After removing Ning Tian's disguise, Zhang Xiaobao changed his appearance again. He combed his hair and fixed his eyes and eyebrows. He didn't change much, but people who weren't familiar with him definitely wouldn't be able to recognize him.
In fact, even if Zhang Xiaobao were to compete in disguise, people wouldn't be able to recognize him even if they saw him and Wang Juan's portraits.
It was just like how he and Wang Juan were national leaders at the time. People would recognize who they were on TV. If a leader didn't have many followers and walked alone on the streets, even if people saw him, they wouldn't recognize him as a national leader.
After leaving the courtyard he had bought, Zhang Xiaobao walked aimlessly on the streets of Duchang county. He hadn't thought of a specific place to start. The best place to start was probably the officials in the government.
However, Zhang Xiaobao also considered that officials were usually allowed to smoke at home. The laws of the Great Tang that banned smoking had yet to be fully implemented, so smoking a little was a very normal thing.
What if the organization behind the scenes wasn't in a hurry to send officials over? Since the situation was tense right now, he couldn't just grab an official and interrogate him. Once he did, he probably wouldn't be able to get anything out of him, and at the same time, the other party would also know.
Since he couldn't immediately find an official, Zhang Xiaobao considered the 'masters' of wealthy families to see if they went to specific places for 'entertainment'.
Unlike Xunyang, Duchang wasn't completely under martial law. The shops on both sides of the street were still open, and there was an endless stream of people hawking their wares. Zhang Xiaobao wasn't in a hurry. He strolled along one street after another, touring the county seat of Duchang county.
At noon, Zhang Xiaobao ate a bowl of rice noodles at a roadside stall. He couldn't say whether it was delicious or not, but it filled his stomach.
Next to the rice noodles was a tea stall. Calling it a stall wasn't accurate. It was just a large open space far from the main street. It could be considered a relatively remote place. Someone had set up a shed in the open space.
Under the shed was a place where water was boiled and snacks and melon seeds were served. The people drinking tea were not under the shed but around it. Some were sitting at the table, some were holding stools, and some were squatting there. There were also people standing under the shade of the trees.
Zhang Xiaobao saw that there were quite a lot of people. He guessed that it was probably because the checks were too strict recently. Many of the jobs were not convenient, so there were a lot of idle people. Since they had nowhere else to go, the weather was hot, so they came to drink tea, play chess, and chat.
In any case, tea was cheap. One copper coin was enough for the shop owner to drink the tea for an entire afternoon. He would not change the tea and would only add water. Even if the taste of the tea was gone, the shop owner would still add water. That was the rules.
It was like drinking mutton soup in the capital. A bowl of mutton soup was not expensive, only two or three copper coins. If one couldn't afford to eat meat, one would have to eat the mutton and cut it into pieces. Sitting there, one would not eat anything dry and would only drink the soup made from mutton bones and mutton oil.
Free sweet garlic and pepper, plus vinegar, one would drink the soup for the whole day. At night, one would ask for a cake, break it into pieces, soak it in the soup, and eat it together with the mutton oil. When one was full, one would have enough meat and fish. The mutton oil soup was also very nutritious. As such, the shop owner would also accept it.
Zhang Xiaobao saw that the people drinking tea at the tea stall had such a posture. The shop owner rarely collected money, and most of the time, he was busy adding water for the people. He was so tired that he was sweating. Fortunately, water did not cost money. He just needed to get some dry branches to boil the water. The water was water from the river, so he could take it as exercise.
Zhang Xiaobao thought about it and also asked for a pot of tea. He chose the most expensive one and spent five copper coins. The shop owner also gave him a plate of fried soybeans and two dried fish.
Feeling a few different gazes looking at him, Zhang Xiaobao straightened his chest and put on the posture of a rich man. Then he heard someone whispering under a tree stump about six meters away.
"This person is sick. I haven't seen him before. He's probably new and doesn't know that Old Huang's stall only sells one kind of tea. There's no difference between spending one copper coin and five copper coins. The only difference is that the pot is nicer and the tea bowl is newer. Everything else is the same. How much are the beans and dried fish worth?"
"He's probably here to show off. He thinks he's rich. If he's rich, why doesn't he go to the teahouse? Why would he come to the tea stall? The poorer he is, the more pretentious he is. "
"If you go to the teahouse for five copper coins, you won't be able to drink the cheapest one. If I were Old Huang and met someone like him, I would ask him for ten copper coins."
