Liu Zhenqing was very happy after being naughty, and seeing that Huo Fenglie displayed no abnormalities, he was even more satisfied.

In fact, after leaving the capital, Liu Zhenqing began to be free and undisciplined. That was to say, he simply smashed the cracked pot, thinking very clearly that it was too tiring to be tense all day and night. Moreover, Huo Fenglie didn’t know what Liu Xiaozhu was like originally. Who could say that he wasn’t originally like this? In fact, the time he spent with Huo Fenglie in his previous life was really not that long, not as long as he spent with Yuan Jue in the palace. Liu Zhenqing felt that the only people who could recognize him through simple interactions were Huo Feihan and Li Xingruo. Even if Er-gou was clever and saw the clues, he would only be suspicious at best. This brought him back to the old matter. If there was suspicion, everything could be explained as coincidence. If he refused to admit it, could the other party still pull out his soul?

The most important thing was that Huo Fenglie had the Emperor’s orders now and was in charge of this mission. The task was very heavy, and manpower could not be deployed at just any time. It was impossible to seal off a city as easily as the capital. So if Liu Zhenqing discovered that something was wrong, he would find an opportunity to flee without a trace. It couldn’t be easier. So why bother being strict with himself now?

From the moment he was taken out of the capital, the choice was already in Liu Zhenqing’s hands.

Liu Zhenqing crouched on the carriage, smiling at the bandits who were beaten and wailing on the ground. “I said I wouldn’t beat you if you paid.”

Huo Fenglie had ended the battle without even unsheathing his sword. Currently, he was looking down at the leader as if holding a knife to his throat.

The big man had one eye, which was swollen. At this moment, he could only blink hard to focus, which made it look like he was constantly winking at someone. Liu Zhenqing’s laughter almost caused him to roll off the carriage.

“Heroes, please spare our lives. It is our fault that we failed to recognize great people.”

After saying this, he actually offered money.

Looking at the scraps of silver he took out, how rich did he think he was? Yet this was the result.

When Liu Zhenqing saw this, he expressed his dissatisfaction with this robbery. “Hey, you’re only at this level? And the government can’t take you down?”

This was too ridiculous.

“There must be something wrong with the government.” This was the simplest possibility that Liu Zhenqing could think of.

Hearing this, everyone quickly shook their heads.

One Eye said: “These two gentlemen, we really know we were wrong. We came out to rob people because we’re hungry and have no choice. We were all good citizens, but were forced to become bandits not long ago. And we also took advantage of the opportunity, thinking of grabbing a bit of mountaintop before we lost the chance to other big bandits.”

“Yo, listen to this. There is more than one group waiting to rob people?” Liu Zhenqing said in surprise: “So many people in your region are bandits?”

“Isn’t this because we have no choice?”

Liu Zhenqing had experience in this regard. A large number of good people had turned into bandits, which proved that the disaster relief problem here was truly not small. It should be known that it was very difficult for good people to turn into mobs. Unless a large number of people were about to starve to death, no one was willing to go to such lengths.

Just as he was thinking, Huo Fenglie suddenly turned to look at him as if asking how he wanted to deal with such bandits.

There was a flash of lightning in the sky, and dark clouds began to gather. It was going to rain.

Liu Zhenqing skewed his eyes: “Find a place for us to shelter from the rain, and wait for it to stop before sending us to the city ahead. Since you’re all bandits, you should know the safe paths.”

Although Huo Fenglie was not afraid of bandits big or small, it would be troublesome to be constantly delayed like this.

“As long as we are sent away smoothly, your lives will be spared.” After saying this, Liu Zhenqing glanced at Huo Fenglie, who nodded in agreement.

Hearing what Liu Zhenqing said, the bandits immediately burst into tears of joy and helped each other up to lead the way.

Very soon, heavy rain fell and they arrived at a dilapidated house in the mountains.

