Seeing the panic of the villagers, Han Yi hurried over, explained, calmed everyone down, and asked everyone to disperse, leaving only two or three strong villagers in case the ugly man suddenly went crazy.
Yang Ning asked Han Yi to go back to the room and bring a full bowl of food over. Han Yi sent the bowl of rice over, but the ugly man immediately backed away, staring at Han Yi with hostility in his eyes, and did not take the bowl or chopsticks.
Yang Ning took the bowl and chopsticks from Han Yi and said with a warm smile: "If you are hungry, this is what you eat. Once you are full, you will not be hungry."
Strangely enough, the ugly man was full of hostility towards Han Yi and others, but when he heard Yang Ning's voice, although he was somewhat cautious, his hostility became much weaker.
When Yang Ning approached him, he didn't retreat like he was avoiding Han Yi. Instead, he took the rice bowl, but did not take the chopsticks. He directly grabbed the food in the bowl with his hands and wolfed it down as if he had never eaten before. Likewise, Yang Ning saw it and knew that he must be extremely hungry to act like this.
It's just that this person had been holding the cloak with his hands, and his body was wrapped in the cloak, making it difficult to see him. Now he stretched out his hand to take the rice bowl, and the cloak opened up. He was naked inside, wearing only a pair of tattered shorts. Gu Qinghan When he saw it, he yelled "Oh!" and immediately turned around.
But Yang Ning could see clearly that this man was also covered in dirt, but the dirt couldn't cover up the scars on his body.
This body was very thin and bony, and the criss-crossing scars were shocking. These scars were not knife wounds, but scars formed by countless small cuts.
Yang Ning was naturally aware of this. He knew that this ugly man would inevitably be cut and scratched by rocks and thorns wandering around, especially when wandering in the mountains. However, he did not know how to deal with the wounds, which resulted in scars, big and small. There were at least sixty or seventy scars, ranging from the upper body to both legs, like a prisoner who had escaped from torture.
The ugly man was sitting on the ground at this time, swallowing with relish and ignoring everything around him. Yang Ning took the opportunity to observe carefully, thinking that if this person was a lost family member of a wealthy family as he had guessed, he must have been missing for a long time. His beard is curled into a big ball, which cannot be grown in three to five months.
As for the precious bearskin cloak on his body, the original hair was very sparse. Fortunately, the bearskin was tough, and although it was old, it was not damaged.
He was just wondering who this ugly man was, when he saw the ugly man suddenly handed over his rice bowl, looked at Yang Ning eagerly, and said, "I'm hungry... for food...!"
Yang Ning could only ask Han Yi to get another bowl, and he ate three bowls in a row. The ugly man seemed to be still unsatisfied. Yang Ning thought that the village was not rich, and the food rations of each family were in short supply, and she could not let this guy eat all the time. , seeing that the ugly man's stomach had been stretched out, and might burst his intestines, he refused to let him continue to take food.
Seeing that Yang Ning had no intention of letting anyone get food, the ugly man simply wrapped himself in the cloak again and fell to the ground to sleep.
Han Yi asked people to keep an eye on the ugly man first. It was dark at night and it was naturally impossible to report to the official at this time. He planned to send someone to the Yamen the next day.
He only thought that Gu Qinghan was a man, so he only made a room for the two of them to rest. Gu Qinghan only felt that it was inappropriate, but it was so late at night that it was hard to disturb others, so he had no choice but to think that there was no need to sleep at night, just stay up all night. Waiting for daybreak, he immediately rushed to the Qi family's old house.
The two of them were in the same room, but Yang Ning didn't care and slept on the floor very consciously. Although Gu Qinghan was a little reluctant to let Yang Ning suffer, he couldn't let Yang Ning go to bed, so he could only lie down on the bed with his clothes on.
Although the ugly man was a bit weird, Gu Qinghan had nothing to do with him after all, and she didn't care much about the ugly man's origins. She just thought that such a big change had happened in the feudal city, and the people were quite prejudiced against the Jinyi Hou Mansion, which had a great impact. The prestige of the Qi family in the feudal city was something that he had been unaware of before and was completely kept in the dark. If Yang Ning hadn't suggested a private visit incognito, he didn't know how long all of this would have been kept a secret, and he secretly blamed himself in his heart.