Hearing the voices of others, Zhang Xiaobao also admitted that it was his fault. Why did he ask for five copper coins of tea? He was clearly looking for trouble. It didn't feel good to be rich.
So he said to Old Huang, who opened the tea stall, "Old Huang, do you still have cheap tea? I don't want beans and fish anymore. Can you give me a refund? "
"Refund? No. Beans and fish are useless. If you don't want to eat them, I'll take them back. "Old Huang straightforwardly refused Zhang Xiaobao's request.
More people looked at him with different gazes. Zhang Xiaobao gritted his teeth and decided to go all out. No matter what, he had to get back his face. He then said to Old Huang, "I'm not short of money. I'm just asking. Don't believe me? If you don't believe me, I'll give everyone a new cup of tea. My treat. "
While speaking, Zhang Xiaobao took out a large banknote with the words "fifty copper coins" written on it.
Immediately, people around cheered. No one said that the poorer he was, the more pretentious he was. They all thanked him. The two people who had just whispered about him came over and sat next to him. As if they were acquaintances, they reached out and pinched a few beans from the plate in front of him. They threw them into their mouths and chewed. It sounded very delicious.
"Little brother, you're not a local, right?" a man in his thirties asked "kindly" after eating Zhang Xiaobao's beans.
Zhang Xiaobao didn't touch the beans himself. He didn't want to drink tea and eat beans. He didn't want to have a chemical reaction in his body to create flammable gas. It would be very uncomfortable to eat them.
After hearing the question, Zhang Xiaobao nodded shyly. He was very different from his previous bold attitude when he asked people to drink tea. "I just came here yesterday. I was originally from Hangzhou."
When Zhang Xiaobao spoke, he deliberately added a bit of Hangzhou's local accent.
"What are you doing here?" The man didn't regard Zhang Xiaobao as an outsider and directly asked him why he was here.
Zhang Xiaobao smiled shyly again and said, "Look at the lake. Everyone says that the scenery of Pengli Lake is good, so I came to have a look."
"You came at the wrong time. If it were in the past, it would be fine to come now. Now that something has happened, the investigation is very strict. If you're not a local, you will be specially questioned if you want to take a boat. The boat on the lake is also watched by other boats. What a pity."
The man shook his head and looked like he felt sorry for Zhang Xiaobao. He pinched a few more beans and threw them into his mouth to chew.
Zhang Xiaobao simply pushed the plate in front of the man and showed a regretful expression. He said, "I heard that the children of Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Family were almost blown up by someone. I didn't know before I came here. I just want to look at the lake. If others are watching, then so be it. What other interesting places are there in the county?"
"No, there used to be, but now there is no more. The most interesting place is the place where you drink tea. Although the tea sold in the teahouse is expensive, it is not easy to do business now. Also, let me tell you, if you want to find someone to do something or ask for information, this is the best place. Other places can't compare."
As the man spoke, he picked out the beans from the plate and ate them first. He probably intended to save the good beans for last. Although they were the same in his stomach, the taste was different.
Zhang Xiaobao finally understood why there were so many people at the tea stall. It turned out that it was not only to chat, but also to take jobs. It was also a good place, just like the labor market.
After thinking for a while, Zhang Xiaobao pushed the dried fish over and asked, "Brother, don't you know how to spend money?"
"What do you mean by spend money? Oh, you said that if you want to find someone to do something, of course you have to pay. If you don't pay, who will do it for you? If you really want to find someone to do it, don't negotiate the price, and don't plan to ask for the full price. You can ask someone else if they can give you a lower price, but it's useless. As long as one person says that they can give you a lower price, others can only ask for more. "
The man understood the meaning of Zhang Xiaobao's question and patiently explained the rules. Perhaps he felt that he had drunk Zhang Xiaobao's tea and eaten something, so he kindly added, "If you really want to find someone to do something for you, we can give you the cheapest price. Who asked you to be pleasing to the eye?"
Zhang Xiaobao felt that the beans and fish were more pleasing to the eye, so he nodded to show that he understood and asked, "What if I ask for information? For example, where is the fun place? How do you calculate the money? "
"You have already paid, inquired about things, and invited people to drink tea. You are generous and invited all of us at once. If you want to ask something, you can ask. If I don't know, I will ask someone to come and tell you."
The man pointed to his tea and said to Zhang Xiaobao with a smile.