The place was desolate, like a haunted house. They heard barking as soon as they drew near, and a big yellow dog came out to greet them. The carriage stopped directly at the house so that he wouldn’t get caught in the rain when leaving the carriage, but when Huo Fenglie helped him out, Liu Zhenqing’s shoulders still seemed to get wet.

Huo Fenglie blocked part of the slanting wind and rain for him.

When the big yellow dog saw strangers, it immediately bared its teeth at the two of them. Huo Fenglie just glanced at it with a frown. The big yellow dog lay down on the ground at once and wagged its tail in an intimidated manner.

Just as Liu Zhenqing was thinking that this was a very smart dog, he saw One Eye beside him nervously step forward to kick the dog away, shouting: “Er-gou, scram! Don’t disturb the distinguished guests!”

Huo Fenglie froze.

Liu Zhenqing was startled, and almost lost his balance. He looked at One Eye, who quickly apologized. “It’s a guard dog we keep at home, it won’t bite people casually.”

“No, no, no, what did you call him?”

“Er…..Er-gou, ah.”

Liu Zhenqing worked very hard to hold back his laughter, suppressing it so hard that his shoulders hunched. When he turned around, he saw that Huo Fenglie’s face was dark.

Liu Zhenqing quickly used a series of coughs to cover his burst of laughter.

“Very good, this is a very clever dog.”

As they were talking, they saw nervous-looking women and children hiding in the corner and watching them.

Looking at their shabby clothes and sallow complexions, they were indeed not living a good life.

“Don’t be afraid, these two are just taking shelter from the rain,” One Eye said.

Finally, a child ran out and said, “Dad, weren’t you going out to rob?”

One Eye immediately covered his son’s mouth.

“Husband, your face…..” A woman stepped forward to fuss over him.

“It’s fine, it’s fine.” One Eye smiled innocently, but still had the aura of a bandit.

At this moment, Liu Zhenqing saw things clearly. These bandits had brought them directly to their lair. They were obviously honest people and were not afraid at all that they were government officials sent to catch them.

Now, they treated them politely due to fear, boiling hot water and serving them gruel.

Liu Zhenqing did not fear that they would be drugged. He could pretty much smell all the simple drugs available on the market, so he drank the water he was handed as soon as he smelled it.

Huo Fenglie saw him drinking and drank too. Liu Zhenqing also ordered the coachman to distribute the dry food in the carriage to the people here.

The women and children came forward in droves, and the tense atmosphere just now became lively. Now they thanked them non-stop, thinking that they were good people.

Huo Fenglie also did not squander the situation that Liu Zhenqing had arranged for him. Very soon, he began to ask why there were so many bandits here.

In fact, it was nothing more than that the previous autumn floods and the subsequent blizzards were not managed very well, and there was no disaster relief in place, forcing many people to go astray.

However, Huo Fenglie clearly remembered that Yuan Jue had allocated a large amount of disaster relief funds, but now there were still refugees who had become homeless mobs. This proved that the local officials responsible for disaster relief must have neglected their duties and embezzled the funds. It was just that this region had always been like this, with their accounts in shambles, so they could always find a reason to leave the capital city with nothing to say. No matter which officials were replaced, the final result would still be the same. This was the most troublesome place.

One Eye also spoke for the other bandits at this time.

“Actually, most of the bandits take money but don’t hurt anyone. It’s just that there isn’t much to eat this spring and it’s difficult to catch animals in the mountains, so we can only steal.”

“The government doesn’t care that there are so many bandits?” Huo Fenglie asked with a frown.

“As long as we don’t make trouble in the heart of the prefecture’s central government or on the fringe, they won’t waste their energy on us small bandits. Everyone knows this, so they don’t go too far, and just want to survive.”

“Then if they govern well, will you still be willing to go back and be good citizens?” Liu Zhenqing asked. He recalled that he had set up relevant policies for this situation in the past. As long as they had never killed anyone, they would be dealt with lightly.

