Great Sui Guoshi

"Hegu Commander arrested Zuo Zhengyang, and met Zhou Xueshi!"

As a member of the yamen, I know a little about the dignitaries in the city, just like the Zhou Zhen in front of me, who was once a scholar of the Denglong Pavilion in the capital, and was dismissed after offending the officials in the court. His hometown is Hegu County, but his two sons, one civil and one military, both serve in the army and the official department.

Putting it in a remote small county, the status of an old man is a big deal.

"It turned out to be Chief Zuo, please sit down!"

The old man asked the maid to serve tea and snacks, stretched out his hand to invite the other party to sit down, picked up the teacup and blew on the tea leaves on the water.

"The head catcher came here at this time, presumably to inquire about the relationship between the old man and the Zhang family?"

Zuo Zhengyang nodded.

"Yesterday, the government has arrested the demon Taoist, but there is no evidence, so I came here to ask Xueshi Zhou. In addition, this person is also related to the murder case of the demon law in Fushui County. After all, the scholar also knows that in this prosperous world, monks There are quite a few, and there are also many who have crooked thoughts."

Zhou Zhen hummed and nodded: "The chief arrester is right."

The old man was quite cooperative when the gentleman asked about the case, and when it came to anger, he would inevitably lose his temper. Zuo Zhengyang just listened solemnly to what Zhou Zhen knew, and what the other party knew, he basically knew everything, just checked. That's all.

After less than half an hour, what should be talked about has been finished, Zhou Zhen looked at the toad in the opponent's hand, stroked his beard and stood up.

"The chief arrester wants to go find Lu Liangsheng, right? Are you acquainted?"

Zuo Zhengyang stood up and shook the toad: "When I came here, I saw it at the door. Ben Zuo and Lu Liangsheng are also from the same hometown."

"Well, please come inside, he's in the side yard, but it's a bit cold there, so don't be offended by the headhunter."

Zuo Zhengyang didn't take it seriously, he had never seen the technique, but he was a dignified warrior with strong blood, so he was naturally not afraid, but he was still a little curious.

"At this time, it's hot summer, why is the side yard of the scholar's house cold?"

"Hmph! It's not the work of the demon dao captured by the chief arrester. It used to be the old man and daughter lived in the side room, and the demon dao used the demon method for three consecutive months..."

Zhou Zhen brushed the sleeves of his robe and snorted: "...In the final analysis, it was Zhang Dongming who caused it. Fortunately, there are good students living there, so as not to be abandoned."

After finishing speaking, he stopped talking, and immediately ordered a servant to lead the way, Zuo Zhengyang followed behind, and was quite curious about the side courtyard.

The atrium is not big, and there are many flowers and trees, which is probably the preference of the old man. Now the mansion has dissipated, and the sun shines through the gap. Butterflies and bees are flying among the flowers and plants. When someone comes, they will fly away and come back soon.

The mansion is embellished with a lot of vitality, and even the servants and maids who come and go around have smiles on their faces.

"My lord, the front is the side courtyard." The servant who led the way pointed to the end of a path that turned around: "The master has ordered before that you can't go near the place where Mr. Lu lives if you have nothing to do. The younger ones can only go here."

Since it is the rule of the mansion, Zuo Zhengyang didn't want to ask too many questions. He strode towards the Crescent Gate over there with a toad in his hand, turned around a stone-paved path, and a chill hit his face, but there was no old man. It's as gloomy as you say.

"It's hot outside, but it's cool here. Lu Liangsheng enjoys it."

In front of the field of vision, a small tea table is steaming, behind the easel set up, Lu Liangsheng is sitting there holding a brush, sketching decorations, under the eaves is Sun Yingxian wearing a cane and bandages all over his body,

The scholar behind the easel put down his brush, closed the "Mountain and Sea Illustrated Records" next to him, and stood up.

"Left catcher."

The Taoist under the eaves turned his neck to take a look, hummed, and turned sideways to continue basking in the sun.

The head catcher who came over looked at the Taoist, and said with a smile: "It seems that someone still remembers a misunderstanding three years ago."

Misunderstand? !

Sun Yingxian stared at the eyes outside the bandage: "Is that a misunderstanding? You didn't feel tired after chasing a mountain on this road on horseback. I drilled underground, tired and thirsty. There were stones and tree roots everywhere. I almost lost my breath." Come up and bury it directly in the ground!!"

