How can I bow my head and serve the powerful officials?

The closer we get to Liaozhou, the thicker the snow becomes.

According to the letter, Shen Yuan was transporting government grain, and when passing through Heihu Mountain, he chose to split his troops into two groups. His group was transporting a small portion of the government grain, but unfortunately they encountered bandits, and the government grain and carriage disappeared in Heihu Mountain.

Xie Chengze guessed that Shen Yuan might have guessed that there would be bandits robbing the Black Tiger Mountain, but he was not sure which road he would encounter bandits, so he took a small portion of the official grain and took the road with a higher probability of encountering bandits.

Finally, it happened.

Since half of the official grain is missing, there must be a shortage of manpower to transport the grain. If there are a large number of bandits and their leader is capable, it is normal for Shen Yuan to be injured. I just don't know where he is now and whether his life is in danger.

Three days later, Xie Chengze finally arrived at the county town where Black Tiger Mountain was located, Black Tiger City.

According to legend, when Black Tiger City was first built, the government was in a dilemma as the city site had not been decided for a long time. At this time, a black tiger was suddenly seen lying on the top of a mountain, howling day and night, looking very majestic. People thought this was a good omen, so they decided to locate the county seat here, built a city wall, and named it Black Tiger City.

The Crouching Tiger Mountain, also known as the Black Tiger Mountain, is across the sea from the Black Tiger City.

As soon as they entered the county, Xie Chengze threw a few ingots of silver to Hu Lai, "Hu Lai, go buy two carts of rice and winter clothes, and a carriage."

"Yes." Hu Lai took the silver ingot and looked at Xie Chengze, whose face was full of fatigue and looked like he would collapse at any time. He couldn't help but said worriedly, "Your Highness, why don't you rest here for a day..."

Xie Chengze waved his hand and coughed twice, "No need, go ahead."

Hu Lai had no choice but to nod and leave.

After finding a restaurant to sit down, Xie Chengze ordered a pot of hot wine to warm himself up, then sat on a bench and began to doze off.

Xie Zimiao's butt was sore from riding a horse that he couldn't sit on the bench at all, so he followed the waiter to get hot wine, and borrowed a knife from the kitchen to cut ginseng slices into the hot wine.

Xie Chengze was sleeping in a daze when he felt Xie Zimiao handing him a wine glass. Because his nose was blocked, although he smelled a strange smell of medicine, he still drank it in one gulp without suspecting anything unusual.

The next second, he felt something flowing out from under his nose and his whole body began to feel hot.

He touched his nose and mouth and looked at the blood on his hands:?

Xie Zimiao, who was standing by, was horrified. He quickly raised his sleeve to wipe the blood off him, muttering, "Too much, too much..."

Xie Chengze raised his finger and pointed at Xie Zimiao, "You..."

What did you put -

He lost consciousness the next second.

When he woke up again, he was already in the clinic. Xie Zimiao was holding a small ointment in his hand. He bent over and carefully applied it to the inside of his thigh, where he had been scratched while riding.

Noticing that Xie Chengze had woken up, Xie Zimiao quickly put down the ointment in his hand and said happily, "Second brother! You're awake!"

Then he said guiltily, "I'm sorry, second brother. I wanted to give you some old ginseng to nourish you, but I didn't expect to put too much, and you fainted directly."

"Old ginseng?" Xie Chengze finally knew what that faint smell of medicine was. He sat up with a dizzy head. Rather than holding the old ginseng accountable, he just wanted to pull up his pants quickly.

He asked as he pulled up his pants, "What time is it now?"

"It wasn't long ago." Xie Zimiao said honestly. He stretched out his hand to help, but was slapped away by Xie Chengze. So he pursed his lips and continued, "I wanted to let you sleep a little longer, but the old doctor cured you with just a few injections..."

Looking at Xie Zimiao's annoyed expression, Xie Chengze couldn't help laughing and tapped his forehead, "Okay, don't worry, Second Brother knows what to do."

Xie Zimiao touched his head and was about to say something when there was a sudden noise outside. Someone shouted in panic, "Doctor! Doctor, help! My brother was bitten by a big cat! Please save him!"

big cat?

Xie Chengze and Xie Zimiao looked at each other, then immediately stood up and walked out of the inner room of the clinic. They saw a middle-aged man running in carrying an unconscious man on his back. The unconscious man had half of his leg torn off by something, and a large piece of flesh and blood was torn off. You could almost see the white bones inside!

