Chapter 14 Chapter Thirteen: The Power of Fire Evil

Huo Xiaoxie stared blankly at Shui Yao'er, and said, "The way you came here just now is really wicked! Even a goblin can't do it!" Shui Yao'er got a little angry: "You still need to say that!" As he spoke, he slapped Huo Xiaoxie on the forehead. Huo Xiaoxie said, "Are you still going to be beaten for complimenting you? You fairy woman is really unreasonable!" The water demon hummed in a low voice: "Stop talking! Do you want someone to hear you? A rotten monkey! A rotten monkey!" Huo Xiaoxie hurriedly shut up, he knew something about the love between men and women dimly, and he also liked a handsome and charming woman like Shui Yaoer, but Shui Yaoer showed her skills many times along the way, Huo Xiaoxie I am ashamed of myself, I always feel that I am lower than Shui Yaoer, and most of my words to Shui Yaoer are admiration and admiration, and I don't dare to have any ambiguity.Who would have thought that if Huo Xiaoxie said that the method used by Shui Yaoer to come here just now looked extremely beautiful, Shui Yaoer would be so happy.How could Huo Xiaoxie understand the thoughts of a woman who was angry and knocked on his head by Shui Yaoer?

Although the back kitchen did not sink into the ground, the roof collapsed because it was close to the huge pit. Except for the half wall facing the yard, the other walls were dilapidated.Some collapsed to the bottom, and some were left with a small half.Such a wreck is a good place to hide and observe.Huo Xiaoxie and the others saw someone coming out of the ground on the hillside, and it was in this back kitchen room. Shui Yaoer poked her head around and saw that there was no movement from Shopkeeper Qian. With a light wave of her hand, she signaled Huo Xiaoxie to follow.The wall on one side of the back kitchen yard did not fall down, giving them excellent shelter.

Huo Xiaoxie also turned into the back kitchen and joined Shui Yao'er.Shui Yaoer looked around the room, pots, pans, stoves and cabinets were all smashed by the falling roof, and the whole back kitchen couldn't see its original appearance at all. Huo Xiaoxie said sadly in a low voice: "It's not easy to find! You obviously saw someone come out of the house! Was it buried?" The water demon snorted: "Stupid monkey, it's not easy to find, it's obvious that the entrance is under the stove." Huo Xiaoxie asked in surprise, "How did you find out?"

Shui Yaoer said: "Only the hearth is the least underground rubble, isn't it?" As he spoke, he had already crawled to the edge of the hearth. Huo Xiaoxie pondered for a while, and when she understood, she couldn't help but nodded secretly, and followed Shui Yao'er. Shui Yaoer stroked it with her hand, and found a dark handle at the corner of the stove. Shui Yaoer pulled it, but did not move at all, and said, "Monkey, help me!" Huo Xiaoxie also stretched out his hand, and held it tightly, both of them exerted all their strength, Hou Xiaoxie's face turned red even more, they still couldn't pull the handle a little bit, as if the handle was welded to the ground.

Huo Xiaoxie sighed: "It can't be wrong." The water demon snorted: "No, look under the handle, there is a big gap! There must be another mechanism that locked this place." Huo Xiaoxie saw that there was a straight crack on the ground on the side of the handle, and the handle was connected to a huge cover. The water monster said: "Don't move, I'll look around the house." Huo Shui Yaoer was about to get up to look for it, but Xiao Xie said, "You don't need to look for it, it's just a thick benzene cover." Pushing away the rubble with his hands, he pressed his palm down, only to hear a "click", which seemed to be the sound of a machine spring springing off.Huo Xiaoxie grabbed the handle and lifted it again, and the lid moved slightly.

The water demon said, "It's that simple?" Huo Xiaoxie said curiously: "The cellar covers of the landlords' houses in the Northeast are all like this. There is a support at one corner, and it opens when you press it. It is specially designed to prevent pigs, dogs, and weasels from rambling." Shui Yaoer's face was slightly hot, so she had to say: "Oh, I was thinking too much." Shui Yaoer and the other Shui family members steal things in and out of places, all of which have many traps and need to spend all their time. Locking the land, there are fifty-five twenty-five hidden locks.So the water demon naturally thought that there was some secret mechanism in everything, but instead took a long way, not as straightforward as Huo Xiaoxie.

The two joined forces again, and the lid was slowly pulled up even though it was heavy.The water demon leaned close to the gap, smelled it lightly, and there was no peculiar smell, so she and Huo Xiaoxie continued to use force to pull the cover out of the ground at once, and the bite force between the cover and the ground was lost. Xie and Shui Yaoer suddenly raised the two-foot height, and with a "pop", billows of dust gushed out from under the cover. Shui Yaoer whispered: "Not good!" With his hands behind his back, he took out the gray midge tent with lightning speed, unfolded it with a shake, covering Huo Xiaoxie and the dust together, but the dust could not be blown up .Shui Yao'er pressed Huo Xiaoxie's back, and said, "Pull again! There is a lot of dust down here, and people will notice if the ash is stirred up."

Huo Xiaoxie took a mouthful of dust, and after hearing what Shui Yaoer said, she was willing to do so, endured the dust to pave the surface, and lifted the cover completely again.Covered by a gray midge tent, the dust gushing out from the ground will not fly up, but it's poor Huo Xiaoxie, who ate a catty from his nose and mouth. Although this is a trivial matter, it is full of danger of exposure. A large amount of dust suddenly burst out of the ground, and almost everyone knows that something happened there.A thief, if he does not know the power of the trivial matter of opening the lid, will be easily discovered here.In the old days, in order to prevent theft, some big families would pour ammonia gas into the pits where the treasures were hidden, and some would put a kind of herbal medicine called "gui stink" in them, and fill the underground space with these strong and pungent gases. If a thief opens the entrance of the pothole, the smell will flow out and spread very quickly, and if people smell it, they will know that a thief is coming to steal.Therefore, some experienced thieves will carry props like the water monster's gray midge tent with them, firstly to cover up the smell, and secondly to play a role in eliminating the smell.Although this method may seem crude, it is extremely effective. Unfortunately, modern technology is so advanced that some vaults, silver vaults, and infrared and ultraviolet radiation are cumbersome and impractical, and are easily damaged. To put it bluntly, as long as the power is cut off, what kind of camera The automatic system of the laser gun induction ring is instantly over.However, these gadgets are sought after because they look fancy, and the thieves are even less up-to-date, and have long since lost their ancestors' skills, so that this old anti-theft technique is gradually lost.

