Heaven's Formula

In terms of order, this is undoubtedly the worst order.

She felt it was necessary for her to find out what had happened to the city's management that had led to this situation.

"Big sister, anyway, the gate of the city is closed today, why don't you stay in our house for one night." Someone among the children said.

"Eh? Are you going to bring outsiders there?"

"But she gave us food, so she can't be regarded as an outsider?"

"There is no hotel in this place anymore, do you want your benefactor to sleep in the wild?"

"Okay... I agree."

the children whispered.

"What do you think?" Li Le started, "Anyway... I have no objection."

"In that case, then I won't shirk." Luo slightly raised his eyebrows and smiled, "Please lead the way."

This expression also made the children distracted for a moment.

Finally, under the urging of Li Le, everyone turned around and walked out of the alley.

"Where's the adult who escaped here?" Walking through the residential area, Luo Qingwei discovered a new problem, "Just now I followed all the way, and I saw that many houses seemed to be vacant, and I didn't see many houses. The figure of an adult, don't they live here?"

"The rich go to the city, and those who have no money try to stay as close to the city wall as possible. Only people like us will wander around the periphery of Qianren City." Li Le replied honestly, "It is true that there were some adults with handicap living in the city before. Here, but with less and less food to eat, they all ran to the southwest."

"I remember that there is no such big city as Qianren City in the southwest." Luo said lightly.To the west of Youzhou is the mountain range separating Qi and Xu. The mountains are full of miasma, and it is impossible for ordinary people to climb over them.

"But there are rumors that God has sent people to save the world, and they have gathered a large number of people in the west of Youzhou. They have inexhaustible food and inexhaustible nectar. As long as they join the Salvation Cult, they will no longer have to worry about being hungry. Stomach. Those adults ran west, just wanting to join them."

"The Church of Salvation?" Luo repeated in a low voice.

"Yes, in fact, we are also waiting for them to come to Qianren City." Someone yelled, "Brother Li said, everyone has thin arms and thin legs, no matter they encounter robbers or wild beasts on the road, they can't beat them, so instead of taking risks, go to Qianren City." If you want to find them, you might as well just wait here and wait for them to come. If the rumors are true, sooner or later the Salvationist religion will spread all over the ten states!"

"Does anyone believe this?"

"But I heard that not only the residents outside the city, but even those in armor are discussing when the savior will come." Li Le emphasized, "Their news will not be as closed as everyone else's, right? And the savior is not extraordinary , seems to have appeared in the Privy Council's prophecy long ago, what do they call it?"

He showed a pensive expression.

"It seems to be... the listener." The boy who was cornered before said.

"Yes, the listener." Li Le clapped his palms vigorously, "Only this kind of person who can hear the voice from beyond the sky has the power to save everyone."

Chapter 652 A Strange City

Luo Weiwei's expression became serious.

Can the listener save the world?This is complete nonsense.

In just one sentence, she heard countless flaws - the Privy Council has never predicted anything, and the listener is an object that needs to be controlled and used by them.And the listener is not much different from other alchemists in essence. If you have to describe it, it is that this kind of person is a sharper sword. As for whether the blade is to kill evil or innocent, it all depends on the listener himself .

According to Qian Yan, there were not a few people who listened to the chaos in the world at the end of the Yong Dynasty. Even she personally hunted and killed these alchemists who mastered immortal arts.

What's more, Luo Qingqing himself is a listener.

She made an oath to the door, but the door never asked her to be kind.

In other words, as long as she followed the way of order, even the most ruthless order would not be considered a breach of her oath.

This is enough to explain the absurdity of the rumors.

But the information provided by the children is much more than that.During the period of the Privy Council, the listener was regarded as one of the top secrets, and only the guardian level was qualified to know it. Generally, those who sensed Qi did not know that they had a second chance to awaken.This means that Salvationism is not a sect that formed spontaneously among the people in the past, at least its founders have some information that ordinary people are absolutely impossible to know.

Secondly, the Salvation Church dared to disclose the matter of the listener to the public, which proved that the other party knew very well that the Privy Council was completely paralyzed and had no spare power to interfere with the affairs of Youzhou.If the listener's news could be the accumulation of the past, accurately capturing the current situation of the Privy Council can only show that the other party has a complete intelligence system, and can even directly monitor Jinxia City in the east.

With such strength, but using unequal news to deceive the public, this "salvation religion" has already left an untrustworthy impression in Luo Qingqing's heart.

"Don't join them." She said in a deep voice, "I'm afraid these people didn't come here with good intentions."

"But...our food is basically exhausted." Li Le hesitated, "If it weren't for the rumors of the Salvation Sect, everyone wouldn't have stayed around Qianren City all the time."

"You don't have to worry about the food for the time being, I will find a way to solve it." Luo sighed softly in secret. These people are all victims of the collapse of order. It's fine if she doesn't see them. You can no longer stay out of it.

Killing is not the only way to maintain order.

"Do you want... want to..." Li Leka asked for a long time before struggling, "Do you want to buy us?"

