Chapter 61: Playing Along, the Killer is Right Before Our Eyes...

Seeing Chu Feng, the two men immediately waved him over.

They were not entirely strangers to one another.

Yet, upon seeing them, Chu Feng still felt a twinge of guilt.

After all, yesterday's massive fire and explosion were entirely his handiwork.

Liu Xi and Liao Zi'ang paid no mind to Chu Feng's expression.

They remained focused on the map in their hands.

To be precise, this was perhaps not a map at all.

It was a defense deployment plan!

"Can you make sense of this?" Liu Xi asked Chu Feng.

Compared to when they first met, Liu Xi appeared much more weathered.

Chu Feng stared at the deployment map for a couple of seconds and shook his head, saying, "I can't quite understand it."

"Normal enough. It would be a problem if you could," Liao Zi'ang laughed heartily from the side.

In truth, Chu Feng understood it completely.

This defense plan was related to Xueling Town.

That huge mountain beside it was presumably Yulong Mountain.

The map clearly delineated the garrison defense for every single gate of Xueling Town.

If Chu Feng ever wished to attack Xueling Town,

with this map in hand, Xueling Town would be finished.

However, he could not reveal his ability to read the map.

Otherwise, certain matters would become difficult to explain.

"My lords, I wonder why you summoned this humble servant?"

Chu Feng genuinely had no idea about this.

He was merely a villager.

To put it nicely, he was a mountain patroller; to put it bluntly, he was just someone scraping by.

He had simply gotten lucky, killing three Great Xia soldiers and stumbling into this position.

Even Chu Feng himself had never taken this position seriously.

"Strange occurrences have been frequent lately, especially with those rebels from Great Xia. They've begun sending various spies to infiltrate our Great Qian territory, and Yulong Mountain is one of their routes. As a mountain patroller, have you noticed any anomalies recently?" Liu Xi asked.

Chu Feng felt a trace of suspicion.

Did they call him over just to ask a question?

He shook his head.

"These past few days, this humble servant has been patrolling the mountains and noticed nothing out of the ordinary."

Liao Zi'ang asked with a smile, "Little Feng, did you see the massive fire in the town yesterday?"

Chu Feng shook his head once more.

"I went to sleep early yesterday and wasn't on the mountain."

To see the commotion in the town from the village, one had to be up on the mountain.

"Squire Tian's five thousand shi of grain were burned to ashes yesterday, and the entire Tian residence is currently sealed off. It is said that someone actually witnessed who the culprit was yesterday."

At the mention of this topic, Chu Feng's heart skipped a beat once again.

Yet, he maintained a completely natural demeanor.

"Five thousand shi of grain? Good heavens. Didn't they say Master Tian had already shipped those five thousand shi of grain to the front lines?"

Liao Zi'ang and Liu Xi exchanged glances and burst into laughter.

"He only claimed outwardly that he had sent five thousand shi of grain. But in reality, all that grain was still sitting in his warehouses."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing much. If you don't understand, never mind," Liao Zi'ang waved a hand.

How could Chu Feng possibly not understand?

It was nothing more than Squire Tian seeking a good reputation.

Outwardly, he claimed to have donated five thousand shi of grain.

Yet in truth, the grain remained in his granary and had never been donated at all.

Chu Feng had stumbled into it by pure coincidence, never expecting to burn the actual grain.

It was somewhat a pity.

That was five thousand shi.

Had it been given to their Yulong Village,

the entire village could have eaten for several years.

Indeed, such villains existed in every era.

"Then who is the culprit?" Chu Feng asked tentatively.

"Some people saw that it was someone from Taoyuan Village, and it has been confirmed to be the second son of the Taoyuan Village chief," Liao Zi'ang said.

"Guo Yong's second son? Losing so much grain all at once, Master Tian must be out of his mind."

"Out of his mind? That grain was practically Master Tian's entire fortune. It could have sold for five thousand taels of silver, and now it has been completely reduced to ashes. Master Tian has declared that if we, the authorities, cannot find the culprit, he will report this to General Tian and have the county magistrate removed."

