The Ming Dynasty took an unconventional approach

Chapter 388 Pulling

Chapter 388 Pulling
Pan Jun took out a quilt from the space, dismantled the small low table in the car, unfolded the seats on both sides, and formed a bed about one meter wide in the car.

Two layers of bedding were laid on top, and then Hu Jing was carried into the car.

Seeing that his lips were pale, she covered him with a quilt and said, "Go to sleep for a while. Tell me if you get hurt."

They pulled the car out of the mountain temple, and Wang Cong followed behind to destroy the traces. It took him a long time to catch up.

Because most of the space in the carriage was given to Hu Jing, Miaohe and others walked under the carriage, and Tao Yanbai drove the car.

After Wang Cong caught up, he took over driving the carriage. Only Pan Yun was in the carriage, and the two of them began their first real conversation.

Hu Jing asked: "Master Sanzhu seems to know that I am being hunted."

Pan Yun: "I was unlucky. I was stopped by a group of Jinyiwei on the way for questioning. I accidentally heard that some Japanese pirates had landed and were chasing you, so the Jinyiwei were also looking for you."

Hu Jing: "I knew those two were Japanese. I knew it as soon as they started to fight."

Hu Jing raised his eyes and stared at Pan Yun and said, "Master Sanzhu arrived just in time. They had just caught me and hadn't had time to ask me questions when you showed up. So, why did they catch me?"

"Didn't you hear the interrogation yesterday?"

"I was unconscious, and I heard something vaguely, but I couldn't hear anything more, and I don't remember anything more."

Pan Jun smiled and said, "There is a map. They said it's with you. The map has the coordinates of the island and the route."

Seeing Hu Jing's thoughtful but not surprised look, Pan Jun smiled slightly, "It seems that Master Hu does have this picture in his hand. You will know what I am talking about as soon as I mention it."

Hu Jing pursed his lips slightly and was about to speak when Pan Jun said, "Master Hu, you better think it over before you speak. You promised me your body and signed a contract."

Hu Jing was slightly shocked, thinking that Pan Jun must have planned to ask such a question in advance, so she asked him to sign such a thing.

But she did save his life. Thinking of how his life hung by a thread yesterday, Hu Jing sighed and touched his purse with difficulty.

Pan Yun immediately helped him take out the purse and handed it to him.

Hu Jing couldn't help but look at her again, and took out everything in the purse. Then he turned the purse inside out. There was an extremely thin thread twisted in the gap. Under normal circumstances, no one would notice it.

He took out the string and pulled it, and a hole appeared in his purse. He touched with his fingers and felt out a piece of paper folded in two.

The paper is almost transparent. Even when folded together, it is very thin. When unfolded, it is as thin as a cicada's wing.

He handed the drawings to Pan Yun.

Pan Jun took it and looked at it, and couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. It was almost the same as the map she copied, except for the flight routes and island coordinates. The rest of the garrisoned islands were gone.

She couldn't help but curl her lips slightly and asked, "Did Zhu Zixun give you this picture?"

Hu Jing hummed and said, "This is a picture of the islanders' farming and living."

"What picture?"

Hu Jing glanced at her and explained unhappily, "The islanders live and work on the land. The imperial court banned fishing, so some fishermen don't know how to farm or can't get any land, so they can only take risks and go out to sea."

"It was impossible for them to go back and forth to the shore all the time, so they could only escape to the islands and become free citizens, or go to Southeast Asia and live in other countries directly."

Hu Jing was a chivalrous man from the lower classes, and he knew that it was not easy for common people to survive. He said, "Pirates are mostly made up of free people on the islands. Their behavior is not appropriate, but before Song Bei was exposed as a Japanese pirate, from what I knew, the people on these islands were mostly engaged in fishing, pearl hunting, and farming on the islands at sea. Only young and strong people were selected to join the team to help Song Bei smuggle goods."

"The family members left on the island are hostages, but Song Bei also promised that if anything happens to them, he will take good care of their family members."

Pan Yun raised his chin and said, "Continue."

"Sometimes there would be heavy fog at sea, and the ships would not be able to find the islands. Or in order to avoid the navy's island inspection, the people on the islands would have to flee to the surrounding islands. So in order not to lose the island and not to lose face, Zhu Zixun drew a map of the islanders' farming and living in case of emergency."

"He asked me to take this map," Hu Jing said, "because it is not often used, and he said it was important, it concerns the life and death of hundreds or thousands of islanders, so I carried it with me."

"After the Battle of Quanzhou, all the people on the island were captured by the navy, and the map became useless. I forgot about it. Did they come here for this map?"

Hu Jing narrowed his eyes slightly, "Isn't this a picture of the islanders' farming and living?"

Pan Yun folded the map and put it away, then smiled at Hu Jing and said, "Just think of it as a map of the islanders' farming and living. It's not good to know some things in too much detail."

Hu Jing disagreed, stretched out his hand to grab her sleeve, and said sullenly: "Master Sanzhu, please tell me what this picture is. Even if I die, I want to die clearly."

Pan Jun: "I didn't let you die."

Hu Jing: "Now the Japanese are looking for me, and the Jinyiwei are also looking for me. You have to let me know why, right? Otherwise, if they find me and I don't know anything, wouldn't it be a waste of my life?"

Pan Yun tilted his head and thought for a while before saying, "No, if you knew, you would die."

