Chapter 78: Bell Town
The horseshoes were like thunder, and they galloped all the way. Before long, Jie Ling Town appeared at the end of everyone's line of sight. Huang Gua raised his nose, gnashed his teeth, and lay on the ground. The two Tongzi brought their abilities to the extreme, and soon a look of confusion appeared on both of their faces.
Mo Ya started by saying, "I didn't hear any signs of the enemy, but instead, the town is bustling with excitement, people are beating drums and singing loudly, it's like they're celebrating a festival or a fair."
Cucumber also nodded and said: "The smell of roasted meat, the fragrance of corn, the aroma of wine, doesn't seem like an enemy attack......" As he spoke, WaWa slapped his forehead and laughed: "Today is October 10th, the end of autumn harvest, it's a grand festival!"
In the inland areas of Zhongtu, every year on October 10th is the Great Harvest Festival to celebrate the harvest. On this day, it was announced that the hard work of farming for a year had finally come to an end. Farmers would put away their tools, gather their livestock and prepare to spend the winter holidays.
Xiao Sai let out a cold hum: "The enemy should have arrived, otherwise where did those few crows come from? Everyone be careful, let's enter the town!" As he spoke, he shook the reins and walked at the front, leading the crowd into Lingling Town.
The grey-tiled houses, the simple but clean shops, the tall archways and the public notice boards - there is not a single difference from any ordinary small town in the north. However, because of the approaching Chinese New Year, everyone's face is filled with smiles, after being busy for half a year, the next three or four months will be spent relaxing and taking it easy, huddled around the stove playing cards, drinking hot wine and bragging, when night falls, the cold wind howls outside, the wives are carried to bed by their husbands... just thinking about such days makes one feel happy.
The main street of the town has turned into a temporary market, with local flower cloth, southern rouge and powder, northern fur and wine... This is the largest festival gathering before the New Year's Eve, many small vendors have rushed to make a fortune, and then prepare for the Spring Festival.
The town was bustling and lively, with adults chatting and children running around, without a hint of evil.
A group of men in green robes dismounted their horses, leading them forward slowly, with smiling faces, but the sharp glint in their eyes could not be concealed no matter what.
It's not just the bustling market, but the whole town is lively. Two young women are singing opera on stage; a robust man with a strong back and waist is practicing Tai Zu Long Fist; a butcher with a thick face is slaughtering fattened livestock in the street and selling fresh meat; there are also gamblers setting up their stalls, swindlers selling fake medicine, and acrobatic troupes flying through the air...
Liang Xin's eyes were busy, not stopping to look around, with a silly smile on his face as he walked by. Huang Gua and Mo Ya also looked excited, but they were stronger than Liang Xin and hadn't forgotten their own tasks. Mo Ya asked in a low voice, "Why didn't anyone come to meet us?" Although the few of them were dressed casually, all twenty-three of the green-clad men were wearing official robes.
Cucumber looked at him with disdain, casting a glance: "Didn't you hear Xiaoxi say that the green-clad people here are all undercover agents? Undercover agents, get it? They pretend not to see each other even when they meet their own kind."
At this time, Xiao Quan lightly bumped Liang Xin with his shoulder and said in a low voice: "Send the signal, notify our colleagues in town that we came after receiving the distress call."
Liang Xin's expression didn't change, and he said lightly: "You're fired!"
Xiao Sai gave him a slanted glance, but didn't say anything else. She reached into her sleeve with her right hand and pulled out a green leaf. This was the same leaf she had casually plucked from the roadside just now.
Her vermilion lips lightly touched the edge of the dense green leaves, looking incredibly beautiful. Suddenly, a simple yet elegant and strange melody floated up. A moment later, not far away from the stage, the cymbals and drums suddenly burst into loud sounds. Xiaoming gazed at the stage with rapt attention for a while before nodding slightly to Liang Xin: "Alright, let's go!"
