Hu Ergou is a gentleman on the beam. In the middle of the night, he stole fifty taels of silver from an old couple's house in the county seat, and then fled in a hurry to another place.

When he reached the foot of the Wilderness Ridge Mountain, it was already past noon, and Hu Ergou's stomach was growling with hunger. As soon as he looked up, he saw that there happened to be a tavern by the road not far ahead, so he walked in.

There was only the owner in the tavern. She was about 30 years old. She was not very good-looking, but she was also very feminine.

Hu Ergou ordered a plate of beef, a roast chicken, and a jar of old wine. After eating and drinking, he rested for a while before carrying the burden of stolen silver and crossing the Desolate Grass Ridge.

When Hu Ergou walked halfway up the mountain, a strong middle-aged man quickly caught up behind him and asked him to smoke. When Hu Ergou lowered his head and touched the fire sickle on his body, the strong man took out a wooden stick from his waist and aimed it at the back of his head. Pity Hu Ergou, before he could snort, he fainted.

The strong man took off Hu Ergou's burden, carried it on his body, and then carried Hu Ergou, who didn't know if he was dead or alive, into the grass by the roadside. Just as he was about to throw it to the ground, he saw an old coffin with an open cover on a clearing full of new soil. Needless to say, someone must have left it after raising the grave. The strong man threw Hu Ergou in without thinking. When the coffin lid was being covered, the strong man saw that the three iron nails that had originally nailed the coffin lid were still on it, picked up a stone and nailed the coffin lid, then patted the dust on his hands and walked away.

This place is a special grave for burying the dead, and everyone in the nearby village who dies will be buried here.

After dark, a hungry and panicked old wolf came here. After smelling the human smell in the coffin, he suddenly became refreshed. With a stiff neck, he began to hit the coffin board with his head.

The wolf's head is not only strong, but also very smart. He actually knows that only the coffin has the thinnest head and is the easiest to be knocked open.

This old wolf may have been old and hungry. It took half a night for an old coffin to smash the headboard and was waiting to enjoy the delicious food when he saw a group of people holding torches and rushing towards it noisily. The old wolf thought it was here to catch him and ran away in fright.

In fact, this is a group of people who come to dig graves on the graves. This is the custom in many places in Kanto Mountain. Dig graves at night and have a funeral early the next morning.

Besides, Hu Ergou was thrown into the coffin by the strong man. Although the lid was nailed, the coffin was an old coffin after all, and there was always a place to breathe, so he didn't hold it back. After the old wolf smashed the headboard of the coffin, the cool wind blew into the coffin, and he woke up little by little. After a while, Hu Ergou wanted to sit up but kept touching his head, and he was surprised: Where is he lying, why can't he sit up? He wiped his eyes and took a look at the moonlight that penetrated in, and was so shocked that he almost lost his breath: "This is in the coffin! It was not until then that he suddenly remembered what had happened before he was knocked unconscious, and thought to himself , "That damn strong man, why did he get me into the coffin!"

Hu Ergou turned around and crawled outside. As soon as he reached out, he happened to see the group of people digging graves not far from him. He became alert: Are these people digging holes to bury me? I have to leave this ghost place quickly! Just then, a guy who was peeing saw Hu Ergou and exclaimed: "There is a ghost!"

Everyone heard the sound and looked back: they saw a guy with shaggy hair and a bloody face crawling out of a coffin! In the middle of the night, what could it be if it wasn't a ghost crawling out of the coffin? The group of people were terrified and ran down the mountain crying.

After Hu Ergou and the others ran far away, they dared to stand up, endure the headache, and gritted their teeth and walked down the ridge.

Before he could walk far, he suddenly felt two furry claws on his shoulders.

It turned out that the old wolf who smashed the coffin didn't run far away, and was still staring at him in the dark! When the old wolf saw Hu Ergou walking, he became bold and quietly followed from behind. He stood upright and put his two paws on Hu Ergou's shoulders. As long as Hu Ergou looked back to see what had happened, he could bite his throat.

