Chapter 82: Chapter 82 Blind Mountain
"It's really far. I'm so tired."
On the winding mountain road, Dongmen Bao, a thief from Huyang Pavilion, had exhausted his strength because he walked so fast. He was sitting on a piece of grass, panting, wiping the sweat from his head, and cursing: "We said it would be less than ten miles, you lied!"
Ji Ying, the postman who had always been at odds with him, took the opportunity to sarcastically say: "Abao, I told you to walk slower. Although the terrain of this Blind Mountain is not high and the distance is only ten miles, the mountains are continuous, uphill and downhill, which is very strenuous. Although I have only been here once, I almost died of walking!"
Dongmen Bao was so angry that he screamed. He pulled his collar to reveal the leather armor inside, and pointed at Hei Fu who was walking slowly behind him and said: "If it weren't for Hei Fu asking me to wear the armor inside, I would have climbed over several hills and knocked at the door of that Blind Mountain!"
"Wear it if I tell you to. Don't talk nonsense."
Heifu turned around and pulled the informant "Ju", then looked at the rolling black hills in the distance, his face gradually becoming solemn.
Because he was really unsure of what would happen next, and he was even prepared for an armed conflict.
This hill is called "Fengzigang" on the map. It is the highest point in Anlu County and the most remote and poor place. Because every moonless night, it is really pitch dark in this hill, and people walking in it seem to be blind, so it is also called "Blind Mountain".
Among the people in Huyang Pavilion, only the postman Ji Ying came to Blind Mountain once because he delivered documents about spring plowing to Tian Zuoli, so Ji Ying became a guide. In addition to Heifu, Dongmen Bao, who has the highest combat effectiveness in the pavilion, also had to participate.
In addition, Li Xian, who is somewhat witty and can stand on his own. And Xiao Tao, who is good at shooting light arrows, were all brought by Heifu. The main combat power of Huyang Pavilion was dispatched, which shows that Heifu attaches great importance to this case.
The remoteness of the Blind Mountain is well-known. Following Ji Ying's suggestion, Heifu and his team set out yesterday afternoon and arrived at the fork of the Tudao and the mountain road before dark.
The Tudao is said to be an official road, but in fact it is a bumpy loess road that can only accommodate vehicles. The mountain road is even worse, only accommodating two people walking side by side, and at the back, even only one person can stand.
They squeezed into a house used for watching the fields for a night, and set out at dawn the next morning. Now it is past breakfast, but there is no shadow in the Blind Mountain, and there are only hills around.
When resting along the way, Heifu did not chat with the guards. In addition to teaching Lixian how to use the small copper whistle he asked his brother-in-law to make last month, he asked the anxious father "Ju" to come over and talk about some things about his daughter.
Only when the police understand the details of the victim can they better carry out the next plan.
"Let the pavilion chief know, my daughter's nickname is Yuanyuan..."
Ju is usually a frowning middle-aged man, and only when he mentions his daughter will he smooth out his wrinkles and show a hint of smile.
"She has been spoiled by me and my wife since she was a child, and she doesn't know the dangers of the world..."
"Two years ago, that day, it was also the spring season. My wife sprained her foot, but the silkworms at home had to be fed. Yuanyuan took the initiative to say that she would go to pick mulberry leaves for her. The mulberry field was next to the gathering. I didn't think much at the time, so I let her go, and kept praising her for being sensible, but my daughter never came back... Alas, it's all my fault, it's all my fault."
At this point, Ju covered his face with his hands. Since that day, he and his wife have been living in nightmares and pain. Losing their daughter is more sad than losing their own hands and feet, and their hearts are empty. The most painful thing is that I don't know whether she is alive or dead, whether she is being bullied at this moment, and whether she is hungry or warm.
"Originally, I have arranged a marriage for Yuanyuan, that is, with a neighbor, a soldier. Although his family is not rich, they grew up together. Yuanyuan will definitely live a comfortable life if she marries him. Who would have thought..."
From the details that Ju nagging, Heifu can be sure that this is indeed a father who loves his daughter very much.
His daughter was only 14 when she was abducted. Now she is an adult, a young lady in her twenties. If she is really in that blind mountain, what will happen to her in the past two years, in fact, Ju and Heifu know.
Ju is the only candidate to identify the kidnapped person, and he must be brought here, but Ju is getting more and more excited, which may become a weakness that exposes Heifu and his purpose early.
"When we get to Blind Mountain, I won't tell you my purpose directly, so as to avoid being obstructed by the local officials and making the investigation more difficult. You just pretend to be a guard who comes with me for inspection. Don't say a word and don't look too bad. Just do whatever I tell you to do!"
Heifu warned Ju not to show his true colors. While they were talking, they climbed over another small hill, and a small village in a valley finally appeared in front of them...
"This is Blind Mountain."
Ji Ying breathed a sigh of relief, pointed to the dark low wall in front, and reminded Heifu: "The people in this village are very wary of outsiders, Heifu, be careful!"