One Eye shook his head and said: “We won’t go back.”

Liu Zhenqing was puzzled.

Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly saw the little boy run over happily with an outstretched hand. He gave something to Huo Fenglie, seemingly as a return gift for the dry food and cakes.

But when Liu Zhenqing and Huo Fenglie saw this thing, they couldn’t help but be stunned.

Wasn’t this the same thing the kid at the teahouse had? It was an irregular circle made of small wooden sticks, with seven or eight points across the middle and a longer stick underneath that would be held and played with.

Before he could take a look, he saw One Eye suddenly become very angry. He snatched it away, crushed it on the spot, and yelled at his son. The sound alarmed his wife. When she ran over to take a look, her expression changed and she picked up her son to go inside, spanking him as she went.

When One Eye sat down and saw both of them looking at him, he returned to his senses and quickly apologized.

“Actually, that isn’t a good thing. It is given out to children by the Heaven’s Blessing Sect when they promote their doctrine. It is their symbol.”

“Heaven’s Blessing Sect?” Huo Fenglie frowned and said, “Private development of this kind of sect is prohibited in the Great Zhou Dynasty. It must go through an official review.”

“Right, ah, but the officials are their regular customers. As long as you join them, it seems you can have enough to eat and drink, and live a wealthy life. In any case, there are a lot of people who believe in them, but we do not. In our opinion, the Heaven’s Blessing Sect is simply unreasonable. They claimed that our land had good Feng Shui and simply snatched it away, saying that it would benefit our future generations. We are all starving to death, and they still bring up future generations, ah. The government doesn’t care, and says that it is our blessing. Who wants this kind of blessing?”

This One Eye was not easily fooled.

“They directly encroached on your fields and you didn’t sue?” Huo Fenglie asked.

“The top officials didn’t care, and wrote a lot of things that we couldn’t understand. We are illiterate, so we couldn’t parse the twists and turns. We fought to the end, but turned into a desperate mob, and our families were beaten and driven out. So there is no home for us to go back to, ah. Even if the disaster ends, it’s useless. We can only flee and become bandits.”

Huo Fenglie was silent as he listened. A general like him was unbeatable on the battlefield, but probably had no experience facing this type of thing.

But such a sect appearing in the hardest-hit areas to openly bully the common people was not a good thing.

“Gentlemen, don’t be angry. My son was also brainwashed into thinking that the sect can protect people, so he gave that to you,” One Eye said cautiously.

“It’s nothing,” Liu Zhenqing said with a smile. “However, we are rather curious about this sect. In order for us to avoid getting into trouble when we leave later, how about you tell us everything you know.”

Hearing this, One Eye recalled carefully.

In fact, this Heaven’s Blessing Sect had been around for several years, and in the past two or three years, it had begun to gradually grow. It was no longer shrouded in mystery, and would openly recruit members, all of whom were strong young men or beautiful young women. And they were all required to cut off contact with their families. Some people left and never came back, but money and food would be sent back, proving that they were still alive.

The government had a good relationship with them, and claimed that they helped stabilize the moods of the victims and pray for disaster relief. Therefore, if there were any local sects or powerful wealthy merchants who disliked them, the government would protect them. Over time, the government and the Heaven’s Blessing Sect had the final say in these lands.

Moreover, the Heaven’s Blessing Sect was very powerful, and the people who joined the cult were basically brainwashed. The followers believed in them and followed their teachings.

Liu Zhenqing and Huo Fenglie listened for a long time, feeling that this Heaven’s Blessing Sect was not simple, and that they were very likely in collusion with the government. When the government developed sects, it became a serious problem.

Just as they were thinking, they suddenly heard One Eye lament, “Our lands being in this state is actually the fault of that treacherous Prime Minister Liu!”

Liu Zhenqing almost choked to death on his own saliva. It wasn’t fair. He had been dead for so long, so how could this be blamed on him?