This kind of anti-theft ability based on the characteristics of smell and material is the best among the five kings of thieves, and some methods are so violent that the world even thinks it is black magic. The water monster understands that it didn't take long from the launch of the giant pit formation to the time Shopkeeper Qian and they crawled out of the ground. After they came out, they fought with Zheng Dachuan again, and they searched around busily. It's tricky, so feel free to do it.Unexpectedly, the cellar where the giant pit array was activated is very huge, and some pipes are connected to the bottom of some pits, and dust can be poured in.

Shui Yaoer put away the gray midge tent, Huo Xiaoxie was covered in dust, but still looked very happy, and said: "Open it!" A large black hole appeared on the ground, and a wooden ladder led down to the entrance. The dust was billowing inside, and nothing could be seen clearly. The water demon looked into the hole, pulled out a rag from the rubble, took out the fire letter from the rucksack, lit it, and threw it into the pit.The rags slowly descended, but did not go out. "Not bad! You can go down!" Shui Yaoer looked at it, threw a black gauze scarf to Huo Xiaoxie, and said, "Wrap it around the nose and mouth."

Huo Xiaoxie listened to Shui Yao'er's instructions, tied up the gauze scarf, brought the gauze to her nose, and only then could she smell the strange fragrance, and her spirits were lifted. The water demon was in front, and Huo Xiaoxie was behind, and went down the ladder into the pit. Huo Xiaoxie pulled back, pulled down the half-covered lid, and slowly covered it without making a sound.When the lid is closed, the light is lost, and you can't see your fingers in the pit. Huo Xiaoxie and Shui Yao'er climbed down the ladder for five or six people's height before they got down to the bottom of the cave.Huo Xiaoxie stepped on the ground, which was very smooth, as if it had been paved with rammed earth.The water demon said in the dark: "Huo Xiaoxie, don't move yet, I smell lamp oil." Huo Xiaoxie complied, and stood still. Although he couldn't see the size of the cave, he could feel the rush of air in the cave, and the wind was blowing from the dark place in front.The voice of the water demon's voice had a short echo, as if the cave was not spacious, but it was very deep. The water demon took out the fire letter in her hand, shook it, and the fire head jumped, causing a ray of light to flash in the darkness.Before Huo Xiaoxie noticed, the water demon had already covered Huo Xinzi, and it was dark again.Only the sound of Shui Yaoer's footsteps can be heard going away, and there is no more sound.Huo Xiaoxie wasn't afraid of the dark, but he couldn't see or hear the water monster all of a sudden, and he was still a little hairy, so he couldn't help calling in a low voice: "Water monster, where are you going?" A light rose from the darkness in the distance, and then it became brighter and brighter, and soon the entire cave was lit up.The water monster turned on the oil lamp on the wall, and the flames jumped and burned extremely brightly.Shui Yaoer turned her head and said to Huo Xiaoxie: "What, are you afraid? Are you afraid of staying here alone?" Huo Xiaoxie said in embarrassment: "That's not true." Huo Xiaoxie avoided Shui Yaoer's eyes, walked away quickly, and looked around.Shui Yaoer smiled lightly, stopped looking at Huo Xiaoxie, and began to observe around. The cave under the back kitchen of the Luoma Inn is only two feet square, which is the size of the guest room hall of the Luoma Inn.In a corner of the cave, there is a huge wooden wheel about two people tall, reaching up to the roof, with both ends buried in the soil.This reel was not lying horizontally like the one on the well, but stood upright, with dozens of thick hemp ropes wrapped horizontally around the reel, but most of them had fallen off from the reel and scattered all over the ground.In another corner of the cave, there are various excavation tools piled up in huge quantities. The iron objects are already rusted, and most of the wooden handles are broken and covered with dust. Obviously, these excavation tools have not been used for many years. .Looking towards the oil lamp, there is a tunnel that is about the same height as Huo Xiaoxie. The two are wide and narrow, stretching straight inward, so dark that nothing can be seen inside. The water monster walked to the side of the wheel, picked up a rope and pulled it, then looked up at the top, these ropes were drilled out of the round hole above the wheel, and then were divided by the fork stick, so that they were entangled on the wheel. Shui Yaoer said: "Presumably this is the mechanism hub that activates the giant pit formation. No wonder the two buddies of Shopkeeper Qian are tall and big. Ordinary people really can't deal with this wheel." Huo Xiaoxie also grabbed a rope and tugged, and asked, "Is this mechanism abolished?" The water demon shook her head and said: "I don't know the principle of