Luo Qingqing couldn't help laughing, "Jinxia has already abolished human trafficking. Although the influence of the policy has not yet spread here, I believe it will happen sooner or later. So... I don't mean to buy you. "

"Jinxia?" This unfamiliar word made the children look at a loss.

Obviously, their knowledge did not include the seaside Yancheng in the east.

"Since you didn't intend to buy us, why did you..." Li Le asked puzzled.In his opinion, it is impossible for anyone in the world to do this for a group of strangers.

"Just treat it as a reward for providing me with a temporary residence." Luo gently waved his hand.

"But it's hard to find something to eat nearby..." Someone whispered, "Big sister, you don't really want to go to the city, do you?"

"Don't worry, I'm not only going into the city, but I'll come back with food before tomorrow evening." Luo nodded lightly and said, "You just have to wait here for me."

She wanted to see who turned Qianren City into what it is now.

……

The next day, Luo Qingqing found a carriage to enter the city, and followed the carriage to the east gate of the city.

She adopted the children's suggestions and redressed herself—not only changed the simple plain clothes into more simple linen clothes, but also wrapped her hair completely, and put on an eye patch by the way, restoring the " "Blind" look.She wasn't afraid of clashing with the armored men guarding the city gate, but she didn't want to cause unnecessary trouble, which would eventually lead to alarming the enemy.

As Li Le said, after collecting 20 taels of silver per head, the guards walked around the carriage to confirm that no one was being smuggled before letting the driver into the city.

Luo Weiwei, who passed through the Wengcheng and drove into the streets of the city, frowned even more.

The scene inside was quite different from what she remembered.

Those bungalows scattered along the street have now been razed to the ground, and the vacated land has turned into patches of farmland.

If it wasn't for the faint aura that those crops exuded, she would have thought that she had misread it.But the facts are in front of us, some people have indeed bulldozed some houses and re-planned the outer circle of the city as arable land!

Generally speaking, after the city is established, it will only expand and get bigger. This is the first time Luo Qingqing has seen such a retrograde planning measure.

The problem is that Qianren City has a limited land area, and there are many farmlands outside the city. At most, it is just a lack of people to cultivate it. It is wiser to mobilize the people who have fled here and restore food planting together than destroying houses in the city to reclaim wasteland. .

What is the purpose of the new ruler in doing so?

"Girl, where do you want to go?" asked the coachman.

"Futian Street, Luo's mansion." Luo gently suppressed his distracting thoughts, planning to go back to the mansion to take a look.

"The guest... Could it be from the Luo family?"

"No, what's wrong?"

"It's fine if it's not," the coachman sighed, "There...no one has been close to it for a long time."

As the carriage was driving, Luo Qingqing finally saw the urban area where the houses were connected, but she also noticed that there were many residents lying on the side of the street in twos and threes, as if they were begging for food or dozed off. Unfortunately, the gray vision It was not enough for her to see the scene in the city clearly.The only thing Luo Qingqing can be sure of is that the bustling Qianren City in the past is gone forever.

A quarter of an hour later, the coachman took her to her destination.

The huge courtyard and the green tile wall are still there, but the collapsed courtyard gate and unattended entrances and exits prove that this place is completely deserted.

Luo gently stepped over the broken door panel under his feet and walked into the Luo family compound.

The unpleasant smell of corruption immediately drilled into her nostrils.

With a feeling of worry, Luo Qingqing no longer hides his skills.She took a step forward and ran up to the eaves like a swallow, and after a few ups and downs, she rushed to the location of the library.

However, the buildings in her memory did not appear in her eyes as expected.

Luo Qingnian's heart sank to the bottom in an instant.

She jumped to the ground, ran along the all-too-familiar courtyard corridor, and found a patio after a while.

Looking at the bare stone patio, she suddenly realized that she was already standing in the Library Pavilion!

It's just that the three-story bookstore above the patio, as well as those ingenious bronze mirrors, covered bridges, and spiral staircases have disappeared.

Chapter 653 The Library Pavilion and the Burial Ground

Where are the books?Where have all the books gone! ?

Luo gently bent down, circled around the edge of the well, and then followed the stone ladder into the courtyard—Luo You'er was not by her side, and she could only see the scene under her feet clearly if she was as close to the ground as possible.

Within ten steps, the stairs came to the bottom.

Only then did she realize that the original seven-storey patio had been filled with soil until only one floor remained!

Luo Weiqing didn't care too much, and dug with both hands—the soil was very loose, and it had not been compacted repeatedly, and it could be seen that it had been filled in recently.After a while, she found some broken pieces of paper, and after holding them up to her eyes for a closer look, Luo slightly felt a chill all over her body.

These papers undoubtedly come from the books in Zangshuge.

But now, they have become disorganized, and there are traces of blackening at the corners, which proves that someone once burned the books in this place.

The thing she was most worried about had happened.

Luo lightly raised his fist and slammed it to the ground——

If the Privy Council wanted the alchemists from the Luo family, they could just take them away, why didn't they even let the Zangshuge go! ?

