Song Yi, the mayor of Peace County, was not Ma San's accomplice. He did not know about the secret chamber, nor did he know that there was such a thing in it.
Li Mu was a little disappointed by the result.
But it was the truth. Song Yi was not trying to hide anything.
Because Li Mu used some tricks during the interrogation and learned that Song Yi did not lie.
But now, on the surface, some clues were clear — Ma San was trying to please Song Yi by sending him all kinds of property, resources, and beauties. He acted like a dog, but in fact, he was using Song Yi's power to secretly do something that Song Yi didn't know.
Song Yi and Ma San were not in the same gang.
That made things a little interesting.
Li Mu had seen Ma San before. That scoundrel had all the characteristics of a local hooligan, including arrogance and recklessness. He did not look like a scheming person at all. Yet, he managed to do so many things without Song Yi, the mayor of the town. Li Mu wondered whether Ma San was acting or there was actually a smart person behind him who was remotely directing all this.
Li Mu was inclined to the latter possibility.
But where did the mastermind behind the scenes go when Ma San and his gang were killed tonight?
Did he die in the battle?
Or did he escape?
Li Mu pondered. Then, he suddenly stopped.
"You go back to the inn and wait for me."
He said to Zheng Cunjian in the sedan chair.
After that, he leaped into the air like a giant eagle. Exerting the body-lightening skill to the extreme, he disappeared into the distant night.
…
…
At dawn.
Peace County ushered in a new day. The two suns rose slowly.
Last night, the commotion in Ma San's manor had attracted the attention of some townspeople. Many of them had a sleepless night. Early in the morning, some bold ones went to the outside of the manor and saw the government guards going in and out of the manor. There was still a faint smell of blood lingering in the air. But those arrogant and domineering ruffians were nowhere to be seen.
Soon, a piece of news swept across the entire Peace County like a hurricane.
The ruffian Ma San and his gang were all wiped out.
At first, some people did not believe it.
But when the town government posted a notice, the news was confirmed.
Moreover, in the official notice, Ma San and his gang were listed with more than 30 crimes. The implication was that these ruffians deserved to die, so they would not pursue other crimes. Instead, they used clever words to appease the townspeople. Mr. Song, the mayor of the town, even specifically pointed out that they would improve the security of Peace Town at all costs and crack down on all kinds of crimes of picking quarrels and causing trouble.
The entire Peace Town was in an uproar.
Over the years, Ma San and his group of ruffians had done a lot of harm to the townspeople. Some of them had broken tendons and bones, some of them had died on the street, and some of them had lost their families. It could be said that the townspeople were seething with resentment. They dared to be angry but dared not to speak out. Now, this group of scourges was killed overnight, and none of them was left.
Gosh, is there anything more exciting for the townspeople than this?
Soon, firecrackers were set off all over the town.
Cheers could be heard everywhere.
And among the cheering crowd, there were Caicai and her granddaughter.
"Grandma, Big Brother Madcap is really …" Little Caicai stood in front of the notice, her big eyes full of excitement. She knew a little 'inside story'. Big Brother Madcap had said that he was going to deal with Ma San and the others. Sure enough, he was a man of his word and really did deal with them.
Granny Cai was also so excited that she burst into tears.
Finally, they didn't have to flee to the countryside to hide.
"Grandma, it's great. We can sell plain noodles on the street again. Now, we can save enough money to go to Chang 'an City to pick up Dad." Caicai counted with her fingers for a while and said excitedly, "We only need 231 more copper coins to cover the travel expenses."
Granny Cai gently stroked her granddaughter's hair with her wrinkled hands and said, "Yes, we can bring your father back soon."
Caicai's eyes were full of longing. "After we bring Dad back, we will never be separated again."
"Okay, okay, okay." Granny Cai wiped her tears.
Carrying a load, the grandma and her granddaughter came to the stall where they used to sell noodles. Little Caicai skillfully set up a table and a chair, and then took out bowls and chopsticks from the cabinet under the noodle box. At this moment, she suddenly exclaimed.
"What's wrong, Caicai?" Granny Cai turned around and looked at her.
"Grandma, look, this …" She pointed at the small wooden cabinet. On the second compartment, between the bowls and chopsticks, there was an orange-yellow gold ingot shining, which was the extra noodle money given by the woman in white last night.
But it was not right. Hadn't the gold ingot been returned to the woman in white last night?
The grandma and her granddaughter were stunned on the spot.
After a while, Little Caicai rubbed her eyes and hurriedly closed the door of the small wooden cabinet.
"Grandma, the fairy sister is gone. How can we return the money to her?" Caicai said.
Granny Cai also had no idea.