the operation of the giant pit array, but I can see that these ropes seem to hang from the roof and pass through the wall. Maybe each rope is a wire that activates a giant pit. Monkey, we don't need to stay here for long, let's look ahead." The water demon went to fetch the oil lamp and came down, while Huo Xiaoxie walked around to a corner of the cave, picked out a hoe that was still in good condition from the pile of discarded tools, held it in his hand, and followed the water demon.Shui Yaoer smiled faintly, and was noncommittal to Huo Xiaoxie's behavior of picking up the hoe. Shui Yaoer held up the oil lamp, and Huo Xiaoxie followed closely behind. The two got into the tunnel and moved forward slowly. This tunnel is very narrow, just enough for two people to pass side by side, and the height is about the same as Huo Xiaoxie.Shui Yao'er is petite, so it's easy to walk in front. Huo Xiaoxie is half a head taller than Shui Yao'er, dragging a hoe, so she can only follow closely with her head down. Twenty or thirty steps ahead of the tunnel, the ground and walls are fairly flat, but the further back, the more bumpy and uneven. It can be seen that the further back, the less people come.The two of them walked more than twenty steps, and saw a fork in front of them, leading to three directions, and the ground sloped downward, which seemed to lead to a deeper underground. Huo Xiaoxie looked around in three directions. The inside was dark and there was no sign of an end. He couldn't help but said: "Water monster, it can't be a maze, why do you see it as endless?" The water monster said: "What maze, the maze is not so rough." Huo Xiaoxie asked: "But how can you be sure?" The water demon smiled lightly and said: "Stupid monkey, you have never been in a maze, so you don't know it. If it is a complex underground maze, one of the most important things is that you can't feel the wind after you go in. Even the slightest wind will hurt you." No, because even the wind can't get out, the air doesn't seem to flow, it's very scary. It's not like here, where you can feel such a strong mountain wind." Shui Yaoer raised her hand and stroked it out of thin air, "This The wind is going straight, and it is mixed with a smell of mountain and wild soil, it must be blowing from this road." Shui Yaoer pointed to the direction on the left. Huo Xiaoxie nodded and said, "I've learned a lot! Water monster, which is the most powerful maze you've ever been to?" Shui Yaoer paused suddenly, and suddenly said slowly and coldly: "The Ten Li Zongheng Palace under Genghis Khan's mausoleum is a masterpiece of the thirty-fourth generation Tujia Tujia Tian Shiqiu. It is divided into ten floors. If you enter rashly, let alone come out Before the first floor is explored, people will suffocate to death." Said, Shui Yaoer walked towards the tunnel on the left without looking back. Huo Xiaoxie chased after him and asked, "Ten Mile Zongheng Palace? Tujia? How did Genghis Khan build such a big maze?" "It's because Genghis Khan wants to hold on to one thing, so that this thing will never leave his side." "Isn't it true that the Mausoleum of Genghis Khan has never been found?" Huo Xiaoxie asked. "It's not that you can't find it, it's just that you ordinary people don't know the directions and the way to enter the palace. There are some places that only people from our five great families know, but we won't look for them unless we have to." "But what is that? Is this thing still there?" "It was taken out by Mu Wang of the Mu family." Shui Yaoer said coldly, unwilling to answer the previous question. "Can the Mu family destroy this ten-mile palace?" "Yes, the Mu family is the nemesis of the Tujia labyrinth." "Didn't you say that you wouldn't go if you didn't have to?" "For that thing, there is no last resort!" "What the hell is that?" "Five Elements Saint..." Shui Yao'er stopped talking at this point, and said a little anxiously, "Huo Xiaoxie, don't ask so many questions, the less you know, the better for you! Did you hear that? I've said enough!" Huo Xiaoxie looked at the background of Shui Yaoer, knowing that Shui Yaoer had changed into that frosty look again, so she didn't dare to ask any more questions, trying her best to shake off the questions in her head, and silently followed Shui Yaoer and walked forward.Huo Xiaoxie thought: "Shui Yaoer, if you just look naughty, it's really scary to change. Oh, why are you so changeable! Is it true that all Shui people are like this?" The two walked silently for a while, going up and down for a while, but fortunately, it was not a steep slope.Along the way, huge boulders were embedded in the tunnel walls, and the two had to bend over to pass.After bypassing a few boulders, the wind blew faster and whirred louder. Sure enough, when I looked up, the front had come to an end. This gust of wind was blown in from a huge cave-in on the top of the tunnel wall. Shui Yaoer walked to the air outlet, probed with her hand, and said, "Why is there a hole? Is there a pit outside?" Shui Yaoer