Suizhou, who was walking in front, interrupted their quarrels and asked, "The staff I brought tonight is limited, and I have come down with me now. How dare Mr. Wang ask, is there anyone from the West Factory guarding the freehand building outside?"

In this secret passage that was bent over and could move forward, Wang Zhi's voice was very calm: "You still need to say that when I came down, I asked someone to seal the brothel, and they couldn't make any storms."

Suizhou felt a little relieved, and stopped talking, focusing on exploring the way forward. There was no other sound in the suffocating secret passage except for the sound of breathing and footsteps.

The group walked in a hurry and walked for about half an hour. The air here was thin and completely isolated from the ground. Only the beginning and end were connected. As the distance became longer and longer, the breathing would inevitably become more and more dull. Even the candles on their hands were either clear or extinguished, so weak that they could almost ignore them.

Tang Fan was not as good as the other people, and this feeling must be more obvious than others. However, in order not to fall behind and not become a burden, he gritted his teeth and kept silent. Unexpectedly, he kicked a stone under his feet. The man staggered forward, but the clothes on his back were pulled in time, and his shoulders were then held back by one hand, so he pulled back his body to avoid being caught by a dog and being eaten by shit.

He didn't have to look back and knew that it was Wang Zhi who provided help. The boss was reluctant and did not want to go against his education. He could only say in a muffled voice: "Thank you!"

A sneer came from behind, followed by Eunuch Wang’s sarcastic remarks: “If you don’t want to thank you, don’t force me. You civil servants are just trying to save face. If you had known that you would have a kick on your butt and let you knock down the people in front of you, how spectacular the scene would be!”

Look, Eunuch Wang’s mouth is so mean, it’s not right for others to thank, nor does it mean if he doesn’t thank him. Tang Fan was so angry that he thought he wouldn’t bother with him, and he wouldn’t talk back, and he just kept his head shut up.

Seeing that Wang Zhi could not take advantage of the victory, he felt bored, so he could only curl his lips and chant the gold to withdraw his troops.

The Freehand Building is located in the northeast of the capital city, not far from the city gate, but the secret passage is really long. Everyone was secretly shocked while walking, thinking that the person who could dig this tunnel was considered intentional. If you go on like this, when you go out, you are afraid that you will be in the countryside of Beijing. If the thief set out half an hour earlier than them and someone else answered outside, it would be very difficult to catch up with it now.

Everyone was so tired that their waists were sore and their legs were hurt. Tang Fan was even more tired, but a cold wind blew towards him, which made everyone feel energetic. Knowing that the exit was not far from the front, they all accelerated their pace.

Sure enough, after walking for about a quarter of an hour, Xue Ling whispered: "It's here!"

He handed the candlelight he was holding to Suizhou, and jumped upwards out of the hole in a few seconds.

Others followed suit and climbed out of the cave one after another like him.

The wind outside was whistling, like a knife, but everyone was so restless under the secret passage that he had been in a state of silence, and when the wind blew, they felt refreshed.

The moon was still bright tonight. When Tang Fan looked around, he saw that they were now in a forest. The entrance to the cave was just below a slope, with stones blocking it and trees beside it. If he hadn't walked out of the long and stuffy secret passage just now, it would be hard to believe that entering from the cave would lead directly to a brothel's utility room in the capital.

Not only Tang Fan, but everyone is probably like Tang Fan, and instantly feels an incredible sense of absurdity.

After a while, Suizhou said: "Walking back is the capital. They should have left the forest and walked forward. They thought they had built secret passages. If they left the capital, they would be able to get a wide sky. They brought a group of children. They would definitely have to rest and beat the tips at that time. We would be faster and we might be able to catch up with them!"

Of course, everyone had no objection, so they walked out of the forest and walked along the official road.

The trouble is that they have no horses and rely on their feet to travel. No matter how fast the foot journey is, they will definitely not be much faster. Fortunately, they have just walked for about a quarter of an hour and found out.

What appeared in front of them was a three-way intersection, two were official roads and one was a small road.

The three roads naturally lead to different directions.

Wang Zhi knew everything about the capital, but when he left the capital, he was a little blind. Seeing this, he couldn't help but frown and said, "There are three ways, which one are they going?"

Xue Ling said: "These two official roads, one leads to Shunyi and Huairou areas, one goes to Changping and to Xuanhua Prefecture. The other road is a long circle and finally goes to Tianjin Wei. However, because of the detour, and not far ahead, you have to pass a deserted village. The village was almost dead due to the plague many years ago, and most of the living people moved away. Now it is still deserted, and few people will go on that road."

Wang Zhi said depressedly: "Damn it, three ways, how should I choose this?"

Xue Ling also felt embarrassed. Even if they were divided into three groups to chase after him, they would not be able to walk fast because they had no horses, and the effect was dropping.

He said to Suizhou: "Brother, why don't we go back and find a few horses and then chase them separately? The Jinyiwei has garrisons everywhere, so they can also pay close attention."

