different paths

Jia Wuhai searched for a while, but found nothing suspicious.He walked around the table where Qu Zequan's accident happened, his eyes wandered from the table, lingered around the corner of the table for a while, and finally settled on a point on the ground.

"What is this?" He picked up a slender cotton thread from the ground, and the end of the cotton thread still had scorched marks.

He looked at it for a moment, looked up at the gorgeous octagonal lamps hanging directly above the table, and said to himself: "Could it be that the wick fell off?"

Cotton thread is commonly used to make candle wicks, but the lamps in this room are all covered with lampshades. How did the cotton thread fall out?Jia Wukai held the slightly burnt part under his nose and sniffed it, and there was indeed a smell of wax oil.

He put the cotton thread in his arms, bent over with his hands behind his back, and circled around the wooden table.

"What are you looking for?" Yue Chentan seemed to be a spectator who stayed out of the matter, sitting on a chair from a distance, watching him turn around with leisure.

Jia Wujue glanced at him: "Brother Yue, don't you want to find clues hidden in this house?"

"I don't want to." Yue Chentan said bluntly, "Instead of looking for it myself, it's more interesting to watch you look for it."

Jia Wuchai rolled his eyes, and was about to lower his head to continue, when Yue Chentan said again: "Three inches behind your feet, there may be something you're looking for."

Jia Wuchai looked back, and as expected, two thin wooden sticks more than an inch long were lying on the ground.Compared with the magnificent furniture in the room, they are so inconspicuous that they are easily overlooked.Besides, there is nothing unusual about this wooden strip that is no thicker than a finger. If ordinary people see it, they will regard it as garbage and kick it to the corner.

"Is there something wrong with this wooden stick?" Jia Wukai held the two wooden sticks at the same length and turned them around, as if he didn't notice anything special.

"It's nothing special at all." Yue Chentan said indifferently, "But if you look up and take a closer look, you will find that this wooden stick appeared here, it's not accidental."

Jia Wujue stared at the beam covered with lanterns for a while, his eyes suddenly froze, and with a "wow", he flew up and took something from the beam directly above the wooden table—it was just over an inch long. thin wooden strips!

Because the beam was full of colorful lanterns, it was so colorful and dizzying that it was difficult to notice the wooden bar hidden on the beam.If it wasn't for Yue Chentan's reminder, Jia Wuju might have missed the thing hidden on the beam.

"Brother Yue, your eyes are much stronger than mine." Jia Wujue said with some admiration.

"Sometimes, seeing too clearly may not be a good thing." Yue Chentan said in an unclear tone.

"No matter other times, this time, it must have been of great help!" Jia Wujue looked at the three wooden sticks in his hand, together with the cotton thread he just discovered, an idea quickly formed in his mind, he blurted out , "I think that the poison in the bowl of Master Qu Zhuang was poured in this hall of Yuheng."

"If you poison in the back kitchen or on the way to deliver food, the action is too obvious, and there will be mistakes if you don't pay attention. But if you poison in the Yuheng Palace, it may be more feasible to use the Nuo opera when there are many people and noises." .” Jia Wu deceived.

"You mean, someone did something during this Nuo opera performance?" Yue Chentan asked.

Jia Wuchai nodded: "I think the person who is most likely to be poisoned is the person who participated in this Nuo opera. He may have put something in that bowl through a certain action or a certain performance, and then witnessed it with his own eyes. Make sure that Qu Zequan is poisoned, and then leave." At this point, he paused for a moment, and said in a contradictory tone, "But when the bowl of puffer meat was served, apart from Qu Zequan, the only people who handled it were the servants and the actors. The two Bodhisattvas, could it be that the murderer is one of them?"

"If there are two of them, then what are the wooden strips and cotton thread used for?" Yue Chentan reminded, "Don't forget, this last wooden strip is placed on the beam of the roof. For that."

Three wooden sticks, cotton thread, poisoned...

Jia Wukai frowned and thought hard about the connection, his eyes swept back and forth on the beams where the wooden slats were placed.Because it is just above the wooden table, the colorful lanterns are arranged high and low, like clusters of flowers, very beautiful.Jia Wukai thought of the slightly scorched marks on the cotton thread, and suddenly his eyebrows twitched, and he made a bold guess.

