different paths

The two passed in front of the corpse burning platform, and their field of vision suddenly narrowed. The mountain walls on both sides seemed to be tilted, leaning down from a high place, and they could touch the cold and rugged rocks without fully extending their arms.In the dim light, only the blurry outline in front of him could be seen, and the sound of gurgling water was very clear at this moment.

Suddenly, a gust of cool wind rushed in from the front, the air was sharp and piercing.Jia Wuchai was caught off guard, almost being blown back a few steps by the fast and cold wind.Yan Ku stopped abruptly, waited for the wind to subside, and then walked forward.The front suddenly opened up, and there was another natural grotto with high walls and wide holes.

"This wind is really evil." When the wind weakened, it made a sound like a woman's sobbing. Jia Wuchai muttered while touching his face that had been scratched.

"I heard that there are wind caves and ice caves in Taiyi Mountain. The wind caves are full of wind in all seasons, and the ice caves hang in midsummer. I think there are such strange caves in Kunlun Mountains." Yan Ku said, lifting his toes and saying, " It is said that moving rocks moves the roots of clouds, and it seems that the roots of wind are also hidden among the earth and rocks." It turns out that the cool wind in this cave is not only blowing from the sky, but you can also feel the cool wind blowing slowly on the ankles and feet.

Walking into the wind tunnel, the cyclone dust floats, and the deep whistling sound lingers on the walls, adding a bit of solemn atmosphere to the cave.Looking around, you can see that there are lamp niches chiseled on the surrounding stone walls, and a three-legged tripod-shaped copper lamp is built in. On the lamp, a dragon climbs up with its head raised, which is very vivid under the light of the fire.On the stone wall next to the lamp in the cave, a pair of majestic cliff carvings attracted Jia Wuhai's attention, and he saw the words on it——

"The mountain of red viburnum is broken and tin is broken; the stream of Ruoye is dried up and copper is produced; the rain master sweeps and the thunderbolt strikes; Because of the spirit of heaven, learn its skills, and make divine swords."

Although it is a stone carving, it is still written like a dragon and snake, and its momentum is majestic, which is not inferior to the masterpieces of famous masters.Looking at each lettering, the handwriting is clear, and the stone is extremely deep. The deep inner strength of the person who carved the letter can be seen.

"Ouzhi..." Seeing the two words on the stone carving, Jia Wujue immediately thought of Yue Ouzhi, the founder of Longyuan Villa.

Although he didn't open his mouth, Yan Ku seemed to see through his thoughts, shook his head lightly and said, "Ou Zhi in this stone carving is not the former owner Yue Ouzhi, but the master swordsmith in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period, Ou Zhi Zhizi. According to historical records, it was Ou Zhizi who forged the first iron sword and named it "Longyuan". He looked at the stone wall, "What is written on this wall is exactly the scene in "The Book of Yue Jue" about Ou Zhizi casting the divine sword for King Goujian of Yue."

Ou Zhizi has a very close relationship with Longyuan Villa, not only the name of the villa is taken from the sword he forged, but even the name of the person who built the villa is somewhat comparable to him.Coupled with the fact that Longyuan Villa has become famous in recent years and is closely related to the legendary Eight Swords of the King of Yue, Ou Zhizi's casting technique is like a stepping stone to recast the Excalibur, which is even more precious.Presumably, the words on the stone wall were intentionally left behind by the ancestors of the villa so that the younger generation could carry forward the sword-making technique.

It's just that this cave is quite secretive. There are only a handful of people who can open the highest level of the Jiange Pavilion in Longyuan Villa, and even fewer people who can finally discover the blood pool pass to get here.These cliff carvings are not new. From this point of view, the writer is very likely to be the owner of the village——Yue Ouzhi.

In the past, Mrs. Zheng, the owner of Yue Ouzhi and Jianwu Gate, was ordered to find the Eight Swords of the King of Yue. Later, Jianwu Gate got four broken swords, and Longyuan Villa got a fragment of a forging map.Yue Ouzhi specially engraved such a line of words here, perhaps to make up for the missing key parts in the remnants, which is unknown.

The lights flickered, and the lettering on the stone wall flickered, like stars in the sky, telling their own stories flickeringly.

Jia Wujia's eyes focused on the two pins [1] of the copper lamp.It is precisely because of these two injections that the smoke generated by burning in the lampshade will dissolve in the clear water filled in the lamp body, thus making the air fresher.

Such lanterns have existed since the Han Dynasty, and compared with today's exquisitely crafted lamps, they seem too simple and ordinary.But it was precisely this ancient copper lamp that made Jia Wuchai break through the confusion and suddenly realized.

Yan Ku noticed his gaze: "What? Is there anything special about that lamp?"

Jia Wujue said enthusiastically, "This lamp reminds me of a passage in "Guan Yinzi"."

"Oh?"

"In "Guan Yinzi Nine Medicines", it is said, 'There are two holes in the bottle, and water is used to make them solid. If one is poured and closed, the water will not go down, and the lid will not rise, so it will not fall'. It is said that two holes are opened. After the bottle is filled with water and turned upside down, if one of the holes is blocked, the water in the bottle will not flow down. The copper chimney lamp is using this method to guide the smoke into the clear water, and the bronze jue in the Jiange, "Jia Wuju Hui smiled slyly, "I'm afraid it's the same."

