meng saw what he was doing and knew what he was doing. He smiled bitterly and said, "These steamed bun brothers have to be divided. I really can't tell whether you are smart or stupid."

Li Jingfeng jumped out of the window. The doors along the way were closed, and there was no light at all. There was only a light in the distance, which was believed to be the location of the local sect.He walked toward the west of the town under the moonlight, and saw a large courtyard. The door was crooked, and it was obviously damaged by someone. Could it be that there was a military disaster?

He walked into the courtyard. The ground in the courtyard was paved with gravel. It was somewhat elegant, but there were a few uneven places.He took a few steps and felt weird. The bumps seemed to be distributed according to the number of steps?There is a row of protrusions about seven steps away. The protrusions are so slight that there is no difference in appearance, and normal people will not trip over them when walking.

The flowers and plants in the courtyard were trampled and messy. There were a few flower trees planted on the edge of the courtyard. There were all kinds of pavilions and pavilions. Flowers and trees were planted everywhere.He smelled the fragrance and looked up. It was a flower tree in bloom, but he couldn't recognize it.

What's weird?Not just the floor, Li Jingfeng thought.He always felt that this compound was weird. He couldn't think of the reason for a moment, and when he walked into the corridor, his feet suddenly clicked.He always walked with his toes first, and then his back foot was firmly planted, so as not to step on the trap and be overwhelmed. This foot still stepped high in the front and low in the back.He pressed hard and confirmed that there was a slightly raised wooden board, just like the stone floor at the door. It was slightly raised every seven steps.He came to the side room. The tables and chairs inside were crooked and damaged, and the cabinets were dumped on the floor. It seemed that they had been looted.

He suddenly understood why the courtyard was strange—the manor was spacey.He has been to the Xiangyang Gang, Wudang, and the Songshan Courtyard. These places are the residences of powerful people. The courtyards are full of rockeries, rocks, and exotic flowers and plants. Especially in the Xiangyang Gang, he still remembers Gang Leader Yu’s tacky carp-green brocade. robe.

The manor seemed empty. Except for flowers and trees, there were only stone tables and chairs in the courtyard. There was nothing else. The fence that had fallen to the ground was too simple, and the window panes were not elegant.He looked up and saw that the roof beams were plain and plain. If all the rockeries, rocks, antiques, vases, wood carvings, and famous paintings had been looted, it would not be that even the beams and columns of this large manor were not carved. This was too unsophisticated and did not look like the decoration of a wealthy family.

This leads to the second doubt: They say Dian Cang robbed food but not property. Who was looting this compound?

Li Jingfeng couldn't figure out the reason. He walked through the front hall and walked to the backyard. He saw a door tightly closed. He pushed it open and made a sound. It turned out that there were a string of wind chimes hanging behind the door. When he pushed the door, there was a sound.Then he heard another crunching sound. He turned around and saw a short figure jumping out of the window, and Li Jingfeng quickly caught up with him.

The child ran too fast and couldn't see clearly late at night, so he fell to the ground.Li Jingfeng picked her up and slapped her face with two hot slaps, which made the child dizzy.The child turned around and punched and kicked her. Li Jingfeng wanted to teach her a lesson. He took a deep breath and channeled his Hunyuan Qi. The child's punches and kicks seemed to hit hard objects, and the shock caused pain to his hands and feet.Seeing that she didn't dare to hit her anymore, Li Jingfeng strangled her throat with his left hand, passed under her side with his right hand to lift her up, and said in a deep voice: "Believe it or not, I will kill you."

The child couldn't breathe, and kept kicking his little feet in mid-air. He thought he was going to die. Tears streamed down his face, and he shouted: "I don't dare anymore, I don't dare anymore, don't kill me!"

Li Jingfeng thought that the lesson was enough, so he put the child down. When she regained her breath and was about to speak, the child turned around and ran away.She was familiar with the village, and she turned a corner and ran without a trace. Li Jingfeng saw that the door of the warehouse on the left was not closed, and there was a clanging sound coming from inside. This was a sound that had never been heard before.

It was a warehouse that was sealed on all sides. Li Jingfeng guessed that it was a dead end. He knew that the child was frightened and rushing too quickly would scare him, so he walked slowly towards the warehouse.

Tiny sounds continued to come from the warehouse, jingling, clanging, and various sounds mixed together, making it weird and bizarre.

what happened?What's in this warehouse?
"Boom".

