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Back at the inn, Hou Zi had dinner, lay on the bed, and stared at the ceiling in trance.

Shen Junbi.Where did this person come from?A dock clerk's fingers have sharp joints, calluses not from rough work but calluses from writing.How did he know about the monk?I heard Sun Mo say this monk, what is it?

This guy shouldn't be bad.At the dock in the evening, he kept silent and took the initiative to help find a boat.Go and have a meeting, anyway, he is showing it and I am hiding it, just act according to the situation.

Hou Zi turned over and sat up, slid the three-inch sword into his boot, pushed the door open and went out.

Willow Bay is an abandoned old ferry to the west of Hankou Town.Merchant ships used to stop here, but later a new wharf was built and the place became deserted.The stone pier to which the boat was tied is still there, covered with moss, and willow trees hang down on the shore, their branches sweeping the water.The moonlight shone on the gravel beach at the ferry, making it pale.

Hou Zi saw firelight on the ferry from a distance.He ducked behind a willow tree and opened his hands to catch the wind.The wind blew from the river and clearly conveyed the movements on the ferry into his palms.

Shen Junbi was being held down by two people with his arms on the ground. His face was already bruised and there was blood at the corner of his mouth.A fat man squatted in front of him, rummaged through his baggage, and threw the items on the ground one by one.Account books, abacus, a few old clothes, and a small cloth bag.The fat man picked up the cloth bag

He held the jade pendant and the cloth bag in his hand, stood up and said, "Your accountant usually looks very poor, but you still have such a good thing hidden in your body. Where did you steal it from?"

Shen Junbi raised his head and said, "That was not stolen, it was something left to him by his father."

The fat man sneered and said, "Who can you kid if a dock accountant can leave such a thing?"

The thin one next to him added: "No matter how it came about, it belongs to us now."

Shen Junbi said nothing.He looked up at the two men.That look was completely different from what Hou Zi saw at the alley in the evening. It was cold, as cold as an unsheathed knife.He had squatted on the dock for several years and had been beaten countless times, but he had never looked at anyone with this look.That jade pendant was the only token left to him by his father.

The fat man was so stunned by that look that he kicked Shen Junbi in the stomach.Shen Junbi groaned and bent down on the ground, his face pressed against the gravel, and a mouthful of blood foamed out of his mouth.

The thin man squatted down, grabbed his hair, raised his face, and said, "Ask me again, where did this jade pendant come from?"

With blood dripping from the corner of Shen Junbi's mouth and his voice hoarse, he said, "That's what my father left for him. Take it back."

The fat man smiled and said, "You can take it back if you want, just kneel down and beg."

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