Zhang Xiaobao also laughed and drank a cup of unknown tea, "So that's how it is. Actually, I don't have anything to ask. I just want to take a night boat to see the scenery of Pengli Lake at night. I think it will be good. Big brother, you can tell me about the fun things in the county.
Just say whatever you want. I don't have to know anything. Just treat it as a normal chat. Since I am staying here, why don't we talk? Old Huang, if there is anything to eat, you can help deliver it to whoever wants to eat. "
Zhang Xiaobao took out another banknote, but immediately took it back and took out another one. This time, he took out the right one. The large denomination was one hundred coins. The small denomination he took out was one hundred strings of coins. This kind of money was usually not taken out in small stalls. It was easy to be scolded. It was like taking out one hundred dollars to buy something that was worth a few hundred dollars. It was purely playing with people.
Zhang Xiaobao was very fast. The person who spoke did not see the one hundred strings of coins clearly. Even if he saw it, he probably would not recognize it. Banknotes with more than fifty strings of coins were generally not circulated among ordinary people.
When they heard that someone was treating them to food, there were cheers and thanks again. Old Huang was also glowing. He could make a lot of money today.
The person who spoke to Zhang Xiaobao looked at the few things on the table, and then looked at Zhang Xiaobao. After looking back and forth for a long time, he finally spoke.
"I didn't expect that I would be wrong. Brother, you do have some money. Thank you. If we want to talk about the county, then we have to talk about a few rich families. They have more things to do than ordinary people. For example, the Liang family in the east of the county is not ordinary …"
As he spoke, Zhang Xiaobao drank his tea and listened. He talked about which big family held a banquet, what deserted house was haunted, someone cried in the middle of the night, etc. It was like listening to a fairy tale.
He was not the only one who spoke. A few people came over and helped to fill in the gaps. When someone was tired, someone immediately took over and continued to speak. It seemed that they were sharing their resources.
After listening for an hour, Zhang Xiaobao finally heard what he wanted to know. He nodded to the person who had just finished telling the story of finding a shoe in the well and said, "Thank you. It's really interesting. It's not early. I'll go to the water and have a look. It will be dark when I reach the place, so I can take a boat."
After he finished speaking, Zhang Xiaobao got up and left. He didn't even ask for the eleven copper coins that Huang found for him. He left in a carefree manner. And the person who drank his tea, ate his food, and told him a story, from today onwards, had another story. Perhaps it could develop into a different version of the story.
After leaving the tea stall, Zhang Xiaobao walked for half an hour. He turned around and did not go out of the city. Instead, he went to the east of the county.
When he was listening to the story, he heard a person say that the Xu family in the east was also a big family. In the past, they had a lot of fields and business. However, in the past six months, almost half of the business had been closed, and a lot of fields had been sold. Moreover, he often heard the head of the Xu family say crazy things, saying that he had become an immortal or something. Many people thought that he had been bewitched.
However, Zhang Xiaobao believed that the head of the Xu family was not bewitched. Instead, he smoked a lot of cigarettes. Smoking a lot of cigarettes required money. After smoking too much, he began to hallucinate. Since that was the case, he should go and see if the Xu family had run out of cigarettes and who provided them.
By the time he found the Xu family's courtyard, the sky was still not dark. Zhang Xiaobao could only find a nearby inn and ask for a room. He also asked the waiter to send him some food and wine. He ate while waiting. He drank a lot of tea and his stomach was already empty.
When night fell, Zhang Xiaobao also finished eating. He lay down with his clothes on and went to sleep. At this time, the people in the courtyard probably had not eaten dinner, let alone other entertainment.
After about two hours passed, Zhang Xiaobao finally got up, pushed open the door and left the inn. He had bet five days' worth of money, and he didn't know if he would be able to get anything tonight. If he couldn't, he would have to come back. What if there was no more space left?
The wall outside the Xu family's courtyard was not short. It was as tall as a person. To be precise, it was more than two meters tall. There was also a small eave above to prevent people from jumping over the wall.
However, this wall had no effect on Zhang Xiaobao. He found a corner and saw that there was no one around. He jumped and directly jumped over. There was almost no movement when he landed.
In the courtyard, Zhang Xiaobao did not care if there was a light in the next room. If there was, it would only be the servants of the Xu family. The head of the family would not live in the front room.
Following the path in the courtyard, Zhang Xiaobao easily found the room where the head of the Xu family lived. There was no one patrolling the road, let alone a guard every three steps.