It was like the sound of knocking a wooden fish, small and short.The sound seemed to come from far, far away. It did not come from near the warehouse. Although it was very subtle, Li Jingfeng's ears and eyes were more sensitive than before after he had mastered his internal skills. In addition, he was carrying a wanted person and was more vigilant about the surroundings than ordinary people. This The sound seemed abrupt even among the many strange sounds.

Li Jingfeng was stunned and looked around, but saw nothing.

Did you hear that wrong?He walked lightly to the warehouse door.The warehouse was airtight and pitch-black inside, but it did not hinder Li Jingfeng's night vision. Relying on the dim moonlight and stars outside, Li Jingfeng finally understood where these sounds came from.

Or wind chimes, there are many wind chimes of different sizes and shapes hanging in this airtight warehouse, including bamboo, iron, wood, and even glass.There are dozens of these wind chimes hanging from hooks hanging under wooden beams.

"Boom".

what happened?Li Jingfeng was sure he heard correctly this time.He turned his head quickly, but still didn't see anything strange.

Maybe it was the strange noises coming from other houses in the distance, and I was suspicious.But he still felt uncomfortable, even a little nervous.He didn't know why he felt so strange, but he was just a child. Should he be so wary?

He saw the child huddled in a corner of the warehouse.Li Jingfeng didn't go in. He didn't want to irritate the child anymore, so he simply sat on the ground to show that he was no longer hostile.

"Don't be afraid, I won't hit you again." Li Jingfeng said.He knew the kid wouldn't believe it, but he had to go on.

"You have no food to eat, so you have to do bad things. This is a last resort. But first of all, you shouldn't deceive good-hearted people. If you want to cheat, you have to deceive bad-hearted people and rich people. Secondly, you throw lime and hurt people's eyes. Most importantly, Vicious. You are just making a living, with a few pieces of dried meat and a few mouthfuls of dry food. If you cause blindness to others, is it worth it? You are not doing it for others, but for yourself. The more vicious you are, the more vicious people will be when they come to you. "

He saw that the child was just staring at him with a guarded look on his face. He didn't know if he heard it or not, and then said: "I brought you food." He took out the steamed buns from his arms, "Are you hungry? There are steamed buns."

How could that kid care about him?Li Jingfeng thought for a while and threw the steamed bun towards the child.The child hesitated for a long time, then bent forward slightly to pick up the steamed buns.It was dark in the warehouse, and she reached out to fumble around, her eyes never leaving Li Jingfeng.Li Jingfeng pointed the direction, she touched the steamed bun, put it into her arms like lightning, and looked at Li Jingfeng, as if testing whether it was poisoned, she took a small bite first, and then devoured it.

Li Jingfeng thought of Qi Xiaofang and couldn't help but smile: "Eat slowly, don't choke."

"Give me the remaining steamed buns, or I will say you have food on you!" the child shouted, "the people in the town will rob you of all the food!"

Li Jingfeng frowned. This kid was not as kind as Xiaofang. He replied, "I gave you steamed buns, but you're trying to scare me?"

"You just hit me! Give it to me!" the child shouted, "or I will scream and leave you with nothing!"

Li Jingfeng was a little annoyed, but he held back his anger, thinking of the past in Lenglongling, and said, "I have something to ask you, and if you tell me, I will give you the remaining steamed bun."

"Give me the steamed buns first!" the child said.

Li Jingfeng was about to throw the steamed bun away, but then he thought about it, this kid is cunning, he might regret it after giving it, so he changed his words: "Your name is Amao, right? My name is Li Jingfeng. I ask you questions, you answer, after asking you this steamed bun Just give it to you.”

"What do you want to ask?" Amao asked.

"Where is the owner of this house? Why do you live here?"

"He was beaten to death. If there is no one, I will move in." Amao replied.

This answer surprised Li Jingfeng. At that moment, the uncomfortable feeling disappeared, and Li Jingfeng couldn't help but look back.

"What are you looking at?" Amao scolded, "Give me the steamed buns quickly!"

Li Jingfeng shook his head and laughed to himself that he was suspicious. In this night, it was impossible for someone to look at him without him seeing him. He would have to touch him very close. He would not be unwary unless that person was the same as him. He has a pair of night eyes and can peek in the dark.

He folded the steamed bun in half, threw half of it over first, and waited quietly for the child to pick it up.

Like catching a cat, Li Jingfeng thought to himself, he couldn't believe what this child said.

"Didn't you say that Dian Cang only robbed food and didn't harm anyone? The farm is so big that it can house at least dozens of people, and they were all killed?"