"So the purpose of your summoning this humble servant is...?" Chu Feng asked again.

"The second son of Village Chief Guo from Taoyuan Village not only burned down the Tian family's granary but also killed three people from the Tian family. During his escape, he even abducted several women. He has now fled toward Yulong Mountain. However, none of the bailiffs in the yamen know anything about Yulong Mountain, and even if they did, they couldn't ascend the mountain at this hour. That's why we thought of you."

Liao Zi'ang looked at Chu Feng, his gaze somewhat eager.

On the surface, Chu Feng appeared terrified and flattered, but inwardly he was filled with disdain.

This was clearly dragging him in to act as free labor.

None of the official yamen runners dared to catch the thief, leaving a mountain patroller like him to do it.

Where was the logic in that?

Chu Feng hurriedly shook his head and said, "My lords overestimate this humble servant. I am merely a mountain patroller, patrolling Yulong Mountain and watching out for Great Xia spies entering Great Qian territory. As for capturing criminals, this humble servant truly cannot do it."

"Truly cannot? You were able to kill three Great Xia spies single-handedly, three against one?"

Liu Xi's sharp gaze instantly swept over him.

Chu Feng hastily lowered his head, waving his hands. "Luck, it truly was just luck."

Liu Xi and Liao Zi'ang fell silent.

Both men were cunning veterans; how could they not know what Chu Feng was thinking?

He simply felt that going up the mountain to catch a criminal carried too much risk,

with no benefit for himself.

As long as sufficient rewards were given, however, nothing was entirely out of the question.

"Would you like to live in the town?"

Liao Zi'ang asked abruptly.

Chu Feng raised his head and looked at him.

Clearly, this condition struck a chord with him.

In fact, Chu Feng was long capable of living in the town.

Yet he could not reveal it so soon.

Otherwise, it would inevitably draw the attention of meddlesome people.

This was not a peaceful modern era.

In this era, if someone malicious truly kept an eye on him,

it could bring danger to him and his family.

Therefore, Chu Feng had spent these past few days no differently than usual,

making no move whatsoever to relocate to the town.

For a mountain patroller to suddenly move into the town would arouse immense suspicion.

Yet if it were truly as Liao Zi'ang suggested,

would this not provide a legitimate reason?

A reason to bring his entire family to live in the town?

"Lord Assistant Magistrate, how do you mean?"

"You help the Tian family and the authorities capture the culprit who burned the Tian family's property, and I will help your family of three find a plot of land and a house in the town, granting you the status of a yamen runner so you can make a living in town as well."

This promise carried considerable weight.

The town's population was quite large at present.

These residents owned houses in town while also holding their own farmland along the town's outer ring.

Settling in the town was divided into outsiders and locals.

Outsiders entering the town possessed no land of their own.

Only locals owned their personal arable land and houses.

Liao Zi'ang's words amounted to a promise of farmland and town property for Chu Feng,

allowing him to become a true resident of the town.

Yet the prerequisite was that a local resident's farmland must be stripped away!

Chu Feng scratched his head and smiled.

"My lords are far too generous.

As a mountain patroller appointed by the authorities,

this matter naturally falls within the line of duty for this humble servant."

Liu Xi and Liao Zi'ang smiled upon hearing this.

In truth, they cared very little about the matter itself.

Yet Squire Tian possessed greater influence than the county magistrate.

Since he insisted the magistrate investigate the matter to the end,

they had no choice but to take it seriously.

As it happened, someone had spotted the second Guo family son skulking about nearby that day,

fleeing the moment he saw people.

Consequently, the blame was pinned squarely on the second Guo family son.

Realizing people were pursuing him, the second Guo family son had fled straight into Yulong Mountain, taking other hostages along the way.

The only person familiar with Yulong Mountain was Chu Feng.

Thus, Liao Zi'ang and Liu Xi had summoned Chu Feng to track down the matter.

"That fellow is carrying a matchlock gun in his hands. Do you know what a matchlock gun is?"

Liu Xi suddenly spoke up.

Chu Feng shook his head.

Liao Zi'ang pointed at the defense deployment plan and said, "Look, this is a matchlock gun!"