Chapter 43: The Mysterious Event at the Wilderness Wooden House (Part 1)

  "No, they shouldn't be looking for us. If that were the case, with their abilities, they would have caught up to us long ago. Besides, by now they should have already spread the rumors and wouldn't need to get entangled with us again. In the end, they'll just end up getting stained too." The nearby Yuan Zhen frowned and refuted.

  "That's right, they're not looking for us, they're looking for Xiao Shouren." Li Mi said with a smile.

  "What?"

  "What?"

  Jun Yan and Yuan Zhen were apparently shocked, they didn't expect that this sudden visit was actually to find Xiao Shouren.

  "That's right, the BMW is in Xiao Shouren's hands, we all missed it." Li Mi sighed and continued. "When they were in front of the store, they happened to meet the shopkeeper, asking him about Xiao Shouren, and also asked about the horse. The thing was so coincidental that Xiao Shouren's horse was taken care of by this shopkeeper, so he suddenly remembered it. He turned around and asked Gao Kaicheng if it was the horse that was bleeding all over and almost dying. Gao Kaicheng knew he had found the right place as soon as he heard it, and hurriedly replied that it was. After finishing speaking, he also handed three 100-tael silver tickets to this shopkeeper. The shopkeeper was naturally extremely excited, telling Gao Kaicheng everything he knew, including that Xiao Shouren had already left with another customer holding the dying horse towards the west gate at noon. The shopkeeper got rich and didn't want to work anymore, wanting to go home and get married, but happened to be bumped into by me." Li Mi said with a smile.

  "Are you saying that our precious horse and all those things we need are in Xiao Shouren's hands?" Jun Yan asked.

  "That's right, and if I'm not mistaken, Xiao Shouren must have figured something out by now. Otherwise, he wouldn't have left without saying a word to us. At this moment, it's likely that not only Xiao Shouren and his companions are ahead of us, but also Gao Kaicheng and others who are definitely chasing after them. We need to hurry up." Li Mi said.

  "Big brother, if it's really as you said, how can we catch up? Although that horse is not a pure-blooded Akhal-Teke, but at least it's more than twice as fast as our horses." Jun Yan asked.

  "This is not something you need to worry about. Some time ago, Xiong Xin followed Li Yuan through the commercial city and met with me. At this moment, he should already be on his way back home. He has probably turned back to Ju Xian Zhuang (in the novel it's Er Xian Zhuang, but I think Ju Xian Zhuang sounds better and tastes much better than Er Xian Zhuang, so I changed it). He is probably in Shangguo County ahead of us right now. When I came out, I sent a flying letter to him telling him that he must take down Xiao Shouren before the opening of Gaikou, regardless of whether he succeeds or not. As long as he has crossed hands with Xiao Shouren, he will immediately issue the Seven Provinces Green Forest Order and pursue Xiao Shouren." Li Mi explained slowly.

  "Why? Why must we pursue Xiao Shouren whether or not we get what I want?" Jun Yan continued to ask.

  Because he already knows too much, whether or not he can escape, we must kill him, and it has to be done through someone else's hands. If we capture him, we'll first disable him, then release him, and let others take care of the rest. This way, we won't have to worry about him spilling the beans. Maybe he's already seen what we're looking for and told others about it. If we let him go, people will think his words are nonsense. What if what he says is true? Will we let him off? If he escapes, we'll just make him a scapegoat. We'll say that the Qiankun diagram is on him, and the horse is with him. Let's shift the blame to someone else.

  After hearing Li Mi's words, Yuan Zhen and Jun Yan no longer spoke and hurried on the road, hoping to arrive at Shangguo Prefecture and meet with Shan Xiongxin as soon as possible.

  The story has two branches, each telling a different part of it. Now let's talk about Xiao Shouren and his group.

  After Xiang Shouren and Ge Shuyun finished disguising themselves, they went to the backyard to lead the horses. Xiao Shouren, who was very cunning, chose a very strong white horse for Ge Shuyun in the stable, and then Ge Shuyun led the horse and hurried away. Xiao Shouren settled the bill at the front counter and rushed to catch up.

  These two horse thieves had already planned something when they were in the house. In the end, both of them thought it was better to leave from the west gate first, then go to Shanggu County and head south to Shandong Province. The reason is simple: both wanted to go to Dongdu. Xiao Shouren was thinking about his salary, while Gesu Yun was because he had not completed his task of helping the Turks transfer their internal contradictions. The two men agreed on this immediately and decided to go to Shanggu County first.

  Ma Xi Men passed by, passing through the world's guests. You don't recognize me, and I don't recognize you either. Xiao Shou Ren thought he was safe now because it seemed like he hadn't left any clues for people to track him down.

