catch the rabbit

Before Lin Wanke lost consciousness, he only vaguely saw a figure walking towards him, and then he felt a dull pain in his forehead, and fell asleep.

He didn't know how long he had slept, and when he woke up, he found that his hands and feet were tied with hemp rope, and he was exhausted, as tired as if he hadn't closed his eyes for several days and nights.

Le Xin was lying beside him with his hands and feet bound, still in a coma.

Lin Wanke recalled the sweet smell and realized that they had been intoxicated by smoke.

He looked around and found that it was in an abandoned house with a layer of straw on the floor and damp firewood and a few straw ropes scattered in the corners.

The door of the house was closed, and the only window was blocked, and only a few holes in the wall could let in some light.

He stood up with difficulty, jumped into the hole in the wall and looked outside. He saw a blue brick wall outside, but he couldn't tell where it was.

Lin Wanke could only jump back to the original place, bent down and gently pushed Le Xin with his shoulder.

"Mr. Le? Mr. Le?"

It took Le Xin a long time to open her eyes, her expression was confused, and she didn't seem to know what happened.

"Mr. Le, I—" Lin Wanke was halfway through speaking, when he suddenly heard footsteps outside the door, he said quickly, "Lie back quickly, and don't make any noise."

As soon as he closed his eyes and lay down, he heard the sound of the key turning in his ears, and someone walked in, bringing in a biting cold wind.

Lin Wanke felt alcohol-smelling breath on his cheeks, and said in a slightly shrill voice, "How long have you been sleeping, why are you still awake?"

Another clearer voice said: "I used a bit of 'ten steps backward', maybe I won't be able to wake up until night. It doesn't matter, anyway, I have plenty of time to spend with him."

The man with the thin voice let out an ugly laugh: "I can afford to wait, but I'm afraid you still won't forget about this Le, so don't delay the business."

The other person sneered: "Are you worried about me, or do you have this idea yourself?"

"You really wronged me by saying that. I was the first one to tell you when I saw Le Xin in the capital. Even Le Qi was still in the dark. That's not counting. I braved the heavy snow all the way to accompany you If you really have ulterior motives for rushing this trip, do I need to tell you at the beginning?"

The person with the high-pitched voice babbled on a lot, but the listener lost his patience and said: "When I get the treasure, naturally your share will be indispensable."

The two checked again whether the rope binding them was strong and whether there was any sharp weapon on their bodies. The man with the squeaky voice even kicked Lin Wanke.

"I didn't expect Le Xin to find such a little lover after leaving you. In my opinion, he is just a worthless vulgar boy."

Lin Wanke was already trembling with anger at this time, and the anger in his heart, if it wasn't for the fear of hurting Le Xin, he tried his best to restrain himself, he really didn't know what he would do.

After the two men locked the door and went out, Lin Wanke sat up suddenly, and his hands tied behind his back were clenched into fists and hit the ground heavily.

Le Xin was also fully awake, and slowly leaned against the wall, letting out a long sigh.

"He still found it." He smiled wryly, "I'm sorry, I didn't expect to trouble you."

"Who are those two people?" Although Lin Wanke asked like this, he already had a vague guess in his heart.

"The one who spoke first was Shen Congwu, he was an old acquaintance of mine, and the other... was named Liu Zhi, and was the husband of my younger sister Le Qi."

"What is his relationship with you?" Lin Wanke hesitated for a long time before asking this sentence.

Le Xin looked up at Lin Wanke and said, "Didn't you hear everything just now?"

"I want you to tell me yourself."

Le Xin was silent for a while, and said: "I don't want to hide it from you anymore. I told you before that my mother left early, and the people in the family didn't get close to me, so I was in Le's house. Haven't been happy.

I like to read, my mother is also the daughter of a teacher, she can still teach when she is around, and when she is gone, I don't know who to learn from, until...until I met Liu Zhi. "

When he said this, he paused for a long time before continuing.

"Liu Zhi is the son of my father's friend. He is one year older than me. He is full of poetry and books, and he has learned a lot. He has taught me a lot and helped me a lot. The days with him can be regarded as my happiness. The happiest time at home. At that time... I was naive and ignorant, and he would remember everything he said. I am not afraid of your jokes, and he once said to me about the eternal vow of staying together forever."

Hearing these words, Lin Wanke felt as if he had been thrown into an ice cellar in the severe cold, from his heart to his fingertips.