The lights in the owner's house were on, and there was a faint sound coming from inside, but it was too far away to be heard clearly. Xiaobao flipped over and put his ear to the roof to listen, but he still couldn't hear clearly. It seemed that the owner's house was better built.
After coming down from the corner of the house, Zhang Xiaobao finally chose to listen to the window. He hid in the shadows and listened with his ears. He did not wet the window with his saliva and wet a hole to look inside.
It was not because Zhang Xiaobao was afraid of being discovered. If there was a hole in a paper window, most people would think that it was caused by something. The main thing was that the window was made of glass. Zhang Xiaobao did not bring a glass knife. If he wanted to look, he would have to cut a hole in the glass and then pull up the curtains.
If he really did that, unless the person was a fool, they would definitely find that the glass was not normal.
Zhang Xiaobao listened. There was someone talking inside. To be precise, it was singing. He did not know who wrote the poem. It was sung by a woman. There was also a man's voice occasionally echoing.
There was no end to it. There was one song after another. Zhang Xiaobao had never heard of any of them before. He did not know who wrote so many lousy poems.
When Zhang Xiaobao was about to fall asleep, the singing inside finally stopped. It turned into humming sounds again. Zhang Xiaobao could tell that the woman was pretending.
After about three minutes, the humming sounds became sharp. Then, there was only the sound of panting. It seemed that the 'long battle' was over.
Zhang Xiaobao cursed in his heart. Why was it like the Japanese in the movies he watched before? There was a total of ten minutes in the movie. In the beginning, it was a mess, using hands and other things. In the end, there was only thirty seconds left. It was left for the male lead in the movie. Before he could watch it to his heart's content, everything was over.
Could it be that there was a Japanese spy in the house who cooperated with the locals? It did not seem like it. Judging from the sounds, it was a local.
Zhang Xiaobao, who was using this method to wake himself up, was about to think about other things when the sound inside changed.
"Master, 60% of the family property has been sold. There is only 40% left. It is not easy to sell it. Even if we sell it, we will not be able to get a good price. We are not afraid of the officials in the county who are strict. The main thing is that there are outsiders who are constantly looking for people to ask. You have to think of a solution."
A woman's voice. It was the woman who sang two songs just now.
"Even if we can't sell it, we still have to sell it. We are going to leave soon. Who are we going to leave this place for? Others think that my family is bankrupt and say that I am possessed by a ghost. In fact, what do they know? Not only did my wealth not decrease, but it has more than doubled.
If they were not strict, I would not be in a hurry to sell it. You don't have to worry about the officials. When the time comes, the ones who will leave with me will not only be you all. There will also be officials in the county. We cannot stay in Tang Dynasty anymore. If we continue to stay here, they might come looking for us. "
Another man's voice rang out. Zhang Xiaobao understood why it had only been three minutes. From the sound of the voice, the man was not young. He was clearly lacking in confidence. Perhaps he was also a heavy smoker.
At the same time, he understood that the other party's fixed assets had decreased. It was not because they bought the Big Tobacco Cream, but because they wanted to leave Tang Dynasty. As for whether they wanted to go to Japan or somewhere else, he did not know.
"Master, let me light a cigarette for you. This cigarette is good stuff, but it is a pity that there are few people who can recognize it. It is also expensive. Ordinary people can't afford to smoke it even if they want to. Master, do you think that the Zhang Family and Wang Family will not let us go after we leave Tang Dynasty after they find out?
Right now, Xunyang is still sealed. I am really worried that the people there who know about us will sell us out. If it really doesn't work, we can just give up on the rest of the family property. If it is too late and they catch us, won't they skin us alive? "
The sound of a match being struck could be heard in the room, followed by the woman speaking.
The sound of smoking and the slow exhalation of enjoyment could be heard again. Following which, the old man, or rather, the old man, spoke.
"Don't be afraid. If they caught us, we would have been caught long ago. We haven't decided on the route yet. Tomorrow, I will ask again and see how to get there. We will try our best to avoid others. Furthermore, this house cannot be sold, and the servants in the house cannot be dismissed in order to prevent others from finding out.
In the last few days, they'll make even more moves. In the future, our good days will follow. Rather than being an ordinary rich man in the Great Tang, it's better to be a rich man outside. Don't you think so? "
"Yes, yes. Master said that it will definitely be so. However, I am still afraid that the Zhang Family and Wang Family will not be satisfied. Back then, that Wang Juan killed all the way to Tufan. What if we run outside and she kills us too?"
