Daming's Bizarre Story: Painted Skin

Fu Heng bowed and replied politely: "Miss A-Ning, we meet again."

The middle-aged man with the tall hat immediately took a few steps forward: "Mr. Changshan, is there something important to come to Shizipu today?"

Fu Heng pointed at Zhao Ran with a smile and said, "Treasurer Tao, do you know who this young master is?"

Shopkeeper Tao took a look at Zhaoran, as if he still couldn't recover.

Fu Heng shook his head lightly: "These years Zhang Xiaobai has been very happy. Let me tell you that his surname is Rong."

He spoke unceremoniously, but shopkeeper Tao didn't show any anger, but lowered his head and thought for a while, and then his face revealed a look of surprise: "Jiang's family is Rong Xian, Mr. Rong."

Zhao Ran was a little admirable, but it was rare for Fu Heng to remind him a little bit, that shopkeeper Tao was able to guess who he was, and it was true that he was buying and selling news.

Fu Heng said leisurely: "Mr. Rong's battle against the Buddha's mother is famous throughout the capital. It has been spread in the streets and alleys these days. Everyone knows who Mr. Rong is. It's a pity that Master Tao didn't know him face to face."

There was already a trace of sweat on Shopkeeper Tao's forehead, and it was obvious that he was quite panic-stricken. Thinking that he was the one who was looking for trouble, he waved his hand and said, "Shopkeeper Tao, it's okay for us to recognize him later."

"Young master, please take your seat."

Zhao Ran sat down on his seat, Tao Da shopkeeper brought tea, and then said: "I don't know what advice Mr. Rong has?"

"I'll give you a clue!" Zhao Rong knocked on the bamboo slips on the table and said with a smile.

Shopkeeper Tao Da laughed a few times: "Young master, although Shizipu pays according to news, not all news will be bought."

Although he was a little surprised that the person in front of him was Jiang Furong, who had been in the ear for the past two days, he still felt a little disapproving in his mind that he could provide so many breaths in one breath, and because of Fu Heng's face, he said it in a mild manner.

"It's enough if the buyer is willing to pay." Zhaoran took a sip of the tea foam, drank two mouthfuls of the high-quality tea from Shizipu, and then picked up a bamboo slip and said: "Liu Sheng, a native of Tang County, Baoding Prefecture, whose name is Zhong Yu, who was born in the 11th year of Zhengtong, went to Beijing to rush for the exam and his whereabouts are unknown, and the day of disappearance was ten days ago."

Shopkeeper Tao said: "I just took a breath today."

Zhao Ran pointed to this sign and said, "The person who came to announce the emptiness should be Liu Sheng's uncle and uncle, right?"

Shopkeeper Tao was slightly taken aback: "Master Rong recognizes Liu Sheng?"

Zhao Ran shook his head, pointed at the bamboo slips and said, "At this time, there are still three months before Chunwei, and it is the end of the new year. Ordinary students take a vacation, go to the mountains to pick plums and visit snow, or find a gentle town to stay for a few days. It's all normal things, but this person is not only sure that Liu Sheng is missing, but also spent hundreds of taels of silver to find him, so it can be seen that this person is probably his elder, who came after ten days, although he is an elder, he should not be a close relative."

Shopkeeper Tao thought but didn't speak.

Zhao Ran continued: "At the same time, it can be seen that the two of them are most likely not to live together, so the elder is not a native of the capital. Liu Sheng lives in the village hall where the examinees live, while the elder should live in the inn. , You can buy news with hundreds of taels of silver, this elder is a businessman, he came from Tang County, this is a jujube merchant."

As he spoke, he took out another bamboo slip: "Here is a shop of four seasons looking for a maid. This maid is fair-skinned and has a red mole between her eyebrows. It can be seen that although she is not young, she is still lovely and pitiful. My lord." The family paid more to find someone than Uncle Liu Sheng paid to find a nephew, so this is not a maid, but probably the wife and concubine of the owner of the Four Seasons Shop."

Zhao Ran said and merged the two bamboo slips together: "The jujube seller lost a nephew, and the jujube buyer lost a wife and concubine. You may wish to ask the buyers of the two news, and ask them if they recognize each other."