She was thinking a lot in the bed and couldn't sleep at night. Not long after, she heard Yang Ning snoring slightly. She sat up from the bed and saw Yang Ning lying on her side on the ground. She felt a little unbearable. After a moment's hesitation, she picked up the quilt and He got out of bed and took the quilt to cover Yang Ning. Seeing that Yang Ning was sleeping deeply, he smiled bitterly and said softly: "Ning'er, you know, it may not be a good thing for you to grow up. You will have to bear many burdens in the future. You are spoiled and pampered, and I don’t know if you can withstand so much courage." Youyou said: "No matter what, Sanniang will be by your side, and no matter what happens, I will bear it with you." Back to * *, lie down quietly.
Of course, Yang Ning was not really asleep. He was most afraid that Gu Qinghan would suddenly think of what happened during the day and ask about the origin of his martial arts, so he simply pretended to be asleep early to avoid trouble.
Hearing Gu Qinghan whisper beside him, he felt something in his heart.
At dawn the next day, Yang Ning was woken up by Gu Qinghan. When she got up and saw Gu Qinghan looking haggard, she was surprised and said: "Sanniang, you haven't slept all night, have you?"
Gu Qinghan shook his head slightly and said softly: "Let's not delay here and rush back to the old house as soon as possible. There are still many things to do."
Standing up here, Han Yi was naturally alarmed. The two simply cleaned up and said goodbye to Han Yi. Han Yi was also worried that Manager Luo's comeback would be detrimental to the two of them. Since the two wanted to say goodbye, they naturally did not hold back and went out. , saw the ugly man lying not far from the door, obviously still sleeping.
"I'll leave this person to you." Yang Ning whispered to Han Yi: "The man named Luo left a few horses as compensation for the losses in your village." Han Yi thought to himself, it's not up to you. Those horses, all It was impossible to buy a horse despite selling iron in the village. Yang Ning didn't say much, went over and untied the horse, walked out of the village with Gu Qinghan, got on the horse and left.
The horse was galloping, and after only a few miles, Yang Ning felt a shadow passing by him. He was startled for a moment, and then he saw a figure running in front of him. With just one glance, he recognized the ugly man.
Gu Qinghan was also surprised and said, "Why did he follow me?"
Yang Ning reined in his horse, and the ugly man stopped in front of him. He stood on the roadside and looked at Yang Ning. Yang Ning looked back and saw that the village had long disappeared. He looked at the ugly man again, with a look of surprise on his face. Colorful, "He...how did he catch up?"
Gu Qinghan was also horrified and said: "Could it be...could it be that he caught up with him on two legs?" It was unbelievable. After leaving the village, the two of them let their horses gallop. The speed of the two horses was not slow. In this moment, they had already After driving for several miles, when he first left the village, he saw this ugly man lying on the ground sleeping, but in the blink of an eye, he caught up with him. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, Gu Qinghan would never have believed that such an unbelievable thing happened.
Yang Ning was also horrified at this moment. He had heard before that this ugly man was extremely fast. He was caught stealing chickens several times, and he relied on his speed to avoid being chased by the villagers. However, he had never seen it with his own eyes. This time he saw it with his own eyes. It was much faster than what I thought, completely beyond the limits of the human body, and I was horrified.
The ugly man was still wrapped in a black cloak. He looked at Yang Ning and repeated: "I'm hungry, I need something to eat!"
Yang Ning came back to her senses and thought to the ugly man: "Why did you catch up with him? Go back to the village quickly. There will be people there who will give you food and help you get home."
The ugly man didn't seem to understand Yang Ning's words. He just stared at Yang Ning blankly and kept repeating those two sentences.
Yang Ning thought to herself that because of her good intentions last night, this ugly man actually used her as a meal ticket. After thinking for a moment, she took out a piece of silver from her arms and threw it over, saying: "Give this to them, and they will give you something to eat. Don't follow us anymore." He thought to himself that he still had things to do with Gu Qinghan, so he couldn't bring a weird and ugly man with him.
