Help! I just woke up and was stabbed by a big kid

The wild boar was only a half-sized pig, with tender meat and not much fat.

Use a knife to cut it into thin slices, thread it on tree branches and roast it, then sprinkle it with chili powder and fine salt. The fragrance will linger in your mouth after one bite.

The wild rabbit meat was delicious, so the two rabbit hind legs were left for Gu Yue and Gu Xu, and the rest were given to each secret guard in turn, just enough for one.

Roasted cabbage rolls, roasted meat, roasted eggplant with chili powder, roasted leeks... The moonlight was bright that night, and there was no need to light lanterns in the yard. A group of people gathered around the fire and had a delicious meal.

It was just that there were no steamed buns or noodles, so Gu Yue still felt a little unsatisfied after finishing the meal. The wine was particularly mellow when it was opened, and several people drank it up. Gu Yue and Gu Xu didn't know whether they had a tacit understanding or some concerns, but they tacitly didn't drink more, and they shared half a bowl.

There was not much wine, so everyone drank a little and it was gone. There was really no atmosphere for a drinking contest. Therefore, this meal only had some meat and vegetables, which was not very satisfying for the secret guards.

After extinguishing the fire, he collected the branches and firewood. In ancient times, barbecue produced little waste, and the remaining branches could be placed in the yard to dry for a few days and used as firewood. However, Gu Yue didn't need them in the near future.

The west room with a larger earthen kang was left for the secret guards to squeeze in, while Gu Yue and Gu Xu slept in the east room.

Gu Yue chatted with him randomly and told him Andersen's fairy tales, but his words were all mixed up and illogical; Gu Xu listened quietly and agreed from time to time.

That small bowl of wine finally made him drunk.

It is hard to say whether it was the undistilled grain wine of Bei Qin that made people intoxicated, or whether Gu Yue himself was distracted.

When Gu Yue was about to fall asleep, Gu Xu leaned beside him and asked, "Gu Dashi, are you Qin Zhaoyue's man?"

Gu Yue didn't hear anything. He was dazed and soon began to breathe evenly.

Gu Xu knew very well that he didn't dare to ask this question when Gu Yue was awake. He was afraid that Gu Dashi's reaction would not meet his expectations in the slightest, and he was also afraid that his continuous suspicion would make this guy sad.

He just couldn't handle disappointment.

"One more time, the last time." Gu Xu held Gu Yue's hand and put his forehead against his shoulder.

"I believe you." Gu Xu said softly.

……

The mechanical craftsmen invited by Qin Zhaoyue did some research and agreed that directly prying open the bottle would have a lower risk of damaging the contents, so it was worth a try.

Qin Zhaoyue searched almost all of Sarhan Mansion and Jiaoyuan, but he couldn't find the key. He could only agree to the plan of forcibly prying it open, and selected the two most trustworthy craftsmen to be responsible for cracking the gall bladder bottle.

It’s not that Qin Zhaoyue is too obsessed with details, but the fact that the person behind Sarhan would lurk in his mansion for this bottle is itself an unusual signal.

The craftsman fiddled with the tools he brought with him for a long time, and a snapping sound came from the bottle. The iron bottom that fit perfectly was removed, revealing the cavity inside.

Jingcun carefully tested the poison and brought it to Qin Zhaoyue for review.

Inside was an exquisite key and a deed folded into a square.

After asking the locals, I confirmed that the location marked on the deed was in a small town near Yuning Prefecture.

So on the second day, Qin Zhaoyue led his men and set off, taking Lord Zhong Haozhong who came to support them, to the remote place called Yangshu Town.

After setting out in the morning, Qin Zhaoyue's cavalry approached the town in just one hour. The town was indeed small and shabby, with only one main street running from north to south. Most of the buildings were made of rammed earth and had thatched roofs.

Jingcun deployed personnel at the two entrances and exits of the town to prevent anyone from Sarhan from escaping in the chaos.

They walked along the street. There were few townspeople on the street, mostly the elderly, women and children, and hardly any young people. Most of the shops on both sides of the street were closed, and there were even sparse weeds growing on both sides of the dirt road, which looked extremely desolate.

Jingcun and his best martial arts subordinate surrounded Qin Zhaoyue tightly.

They did not approve of the prince taking risks himself, but Qin Zhaoyue had made up his mind and they could not persuade him. Fortunately, Qin Zhaoyue himself was good at martial arts, which reduced the pressure on Jingcun.

Zhong Hao stopped a staggering white-haired old man and asked him where the location indicated on the deed was.

The old man tilted his head and listened to Zhong Hao's description, then slowly said: "This town has never issued a deed for land. Who would want such a shabby piece of land? But in the past, there were a few fields on the edge of the town that were built into houses, and those houses did have deeds."

"Where are those houses?" Jingcun asked loudly. If he didn't speak loudly, the old man wouldn't be able to hear him.

The old man said, "It's at the far east end. You're fine, but it's best not to get too close... Those houses have been haunted for a while."

"Haunted? Old man, can you explain it more clearly?" Qin Zhaoyue asked.

"About a month ago, ghost cries were heard from that house from time to time," the old man recalled. "The few young men left in the village went to check, but there was nothing in the house."

"Thank you, old man." Qin Zhaoyue said. The old man shook his head and walked away with his hands behind his back.

Leaving some people on guard, the team turned to the east of the town.

The easternmost earthen house is quite conspicuous.

The town was so small that, although the houses were sparse, they were mostly clustered around the town's main street. However, this mud house was far away from the group of houses, standing on an abandoned wasteland covered with weeds.

Before Qin Zhaoyue got close, Jingcun raised his hand and signaled, and immediately two of his men left the team and rushed towards the weeds around the house.

After a dull sound, a body was dragged back by two men. They were both dressed like ordinary peasants, but they were holding a whistling arrow in their hands, and their faces still showed the fear before death.

"Secret sentry?" Qin Zhaoyue took a glance.

Jingcun made another gesture, and his men and the two men left the team again.

In less than a cup of tea, they came back.

"No more." said the subordinate.

"Only guarding one person?" Qin Zhaoyue frowned, feeling that it was a bit unreasonable.

They approached the thatched-roof courtyard.

The earthen wall surrounding the dilapidated house with only two rooms in the middle was half collapsed, and the courtyard gate that collapsed with it was almost rotten into dust and full of worm holes.

As a result, the entire courtyard was visible: one of the two houses had collapsed, leaving only a pile of earth and rocks and half a wall; the other house was barely intact, but only three walls were left to barely support the roof, and it was crumbling.

Qin Zhaoyue looked around.

There is an obvious path next to the collapsed courtyard gate, with weeds separating the paths and the ground firm, and it looks like people often walk here.

Inside the wall, there was nothing in the yard except weeds and wood fragments. The three-walled house had a layer of straw on the ground, with long wooden strips lying in all directions, and it was empty.

Qin Zhaoyue looked around and his chest began to shake violently.