Someone recognized the man carrying the person on his back, "Isn't this the man from the Sun family? Didn't you guys go to Black Tiger Mountain to chop firewood early in the morning? Where are the others? Why didn't they come back?"

"The big cat has come down the mountain! The big cat has come down the mountain!" the Sun family man said in panic, "It has killed so many people! I managed to escape with great difficulty! Doctor! Doctor, please save my brother!"

"What?!" The pedestrians outside the clinic were horrified and asked the people next to them, "Did your men go to chop wood today?"

"Oh no! My son went up the mountain today! I hope he's okay!"

"My husband's right eyelid was twitching this morning, so I didn't go... Fortunately, fortunately..."

"There really are big cats in Black Tiger Mountain... The rumors are not false. What a sin!"

Hearing this, Xie Zimiao stepped forward and asked the old man who had spoken, "Big brother, what is the rumor you just mentioned?"

"You are a foreigner, right?" Seeing Xie Zimiao dressed elegantly, the old man couldn't help but shake his head and sighed, "It is rumored that there is a Black Tiger Village on Black Tiger Mountain. There are many bandits in it. The leader of the village has a big white cat, that is, a white tiger. It comes down the mountain every once in a while to rob passing merchants!"

"I just don't know whether it's true or not. After all, no one has ever seen the Black Tiger Village on the mountain, and no one has ever seen a tiger. The government also said it was fake. But sometimes we can hear a sound like a tiger's roar on the mountain..."

"Now that someone has been bitten, it seems that there are really tigers and bandits on Black Tiger Mountain!" The old man said fearfully, "I was thinking of chopping wood and selling it tomorrow, but now it seems that life is more important!"

Xie Zimiao couldn't help but glance at Xie Chengze.

Xie Chengze pondered for a moment and asked, "Why did the government say the rumors were false? Have they searched the mountain?"

"Yes!" The old man nodded, "I've been there several times, but to no avail!"

The non-existent Black Tiger Village, the biting tiger, the robbed passing merchant, and the missing Shen Yuan... What is the connection between these?

Xie Chengze stroked the red fur rope in front of his collarbone, feeling that these clues were tied into a knot like the rope in his hand. He lowered his eyes and pondered until a certain moment, he suddenly came to his senses and asked, "Big Brother, besides Black Tiger Mountain, are there bandits on other mountains?"

"Oh, that's too much!" The old man shook his head and said kindly, "Except for Black Tiger Mountain, other mountains don't just rob merchants, otherwise we wouldn't only dare to go to Black Tiger Mountain to chop firewood! If you go out of the city, you must be careful."

Xie Chengze immediately smiled in understanding, "Interesting, it seems that we really need to rest here for a day."

……

"Your Highness, we have learned almost the same thing."

In the inn, Wuhen and Wuji integrated the information they had collected and found that they were basically the same.

Wuji analyzed, "They were able to conceal their tracks like this. The Black Tiger Camp should not be underestimated. If they really subdued the White Tiger, then their leader must be very powerful. Perhaps Shen Yuan fell into his hands."

"Second brother, are we going to Black Tiger Village to look for someone?" Xie Zimiao pondered, "Maybe Minister Shen is in Black Tiger Village."

"Didn't they say that the Black Tiger Camp disappeared without a trace?" Xie Chengze tapped the table with his fingers, squinting his eyes as if thinking about something. "The government searched the mountain several times but couldn't find it. How can we possibly find it?"

"What is your plan, Your Highness?" Wuhen asked softly, "Do you want me and Wuji to give it a try?"

"No need." Xie Chengze shook his head. "Didn't you hear that old man say there are many bandits here, but there is no trace of bandits in Black Tiger Mountain..."

Xie Zimiao scratched his head and said painfully, "I feel like my brain is going to die. I really can't think of anything, second brother."

Xie Chengze curled his lips and rubbed his hair. "This government doesn't want to go to other mountains to eliminate bandits and evil, but keeps staring at Black Tiger Mountain... There must be a clue. Tonight, we will go to the county government office at night."

He guessed that the Black Tiger Village existed, but also did not exist.

As for Shen Yuan, it is very likely that he is no longer in Black Tiger Mountain.