turned her head and looked at Huo Xiaoxie. Huo Xiaoxie was afraid that she had a cold expression , neck shrank in fright, but Shui Yao'er had a ladylike face on her face.The water demon smiled faintly: "Monkey, come, give me a foot." Huo Xiaoxie quickly squatted down and said, "Come on, step on my back." Shui Yaoer smiled, and said: "Thank you." Shui Yaoer put the oil lamp on the ground, kicked on Huo Xiaoxie's back, climbed up with both hands, half of her body leaned into the collapsed gap, paused for a moment, then shrank turned back.The water demon jumped off Huo Xiaoxie's back, put on a mischievous look again, and said with a smile: "Monkey! As you wish, this tunnel is indeed adjacent to the big pit next to it! The collapse here is due to falling The edge of the house caught the big stone in the soil and crushed the wall of the pit. Quick! Monkey, let’s go back along the road and find the position of the pit where Brother Yan and the others fell, and we can put the bird cage Open the bottom and steal Brother Yan and the others!" When Huo Xiaoxie was happy, she stretched out her hands, shook Shui Yaoer's hands, and said excitedly: "Great, great!" Shui Yaoer waved his hand: "Oh, it hurts so much! Dead monkey, so strong!" Huo Xiaoxie begged for mercy repeatedly: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Shui Yaoer smiled, picked up the oil lamp on the ground, got in front of Huo Xiaoxie, and hurried back along the road. The two returned to the four-way intersection again, and Shui Yaoer stopped and looked around, pointed to the right passage of the way they came from, and said, "This direction! That's right!" The two walked forward, the tunnel was not long, after walking about a hundred steps, after two bends, they reached a dead end.Shui Yaoer touched the wall on one side all the way, and said slowly: "The pit that brother Yan fell into should be behind this wall. The soil on this wall was obviously filled in later." "Okay!" Huo Xiaoxie waved the hoe and was about to hoe up. The water demon hurriedly stopped: "You monkey, why are you so careless! Where are you digging like this?" Huo Xiaoxie said sadly, "Then what can we do if we don't dig it out?" Shui Yaoer scolded: "If you are like this, you are still a thief? Even if you are a thief, you are still a stupid thief! Stay here, I want to measure my steps!" Huo Xiaoxie said, "Step measurement?" The water monster ignored him, took out something from the backpack behind her, and held it in her hand.Huo Xiaoxie took a closer look, and saw that the object in Shui Yao'er's hand was in the shape of a circular compass, with a glass dial in the middle, and a compass floating on the disk that said east, west, northwest, and around the dial, there were two Steel ring engraved with full scale.The water monster Kele Kele twisted the outermost steel ring to align the scales on the two steel rings. Huo Xiaoxie asked, "This is? A compass?" Shui Yaoer said: "That's right, it's a compass, but it's also a tool used by the Shui family to measure distances. It's called a double-ring instrument. , are all engraved according to my figure and the length of my steps, so only I, the water demon, can use it." Huo Xiaoxie looked at the double-ring instrument, and then at the black rucksack that Shui Yaoer had moved to her chest. This black rucksack was very small, about half the width of Shui Yaoer's shoulders, and seemed to be made of black fur. There is no obvious drawstring opening. If you look carefully, you can see that there are two thin gaps on the surface of the rucksack. The water monster should reach in and take out things through these gaps.The rucksack looked very flat, not bulging, and it was carried close to the back of the water monster. It was lined with black clothes, so it was almost unnoticeable.Can't help but praise: "How many treasures are there in your backpack?" Unexpectedly, Shui Yaoer's complexion changed drastically, and she said with a frosty face: "You dare to attack my backpack! I will kill you immediately!" This is not the first time Huo Xiaoxie has seen Shui Yaoer like this , When riding in the same group of horses with Shui Yaoer, Shui Yaoer warned him in the same way, Huo Xiaoxie felt a chill in his heart, and nodded quickly. The water demon's complexion changed again, back to a mischievous look, and said with a smile: "Monkey, I'll come as soon as I go, stay here and don't move." Huo Xiaoxie responded in kind, the water demon made a grimace at Huo Xiaoxie, turned around and walked out, immediately, Huo Xiaoxie was alone and in the darkness where no fingers could be seen. Huo Xiaoxie sighed softly, simply sat on the ground, leaning against the wall, recalling all kinds of adventures since he left Fengtian, and lamented that the world is so big, there are no surprises, and there are so many different people who are thieves. The ability is also unprecedented, unheard of.Huo Xiaoxie thought, with the abilities of Yan Jingtian and Shui Yao'er, if they want to steal a wallet or something, it's not like