Chapter 17: The Witch (4)

Not long after, Li Yuanfang hurried back to the courtyard behind Bazaar. When Di Jinghui and Han Bin saw him coming, they came up impatiently and asked, "How is it?" Li Yuanfang sat down with a smile, took a sip of water and said, "Zhang Cheng has indeed taken everything." Di Jinghui laughed: "It's so scared that he's so scared that he's still not going to help?"

"Well," Li Yuanfang nodded and said, "He told me a few names, saying that these people were buying carbonite from him. I was also worried that someone would do something under the name of Han Navy. However, he described the actions of these people, as well as the large warehouse next to Shatuochi and the camel caravan for transportation, were still very similar to the Han Navy. Ordinary merchants could not have such an organization and scale. In a few days, I will go to the warehouse to see, and then go to the military headquarters to verify whether there were those people." Di Jinghui said, "They act so carefully. I think the name may be fake, but the warehouse cannot escape."

Han Bin took out the silver from his arms and handed it to Li Yuanfang: "Brother, I'll give it to you again." Li Yuanfang couldn't help but smile and said, "You two are cruel enough to make people dizzy." Di Jinghui curled his lips and said, "Hey, you only gave him so much money. Wouldn't we starve to death?" Then, he smiled at Li Yuanfang and said, "I said, let's just go to cheat and rob the family in the future. I think it's better than anything." Li Yuanfang shook his head repeatedly: "That's the adults will definitely kill me, so forget it."

While talking and laughing, a crisp and pleasant female voice outside the gate of the courtyard sounded: "What are you saying? You are so happy." "Hongyan!" Di Jinghui jumped up from the stone bench in surprise and stepped to the gate of the courtyard in three or two steps. Meng Dan, dressed in red, smiled with a smile, holding a horse in one hand and a whip in the other, standing gracefully in front of him.

When Di Jinghui saw Meng Dan, his heart was warm. His usual eloquence suddenly became dull at this time. He couldn't remember what to say, so he just smiled at her. Meng Dan looked him up and down curiously, wrinkled his small nose and asked, "Hey, why are you dressing like this? You look like a rich man!" Di Jinghui was stunned, looked at his body, and said self-deprecatingly: "Hehe, you can see my true face."

Several people sat next to the stone table. Li Yuanfang and Di Jinghui told Meng Dan about the past two days of his experience in Tingzhou. Of course, Li Yuanfang took down the clothes from a wealthy passerby. It was so elegant and complementary to Di Jinghui. Meng Dan's cavalry team camped and grazed on the grassland not far from Tingzhou. As soon as they received the message from Li Yuanfang and the other two to Tingzhou, they came to visit them. At the same time, Meng Dan also brought good news. It turned out that Mei Yingchun sent someone to deliver a letter and said that he had returned from Luoyang. Calculated the time, and it was time to arrive in Tingzhou in another ten days.

After discussing the clues found in Tingzhou in the past two days, everyone thought that Han Navy seemed to be secretly forging weapons, and the forging location was probably hidden in Yibotai, deep in Shatuomori. But why did Han Navy do this? What are the forged weapons used for and how to organize the whole thing, it is still full of fog. Since I can't think of a reason for the time being, everyone had to give up first. Li Yuanfang rushed back to the market to continue to check the shops. Because he had no time, Meng Dan took Han Bin to the grassland to ride a horse and shoot arrows.

In order to hurry up this afternoon, Li Yuanfang kept checking shops one by one, reluctantly dealing with vendors from all over the world, which made him so tired that he was dizzy and sore, thinking that this job was hundreds of times more tiring than fighting and killing enemies. At this time, it was getting late and many vendors began to close their stalls. Li Yuanfang decided to take the last period of time to check dozens of shops in front, and it was time for him to go home.

As soon as he came out of a shop selling goldware, he felt someone stepping forward from behind and reaching out to grab his clothes. Li Yuanfang was so agile that he twisted the other party's arm tightly without allowing the man to approach. The man grinned in pain, struggled desperately in his hands, and threw a long list of rumbling Turkic words in his mouth. When Li Yuanfang saw it, he turned out to be a Turkic child, dressed in rags and unkempt, and looked like a wild child.

Li Yuanfang glared at him, let go of his hand slightly, and asked in Turkic words: "What do you want to do?" The child heard that his tone was quite gentle and his arms didn't hurt anymore, so he wiped his sweat and asked in Chinese language: "Well, are you Captain Li?" Li Yuanfang was stunned: "Yes, why? Do you know me?"