The woman seemed to be still afraid.
"Kill? Kill who? It is easy for her to kill her way to Tufan, but can she kill her way to a place thousands of li away? It will take us half a year to travel there. She won't do anything else but kill us? After a few days, they won't have the time to care about us. They can just worry about themselves, hmph.
Everyone says that Zhang Xiaobao is good at scheming and nothing can escape his eyes. Let's see how he plans to scheme this time. This is what they mean by 'there is always someone better than you.' His ability is far from that of the deity. It is a pity that the deity hasn't fully recovered. Otherwise, she would be able to destroy the Imperial Palace of Tang Dynasty with a single slap.
I will leave early tomorrow morning and will only be back in three days. Try to sell as much as you can, even if it is cheaper. When I return, I might have to leave. You should prepare the things that I will need along the way. "
The old man seemed to be more confident when he spoke. It was probably the effect of the medicine that made him more spirited for a short period of time.
After that, they started to talk about other things. Zhang Xiaobao listened for a while and felt that there was no need for him to listen anymore. He found a corner and climbed out. He returned to the inn and lay down to rest.
As for what the Xu family said about the involvement of the government officials, Zhang Xiaobao didn't care. It wasn't as easy to enter the government office as it was outside. Under normal circumstances, the head of the local government office had to live in the back room, where there were people patrolling.
Also, if one entered the government office, they wouldn't be able to hear the voices of others. There was also a separate room in the house. The government offices were built like this because they were afraid that others would eavesdrop.
It wasn't difficult to enter, but if he really entered, would he have to open the door and enter the inner room? If he was discovered and came out, the other party would be afraid. This line might be cut off.
He decided to follow the Xu family's old man tomorrow and see where he was going. He was probably going to the hidden cruise ship that even the spy system couldn't find.
*****
The next morning, when the sun was about to rise, Zhang Xiaobao got up and asked the waiter to prepare some food. He hurriedly finished eating and left.
When he arrived outside the Xu family's courtyard, Zhang Xiaobao was worried again. The Xu family didn't only have a front door, there was also a back door. Where did the other party leave from?
It was reasonable to say that the Xu family's old man was doing things secretly, so he should have left through the back door. However, the other party felt that he wasn't in danger, so it didn't matter if he left through the front door.
Just as Zhang Xiaobao was hesitating, the front door opened. A carriage came out and headed west. It kept going west until it reached Poyang Lake.
Zhang Xiaobao immediately followed it out. After a while, he realized that something was wrong. The carriage only had one driver and no guards. At the same time, there was a curtain blocking the carriage.
Normally, if the Xu family's head went out, there would be a servant following him. Could it be that there was only one driver? Moreover, since they weren't afraid of others, why did they block the curtain so early in the morning? When the sun shone in the morning, it was comfortable.
As long as it was a normal person, they would usually open the curtain and look at the morning scenery outside.
More importantly, Zhang Xiaobao believed that since the other party knew that the investigation was strict, and there were people from his family questioning him, it was impossible for him to directly go to the place he wanted to go. With the caution of the person behind this, how could he let the people who came in contact with him go? What a joke.
With this thought, Zhang Xiaobao jumped across the street and quickened his pace. He arrived at the back of the Xu family's courtyard. When he was still a hundred meters away, he saw an old man come out from the back. He was alone and wore a bamboo hat on his head. He looked like he was afraid of the morning sun. His legs were still nimble as he walked towards the east.
Zhang Xiaobao stood in place and wondered. The Xu family's courtyard was very close to the east. Why did the old man go out from the east? Was he going to take a long detour?
With doubts in his heart, Zhang Xiaobao began to follow the old man. Not only did he have to follow the old man, but he also had to guard against whether someone was also watching the old man in the dark. Of course, he was not watching the old man, but seeing if anyone was following the old man.
It was a very common method, and Zhang Xiaobao was very familiar with it. He had always used it before. When he was not sure whether someone was following him, he would arrange for someone to follow him.
Moving forward carefully, Zhang Xiaobao tried to make himself look normal. From time to time, he would stop to look at the door of the shop that had just opened for business. Occasionally, he would go in and take a look.
Rushi and Old Man Zao were about to leave the city gate. Sure enough, Zhang Xiaobao found that someone was staring at them. It was a stall owner. This person's eyes were not looking at the things on the stall, but always looking at others.
The stall sold the Four Treasures of the Study. It was pure stupidity. Who would spread out the paper in the morning when the dew was not completely gone and wait for it to get wet?