Hu Jing: "...If they catch me, I won't be able to take anything out, and I won't be able to survive either. I want to be a clear-headed ghost."

"Who said you can't produce anything?" Pan Yun took out pen, ink, paper and inkstone, unfolded the map, and drew a picture in front of him, but the island, coordinates and route on the map were changed a little bit.

Pan Yun blew the ink dry carefully, then handed it to Hu Jing, "Hide it in your purse later and treat it as real."

Hu Jing: ...

He was stunned by Pan Yun's operation. Pan Yun said: "No matter who catches you, you must repeat what you just said to me. You are not lying. When they see that you know nothing, they may let you go."

Hu Jing asked quietly, "Are you sure?"

"I'm not sure about the Japanese pirates, but the Jinyiwei should probably let you go, but you might suffer a little, so remember not to expose me."

Hu Jing: "Do you think they will let me go if they can't find the island after going out to sea according to the map?"

Pan Jun: "What does that have to do with you? Even if it's a mistake, it's Zhu Zixun's fault. He drew the picture and gave it to you. If you want to hold someone accountable, you should find Zhu Zixun."

Hu Jing then remembered, "Why did everyone come to see me? Where is Zhu Zixun?"

He looked at Pan Yun suspiciously, "It was you who chased Zhu Zixun at the beginning, and you said you didn't catch up with him. Could it be that you caught up with him and killed him, but lied to us and said you didn't catch up with him?"

Pan Yun helped him fold the picture and put it in his purse, then stuffed the purse into his arms and said with a smile, "Don't let your imagination run wild. Am I the kind of person who kills people without blinking an eye?"

Thinking of the two people who had just been buried, Hu Jing remained silent.

Pan Yun turned around and was about to get off the car when Hu Jing asked quietly, "Is it a treasure map?"

Pan Jun paused and looked back at him.

Thinking of Zhu Zixun, Hu Jing suddenly understood everything. He said, "At the beginning, they interrogated Song Bei to find out where the treasure was hidden, but Zhu Zixun ran away. Everyone suspected that the treasure map was on Zhu Zixun."

Hu Jing looked at Pan Jun, "The treasure map that Zhu Zixun had was in your possession, so you didn't expect that I had another copy. I didn't expect that I would foolishly carry it around, unaware of the danger..."

Pan Jun sat back down, not trying to fool anyone, and praised, "Master Hu is smart, he figured it out right away."

Hu Jing couldn't help but frown, "That's a treasure. The treasure looted from the people along the coast should be handed over to the government."

"You followed Song Bei as a pirate, and you have such awareness?"

Hu Jing said with a dark face: "I followed Song Bei and didn't know that he was also engaged in robbing merchant ships and civilians in private. I thought he was just smuggling."

As a bodyguard, he would follow Song Bei into the inland to purchase goods, and then escort them to the island for distribution. His job was smuggling, not robbery.

If he knew Song Bei was like that, and was a Japanese pirate at that, he would never have fought with him.

Pan Yun thought about it and said, "Don't worry, I didn't take the money alone. I cooperated with the court."

"I don't believe it." Hu Jing was not stupid, and asked directly: "Who are you cooperating with? If you were cooperating with the court, why would the Jinyiwei chase me?"

Pan Yun: "They are officers and soldiers anyway."

"Is there anyone who wants to rebel?"

"Do you think rebellion is easy? Anyone with a little money and a few people can rebel?" Pan Yun said, "No one wants to rebel, but we are just taking this part of the treasure on behalf of the government. Don't worry, we take it from the people and use it for the people. In our hands, the people benefit more than in their hands."

Hu Jing looked at her steadily, and after a moment he said, "Swear that if you take the treasure privately and do not use it for the benefit of the people, you... then..."

Seeing that he couldn't bear to let her swear, Pan Yun raised her finger and said, "I will be struck by lightning and be alone in this life, in the next life, and in the next life..."

"Alright, alright," Hu Jing stopped him quickly, "You clearly had the opportunity to kill me and bury me like the other two bodies, but you saved me and even made a fake picture for me. This shows that you are not a cruel person. I believe you. You don't have to make such a vicious oath."

Pan Yun clasped his fists and said, "Mr. Hu, you are so righteous! Then we have reached a consensus. From now on, just pretend that you don't know about this. If the Jinyiwei really come looking for you, you should give them the map. Remember, this is the real map."

Hu Jing: ...

“Only if you believe it’s a real picture, others will believe it.”

Hu Jing: "You are good at martial arts, I will listen to you."

Hu Jing sighed and asked, "What if the Japanese come knocking on our door?"

Pan Yun laughed and said, "Then let them come but never return. Why should we be afraid of them on the land of the Ming Dynasty?"

“Master Sanzhu is naturally not afraid, but Mr. Hu cannot beat them!”

Pan Jun paused, "This is indeed a problem. Don't worry. You are seriously injured anyway. Just follow us along the way."

Hu Jing asked, "Where are you going?"

Pan Yun: "First I will go to the capital to see my senior brother, then go home to take the exam, and then go to the academy to study."

She smiled and said, "Hero Hu, you can follow us all the way. I will keep you safe. When we reach Mount Longhu, you won't have to be afraid."

"In Longhu Mountain, let alone the Japanese, even if a fly from Japan flies in, it will be discovered."

Hu Jing: "... Is the Taoist so powerful?"