"There was an old man living in this yard. The people in the town beat him to death in order to steal his property." Li Jingfeng was surprised: "He was beaten to death by the people in the town?"

"Steamed buns! Give me steamed buns!" the child shouted.

"Who beat him to death?"

"You are not responsible for whoever kills someone in this town. Of course it's Liao Ming, the bastard! Give it to me quickly!" Amao shouted.

Li Jingfeng thought about the meaning of her words. Wang Meng had suspected that there was something wrong with the town before, and now he heard that Amao said that Liao Ming, the sub-ruler in charge of the place, killed the manor owner, and he became even more suspicious.He always felt that there were many weird things in this small town, but he didn't know where to start.

Amao kept urging, and Li Jingfeng sighed and threw the remaining half of the steamed bun to her.Amao took it but didn't eat it. Li Jingfeng knew that she would keep it to endure hunger.I had lived like this before in Yi'an Town. At that time, my mother was seriously ill and it was difficult to earn money by doing odd jobs. I also had to buy medicine for my mother. I would always cut a steamed bun in half and would not eat it unless I was extremely hungry. I had to hide it from my mother and tell her that I had eaten outside.

He looked at Amao again. He didn't know how this child developed such a vicious character. Seeing that she was covered in wounds, she must have suffered a lot. He wanted to persuade her to say something, but he didn't know where to start.

Seeing that he wouldn't leave, Amao asked, "What else do you want to do?"

"Why did Liao Ming beat the manor owner to death? Did he break the law?" Li Jingfeng asked.

"Bah!" Amao scolded, "Liao Ming saw that the manor was so big and thought there were valuable things in it. A large number of people came to the town and robbed all the food. He asked everyone to hand over all their belongings and food. The old man didn't She took out valuable things, but he didn't believe it. He said that the old man had hidden food and led his disciples to break in to snatch it, so he beat the old man to death, and told those dead dogs that this was an example. Damn, fuck you bitch!" She said. Although he is young, he is unambiguous when it comes to swearing. He speaks obscene words from his mouth and is full of violence.

Li Jingfeng was shocked: "Is this happening? Didn't Master Liao say that when the food comes and the battle is over, he will return the family property?"

"Only those dead dogs will believe it!" Amao scolded, "They are all dead dogs. They die early and die late. They are dead dogs who were tricked to death!"

Li Jingfeng felt something was wrong in her words and asked, "What do you mean?"

"It's none of your business!" Amao scolded, "Leave quickly, or I'm going to scream if you don't leave!"

"Don't curse people at all times." Li Jingfeng said, "You have a difficult life, so you do bad things. If you do many bad things, you will always fail. If you are young, people will be more lenient with you. When you get older, sympathy will turn to disgust, and you will definitely have trouble. It's a big deal. If you remember those two slaps, you have to be afraid."

Amao cursed: "Just give me two stinky steamed buns, what nonsense are you talking about! Leave quickly! I hate you!"

Li Jingfeng had no choice but to stand up, thinking that if he left like this, the child would most likely be in trouble in the future, or he would become a gangster seeking wealth and life. He couldn't help but hesitate, so he said: "You have troubles, but others don't owe you anything. I don’t know how to help you right now, I hope you can take the right path in the future, take care.”

After he left the manor, he was still worried about what Amao said, so he simply took a detour to the local sect.

There was the only light at night, and it was easily identifiable as a manor. The word "Liao Mansion" was written on the golden plaque at the door. It didn't look like a sect, but a private residence.Li Jingfeng jumped up to the roof, lowered his body and looked inside.

There are many large vats piled in the backyard, filled with food such as pickled vegetables and dried meat.There is also a rice warehouse with three locks.There are two guards in front of the rice warehouse.

There was a carriage parked behind the gate, and a strong man with a sharp face was directing more than a dozen of his men to load large boxes into the carriage.What is this doing?Li Jingfeng was suspicious. He slowly climbed along the eaves and looked at the backyard. There were many boxes piled there. There were more than ten people following the instructions of a middle-aged woman to distribute calligraphy, paintings, sculptures, vases, and strange rocks. , packed into wooden boxes one by one.

Li Jingfeng vaguely guessed something, couldn't help but feel angry, and returned to the inn to meet Wang Meng.

"The master is moving the belongings?" Wang Meng was surprised.

Li Jingfeng said: "No wonder the lights are still on in this big house so late at night."