"No, someone asked me to bring you a letter." The Turkic child said as he took out a wrinkled piece of paper from his arms. Li Yuanfang took it and was about to open it, but the child ran away when he was not careful. Li Yuanfang didn't chase him, but just saw the note scribbled: "Behind Yongping Lane, the grass pavilion on the hill halfway up the slope of the Tushan Mountain, Gao Changfu." Li Yuanfang suddenly became nervous. Yongping Lane was the alley where Gao Changfu lived. This back mountain should refer to the small hill bag opposite the back window of the Gao family's main hall.

He calmed down and compared the shop booklets written by Gao Changfu in his hand. It was indeed the same handwriting. Li Yuanfang did not dare to be negligent anymore, so he immediately rushed to the direction of Yongping Lane. First, he came to Gao Changfu's house. Li Yuanfang glanced at the lock on the house. It was hanging it on his own yesterday. The windows on the back wall were also closed well without any traces of movement. He walked towards the earthy mountain behind the house. It was quiet around him, and the sunset was shining brightly in the sky. A few crows were noisy, and the noise of crows came from the top of the mountain from afar.

There is only a tortuous path in this earthen mountain, covered with rocks and weeds, unlike people who often walk around. The mountains are lush and the sky is covered with sunshine. At this moment, the sun is setting, and the path is even darker. Li Yuanfang paid attention to the movements around him while climbing the mountain quickly. He soon climbed over the top of the mountain. He looked from the top of the mountain to the back mountain and could vaguely identify a small pavilion standing on the hillside. Li Yuanfang immediately followed the path to the back mountain. The sky became darker and darker, and the difference in the mountain road in front of him was identifiable. When he entered the grass pavilion, there was no trace of Gao Changfu inside. Li Yuanfang looked around and decided to wait before talking.

After waiting, the sky was completely dark, and the cold moonlight shone on the grass and trees, and the ground was covered with silver frost. Suddenly, Li Yuanfang saw a fire pounding in the mountains ahead, sometimes left and right, changing direction quickly, as if he was running wildly without targets. From a distance, he could hear the echoes caused by swords and swords colliding in the mountains. Li Yuanfang's heart suddenly tightened, and he flew towards the fire. Before he got close, he heard the fierce fighting sound. The sparse forests in front of him suddenly parted, and a man covered in blood rushed towards him. Li Yuanfang rushed forward to support the shaking man in his arms. It was indeed Gao Changfu!

Gao Changfu's face was pale, and blood flowed from his chest and back. Li Yuanfang glanced at him quickly and knew that he was seriously injured and his life was still alive. He immediately sealed several large acupoints to stop bleeding. As soon as he helped him lie on the ground, the pursuers had arrived. Li Yuanfang protected Gao Changfu behind him, held the steel knife tightly in his right hand, glanced at the pursuits who surrounded them. There were not many people, only a dozen, with light armor and short weapons. Seeing Li Yuanfang, these people didn't say much, nodded to each other, and then rushed up with swords and swords.

Li Yuanfang put on the steel knife and quickly knocked down three or four. The remaining people did not expect that he was so powerful. They were panicked and hesitated not to move forward. Li Yuanfang did not push forward, and put the knife flat in front of him, and asked coldly: "What kind of grudges do you have with this uncle? Why do you have to kill them all?" The killers looked at each other, and one of the leaders said sternly: "We are Han Navy, and you are chasing fugitives. Don't meddle in other people's business!"

"Han Navy?" Li Yuanfang was shocked and said sternly: "I am also the Captain of Han Navy, but I don't know what serious crime this Uncle Gao committed?" "Are you the Captain of Han Navy?" The killers were obviously unexpected. After hesitating, the leader stomped his feet and shouted: "Brothers, stop talking nonsense with him. Killing is important! Follow me!"

Everyone rushed up again, but they were no match for Li Yuanfang at all. Li Yuanfang felt that Gao Changfu was dying and did not dare to spend more time to entangle, so he simply took a knife and a life. Seeing that the situation was not good, the leader turned around and fled with the last two. Li Yuanfang could not catch up, so he only grabbed a single and asked on the ground with a breath of gaze: "Are you Han Navy? Who is sent by someone?!" The man twitched his lips and had not yet answered, but the leader who turned around was thrown into his chest. Li Yuanfang rushed forward two steps, flew away with one single sword, leaving no one of them left.

Returning to Gao Changfu's side, Li Yuanfang hugged him in his arms and called out "Gao Bo". Gao Changfu came back in one breath, staring at Li Yuanfang's face with a breath of energy, and a intermittent voice was hoarse in his throat: "Shatuo, Tuo Group... Dangerous, look for... Wu Xun..." Li Yuanfang nodded repeatedly and said to Gao Changfu's ears: "Yes, Gao Bo, I understand, look for Wu Xun, Shatuo Group is dangerous." Gao Changfu took a breath, suddenly grabbed Li Yuanfang's clothes, stared straight in his eyes, and shouted: "Money..." He relaxed his hand and lowered his head.

