Daming's Bizarre Story: Painted Skin

Yang Danshu and Sun Qi walked around the main hall with lanterns. Occasionally, some students ran out of the hall to go to the toilet. Other than that, there was only the sound of raindrops hitting the roof.

"Don't you find it strange?" Yang Danshu asked.

"What's so strange?" Sun Qi absent-mindedly looked at the dark rainy ground, thinking what he should ask was not so strange.

Yang Danshu looked around for a while, and then said: "When I sent the list just now, Jia Chen wanted to go over and count the number of people on the list, and then I heard him mutter, it seems that there is one missing person on the list. Then I passed by Zhaoxian's At that time, he took the list and counted it again. It was strange, he said that there was one more person on the list. So later I took the list and counted it, and there were exactly twelve people, no more and no less. "

"It's twelve people!" Sun Qi was stunned. "We were originally fourteen people. Now that Gu Kuan and Yan Dan are missing, there are still twelve people left. How could there be one more or one less?"

Although a corner of the list he hid was soaked and the names were blurred, there was no mistake in the fact that there were twelve people.

Yang Danshu said: "That's right, there can be no mistakes. Senior He is afraid that there will be fewer people, so he asked me to register all the people, and then count them again. There are twelve, one is not too many, and one is not too few. Absolutely not. Could be wrong."

He picked up the umbrella and said, "Me, I counted back and forth several times! You, me, little saint, Jia Chen, Zhao Xian, Gu Yan, He Panying, Zhou Minxue, Lu Tao, Zhu Yangguang, Liu Shenxue , Su Qiyan, twelve."

Sun Qi stepped into the water, and the water splashed wet his shoes. Xu Danshu said: "Be careful, don't get my shoes wet."

Yang Danshu is usually a playboy, sometimes he doesn't care about anything except his clothes, this is what annoys Sun Qi the most.

Putting his hands in his sleeves, Sun Qi almost sweated the list. Yang Danshu knocked his feet under the eaves, shaking off the floating water, and said, "By the way, this temple was originally used to enshrine who Yes, even the little saint doesn’t know about it.”

Sun Qi looked at the half-repaired temple and said nothing, the mountain wind was a bit strong, Yang Danshu put his hands around the lamp in his hand: "Anyway, if I can escape from Bailu Book City and get back this life, I will In the future, I must marry a wife as soon as possible, be filial to my parents, cherish life, and live a better life."

"Then you won't sneak out of the academy to spend time and drink again, right? I remember that you still have an alias, and you are in the embroidery building in the book city... you are somewhat famous." Sun Qi said with his back to Yang Danshu, and the footsteps behind him suddenly stopped up.

Sun Qi's neck turned around a little stiffly, the mountain wind swayed the candlelight in the deathly wind lantern, making Yang Danshu's face dark and gloomy, and the raindrops kept falling on his face along the corner of the eaves, but he didn't seem to Little awareness.

"Sun Qi, you are right, there is an extra person on that list." Yang Danshu's expression was a little cold, "The extra person...is me."

Liu Shenyan was originally Yang Danshu's pseudonym, they are the same person, but on this list they are listed separately under the names of two people.

At this moment, Sun Qicai realized that he was a little far away from the main entrance of the main hall, the wind and rain were so loud, and the voices in the hall were so chaotic, even if he yelled, the people in the hall would not be able to hear him.

He turned around and ran towards the gate, he didn't want to go back to the main hall, he ran out from here, ran out from here, he kept shouting in his heart.

"Don't run away!" Yang Danshu chased after him, "I have something to tell you."

Sun Qi ran forward recklessly. The steep mountain steps seemed to lead vertically to the abyss. In the rainy night, the steps were as slippery as if dripping with oil. Sun Qi stepped on the ground and the whole person headed down the mountain. After rolling down, someone suddenly rushed forward and grabbed his hand.

Yang Danshu grabbed his hand with difficulty: "Damn why are you running?"

With chattering teeth, Sun Qi said, "Who are you?"

Yang Danshu said angrily: "Who else am I, of course it is Yang Danshu." He looked at Sun Qi and sighed, "Don't worry, I won't hurt you."

Sun Qi barely stabilized his figure in the mud, and immediately took a few steps back, keeping a distance from Yang Danshu: "Then why are you chasing me?"

"It's so dark, and it's raining so hard, what if something happens if you run down?" Yang Danshu leaned forward and stretched out his hand to him, "Come on, I'll pull you!"

"You, don't come here!" Sun Qi pushed Yang Danshu violently, and Yang Danshu was pushed down from the mountain steps by him, rolling down vertically all the way until he fell to the ground without a sound.