picking something out of a pocket, they must not be struggling to survive like him, then they have practiced the art of thieves, and then What is it for? In the tunnel, there was silence and nothing could be seen, and Huo Xiaoxie didn't know whether to open or close his eyes, so he felt a little sleepy.In a daze, Huo Xiaoxie only felt that there was a brighter and brighter light in front of his eyes. When he took a closer look, he saw that the light spread suddenly and surrounded him. It turned out to be a boundless fire. Huo Xiaoxie was alone One person, trapped in the fire.Huo Xiaoxie wanted to scream but couldn't, he still heard himself calling his father and mother to save me, but no one answered him.As the flame flickered, a masked man with a knife jumped out of the flame, and a gleaming machete slashed at him. It was a Japanese samurai sword with the word "shadow" engraved on it. Huo Xiaoxie let out a muffled snort, turned over and stood up, and suddenly the surroundings were dead silent again.Huo Xiaoxie was sweating profusely, gasped for breath, and said in shock, "Could it be that weird dream again? Shadow? Why is there something more in the dream?" Huo Xiaoxie didn't dare to be careless anymore, pulled himself together and ran back and forth in place. Shui Yaoer took the double-ring device, returned to the cave that just came down, started from the entrance of the cave, adjusted the north-south orientation with the double-ring device, and walked slowly along the wall in a straight line.With each step, the scale ring is rotated, sometimes the outer ring, sometimes the inner ring.The water monster's footsteps are even, the size of the steps is the same, and it is very calm.The water monster walked for a while, then carved a mark on the wall, and then went back to check it again, and kept going back and forth like this, slowly walking towards Huo Xiaoxie's direction. It turns out that when stealing things buried deep in the ground, if there are many earth and rocks separating them, even though there is a tunnel leading to the general direction, which saves the pain of digging again, because the tunnel is not straight, it is often a thousand miles away.Therefore, a well-prepared thief usually needs to measure the position on the ground first, and grasp the distance on the ground, so that he will not lose his way when he descends into the tunnel. Shui Yaoer uses a double-ring instrument. After determining the north-south position and the starting point, the outer ring is the outer deflection angle, and the inner ring is the inner deflection angle. Supplemented by Shui Yaoer's stable step distance, it is possible to walk to Huo Xiaoxie's position. Find out roughly exactly where to dig.Shui Yao'er also thinks that the lobby of the Luoma Inn is most likely a huge iron cage, so it's best to locate the doors and windows without iron bars, so that they can steal Yan Jingtian and the others out with the strength of two people. The Shui family is very particular about information collection. Drawing maps and mastering the terrain are compulsory homework for the Shui family. When Shui Yaoer came to Luoma Inn, she had already walked around the lobby in the spare time of eating. have a more precise understanding.It's not that Shui Yao'er foresees that there will be accidents in the future, it's just that wherever the Shui family goes, if they have enough time, they will do this kind of measurement work.For the Shui family, the more information they have, whether it is useful or not, they can be prepared for any eventuality. The Shui people are not good at digging pits and burrows to swim underground. Even though Shui Yao'er can accomplish things in this way, in the eyes of the Tujia people, it seems a bit clumsy.Generally speaking, in an unfamiliar tunnel, when looking for the vertical orientation on the ground, there are three-point straight line method and right-angle rope method when there is no help on the ground, but the water monster and Huo Xiaoxie can't use it here either. Not for now. It took a lot of time for Shui Yaoer to finally find Huo Xiaoxie's position slowly.Huo Xiaoxie jumped up and down on the spot, the water demon was very strange, and asked: "Monkey, what are you jumping for?" Huo Xiaoxie finally saw the water monster come back, she was also very happy, and said: "It's too dark here, I'll jump around a bit, so I won't lose my mind and sleep. Oh! Water monster, you're back?" Shui Yaoer said with a smile: "Isn't this nonsense? I'm standing alive, of course I'm back!" Huo Xiaoxie said, "What should I do now? How to dig?" Shui Yaoer adjusted the double-ring device, scratched a mark on the wall, and said, "Dug here! If you're right, behind this earthen wall is the location of the windows in the lobby." Huo Xiaoxie gave a good shout, carried the hoe, and walked over with a hoe. With a bang, the hoe plunged into the soil and pointed high and low.The earthen wall can be strained, but there is no sound. Huo Xiaoxie pried off a large piece of earth on the wall