Zhang Xiaobao pretended to go out and walked in front of the stall owner. At the same time, he muttered, "It's easy to get wet if you sell paper in the morning. There are really fools."
His voice was not loud, just enough for the stall owner to hear. Originally, the stall owner was still suspicious of everyone, but when he heard Zhang Xiaobao's voice, he forgot to suspect Zhang Xiaobao. Instead, he looked down at his stall and found that he had indeed made a mistake.
When he came back to his senses and saw that he could not change the stall owner, he could only brace himself and set it up. When he stared at others again, he had already classified Zhang Xiaobao as a normal person and no longer thought about it.
Zhang Xiaobao, on the other hand, continued to follow. He did not think that the stall owner would suspect him. That was how human psychology was. When one thought that everyone had their suspicions, if someone suddenly approached and took the initiative to speak, then this person would be the easiest to ignore.
Of course, if it were Zhang Xiaobao setting up the stall, then it would be a different matter.
After following him for half an hour, the old man exited the city gates. Zhang Xiaobao followed him out as well. Outside the city was a mountain, which was quite a distance away. After exiting the city, there was an official road. After circling around, there was no outer ring.
If they continued, they would go up the mountain. There were also woodsmen going up the mountain to gather firewood, and there were also people going around this place in the morning.
The terrain of Jiangzhou and the provinces around Poyang Lake was like this. Mount Lu was also in Jiangzhou, but on the other side, it was closer to Xunyang.
It was surrounded by mountains on three sides, a river on one side, and a lake in the middle. It was not bad to travel here, but following people was not a good idea. This was because the old man really wanted to go up the mountain, which was different from what Zhang Xiaobao thought.
Seeing the old man walking up the mountain, Zhang Xiaobao was about to continue following him, but suddenly changed his route and walked to the side. At the same time, he cursed inwardly. The people of that organization were too disgusting. Did they have to be so cautious? There was already a stall owner in front, and behind him was a woodcutter.
There was nothing wrong with the woodcutter. What was wrong was that the axe was too new. It looked like it had not been used at all. With one look, one could tell that it had just been bought.
Zhang Xiaobao definitely did not believe that the woodcutter was a real woodcutter. It was too fake. Which woodcutter would change a new axe for no reason? Fine, let's just say that your old axe was broken and you changed it, but why was your rope old?
Moreover, there was a sailor's knot on the rope that had not been untied. It was clearly used on ships. Who would go up the mountain to gather firewood and tie a sailor's knot on the rope?
The biggest loophole was that the woodcutter did not bend his back. People who often gathered firewood had to carry firewood. No matter how they usually took care of it, there would be traces left.
Therefore, Zhang Xiaobao believed that the other party was someone arranged by the organization to sabotage him. He absolutely could not follow the original route.
After walking over, Zhang Xiaobao sped up and ran up the mountain from the side. He had to follow. Since he could not take the original route, he could only go through the forest.
Zhang Xiaobao tried his best to control his footsteps so as not to make too much noise. He finally saw the old man from the Xu family again. He also saw the woodcutter. The man was casually looking for a tree to live in. He waved his axe and chopped it down, but he didn't use much strength.
He just happened to be standing on the path that the old man took to go up the mountain. He was probably still worried and continued to monitor to see if anyone was following behind.
Zhang Xiaobao shook his head and continued to walk in the forest. At the same time, he observed the old man and maintained a relatively parallel posture.
After walking for another quarter of an hour, just when Zhang Xiaobao was worried that the old man would die of exhaustion, the old man met up with the other people. The three people waited on the mountain, and there was also a slide pole on the side.
"We finally arrived. I'm so tired. You guys are too careful." The old man took two deep breaths, sat on the pole, and said to the three of them, "Don't worry, I'll be back soon.
However, none of the three people responded. Two of them picked up their poles one after the other and sped up their pace. The other person stood in place and looked around.
Zhang Xiaobao began to admire the other party. He was a good opponent. No wonder the spies at home could not find him. This time, if he did not follow, he estimated that he would not know until the other party took action.
After sighing, Zhang Xiaobao also quickened his pace. Now he was not worried because there was the sound of the slide pole. There was a person sitting on it. When the two people walked, the slide pole trembled and inevitably made a sound.
As they walked, an hour passed. Zhang Xiaobao took out a bottle of water from his bag and took a sip. After adjusting his breathing, he cursed under his breath and continued to follow the group.
