In an unknown small village fifteen miles north of Yangzhou, two hunters told Wang Dynasty Mahan and others what they had seen that night.

"That night, the five brothers and I went out to check the traps set up to see if there was any gain, and the two of us first went to the north slope, and then planned to go around to the south Shugang Mountain, and more than a dozen traps were set up on the slopes and grass on both sides of the official road; It had been nearly three days since we had been to the northern slopes, but the two of us did not feel tired, because that day we had caught four wild animals in the northern trap alone, which was a great gain. ”

"As we walked south around the wasteland, suddenly the five brothers pointed to the official road in the south and said, "Brother Li, it seems that there is a march on the official road." When I saw it, it was indeed the case, and a long dragon with torches in the mountain pass was walking out mightily, and it seemed that there were hundreds of people. ”

Wang Chao and Mahan glanced at each other, and Wang Chao asked, "What about later?" ”

Li Hu said: "Originally, the five brothers Wang and I were reluctant to go to the official road to join in the fun, if it was really officers and soldiers, it would be better to make less trouble, but the two of us were really reluctant to the trap in the south, the temperature was quite warm that night, and there was a lot of harvest in the north, not to mention that the hillside in the south is a place where there are many hares and roe deer, and maybe seven or eight can be caught; So the two of us slowly approached the official road along the mountain path, wanting to wait for the officers and soldiers to finish before going in to search; But when I got closer, those people turned out to be not officers and soldiers, but ordinary people, and the strange thing was that these people were driving a big cart, and the car was slowly piled up with marijuana bags, which looked very heavy, and the cattle were pulling hard, and those people were pushing and pulling beside the car, looking impatient. ”

Wang Chao said: "Can you see what is pulled on the car?" ”

Li Hu shook his head and said: "I can't see clearly, I don't dare to get close, I can only watch from a distance, the torches are very bright, I really can't see clearly." ”

Wang Chao took a sip of wine and said, "Brother Li, please continue." ”

Li Hu said: "I and the five brothers of Wang combined, I thought that there was an accident in the city, and the people fled overnight, but after a closer look, it is not like it, the escape must be dragging children and daughters, how can there be all young and strong men, and they are still pulling big bags of things; We didn't think much of it, just snuggled up in the grass, wanting to wait for the team to pass; Sure enough, about half an hour, these people walked out of the official road to the north one after another, Wang Wu and I touched in, and searched all the traps on both sides of the official road. ”

Wang Chao was a little disappointed and said, "That's all you saw? ”

Li Hu smiled: "Don't worry, I haven't finished yet, come on, drink some wine, eat some rabbit meat, the night is still long, let's talk slowly." ”

Ma Han said loudly: "I said two, don't sell it, we are all in a hurry, and my son-in-law can't sleep at night." ”

Li Hu hurriedly said: "Yes, yes, this is what he said; Wang Wu and I had just packed up and were about to go home to sleep beautifully, when we suddenly heard movement in the north, hid on the hillside and looked, it turned out that the gang had gone and returned; The same team, the same carriage and horses, but all the sacks on the cart were emptied, and only the empty cart remained; The gang went straight to the direction of Yangzhou City, as if they were still going to load things; Anyway, Wang Wu and I had nothing to do, and I was a little curious, so we waited on the hillside for a while, wanting to see what this group of people was doing sneakily; Sure enough, within an hour, the gang returned, and this time the cart was full of sacks. ”

Wang Chao muttered to himself: "Master's guess is really right, this group of people is such ants moved out of the city again and again. ”

Li Hu asked, "What ants move?" ”

Wang Chao hurriedly said: "You go on, it's no good for you to know these things." ”

Li Hu patted his thigh and said: "What the poor master said is very true, the fifth brother Wang also said so at the time, but I was too curious, regardless of his objections, I secretly followed the convoy all the way to the north, and walked about five miles, where there is a broken temple called Lanruo Temple, according to people, Lanruo Temple is often haunted, so I don't dare to go to the broken temple on weekdays; However, this group of people actually parked the carriage and horses in the courtyard of Lanruo Temple with great fanfare, unloaded the sacks on the car, piled them up in the courtyard and turned around and ran towards Yangzhou City. ”

"At that time, I and the five brothers Wang were really scared enough, and thought it was the fox fairy and wild ghost in Lanruo Temple who was haunting, and in the middle of the night, the third watch organized the little monster to go to Yangzhou City to steal people's things, and the old people said that the fox fairy and ghost like to steal things secretly, and this time I saw it with my own eyes."