"Yang, Yang..." Sun Qi couldn't help swallowing when he saw Yang Danshu lying motionless on his waist, and boldly approached him.

Yang Danshu died, he fell to the side of the mountain step with his eyes wide open... If Yang Danshu was really a demon, how could he die so easily?

At that moment, Sun Qi regretted that Yang Danshu had just chased after him and said that he had something to tell him, maybe he really had something to tell him.

What the hell is he going to say?Sun Qi's heart was full of panic, he always felt that something had been missed, he shouldn't just run for his life in panic, Sun Qi grabbed his hair, feeling remorse from the bottom of his heart.

Panting heavily, Sun Qi turned his head suddenly, looked at the faintly bright temple on the top of the mountain path, and walked towards it again. He was going there to tell everyone, to warn Mr. He, there are weirdness in this temple...

The closer he was to the temple gate, the heavier his steps were. After all, he killed Yang Danshu, would the people in this temple believe his words?

Sun Qi didn't go into the palace door, but approached the window, suddenly he seemed to see a person, through the window Sun Qi's pupils suddenly widened, like a bottomless well, he suddenly understood why he also Can count to twelve.

Obviously he knew that Liu Shenxue was Yang Danshu, but he still counted twelve people.

A piece of paper floated out of his sleeve and landed on the dark ground. A few drops of rain patted on it, but it didn't matter, Sun Qi already knew the name on it, Sun Qizhong...it was his words.

Like Yang Danshu, he repeated himself twice.

Suddenly, he felt a cold hand on his neck, and someone grabbed his neck from behind. Sun Qi struggled desperately, but he tried his best, but he couldn't break free from the hand behind his back.

"Help..." Sun Qi said silently, and the cold rainwater poured in from his mouth until it overflowed.

He heard the person behind him whisper something in his ear, Sun Qi seemed to understand in that moment, he smiled wryly, and then heard the sound of his neck being twisted, the smile was broken before it took shape. It froze on his lips.

----

There was a loud wind and rain outside, and the stove was burning in the hall, making people drowsy. In fact, most people were already sleeping against the pillars and walls, but Zhao Ran couldn’t sleep. There was one more person on the list, but He couldn't point out this person no matter what.

Moreover, it seems that Sun Qi and Yang Danshu have been out for a long time.

"Jiu Ru, how many people are there in our palace?" This question is a bit naive, because of the current body shape problem, it is obvious that he is extremely reluctant to have anything happen that will make Jiu Ru treat him like a child, but he has been thinking for a long time. No answer.

Jiu Ru slowly raised his eyelids and looked at Zhao Ran, his eyes were dyed with light fire, which looked like lake water in the middle of the night: "How many did you see?"

"Eleven, why are there twelve on the list?" Zhao Ranwei said with some reluctance, "But when I looked at the list, I couldn't count the extra person?"

Still looking at Zhaoran, Jiu Ru slowly browsed through the people in the hall, then put his hand on top of his head: "Zhaoxian, find out the extra person!"

Zhaoran felt that Jiuru's words were very cautious, and before he could ask again, He Panying interrupted them: "Sir, Sun Qi and Yang Danshu have been away for a long time, I want to find another group of people to replace them." return."

"You arrange it."

He Panying stood up, opened the door and shouted outside: "Sun Qi, Dan Shu, you can come back!"

But no one responded to him outside the door, the dark door opening looked like a man-eating beast mouth.

He Panying's yell woke up many drowsy students, and whispers sounded in the hall.

"Go, go out and have a look." He Panying picked up the stick and ordered a few students to go out with him.

The hall returned to a short period of calm, but Zhao Ran knew that it was just an illusion. At this moment, he seemed to be able to hear the sound of panic boiling in people's hearts. and restlessness.

"Sir!" As if to verify their uneasiness, He Panying ran in with his head full of water, and said with a slightly panicked expression: "Sun Qi has an accident!"

At the same time, footsteps came from outside the door. This time Jiuru opened his eyes, he turned his eyes lightly, the door was pushed open, and Meng Chengtian, who was dressed in a strong outfit and looked like a tree facing the wind, walked in following the wind and rain. He bowed and saluted with a smile, "Sir, I am relieved that you are safe and sound."

Hengsheng followed behind him, keeping his head down and expressionless.

Jiu Ru slightly owed his lower body: "I'm worried about Mr. Meng."

Meng Chengtian brushed off the water droplets on his body: "I was just at the foot of the mountain steps and saw one of your students stumble and fall to his death."