After another quarter of an hour, the people carrying the slide pole entered the fork in the road. If Zhang Xiaobao directly walked forward, he would be able to pass through the small path. Seeing that the other people were going down the mountain, he could only continue to shuttle through the forest and go down the mountain.
It was not easy to reach the foot of the mountain. When Zhang Xiaobao thought that the people carrying the slide pole would continue to carry the old man and take another detour, a cart stopped at the foot of the mountain. It was a two-wheeled cart loaded with firewood. Next to it were two people dressed as woodcutters.
He did not know when the old man was blindfolded. It was not the kind of blindfold that used a cloth, but a hood. The slide pole stopped. The two people carrying the slide pole put down the old man and turned to go up the mountain.
The old man was led to the cart. One of them lifted the firewood at the top of the cart, revealing a coffin-like box underneath. The old man was put inside the box. Then, the two of them, one in front and one behind, one pulling and one pushing, walked towards the southwest road.
At this time, it was not a forest. Next to them was a terraced field. There were two people standing in the field who were obviously not farmers.
"Damn it, who do you do that?" Zhang Xiaobao was dumbfounded.
He could not continue to follow them. If he continued, the two people who were obviously not farmers would definitely suspect why he came here and went out through the forest.
At this time, there was no cover at all. How could he hide? The leader of the opposite organization was too …
Zhang Xiaobao didn't know how to describe it. Seeing the cart gradually disappear into the distance, Zhang Xiaobao smacked his lips and took out a bottle of water from his bag. As he slowly drank, he thought of a solution.
He really did not expect that the other party was so cautious. If it were him, he estimated that he could not do more. Of course, if it were him, he would not use such an idea. It was too tiring.
He could think of a better way, such as digging a tunnel under the house. There was no need to run around. Indeed, he could not follow them now.
But the more the communication, the easier it was to leave a loophole. For example, if he wanted to kill someone, he could directly control the other party and ask them where the next place was. Then he would go to the next place and chase again. He did not believe that he could not catch up.
Of course, he could not do it now. The two people in the terraced field were standing very far away. When they could see each other, there was also a chance to spread the news after someone was attacked, such as setting off fireworks or something.
At that time, the two people pushing the cart would also set off fireworks and commit suicide at the same time. Before they committed suicide, they would kill the old man and the clues would be lost.
Zhang Xiaobao drank a few mouthfuls of water and muttered, "Okay, I have seen it today. You are good. When I see you, I will tell you that you are far from being good at this. I almost got fooled by you. Humph."
After muttering, Zhang Xiaobao once again shuttled through the forest and walked back. When he was out of the sight of the two people in the terraced field, Zhang Xiaobao did not follow them in a big circle. Instead, he ran directly in the direction of the lake.
When he reached the lake, he looked around and saw that there was no one around. He took out his binoculars to observe the road. There were a total of several paths down from the terraced field. He remembered all of them. When he looked at the lake again, he finally found a small boat in the grass by the lake. It was very far away, but he could vaguely see it.
It was really that the person who rowed the boat was too careless. Since they were hiding, why did they hide in the same place every time? The grass was too obvious.
Zhang Xiaobao was relieved when he saw the boat. He already knew what the other party was doing. It was just running around the mountain, but the old man did not know where the boat was. He also did not know whether the boat was in the river or in the lake.
At the same time, the people who wanted to follow them would not be able to follow them. They would suspect that the old man had entered the mountain and thus lose their judgment. After all, there were many mountains and terraced fields. If the other party was hiding in the mountains, it would be troublesome to find them.
When the time came, they would invest a lot of manpower and material resources, but in the end, they would get nothing. He believed that they would be very depressed.
Zhang Xiaobao calculated for a moment and found a bush to enter. He opened his backpack and took out a water mirror and diving clothes, as well as a 'balloon'. He blew up the balloon and took out two iron blocks from his backpack. He tied them to his waist and buckled them.
Then, he took out a bamboo tube and put rubber on his backpack before diving into the water.
As soon as he entered the water, Zhang Xiaobao sank straight down. Although there was a balloon, if he did not swim, he would not float up. The iron blocks were heavy enough.
He was able to make such preparations because he heard that the other party was on the boat.
Zhang Xiaobao, who was wearing the water mirror, swam towards the boat. He also pulled open the bamboo tube, which had a length of three meters. He gradually approached the boat underwater.