He said with a grin: "Is the information I provided worth half of the silver?

Shopkeeper Tao's forehead was sweating again.

Zhaoran took out another bamboo slip: "This is a vacancy for the Datong warehouse to look for ships. Also, the year is approaching, and a ship that has not yet entered the customs cannot be an empty ship, but the warehouse is only looking for ships. Not to mention what kind of goods are inside, it can be seen that most of them are forbidden things."

"If the smuggled goods are gunpowder and weapons, then the Datong warehouse must not even dare to find the ship, so it is the occasional bootleg wine, salt, and seafood. The bandit who dares to steal such a ship of bootleg goods is of course a big thief, and This Datong warehouse has been searched for so long, but no trace of him can be found. It can be seen that he is not only good at stealing goods, but also very good at selling them. But how do you sell them without a trace?"

Ah Ning listened with gusto, while Ying Ning leaned against the window and didn't turn her head back. Fu Heng held a teacup and said, "I would like to hear more about it."

"Simple. He just needs to come to a place like Shizipu to post a vacancy. This vacancy has three characteristics. The first one is that the thing he is looking for is strange and almost impossible to find, and the second is the reward. low, almost no one is interested, and third, its date is about the same as the Datong warehouse looking for a ship."

Zhaoran picked out one from a row of bamboo slips: "Five taels of silver looking for a bald, lame, chested old woman. This bald, lame, chested old man can barely be found, but this bald, lame, chested old woman is probably not even the door. It won't come out. But what is the purpose of this person coming to post this news? It is to inform those old customers that he has new products. Any buyer who can understand these messages may take the silver to a certain place. Wait at the designated place, and then someone will lead them to buy these stolen goods. Buy them if they are in stock, and sell them if they are out of stock. There is no need to have a fixed place and a fixed contact person, so they come and go without a trace.”

Aning said considerately: "Master, shopkeeper Tao said just now that they have a lot of friendship with Shuntian Fu Yin, but you have done a great job for them, and the five taels of silver is really a good deal."

Zhao Ran elongated his voice and said, "Zhang Xiaobai, Boss Zhang is such a rich man. When I bought his things, they were all priced in pearls, five taels of silver. Isn't this a slap in the face of Boss Zhang?"

Shopkeeper Tao is no longer sweating on his forehead, but sweating through his heavy clothes: "Rong, Mr. Rong."

As he spoke, Zhang Xiaobai's frowning face appeared, and it was the first time for Zhaoran to follow Zhang Xiaobai's face, and he almost failed to recognize it.

"Young Master Rong, Young Master Fu." Zhang Xiaobai cupped his fists and made a bow.

Zhao Ran giggled and said, "Xiao Bai, don't come here without any problems."

Zhang Xiaobai said wittily, "Let's make a price for the news that Mr. Rong just heard."

Zhaoran looked at it carefully several times, but couldn't tell whether he had seen Zhang Xiaobai before. He just pretended to be embarrassed and thought about it: "How did Xiaobai set the price for me back then."

Zhang Xiaobai said honestly: "How much I took from Mr. Rong Rong, my original price..."

Just now when he said this, he saw the onion next to him baring his teeth, so he quickly changed his words: "The original price will be doubled."

Zhaoran laughed "haha": "What did I say, Boss Zhang is Boss Zhang."

Zhang Xiaobai didn't even hit a single one, and immediately closed the shop to pay the bill, and then sent the four master and servant out of the gate respectfully.

----

Aning held the money box and said happily: "Zhang Xiaobai has never been the only one who extorts money from others, and only the young master can let him spit out the money that comes to him."

Zhao Ran was very satisfied and said: "Well said, no one in this world can take advantage of my Rong Xian!"

He pointed to the money in the box and said, "Give me the remaining half, and the three of you can use the remaining half to buy something you like. I will wait for you at the teahouse opposite, and I will buy two stuffed duck meat for my young master." The steamed stuffed bun is back."

Ah Ning, although Ying Ning is a stranger, she actually doesn't have much money in her pocket on weekdays. This half of the money is really not small money. Ying Ning was dragged away by Aning just as she was about to say no.