----

A group of them followed He Panying out of the temple gate in the rain, and saw Jia Chen standing on the highest step. Following his gaze, they quickly found out

It wasn't Yang Danshu, but Sun Qi leaned to the side of the mountain steps. The two Jinyi guards tried it first, then shook their heads and asked clearly, "Where's Yang Danshu?"

"I didn't find his figure, could it be that...he fled in fear of crime." He Panying panted heavily, "But why did Yang Danshu kill Sun Qi?"

Zhao Ran pointed to the mountain and said, "If Yang Danshu wanted to kill Sun Qi, why didn't Sun Qi run towards the temple, but outside the temple gate?"

"That's right..." Meng Chengtian said calmly, "Could it be that Sun Qi thinks that the outside of this temple gate is safer than the inside of the main hall?"

"What did you say?" Some of the students were dissatisfied.

The sound of raindrops hitting Meng Chengtian's hat, he said nonchalantly: "Isn't it? You have killed two students in a row, and two students have disappeared, and there are no outsiders here, so it can be seen that the murderer is among you. Do you really think that you Aren't they suspicious of each other?"

As soon as he said this, the students all looked at each other in blank dismay, only a few people still insisted on retorting: "We are in trouble here, and the matter with the demon tree has not been resolved yet, why kill our own people?"

He Panying said: "That's right, Mr. Meng, it's raining so hard, if we want to come out, our shoes and hats will definitely get wet, it can't be us."

"Yes! Exactly." All the students said one after another.

Zhao Ran sneered: "Mr. Meng, you searched for the Imperial Academy, which is close to the lecture hall. You didn't go there to meet Mr. Jin Yiwei Fu, but you crossed half of the academy to come to us?"

Meng Chengtian looked at Jiu Ru, bowed slightly and said, "That's because I'm worried about Mr. As a student, it's reasonable to be worried about Mr.

"This mountain step is so steep, don't you guys find out who is the murderer of Sun Qi?"

Meng Chengtian's eyes turned to Zhao Ran's face, with a half-smile: "No, we didn't see anything. Believe it or not, it's up to you."

----

There was another group of people in the temple, but no one felt that it had become warmer, and no one dared to leave the temple easily. The newly organized patrol team seemed to have ended in such a hasty manner.

Meng Chengtian brought a group of guards with him, and he didn't intend to move at all. He leaned against the pillar, and only occasionally raised his eyes, his eyes swept over Jiu Ru's body.

He Panying stood at the door and shouted twice, no one was willing to stand up, finally Jia Chen and Zhao Ran stood up.

"Thank you so much." He Panying looked at the two people beside him, but he didn't expect that the last two people who sacrificed their lives were the two people he least expected. Zhao Xian was short and thin, while Jia Chen was distracted look.

"The two are not afraid of hardships and dangers, and they are indeed saints."

Jia Chen glanced at him and ignored him, but Zhao Ran scratched his head and said, "Actually, I came out because I wanted you two questions."

"Excuse me." He Panying put on the bamboo hat.

"Have you counted the people in the room?" Zhao Ran asked.

Jia Chen said, "Thirteen."

He Panying said almost at the same time: "Twelve."

The two of them looked at each other, and Jia Chen said again, "It's thirteen!"

He Panying shook her head: "Twelve, I've counted them several times, and I can't be wrong."

Jia Chen said, "Then you report the name of the person you saw."

"Okay." He Panying, "The people I see include little saints, you, me, Zhao Xian, Gu Yan, Sun Qi, Yang Danshu, Lu Tao, Zhou Minxue, Zhu Yangguang, Gu Houde, Su Qiyan."

Jia Chen's complexion was pale: "Gu Houde is Gu Kuan, right? Didn't he die at the foot of the mountain? Why can you see him?"

He Panying showed confusion on his face, but it gradually turned into a look of horror: "That is to say, he has been following us, me, there are ghosts among us!"

"What about you, Jia Chen?" Zhao Ran asked, "Why...you saw thirteen people."

Jia Chen raised his face and looked at Zhao Ran: "I want to know, how many can you see?"

He said, staring at Zhaoran with He Panying's eyes, Zhaoran was silent for a while before saying: "I can only see eleven."

"Eleven, it's eleven people..." Jia Chen murmured.

He Panying said anxiously: "Which people did you see, why did you see thirteen?"

Jia Chen bit his lip, raised his head and said, "I don't know, I counted and counted, and I always feel that there are thirteen people in the hall, I don't know why there is one more than you, and two more than Zhaoxian !"

He Panying turned her head and asked Zhaoran, "What about you?"

