Located at the junction of Shandong Province and Henan Province, Puzhou is adjacent to Kaifeng and Guide Prefectures in Henan Province.

Puzhou is nearly 100 kilometers away from Yuncheng County, and it takes several hours to ride a horse, Xu Jin and Xiao Huai set off from Yuncheng County at more than three o'clock in the afternoon, and it was already evening after galloping for nearly an hour. Originally, the days were long and the nights were short, and the sun should still be high at five o'clock in the afternoon, but due to the accumulation of clouds in the sky, it was a bit of a twilight feeling at this time.

There was smoke rising from the village in the distance, Xiao Huai suddenly ordered his horse and said to Xu Jin: "Ziqian, it looks like it will rain tonight, and it will be dark, the old man will take people to Puzhou City to check the situation first, Ziqian will work hard, and inform the villagers in the villages along the way to be vigilant, and it is best to move to a higher place immediately." ”

Xu Jin nodded and said, "Okay, Lord Xiao be careful!" ”

Xiao Huaihan said: "Ziqian is too, don't stay in a low-lying place for a long time!" ”

After Xiao Huai finished speaking, he led two hundred Jinyi guards to continue galloping along the official road in the direction of Puzhou. Watching Xiao Huai lead the crowd away, Xu Jin said in a deep voice: "Map! ”

Jin Baihu hurriedly ordered his subordinates to take out the map scroll wrapped in oil paper, Xu Jin took it and opened it, and found that from here to Puzhou, there were as many as forty or fifty villages near dozens of miles of official roads, and the workload was a bit large, and it was estimated that it would be dark in more than an hour.

At that moment, Xu Jin did not dare to slack off, and immediately assigned tasks to his Jinyi guards, a group of two, each group was responsible for notifying 1~3 villages, and those who were far away were only responsible for notifying one village.

After Xu Jin assigned their respective tasks, he clapped his hands and said loudly: "Okay, everyone set off immediately, and after completing the task, we will meet in the water fort, if you can't catch up with Shuibaozhai before dark, you will go directly to Puzhou City the next day, and you will work hard for the brothers, and when you arrive in Puzhou, the official will invite you brothers to drink." ”

A group of brocade clothes suddenly agreed, and the two of them rode away in groups, while Xu Jin took Jin Baihu and other twenty brocade guards to gallop towards the village where the smoke rose.

Not long after Xu Jin and the others left, a horse appeared at the turn of the official road at a trot, and the knight was wearing a hat, which was the White Lotus Sect disciple who chased after him, the thin man Qiu Fu.

Qiu Fu was riding on the back of the horse at the moment, scolding in his mouth, his horse was frightened by the thunderstorm last night, and he was rampage in the woods, and the horse's legs were scratched by thorns in many places, so he was in a very poor state, no matter how Qiu Fu whipped and urged, he just refused to let go of his hooves and galloped, and he hated this thing.

Soon, Qiu Fu came to the position where Xu Jin and the others acted separately, and when they saw the messy horseshoe prints all over the ground, Qiu Shouzi's whole person was messy, and he struggled for a long time, and finally continued to chase along the official road.

About half an hour later, three fast horses galloped in, and the horses' hooves were splashing with muddy water, and it was Zhao Quan, Xue Bingxin, and Sun Cai, who were looking for the thin man Qiu Fu.

Zhao Quan looked at the messy horseshoe prints on the ground with a calm face, his sharp eyebrows couldn't help frowning, and he ordered Xue Sun and the others to dismount, and looked around, but found no traces of blood or fighting, relieved and a little disappointed.

Although Zhao Quan was very annoyed that Qiu Fu acted without authorization, he still hoped that Qiu Fu's assassination would be successful, the horse's hooves were messy here, Zhao Quan thought that Qiu Fu had launched an attack here, but after investigation, it was not the case at all, and it was estimated that the Jinyi guards around Xu Jin acted separately.

"Brother Quan, what should I do now?" Sun Cai asked in a tangled manner, there were distant horse trails in all directions, and he didn't know which direction to continue chasing.

Xue Bingxin suddenly pointed and said, "Look, there is a village over there that is populated, let's go over and inquire." ”

Zhao Quan nodded when he heard this, so the three of them rode to the village, and as soon as they arrived nearby, a banging gong sounded at the head of the village, and then more than a dozen village heroes rushed out with bamboo guns and hoes. After the catastrophe, thieves often visit the village, so the villagers are very vigilant.

Xue Bingxin urged him to step forward and said: "Don't misunderstand, folks, we are just passing by, let me ask you, did a horse team pass by not long ago?" ”

When the villagers saw that Xue Bingxin was a woman, and there were only three people on the other side, they also relaxed their vigilance, and one of them replied, "Is the girl talking about Lord Qincha Xu?" ”

Zhao Quan's eyes couldn't help but light up, Xue Bingxin nodded and said, "Yes, it's him!" ”

The villagers replied: "Lord Xu came here about half an hour, and he said that there is a dangerous situation on the upstream embankment, and it may rain tonight, so let us be vigilant and move to a higher place for temporary shelter." Lord Xu is really a good official who loves the people like a son, he is dignified and poor, and when it is almost dark, he personally runs around to inform everyone to avoid the flood. We were going to keep him overnight, but he said that he would inform the villages along the way, and left in a hurry with the guards. ”

Xue Bingxin was stunned for a moment and asked, "Then why don't you hurry up and dodge?" ”