Even though he already guessed that there was a relationship between the two people, but hearing Le Xin say it with his own ears, he was still so uncomfortable that he couldn't breathe.

"Too many things happened during that time... It's also my fault that I didn't see him clearly. Back then, when Le Qi knew about our relationship, he blamed me for it, and I admitted it. I just hope he can be good. Wait for Le Qi. Now it seems that I am thinking too well after all."

After Le Xin finished speaking, she smiled at Lin Wanke, "I've told you everything, and I feel better. In fact, I should have told you earlier——"

In the middle of the conversation, he suddenly coughed, and an unnatural red color appeared on his originally pale face.

Lin Wanke suffered from the fact that his hands were tied, and he had no choice but to press his forehead against it, and immediately felt his forehead burning hot.

Lin Wanke realized that he must have been sick from the cold, but the house was already cold and windy, and there were no clothes to keep out the cold, so it was really ineffective.

He saw that Le Xin's hands were bloodstained by the hemp rope, and his heart ached even more. Unfortunately, the only sharp piece of shell around him had also been searched away.

Lin Wanke searched around for a while, but couldn't find even a small stone, so he could only bend down and bite it with his teeth.

The hemp rope was extremely thick, and he felt sore cheeks after biting it for a while, but the rope was only bitten off a little bit.

Le Xin struggled to move her hand away, and said: "It's useless, don't waste your energy. When they come again, I have a way to let you go first."

"Mr. Le, why did they arrest us here?" Lin Wanke couldn't help asking.

"It should be because of the key." Le Xin said, "My father locked most of the money in the secret room, and two keys can be used together to open it. One of them is in Le Qi's hands, and the other... I I don't know where. I told him before, but he didn't believe it..."

Lin Wanke thought to himself that Liu Zhi was really nothing, and that he had harmed Le Xin like this for money.

"Xiao Lin, listen." Le Xin said softly, "When they come back, I will say that I know where the key is, but I will let you go first, then you leave me alone, it's important to run away, and then go find tea Weng He—"

"I won't go." Lin Wanke interrupted him, "Let me leave you alone, absolutely not."

"Listen to me." Le Xin said, "Being able to escape one is better than both being imprisoned. After you get out, there will always be a way to save me, right?"

"Mr. Le, that Liu will not let me go so easily, and you will never be able to deal with him alone. If I kill you in order to protect myself, I will not be able to feel at ease in my life." Lin Wanke said, While trying to grab the rope on the wrist.

He used all his strength to loosen the hemp rope a little, but the skin on his wrist was also scratched, and blood was already oozing out.

Seeing that he couldn't be persuaded, Le Xin was annoyed and impatient, but she couldn't even utter a complete sentence when she wanted to persuade him again, her cough was worse than before.

Lin Wanke thought in his heart that this was not going to work, Le Xin needed to take medicine quickly to reduce the fever, otherwise he would really be unable to hold on.

Thinking of this, he hurriedly stood up against the wall, jumped to the door and beat his head on the door panel, shouting loudly.

"Come on, come on!"

After a while, there were hurried footsteps.

The door was unlocked, and two strange men walked in, one was wearing snow-white fox fur, tall and handsome, the other was wrapped in a bay red cloak, and his face was as thin as a monkey.

"Yo, are you awake?"

The man in the maroon clothes laughed, but his eyes drifted to Le Xin in the corner.

Judging from the voice, this is Shen Congwu, so the one wearing the fox fur must be Liu Zhi.

"Who are you and why did you bring us here?"

When Lin Wanke asked the question, he couldn't help but look at Liu Zhi. Although he was extremely disgusted with him, he had to admit that this man had a suave life, and his gestures were extraordinary.

"Don't ask too many questions, we are not looking for you." Shen Congwu smiled at Le Xin after speaking, "Long time no see, Le Xin."

Le Xin looked up at him, but didn't answer.

"It's been so long, do you still remember hatred?" Shen Congwu said, "It doesn't matter if you ignore me, but Liu Zhi is here too, you have to talk to him, right? He has been talking about you and missing you every day these years Want to die."

Le Xin remained silent, as if he didn't hear a word he said.

Seeing this, Liu Zhi sighed, walked slowly to sit beside him.

"I haven't seen you for so long, you still haven't changed much, you just lost weight."

Le Xin turned her head away, hiding her face in the dark.Lin Wanke saw tears in his eyes, and felt a pain like a needle prick in his heart.

"You...why do you look so ugly?"