Yan Ku said: "The bronze jue indeed has two holes connected to the bronze pipe in the belly of the jue."

"Yes, as far as I can see, the two bronze pipes of different lengths have their own functions. The longer one is to guide Juezhong's blood into the pool, while the shorter one hanging in the air is to Control the height of the water in the pool." Then, Jia Wujue asked Yan Ku, "I don't know if you noticed, but the position where the short pipe hangs in the air is at the same level as the grid of the Zhuanpo sword in the pool."

Yan Ku thought for a moment, then nodded.

"That's it. When the surface of the pool does not reach the sword grid, the blood in the bronze jue will flow into the pool continuously through the long tube, and when the pool surface rises to the height of the sword grid, the short tube will also be immersed in the blood. The blood of the Bronze Jue will not flow out again, this is actually the same thing as what is said in "Guan Yinzi"." Jia Wujue said, touching his chin, "Lu Changqi once said that blood sacrifices to swords have been practiced since ancient times. In other words, I am afraid that the blood is not just as simple as offering sacrifices. Maybe it is because of the special material. When casting a magic weapon, it needs to absorb blood to nourish the sword body, and the material of the hilt above the sword grid is generally different from the sword body. In order not to stain the hilt of the sword, the bloodletting must be stopped when the surface of the pool reaches the sword grid."

"But according to what you said, the two holes should be sealed, why is the short pipe loose?" Yan Ku looked at Jia Wu and asked.

Jia Wujue obviously thought this question out a long time ago, and immediately replied: "The loosening of the short pipe has nothing to do with the blood pool sword casting technique, but it has a lot to do with Lu Mingshu's death."

"Could it be that Lu Mingshu died under this short-term management?"

"Although the short pipe was not a direct murder weapon, it indirectly caused her drowning." Jia Wujue said with a serious expression, "I am afraid that someone restrained Lu Mingshu first and then put her into the blood pool. I have inquired about it before. Although the blood pool looks very deep, in fact the bottom of the pool has been padded with a thick layer. The fear is that craftsmen will accidentally fall into the pool and drown. Since the bronze jue can control the surface of the pool within a certain height, the bottom of the pool It is based on the standard that a craftsman will not suffocate while sitting in the pool." He paused, "It stands to reason that a person of the same stature as Lu Mingshu would never be able to move even if he sits in the pool. won't drown."

"But she really died." Yan Ku sighed softly, "It's because when she was sitting in the pool, the short pipe of Bronze Baron was pulled out."

"Although I don't know how she was fixed in a sitting position and placed in the blood pool, I can guess that when she died, she must have been more panicked and painful than ordinary drowning people." Jia Wujue said softly, "Seeing the pool The face rises slowly, over the neck, over the chin, over the lips, and finally to the tip of the nose... She didn't know that the height of the pool surface was controllable, but if she knew, there must be hope in her heart, but when the hope is shattered , she will be even more desperate."

Thinking of Lu Mingshu's dying situation, both of them fell silent.After a while, Yan Rong said slowly: "The person who killed her must have hated her very much."

"She usually doesn't step out of the door, never shows her face in public, how can she have such a deep hatred with others?" Jia Wukai asked in puzzlement.

"It's said that love is as much as love, and so is hatred." Yan Ku said, "The murderer either hated her, or hated the people closest to her. It's also possible, both."

"A close person... Could it be Lu Changqi?" After Jia Wujue finished speaking, he immediately changed his words, "No, no, it should be concealing the sun."

"Maybe." Yan Ku replied ambiguously.

"No matter who the murderer hates, killing people in this way is probably more about deceiving others than hatred." Jia Wu deceived, "I originally thought that the murderer killed between noon and you, so I ruled it out." The suspicion of many people. With this method, although Lu Mingshu died of suffocation within this period of time, the murderer can put her into the pool of blood before then."

As he said that, he stared straight at Yan Ku's face, playing with taste: "Then some people's alibis don't exist anymore."

"Among these 'some people', could I also be included?" Yan Ku asked leisurely.

"Well..." Jia Wuchai remembered something, and said with a smile, "I don't know anything else, but you, Boss Yan, will never lay hands on a woman. Therefore," he put on a serious face, speaking in an official tone Said, "I judge you not guilty."

"Lord Jia is wise." Yan Ku smiled lightly.

The two continued to walk deep into the cave while talking.Just as he was about to leave the wind tunnel, Jia Wujue suddenly stopped, turned to look at Yan Ku and said, "The former head of Jianwumen was Mrs. Zheng?"

His words came out of nowhere, Yan Ku said inexplicably: "Yes."

"That is to say, between Mrs. Zheng and Li Yan, there are no other masters of Jianwu Sect?" Jia Wujue continued to ask.

"good."

"That's weird." Jia Wujue raised his eyebrows, "Madam Zheng was already in her prime when she was ordered to find the sword, but now three or forty years have passed, and the current head of the sect is only twenty-eight years old. There is a difference of at least Two generations, isn't it strange?"