with all his strength.Huo Xiaoxie happily said: "It's not difficult to dig!" With all the strength in his body, he whirled and whirled with the hoe, and kept hoeing up the wall. In a short time, he had already dug a small hole more than one foot deep. Huo Xiaoxie was sweating like rain on the ground, and Zheng Dachuan on the ground had already led his people back from the back mountain empty-handed. At this time, the sun had already set, and the Luoma Inn, which was surrounded by two mountains, was as dark as an ink vat.Shopkeeper Qian ordered Jia Chunzi and Jia Qingzi to light up the pine oil brazier in the yard, so that it would be brightly illuminated within a hundred paces. Zheng Dachuan cursed all the way, and led the people back to the courtyard of the Luoma Inn. When Shopkeeper Qian saw Zheng Dachuan's virtue, he knew that he had gained nothing, so he stood up and hugged Zheng Dachuan, saying, "Brother Zheng has worked hard!" Zhao Yanqiang finally looked forward to Zheng Dachuan's return, and he had a backer again, so he hurriedly poured a bowl of wine and brought it to Zheng Dachuan. Zheng Dachuan sat at the table with a grin, took the wine bowl, drank it in one gulp, wiped his mouth, and cursed: "Those two bastards clearly fled to the back mountain by seeing their footprints, but they seem to have got into a hole in the ground! Mom! My egg, I can't find it!" Shopkeeper Qian scolded secretly: "This Zheng Dachuan, besides walking faster, has a brain like a pig! I thought he was so sure that he chased after him! I guess he was tricked by that little daughter-in-law and boy, thinking they went to the back mountain !" Shopkeeper Qian said, "If you go to the back mountain, it's really hard to find. But I wonder if the two of them are still nearby? Zheng Dachuan, what do you think?" Zheng Dachuan snorted and said, "I've never seen what this little daughter-in-law and boy look like, but I just heard you describe it. How can I know what kind of temper they are? I can see clearly, they just ran to the back mountain! " Shopkeeper Qian thought that he had nothing to say to this bastard Zheng Dachuan, so he said, "It's fine if we run away, we still guard the four at the bottom of the pit, we can't catch all of them, if we can catch these four, Fourth Master Zhang It will definitely be rewarded heavily.” Zheng Dachuan turned his head and yelled as if he didn't hear it: "Brothers, rest! Zhao Yanqiang, you arrange someone to take care of this place for us!" Everyone responded abruptly, and those who should be inspected went to inspect, while the others sat on the ground around a brazier. Zhao Yanqiang arranged the crowd and squeezed to sit next to Zheng Dachuan.Zheng Dachuan ignored Zhao Yanqiang, peeled the peanuts with his hands, chewed them one by one, and looked far away towards the road. In the darkness in the distance, the sound of horseshoes gradually came from a very far away place, and then stopped suddenly. Hearing the sharp and long whistle, Zheng Dachuan raised his brows, jumped up, and took out a horse's heel from his pocket. The slender iron pipe is placed next to the mouth and blown - di, di, di di... The sound is sharp and piercing to the eardrum.Zhao Yanqiang and the others understood what was going on, and they all stood up, with excitement on each other's faces. Shopkeeper Qian frowned slightly, looking at Zheng Dachuan, Jia Chunzi and Jia Qingzi leaned over and looked at Shopkeeper Qian, not knowing why.Shopkeeper Qian winked at them, but did not speak. In the distance, the same whistle echoed a few times, and then the sound of horseshoes was heard again. Zheng Dachuan put away his whistle and hummed softly: "The people of the six elements are finally back!" The horseshoes rolled over, kicking up layers of dust and sand, and seven or eight fast horses rushed into the courtyard with the cold wind. People neighed and horses screamed, making a mess. The leader of the group jumped off his horse and ran towards Zheng Dachuan. Looking at this person's movements, he knew that he was extremely skilled.This person looks ordinary, even if he is thin, and there is nothing special about his clothes.He came to Zheng Dachuan, lowered his head and cupped his fists, and reported: "Boss Zheng, Liuxingdao is here to report! Good luck! The letter has been delivered!" Zheng Dachuan shouted: "Liuxingdao, well done!" It turned out that this person It is called the six elements. Liu Xingdao raised his head and saw that there was nothing in front of Luoma Inn, and the house was gone. He looked shocked and shouted, "Boss Zheng, what's going on? Where's the house?" Zhao Yanqiang seemed to be in awe of Liuxingdao, and was about to speak up with a smile on his face, but was stopped by Zheng Dachuan.Zheng Dachuan leaned close to Liu Xingdao's ear and whispered, "Get your guns ready, do you understand?" Liu Xingdao was taken aback for a moment, then nodded immediately and said, "Yes." He turned around and retreated to the team. The people in Liuxingdao got off their horses and pointed