The ace special forces who dominated the Sui dynasty's late period

  "Alright, stop making a fuss. Get some rest, I've still got work tomorrow." Liu Ziqiu helped Gao Xiuer lie down on the bed, pulled up the covers and then shouted loudly, "Come in, Xiangcao. Take care of your young mistress."

  Gao Xiuer lay on the bed, lightly biting her lip, staring at the ceiling, not saying a word. Two lines of clear tears flowed down her cheeks uncontrollably.

  Liu Ziqiu sighed and turned around, walking out of the room door, continuing to hit his bedding.

  The next morning, Gao Xiuer didn't get up to practice her boxing as usual, and Liu Ziqiu didn't mind either. After all, Gao Xiuer was only a fourteen-year-old girl, and suddenly encountering such a big event, it would probably take three to five days to recover.

  Suddenly, Xiang Cao rushed out of the house, shouting: "Something's wrong! Big Brother Niu, Miss is gone!"

  "What!" Liu Ziqiu was shocked and rushed into the inner room, only to find that there was no one on the bed. He couldn't help but ask, "Xiangcao, didn't you promise to take good care of Xiuer?"

  "Yesterday night, the young lady was crying all the time. I comforted her for a long time, but somehow I fell asleep myself. When I woke up again, the young lady was gone. Big Brother Niu, I'm sorry... Wuuu... wuuu..."

  Vanilla is actually two years younger than Gao Xiuer, if placed in modern times, she should be lying in her mother's arms and acting coquettishly. It's already difficult enough for her to have achieved what she has now. Liu Ziqiu couldn't help but sigh and said: "Don't worry, maybe Xiuer is just feeling bored and went out to clear her mind, let's go look for her!"

  At this time, someone outside the courtyard shouted: "Dà Niú Gē, it's time to go to work!"

  By the sound of it, I know it's a dumpling.

  Liu Ziqiu pushed open the courtyard door and said without hesitation, "Zhuangzi, go tell Second Uncle that I won't be able to make it, ask him to find someone else to replace me."

  "Big Brother Niu, this..."

  Liu Ziqiu didn't have time to explain and urged: "Go quickly, don't be late."

  Although the money each household receives is the same whether or not they go to work at the salt fields, working at the salt fields allows them to save on one meal at home and also guarantees a full stomach. Therefore, the villagers who are chosen attach great importance to this opportunity, and Xiao Xin can only try his best to be fair. If Liu Ziqiu lets others take his place, the villagers will naturally be happy, but if he wants to come back in the future, it will be impossible. However, Liu Ziqiu doesn't care about that; what's more important is Gao Xiuer's whereabouts.

  After searching for a whole day and scouring every nook and cranny of the village, there was still no sign of Gao Xiuer, nor had anyone seen her.

  Liu Ziqiu couldn't help but blame himself deeply, yesterday his refusal was too simple and rough, he should have comforted her properly. Don't look at Xiuer's gentle and weak appearance, in fact she is very strong-willed inside. Take practicing martial arts for example, back then he himself learned the six inner power techniques in a month and was considered a prodigy by his master, while Gao Xiuer could also learn up to the fifth technique in a month, it couldn't be done without hard work. His direct refusal yesterday must have hurt her self-esteem.

  It's not entirely Liu Ziqiu's fault. All along, he thought that "sitting in a woman's lap without getting aroused" was just a myth. If Yulv Xiaohui could do it, there were only two possibilities: either Yulv Xiaohui was impotent or the woman wasn't pretty enough. He wasn't Yulv Xiaohui, but a normal man with a strong libido, and if he didn't leave now, he feared he wouldn't be able to control himself.

  In Changshan Village, everyone knew that Gao Xiuer was a big cow wife, and they indeed lived under the same roof, no one ever thought there was anything wrong. Only Liu Ziqiu himself was clear that Gao Xiuer had an innate arrogance, which should be looking down on him as a "country bumpkin".

