Better to live forever [Rebirth]

Ningfu's main family occupies a very large area, covering the area lying in the area surrounded by the three counties of Nanhai County, Cangwu County, and Gaoliang County in Guangzhou Prefecture.

Among them, Nanhai County and Gaoliang County are the leading large ports in Guangzhou Prefecture. There are countless ships in the ports every day. It can be said that half of the merchants in Guangzhou Prefecture rely on the circulation of goods in these two ports.

But it was precisely in the most prosperous east of Nanhai County, where the patrols were strictly guarded, that the sky fire unexpectedly fell, burning a whole street in an instant.Half of the shops here are printed with the emblem of the Pixiu clan. It can be said that the Ning family suffered the most from this natural disaster.

The government officials rushed over immediately and organized the people to put out the fire together, which prevented the fire from spreading further.

Ning Heng and Zhu Dingbei rushed to the scene an hour later, and before getting out of the carriage, they heard the sound of crying outside.

"Shopkeeper, why are you bothering? You have to snatch those two words out of me. You only have one life, and you will die just because of these two pieces of torn paper. God, what should I do? Shopkeeper, don’t die, I don’t want this month’s wages either, come back alive.”

Zhu Dingbei looked at the shop waiter who was crying the loudest not far from the carriage, who was lying on the ground and crying. He watched for a while by the carriage before the police dragged him away forcibly.

A shopkeeper from the Ning family came to meet him, and Uncle Ning asked, "How about the damage?"

The shopkeeper said: "Don't worry, none of us died. When the sky fire fell, there was a lot of momentum. Except for the family who was hit by the fire, everyone else escaped. Three of our guys were killed by the fire." I hurt my hands and feet, but luckily it didn’t affect my life, so I’ve already been sent to the hospital.”

The shopkeeper said while busy telling Ning Heng and the others to walk carefully.

Ning Heng, Zhu Dingbei, and even Uncle Ning came here in disguise. After all, Ning Heng couldn't go out during the "recovery" period, but the Tianhuo incident was too sensational. Zhu Dingbei wanted to come and see the scene as soon as possible, Ning Heng was worried He is alone, and only a few people have spent a lot of trouble.

After walking far away, I could still hear the cry of the waiter in the shop. Zhu Dingbei asked, and the shopkeeper sighed again and again: "That's the waiter of shopkeeper Chen's family. The shop specializes in the four treasures of the study and also sells calligraphy and painting as consignment. Shopkeeper Chen is kind-hearted. I have kindness to this Xiaoer, but he was obsessed with calligraphy and painting all his life. When he was avoiding the fire, he was a step too late to grab a few calligraphy and paintings, and he was buried in the sea of ​​fire. The waiter in the shop is also a kind person, but crying is useless."

From the regretful expression of the shopkeeper and the crying of the waiter, it can be seen that the shopkeeper Chen is a good person.

It's a pity that there is such a disaster in his life.

The shopkeeper of Yining's family said that he had cried until now when he was engaged in hairdressing, and that he was really affectionate.

Seeing that Ning Heng stopped talking and was silently watching Zhu Xiaohou's actions, Uncle Ning asked on his behalf: "Have the people from the government found out the source of the fire?"

"When the accident happened, someone saw it clearly from the restaurant across the street. It was a big flint that suddenly fell from the sky. It first hit the clothing store in the middle of the street, and then the fire spread to both sides."

Zhu Dingbei looked back from the broken walls, smelled the pungent smell in the air, frowned and said: "These woods are all painted, and there is a wall that is a few steps away from the shops in this section and the previous section. How could it burn so quickly, and even burn to the next section of shops?"

There are many shops in the east of the city, but when the shops were built, they were also made of lacquered wood, and they were separated by solid walls.Except for some ready-to-wear and bookstores in these shops, which are flammable, it is not easy to burn other shops.Even if the fire was not extinguished in time when several houses were burned at the beginning, the fire should be controlled after that, how could it have reached such an extent.