“If he hadn’t committed crimes and allowed corrupt officials to ruin our region, then those official sects would not take advantage of our weaknesses to harm us now. Perhaps our lands would gradually improve under the current emperor’s governance. How could the situation be so miserable, ah?”

Eh. Liu Zhenqing felt stifled for a moment.

And One Eye, who was about to continue complaining, suddenly froze and looked nervously in Huo Fenglie’s direction.

Liu Zhenqing glanced over and saw that Huo Fenglie’s expression had darkened, and he was looking at One Eye unkindly.

One Eye couldn’t withstand his imposing manner and was so frightened that he kept backing away.

Liu Zhenqing could only say: “He doesn’t like to hear such things. You go back and rest until the rain stops.”

One Eye left quickly.

Under the eaves of the desolate house, the two of them sat on dry straw and leaned against the mottled wall, watching the rain patter. The mood was low, and neither of them spoke for a while.

The sound of two sudden barks caught Liu Zhenqing’s imagination.

His originally dull mood suddenly lifted, and he saw that Huo Fenglie still had his head lowered and his eyes down, seemingly in a bad mood.

Liu Zhenqing raised his eyebrows, gave a wicked smile, and called out at once: “Er-gou, come to gege.”

Huo Fenglie froze and immediately turned to look at Liu Zhenqing, only to see Liu Zhenqing tutting at the big yellow dog opposite him with a smile on his face, making coaxing sounds.

He didn’t know if the dog was just going along with it or because Liu Zhenqing naturally attracted dogs, but as soon as it was coaxed, the dog came over and lay down obediently. It let Liu Zhenqing rub its head, continuously wagging its tail.

“Good boy, ah. Er-gou, come and let me rub your ears.” Liu Zhenqing teased the dog with a smile, calling out to two Er-gou’s at the same time as he secretly glanced at the stiff Huo Fenglie.

Seeing his unhappy face and displeased eyes staring at the big yellow dog, Liu Zhenqing laughed like crazy inside.

“Come, Er-gou, let gege see if you’re a male or a female.” Liu Zhenqing went to lift the dog’s leg. “Ya, a male!”

Huo Fenglie seemed to have gone blind.

In the end, Liu Zhenqing stretched out his hands to hug the big yellow dog. “Come, Er-gou, let gege hug you and give you a kiss.”

It seemed this person couldn’t bear it anymore, and Liu Zhenqing and the big yellow dog were pulled apart.

Liu Zhenqing regarded Huo Fenglie with an innocent look on his face. “What, do you want to play with Er-gou too?”

Huo Fenglie looked at him with the same expression as when they were in the hot spring pool, sulking as if he had been bullied but was holding in his grievances. Pretending to be calm, he said: “Don’t touch it. It’s dirty.”

Seeing that this Er-gou in front of him couldn’t take it any more, Liu Zhenqing was happy enough and finally let him off.

With such a commotion, it seemed that even the heavy curtain of rain had turned into cheerful pattering music. The rain soon stopped, and as agreed, One Eye took them on a shortcut that bypassed the other bandits, and they arrived near the city. When he saw the city gate, One Eye didn’t see them off.

Huo Fenglie gave him some silver and asked him to go somewhere farther away to make a living, or wait for news here.

He didn’t know what waiting for news meant, but still made a mental note and thanked them continuously.

“Don’t thank us.” Liu Zhenqing said with a smile, “If you really want to thank us, then…..take good care of Er-gou.”

Huo Fenglie glanced at Liu Zhenqing.

One Eye also looked at him with a blank expression. Liu Zhenqing smiled brightly and said: “I like Er-gou very much. I’ve fallen in love with him.”

Huo Fenglie’s expression changed slightly and he turned his head to look toward the other side.

Once One Eye had left, their carriage slowly drove into the largest county in Yanqiu Prefecture, which was also the seat of the Heaven’s Blessing Sect.

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Chapter Thirty-Five << Table of Contents >> Chapter Thirty-Seven