  At their first meeting, Gao Xiuer refused to call him "Lang Jun". At that time, Liu Ziqiu was a bit puzzled. A ugly girl like her could already marry well, let alone he himself was tall and handsome, what was she unwilling about? Now Liu Ziqiu naturally knew that Gao Xiuer's ugliness was due to disguise, but at that time her refusing gaze was clearly from the bottom of her heart.

  Liu Ziqiu felt that Gao Xiuer's behavior last night was definitely due to the sudden shock and turmoil, rather than her true feelings. He couldn't take advantage of someone in a vulnerable state. Moreover, there was another more important reason. In Liu Ziqiu's eyes, Gao Xiuer was still underage. Although it was common for 11 or 12-year-old girls to get married in the village, Liu Ziqiu, with his modern thinking, couldn't accept this and would feel a strong sense of guilt.

  The next day, Liu Ziqiu and Xiangcao continued to look for Gao Xiuer's whereabouts, all the way to Yan Guancheng, and even went to the Qiantang River to search around, but there was no clue. Gao Xiuer seemed to have vanished into thin air.

  Vanilla cried more sorrowfully and sobbed: "Big Bull Brother, Miss... she won't..."

  "No way!" Liu Ziqiu knew what Xiang Cao was going to say, and he had thought of it before. But remembering the scene on the beach that day, Gao Xiuer ignoring the steel knife chopped from behind, stubbornly pulling the fish basket forward, Liu Ziqiu knew she wouldn't take her own life.

  After a moment of silence, Liu Ziqiu suddenly asked: "Xiangcao, do you know where Xiuer hid the money? With a heavy reward, there must be brave men. We'll offer twenty taels of silver and we're sure to find out her whereabouts!"

  "I know." Vanilla quickly ran into the inner room and suddenly exclaimed, "Big Brother Niu, come quick and take a look."

  Gao Xiuer's hidden money was not concealed from Xiangcao, it was under the pillow. Only two silver ingots were pressing a handkerchief. On the handkerchief, there were monkey-like dots, which turned out to be a letter written in blood.

  Fragrant grass fluttered, snatched a handkerchief and read: "I'm gone, sir, don't think of me!"

  After finishing reading, I was already in tears.

  Liu Ziqiu felt relieved and shook his head secretly. If he had known earlier, he would have gone to buy pen, ink, paper, and inkstone first, then come back to watch the commotion, which would have prevented this girl from writing a bloody letter. Suddenly, Liu Ziqiu pointed at the silver ingots and said, "Look quickly, two are missing."

  On that day, the four ingots of silver won back from Yang Heihu were five taels each, but now only two ingots are left. Ten taels of silver is enough for a family of three to spend in a year, and Gao Xiuer is extremely frugal, it's impossible for her to spend so quickly.

  Vanilla frantically felt around on the bed.

  "No need to look anymore, it must be Xiuer who took it away." Liu Ziqiu's face turned serious and said, "I know where she went."

  "Ah! Big Brother Niu, do you know where Miss went?"

  Liu Ziqiu sighed and said: "She went to Luoyang to avenge her father."

  Even if Liu Ziqiu didn't learn much history, he knew that Yang Guang died in Jiangdu. He didn't know whether Gao Xiuer had avenged her father in history, but one thing was certain: even if she went, she would only fail. However, there was one thing Liu Ziqiu hadn't thought of: if it weren't for his sudden appearance, Gao Xiuer would have died in Yangjia Village long ago; how could she avenge her father then? History had quietly changed because of his arrival!

  "Take care of yourself, Xiangcao!" Liu Ziqiu suddenly grabbed a silver ingot and turned around to leave the room, only leaving behind one sentence, "I'll catch up with her!"

  "Big Brother Niu, take me with you!" Xiangcao hurriedly chased after him, but Liu Ziqiu was nowhere to be seen.