After Liu Zhi asked this question, she leaned over and put her lips on his forehead, then frowned: "Cong Wu, hurry up and invite a doctor. Le Xin is sick."

"Where can I find a doctor when it's cold?" Shen Congwu muttered, but he turned around and closed the door and went out.

Liu Zhi took off the fox fur on her body, wrapped Le Xin tightly, and sighed: "Reunion after a long absence, it's such a scene. It's all my fault, I shouldn't have obeyed Wu and locked you here, now look When you are sick, I feel more uncomfortable than myself when I am sick."

"In that case, why don't you let us go?" Le Xin said.

"You're still willing to talk to me." Liu Zhi smiled, stretched out her hand to hold him in her arms, "I didn't lie to you from Cong Wu, I've been thinking about you every day for the past few years, every time I see Le Qi, Still thinking about—”

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly let go of his arms and took a step back.

Lin Wanke, who was running towards him, couldn't stop, and almost hit the wall.

"I almost forgot about you." Liu Zhi glanced at him and said, "Why, are you upset when you see Mr. Le that I touch you?"

Lin Wanke said angrily: "If you dare to touch him again, I will definitely not let you go!"

Liu Zhi smiled, and said: "If you hadn't been tied up, I would be a little scared to say these things in front of me. Don't you think it's ridiculous that you still speak harshly like this?"

"Liu Zhi, if you dare to hurt him at all, you will never want to know the whereabouts of the key for the rest of your life." Le Xin said coldly, "I am definitely not joking with you. Only I know where the key is. If you don't believe me, you can try it. .”

Liu Zhi was not annoyed at all, she just stretched out her hand to tighten the fox fur on his body, leaned down and whispered in his ear: "How do you know that I must be here for the key? Can't it be to see you? "

"There is no relationship between me and you, what's the difference between seeing and not seeing?" Le Xin said.

"You have really grown up, and you are not as obedient as before." Liu Zhi stood up and clapped her hands, "I never like to talk too much, Le Xin, I really need the key to the secret room right now. If you can tell me, It's not in vain between you and me."

"Of course, I know you won't hand it over obediently," he said as he pulled a strand of Le Xin's hair around his finger, "You can just say what you want, if I can do it, I will definitely promise you .”

"Okay. You first—"

"You release Mr. Le first, and I'll tell you where the key is."

"You?" Liu Zhi turned to look at Lin Wanke, "It's a joke, how could you know."

"I...I just know it!" Lin Wanke has never told a few lies in his life, and his palms are sweating because of nervousness, for fear that he might misunderstand if he is not careful, "Mr. Le has already told me where the key is, Don't embarrass him anymore, just ask me!"

Liu Zhi looked at him with a half-smile, and after a while said: "If you treat me as a three-year-old child, would you believe your nonsense?"

He pointed to Le Xin's hair which was entangled in a circle, stroked the side of his face along the hairline, and asked softly: "Or... did you really tell him?"

Le Xin said: "So what if it is, so what if it is not."

Liu Zhi let out a long sigh after hearing this, but she seemed very sentimental: "Le Xin, I had the same affection with you back then, I asked you several times and I didn't know, but I never thought you would tell others, why, he just pleases you like this ?”

As he spoke, he took out a dagger with a silver handle from his sleeve, and cut the ropes on Le Xin's hands and feet. Seeing that there were scars on his wrist, he took both of his hands and said apologetically, "It doesn't matter if you believe it or not, I will I really don't want to treat you like this from the bottom of my heart. I really can't... "

At this moment, the door of the room opened, and Shen Congwu walked in with big and small bags, and said while patting the snow flakes off his body: "It's really cold outside, how come the snow in the capital is so heavy."

Seeing that he came back alone, Lin Wan asked anxiously, "Where is the doctor?"

Shen Congwu said: "I'm not familiar with this place, it's late, where can I find it, I just went out and saw some officers and soldiers on the street, I was so scared that I came back quickly. But I brought you some food Yes, let’s just eat something first, and we’ll talk about the rest tomorrow.”

As he spoke, he opened the package and took out some food and a thick quilt.

Liu Zhi filled a bowl of rice and handed the spoon to Le Xin: "You haven't eaten all day, take a bite."

Le Xin just looked at him coldly: "Where are Wen Jin and Cha Weng?"

"They're all in the academy. Don't worry, I won't make things difficult for them." Liu Zhi said, "I know you want to kill me right now, but don't make things difficult for yourself."

Seeing that Le Xin was still ignoring him, he put down the bowl and winked at Shen Congwu who was beside him.