Zhao Ran turned his head and looked at the depths of the alley. It seemed that it was not far from the address mentioned by the dragon patriarch in his dream. Although he didn't believe it was true in his heart, he still said to the dragon patriarch unknowingly. Go to the yard you passed.

----

Zhang Xiaobai waved Tao shopkeeper away, and then said to Fu Heng: "I don't know what is the important matter of Huosheng here."

Fu Hengdao: "The divine soul lamp placed by Patriarch Long outside the city has been extinguished, and he is dead."

Even Zhang Xiaobai, who can be called the master of the world's news, seemed to be stunned for a moment, before saying: "The world is going to be in chaos."

"Without Patriarch Long, the Protoss would be like a piece of loose sand. The National Teacher has gathered a group of survivors by his side, so it's hard not to make trouble. Now you can sell the secret of Shen Fangji that Patriarch Long asked you to keep to me." Fu Heng put down the teacup in his hand .

Zhang Xiaobai hesitated for a while before saying: "The secret that Patriarch Long asked me to keep is not about Shen Fangji, but about Rong Xian."

"Rong Xian?"

"About ten years ago, Patriarch Long went to Patriarch Tianmang and asked him to tell him the secret of how to enter and leave Yegu City. The patriarch of Tianmang had no choice but to tell Patriarch Long that not all of them could enter and exit Yegu City. Gucheng, there is only one person who can go in and out of Yegu City, and they have been called Zhaoran in all generations. And Zhaoran of their generation is called Rongxian."

Fu Hengdao: "Rong Xian is so talented, presumably the other Zhao Ran are also extremely smart people. They kept going to Yegu City, what did they find?"

Zhang Xiaobai said: "Patriarch Long didn't elaborate on this point, and the patriarch Tianmang didn't tell him, but I think it must be a huge secret to lure Zhaoming to go to Yegu City continuously."

"The huge secret...could it be the whereabouts of General Taiyin?" Fu Heng frowned.

Zhang Xiaobai shook his head: "If it is the whereabouts of General Taiyin, why does the Tianmang clan need to hide Patriarch Long? Moreover, Patriarch Tianmang even sued Patriarch Long. As for why Zhaoran was able to enter and exit Yegu City, they don't know, because Zhaoran...is not actually Tianlong. A member of the python family."

"It's not a member of the Skypython clan..." Fu Heng pondered for a while before he said seriously: "As far as I know, the national teacher has sent Wen Zhigeng to capture the Skypython clansmen near Jiuwei Peak, and we must not let them get ahead of us." Otherwise, we don’t know how many innocent people will die because of this, so if necessary, we may need to persuade Rong Xian to go to Yegu City again.”

Zhang Xiaobai sent Fu Heng away and let out a long breath. He turned his head and saw the window opened at some time, so he got up and walked over to close the window. Suddenly his back sank, and there was a small onion face behind him. He turned sideways: "Xiaobai."

"You...you..." Zhang Xiaobai's eyes widened, and the hairs all over his body were about to stand on end.

Onion said politely: "Long time no see, I miss you very much."

Zhang Xiaobai wanted to cry, "I don't dare, I don't know what Master Yang...does you need?"

Onion said solemnly: "You really want me to eat you, don't you? I'm actually here to tell you, give up on this... I won't eat you!"

----

Standing at the gate of the yard, Zhaoran looked at the branches protruding from the yard wall and said to himself, it really is a yard with jujube trees.

He looked around twice, and turned in from the courtyard wall. The courtyard had obviously been unoccupied for a long time, and a thick layer of fallen leaves had accumulated on the ground. He looked up at the top of the tall trees and thought, there really must be people here. Another half token?

Zhaoran spat in the palm of his hand, climbed up the tree, peeled off the floating leaves on it, and sure enough saw an oiled paper bag hidden inside, Zhaoran took it apart repeatedly, and there was really half a token inside .

Patriarch Long's conjecture was absolutely correct. They didn't return to their dreams, but they really returned to before Yinli was taken away from Dang Fishing Village.

He sat on the tree, looked at the token in his hand, and wondered in a daze if Jiuru had lied to him?Jiuru once said that everything he saw was unreal, but the truth is... everything happened for real.

Suddenly, an elegant and pleasant voice came from beside his ear: "Where are you?"