But how did the old wolf know that Hu Ergou often went up the mountain to hunt before he became a thief, and had mastered a set of special tricks to deal with wolves. I saw that his neck shrank, and he grabbed two wolf claws with both hands and pulled forward hard, and at the same time his head was pushed up, just against the wolf's jaw. The poor old wolf was completely controlled in an instant, and had to use his hind legs to follow Hu Ergou like a human.

Hu Ergou clenched his teeth and endured the pain on the back of his head, and came to the door of the previous tavern in one breath. Seeing that the room was still lit with dim yellow lights, it was like he had caught a straw to save his life, and he kicked the door with his feet desperately.

After a moment, the lady boss opened the door and saw a wolf "carrying" behind Hu Ergou. She was so scared that she screamed "Mom" and asked Hu Ergou to quickly throw the wolf into the house. Hu Ergou then loosened his hands, slammed the old wolf away, and dodged into the house. The old wolf was almost strangled by Hu Ergou, and the wolf nature had long been lost, and turned and ran towards the weeds.

After Hu Ergou entered the house, she did not know if the owner was asleep or if the lights were too dim. Anyway, she didn't ask Hu Ergou about the blood on his face and the "back" wolf in the middle of the night. She just sent him to a small side room and told him to rest early.

Hu Ergou experienced this life and death, as if he had walked in front of the gate of hell, his body and mind exhausted to the extreme. Now that he was finally in a safe place, but for some reason he couldn't sleep no matter what, his mind kept remembering what had just happened.

After an unknown amount of time, just as Hu Ergou was about to fall asleep, he suddenly heard a knock on the door from outside, and then someone shouted, "Wife, open the door quickly, I'm back!"

After a while, the door of the tavern opened with a "squeak," and the lady boss said softly, "This night in charge of the house has been very hard. The slave's house has warmed up the wine and food, you can eat it quickly, so that you can go to bed and rest early!"

Since we have accepted this four-handed job, let's not talk about hard work! Tonight is very dangerous, if we go a little later, something big will happen, and the old couple have tied the hanging rope! "Why is this man's voice so familiar?" Hu Ergou couldnot lie down anymore, turned over and climbed up, looked through the crack of the door, and immediately took a breath: Oh my God! Isn't that the strong man who knocked himself unconscious?" It turned out to be the husband of that lady boss!

At this time, the lady boss took off a book that looked like an account book from the wall, flipped through her mouth and said, "Since you have completed this errand, you should write it down immediately, so as not to forget it." She wrote a few words and hung the book back on the wall.

After the strong man had finished eating and drinking, the proprietress had finished cleaning up, and the sky was already bright. The landlord then helped the strong man, who was full of wine and food, into the main house to rest. When there were high and low snoring noises in the main house, it was already bright.

After confirming that the man and woman had fallen asleep, Hu Ergou crept out of the side room. When he passed the hall, he saw that the book that the proprietress had just written was hanging on the wall. He was very curious about what was written on it, so he reached out and took it off gently. After opening it, he saw his name - Hu Ergou, twenty-five years old, below is Hu Ergou's portrait, and below it is still text - on a certain day in a certain year, in a certain house in the county seat, he stole fifty taels of silver from the old couple's life savings... There are four small characters at the bottom, probably what the proprietress just wrote - it's done.

Hu Ergou turned another page, and saw something similar on it: Zhang Crooked Mouth, 32 years old, a portrait below, and text below – on a certain day of a certain year, a certain month, and a lifetime of hard-earned money stolen by the Songhua River. Eighty taels of silver...

At this time, Hu Ergou only felt cold air on his back, and he did not dare to look down anymore. He hung the book back on the wall as it was and slipped out of the tavern.

It turned out that because of the rampant banditry in the county, the court sent a county magistrate who had learned from the "warlocks" in the rivers and lakes. The county magistrate would "catch the cover" with one hand: scoop a bowl of water, cover it with a red cloth, take a bronze mirror and take a picture, and the picture, name and age of the perpetrator would appear at the bottom of the bowl. The county magistrate immediately drew a shadow book and passed the information to the people who had been arranged at various intersections by flying pigeons. These people could use the means at will, as long as they returned the money to the owner. The county magistrate gave these people a collective name: "four hands".