Li Yuanfang gritted her teeth and gently closed Gao Changfu's eyes. He picked up Gao Changfu's body, walked a few steps beside him, waved his knife to cut off the branches, and hid it on Gao Changfu's body, and then followed the path without looking back.

When Li Yuanfang rushed home, Meng Dan and others were waiting anxiously. When they saw the blood on his body, they were all shocked. Li Yuanfang hurriedly told the story. Everyone was silent, in a heavy and frightened mood, and the crisis followed them in an instant, from Shatuochi and Yibotai to Tingzhou at this moment. What more terrible things will happen next?

In the shadow of candlelight, Li Yuanfang concentrating and pondered for a long time before breathing a long sigh, saying, "How many days do I want to leave?" Di Jinghui and Meng Dan asked in confusion. "Yes." Li Yuanfang nodded: "I want to do some very important things. Short words are seven or eight days, and long words may take more than ten days. During this period," he smiled at Meng Dan: "Hongyan, I will entrust them to you. You must ensure their safety." Meng Dan said in confusion: "This is no problem, but..." Li Yuanfang interrupted her: "Tomorrow morning, you will go to the cavalry team to bring a few of the most capable brothers, and live here together these days. There should be no problem. Doing this is just in case, so everyone should be careful and do not cause trouble. Let's talk about everything when I come back. In addition, Brother Mei should also arrive in Tingzhou at that time, and we will have more helpers."

Di Jinghui nodded and said, "Don't worry. But, isn't it considered a private separation from Xundi if you leave like this? If Han Navy asks questions..." Li Yuanfang said, "Qian Guinan is not in Tingzhou, Han Navy seems to be very busy, and he should not care about us in a short period of time. If someone comes to ask, you can find a way to make excuses, just delay it for these few days."

After the third update, Pei Suyun was still tossing and turning on the bed and couldn't fall asleep. She didn't want to sing the calm fragrance, so she simply got up and went to the outside house to open the window. The snow peaks of Tianshan Mountain had only a blurry outline under the moonlit night. She leaned against the window and looked at it for a while. The cool breeze poured into the house. Pei Suyun gathered her snow-white shawl, sighed slowly, and reached out to close the window sash.

Turning back, she saw Li Yuanfang sitting at the table. Pei Suyun took a step back, but she was not very panicked. Inexplicably, she seemed to have expected him to come, or was expecting him to come... Li Yuanfang stood up, smiled apologetically to her, and said softly: "Did you scare you? I'm sorry."

Pei Suyun didn't say anything, but just stared at him quietly. Li Yuanfang couldn't see her face hidden in the shadows, so she smiled at her again and explained: "I should have called the door, but there were some people around your yard. I didn't want them to see it, so..." Pei Suyun was shocked: "Who is monitoring outside my house?" "Yes, when I sent you back the night before yesterday, there was not yet."

Pei Suyun bit her lip gently and finally walked out of the window slowly. Li Yuanfang observed her expression carefully and asked softly: "Do you know who those people are?" Pei Suyun shook her head woodenly, and Li Yuanfang asked again: "Would you like to grab one and ask, it's easy." "No need." Pei Suyun replied coldly, walking at the table and sitting down. Looking up, she saw that Li Yuanfang was still standing. She made a gesture of asking for a seat, and then lowered her eyelids and stopped looking at him.

Li Yuanfang hesitated for a moment and sat down opposite Pei Suyun. Only a red candle was lit on the table, the blue and white flames were straight up, and the wax oil slowly dripped down the candle's body, condensed into candle tears. Two shrill cat moans came from outside the room. Pei Suyun shivered without realizing the warmth that had just gathered in her heart turned into vanish again. She looked up at Li Yuanfang, and saw that he had tightly pursed his lips and had no intention of speaking at all, so she asked coldly: "Mr. Li came to my home in the middle of the night, wasn't it just to sit like this?"

Li Yuanfang frowned, but replied: "I came here to tell you... I'm leaving for a while, and before leaving, I want to come and see you too. Oh, and that's right..." He suddenly stopped thinking about it. The regret in his words made Pei Suyun's heart tremble slightly. She couldn't help but ask: "You are leaving? Where are you going?" Li Yuanfang hesitated and said: "I will go to Shatuochi, and there should be Luntai..." "Shatuochi? Luntai?" Pei Suyun repeated in surprise, and the anxiety in his heart increased exponentially. As if seeing her nervousness, Li Yuanfang smiled at her comfortably and said gently: "Yes, everything depends on the situation. By the way, I was about to ask you, is it not the area west of Luntai under the jurisdiction of Tingzhou and Hanhai Army?"