There was no way to get this, but Suizhou didn't say anything. He looked at Tang Fan, who was squatting not far away to study the ruts.

Among this group of people, Tang Fan was the most anxious because A Dong was also among the lost children. Although Suizhou had a little restrained relationship on weekdays, he was also unwilling to watch A Dong being abducted by human traffickers and he was left in nowhere since then.

But Wang Zhi was also very anxious, and he was several times more anxious than Tang Fan and Sui Zhou.

You should know that he rushed back from the front line for the secret order given to him by the emperor: to investigate suspicious elements who were watching in Wansui Mountain and to find Zhu Yong's young daughter back.

Wansui Mountain was only stacked when the imperial palace was built during the Yongle period. It is located in the north of the palace, also known as Jingshan, and in Beijing. Only when standing on Wansui Mountain can you stand high and see the whole picture of the imperial city. Therefore, the emperors of all dynasties were very taboo, and there were basically people guarding the mountain.

But not everyone couldn't get up. Like the demon Li Zilong before, he tricked a group of internal officials to take him up. Since then, the emperor has always felt suspicious and always felt that someone was standing on Mount Wansui to peek at him, which was very insecure.

A few days ago, he dreamed that someone was on Wansui Mountain and felt very uneasy, so he asked the Dongchang and Jinyiwei to investigate, but they couldn't find out the reason. The emperor could not trust their conclusions and found Wang Zhi back from the front line and asked him to investigate.

Wang Zhi rushed back in a hurry and asked someone to stay on Wansui Mountain for a few days. After checking it again, he found that there was nothing suspicious at all. It was the emperor's own suspicion attack, but he had no choice but to find a reason to deal with it. As a result, another case of Zhu Yong's young girl being lost.

In order to avoid the emperor being dissatisfied and thinking that the West Factory was not good at doing anything, Wang Zhi of course had to do his best to solve the case and find Zhu Yong's daughter back. On the one hand, he showed his abilities and made the emperor feel that the West Factory was still useful, and on the other hand, he was also to appease Zhu Yong who was on the front line.

He came back in concealment, not many people knew about it, so it should not be praised. He would definitely rush back to Datong in a few days. Otherwise, if he was found out by the Dongchang, Shang Ming might be bad. He reported to the emperor to replace him as the military supervisor and let Wang Zhi concentrate on finding people. That would be a big fun.

Therefore, Eunuch Wang’s time is very precious. The case will be solved in two days at the latest. The longer the time is, the more unfavorable it will be for him.

Therefore, at this moment, his heart was so anxious.

He ordered his men in a bad tone: "You go to the nearby inn to find a few horses!"

"Wait!" Tang Fan said, straightening his waist, he walked back and asked Xue Ling, "You just said that path leads to a deserted village?"

Xue Ling: "Yes."

Tang Fan: "How far is the deserted village from here? At least it takes to get there?"

Xue Ling said: "It's not far away, I'll be there in about a quarter of an hour."

Tang Fan asked again: "Will there be any village to rest when you go out of the deserted village?"

Xue Ling shook her head: "No more. There was a plague in that deserted village. Later, it was said that passers-by met ghosts there. After leaving the village, it was basically a wilderness road, and it had to go around a lot before heading to Tianjin Wei. Many people who walked in Tianjin Wei would rather go to Tongzhou than suffer this in vain."

Tang Fan nodded: "That's right, just go to the deserted village and don't have to look for horses."

Xue Ling was stunned for a moment: "You said those people would walk in the deserted village? That's a path that even dogs don't take!"

What the implication is a bit unbelievable.

Tang Fan pointed to the ground and said, "There are newly pressed ruts here. Since there are few people coming there, there are fresh ruts. Obviously, the other party has just walked a short time ago. Except for those thieves, no one will walk the road of the deserted village in the middle of the night?"

Xue Ling said: "These two ruts are too shallow. There are also newly pressed ruts on the other two official roads, and they are deeper. How can I tell if they must be heading towards the deserted village? Maybe they are intentionally leading us to another road and delaying our time."

Tang Fan shook his head: "No, since they are doing illegal activities, they must be afraid of people discovering it, especially the many children in the carriage, and the sound of the carriage is also very loud when walking. I just saw that there were wood chips in the ruts on the two official roads, and there were only the road leading to the deserted village, and the traces were a little irregular, which means that they were probably wrapped in cloth strips on the wheels. Only the carriage that really carries children need to be so worried. The traces on the other two roads should be just a formal arrangement of doubts."

When everyone thought about it, it seemed that this was the case.

Wang Zhi was cautious and still did not dare to put all his hopes on Tang Fan's judgment, so he said, "You go and chase them first. I will take people to find horses and chase them on the other two paths separately. Then I will turn back and meet you."

Time was tight, and Tang Fan and the others did not say anything. After agreeing, they parted ways. Suizhou and Tang Fan and others first chased each other in the direction of the deserted village, while Wang Zhi asked his subordinates to look for the horses, preparing to split into two groups and walk the other two paths.

