Chapter 42 The Unlucky Thief

Er Gouzi followed the Ding brothers and sisters, crossed a rice field, and finally came to a village.

The village was very large, with at least thousands of households. The houses here were all blue brick and tile houses, and the villagers who came in and out were dressed neatly and looked ruddy.

It was completely different from the scene in Shexi Village. It seemed that everyone in Dingjiazhuang had food to eat and clothes to wear.

There was such a rich place in the world.

When the villagers saw the Dingxiang brothers and sisters, they all showed great respect and saluted to them.

In the center of the village, there was a courtyard with blue brick high walls, and there were many small holes on the high courtyard walls for shooting arrows.

The three big characters "Dingjiazhuang" were written at the gate of the courtyard.

The gate of Dingjiazhuang was open, and there was not even a gatekeeper. There were only a few naughty children squatting on the ground at the gate throwing stones to play.

"Just now I walked along and saw that many families here don't lock their doors. Aren't you afraid of thieves?"

Er Gouzi was a little confused. A broken house is worth a thousand gold. No matter how poor a family is, there will always be a few valuable items.

For example, pots and pans, firewood, rice, oil, salt, etc., if they are not hidden well, they will be stolen in a blink of an eye.

What's more, the people in Dingjiazhuang seem to be very wealthy, and there should be a lot of valuable things in their homes.

"Lock the door? There are no thieves in our Dingjiazhuang.

We are all fellow villagers. Hanging a lock on the door, isn't it treating your fellow villagers as thieves? It's too disrespectful."

Er Gouzi felt strange when he heard this. It was the first time he heard such a strange theory.

While talking, the three of them had already walked into Dingjiazhuang, and Er Gouzi finally saw the head of the Ding family.

Unexpectedly, this famous person looked no different from an ordinary old farmer.

Wearing a set of coarse cloth clothes, soy sauce-colored skin, and hair tied casually on top of his head.

When Er Gouzi came, he was rolling up his trouser legs and weeding barefoot in a small plot of land.

"Zhang Xiucai, wait a moment. While the sun is hot, I will weed all the weeds."

The hoe in the hands of the Ding family master was so fast that it was like a phantom, instantly uprooting the weeds without hurting the roots of the crops.

This weeding technique was not as good as that of Er Gouzi, who had been farming since childhood.

After the Ding family master weeded out the weeds, he turned them over on the ground and waited for them to be killed by the sun.

The crops planted in this small plot of land may not be known to others, but Er Gouzi is very familiar with them.

They even planted ginseng, and it looked like it was not a short year.

Er Gouzi had heard Sima Yi say that ginseng cultivation was extremely difficult and had many harsh conditions.

Moreover, each plot of land could only be planted for a maximum of three years, and then the fertility would be lost, and the ginseng had to be dug out and planted in another plot of land.

But there is a kind of land in the world that is naturally suitable for ginseng growth, which is the spiritual field.

The difference between the spiritual field and ordinary land is that the soil contains rich spiritual energy, which can be absorbed by ginseng.

Ginseng planted in the spiritual field will grow stronger and stronger, and it does not need to be transplanted even if it grows for 100 years.

Er Gouzi carefully sensed it at this moment and found that there were a lot of spiritual light spots flickering in the soil. The land in front of him turned out to be a small spiritual field.

As expected of one of the best families in Anchang County, it actually owns such a large spiritual field.

In addition to ginseng, there are many unknown plants on this land, which must be extremely rare medicinal materials.

The head of the Ding family put away the hoe, picked a few purple leaves from a thriving plant in the spiritual field, and handed them to Ding Xiu and his sister.

"Hahaha... Brother Zhang is a guest from afar, and we farmers don't have much to entertain. Fry some vegetables and kill an old hen for wine."

The head of the Ding family laughed heartily and heroically, without the airs of the head of the family, and walked into a hall holding Er Gouzi's hand.

Soon, someone brought a few plates of dried fruits and tea.

The dried fruits and pastries were very delicate and delicious, and they were all delicacies that Er Gouzi had never eaten before.

There was a kind of sugar bean in particular, which melted into a mouthful of lard when you put it in your mouth, and it also had the sweetness of honey.

"If you think it tastes good, brother Zhang, pack a few pounds and taste it carefully when you get there."

The head of the Ding family also stuffed an almond into his mouth and looked at Er Gouzi with a smile.

"Thank you, head of the Ding family!"

Er Gouzi blushed. He was just busy eating candy just now, and his inexperienced appearance was seen by others.

It was not his fault, but the head of the Ding family was too easy-going, and he also unconsciously relaxed his mind.

If he was in front of the county lieutenant or the county magistrate, he would be trembling and would not dare to relax for a moment.

Just when Er Gouzi felt a little embarrassed, footsteps came from outside the hall.