Zhao Ran thought for a while and spread his hands and said, "I'm the same as Jia Chen. I can't say exactly why I saw one less person than you and two less than Jia Chen, but I'm sure there are eleven people. I counted the night."

He Panying frowned and said: "The demon tree has confused our vision. Now there is only one explanation, that is, there is someone who is not human in the hall. Let's not say anything, just wait and see what happens."

Jia Chen nodded slightly dully, and said clearly, "Okay."

"Someone went up the mountain again." He Panying picked up the stick.

The torrential rain was pouring, and the people at the bottom of the mountain rushed up the mountain. He Panying saw clearly that it was Fu Heng's group of Jin Yiwei who put away the sticks in their hands.

"The water below is almost submerging the academy, so I can't stay here anymore." Fu Heng yelled against the heavy rain, "Your people are all in the temple."

They are all here but dare not say, He Panying could only vaguely say: "The little saint is in the temple."

----

Soon there was another group of people in the hall, and now the empty hall became lively, and people's hearts were once again at ease.

After Fu Heng and the others wiped off the rain on their bodies, they asked plainly, "How did Mr. Fu get the news about Bailu Book City and go straight to Mr. Meng's stronghold?"

It was not difficult for Jin Yiwei to get the news that Bailu Book City was in trouble in the demon tree, but it was a bit difficult for Fu Heng to go to Meng Chengtian's posthumous place before he arrived in Book City.

Fu Hengdao: "Actually, we were able to find Mr. Meng's place exactly after we received a report from the county magistrate of Bailu Book City."

"County magistrate?" Thinking that the county magistrate who fled had such foresight, Zhao Ran was surprised.

"His master is quite courageous. He also wanted to follow us back to Bailu Book City and said that he would bring back a plate of incense rolls to the county magistrate. It seems that someone is in the heart of the sky, and the moon is in the water." Yang Wan sighed and shook his head, "This literati loves you." Arty, I'm not afraid of ruining his master's life for a plate of incense."

Zhao Ran thought about it carefully, it seems that there really must be such a shadow beside the county magistrate, his brows are so faint that people can't recall it.

"People are in the heart of heaven, and the moon is in the water." Zhaoran read softly, and he couldn't help turning his head to look at Jiuru.

I saw Jiuru Chen Mo's gaze was also looking at him.

According to his original inference, Su and Xu had a son on the same day, Su gave birth to a son Hengsheng, Xu gave birth to a daughter Yinniang, Baimei returned Yinniang to Su, and exchanged it with Xu. A dead baby, and then control Hengsheng in his hands.

After Hengsheng grew up, Meng Qingwan and Yinniang had a crush on him at the same time, and Hengsheng unintentionally revealed his own life experience. In order to get revenge, he used his good looks to seduce both Meng Qingwan and Yinniang at the same time.That's why Yinniang didn't follow Xu's suggestion, she didn't seek the position of Miss Meng's mansion, but used that embroidered shoe to blackmail Mrs. Meng Baimei's money, that's why she poisoned Meng Qingwan.

Her purpose was to fly away with Hengsheng after she got a large sum of money.

After Xu realized this, she changed her mind about hiding the embroidered shoes to Yinniang. Yinniang, who didn't get the embroidered shoes, hurriedly went to Hengsheng to discuss it. The secret meeting between him and Yinniang behind the bookstore was revealed to Baimei, who led Baimei to meet Yinniang.

In the bookstore, Hengsheng deliberately tripped the shopkeeper's feet to attract his attention. The purpose was to lure the shopkeeper to the back alley and hear Baimei review the past about Madam Xu, so that the shopkeeper would know the incident that killed his benefactor and friend. The fire that burned her to death was not accidental, but caused by Madam Xu.

At this time, Hengsheng asked Meng Qingwan to come forward and exchange killings with the hated shopkeeper of the bookstore. The shopkeeper killed Mrs. Meng's wife Baimei, and Meng Qingwan was responsible for killing Madam Xu.

In the end, Meng Qingwan also died from Yinniang's poisoning. From the beginning to the end, everyone died cleanly, but the real murderer was actually Hengsheng who had been watching.

Zhao Ran didn't believe that Master really came back to pick up a plate of elegant incense, he must have come back for a reason, they abandoned their official positions and fled because of the Meng Mansion case, so they must have come back because of this case.

People are in the sky, and the moon is in the water.

Zhaoran raised his head and looked at Hengsheng who was sitting silently at the side, his fair neck was slightly bent, but it didn't make people feel that he was bowing his head and leaning on his ears.

Those words seem to have different meanings, but they all have one meaning, that is, people and the moon are reflections in the water.