As Xue Ling said, they walked for about a quarter of an hour and saw a village not far ahead, with moonlight shining on it, reflecting the dry thatch on the roof.

Logically speaking, even if every household is sleeping now, the feeling of being bystanders is definitely different. For example, dogs occasionally bark, pigs in pigpen occasionally scream, and whose children may cry twice.

But whether it is from the disrepaired windows or some houses that are so dilapidated that they are even half of the roof, they are sending a message to Tang Fan and the others: the village in front of them is indeed a deserted village.

However, what made everyone feel strange and inexplicable was not because the place has been abandoned for a long time and is uninhabited, but because there was still light in the houses.

The faint candlelight shone through the dilapidated windows, faintly swaying, as if there were still people reading at night with their lamps and sewing clothes under the lamps.

Late at night, in a haunted deserted village, with candles lit in many houses. What kind of scene is this?

Xue Ling has been in the North Town Fushi for many years and has consciously developed a pair of iron guts. As a result, when he saw this strange scene, his scalp exploded instantly, and his back was covered with goose bumps and his hair stood up.

He whispered: "This village has no name, and everyone calls it Xujia Village, because most of the people who lived there were surnamed Xu. Later, many people died in the plague, and the few living people left were moved away overnight. At that time, it was said that the government sent people to burn the bodies. It took two days and two nights to burn them, and they didn't care about building any graves for them. At that time, I wanted to burn the village, but it rained at a little fire. It was like this three times in a row. It was said that those who died of the plague were unfair and refused to let someone burn the village. The government did not dare to do it anymore, so later it was completely abandoned. Generally, no one would choose this road to go because it was too creepy."

A Jinyiwei who was following behind Suizhou asked nervously: "Can there be a real ghost?"

Suizhou said in a deep voice: "No one has lived here for a long time, which just gives some people the opportunity to pretend to be a ghost. If those people really go this way, maybe this is the trap they set up to make us suspicious. Everyone should be careful and not be ambushed."

Tang Fan said: "Look, not every room in these houses has a candlelight."

Suizhou nodded: "First check the rooms that are not bright, don't disperse them, follow me."

At this time, a leader's character can be reflected.

If someone else is in Suizhou, he has subordinates who can help him, so he must be saying "You go over and see if there is any movement."

But Suizhou said, "You follow me."

A commander who is willing to lead by example will naturally be loved by his subordinates. Suizhou can eat well in the Beizhen Fushi, which is not unreasonable.

There were only four or five rooms where the candlelight was not lit, so everyone showed off their weapons and checked them one by one.

Because of the strange scenes in front of them, everyone was very cautious and alert, holding the embroidered sword in their hands, and their bodies were extremely tense. Every time they kicked a room, they stared at them with their eyes, fearing that some beasts would break out of it.

At this time, Tang Fan naturally doesn't need to do his best. He followed the last one, which is a bit unnecessary.

At this time, everyone's eyes had adapted to the dim environment in the suburbs and had some adaptability, so that they would not be invisible. The rooms without candlelight were naturally dark. After Suizhou and others kicked open the door, they found that there was nothing but simple furniture. Some people's beds were piled with one or two quilts piled up in a mess. The tips of the embroidered swords were lifted, and the quilts that had been brittle had been broken all of a sudden, and some people's chairs had long been shaking and collapsed after a slight touch.

When we checked the fifth room where the candlelight was not lit in order, we were no longer as nervous as before. Although we were still mentally alert, we finally relaxed a little.

"Brother, there is a carriage parked behind the house!" An Jinyiwei was responsible for the guards outside the house. At this time, he came from behind the house and hurriedly reported.

When Suizhou and the others heard this, they walked around to the back and saw a carriage parked between the backyard of the house and the mountain wall next to it.

After a closer look, as Tang Fan said before, the four wheels were covered with a thick layer of cloth strips.

I think those people are indeed very likely to escape here.

But now the carriage is still there, but the people are gone. It’s okay for a few adults to say that they are all from the Nancheng Gang. Perhaps it’s convenient to escape, but the problem is that these people are still carrying a group of children, so it’s not easy to go around, so where can they hide?

At this moment, they heard Tang Fan behind him shouting: "There are people there!"

Tang Fan did not come to see the carriage with them, but still stood at the door of the room to observe the details. At this time, he was naturally the easiest person to find any movement outside.

Suizhou reacted very quickly, from Tang Fan's speech to him turning around, to seeing clearly the direction Tang Fan pointed to and locking the other party's position, this period was only a few breaths.

Under the moonlight, a black shadow rushed out of a room not far away without a candlelight. He moved quickly and almost ran forward with his life. In short, if Tang Fan was asked to chase him, he would definitely not be able to catch up.

But Tang Fan couldn't catch up, so naturally someone could catch up.

The other party is fast, Suizhou is faster than him!

When he was talking, he was about to come. Suizhou ran out, his body was rising and falling, and his embroidered spring sword in his hand was not idle, and he threw it directly at the other party.
To be continued...