As she spoke, Xiaotang led the way in front of her head and walked towards the central position of the town. Liang Xin followed closely behind her, unaware that since Xiaotang blew the leaves, many people in the small town had undergone some subtle changes:
The two little girls on the stage turned around and went off, replaced by a black-faced old man; he was shouting loudly to buy and sell, stretching out his hand to grab his hair wildly, making several secret gestures in a row; the butcher who killed pigs changed knives; the idle rascal who was drinking wine in front of the wine shop belched, slamming the wine bowl on the counter, his fingers were long, clean and powerful...
Xiao Hai's footsteps didn't stop, and the originally bustling crowd, intentionally or unintentionally, made way for her, soon after, everyone arrived in front of a fairly majestic mansion.
A large mansion with a golden plaque on top: Beibei Pawnshop
The doorman of the escort agency was leaning on a stone lion, listlessly cracking melon seeds. Seeing a group of Qingyi guards approaching in big strides, he hastily threw away the melon seeds in his hand, put on a smile and politely asked about their business, looking no different from ordinary escort agency staff. He wanted to figure out the purpose of the officials' visit while not daring to offend them.
Xiong Dawei took a step forward, reached out and patted Hanzi on the back of the head. Liang Xingang hurried to help him up, but was directly pulled into the inn by Xiaotai, who grabbed his arm.
The boy fell down and showed an indignant expression, patted his buttocks and got up, chased after the crowd...
In the courtyard of the mansion, there were many people practicing with stone locks and spears. Seeing a large group of men in green clothes suddenly rush in, they were all stunned for a moment, involuntarily stopping their movements. Xiaotang's eyes even flickered, but he continued to walk forward with big strides. The 23 green-clad guards stopped in their tracks, drew their swords and stood sideways, no longer following Xiaotang into the inner courtyard.
The doorman ran all the way, bowing and scraping, constantly smiling and chatting, until he entered the inner courtyard. Then, as if suddenly transformed into another person, the smile on his face vanished, replaced by a stern and gloomy expression. He flipped over his own identity plaque and said: "Please show your identity plaques, both of you!"
Xiao Hai and Liang Xin didn't say anything, handing over their name plates to him. The doorman checked them and suddenly his eyes turned red as he nodded seriously at them and said in a low voice: "Please follow me!" As he spoke, he made a gesture with his hand towards the air.
Liang Xin made a mysterious gesture, but Xiao Quan knew that if she hadn't done so, they would have taken another step forward and been met with merciless slaughter!
Passing through the courtyard and entering the hall, a strange smell wafted in, smelling like some clumsy cook was roasting a salted fish that had been pickled for several years over an open flame, with a hint of stench mixed in with the salty smell.
The further they walked into the house, the stronger the smell became, until everyone rushed into the inner hall, and Mo Ya and Huang Gua exclaimed in unison, their faces instantly pale!
Inside the hall, on the throne-like chair, sat a robust man with a sturdy build. However, his entire body had been charred and was now a mess of burnt flesh, with his facial features almost stuck together. His severely injured skin had large areas of festering wounds, emitting a foul-smelling pus that wouldn't stop oozing. On the big man's chest, there was an even more gruesome blood-soaked hole.
Dahan heard someone coming, the hand resting on the back of the chair moved slightly, and with a soft clink, his nameplate fell to the ground from his fingers. Xiaotang immediately took two quick steps forward, bent down to pick up his nameplate, checked it briefly, then turned around and nodded slightly at Liang Xin.
Then, the girl in white clothes as snow, not disgusted at all, carefully grasped the big man's hand full of festering pus with her slender hands, leading him to search for her patrol badge, and said lightly: "We're here, please don't worry!"
A stifled and unpleasant laugh emerged from the mouth of the big man, his hoarse voice replied: "It's fine, I've waited!"
Liang Xin stood beside him, his face pale. He didn't dare to think that a person who had been injured like this could still hold on with what kind of thoughts.
Kowloon Walled City, Tsing Yi!
