Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 17 Thief

The sky gradually darkened.

Liu Taozi lay flat on the bed with her eyes closed. Lu Qubing beside her was already fast asleep.

The wind blew gently, hitting the wooden door, making a rustling sound.

Taozi suddenly opened her eyes, stood up quickly, walked to the door in a few steps, and peeked into the courtyard.

In the silent courtyard, there was a dark shadow, sticking to the wall and moving forward on tiptoe.

Every step I take, I look around subconsciously.

Under Taozi's gaze, the man jumped up, grabbed the courtyard wall, lifted himself up easily, and then disappeared into the night.

Taozi walked out the door and looked in the direction where the other person disappeared.

Kou Liu stretched out his hands and was jogging on the courtyard wall.

His posture was like that of a cat, and his feet moved at a very fast pace, like a gust of wind in the darkness.

If he encountered a higher wall, he could jump up without making any sound.

I don't know how long he ran, but he finally stopped, hung on the courtyard wall skillfully, and looked around.

In the distance you can see flickering torches and the barking of large dogs.

Kou Liu frowned. He had to change direction, climbed quietly to the west, and then climbed down the wall.

Although it was late at night, there were lights everywhere in the house.

There are even more big dogs.

Kou Liu entered the maze-like courtyard and disappeared.

Time passes by little by little, and the stars are extremely bright tonight.

"Ow!!!"

A dog barked from the front yard, and in a moment, big dogs everywhere started barking wildly.

Someone exclaimed something.

The bandits came running wildly, almost flying over the courtyard wall, and moved forward quickly along the same route.

The noise was left behind and his figure disappeared into the night.

Kou Liu climbed into the law school again, looked around, leaned against the wall, and moved a little bit at a time. Soon, he arrived in front of his room.

He turned his back to the door, looked around, slowly pushed the door open, still looking around vigilantly, and backed away little by little.

At this moment, he felt himself hit something.

At this moment, Kou Liu's whole body was stiff and terrified.

A big hand suddenly covered Kou Liu's face. What kind of big hand was that? Kou Liu felt that his whole face was covered. The next moment, he flew up and flew into the house.

Kou Liu quickly grabbed the big hand with both hands and tried to pry it apart.

Something cold pressed against his neck.

Kou Liu gave up struggling instantly.

The big hand slowly loosened, allowing Kou Liu to breathe.

"thief?"

Kou Liu knew this voice, that strange tall man.

"Let me go and I'll give you money."

"What did you come to the county to learn to steal?"

"It's not stealing."

As soon as Kou Liu finished speaking, the hand seemed to be exerting force again.

"I'm taking back what's mine!"

"Let me go. I have money. Otherwise, you won't get the money even if you report it to the police."

The man roughly turned Kou Liu over, grabbed his face, and pushed him against the door, with the sword in his hand against Kou Liu's neck.

Kou Liu was forced to look up, his forehead covered with fine beads of sweat.

Taozi stared at him, looking him up and down.

He wielded the sword in his hand with increasing force, as if he was going to pierce Kou Liu's neck at the next moment.

"I'm not lying to you! Someone took my things and hurt my family. I'm here to get them back!"

"Please! Spare me! I can't die yet!"

Kou Liu closed his eyes tightly and trembled all over.

The next moment, Liu Taozi let go of him, opened the door, and quickly disappeared.

Kou Liu slumped on the ground and wiped the sweat from his forehead with trembling hands.

The next day, Lu Qubing gently stroked his red forehead and complained to Liu Taozi beside him:

"My dagger was not hung up firmly, and it fell directly on my head this morning. Fortunately, it was not unsheathed, otherwise I would have lost my life. I will never dare to hang it up again."

"Ah."

"If there is a thief in the law department, will you be implicated?"

"Ah? Thief?"

Lu Qubing looked around and lowered his voice: "I'll tell you the truth. Don't spread these words to others."

"I can't tell anyone about this. In fact, I'm not in charge of the Law Office. There's no one in charge of the Law Office. There's even no Law Office at all!"

"At first, we all studied together, but later we were separated because I had nowhere else to go, so I was thrown here."

"Don't even mention the thieves. Even if there is a traitor, it has nothing to do with me. Whoever issues the school card is responsible. If anyone is unlucky, it's that fat pig who has to bear the consequences!"

Lu Qubing spoke with great interest, and from his expression, it seemed that he was hoping that a traitor would emerge among the students so that he could send Fei Zongxian to prison and execute his entire family.

