Chapter 16: Escape in the Dark

The next morning, the gate of the county government was opened. Lai Fu and A Gui were the first to squeeze in with sacks on their shoulders and finally lined up.

Er Gouzi followed with grains and saw dozens of large buckets lined up in a hall.

Lai Fu and his men were pouring grains from the sacks into the buckets.

Fill the bucket and smooth it to get a standard bucket.

But many small vendors, in order to attract customers, will pile a tip on the bucket after filling it up, and the extra is considered a gift.

So people say that there is no business without a tip.

Er Gouzi also untied the sack and poured the grains into the bucket. He poured a full bucket, piled a small tip, and continued to pour another bucket.

"Pah! Pah..."

Er Gouzi suddenly felt a pain in his shoulder and was whipped by the yamen runner behind him.

He didn't understand why, so he looked back and saw that the yamen runner had a face full of flesh and whipped everyone with a ferocious look, even Huang Laocai was not spared.

"You unruly people!"

"The buckets are not even full!"

The tenants were threatened by the yamen runners, and they hurriedly held the sacks and continued to pour grain into each bucket until they could not be piled up anymore.

At this time, the yamen runner raised his leg and kicked a bucket.

With this kick, the grain in the bucket rolled down to the ground again.

"Bang bang bang..."

The yamen runners kicked one by one, and the golden rice scattered all over the ground.

"Fill it up!"

Several tenants hurriedly poured the grain into the buckets again, making a big peak.

"Bang bang bang..."

The yamen runners used the same trick again and kicked all the buckets again, and everyone could only fill them up again.

Huang Laocai covered his chest, trembling, but dared not say a word.

Fortunately, the yamen runners only kicked twice and did not kick again. Finally, this year's taxes were successfully completed and the government bills were received.

Then everyone bought some items in the county town. It was not easy to come all the way here, so they couldn't go back empty-handed.

Those who have children at home usually buy a few coins worth of snacks and take them back to coax their children.

Those who have wives at home, buy a foot or two of flowered cloth, and it is guaranteed that they can coax their wives to obey you for several months.

Those who don't have wives at home, buy some oil and salt to give to the widows in the village, which can also help others.

Lai Fu bought two twisted dough sticks for the two children at home, and A Guijie bought a piece of black salt for his family. The salt here is cheaper than in Sanchazi Town.

Er Gouzi made a lot of money selling Da Li Wan this time, and went to the bun shop again, buying 10 big meat buns at a time.

"Er Gou, you are crazy, you are so extravagant, be careful that you will be hungry at the end of the year, and you can't even drink porridge."

Lai Fu thought that Er Gouzi was a child and didn't know how to do things, so he kindly persuaded him.

"Take the buns to the bun shop and return them while they are still hot. Just eat one or two to satisfy your craving."

"If you are shy and feel embarrassed, I will go with you to return them. At most, I will say a few more nice words."

Faced with Lai Fu's kindness, Er Gouzi couldn't say that he was very rich now, so he could only explain that he had stored a lot of dried wild vegetables and would have no problem over the winter.

The people in his group just shook their heads secretly, feeling that this child was a spendthrift after all, without parental control.

They had seen a lot of such people. In peaceful years, they could barely make ends meet. Once they encountered a disaster, they would be the first to starve to death.

But it was none of their business. Talking too much would only make them enemies.

When this group of tenants walked out of the county gate with laughter, it was already noon.

The distance from the county to Shexi Village was too far. They set out at noon, and it was dark when they were only halfway through the journey.

They could only pick up some dry firewood and grass on the roadside to make a few simple torches for lighting.

"We seem to be approaching the place where we were robbed last time, right?"

"It's okay. King Zhao is very principled. He only robs once per trip."

As the men were talking, they saw a dark shadow standing in front of them, blocking the middle of the road.

The dark shadow held a shiny knife in his hand, which was particularly creepy under the light of the torch.

"Is that King Zhao in front of us?"

Huang Laocai felt that something was not right. Although King Zhao was a bandit, he acted openly and honestly, never wearing a mask, and there was a gong to clear the way.

Therefore, although Huang Laocai spoke respectfully, he stood in the crowd and did not dare to move forward alone.

The dark shadow in front of him did not speak, but walked towards the crowd with a sword in hand.

"Swish!"

A cold light flashed, and the hand raised the knife and fell. The head of a tenant had already fallen to the ground, and the warm blood sprayed on Er Gouzi's face.

"Ah!"

"Murder!"

"He is alone, let's kill him together!"

Lai Fu had more experience. He shouted and pushed the wheelbarrow to hit the man in black.

Between life and death, everyone was inspired to push the wheelbarrow towards the black shadow.

Er Gouzi also picked up a pole and smashed it at the black shadow in front.

They had 50 people and the other side had only one.

They thought they had more people and were sure to win, but the black shadow was very flexible and avoided all the wheelbarrows with a few leaps, not even the corner of his clothes was stuck.