After some deliberation, the two found out that under the guise of staying behind, Leader Liao had plundered the belongings of hundreds of households in the town and planned to smuggle them away.But I don’t know how to transport this large amount of goods?
"Didn't he say that people from Tielingmen are coming?" Wang Meng thought.He had heard about many major cases, many of which were treacherous and cunning, so he said: "Maybe this is true, but he is not here to transport food, but to move treasures. He starved the people in the town to half death, saying that he wanted to stay behind Hometown, when the time comes to leave, no one can stop me.”

"This is unjustifiable." Li Jingfeng said, "Tielingmen is also under the rule of Hengshan. Hengshan will definitely pursue the case after the incident."

Wang Meng thought for a while and said in deep thought: "No... probably not..."

Li Jingfeng saw that he was hesitating and asked, and Wang Meng said: "The most cruel thing... is to massacre the entire village and blame Dian Cang."

Li Jingfeng was shocked: "This is too vicious! For this little money... there are more than a thousand people in the town!"

Wang Meng also said: "I don't think so. He is just a sub-rudder. After getting this huge fortune, he simply moved to Diancang or the territory of the Beggar Clan. It would be difficult for Hengshan to pursue him. He has not left because he is waiting for the help. It’s not easy to take away large sums of gold and silver.”

Then he added: "In a few days, the townspeople here will be too hungry to walk. They may starve to death in the town. Without him taking action, at least a hundred of them will starve to death."

Li Jingfeng couldn't help but became furious and said: "He must be exposed, we can't let him kill so many people in vain!"

Wang Meng shook his head and said: "Brother, we can't control this matter. There are one or two hundred sect disciples on this land, why are you making such a fuss?"

"That's not necessarily the case." Li Jingfeng said, "Have you seen the disciples from the Punishment Hall who came today?"

Wang Meng was stunned and asked, "What do you mean, brother?"

"Those punishment hall disciples are also hungry." Li Jingfeng said, "He has to do this secretly. These disciples' family members are all in the town, and they are not careful about taking them away. I guess not many people know about this. , at most twenty or thirty. With these people I saw tonight, we have to think about it and take care of this matter."

Wang Meng was shocked: "Brother, do you really want to meddle in this business?"

■

Amao closed the warehouse door first and made sure that Li Jingfeng had left the manor. Then he returned to the room where Li Jingfeng had discovered before. He walked out of the back door into a servant's room next to the kitchen.

The room was dark, and there was no candlelight, so she couldn't see clearly. She could only lie on the ground and fumble with her hands.

"Here, wait a moment." An old voice sounded in Amao's ear.Amao asked in surprise: "Old man, what are you doing here?"

"I'm afraid something will happen to you."

"Dong", "dong", the knocking sound sounded in the darkness, followed by a crunching sound.Amao vaguely saw that the floor was lifted, that was their hiding place.

"Where are you?" the old voice asked.Amao snorted and didn't reply.A strong hand held her shoulder, and Amao also put his arm around the old man's waist. The two of them helped each other into the underground secret room.

The secret room became darker, and as the secret door fell, Amao couldn't see anything.

"Be careful if you fall." The voice said.

"You can't help, you're just going out to get beaten." Amao said.

The man moved slowly, but walked on flat ground in the darkness. On the contrary, Amao carefully tested every step on the stairs.The man was not impatient and waited for Amao to take every step before moving forward.

After confirming that he had reached the bottom floor, Amao grabbed the old man's hand, put two half-broken buns into his hands, and then stepped away.

"You can keep it," the old man said.

"I've eaten. That fool gave me two steamed buns, and I also ate a large piece of dried meat from him in the afternoon."

"You should leave the town as soon as possible." The old man said, "If we drag this on, you will starve to death."

"Where are we going? Everyone is fleeing. Whose family are we going to pick leftovers between our teeth? We're all going to starve to death wherever we go!" Amao scolded angrily.

"If there's chaos in the town, you'll be the food left in everyone's teeth."

"It's not clear who will eat who!" Amao sat down against the wall.The two slaps that Li Jingfeng had given her just now were still a little painful, and she was even more angry and said fiercely: "When the Liao dogs start making trouble, how many lives will be lost in the town? I was hungry and panicked, so I went up to pick up a few corpses, which lasted for more than half a month!" "

"Is that man's name Li Jingfeng?" the old man asked, "He is a good man. Please ask him to take you away."

Amao said angrily: "You know it again! You are just a blind man, you can't see what is good or bad!"

"Go check on him and see if he is from Tapa County." The old man said, "I think I recognize him."

(End of this chapter)