When the fist penetrated deep into the soil, another black thing was thrown out.

Startled slightly, she picked up the object.

It was an arm.

Who it belonged to has no way of knowing. There is very little flesh attached to the bone. The only reason why it has not rotted and rotted is because it has been scorched by the fire, and the entire arm has been completely scorched, like a broken branch.

Luo couldn't help but think of the corpses hanging above his head when he passed through the city gate.

She felt something rise up in her stomach.

……

Leaving Luo's mansion staggeringly, Luo gently leaned against the wall by the side of the road to rest for a while before recovering.

It's not that she didn't expect that the Library Pavilion might be destroyed in the turmoil, and some books might be damaged or even lost, but after all, it's the accumulation of the Luo family for nearly a hundred years, even if the alchemist broke with the clan, they wouldn't pour out their hatred Go to the bookstore.At least among the people who are angry with the Luo family she knows, there is no one who hates books.

The title of "Youzhou Luo Family, Universal Knowledge of All Things" is by no means an honor unique to the clan. Even if the person who senses Qi becomes an alchemist of the Privy Council, he should do his best to maintain this title.

Her plan fell through completely.

"Miss Luo...Luo Qingqing, is it really you?" Suddenly, a slightly startled voice came from beside him.

Luo slightly turned his head to look, and found a vague figure looking at him.Judging from the appearance of qi, the other party is not a person who is sensitive to qi. His outline looks like a young man, but his voice is not someone he is familiar with.

"You are……"

"It's inconvenient to talk here, let's move to another place first." He took two steps closer and suddenly froze, "Your eyes..."

"It's okay." Luo gently took off the blindfold, "It's just that I can't see clearly, and it's okay to recognize the way."

"Really?" He withdrew his half-stretched hand, lowered his head and said, "Then please follow me."

After detouring two streets, the man led her into a magnificent three-story pavilion-it looked like an inn, but it was not open for business.There were many women gathered in the corridor, and they giggled when they saw Luo Qingqing, as if they were watching some joke.The man didn't explain, and led her into a narrow guest room without stopping.

"Huh..." He let out a long breath after closing the door, then turned around and looked at Luo Qingqing, "Sorry, I shouldn't have let you come to this kind of place, but now the Luo family is not what it used to be. "

"You are from the clan." Luo Qingqing already had a rough guess about the man's identity. After all, there are only a handful of people in Qianren City who can recognize her in disguise. This person must be quite familiar with her, at least She has been in contact for a long time, and she has not remembered it yet.Only the Zong family can meet these two conditions.

"Yes, Youzhou geniuses really deserve their reputation." He cupped his hands and saluted formally, "My name is Luo Zhisheng, and I am the eldest grandson of the Second Household Branch. You can call me Zhisheng."

He is fifteen or sixteen years old at most, younger than himself.

Luo nodded slightly, "Why did the Luo family's mansion become like this? Cangshu Pavilion... Who destroyed it?"

"It's the current city lord, Lu Qiheng. He was originally an alchemist sent by the Privy Council. Ever since he knew that the Privy Council was defeated, he has completely changed." Luo Zhisheng said in a low tone, "This person did not directly target the Luo family. , because after the Luo family split, the mansion was sealed off, and no one from the clan was allowed to enter. At that time, the library was still in good condition, and I heard that it was the Patriarch who used the lives of his family to keep the mansion intact."

"And after that?"

"After the death of the Patriarch, many Luo family members left Qianren City—everyone was worried that Ning Qianshi would just stop for a while, and wait for the second round of liquidation after the situation stabilized. Among those who decided to stay in the city, I was one of them. One... After all, there used to be everything from the Luo family here." He sat down opposite Luo Qingqing, "But no one thought that Lu Qiheng was crazy. He announced that Qianren City would no longer be under the control of the imperial court or the Privy Council, and that It belonged to him alone, and then ordered the demolition of the houses in the outer ring to vacate the land, saying that he would achieve self-sufficiency within a year. At the same time, he also increased taxes and demoted those homeless people to slaves for him. Cultivate wasteland, build city defenses, and say this is the only way to keep Qianren City."

Luo Qingqing didn't know what to say for a while.

She considered many reasons, but she didn't expect this to happen.

——No matter what the other party's intentions are, this is already a de facto separatist regime.

"What about the library?"

Retaining the Luo family's mansion clearly has no hindrance to his ambitions!

"Many people opposed him, including officials from the original six ministries, as well as literati, businessmen, and common people in Qianren City. Lu Qiheng mobilized the city guards to carry out a large-scale purge, and all those who opposed him were sentenced to death." Luo Zhisheng sighed , "There are at least one or two thousand people who died because of this, including the disciples of the clan. Because there were too many people and the burning place was not enough, he used the courtyard of the Zangshu Pavilion as a natural burning place, and those books became It became the fuel to draw materials nearby."

Luo gently couldn't help clenching his teeth.

She finally knew why there were charred bones in an underground stone well where books were stored.