"I see."

Zuo Zhengyang suddenly arched his hands towards him: "The arrester is here to apologize to you."

This action made Sun Yingxian curl his lips and wave his hand for a moment.

"Forget it, just pretend that I didn't read the almanac when I went out that day..."

Zuo Zhengyang smiled and lowered his hands, and put the toad in his hand on the short table next to him.

"When I came here, I saw it on the road, and I knew it was your toad at a glance, so I brought it to you along the way."

As soon as Taoist Toad touched the table, his tongue was tilted to the side of his mouth, and he let out a sigh of relief. He was held in his hand and hung there for a long time, and now he finally felt at ease.

... The old man has nothing to do.

Thinking about it, the disciple's words sounded from above, and Lu Liangsheng made a gesture of invitation: "Catcher, please sit down, I'm afraid there should be other things besides returning my toad, right?"

"Ah."

Zuo Zhengyang sat down, looked at a snake body and human head outlined in green ink on the scroll, didn't care what it was, pondered for a moment, his expression became serious, and he spoke in a low voice.

"That Taoist Yangming died early this morning."

The cool breeze blows gently over the person, and the courtyard is suddenly quiet.

Only the soft rustling of pine branches remained.

Chapter 64 A Laundry of Strange Things

"died?"

Lu Liangsheng withdrew his gaze from Taoist Ha, and turned to face Zuo Zhengyang, who was sitting there, and he didn't look like he was making fun of him.

For a moment, the scholar's smile faded and he frowned.

"Captain Zuo, did you kill him?"

Even Sun Yingxian under the eaves looked over, staring closely at Zuo Zhengyang beside the easel.

The latter shook his head and said in a low voice, "It's not me... This arrester handles the case according to the law, even if it is lynched, it will not kill people indiscriminately."

Scattered pine leaves drifted down from the treetops, and as the cool wind calmed down between the two people looking at each other, when they landed on the ground, Lu Liangsheng laughed, sat opposite Zuo Zhengyang, and picked up the brush again.

"The chief arrester won't suspect that I killed him, will he?"

"You have a past... Forget it, don't mention the past."

Zuo Zhengyang shook his hands and hurriedly pressed his knees. He was tall and sat on a low stool and twisted uncoordinatedly. Only then did he stabilize his figure and continued:

"Actually, it's not that I suspect you, but that Taoist Yangming died a little strangely."

In front of the easel, Lu Liangsheng's spirit seeped into it, feeling the cultivation brought by the way of painting. His wrist, which was fixed on his eyes, shook rapidly, outlined in green ink, and the scales on his long body were painted with fine dots, and he responded softly.

"How did that Taoist die?"

After all, the two of them fought against each other last night. If they hadn't used their strengths in advance to frighten each other with the advantage of 'many', Lu Liangsheng felt that they should not be opponents of this old world, at least for now.

Zuo Zhengyang pondered and recalled the scenes at that time, for a person like him who is used to seeing life and death, he was somewhat terrified.

"On the torture rack, no outsiders touched it at that time. The Taoist screamed in pain for a moment, and his flesh, muscles and bones burst and died."

On the painting scroll, Lu Liangsheng stopped his pen nib, looked at the formed snake body, and frowned.

No outsider touches, the whole body bursts?

...It is somewhat similar to when I killed Chen Yaoke.

The hand holding the pen hangs down, Lu Liangsheng turns his face and looks at Zuo Zhengyang

"Then there are other strange things on him?"

Sun Yingxian, who was basking in the sun under the eaves, couldn't help propping herself up when she heard this, and laughed twice.

"There are not many such insidious spells, but there are also many. It's best for Zuo Butou to think about it."

The tall figure fell silent with his knees pressed down.

On the short table on the other side, Taoist Toad coiled up, looked around with his toad eyes, then saw the soup bowl in front of him, hesitated for a moment, or slowly stood up, climbed up and took a look inside.

Only a little soup remains.

"Such a waste..."

Taoist Toad smacked his lips and slightly turned his head away.

"No, what status is this old man, how can he..."

Bang!

Suddenly there was a shock, and the startled toad slipped on its webs, and slammed its mouth on the bottom of the bowl.

"It's unreasonable...the old man is ashamed..."

The remaining soup overflowed his lips... Then, he couldn't help but licked it.

there.