Taozi said "oh" and didn't say anything.

Taozi followed the crowd to queue up to beg for food, but Lu Qubing left.

Taozi was standing there when someone slowly approached her. It was Kou Liu.

At this moment, he no longer looked as arrogant as he did in the past few days, and he looked a little embarrassed.

Following Taozi in the meal service, even the old official couldn't help but take a second look at him.

While eating, he squatted next to Taozi.

"Brother, why did you let me go?"

Taozi just ate her meal and ignored him.

Kou Liu also buried his head in eating.

"Anyway, I'll remember it. Thank you."

"I will definitely repay you."

Kou Liu said very seriously.

Taozi finished his meal, then stood up, returned the bowl to the old official, and turned to leave. Kou Liu just looked at his back.

“What a strange person.”

When Lu Qubing returned to the classroom angrily, Taozi was still reading his book.

Lu Qubing sat down in front of Taozi with an extremely ugly look on his face.

"Taozi, someone might come to see you."

"Since you don't want to leave, then be careful and don't go out with these people."

"You study very hard. There are only fifteen days left. Just get through it. Be patient."

“Anyway, I’m here.”

Lu Qubing didn't think his meal today would be that tasty.

What disgusted Lu Qubing was not only the fat pig, but also the Xianbei man in the study.

"Brother, I exchanged some natanas with someone. These natanas were brought from home. I tasted one and it's pretty good. I'll give it to you to try."

Kou Liu put Xinazi on Taozi's bed with a smile.

Taozi didn't say anything. Kou Xing bowed and left.

Lu Qubing watched this guy leave in confusion.

"Brother Taozi! When you give someone a gift, you must ask for something!"

"This person is a complete stranger to you, but he is so attentive all of a sudden. He must have some plan!"

Lu Qubing narrowed his eyes. "Could he be someone sent by Fatty? Fatty is close to the Xianbei people."

"Not like."

Taozi finally returned to the road to get sick.

Lu Qubing might have too many things on his mind, which made him absent-minded. Even when he was giving lectures, he behaved a little abnormally.

This time he didn't speak as fluently as in the previous times, and the content became a little difficult.

Everyone in the room sat on the floor, looking worried and scratching their heads. When Lu Qubing unconsciously increased the difficulty, it became more difficult for these people to keep up.

The door of the law room was open.

It has to be open all the time except when it's dark.

No one knows why the gate has to remain open, but it was so in the past, and so it is now.

Three people appeared outside the door of the study room. As soon as they appeared, everyone in the study room saw them.

Lu Qubing stopped lecturing, stood up and looked back.

The three men quickly spotted Taozi in the crowd and were about to walk over when Lu Qubing stood in their way.

"What brings you to my law school?"

Lu Qubing knew these people and had also seen them at Fei Zongxian's place.

The leader smiled and said, "We are here to pick up a student on the doctor's orders. Congratulations, a student has been noticed by the doctor and he is going to be taught the great way of saints!"

These days, Lu Qubing felt that the words "Saint's Way" were a bit harsh when he heard them.

He really couldn't understand how a person who came from a great family of Confucian scholars and had learned so many teachings of sages could talk about the truth while doing such evil things.

"If you want to promote someone, let the chief priest give the order. The doctor has no right to come here."

The man shook his head. "You have no right to manage this place. You were only sent here temporarily to supervise everyone. Have you forgotten?"

"The most important thing is that they want to go, and you can't stop them."

He immediately looked at Taozi and said, "Brother Liu, this is great news. Come with me!"

“Get out!!!”

Lu Qubing was completely furious. He stepped forward and was about to push the person in front of him, but the other two surrounded him from the left and right.

The leader narrowed his eyes and said, "Mr. Lu."

Everyone in the classroom stood up slowly. They looked at Taozi, and Taozi nodded slightly.

I don’t know who started it first, but they were walking one after another towards Lu Qubing’s direction.

Taozi was still sitting there, motionless.

Many students moved their bodies sluggishly, moving little by little, and before they knew it, they all stood around Lu Qubing.

These people were skinny, had timid eyes, and some were still trembling, but they did surround us, and there were indeed more than thirty of them.

The leader glanced at the people around him, then looked at Liu Taozi who was standing still.

"Brother Liu, you should think about it again. You really shouldn't miss such a good opportunity."

"let's go."

He turned around and left with his men.

(End of this chapter)