"Tell me, is the cotton thread used to hang poison?" Jia Wujue looked at Yue Chentan and said, "Assuming that the cotton thread is used to hang poison, the reason why it is not directly tied to the beam is that it will not be easy to remove after it is tied. , if someone finds out, it is easy to become suspicious. Therefore, the person who poisoned used these three wooden sticks as an aid, and hung the poison on the beam with cotton thread. It’s hard to attract people’s attention, and in the end, the servants will treat it as garbage and clean it up.” As he spoke, he fiddled with the three wooden sticks in his hand, “But I just don’t know how these three wooden sticks hang the poison up?”

"This matter is not difficult," Yue Chentan said, "The most urgent thing is to figure out how the poison escaped from the beam to Qu Zequan's bowl."

"This matter is not difficult." Jia Wujue imitated Yue Chentan's tone and said, "It can be done with wax balls."

Yue Chentan's eyes flashed, he understood, but he still said: "I would like to hear the details."

Jia Wuchai said complacently, "I just saw the lantern on the beam and realized it. If you seal the venom in a wax ball, and when the wax ball melts, the venom will flow out of it automatically, even if you don't touch the bowl of river in the whole process." Pork meat can also be poisoned. The wooden bar on the beam just now is placed in the place with the most lanterns, where the temperature is the highest, and the wax ball is easier to melt. Slight scorching marks appeared." He said, thinking for a while, "That's it, but the weight of the wax ball is not light, this wooden strip is so small, if you want to use only the one placed on the beam I'm afraid it's not safe to hang a ball of wax."

"Who said there is only one stick?" Yue Chentan said indifferently, "Where did you put those two sticks on the ground?"

Jia Wujue said with a bitter face: "I just don't understand how the three wooden sticks are placed..."

"Have you seen the top of Xieshan?" Yue Chentan asked suddenly.

"What is Xieshanding?" Jia Wujue asked in a daze.

"The roof of Xieshan is a style of roof. Many ancient temples use this kind of roof. One main ridge, four vertical ridges, and four corner ridges are much more stable than ordinary roofs." Yue Chentan explained, "Xie The special feature of the top of the mountain lies in the triangular structure formed between the upper main ridge and the two ridges, called "mountain flower". It is the existence of the "mountain flower" that makes the top of the mountain more load-bearing than other roofs. "

As he said, he took the three small wooden sticks from Jia Wujue's hand and placed them on the table: "These three wooden sticks can also form a simple 'Mountain Flower'." He put a wooden stick on the edge of the table, revealing a Nodded, and then said, "If you hang the cotton thread on this wooden bar, then use a wooden bar to spread and hang down the cotton thread, and finally use the third wooden bar to stand between the head of the wooden bar on the edge of the table and the wooden bar of the horizontal support, so that Not to mention a small wax ball, even a two or three kilograms of cargo can be lifted."

Jia Wujue saw that his bony fingers seemed to be juggling, and in the blink of an eye, he hung a teapot lid firmly in the air, without using any other extra tools, just relying on three short wooden sticks and a cotton thread.He couldn't help but widen his eyes, feeling that it is very necessary to give Yue Shaoxia a big compliment at this moment.

Luofu Peak, Xihaozhai.

After being sized up and down by Jia Wujue for a while, Sun Xingde, a disciple of Zhu Ming Villa who played the role of Bodhisattva, and Yang Tong, who played the role of servant, finally couldn't sit still, and knelt down with a plop: "Jia Shaoxia, I heard that you and Yue Shaoxia are Honorable guest of Hanzan Palace, please help us to intercede with Palace Master Yi! The poisoning of the owner is really none of our business!"

After the two of them saw Yi Qingling's attitude towards Master Zhao in the Yuheng Palace, they were always in a state of panic, fearing that Yi Qingling would be unhappy and nail the two of them directly into the coffin and throw them off the cliff.Now I finally saw a Jia Wujue who came to visit to find out the truth, and felt that there was finally a place to clear my suspicion. Looking at Jia Wujue's eyes was like looking at the last straw.

