Outside the Fuyi City, Niu Ding led the team in the search, which was already the 26th day.
Before leaving Binri City, Qian Geng had advised him to search carefully, as if the water robbery sickle master was really within his jurisdiction.
He turned toTeng Yang, who was absent-minded.
"What are you thinking about, Captain Teng?"
"I was thinking about Zhao Jing, the city lord. This man has a great courage. There are no talents like him in our Jingying City."
"So you think..."
"Hey hey... Based on the teachings of Liang Ran mirror master, I don't dare to talk nonsense.Today we should search the southern woods, right? Let's lead the team."
"If we really find..."
"It's just a coincidence, it doesn't prove anything."
The two chatted for a while and continued to lead the team to search separately.
The southern woods of the city were not small, and they searched from daybreak to dusk, from sunset to dark. During the search, they only saw a few cabins and a few hunters.
At night, they set up temporary tents, made firebreaks, and buried pots to cook.
Niu Ding bought food and drink from nearby hunters and prepared to take turns resting.
The vast forest required cautiousness, who knew when wild animals would appear.
"Where is Captain Teng?" He asked.
"He is patrolling the area." A soldier replied.
"Call people back to the team."
"Yes."
About fifteen minutes later, Teng Yang returned with his team. During dinner, the two discussed taking turns keeping guard, and he was in charge of patrolling the later part of the night in Fuyi City.
At the second watch of the night, the moon was bright, the bugs were silent, the beasts were sleeping, the sea breeze blew gently, and the grass waves swayed.
After the handover, they led the team to continue patrolling.
They rarely patrolled at night, and after four hours, all the soldiers were yawning and their eyelids were fighting each other.
"Be more alert," Niu Ding advised.
At the beginning of the fifth watch, the patrol team was exhausted, and several of them were leaning against tree trunks and snoring.
Niu Ding was about to order rest when he heard some rustling footsteps in the distance.
"Is there a thief?"
He began with this thought, but then he dismissed it because he had never seen any thieves dare to steal from patrol officers and police officers.
"You two, go and take a look."
Two soldiers rubbed their faces to try to stay awake and then walked slowly over.
After a while, one soldier came to report: "Captain Niu,it's a herbalist."
"Before dawn, what medicine did he take? Go over and take a look."
Niu Ding walked straight and came to the location, not far from the grass, a little boy was looking for herbs.
Asked the soldiers to bring the medicine picker to him, and when he got closer, he saw who it was.
"You're from the Gao Jiu herbalist shop..."
"Yes, sir... I mean, police officer, I'm from Gao Tian herbalist shop." the little boy said, a bit nervous.
"Why are you picking herbs so early?"
"Sir, some herbs have to be picked at certain times. This kind of herb is best picked at 3 o'clock in the morning, this kind is best at 5 o'clock, and the same herb picked at different times has different effects. For example, if you pick this kind at 5 o'clock in the morning, it's 10 times less effective than if you pick it normally. People with bad constitutions can't handle strong herbs..."
"Stop... I didn't ask about herbs."
"What do you want to ask, sir? I only know how to pick herbs..."
"Well... Have you seen any suspicious people? Like someone with a sickle as a weapon?"
The little boy rubbed his chin, and suddenly remembered something. "Well... there is one... There's a cave in the Rocky slopes over there. A man lives there. He's sick, but he won't take any medicine. He's very strange. He has a sickle as a weapon, just like what you said."
Niu Ding never thought anyone would want to live in a cave full of rocks.
"What kind of strange person is he?"
"I saw him when I was picking herbs. He doesn't look very well. I told him that the money can be paid later, after he gets better. But he cursed me and threw stones at me."
"When did you see him?"
"About a month ago."
"Do you remember the way?"
"I think so... But that man is very fierce. I'm scared..."
"Just lead us to the far side, and don't worry about the rest."
Hearing that there wouldn't be any danger, the little boy agreed happily.
When they arrived at the cave entrance, and it was already getting light. Niu Ding asked someone to take the little boy back, and then they stood guard by the entrance.
There was no doubt that someone lived in the cave. The ashes in front of the cave and the makeshift stove next to it proved that someone lived there.
Niu Ding hid in the dark and watched as day broke and a man slowly emerged from the cave.
The man had unkempt hair and was dressed haphazardly. He looked to be around thirty years old. He wore a dirty piece of cloth on his body, with a red cloth cape tied around his back. One corner of the cape was ripped and dirty with mud and grass stains, and his clothes weren't much better.
The most prominent feature was the four-foot sickle on his back, which made my skin crawl.
The man clutched his chest, trembling to the outside of the cave, habitually bending his knees, and just as he was about to kneel, he immediately stood up, kicked a stone away, and shouted: "Phew! Bullshit, what the water robbery sickle master, it's all bullshit! ”
After finishing his tirade, he doubled over in pain and slowly limped away, presumably in search of something to eat.
Niu Ding heard everything clearly. Without a doubt, this man was the water robbery sickle master. But why was he cursing his own cult?
After giving it some thought, Niu Ding took out he fox-ear dagger and jumped across to block his path.
"Police business!" he shouted.
The man gave a startled jump.
"Ah? The police?"
"Are you the water robbery sickle master?"
Upon hearing "The water robbery sickle master," the man calmed down a lot and turned around a few times indifferently. "Such a shabby cult leader, it looks funny, doesn't it?"
"You admit it?"
He looked up at the sky and shed two tears. "Admit it? Should I admit it? Lord Ming Yi, should I admit it?"
"What nonsense is being sent."
"Hehehehe..." The water robbery sickle master laughed, looking so helpless. "I knew that Xiyue wouldn't accept me. A hundred cities with bans on witches, a small country of unenlightened fools and foolish women, what future could they have? It's so disappointing!"
"What's all this nonsense again? I asked you, did you kill Yu liang?"
"Yu liang?"
"You said he had a deep understanding of water."
Upon hearing that, the water robbery sickle master became angry. "Wasting my last bit of affection, I hate him to death!"
"That's good enough. Take him down!"
Upon giving the order, the police hidden nearby surrounded him.
The water robbery sickle master had anticipated this day, and immediately started fighting.
But he was ill, how could he possibly defeat these people? After a dozen rounds, he was captured alive by Niu Ding.
Niu Ding didn't expect that capturing the water robbery sickle master would be so easy.
Actually, he didn't know the inside story. This man was very skilled in martial arts, much better than the average police officer. Unfortunately, he was ill and couldn't fully exert his strength.
He was ordered to enter Xiyue and select a few people who had a good understanding of water to join the water robbery cult and use them for the Water Torture Ritual. But regardless of his initial selection or the later people who had a slight understanding of water, none of them were willing to join. These people naturally became the foolish men and foolish women he called them, andYu liang was one of them.
He was there on the day of the archery, so he targeted him. Later, he finally found an opportunity and decisively approached him to recruit him, but the answer was still no. When recruitment failed and he wanted to force him with martial arts, he fled to someone else's house. In a panic, he used the five-legged charms to kill him.
Back at the cave outside Fuyi City, his condition worsened. He didn't want to see a doctor not because he couldn't, but because he didn't think highly of them. In his mind, doctors and herbalists were also foolish men and foolish women, and people like that didn't deserve to treat him.
Later on, he hid in the cave to recuperate until he was captured by the police now.