"Grandma, how about we borrow the money from the fairy sister? We can use the money to pick up Dad in Chang 'an City first, and then we can sell noodles to make up for the money we spent. When we find the fairy sister, we can return the money to her, okay?" Caicai looked at her grandma eagerly.
Granny Cai hesitated.
"Grandma, I miss Dad so much." Caicai begged.
Granny Cai gritted her teeth, nodded, and said, "Okay, let's set off today."
"Oh, great!" Caicai cheered and jumped up. "We're going to pick up Dad!"
…
Li Mu returned to the inn with an embarrassed look.
He had been lying in ambush outside Ma San's manor for a whole night, but he did not find any trace. The mastermind behind the attack he had imagined did not show up again … Nothing happened.
Well, it was a bit embarrassing.
Li Mu knew he had overthought last night.
Now that the matter was over, it was time to leave Peace County.
In the cheering atmosphere of the whole Peace County, Li Mu and Zheng Cunjian left the town on the cyan-maned horse and continued on their way.
In the next two days, nothing special happened.
Li Mu walked at an unhurried pace, enjoying the local customs and practices of this world.
Generally speaking, most of the people in the northwest of the Western Qin Empire were simple and honest with a hint of toughness. They mainly ate wheaten food and meat, especially mutton, which was a delicacy that could be seen everywhere along the way. Beef was rare, because cattle were one of the important tools of production, and the imperial law forbade slaughtering cattle for meat.
However, the public security along the way was not good.
Under the prosperous surface, Li Mu detected a trace of desolation and decay.
In particular, the local government administration along the way was loose and strict, with serious bureaucratic atmosphere and low efficiency. Some small counties even set up checkpoints on the official roads in the name of maintaining public security, but in fact, it was to exploit the checkpoints. The passing caravans all suffered a lot.
"The Western Qin Empire seems to be at the end of its history, or there are some internal problems, which makes it look like the last dynasty."
Li Mu said thoughtfully.
Of course, his judgment was only based on some theories in the history textbooks of junior high schools of the People's Republic of China. As for whether it was right or not … he just needed to observe.
On the next evening, before the sun set, Li Mu finally arrived at Chang 'an.
Chang 'an had a unique position in the history of the Western Qin Empire.
Because more than 200 years ago, it was the capital of the Western Qin Empire. Although the capital of the Western Qin Empire was not in Chang 'an, in the 100 years after the decline of the East Qin Empire, Emperor Wu of the Qin Empire moved the capital to Chang' an and established the Western Qin Empire, Chang 'an withstood the ups and downs of the Western Qin Empire with its high walls and heavy armor for 300 years.
Until 200 years ago, when Emperor Qin Dang swept away the old enemies, expanded the territory, drove away the grassland people who caused the destruction of the East Qin Empire, and moved the capital to Qin City, Chang 'an ended its historical mission as the capital of the Qin Empire.
Also because of this period of history, the people of the Qin Empire had a special feeling for Chang 'an.
Even though Chang 'an was no longer the capital of the empire two hundred years ago, and today's Chang' an was just one of the dozens of provinces in the empire with no special administrative status, the special feeling still existed. Compared with the provincial capitals of other provinces, Chang 'an was still relatively prosperous.
After crossing the hundred-meter-wide moat, admiring the hundred-meter-high city wall of Chang 'an, and sighing at the barbican that was full of scars and holes made by swords and broadswords, Li Mu and Zheng Cunjian paid the entrance fee and finally entered the ancient city with a long history of the Qin Empire.
A kind of simple and vicissitudes of life blew over them.
Compared with the natural landscape of Taibai County, Chang 'an City was like an armored guard standing still in the wind and rain. The streets and buildings were mainly made of black rocks. The pavilions were towering, the streets were flat, and the rows of high-rise buildings stretched to the distance. The solemn black was the favorite color of the Qin people, and it was also the symbol of the Qin people's character, which was serious and persistent.
Riding on the street, Li Mu had a feeling that he was walking in the history of the Qin Empire for nearly a thousand years.
The street was full of people. Merchants and caravans came and went, bustling with activity.
The night market was about to open.
There was no curfew in Chang 'an at night.
Compared with Chang 'an, Taibai County was really just a small county. To use a city on Earth as an analogy, it was like coming to Shanghai from an unknown small city. The contrast was really huge.
Li Mu was dazzled.
The civilization of this martial arts world could not be measured by the scientific and technological civilization on Earth. Many streets and buildings were unbelievably magnificent. Many buildings could not be measured by the architectural theory on Earth at all. For example, the black boulders that easily weighed tens of thousands of kilograms were piled up as a whole. The scientific and technological civilization on Earth could not achieve that.
Li Mu walked and stopped from time to time to look at the flowers.
An hour later, there was a sudden hubbub in front of him.
The crowd suddenly became crowded.
-----
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