"Both of you, get up and talk." Jia Wujue didn't dare to accept such a great gift, so he helped the two of them up and said, "Actually, I have some clues about the person who poisoned me. It's just that there is no conclusion yet. I need your help."

"Jia Shaoxia give orders as soon as possible!" The two said in unison.

"I don't dare to obey the order, but I'm a little interested in the situation during the rehearsal." Jia Wu deceived, "I don't know if you two noticed anything unusual at that time?"

Yang Tong thought hard for a while, and finally shook his head.He is just a servant in charge of serving dishes, and he has very few roles in the whole play. He is just an insignificant role in the whole play. Even the Nuo noodles are the styles that can be seen everywhere, not specially made.

Sun Xingde, on the other hand, played the role of Bodhisattva throughout, so he is very familiar with the content of the whole script. When Jia Wukai asked, he thought about it carefully, and finally said: "There is one thing that I didn't think much about at first, but When Jia Shaoxia asks such a question, I think it seems a little abnormal."

Jia Wuju's eyes lit up when he heard the words: "Oh?"

"This matter should start before the rehearsal." Sun Xingde said, "Jia Shaoxia doesn't know something. Although this rehearsal is not as good as a formal performance, from costumes to decorations, from props to drum music, it is the same as the formal performance. The owner wanted to let the rehearsal It can go smoothly. Before the rehearsal, the main characters in this Nuo opera have rehearsed the script for each other no less than a hundred times. I dare not tell others, but myself, even if I don’t have those blowjobs, I can do what I want No matter what action you do at the right time, it’s exactly the same.”

As he spoke, he sighed and said, "But during the rehearsal, when the proprietor ate the puffer fish meat, it was obviously time for the 'Bodhisattva' to praise the sincerity and courage of the 'filial son'. I opened my mouth, but the sound didn't come." Issued to!"

Jia Wuju heard the words, thought for a while and said: "You mean, Qu Hongxiao should have played the libretto at that time, but she didn't have it."

"Yes!" Sun Xingde said a little depressed, "At that time, I thought that I might have miscalculated the time and made such a big mistake in front of the owner, and it was over now. Unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, the owner The Lord just..." As he spoke, he let out another heavy "ah".

"I didn't have time to think about it at the time. After I came back, the more I thought about it, the more wrong it became." Sun Xingde continued, "I repeated the scene countless times, and no matter what I thought, it wasn't my fault. But the book was originally a song. Miss made it up, she was present at every rehearsal before, and she was very strict with the hourglass card, so it stands to reason that she would not make such obvious mistakes."

Upon hearing this, Jia Wukai immediately asked, "You said that the mistake was caused by Qu Hongxiao, but is there anyone else who can prove it?"

"Naturally." Sun Xingde nodded his head heavily and said, "All the musicians present can testify that she should sing when the key is changed, but during the rehearsal, the key has been changed for several bars, but she still hasn't made a sound. "

"So that's how it is." Jia Wujue nodded slightly, and then changed the topic: "Before coming to Hanzan Palace, did the owner and Miss Qu travel far away?"

"Miss Qu encountered such a thing, how dare she run outside." Sun Xingde lowered his voice.

Jia Wujue rolled his eyes: "Then what happened before the accident?"

"Miss Qu believes in Buddhism and often goes to the temple near the villa to offer incense." Sun Xingde thought for a while, then said.

Zhuxian Villa is located in Xiangzhou Prefecture, which is separated from Xiaozhou Prefecture by a strip of water. Jia Wujue's eyes flashed, and many questions in his mind had vague answers.

The forests and valleys gather in the dusk, and the clouds gather in the evening.At sunset, the sky is bright and the shadows of the mountains are dim.Faint cries came from Zhu Mingzhai, making the already sparse twilight even more mesmerizing.

"Miss Qu," Jia Wujue said, looking at Qu Hongxiao who was crying miserably, with his forehead twitching, "Since Palace Master Yi has helped, there are many rare herbs and panacea in Hanzan Palace. We will turn bad luck into good luck and recover soon."

Qu Hongxiao choked with sobs and said, "But my brother is still unconscious, if half a month later he will still..."