The shopkeeper heard the words and said: "You don't know, the fire was really strong that day, and the fire was so hot that you would be burned if you approached it. After the fire fell that day, all the clothing shops in the middle of the street were scattered, and some shops nearby were blown up by it. The open sparks spread to ignite. If the clothing store is not facing a viewing lake, I am afraid it will spread to the opposite street."

"Why is the sky fire so powerful, take me to see it."

Zhu Dingbei lowered his eyes.

The shopkeeper hesitated, and seeing Uncle Ning nodded, he reluctantly led the Patriarch and his party to the middle of the street.

The area around the ready-to-wear shop in the middle of the street was the most tragic. Everything that could be burned inside was burned out, leaving only a few pieces of charcoal and a few black walls.Before he got close, he could hear hoarse cries, and the howls of "God" came, almost earth-shattering.

The shopkeeper couldn't bear it and said: "There are all the family members of the Wang family of the tailor shop. Hey, the head of the family and his two sons are all in the shop. No one escaped. Only the old mother and these women and children suffered."

Zhu Dingbei sniffed it vigorously, and he was a little relieved when he didn't smell the smell of kerosene.

The policemen inside were still investigating, and after being greeted by shopkeeper Ning, they replied: "Shopkeeper Ning, the fire has been completely burnt that day, so don't worry."

This arrester is the head arrester of the Qingcang City Yamen, surnamed Zhang, as he said, the sky fire has been burned out, and there is no remains of any igniter left, and it is preliminarily determined that someone did not deliberately set the fire.

Zhu Dingbei still wanted to see the place where the sky fire descended with his own eyes. Ning Heng knew what he wanted, and he gave Ning a glance at shopkeeper Ning, who hurriedly chatted with Zhang Butou.Catcher Zhang looked strangely at the young man who was revered by shopkeeper Ning like a god, and led them in without asking too much, but only ordered a few words not to touch and walk around indiscriminately.

The place where the sky fire fell was in the backyard of the clothing store. To get there, you had to go around the few remaining walls on the storefront and go to the back.After turning around and entering the clothing store, a pungent smell came over the face, making people dizzy, and several people hurriedly covered their noses.

Ning Heng's expression remained unchanged, he took out a handkerchief from his sleeve and covered Zhu Dingbei's mouth, then pulled him back two steps, said: "This smell is poisonous."

"What? You said the smell is poisonous?"

After Catcher Zhang heard about it, he retreated to the street and hurriedly called out the cops who were still busy inside, and sure enough, several of them had more or less symptoms of dizziness and retching.

At first they thought it was because of the smell that they felt uncomfortable, but now that they knew that the smell was poisonous, they all said they wanted to go to the doctor.Zhang Butou was also worried that he was guarding here to prevent people from entering, and he asked these policemen to tell the neighbors that the stench around here was poisonous along the way when they went to the hospital, and told them not to come here.When they left, even the Wang family, who were paralyzed on the ground and crying, were also taken away.

Shopkeeper Ning only asked at this time: "Catcher Zhang, why is it so smelly here? Could it be the fire that day?"

Catcher Zhang shook his head, "It's color stones for dyeing clothes. There are two boxes. I heard that they arrived yesterday. I didn't expect it to smell so bad when it was burned. Hey, you said that color stones are poisonous. The dyed clothes Can I still wear it?"

Ning Heng didn't answer his question, but whispered a few words of persuasion in Zhu Dingbei's ear. Seeing that he was determined to go in and have a look with his own eyes, he ordered shopkeeper Ning to go to the pharmacy at the street corner to get the medicine. He said the name of the medicine like this, Then let him mash it into juice and soak the handkerchief before bringing it over.

After taking the medicine-soaked handkerchief to tie up his nose, Zhang Butou took the lead and entered the backyard again.

"It's here."

It was a coincidence that the fire fell on the corridor between the pavement in the front hall and the clothes dyeing place in the back yard that day. If it was located further back, it would not have caused such a big damage if it hit the pool for dyeing clothes or the open courtyard. area affected.

Zhang Butou moved away, and the four of them saw a huge pit after looking at it. Anyone with a discerning eye would know that the fire was not just a fire, and it was impossible to cause such a deep and wide impact mark without enough weight.