"Let's go first too. Think about it carefully and give me the key earlier so that you can go back earlier."

Shen Congwu also said yes again and again, the two locked the house again, and the footsteps gradually faded away.

As soon as they left, Le Xin stretched out his hands to untie the hemp rope on Lin Wanke's body, but the rope was mixed with something, it was tough and tight, and the knot was twisted like a twist, no matter how he tried, he couldn't untie it.

The two of Shen and Liu were very cunning, the dishes left for them were all made of wood, even the spoons were also made of wood, thinking that Le Shen was expected to be weak, so he relaxed his bondage.

Lin Wan could see the situation and persuaded: "Mr. Le, don't bother with me, and see if you can escape first."

Le Xin shook her head and said: "Since he untied the rope at ease, he must know that I can't escape."

He looked at the food on the ground and asked, "Do you want some?"

Lin Wanke really wanted to say that he wouldn't eat the things bought by Liu, but right now he was so hungry that he could only nod with a blushing face.

Le Xin took a spoon and fed him.

Lin Wanke took two bites, saw his face was as pale as paper, and worried: "They won't go to a doctor, what will happen to your illness?"

Le Xin forced a smile, and said: "It's just a cold, it's not a problem. It's not surprising that they refused to invite a doctor. If we see outsiders, wouldn't their work be in vain?"

Lin Wanke said angrily: "These two are really... really beasts!"

He had never scolded anyone like this before, but at this moment he was so angry that he choked his mouthful of food and coughed for a long time.

Le Xin patted him on the back, and said, "Man dies for money, and birds die for food. It's only my fault that I had no eyes at the beginning, so I regarded such a person as my confidant."

He looked down at Lin Wanke's blood-stained hands, and his voice became more gloomy: "If I leave earlier, I won't hurt you..."

Lin Wanke hurriedly said: "Don't say that, since they have such evil intentions, it's useless for you to go to the ends of the earth. Besides, there is food, drink, and thick quilts here. Although the house is a bit dilapidated, Being tied hands and feet is not very comfortable, and it can be regarded as treating us well."

Le Xin smiled when she heard him being so funny: "At this moment, you are still in the mood to joke."

Although Lin Wanke seemed relieved, he was actually very anxious.The two of Shen and Liu were polite on the surface, as if what they did was out of necessity, but judging from the conversation they heard when they pretended to be unconscious, the two were definitely not kind.

He and Le Xin were suddenly imprisoned, and the younger brother was the only one in the family, so he didn't know what to do.

Most importantly, they didn't even know where the key was.

"Mr. Le, if you think about it carefully, would your father have given you the key?"

Le Xin said: "If I had one, I would never keep the thing that caused trouble with me. My elder brother left home since he was a child, so it is impossible for him to have the key. My younger sister Le Qi does have one, but the remaining one , it will never be my turn."

"Aside from that, you can't think of any other possible people?"

Le Xin said: "If I can think of it, Liu Zhi will think of it too. Since he went to the capital to find me after all his troubles, he must have dug three feet in Le's house and still haven't found him."

Lin Wanke couldn't help being a little puzzled: "Looking at his clothes, he should be a son of a rich family, why bother to go to such an extent for money."

Le Xin glanced at him, smiled slightly and said, "It would be great if everyone thought like you."

He fed Lin Wanke some food again, tried to block the hole in the house with an empty wooden tray, and then spread out the quilt he sent.

The two of them spread half of the quilt under their bodies and covered the other half, barely feeling warmer.

But in this way, the distance between them couldn't be any closer.

Normally, Lin Wanke would never dare to think that he would sleep with Le Xin.He originally wanted to huddle in a corner for the night by himself, but it was too cold this day, if he also got sick from the cold, he really didn't know what to do.

Because of her weak constitution, Le Xin had not completely dissipated the effects of the smoke, so she fell into a deep sleep after a while.

Lin Wanke was very sober.

His mind was in a mess, thinking about how to get out, thinking about how Liu Zhi would deal with them, thinking about the past between Liu Zhi and Le Xin, he couldn't help feeling a little sad.

While thinking wildly, I suddenly felt the person next to me move.

When he lowered his head to look, he found that Le Xin's whole body was stuck to his side.

Lin Wanke knew that he was cold, so he moved his body a little, trying to make him sleep more comfortably. His bound hands were already numb from the pressure, and he didn't dare to turn over.

After lying like this for a while, he also fell asleep in a daze.