The flower is a tulip [Chu Liuxiang]

It was not until several months later, when Chu Liuxiang's mind was finally free, that he asked Hua Manlou, "How did you find my boat?"

This question had obviously been held in his mind for a long time, and he couldn't stop asking it, so he didn't ask Hua Manlou to answer it right away, but continued to speculate.

"Few people in the martial arts world know that I live on a boat, and those who know about it don't know my identity in the martial arts world. Unless you have known Rong Rong, Hong Xiu or Tian'er before..."

"I don't know her. It was the first time I saw Miss Su when I was by Daming Lake."

Hua Manlou replied with a smile, his expression showed that he was not lying.So Chu Liuxiang continued to speak out the speculation that had been thought about many times.

"Maybe you guessed that my ship will stop at the port of Penglai. I told you that I made an appointment with Rongrong to meet you in seven days. You know that I arrived in Jinan three days ago, and it is four days away from Jinan." The port is Penglai."

"Yes."

This time Hua Manlou nodded in recognition.But Chu Liuxiang still frowned.

"But it's not just that one boat in port. People don't usually expect me to be on a... that kind of boat."

"I didn't expect that either." Hua Manlou continued to smile, as if lamenting his own luck, he shook his head, "I just can't imagine Xiangshuai sitting on a fishing boat, not to mention the salty sea breeze on your body , but no fishy smell."

"Maybe I'm on a cargo ship."

Hua Manlou still shook his head: "I can't even imagine that you are a private salt dealer."

Chu Liuxiang was taken aback, but Hua Manlou laughed even more happily.

"At that time, there was only one boat on the pier with a relatively deep draft, which seemed to be loaded with cargo. I sneaked to check. Although there were fishing nets and other things on board, the sacks in the cabin were full of salt. Moreover, they stopped for a long time. slipped away like a shadow."

Chu Liuxiang touched her nose, as if thinking about the possibility of adding the title "private salt dealer" before her name.Then, with a "poof", he and Hua Manlou laughed out loud.

"Although your ship is a ship with thousands of grains, anyone can tell that there is not even a stone of grain on board, and the people on board neither load nor unload. Although I still can't imagine Chu Liuxiang on an official ship, But I was curious for a while, so I sneaked up at night and touched the kitchen..."

Hearing Hua Manlou mentioning that day, Li Hongxiu and Song Tian'er next to him couldn't help laughing.

Chu Liuxiang stopped touching her nose, but scratched her head, and said, "Why is it the kitchen?"

Hua Manlou smiled towards Song Tianer and the others, and said slowly, "Because the people in the kitchen are the happiest and least hostile people."

Food is the most important thing for people, and the people who work in the kitchen are actually facing the simplest and most profound problems in the world.

The question of "survival".

When a person thinks about "birth", his heart will be open and clear.

And those who like to cook are those who regard "life" as fun.

Just like Song Tianer.

She is actually the youngest and most inconspicuous among the three girls around Chu Liuxiang.She couldn't even tell if she was 16 or 17 this year.

Just because she was an orphan at a very young age.

But she was the happiest of the three girls.Her greatest pleasure is cooking, arranging all kinds of exquisite and delicious meals for the people she likes.

When Hua Manlou came to the kitchen, she happened to be cooking.

In the kitchen, apart from Song Tian'er, there were Li Hongxiu, and three or five sailors on board.Everyone gathered around the stove, greedily sniffing the aroma that had overflowed from the pot.

On a quiet summer night, there is no more heartwarming picture.

At this time, a sailor accidentally turned his head and saw Hua Manlou standing at the door of the kitchen.

The sailor was surprised, but he had no other thoughts. The more intense aroma in the pot and Huamanlou's indifferent attitude made him feel that there was no danger.

"Who are you and what are you here for?" asked the sailor.

Hua Manlou bowed politely, and then said, "I'm here to find Song Tian'er, Ms. Song, and bring her a message."

Chu Liuxiang was very surprised, more surprised than all the sailors in the kitchen at that time, Song Tianer and Li Hongxiu.He rubbed his nose and asked, "Why Tianer?"

He knew that Huamanlou had heard about the three girls, and that Su Rongrong was with him at the time and hadn't come back yet, so naturally only Song Tian'er and Li Hongxiu were on board.But no matter what he thought, he felt that Hua Manlou and Li Hongxiu were more similar, and it was easier to talk.

Song Tian'er finally couldn't help laughing and said: "Your question is exactly the same as that of our head Li Da, and this is called a tacit understanding."

"Master?"

Song Tian'er hilariously dodged Li Hong's sleeves to tickle his itchy hands, and continued to laugh, "Here's the head of the 'God's Vinegar Palace'! You didn't see how jealous she was on her face when she asked this question." It’s thick enough to dip in steamed buns!”