Heifu nodded, asked Xiaotao to come over, and whispered a few words in his ear. Xiaotao understood, carried his bow, and went into the pine forest inside and outside, lying in the ditch without moving, and sprinkled some emerald green pine leaves on himself.
This was the way out he left for himself.
Heifu led Dongmenbao, Lixian, Jiying, and Ju, a group of five people, and walked towards the gathering in a swaggering manner.
The sudden visit of a group of five people, carrying weapons, made the small village nervous. You know, five people can be regarded as a group of bandits.
The gate of the village was immediately closed. When Heifu and his companions came to the door, a man with a topknot stuck his head out and asked loudly: "Who is coming?"
Heifu handed the copper whistle in his hand to Lixian and asked him to keep it. Then he took a breath and said with full energy: "I am Heifu, the head of Huyang Pavilion! I came to the blind mountain for a routine inspection!"
...
"It's the pavilion head who came. We are really rude."
The head of the blind mountain was a man in his thirties named "Feng". He had a long beard and a bit of smoothness and cunning in his eyes. Tiandian was a dull man in his forties, who looked much more simple than the head of the village.
When the two heard that the new headman was coming for routine inspection, they were shocked and ran out of their homes to greet him at the door.
Heifu found that the scene with them seemed a bit big. There were more than 20 households in this village, and almost every family had one or two people. Thirty or forty people blocked the door, standing on tiptoe to look at the outsiders, their eyes full of curiosity.
"The headman is the first headman to come to Blind Mountain for inspection in the past five years."
The head of the village respectfully welcomed Heifu into the gate, and Tian Dian rubbed his hands and smiled.
It seems that the reason why this village mobilized so many people to welcome him was not because of Heifu's reputation in recent months, but because of his position.
Blind Mountain was too remote, and the previous headmen were too lazy to come in person, and the information was blocked, so most of them didn't know about Heifu's heroic deeds, and they were even unaware that the headman had been replaced by one or even several.
But this village still communicates with the outside world, but it is still a grassroots unit under the rule of Qin State. It still has to serve and pay taxes to the village, so they still maintain awe for authority.
Even more respectful than those who know Heifu's heroic deeds.
For the villagers who rarely go out in their lives, the head of the pavilion is already a very big official.
Heifu walked into this mysterious village surrounded by people. But there were mostly thatched houses with walls covered with dung. Most of the villagers who came out to watch the excitement were wearing tattered clothes and rope shoes. The summer sun made the dark bodies of farmers who had just returned from the fields shiny with sweat. Some women were even naked and could only stick out their dirty heads in the house to look at the "big official" called the head of the pavilion.
In this way, Blind Mountain Village is indeed the poorest in the jurisdiction of Huyang Pavilion. The living conditions are much worse than those in Heifu's Sunset Village. Most people have pale faces and are hungry.
On the contrary, the village head and Tian Dian were wearing cloth clothes and hats, which looked decent. The village head's house was also made of adobe tiles, which was very impressive.
"Since the head of the pavilion has come to Blind Mountain to inspect the village despite the long journey, would you like us to accompany you to walk around the village?"
The head of Blind Mountain, Feng, asked cautiously. If Hei Fu agreed, he would secretly tell others to make preparations.
Show the head of the pavilion what he should see, and hide all the things he shouldn't see!
"No hurry, no hurry."
Heifu deliberately put on the appearance of a mediocre bureaucrat, stretched and said: "I am also tired from walking, I want to sit down and talk to the village officials first. As for the inspection, let a few of my guards go."
As he said that, he walked into the house of the village head without being invited, looked at the furnishings inside and smiled: "Feng Lizheng, I, the guard, come in to ask for a sip of hot soup, it's okay."
The village head and Tian Dian looked at each other, as if relieved, they hoped that the guard who came here to inspect was a slack one. So the two of them also smiled and went in, and the village head also shouted to his servants to kill a chicken and quickly prepare the meal and send it up!
Hei Fu asked Dongmen Bao to follow him inside, but he shouted to Li Xian, Ji Ying and Ju outside: "I am also under the order of the township to inspect every village. Actually, there is nothing to do. Anlu County is peaceful! Just do it casually. There is no need to look too carefully. I will be back soon. We will have a feast with the head of the village and Tian Dian. The head of the village said that chickens will be killed today!"
In this way, the head of the village and Tian Dian took a reassurance pill, but they did not realize that Hei Fu had secretly winked at Li Xian.
Ju, who was dressed as a guard, was furious when he heard this. This guard, Hei Fu, arrived at the place, did not handle the case, did not look for anyone, but sat down to eat and drink. What was he trying to do?
He was about to warn him, but Li Xian, who had understood Hei Fu's intention, pulled him from behind, asked Ju to stay outside, and whispered in his ear:
"The captain is planning to hold the village official here, just follow me and go find your daughter together!"
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