Pei Suyun shook her whole body and tried her best to answer in a cold voice: "This... Suyun doesn't know. Why do you ask me these?" Li Yuanfang said unexpectedly: "What's wrong? I think you have grown up here since childhood, maybe you should know. Now in Tingzhou, I almost know you only." Pei Suyun blurted out: "I think it's not this reason!" "What else can it be?" Pei Suyun sneered: "You are testing me and wanting to get Qian Guinan from me, right?"

Li Yuanfang stared at Pei Suyun in surprise and shook her head, "You, why do you think so? Qian Guinan? What does this have to do with the governor Qian? Is it... the person who monitors you outside is Qian Guinan? I don't understand, what is he monitoring you?" Pei Suyun stared at Li Yuanfang. She felt that her heart was deeply hurt by humiliation. Why do these people just want to deceive her and use her? Is it because they can see that she is a helpless woman... Pei Suyun tried hard to suppress her rolling heart and changed into a calm tone: "Okay, Mr. Li, if you don't understand, then let's talk about something else." Li Yuanfang lowered her head: "What do you want to talk about?"

Pei Suyun gritted his teeth and asked sarcastically: "Mr. Li, you came to my house late at night. Are you not worried about meeting my husband?" Li Yuanfang raised her head suddenly and her sharp eyes shot like an arrow. Pei Suyun was forced to retreat almost, but she still looked back stubbornly until his eyes gradually became gentler. He heard him say, "No, I'm not worried." "Why?" "Because you don't have a husband."

Pei Suyun sneered: "Oh? Why do you think so? Where did An'er come from? Shouldn't he have a father?" Li Yuanfang sighed softly: "Of course An'er should have a father, but that's two things. And you don't have a husband, I'm absolutely sure of this." Pei Suyun continued to ask back mockingly: "Is it? Why is it so sure?"

Li Yuanfang shook his head and whispered: "If you had a husband, he would definitely not let you live like this; if you had a husband, you would never have such lonely and fearful eyes; if you had..." He suddenly stopped, Pei Suyun was already thrilling when he heard it, but saw him frowning, as if muttering to himself: "An'er's father, Qian Guinan...I understand..."

Pei Suyun closed his eyes and hadn't heard any sound for a long time, so he opened it again. In front of her, she saw Li Yuanfang sitting motionlessly, and whispered: "I thought you knew it." Li Yuanfang turned her face and looked directly at her, saying word by word: "I don't know." Pei Suyun said weakly: "In Tingzhou, this is a well-known secret." Li Yuanfang sneered: "I have only been in Tingzhou for three days and I don't know anyone at all, and I have no way to know your secret." After a pause, he continued to say in a calm tone: "But I should thank you for your kindness. Let me tell me now, it's still timely."

Li Yuanfang stood up, Pei Suyun was unable to stand up, so he had to watch him helplessly: "Are you leaving?" "Well, why, do you have something to say?" Pei Suyun shook his head blankly: "No, no more." Li Yuanfang stood in front of her and said in a plain tone: "Okay, I have a few more words to ask." Pei Suyun nodded, and his eyes were blurred again. In a daze, he heard him asking: "Have Qian Guinan mentioned me before

?" Pei Suyun nodded again. "So you knew who I am from the beginning." Pei Suyun nodded again, shook her head quickly and said coldly in panic: "So that's the case, I'm so stupid." Pei Suyun shouted softly: "No, no." She raised her eyes suddenly and touched his gaze. She took a breath. There was no anger and resentment she imagined, only deep disappointment.

Pei Suyun's tears finally burst out from her eyes, and the person in front of her was still standing without saying a word. After a long time, Pei Suyun felt him gently stroke his drooping hair and asked in a low voice: "Why do you cry?" Pei Suyun raised her head with tears in her eyes, and Li Yuanfang smiled at her: "I really should leave. But I still hope you know that I came to you not for any other purpose, but because of your sad face, I want to know what you are afraid of and worried about... Now I know."

Somehow, Pei Suyun blurted out: "Will you come again?" As if thinking for a while, Li Yuanfang replied: "I don't know either." Then, he sighed with a self-deprecating voice: "How could I think of asking you, a witch, to treat you? You are really amazing. It's been a long time since no one has made me feel as painful as before."

Pei Suyun stared at his figure and disappeared at the door. The candle burned out. The last red light disappeared. She was alone in the darkness and she burst into tears like rain. "... It has been a long time since no one has made me feel as painful as before." Isn't that the same for her? At this moment, Pei Suyun felt the heart-wrenching pain, but she vaguely felt something rising from the depths of her heart. For her, such a thing is so luxurious, its name is... Hope.
Chapter completed!