Jia Wuju had an idea, and immediately said: "It is said that the right medicine is the key to curing a disease. If the murderer can be caught, find out which part of the puffer fish he extracted the poison from, or maybe there are other things added to the puffer fish poison. Maybe the doctor can find the best medicine faster and cure Brother Ling."

Seeing a hesitant expression on Qu Hongxiao's face, Jia Wujue added: "Besides, the identity of the murderer is not completely unknown." Then, he took out wooden sticks and cotton thread from his pocket. Said, "Look, what is this?"

When Qu Hongxiao saw the thing in his hand, her complexion turned pale immediately, her watery eyes filled with panic: "I, I don't know..."

"Of course Ms. Qu doesn't know. The murderer left the Yuheng Palace before cleaning it up." Jia Wuchao paused, then grinned and said, "The tool for poisoning."

Qu Hongxiao was already terrified, but when she saw the smile on Jia Wujue's face, she couldn't help shivering for a while, then tried to steady her voice and said, "Oh? I don't know, this thing can also poison? "

"Miss Qu, do you know where this wooden stick was found?" Jia Wujue casually played with one of the sticks and said, "It's on the beam." Before Qu Hongxiao could respond, he continued to ask and answer in a leisurely manner. "What about the cotton thread and the other two sticks? They were found on the ground. With the help of these three sticks and a cotton thread, the blowfish venom sealed in the wax ball was suspended between the lanterns. The murderer pinpointed the time when the wax ball melted. Let the venom drip into the bowl just before Brother Ling ate the puffer fish, making people mistakenly think that Brother Ling was poisoned by eating untreated puffer meat.”

Speaking of this, Jia Wujue glanced at Qu Hongxiao and said, "Miss Qu thinks that the murderer who can accurately place the bowls when serving the dishes and the time when the puffer fish is eaten is the most likely Who is it?"

Qu Hongxiao grasped the clothes beside her with one hand, and unconsciously wrapped the other hand around a strand of hair beside her ear, and said softly, "Maybe someone who is very familiar with this Nuo drama."

Jia Wuchai nodded, glanced at the sky outside the window, stood up and said, "As for the identity of the murderer, Miss Qu, don't rush to draw conclusions, you can think about it carefully. But," he looked deeply at Qu Hongxiao With a glance, he said, "Miss Qu needs to know that fugu poison is extremely poisonous, and only a few drops of venom can kill a person. No matter who decides to use fugu poison, it must be murderous." Before he finished speaking, Qu Hongxiao froze, with an expression of disbelief on her face.

Jia Wujue sighed and said, "That's all for now. If Ms. Qu has any new clues, you might as well come to Lingyao Peak to find me." After finishing speaking, he left Zhu Mingzhai without further words.

It was night, torrential rain, lightning and thunder.

Jia Wukai was lying on the couch with his eyes closed. Amidst the rumbling thunder, he heard a soft "squeak", and a gap appeared at some point in the closed wooden window.At this moment, there was a crackling sound, and a bolt of lightning illuminated the front of his window, casting a thin figure on the window paper. On the figure's back, it seemed that he was still carrying a broom.

"Old man broom?" Before he had time to think, Jia Wuzhen rolled over from the bed and looked out the window. In the stormy night, a dark figure stood not far away, as if waiting for him to follow.

Jia Wujue immediately jumped out of the window, slanted for a few feet, the two of them stood in front of each other without saying a word, with their clothes fluttering, they flew towards the air like goshawks. After a few sudden ups and downs, it has disappeared in the deep night and the sky full of wind and rain.

Jia Wuhai followed the man from Suihanzhai all the way to Hanzan Cliff, and the man stopped in his tracks.The two were separated by a heavy rain curtain, and the man was standing far away with his back to Jia Wuchao, his appearance could not be seen clearly.But judging from his body shape and attire, he looked quite like the old man on the broom who taught Jia Wu to cheat and take advantage of the wind.

"Your Excellency—"

Just as Jia Wuchai was about to ask, a hoarse and gloomy smile came out of the man's mouth. In an instant, the man's right leg was used as the axis, his body turned around, and the index finger and middle finger of his right hand pointed like a sword, and pointed towards him quickly. Hit the Qimen acupoint on his ribs.