When Zhang Xiaobao saw a faint shadow on the surface of the water, he stopped in the bushes by the lake. He was very close to the boat, only about ten meters away. The bamboo pipe was only slightly above the surface of the water, hidden by the bushes.
Not long after, the shadow of the boat moved. Zhang Xiaobao guessed that the other party had already boarded the boat. As for hearing the sound, it was absolutely impossible. Now, his ears were plugged with earplugs, and his nose was also clipped with a nose clip.
After a few breaths, he saw the shadow of the boat moving away from the water. Zhang Xiaobao quickly followed.
He also kept a certain distance. Occasionally, he would shorten the bamboo tube. Weiwei peeked out to observe.
The speed of the boat was not slow. Zhang Xiaobao could only expend more energy. After following for a long time, Zhang Xiaobao was already tired. The boat finally stopped.
In front of the boat, another big boat appeared. The boat gradually approached. Zhang Xiaobao finally did not dare to peek out. He could only take out the periscope and secretly watch. He watched as the old man, who was still wearing the hood, was taken to the big boat.
Zhang Xiaobao began to swim with the ship again. This time, it didn't take too long. After about a quarter of an hour, a vast expanse of reeds appeared in front of him.
The big boat stopped, and a small boat came out of the reed and handed the old man over. The small boat moved towards the reed.
Zhang Xiaobao gritted his teeth and had no choice but to continue chasing. In his heart, he thought that if it was someone else, they would have died of exhaustion. Even if there was such a fun thing, swimming underwater was still pressurizing. The water pressure of three meters was still pressurizing.
After waiting for another fifteen minutes, Zhang Xiaobao cursed in his heart. F * ck your mother. He put away the bamboo tube and sank with all his strength.
This was because he saw the big boat. Not only did he see the big boat, but he also saw more than ten people jump down from the big boat hidden in the reed. These people directly dived down. Two of them were actually wearing diving goggles. He did not see the workmanship of the goggles, but Zhang Xiaobao definitely knew what the other party's purpose was.
It was to guard against people like him. They used something like a bamboo tube to follow behind the boat. It should be the last line of defense.
Zhang Xiaobao suspected that the other party had nothing to do all day and specially thought about this. Otherwise, how could they be on guard again and again? Well, he really wronged the intelligence personnel.
Thinking about this in his heart, Zhang Xiaobao sank more than twenty meters. When he looked up, there was only a little bit of light above, and it was not obvious. The rest was pitch black.
The people who jumped down from the boat were just as Zhang Xiaobao had guessed. They were afraid that someone would follow them in the water. Even if this situation was obviously impossible, they still seriously carried out the task of searching.
However, they did not dive more than twenty meters. Because if they dived this far, even if there was someone, they would not be able to see it. It was too dark.
Zhang Xiaobao swam forward with all his strength. At this time, he did not intend to give up. He was prepared to tangle with the other party to the end. It would be best if he could find out some information.
He wanted to swim out of the surveillance range of the people on the boat and then think of a way.
After swimming for a minute, Zhang Xiaobao put the balloon to his mouth. After taking a breath, he continued to move forward. He did not even exhale directly. After taking a breath, he blew into the balloon again.
He was worried that the other party was so cautious that they would notice if a series of bubbles suddenly appeared on the surface of the water.
Even though the more than ten people who jumped down knew that there was a person below them who had passed through a deeper part of the water, they were still so relaxed and comfortable. It was so unbelievable.
The more than ten people went up and down in the water a few times. One after another, they poked their heads out of the water. After taking a breath, a few people stayed behind to observe the water surface. The others sank down again. This happened five times. Each time, it took about a minute.
Finally, one of them said, "Okay, let's go back. There is no one in the water. Otherwise, we would have suffocated to death. I don't believe that anyone can hold their breath for so long. Even Xiaobei, who is very good at swimming, can't do it."
The more than ten people swam to the side of the boat and were pulled up by the people above.
At this time, Zhang Xiaobao also found that the air in the balloon did not feel comfortable when it entered his lungs. He removed the two iron blocks from his waist, hugged the balloon, and moved his feet continuously. His body quickly rose up.
When he saw that he had reached the top, he stopped for a while to observe. When he saw that there was no one above, he poked his head out. He breathed in the air in the balloon while panting. He was out of breath just now.
After a few breaths, Zhang Xiaobao finally felt a little better. He cursed, "Damn, you guys are good, but you don't know that there is another person called Zhang Xiaobao."
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