The ugly man picked up the silver from the ground, with a hint of anger, suddenly threw the silver at it, and roared a few times.
Yang Ning took it with his hand, and Gu Qinghan frowned and said: "Let's not get entangled with him. This person's origin is unknown. We can't get involved easily. If he can't keep up with us, he will go back to the village." He scolded and patted the horse. Let's go, Yang Ning didn't waste any time, urged the horse forward, bypassed the ugly man, and flew on horseback.
The two horses were flying, and they galloped far away in an instant. Yang Ning turned back to see if the ugly man was still following. When he turned back, he saw the ugly man spreading his legs, just a few feet behind his horse. , its speed is by no means inferior to that of a horse. The back of the cloak floats with a hunting sound, and the ugly man seems to be flying.
Yang Ning reined in the horse again, turned the horse's head, frowned and said: "Go back quickly, or if you don't go back, I will beat you." He raised his hand and raised the riding crop, pretending to whip the ugly man.
The ugly man was a little scared and hurriedly backed away, shrinking his body and looking at Yang Ning pitifully. Yang Ning shouted: "I don't have anything to eat here. There will be food when I go back to the village. Don't follow me anymore." He returned to the horse. , patted the horse again and left.
After letting the horse gallop for a moment, he turned around again and saw that the ugly man was still following behind, but it seemed that he had just been frightened by Yang Ning and kept some distance away.
Yang Ning felt helpless and ignored him, riding on horseback.
The two of them headed south. At the beginning, Yang Ning turned around several times and saw the ugly man following him. After running for more than ten miles, the ugly man was far away. Yang Ning breathed a sigh of relief and thought to himself. After all, the endurance of the ugly man was not as good as that of the horse. Although the speed of his feet was astonishing, over time, his physical strength could not keep up, and he naturally fell far behind.
The horses were running non-stop, and the sun was rising. Yang Ning estimated that it would take less than two hours before she heard Gu Qinghan say from the front: "Ning'er, the old house is right in front." She slowed down her horse speed and raised her hand to point forward. Yang Ning followed her lead. Pointing in the direction and looking over, I saw a manor under the vast sky, with green bricks and red tiles, connected together, very conspicuous.
In front of the courtyard of the Qi family's old house, there is a large pond with clear water. Around the pond, a willow tree, a gentle willow tree, is planted every few steps. It has a strong ancient charm, and behind the Qi family's old house is a dense green bamboo forest.
The old house is to the southwest, and there are dozens of families scattered here, but the Qi family's old house here is a single door, with no other houses around, making it seem quite deserted and lonely.
A few decades ago, this place used to be quite lively.
The Qi family used to be a large family in Jiangling. They originally had shops and properties in various parts of Jiangling, including Jingzhou City. However, later the Marquis of Jinyi followed the Great Chu Emperor to conquer the world and donated almost all the property, leaving only this Qi family. In the old house of the family, most of the old Marquis Jinyi and his family members had moved to the capital, and some of the remaining branches had also moved away.
The Qi family's old house is here, and other people naturally don't dare to build houses near this old house, which makes this old house alone now. Only when the Qi family returns home from the capital, this old house will really become lively. .
Although it is just a lonely old house, this old house is a symbol. No one dares to disrespect this old house in the slightest.
The red door is very eye-catching. There are two majestic stone lions on the left and right in front of the old house. Yang Ning and his wife got off their horses in front of the old house and looked up at the door. There was simply the word "Qi Zhai" written on it. There’s not a lot of glossing over it.
Yang Ning glanced at Gu Qinghan, then stepped forward to lock the door knocker, and knocked hard several times. At first, no one answered, so Yang Ning knocked hard several more times, and then heard a "click" sound from inside, and the red door opened. Come, a little old man in his fifties stuck his head out, took a look, and asked: "This is Jinyihou's old residence, who are you looking for?"
"Tell Mr. Qi Hong that Prince Jinyi is back." Gu Qinghan had dismounted and stood beside Yang Ning, his voice cold and his beautiful face expressionless.
The little old man was startled at first, looked at it a few times, looked suspicious, shook his head and said: "You can't see the chief manager, the chief manager can no longer see anyone!"