Thorn silk gl

A circle of low, two-story wooden houses was built around the mine, roughly similar in style to the shantytowns in the west of Baiyu. Fu Wan followed the team leader all the way through these huts. In the dark rooms on both sides of the road, curious and prying people kept coming. line of sight.

She turned her head and glanced, those eyes suddenly disappeared.

A few people arrived at the mine and walked down the rough steps. Oil lamps were lit on both sides of the road, illuminating the dark and damp rock walls.The squad leader greeted him, and someone came to greet him immediately.

The man talked to the team leader first, then looked at the two people behind him. The team leader took out something and gave it to him. He finally got out of the way and motioned the three of them to follow him into the depths of the mine.

A few people turned right at the fork, and behind the corner was a hollowed out tunnel, which seemed to be a storage room.Many rough stones that were too late to be processed or transported were thrown on the ground at random, and stones piled up layer upon layer all the way to the ceiling.

The team leader gestured for them to browse and choose at will.

Fu Wan only glanced at it, then smiled lightly and said, "I don't have such eyesight, how about you help us palm my eyes?"

The captain's eyebrows moved slightly.

Before he could move, Fuwan lowered his voice and said again: "To tell you the truth, our master's trip to southern Xinjiang is planning a big business. Since it's a big business, we must be more cautious. Hey, it's not that we don't believe you. It's just the employer's money. You can't buy all your stones with just a few words. Otherwise, you should pick two good ones first. After the inspection is correct, we will bring the whole list back to you to renew the contract. You How do you feel?"

The team leader immediately shook his head: "Even if I can't guarantee that you will get a good price for every stone in this kind of thing! I can't do this business, you two—"

"Hey, listen to me first." Fu Wan blinked slyly: "What we want is not a guarantee, but an explanation, do you understand?"

"Explain?"

She chuckled and said, "If the employer has made up his mind to sign the contract, what does it matter to us whether it is a stone or jade? Listen, you just need to give me two good stones, and I will tell you." Move him. Of course, my request is also very simple, I will do some tricks on the account later, and we will get four or six cents of the money from selling mines."

The team leader hesitated: "Big business? How much big business?"

Seeing that there was no one around, Fu Wan secretly made a gesture.At this time, a faint sight came, Fu Wan tilted his head, and blinked slightly at Bai Chan.

The team leader didn't notice the little interaction between the two of them. He couldn't restrain his joy, rubbed his hands together and said, "Well, I have to discuss with the other guys for such a big list."

Fu Wan signaled him to take it easy.

After a while, he turned back and followed three middle-aged men who were also dressed as miners.As soon as these people arrived, they didn't speak, but silently looked up and down at Fu Wan and Bai Chan, as if evaluating their worth.

After a while, the oldest one of them spoke hoarsely, "Goods."

Someone behind hurriedly picked up a load of stones, stepped forward and placed them in front of them.

The old man said: "These are rare and good goods, you can take them for inspection." He paused, and then said, "Since the ore is from us, [-] cents."

Fu Wan: "Fold it, Sanqi?"

"make a deal."

"Refreshing." Fu Wan hooked her lips and winked at Bai Chan.

Bai Chan took a few steps forward.Seeing the burden that the strong man had picked up with great difficulty, she just stretched out her hand lightly to grab it and lifted it up.Everyone's expressions changed slightly.She casually placed the basket by her feet, and there was a loud bang, and she raised her eyebrows slightly when she noticed that several people were staring at her.

Fuwan seemed casual and said, "Are these stones from the mine here?"

"Ah? This... this is natural."

Fuwan groaned and didn't reply, and quickly withdrew with Baichan.

Back in the city, they immediately went to the master of the jade market to unravel the stones. Sure enough, all the stones were good, and even the worst one had hidden fist-sized jade.

Bai Chan held her sword and leaned aside to look at her: "Big Dan, huh?"

Without any guilt, Fuwan said plausibly that this group of people was very smart, and they would not take out good things without throwing a bait, she did it as a last resort.