at the empty Lok Ma Inn in front of them, all of them were extremely surprised.Zheng Dachuan's subordinates came to lead the horses, all of them looked dignified and didn't say much. Liu Xingdao turned back to the crowd, made a gesture, and patted the shoulders of the people in front of him heavily. Those people were slightly taken aback, then calmed down and remained motionless.Liu Xingdao walked to his horse, took out a cloth bag from his bag, turned around suddenly and shouted: "Old Zheng, continue." He threw it over with his hands. Zheng Dachuan took two steps forward, clicked his hand, and then opened the cloth bag with both hands, and suddenly there were two short guns in his hands. Zheng Dachuan laughed loudly, turned the muzzle of the gun, pointed at Shopkeeper Qian, and shouted: "Old thief Qian, pay back my brother's life!" Swish, swipe, and swoosh, all the people in Liuxingdao pulled out their long guns from behind, pulled the bolts, and pointed their guns at Shopkeeper Qian and the others.Liu Xingdao also held a short gun in his hand, pointed at Shopkeeper Qian and the others, and walked slowly to Zheng Dachuan. Zheng Dachuan praised loudly: "Six Elements! It is beautifully done! It is worthy of being my right-hand man!" Liu Xingdao nodded slightly, did not speak, and focused on pointing a gun at Shopkeeper Qian and the others. Shopkeeper Qian's face was frosty, and he stood up slowly, and Jia Qingzi and Jia Chunzi also ran to Shopkeeper Qian. Shopkeeper Qian said in a deep voice, "Zheng Dachuan, what do you mean?" Zheng Dachuan snorted coldly: "What do you mean by me? I don't want 70%, I want all the money." Jia Qingzi yelled, pulled out a kitchen knife from his waist, and struck each other with a posture that could charge forward at any time. Zheng Dachuan scolded: "Old thief Qian, let your bastard be more honest, want to see if my bullets are fast enough?" Shopkeeper Qian squeezed Jia Qingzi's wrist, and shouted at Zheng Dachuan: "Zheng Dachuan, do you still understand the rules of the world? Did you fart before?" Zheng Dachuan scolded: "What nonsense are the rules of the rivers and lakes? Stop talking about the rules of the world ten years ago! Now at this age, whoever has a tough gun is the uncle! The gun, understand? It's the ten guns in my hand. Burst! You can believe what I said, it’s only because your mind is full of fucking dirt!” Shopkeeper Qian said: "Zheng Dachuan, if you want a reward, give it all to you! I don't even care about those thousands of oceans, but I caught the man, so you should tell the truth! I just I want Fourth Master Zhang to remember my credit and give me back my freedom! Zheng Dachuan, put down the gun, and I can make a written statement for you, and fourth master Zhang doesn’t care about the grievances between us. " Zheng Dachuan smiled and said: "Old thief Qian, don't play tricks on me, I can spare your life, but I will tie you up! Wait until Fourth Master Zhang comes, or I will be afraid of what you are playing pattern!" Shopkeeper Qian: "Zheng Dachuan, why are you doing this!" Zheng Dachuan shouted: "Old thief Qian, if you don't tie me up! We'll shoot you right away and punch you out of a dozen holes! If you tie me up, you still have a chance to live! Which one do you bet on?" Shopkeeper Qian hesitated, and Zheng Dachuan continued to yell: "Old thief Qian, I have dozens of voices! Make a decision quickly! One! Two! Three..." Seeing that Zheng Dachuan was about to count to ten, Shopkeeper Qian screamed, "Okay! I'll bet on the latter! Throw the rope over here, and we'll tie ourselves up!" Zheng Dachuan laughed loudly: "Okay! Even if you are an old bum, you have a clear mind!" Zheng Dachuan shouted at Zhao Yanqiang again, "Zhao Yanqiang, throw two rolls of rope over and let them tie themselves up." Zhao Yanqiang responded quickly, and ran to get the rope from the horse on the other side. Shopkeeper Qian was about to bite his steel teeth into pieces, and his heart swayed, without moving his head, he said to Jia Qingzi, "Jia Qingzi, are you afraid of death?" Jia Qingzi opened his eyes wide and said, "Don't be afraid!" Shopkeeper Qian said, "Okay! Listen..." Shopkeeper Qian spoke slowly to Jia Qingzi, who nodded repeatedly. Zheng Dachuan couldn't hear what Shopkeeper Qian and Jia Qingzi were saying, and thought they were discussing how to tie him up, so proud of himself, he cursed: "Zhao Yanqiang! Hurry up!" Zhao Yanqiang picked up the rope, stepped forward quickly, threw the rope at Shopkeeper Qian's feet, and said to Shopkeeper Qian in a low voice: "No wonder me, no wonder me." Then he hurriedly backed away. Jia Qingzi lowered his head, picked up the rope, and put it on himself. Shopkeeper Qian and Jia Chunzi retreated behind Jia Qingzi, apparently wanting to tie himself up first.Unexpectedly, Jia Qingzi's eyes widened suddenly, and he yelled loudly: "Tie up your ancestor!" With a swish, he threw a large strand of rope towards Zheng Dachuan!Moving under his feet, the kitchen knives in his hands danced like wheels, instead of rushing towards Zheng Dachuan and the others, he quickly retreated towards the brazier behind him.Shopkeeper Qian, the three of them, have been separated from Zheng Dachuan and his group with the table as a boundary. Zheng Dachuan and his group mobilized. Immediately encircled them, only holding a knife to hide behind the people of Liuxingdao, which also gave Shopkeeper Qian and the others a way out. Zheng Dachuan was shocked, chasing and cursing: "Shoot! Shoot!" There was a burst of gunfire, bang bang bang bang, a few bullets made Jia Qingzi's knives sway and clang, but most of them pierced into Jia Qingzi's broad body.