Shopkeeper Ning immediately said: "Catcher Zhang, Ming people don't speak dark words, since you let me wait, you shouldn't be hiding the truth from us, right?"

Although his nose was tied and he smelled the smell of medicine, his mind was clear, Zhang Catcher still covered his mouth and said, "I didn't mean to hide it from the shopkeeper, it's the intention of my superiors." He pointed to the fire pit and said, "This is the fire pit." If people know that there is no fire from the sky but someone throws a fireball to hurt the sky, these family members who complain to the sky should fight desperately with the Yamen."

Several people also understand that this is to stabilize the mood of the people, but after all, it is just a matter of urgency, and the truth must be found out afterwards.

Zhu Dingbei and Ning Heng squatted beside the heated kang to examine carefully. Zhu Dingbei tried to smell it, but all he could smell was the cool medicine.Ning Heng glanced at the backyard where the clothes were dyed. It was in a mess. It can be seen that the firepower from the fireball was very fierce. Not only did the heat blow over all the bamboo poles where the clothes were dried, but the cloth was burned to nothing but ashes.

In such a distracted effort, he caught a glimpse of Zhu Dingbei's hand reaching into the dark fire pit from the corner of his eye, and it was too late to stop him.

"Longevity!"

Ning Heng grabbed his hand firmly, wiped the black powder on it, and was relieved to see that his fingers were not injured. Just as he was about to teach him a lesson, Zhu Dingbei whispered, "It's phosphor powder."

There was a murderous look in his eyes, then he stood up and said, "I'm fine, let's go out first."

He wanted to pull his hand back, but Ning Heng held onto it, and took out a veil, dipped it with the medicinal juice that was soaked in it, and wiped Zhu Dingbei's hands before pressing the wet part on his on the fingertips.A gust of coolness covered the scorching fingertips, dissipating the residual heat left by the phosphorous powder.

Zhu Dingbei laughed, "It's okay."

Ning Heng glared at him.

A few people walked around the burned shop of the Ning family, and Ning Heng explained the aftermath and got into the carriage.

Zhu Dingbei sighed: "These shops alone are worth more money than the shops in my house combined. It's a pity to be burned like this. The money house is better, gold and silver are not afraid of fire, and the jade shop has lost too much. Those high-quality jade jewellery, if they haven’t been broken, their condition will be poor.”

Zhu Dingbei rambled on, even though he had lived in Luojing for many years and the Marquis's mansion was well off, he was still very frugal.

At this time, seeing so much money wasted in vain, it was a pity.

Ning Heng was concentrating on writing the prescription on the paper. The poisonous gas emitted by the burning stone was very powerful. Although Zhu Dingbei didn't hear much about it, it might still cause loss of appetite, nausea and retching, or night sweats and insomnia. Don't let him He was really worried after drinking the antidote.

Uncle Ning found it funny when he heard that, Zhu Xiaohou was really different from the descendants of Luo Jingli's aristocratic family.

Just lowering his head and holding back his laughter, he heard Master Zhu Xiaohou ask him: "Uncle Ning, are there any open flames and concealed weapons that use phosphorous powder to hurt people in the Jianghu?"

Uncle Ning thought for a while after hearing the words: "Young Lord, phosphor powder is not a common thing, and the imperial court has issued a decree prohibiting the use of folks. There are indeed phosphor stones thrown on fire in the rivers and lakes, but I have never heard of phosphorite being ground into powder and hurting people." Human."

Phosphorus fire is very diffusible and flammable. Most of the rockets and firearms in the army use phosphorite as a guide. Zhu Dingbei is very familiar with it, so he can confirm what the so-called "sky fire" is after just touching it.

This substance is banned among the people and the quantity is not much. It is not difficult to find the source.

But, Zhu Dingbei thought to himself, he hoped it wouldn't become another headless case.

After returning home, several people from Zhu Dingbei drank the soup, and then someone came to invite Ning Heng.A few boxes of silver and gold were placed on the ground, and the treasurer of the Ning Family Bank saw them and said anxiously: "Patriarch, it's bad silver!"

The author has something to say:

[The plot of these chapters is relatively open, and it will be retracted slowly~]