  In this fishing village, I didn't stay for long, and apart from Geshu Yun knowing my identity, only Li Mi knew my identity. When I bought the horse, I didn't reveal my identity, so there was no way to investigate. Li Mi also didn't know that I got that horse, and he wouldn't suspect me, so I don't need to worry about this matter anymore. In a few days, when we're approaching Shanggu County, I'll use the dye to paint the white horse again, turning it into a mixed-breed horse, and definitely no one will recognize it.

  But things often turn out to be unexpected, Xiao Shouren never thought that Gao Kai would find Wang Lao's inn because of the big-bearded Zhang Dati who sold horses, and after arriving at the inn, he happened to meet the shopkeeper who had led his horse and fed it. From his mouth, he learned about his whereabouts, and it was this shopkeeper who also let Li Mi know about his whereabouts. Suddenly, he became the focus of everyone's attention again. What a coincidence! What good fortune! Letting two great heroes of the Sui dynasty chase after him.

  Because Xiao Shouren himself thought there was no problem, and Geshu Yun's injury had not healed yet, they were actually moving quite slowly. It's just that Xiao Shouren is naturally suspicious and always thinks it's better to be careful, so whenever they see a small path, they take the small path, and when they encounter a small path, they walk on top of it. It was precisely because of this reason that Gao Xiong and his group had long since run ahead of them, and Li Mi and his group also ran ahead of them in a row. What luck!

  It was precisely because Xiao Shouren thought that he should be safe after leaving Yuyang City before Yang Wanshuo closed the city, so the two people's speed on the way was not fast, and they were looking at the scenery along the way, without any awareness of being chased by someone behind their buttocks.

  They continued on the small path towards Shanggu County, and as the sky was about to darken, they found that there were no inns or even households in sight. Although both of them were martial artists who had been riding horses all day, they couldn't help but feel a sense of urgency as dusk approached. Xiao Shouren didn't mind, having spent many nights alone in the wilderness in his past life and this one. However, Ge Shuyun was different; although she was a woman from the vast steppes of Tujue, she had never spent a night alone in the wild before. Moreover, with her injuries, it would be inconvenient for her to spend the night outdoors.

  After searching around, they found that there were really no houses in the surrounding area. It seemed that they couldn't escape their fate of spending the night in the wilderness. So, the two people got off their horses and walked, as they had been jolting on horseback for a whole day and their bones were almost scattered. They let go of the reins, allowing the horses to graze freely, as they too had not eaten all day. Xiang Shouren and Ge Shu Yun sat down on the ground, taking out dried rations from their bundles to prepare for dinner.

  Just as the two of them had eaten half and were still gnawing on rice balls and drinking water, they suddenly saw a young girl collecting mountain vines in the valley. She casually pulled with her hand, and it was a whole piece. This kind of mountain vine is very tough, ordinary people would need to use a knife to cut it, and even then, it would take some effort. But she did it effortlessly, which made Xiao Shouren look at her with some surprise. Ge Shu Yun called out, the girl turned around, saw Ge Shu Yun, and was overjoyed, walking over to pull on Ge Shu Yun's hand, asking if she really was a fairy who had been blown down the mountain by the wind? Because she hadn't seen anyone from outside in the deep mountains for a long time.

  Xiao Shouren was speechless on the side, Geshu Yun's beauty was a kind of wild beauty, a kind of exotic wind beauty, but this girl who collected mountain wisteria was a different kind of beauty. To use a phrase from modern jealous women, it can be said that this girl's beauty was so stunning that it was infuriating! That appearance was like a lily in a secluded valley! Xiao Shouren told her they were ordinary travelers, she hurriedly invited Xiao Shouren and Geshu Yun to stay at her home. Xiao Shouren thought, such a desolate mountain wilderness, there is actually a home, and the scene of this girl collecting mountain wisteria was still flashing before his eyes, a discerning person can see that this girl's skills are very high, so this home must not be an ordinary home!

  The girl's home was nearby, but Xiao Shouren and Ge Shuyun couldn't see it at all. It turned out that her house was built on the cliff wall between two peaks, and the two twisted pines protruding from the cliff wall just covered the house. Xiao Shouren and Ge Shuyun tied their horses to the pine tree outside the door and followed the girl into the house. They saw an old man in his sixties, who was dark and thin, with fingers like bird claws and long fingernails. He looked spirited and healthy. When Xiao Shouren and Ge Shuyun entered, they saw the old man, and he also saw them. He looked at Xiao Shouren with surprise and suspicion. Xiao Shouren told him that they were travelers who had lost their way. The old man was half-believing and half-doubting, but he still invited them in to rest. While treating them as guests, the old man kept staring at Xiao Shouren, shaking his head and sighing. However, this only happened at first, and later on, it seemed like he was thinking about something else. Xiao Shouren saw that the old man had a worried look on his face, and when they talked to him, he seemed distracted. Xiao Shouren thought that they were disturbing him, so he felt uneasy in his heart.

  I'm quite tired, so I got up late today and haven't had breakfast yet, let's quickly write a chapter and post it online.