钱掌柜和贾春子躲在贾庆子这肉盾后，随着贾庆子的步子向后退去。 贾春子在贾庆子身后哭喊：“哥！别死啊！” 贾庆子仍然高声大吼：“死不了！” 郑大川他们一轮枪过，见贾庆子还没有跌倒，浑身浴血的挡着钱掌柜和贾春子后退，如同凶神下凡一样，惊的手中枪都微微颤抖。郑大川撕心裂肺继续大叫：“继续开枪！打死他！” 众人回过神来，都朝着钱掌柜的方向追去，又是一轮射击。这次枪枪都打在贾庆子身上，贾庆子猛然一顿，停下脚步，喷出满口鲜血，哈哈大笑两声，头一低，双手一垂，竟如铁塔一样站着死了，却已经掩护着钱掌柜和贾春子退到火盆旁边。 贾春子大叫一声：“哥啊！”一脚上去，把火盆踹上半空，满盆的松油在天空中洒出一片火雨，阻的郑大川他们脚步一滞。郑大川他们看到钱掌柜和贾春子趁着他们一滞的功夫，已经向马厩跑去，也不管三七二十一，跳过地上的火点，再次死命往前冲，边跑边胡乱放枪。 钱掌柜和贾春子飞一样跑到马棚边，钱掌柜一脚把饮水槽踹翻，下面现出一个地洞入口，钱掌柜一跃而入。贾春子回头又叫了声：“哥啊！”，脚步上缓了缓，一颗子弹打来，正中贾春子小腿，贾春子哎呀一声，翻倒在地，勉强一个翻滚，已经滚到洞口。贾春子身材巨大，肩膀卡在翻倒的水槽底部，竟一下子钻不进去。 郑大川他们赶上来，七八人将贾春子按牢，拧住手脚，把贾春子从洞口拖了出来，立即绑了个结实。 贾春子坐在地上撒泼一般放声大哭大叫：“哥啊，你死的惨啊！我也不想活了啊！” 六行道举枪上前，对着贾春子的脑门，骂道：“再嚎我一枪崩了你！” 贾春子根本不管，仍旧大哭大闹。郑大川把六行道拉住，说道：“钱老贼跑了，先留这傻大个一个活口，说不定有用！来人啊，把他嘴巴塞上！” 六行道十分听话，将枪收起，其余人则上前用破布把贾春子的嘴巴塞紧。 郑大川走到洞口，赵烟枪正在向里面张望，赶忙禀告郑大川：“郑老大，这个洞可深啊！咱们要不要下去追？” 郑大川皱了皱眉：“不要追了！这个地洞，我们下去恐怕凶多吉少！哼哼，好你个潜地鼠，竟能用这个法子逃脱！”郑大川冲众人喊道，“来人啊，把这个老鼠洞中灌满柴火，点着了！熏死地底的老贼头！” 喽罗们齐声喝了，七手八脚搬来杂草干柴，塞入洞中，用松油淋了个透，一把火腾腾而起。 六行道看着火光，微微一鞠，问道：“郑老大，这到底是怎么回事？咱们怎么和钱老头和他的两个伙计干仗？落马客栈又怎么消失了？” 郑大川说道：“六行道啊！多亏你带着人及时回来！来来，我与你讲讲，这个事情，可万分有趣呢！” 郑大川领着六行道走开，赵烟枪紧跟在身后，其他人对贾春子连打带踹，拖着贾春子，也跟了上来。 众人走过贾庆子的身边，贾庆子仍然站在原地不倒，郑大川侧头看了看，哼道：“你真是条汉子！老子佩服你！来人啊，把他拖走，挖个深坑埋了！”郑大川说完，把贾庆子后背狠狠一拍，贾庆子如山一样的身躯才轰然倒地。 严景天他们四个，静静坐在下面，屏息静气，洞察着四周的一切。听到坑外马蹄声阵阵，片刻之后又枪声大作，吼声如雷，也不知道发生了什么事情。严景天站起身，抬头看天，从屋顶破洞中能看到火光闪烁，片刻之后又安静下来，浓烟升腾。 严景天疑道：“怎么回事？” 严守震也凑过来，抬头望了望，说道：“怎么闹起来了？莫非是张四的人马到了？和他们起了冲突？” 严景天说道：“我看不象！” 严守震哼道：“严堂主，咱们要不趁乱也作为一下？” 严景天说道：“不妥！咱们还是以静制动。” 严守震叹了口气，说道：“等啊等啊，真要等到天亮张四那家伙抓我们出来吗？”严守震十分不悦，一屁股又坐在了地上。 严景天再次观察了一番，地面上的确已经没有了动静，皱了皱眉，坐了下来。 严景天沉下心，细细感觉地面震动，余光看着房后的窗户，心中念道：“还好，这窗口墙后深处的挖掘没有停下，真的是火小邪和水妖儿在地底，想挖通过来？” 严景天环视了一下严守震、严守仁、严守义，又想道：“墙后有人挖掘的事情，还是不要告诉他们，不然以严守震的性子，没准又要胡来。” 严景天不愧是火家高手，五感强过严守震他们三个数倍，从火小邪第一锄头锄下的时候，严景天就已经微微察觉到了洞壁震动。严景天无法猜测到怎么回事，也就一直不动声色，暗暗感知，逐渐明确了就在窗户一带的洞壁深处，确实有人在用锄头之类的工具挖掘。郑大川和钱掌柜在坑外火并之时，这挖掘只是停止了一小会，便又重新开始，看来并未受到外界的影响。 严景天静坐片刻，坑顶有人冲下面高喊：“严家的几位兄弟！还好吗？回话！” 严景天分辨的出这是赵烟枪的声音，抬头答道：“上面的兄弟，我们还好！” 赵烟枪趴在坑边向下喊道：“严兄弟，天黑了，不方便看到你们！你们都坐过来一些，坐到屋顶的破洞下！正中间那个！那个最大的破洞，死人旁边的那个！严兄弟，动作快点，要是慢了，我一失手，火把掉下去了，各位性命难保啊！”随着赵烟枪的叫喊，十余只火把在坑边点燃，照的洞内一片通明。 严守震用手挡了挡光线，低声骂道：“他奶奶的！看我出去不第一个捏死他。活了大半辈子，还没受过这种气！” 严景天喊道：“上面的兄弟还不信我们吗？” 赵烟枪不耐烦的喊道：“严兄弟，好话不说二遍，快点都坐过来，让我能看到你们四个！” 严景天紧紧闭了一下眼睛，胸中也是恶气翻滚. 严景天咬了咬牙，站起身走到破洞下，踢开地上的瓦砾，坐了下来。严守震嘴上不停的低声咒骂，和严守仁一起，扶着严守义坐到严景天身边。 赵烟枪喊道：“好！识时务者为俊杰！几位严家兄弟，我们上面时时刻刻有人盯着，你们万万不要打什么鬼主意！好好坐着别动，不要离开！” 严景天没有答话。 赵烟枪嘿嘿笑了声，从地上爬起，跑回郑大川身边禀告。 地道中的火小邪挥汗如雨，已经把外衣脱掉，只穿着一个短褂，光着膀子，奋力挖掘。水妖儿在旁边看着，也帮不上手，只是聚精会神的看着火小邪干活。火小邪干起活来，神色异常专注，每一锄下去，都微微抿嘴，那张十六七岁的脸上，倒显出许多成年人的俊朗刚毅。水妖儿举着油灯，看着火小邪额头上密布的汗珠流下，被灯光照耀着，在脸上划出一道道闪耀着光芒的银线，而火小邪的眼睛，也如同暗夜中的两颗明珠一般，炯炯生辉，水妖儿看着看着，竟有些痴了，眼波不停流转，或羞或赞或喜或悲，似有无数心思涌上心头。 火小邪专心挖墙，也不注意水妖儿到底什么表情。地道中只听见火小邪的重重喘气和挖掘泥土的沉闷声音。 火小邪和水妖儿所在之处，极为隔音，有漫长地道挡着，又深处地下，里面的声音传不到外面，外界的声音也传不进来几微毫。可在郑大川他们七八杆枪齐射的时候，火小邪还是微微一滞，停下手中的活，侧耳用心听了一下，并问了问水妖儿是否听见枪响。水妖儿说没有听到，火小邪才放心下来，摇了摇头自我解嘲了一番，继续挖掘。 岂不知，火小邪十六七岁就会“拿盘儿”，这可是让东北大盗黑三鞭都曾经惊讶不已的天赋，而这“拿盘儿”最为考验听力，细微的撞击之声都必须听的如同金玉脆响，差不得分毫。所以火小邪的听觉其实比水妖儿更好，只是火小邪迷信水妖儿本事比他大，就处处比他强，水妖儿说没听到，火小邪估计就是自己耳鸣听错了。 火小邪这一挖，就又是近一个时辰，墙上的洞已经挖了有三四尺深浅，但还见不到尽头，火小邪筋疲力尽，默默坐下来休息。水妖儿看火小邪直咽口水，知道火小邪渴的厉害，问道：“猴子，渴了吗？我出去给你找些水来吧？” 火小邪连忙一挥手，喘着粗气说道：“别去了！不碍事，我这个人，耐得住渴，以前，我在奉天城，偷店铺里的，东西，被人抓了，关了三天三夜，一滴水，也不让喝，以为能渴废了我，我也没啥事，照样生龙活虎的，让我跑了！” 水妖儿说道：“猴子，知道你就爱争强好胜，编瞎话也得有个限度，我才不信呢！猴子，你是怕我去了上面，遇到危险吗？” 火小邪喘道：“那是，那是，你一个人上去，危险。我也不逞能，我是渴了，但还能支撑，没准，再挖一尺，就通了，所以，现在你不要上去了，我能行，能行的。” 水妖儿听了火小邪的话，微微一笑，眼波飞扬，赶忙略略一低头，不让火小邪看到自己的目光，说道：“好吧，猴子，听你一次，我也知道你能行，但你再干一会，如果还挖不到尽头，我必须给你弄些水来喝。” 火小邪哈哈傻笑，突然说道：“其实，哈哈，我说什么三天三夜没水喝，确实有这件事的，也不是完全在吹牛，因为，如果不方便弄到水，把我逼急了，我喝尿也挺畅快。” 水妖儿骂道：“你这流氓猴子，说这么恶心的话！赶紧闭嘴！” 火小邪抓了抓头：“哈哈，对不住，对不住，我突然想起来了，就胡说八道，我自己掌嘴，掌嘴。”说着火小邪真的啪啪轻轻抽打自己的脸。 水妖儿急道：“算了，算了，你还当个真……” 火小邪笑了笑，咽了咽口水，慢慢说道：“有时候觉得，要是这世界上容不下我了，再也没有我能立足之地，能找个僻静的地方，就象这个地道里面这样的，抱着我心爱的小妞，那小妞也如我爱她一样爱我，就这样慢慢一起死了也挺好。”火小邪说者无心，但是听者有意。水妖儿低着头半晌不说话，侧着头不让火小邪看到她的脸，火小邪感觉到水妖儿不对劲，赶忙说道：“我是不是又说错话了？” 水妖儿摇了摇头，还是不把头转过来，悠悠的说道：“你真是这么想的吗？” 火小邪不知道该怎么回答，只好抓了抓头说道：“应该，应该是真的吧。” 水妖儿猛然把头转过，目光犀利，牢牢盯着火小邪，咬牙切齿，声音也变的十分尖锐：“什么叫应该！” 火小邪吓的一愣，更是说不出话。 水妖儿脸色一缓，站起身来，冷冷的说道：“你要是休息好了，赶快干活吧。” 火小邪赶忙应了一声，从地上爬起，捡起锄头，又干了起来。 后厨地下通道装着巨大轱辘的房中一角，紧靠着轱辘的地面，微微颤动了一下，一把宽沿的扁平尖刀从地下刺出来，把地面割开一个圆弧，刀子收回，地面一下子陷下去，透出光亮，竟露出一个能容一个人钻出的洞口。有双手从洞口攀出来，一条瘦小的身影腾出地面，四下望了眼，才似乎松了口气，站直了身子。 此人正是这个落马客栈的主人——钱掌柜，他的真实身份乃是十年前消失于江湖的盗墓摸金贼团——潜地龙一脉中人，绰号，潜地鼠！ 钱掌柜用贾庆子做肉盾，好不容易逃过了郑大川的猎杀，钻入地洞中，贾春子却没下来。钱掌柜本想在地洞口稍作停留，一则听听上面的动静，贾春子是否活命，二则搏杀掉追入洞中的人，刚听到贾春子能暂且不死，却见洞口火光熊熊，浓烟滚滚灌入。钱掌柜气得七窍生烟，也无可奈何，只好向地洞深处退去。 本来钱掌柜可以沿地道逃之夭夭，却难以咽下这口恶气。钱掌柜对自己挖的地道，那是精熟无比，一直摸到后厨的地洞之下，打算挖开地面，再从后厨上去，杀郑大川他们一个措手不及，就算解决不掉所有人，能把贾春子救出也行。钱掌柜这般打定了主意，休整了片刻，从地道中翻出自己早已藏好的称手工具，再花了一个时辰挖洞，才从轱辘机关地面中钻出。 火小邪和水妖儿正埋头挖洞，两人沉默不语，锄头锄在泥巴里，声音不大，而钱掌柜来的也是无声无息，双方相隔甚远，一时间都没有察觉到地底还有其他的“贵客”。