Two people, one tall and one short, walked into the hall.

"Meet the master!"

"Haha, you two are welcome, please take a seat, I'll introduce you."

The head of the Ding family introduced each other, and Er Gouzi knew that the two who just came in were also martial arts scholars from previous years.

The tall one is named Mu Feng, and the short one is named Wang Ying. They both live and eat in Dingjiazhuang now, and they are considered to be retainers and hangers-on.

Both of them are good at chatting. Since the two came in, the atmosphere in the hall has become more relaxed and lively, and there are bursts of laughter from time to time.

Not long after, several maids brought the food and prepared the banquet.

The head of the Ding family, Mu Feng, Wang Ying, and Er Gouzi sat down.

The dishes looked plain and unpretentious, not as exquisite and beautiful as those in Hongyan Tower, but Er Gouzi noticed the difference after taking a bite.

These ingredients actually contain spiritual energy, which is also very helpful for cultivation.

Compared with the ingredients he transformed with the gourd, they are comparable.

During the banquet, the two Wu scholars who were chatting and laughing were eating extremely fast, although they tried their best to maintain some dignity.

They should rarely have the opportunity to eat this kind of food.

He couldn't help but wonder in his heart. He had never had any interaction with the Ding Family Village before. Why did the Ding Family Master treat him so grandly?

Thinking of this, I inevitably feel a little uneasy.

Until the four of them finished their meal, the head of the Ding family did not ask him for anything.

"Brother Zhang, if you don't mind, you can visit Huazhuang for a few days."

"I still have something to do, so I would like to ask Mu Feng and Wang Ying to accompany Zhang Xiucai around Zhuangzi."

Then the head of the Ding family said goodbye and left...

……………………

On the other hand, just after Er Gouzi entered the city, three thieves in black once again targeted his Shekou Mountain.

However, the black shadow who knows martial arts fell badly last time and has not recovered yet. He is still on crutches and has trouble walking.

But he has never been intimidated by difficulties and remains true to his original intention. He insists on carrying forward his career as a thief and will not give up until he reaches the top of the mountain.

The three of them haven't slept much at night lately. Whenever it's late at night, the three of them circle the cliffs of Shekou Mountain, looking for a way up the mountain.

Scholars still have many ideas, and he suggested reopening the mountain road blocked by Ergouzi.

Although it takes a little effort, it is a stupid method, but it is better than wandering around the foot of the mountain every night.

Then the three of them carried hoes and crowbars again and came to the foot of Shekou Mountain again.

The martial arts master on crutches has limited mobility and can only be responsible for looking out. The important thing is to participate.

Two people, an old man and a young man, were responsible for digging the earth and prying stones.

The two started digging from the foot of the mountain, trying to reopen the path blocked by Ergouzi.

But there is too much earth, and digging from bottom to top is particularly troublesome when encountering big rocks.

The two of them don't have the same strength as Ergouzi. They are both big rocks weighing more than 100 kilograms, and they can't be pushed up.

When digging under a rock, you must always be careful of the rock rolling down.

The two dug all night and were so tired that their clothes were soaked with sweat before they finally dug through a small section.

The two of them dug for three more nights, but tonight they were blocked by several boulders.

These huge boulders, ranging from three to five hundred kilograms in size to over a thousand kilograms in size, were piled together, and they could not move them at all with their strength.

Every time when the two of them were tired, hungry and sleepy from work, they could only curse Ergouzi loudly to vent their anger to refresh themselves and eliminate fatigue.

"Er Gouzi, this wicked guy, gave birth to a child without a butthole."

"You're a fool, I'm an eighteenth generation ancestor of him!"

"Crack!"

The young man in black was in the mood to scold him, but was slapped in the face by the older man.

"Whose eighteenth generation ancestor are you scolding?"

"I read so many books by saints and sages, and they all went into the dog's belly!"

The young man was beaten and consciously made a mistake. He could only vent his anger on the earth and rocks in front of him, causing sparks to fly.

"This little bitch is really nothing. If I had known, I would have broken his hands and feet."

The young man felt angry and stabbed the boulder with the crowbar in his hand.

"Boom!"

As soon as he brought down the stick, two huge rocks rolled down, hitting the two of them head-on with great force.

The mountain road was already narrow, barely enough room for two people, and with huge boulders falling, there was no way to escape.

"Get out of the way!"

Seeing that the two of them were about to be smashed into pieces, at the critical moment, the older man in black used both hands to lift the young man to a high stone on the side of the road.

The ensuing boulders rolled past with a roar, engulfing the older man in black.

"father!"

"father!"

The young man looked at the bloody mess on the ground and didn't know which piece to pick up first?

"Zhang Ergou, I want you to pay with blood!"

Heart-rending screams echoed through the night...