An old villager smiled and said: "Don't be afraid, our village is on high ground, and the last flood was not flooded, and it is troublesome for a village to move to the mountains at night, girl, I don't look like a bad person, it's going to be dark, or just stay in our village for one night, a girl like you is a smart girl, it's not safe to run outside at night, and it just so happens that my family still has a place to live." ”

Zhao Quan frowned, and secretly signaled Xue Bingxin not to waste time, and the latter hugged his fist at the old villager and said, "Thank you for your kindness, we still have to hurry, say goodbye!" ”

Looking at Xue Bingxin and the others who rode away, the old villager shook his head and sighed: "If you don't listen to the old man, you will suffer in front of you!" ”

At this time, an old woman stepped forward and grabbed the old villager's ear and scolded: "Old shameless, when you see other people's daughters Shui Ling, do you want people to live in your house?" ”

"Ouch, it hurts...... The old woman let go, how can I have the dirt you think, our three children have not married a daughter-in-law in their thirties, don't I want to match......"

The villagers burst into laughter.

Listening to the laughter of the villagers behind him, Zhao Quan turned his head and glanced coldly, if there was no urgency at this moment, with his cold temperament, he would go back to rectify the old man tonight.

However, now Zhao Quan has more important things to do, and he is inexplicably excited, because it is inferred that Xu Jin must have sent Jin Yiwei to inform the nearby villages to escape the flood, and judging from the horseshoe prints on the ground, there are only a dozen or so people around Xu Jin at this moment, and there are definitely no more than twenty people, which is a great opportunity to kill him.

Therefore, Zhao Quan just wants to catch up and find an opportunity to kill Xu Jin at the moment, as for where the thin man Qiu Fu is now, it has become unimportant.

Drive......

Zhao Quan rode his horse and chased after the horse, Sun Cai followed closely, but Xue Bingxin fell last.

Xue Bingxin naturally understood the reason why Senior Brother Zhao was so anxious, it was nothing more than wanting to catch up and assassinate Xu Jin, but Xu Jin was indeed a good official, as a messenger, regardless of his own safety, he had to inform the people everywhere to avoid the flood when it was getting dark.

Therefore, Xue Bingxin is in a very tangled mood now, and she is also worried that if she catches up and kills Xu Jin at this time, once a flood really occurs, the village that has not been notified will not be dangerous, and many people will die. She was originally a kind-hearted girl, if she hadn't been burdened with national hatred and family hatred, she would not have joined the White Lotus Sect, and she didn't like many ways of doing things in this organization.

It's raining, and it's not heavy, but it's also quite annoying, and it's about to get completely dark.

Xu Jin wore a cloak and a hat, riding a horse on a country road, one foot deep and one foot shallow, and the speed was very slow.

"My lord, there is Shuibaozhai in front!" Jin Baihu pointed to the place where the smoke and rain were confused.

Xu Jin raised his eyes, but seeing the vast twilight, he vaguely saw the outline of a village, and nodded: "Hurry up!" ”

So, a group of brocade guards fought hard and rushed to the village with Xu Jin in their arms.

Shuibao Village is built under a small hillside, outside the village is a small river bay, and there are about ten miles away from Puzhou.

Xu Jin and the others entered the village, and some of the Jinyi guards and villagers who arrived early greeted them. The villagers of this village are all surnamed Zhang, and the patriarch is an old man who is nearly 80 years old, and he is supported by the descendants of the village.

Xu Jin hurriedly stepped forward to help Patriarch Zhang, who was about to kneel, and after a few words of greeting to each other, they entered the village and settled down together.

Although the terrain is low-lying, but the village is behind the hillside, coupled with the vigilance of the villagers, when the last flood came, the watchman issued an alarm in time, and the villagers immediately ran to the hillside, but there were no casualties, that is, the village houses were somewhat damaged, and now they have been renovated.

"My lord, there are eighteen brothers who did not arrive as expected!" When it was completely dark that day, Jin Baihu came to report.

Xu Jin nodded, this was much better than he expected, only nine groups of people missed the deadline.

The old patriarch was going to set up a banquet to entertain Xu Jin, but Xu Jin politely refused, and after the flood, everyone was short of food, so Xu Jin's dinner tonight was two pancakes and a bowl of boiled water.

Lord Qincha set an example, and the brocade guards naturally did not complain, and honestly gnawed on the dry food they brought, and occasionally the villagers sent food to them politely refused.

Xu Jin looked at Li Shizhen, who was slumped on the chair and nibbling on the bread, with a tired face, and said with a smile: "How does it taste?" I told you not to come with you, I'm tired of falling apart! ”

After all, Li Shizhen is only a six- or seven-year-old child, and it is very rare that he has not fallen behind today.

Li Shizhen pouted and said: "What's this, I went up the mountain with my father to collect medicine at the age of five, and I am afraid that the mountain roads I have walked are no less than those of adults." ”

Xu Jin originally wanted to leave Li Shizhen in Yuncheng County today, but this kid had to follow, saying that in the event of a flood, he could help treat the disease and save people. Seeing that this kid was so persistent, Xu Jin was not reluctant, so he allowed him to come with him.

Not long after Xu Jin and the others settled down in Shuibaozhai, Zhao Quan and Xue Bingxin also chased them outside the village, but they did not enter the village, but found a cave in a nearby mountain forest to settle down.