At the same time, a cold light flashed, and Lai Fu, who was in the front, had his head flying high.

Two others were stabbed in the stomach and fell to the ground.

They were all tenants, and had never seen such a tragic scene. They threw away the things in their hands and ran away.

Er Gouzi also wanted to escape, but found that the black shadow had already chopped him with a knife.

He quickly picked up the wheelbarrow in his hand and smashed it towards the black shadow.

Although he had not learned fists, kicks, swords, and knives, his strength and reaction became much more agile after he started practicing.

This wheelbarrow was made of solid materials, four or five feet long, and weighed dozens of kilograms. He swung it vigorously, and even forced the black shadow to retreat two steps.

"Huh?"

The black shadow obviously did not expect Er Gouzi to have such great strength, and he exclaimed in surprise.

Er Gouzi saw the opportunity and continued to smash the wheelbarrow randomly. The force was strong enough, the speed was fast enough, and there was no method, which did not conform to any martial arts routine.

Even if the black shadow had good martial arts, he could not do anything to him in a short time.

"Bang..."

The black shadow chopped the wheelbarrow with a knife, and finally the wheelbarrow could not bear it and fell apart, leaving only a big wooden stick in his hand.

The black shadow pressed too closely, and he had no chance to pick up another wheelbarrow as a weapon.

Looking back, the others took this opportunity and ran away without a trace.

Everyone else ran away, so he could not fight.

He turned around and ran away immediately!

He was strong now, so he ran fast at full speed, and he could only hear the whirring of the wind in his ears.

But the black shadow was not slow either, and he was still chasing him. Judging from the footsteps, the distance between the two was not far.

The black shadow should also be a martial artist, but he was much stronger than him.

Er Gouzi was anxious, and he couldn't beat him, and he couldn't run away.

Thinking of this, Er Gouzi mobilized a small amount of vitality in his body and flowed it to his legs.

Sure enough, with the blessing of this airflow, his strength increased greatly. With one foot, a small pit was stepped on the hard road surface, and he was directly ejected forward.

The black shadow behind him had already raised his knife and chopped it down, thinking that this knife would kill Er Gouzi, but he didn't expect that his speed could suddenly increase.

When he put away the knife, he found that the distance between the two had widened again, and it was getting farther and farther.

Er Gouzi practiced every day during this period. As for the use of the vitality in his body, his master had not taught him, so he didn't know much about it.

Now he used his energy to help him run. At first, he was a little uncomfortable and almost fell down. Then he ran more and more smoothly.

He soon caught up with Huang Laocai who was running hard in front of him.

Huang Laocai was older and couldn't run as fast as these tenants. He was out of breath.

These tenants usually surrounded him to please him, but at the critical moment, they all ran away, leaving him alone to catch his breath.

Now he saw Er Gouzi and the black shadow catching up with him, and he was scared and shouted for help.

"Er Gou, save me!"

Er Gouzi had just distanced himself from the black shadow, so he didn't have the energy to save others. He rushed past Huang Laocai.

Huang Laocai did treat him to a meal, and he was always grateful, but he didn't let him pay with his life.

"Save me!"

"The land on Shekou Mountain!"

Er Gouzi, who was running, suddenly stopped and ran back without hesitation.

For a meal, plus the three acres of land on Shekou Mountain, it was worth risking his life.

When he ran back to Huang Laocai, the shadow chased him and raised his knife to chop Huang Laocai's neck.

Fortunately, Er Gouzi arrived in time and pulled back. The knife was much off, and only a cut was made on Huang Laocai's back.

Er Gouzi carried Huang Laocai on his back and fled.

But it was much harder to carry a person on his back. He was quite fast at the beginning.

Gradually, the distance between him and the shadow was slowly shortened.

"Hurry up! He's coming again!"

At this time, the most nervous person was Huang Laocai on his back.

Seeing the shadow chop down again, it was chilly and scratched the skin on his back.

Huang Laocai was frightened by this, and his crotch was hot, and a stream of hot urine poured on Er Gouzi's back.

Fortunately, Er Gouzi burst out with strength at the critical moment and slightly opened the distance.

Then he was caught up by the shadow several times, and Huang Laocai on his back was scared and screamed, and his hands and feet trembled.

Er Gouzi really didn't do it on purpose, but when he was practicing, the day was still short, and the airflow was very weak. After running for a while, it was almost consumed.

Fortunately, a little air continued to seep out of the muscles, barely filling the gap.

At the same time, he grabbed a handful of powerful pills from his arms and stuffed them into his mouth and swallowed them.

The powerful pills were slowly digested in the stomach, producing a little vitality, which was slightly better than nothing, at least it could last a little longer.

As Er Gouzi's speed slowed down, the speed of the black shadow also slowed down, probably because it was tired and couldn't hold on.

Gradually, the two sides opened up the distance again.

When Er Gouzi returned to Shexi Village with Huang Laocai on his back, it was already bright. He actually ran at full speed for most of the night.