There was nothing surprising about Hua Manlou's message, it just said that Chu Liuxiang and Su Rongrong had joined up and would return to the ship soon.But the method he adopted caught the curiosity of the two girls, Song Tian'er and Li Hongxiu at the same time, so they must keep him and wait for Chu Liuxiang to come back together.

Chu Liuxiang has discovered that the kind and pure Huamanlou in his mind actually has scheming and knows how to take advantage of other people's psychology.

A kind person is not an idiot, he just doesn't use clever means to violate the interests of others and satisfy himself.

But when necessary, he knows what is the most efficient way.

It's like he noticed the murderous intent of the Japanese ninja by the lake, but he couldn't bear it. He even didn't hesitate to get injured to lure the enemy, neutralized the offensive of that knife, and then counterattacked.

Just like the question he asked gently when he made a special trip to see Chu Liuxiang.

"Who is the fifth person?"

Chu Liuxiang found a total of five corpses at sea, and he has already recognized four of them.

The leader of the Tianxing Gang, Zuo Youzheng, "Seven Stars Capture Soul".

Elder Zhushamen, "killer scholar" Ximen Qian.

Lingjiuzi, the leader of the "Three Musketeers" of the Hainan Sword School.

The leader of the "Kingdom of Wind" in the desert of the Western Regions, "Shadowless Sword" Zamuhe.

The fifth person was a young and beautiful girl, but Chu Liuxiang did not recognize her origin.

"Why?" Hua Manlou asked, "Isn't she from the martial arts world?"

Chu Liuxiang once again realized her negligence, shook her head in thought, and said, "I was preconceived and regarded her as a disciple of Shenshui Palace, so I didn't go into it further."

Hua Manlou said: "But isn't she?"

Chu Liuxiang said: "She is not."

Hua Manlou said: "Then why do you think she is, and why do you conclude that she is not?"

When discussing the case with Chu Liuxiang, Hua Manlou kept asking questions.On the one hand, it was because he didn't understand the whole incident and needed to get the details from Chu Liuxiang. On the other hand, Chu Liuxiang had now discovered that he seemed to be using this method to help him re-examine the previous clues.

Things that I thought were very clear suddenly had a lot of messy details, and such details were the key to find a new way for Chu Liuxiang whose thinking had reached a dead end in Jinan City.

Chu Liuxiang didn't answer the previous question immediately, but with a smile, she held Huamanlou's hand again.

Then he said softly: "It is for this that you must find me?"

Hua Manlou's expression was very calm and solemn, and the words he said seemed to have been hovering in his heart for a long time: "I think you know, I can't tolerate someone killing people in front of me."

Chu Liuxiang only gave a soft "hmm".

Hua Manlou continued: "I came to look for you, and even met you in such a scheming way, just to tell you that I must take care of this matter. Don't try to throw me away, or settle down somewhere. Where there is no risk, I do not accept either path."

After saying these words, Hua Manlou tightly pursed her lips, as if she had sealed Chu Liuxiang's rejection from the outside.

In Chu Liuxiang's heart, a warm tide suddenly surged.The young man he just met in front of him seemed to have a soft and firm power that could make people trust him unconditionally.

So Chu Liuxiang didn't persuade him any more, but organized his thoughts, and said slowly: "That girl, she is wearing the costume of a disciple of Shenshui Palace."

Hua Manlou quickly answered, "Have you met the disciples of Shenshui Palace?"

"I've seen it before." It wasn't Chu Liuxiang who answered him, but Su Rongrong. "I have a cousin who is a disciple of Shenshui Palace. I heard from her that everyone in Shenshui Palace wears the same style of clothes."

"Every person in the Shenshui Palace must be a pure and flawless woman, wearing a white gauze gown, tied with silver thread, and wearing frost-colored shoes, to show the meaning of jade and ice." It was Li Hongxiu who added this sentence.She spoke allusions and sect rules, which is obviously another strong proof.

Song Tian'er, who was still busy making soup, giggled: "Pretend to be a ghost, dressed in white, like wearing a filial piety! Except for Shenshui Palace, which woman would like this kind of shirt!"

Chu Liuxiang nodded and said: "In other words, anyone from Shenshui Palace will wear such clothes, and only Shenshui Palace will wear this kind of clothes."

Hua Manlou naturally understood what they meant, thought for a while and asked, "Then why do you say she's not from Shenshui Palace?"

"Because someone who claimed to be a disciple of Shenshui Palace came here," Li Hongxiu said first, "As soon as the living girl moved her eyes, our Second Young Master Chu believed her words and admitted that the dead girl was a counterfeit. "

Chu Liuxiang originally wanted to talk, but when she made fun of her, she had no choice but to touch her nose.

Su Rongrong said unhurriedly: "I went to Shenshui Palace this time to find my cousin, and I heard from her that Gong Nanyan is indeed a close disciple of the Palace Master. The rules in the palace are very strict. If someone escapes privately, They won't be ignorant."