  To the west of the salt farm was originally a dock for Changshan Village. Now, villagers no longer need to go out to sea to fish, and fishing boats are scattered along the shore, including the small boat Liu Ziqiu drove when he came, with an oilcloth package hidden under the bottom of the boat.

  Before the accident, Liu Ziqiu had just completed an important mission. It was a stormy night and he had to retrieve a top-secret document from a heavily guarded building. This was a daunting task, as he could only carry climbing and lock-picking tools, no weapons or identification, and if caught, he would have to silently sacrifice himself for the country. Just after successfully handing over the document to his contact, a bolt of lightning struck him, bringing him here. The tools were hidden in an oil-paper package: a multi-functional watch, a pocket-sized grappling hook, and a universal key.

  Liu Ziqiu took his tools and rushed north overnight. He wanted to intercept Gaixiu before she entered the palace.

  One day and one night, Liu Ziqiu walked more than 500 miles and finally arrived at the banks of the Yangtze River in Yanziling. Yanziling was later known as Zhenjiang, which belonged to the jurisdiction of Jiangdu Prefecture, but to get to Jiangdu, he still needed to cross the Yangtze River that lay before him. At this time, it had already completely darkened, and Liu Ziqiu walked a long way along the Yangtze River, but couldn't find a boat willing to take him across the river.

  Gao Xiuer had already left two days earlier, and Liu Ziqiu didn't dare to drag it out any longer. He gritted his teeth and plunged into the Yangtze River. The river water was turbulent, but not too cold, and for Liu Ziqiu, who often spent tens of hours swimming in the open sea during training, it was nothing. By midnight, Liu Ziqiu had already climbed up to the north bank.

  The sky was slightly bright, and the tea house at Changting, ten miles south of Jiangdu City, had already opened. Liu Ziqiu walked quickly over, threw down three copper coins, and shouted: "Uncle, a bowl of tea, two baked buns."

  The owner of the tea house was a dark-skinned man in his forties, who quickly brought a bowl of tea and two steamed buns to Liu Ziqiu's table. He looked suspiciously at the water stains on the ground and asked: "Brother, where did you come from and where are you going?"

  Liu Ziqiu smiled and said: "I went to Luoyang to see a friend, I was in a hurry on the night road, accidentally fell into the pond, and made Uncle laugh. May I ask what is Uncle's surname?"

  "My surname is Wang."

  "Oh, Uncle Wang. I'd like to ask, which way is closer from here to Luoyang?"

  "Ha ha, little brother, you probably haven't been out for a long time, have you? Now from Jiangdu to Luoyang, the most convenient way is to take the water route."

  "Oh." Liu Ziqiu must have been referring to the Grand Canal, which wasn't a bad idea. He nodded secretly and asked, "I wonder how much it would cost to hire a boat?"

  Wang Da Shu looked at Liu Ziqiu seriously, saw that he didn't even have a bundle, and couldn't help but shake his head, saying: "Hiring a boat is expensive, you'd better go to the dock ten miles east of Jiangdu City and try your luck, hitch a ride on a passing boat."

  Liu Ziqiu saw that Wang Da Shu was very enthusiastic, and suddenly had an idea. He stretched out his hand to gesture and asked: "Wang Da Shu, I'd like to ask you something else. Have you ever seen a girl, 14 or 15 years old, about this tall, with a melon-seed shaped face and big eyes, passing by here?"

  Wang Da Shu originally had some doubts about him, and hastily shook his head, saying: "Hundreds of thousands of people pass by here every day, how can I remember?"

  Liu Ziqiu knew he wouldn't get a clear answer, so he thanked him and rushed straight to the dock.

  On the dock, boats come and go, bustling with activity.

  "Old man, is your boat going to Luoyang?"

  The white-haired old captain shook his head.

  This was already the seventeenth boat he had inquired about, Liu Ziqiu did not become disheartened and continued on to the next boat.

  The boat is not very large, and on the bow there is a small flag fluttering in the wind, with the words "Chang Sun" written on it.