Ma Han said: "What kind of ghosts and fox fairies, those are people, look at you two nests." ”

Li Hu blushed and said: "At that time, in that environment, of course we were afraid of death, but we also have some selfishness, the old people said that the fox fairy ghost steals gold and silver jewelry, and they are also greedy for money, I and the five brothers Wang got dirty, and wanted to take the risk to take advantage of the departure of this group of people to go in and secretly carry a bag back, if it is really gold and silver treasures, this everyone will not worry about food and clothing from now on?" It's also forced by life, so I really did it in a daze. ”

Wang Chao laughed and said: "Good man, even ghost things dare to think about it, you two are definitely not cowards, but men." ”

Li Hu and Wang Wu smirked; Wang Chao said: "Did you steal it?" ”

Wang Wu said with annoyance: "Don't mention it, I almost gave my life; Brother Li and I climbed over the wall and touched in, I didn't expect that there were dozens of people guarding inside, just touched the edge of the sack pile and was discovered, in a panic, Brother Li stabbed the sack with a firewood knife and reached out to grab a handful, the two of us ran wildly, fortunately we are very familiar with the terrain, those people are obviously not familiar with the terrain, and our brother was thrown away by two or three rounds. ”

Wang Chao asked Li Hu, "What treasures did you catch?" ”

Li Hu said embarrassedly: "When I started, I thought it was Jinsha Jinla, but when I went home, I saw a lot of rice, which was really a joy in vain." ”

Wang Dynasty nodded and said, "That's right, it's not rice that really has ghosts." ”

Li Hu said: "Could it be that the rice transported by these people is the batch that Su Qingtian tracked down?" ”

Wang Dynasty said: "Nine times out of ten, this is the grain hoarded by the profiteers in the city, and the court strictly ordered them to hand over the grain and sell it to the official warehouse to survive the famine this winter, but these people not only did not pay it for the sake of profit, but hid it in many ways, and saw that the government was searching for it, so they wanted to transport the grain out of the city to hide, and as soon as my family left, they began to sell it at a high price again." ”

Li Hu suddenly said: "I see, no wonder it is so sneaky." ”

Wang Chao asked, "What about later?" Didn't you wait and see when you got home? ”

Li Hu said: "We were scared to death, where do we dare to go again?" However, at the entrance of the village, you can also see the movement on the official road from a distance, and the team of people was busy until almost dawn, and the food that was transported overnight should be how much. ”

Wang Chao said: "More than 1.8 million stones, enough for our Yangzhou people to survive until next summer." ”

Li Hu smacked his tongue and said, "No wonder the famine is so serious, all of them have hidden the grain by these dog thieves." ”

Wang Chao stretched out his hand and took out the bag of copper coins and threw it on the table and said: "Thank you two eldest brothers for providing such an important clue, this is half of the reward, you take it first, and after we find the grain, my son-in-law will definitely have a heavy reward." ”

Li Hu pretended to excuse himself and said, "This ...... How dare to be. ”

Wang Chao said: "You deserve it, this is what you deserve, take An Ansheng to buy some rice, flour and meat to have a good New Year with your wife and children at home, don't talk nonsense about these words just now, lest the remnants of those profiteers learn that they will come to provoke." ”

Lihu and the king were thanked for their five thousand kindnesses, and their subordinates were rewarded; Wang Chao got up and said, "In this way, my two brothers will take their leave. ”

Li Hu hurriedly asked: "Where are you going in the middle of the night?" ”

Wang Chao said: "Without further ado, we have to hurry up to the ruined temple of Lanruo Temple you said to have a look, if the food is still there, everything will be fine." ”

Li Hu hesitated: "Where to go so late?" You don't know the place......"

Wang Chao said: "Didn't you say that you were on the side of the official road? Five miles north from here? ”

Wang Wu interjected: "That's it, it's still our brother who leads the way for you, the temple is not next to the side of the official road, it is said to be haunted, how can it be troubled if it is on the edge of the official road?" It's just that there is a big road leading to the temple on the official road. ”

Li Hu also said: "Yes, yes, yes, my brother will lead the way." ”

Wang Chao said: "How can this be made? It's good to bother the two of you. ”

Li Hu said with a straight face: "You guys and Su Qingtian have worked hard for us and other people, what is it for me to wait for the people to help me?" Besides, you also gave the reward money, how can you not return the money from others, you two wait a minute, I went to get the wind lantern and lit the road. ”

Wang Chao smiled: "It's okay, then thank you." ”

Li Hu found a dusty wind lamp out of nowhere, carefully took out a candle from the cabinet and lit it inside, lifted the wind lamp and took Wang Dynasty Mahan out of the village and slowly went north.