Chu Liuxiang's eyes lit up, and he said, "You mean, what that girl Gong Nanyan said is true? The girl who died was not a member of the Shenshui Palace, and the one who stole Tianyi Shenshui was the palace Situ Jing, Nan Yan's fellow disciple?"

Hua Manlou said: "Tianyi Shenshui?"

Chu Liuxiang smiled and said: "I forgot that you are not familiar with Jianghu. 'Shenshui Palace' is a school that only accepts female disciples, and the rules of the school are strict, but recently someone stole their town from Shenshui Palace. The treasure of the mountain, 'Tianyi Shenshui', even used it to kill a person, that is, Zamuhe, the king of the Western Regions."

Hua Manlou thought for a while and asked, "Is Tianyi Shenshui a kind of poison?"

Chu Liuxiang said: "Yes, it is a very strange poison. The symptoms of the people poisoned to death by it are very obvious, and you can see it at a glance."

Hua Manlou said: "So, do you think that someone disguised the dead girl as a disciple of Shenshui Palace, just to replace the murderer?"

Chu Liuxiang blinked suddenly, and said, "You seem to have another explanation?"

Hua Manlou shook his head, and said slowly, "I don't know. I want to see that girl's body."

Chu Liuxiang hid the five corpses found on the boat.His boat was very big, even if he could hide twenty more corpses, it would be no problem, but Li Hongxiu and the others were very upset.

After all, they were all young girls, and when they thought of dead people in the cabin, they couldn't help but feel hairy.

But they did not object to Chu Liuxiang's doing so.Just because they all knew that Chu Liuxiang wanted to take care of this matter, then no one could stop it.

The body had been kept in the sealed cabin for seven days.

It was midsummer, and even though the cabin had been sufficiently cooled and the corpses had been skillfully dehydrated, the smell was still terrible.

Chu Liuxiang was the only one who brought Huamanlou to see the corpse.Li Hongxiu and the others naturally hid as far away as possible.

Chu Liuxiang brought Huamanlou to the girl's body, couldn't help touching her nose and asked, "Does it smell bad here?"

Hua Manlou said: "Yes."

Chu Liuxiang said: "I think so. Even I can't bear it, why do you have to come?"

Hua Manlou said: "I don't know either. I have some doubts, and I probably have to look at them myself to solve them."

He obviously couldn't bear the smell in this cabin, so he closed his mouth tightly after saying this, and then slowly stretched out his hand.

He needs his hands to "see".

Chu Liuxiang frowned, watching his hands touch the discolored skin of the corpse.

Before this, no one could have imagined that this gentle and handsome young man would touch a nearly decomposed corpse with his hands, which are suitable for holding a scroll by the candlelight and a wine glass in the moonlight.

Hua Manlou didn't show any expression of disgust, but quickly withdrew her hand and asked, "Is her clothes still there?"

Chu Liuxiang was startled, then nodded and said: "Yes. Although it is very incomplete, you can still see the characteristics of the clothes."

Hua Manlou didn't answer, and reached out again.He only touched the skin of the girl's body just now, but this time he touched the torn clothes that were still barely covering her body.Then, he touched the girl's left shoulder, couldn't help taking a breath, and said, "What a slash!"

The girl's left arm, including her shoulder, was cut off by a sharp weapon, so the clothes on her body were almost falling off.

Chu Liuxiang's eyes flickered, and he said, "You think it's a knife too?"

Hua Manlou's fingers were still resting on the crippled shoulder of the corpse, tried back and forth, and said, "It should be a heavy knife that caused this kind of wound."

Chu Liuxiang nodded and said, "Zamuhe's 'Great Wind Knife'."

Hua Manlou stopped talking, and moved his fingers nimbly on the corpse, from left to right, from top to bottom, until he touched the heels, and then he let out a long breath and said, "Go up."

Above is the deck.

Chu Liuxiang watched Hua Manlou taking a deep breath against the sea breeze, couldn't help but took his arm, brought him to the side of the boat, and said, "If you want to vomit, just spit it out."

Hua Manlou couldn't vomit, retched for a while, then leaned against the side of the boat and continued to pant.

Chu Liuxiang sighed, "I told you long ago that I don't want you to go."

Hua Manlou suddenly turned his head and smiled, the smile bloomed on his somewhat pale face, like a lily in the deep valley.

Then he said, "Did you find anything wrong with her clothes?"

The author has something to say:

The author presses:

About Xiangshuai's mentorship.

It is true that the unit "Thrush" in the original book said that Chu Liuxiang's martial arts is from Yedi's lineage through the mouth of Shenshui Palace disciples, but it seems a little weak to say that Chu Liuxiang is Yedi's disciple based on this isolated evidence.

Don't forget Lao Hu.Immediately afterwards, it was said that Hu Tiehua's martial arts were similar to Daqimen, and it might have been passed down by the barefoot man.However, Lao Hu and Lao Chu were young children, so there is a great possibility that their martial arts masters are related.

So I personally tend to think that Chu Liuxiang is Tie Zhongtang's disciple.