Zuo Zhengyang slapped his thighs, remembering something, as for the toad on the short table with half of its head buried in the bowl across the field of vision, he didn't pay attention at all, and said.

"Thinking about it this way, I remembered that everything on that Taoist's body was scraped away and put away. The only strange thing is a strange pattern on his chest."

"What kind of pattern?" When words such as pictures were mentioned, Lu Liangsheng became interested.

Zuo Zhengyang pondered for a moment, as if trying to organize his words, but he still shook his head.

"I don't know clearly, but I remember what it looks like. Let me borrow the pen."

As he said that, he took the writing brush with a weird pen from the scholar, and started to draw on a piece of white paper. Lu Liangsheng stood to the side and watched him outline the pattern bit by bit.

"Five lanterns?"

"It's five fireballs!!" Zuo Zhengyang put down his pen and stared at what he had drawn: "The pattern on that Taoist's body is bright, and the color of the fireballs is red, forming a circle. Zuo guessed that it should be a sect of cultivators Sign, I don’t know if I’m right?”

Lu Liangsheng probably understood why the chief arrester came here on purpose.

Shaking his head with a smile, he said, "I'm afraid I can't help. This is the first time I've seen this kind of pattern. I've been staying in Fushui County before."

The two looked at the eaves, and Sun Yingxian snorted and turned her head away.

"Don't look, I don't know the way."

The trail is broken.

Zuo Zhengyang looked at the two of them, and probably knew that Lu Liangsheng had never been out of Fushui County before, so he probably didn't know about it.

Forget it, just treat it as a headless case.

"That's right." When the head catcher was about to leave, he remembered that there was a master behind the scholar in front of him, and hurriedly asked: "...Liangsheng, your master, where is he? Does he know this pattern?"

The atmosphere in the courtyard became delicate, and the hearts of the Taoists under the eaves were raised. Lu Liangsheng over there also reacted quickly. While sending the big man out, he said:

"My master is far away in Qixia Mountain. He has practiced all year round and doesn't care about world affairs. Will Zuo Butou suspect his family teacher again?"

"This...of course not."

Lu Liangsheng casually walked past the easel, flicked his sleeves, and put it behind his back, looking at the pine branches stretching over the courtyard wall, the light spots cast by the gaps, and the light dust flying.

"Actually, there is nothing wrong with Zuo Butou's doubts, but although my master is knowledgeable, he is cold and arrogant, like a lonely rock on the top of a sea of ​​clouds, overlooking the ups and downs of the mountains..."

In slow and gentle words

The short soup bowl, the toad with its legs kicked out, raised its head, looked around for a while, continued to bury it, and seized the time to lick it wildly.

The figure walking forward, the words are still going on.

"...and living in seclusion, even if we go to the mountains, we may not meet each other. Maybe he will be angry and be driven down the mountain."

Zuo Zhengyang felt his scalp tingle when he heard this polite speech, and he just sighed: "An expert in the world should have such a temperament."

After finishing speaking, he bid farewell to the scholar and the Taoist under the eaves.

"Just send it here. By the way, there is one more thing. There have been several murders outside the city recently. The dead are all scholars who came to rush for the exam. There are rumors in the countryside that it was done by a vixen. If you want to go out of the city, be careful and say goodbye!"

Lu Liangsheng looked at the back who turned and left, feeling puzzled.

"Zhang Dongming's son was fascinated by the fox demon. Could it be related to this matter? No wonder he came out to visit the Zhou Mansion that day and night, and saw him leading a team running through the streets. It turned out that he was going to investigate the case outside the city."

It reminds me of the four scholars who were chased by the fox monster when they stayed at the mountain temple on the way to Hegu County.

It was just rushing for the exam, and all kinds of strange things happened.

However, this trip has gained a lot of insight.

Lu Liangsheng smiled, turned around and went back to the courtyard, only then did he notice Taoist Toad lying on his stomach beside the soup bowl.

"Master, you are..."

At the bottom of the bowl, the frantically flicking long tongue was retracted, and the toad slowly straightened up, holding up its biwebs.

"Liangsheng, as a human being, we must remember bitterness and sweetness, and we must not forget our roots. I think that before I became a teacher and did not practice Taoism, my family was poor. It is good to have a bite to eat. We can't waste food."

Jumping off the short table, licking his mouth, pattering on the floor tiles and walking towards the eaves, his words were dignified.