Seeing her sly eyes, Bai Chan felt itchy in his heart, and couldn't help but hooked his hand and slapped her sideways lightly.Fu Wan, who was still chattering just now, immediately turned red.

A few stones were processed quickly, but Fuwan didn't care about the jade that was opened, but observed the shell of the stone that was thrown aside.

"He said that the stone came out of a mine." Fu Wan gently wiped the surface of the stone, sniffed it with his nose, and rubbed it again, "but it doesn't look like it to me."

She remembered that most of the stone in the mine was dark and covered with a fine, soft moss, not this dry moss.The master who explained the stone just now also said that judging from the appearance of these stones, they are more like second-hand goods from a few years ago.

She guessed, did some drastic environmental change in the mine cause the stones to change accordingly?

"In that hole..." Bai Chan frowned slightly, "It's very faint, but I smelled blood." She thought it was a miner who was injured, but now that she thinks about it, there may be other clues.

Fu Wan turned to look at her: "Go and see tonight?"

Waiting for it to get dark, Fuwan walked around the market again.This time she found more official banks, and several shopkeepers remembered that the group of wealthy customers who brought official banks to buy goods had obvious northern accents.

In addition, there is another thing, that is, there are fewer new products on the market-from the year to now, almost no stores can buy newly mined jade when they purchase.Because of this, the price of old jade wares has been slightly raised.But everyone didn't think it was unusual, and agreed that it was Bai Yujing's epidemic that affected the progress of mining.

Fu Wan frowned slightly.She thinks it's not that simple, the changes in the texture of the ore, the strange disease in the city, the mysterious businessman who is buying old jade... It seems that there is an invisible thread that twists these events together.

After thinking about it, she handed over a post and planned to visit Mrs. Baidie again, but was told that the other party had gone out of the city.

The maid next to Madam Baidie told her to wait a while, and immediately took out a package and handed it to her, saying respectfully: "Madam ordered before leaving, if you come to find her, I will give this to you."

Back at the hotel, Fu Wan opened the bag, only a firework stick and a few thin pieces of paper were scattered inside.

The first one is a yellowed and old eight-character Geng post. The woman is a concubine who married far away to the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion, and the man's name was burnt into a hole.Fuwan guessed that it should be Dingyuan Hou Shizi, so he turned to the next one without thinking too much.

Next is a secret letter.She scanned all ten lines at a glance.This letter was written to urge the jade to be transported to the north as soon as possible, and when he looked at the signature again, Fu Wan's expression sank.

Bai Chan: "This red seal looks familiar."

Fu Wan said: "...Prince Xian."

"you sure?"

Fu Wan's throat twitched: "Not necessarily. It may be that Mrs. Bai Die deliberately misunderstood us. But if it is really Prince Xian, why does he suddenly want so much money?"

Bai Chan said disapprovingly: "Who in the world would think too much money?"

Fu Wan shook her head: "But this is a serious crime of beheading. He is already a prince, why should he take such a big risk to ask for money?" The more she talked, the more her heart sank, and a bad feeling rose in her chest. premonition.

"Tonight..." She got up abruptly, "We have to explore that mine tonight."

A small note floated down with her movements.Fuwan caught it and unfolded it, with a short line of small characters on it.

"'Ignite the fire and burn the star, the jade butterfly comes naturally'...?" The inscription is a beautiful butterfly.

Fu Wan held the firework stick and turned it around, but didn't find anything special, so he put it in his arms.

As it was getting late, Bai Chan opened the window and glanced down. The big yellow dog wandered off somewhere, and there was a dead silence in the courtyard.She waited for a while to confirm that there was no one around, then hugged Fuwan horizontally, and jumped down from the second floor.

The two landed lightly, not even disturbing the night birds overhead.

At this moment, a female voice suddenly came from behind.

"You two want to go out?"

Fu Wan turned her head and saw the woman dressed in exotic clothes in the shadow of the eaves slumped in the recliner, with an old book idly placed under her palm, as if she had been awakened by them during her nap.

Bai Chan had already placed one hand on the hilt of the sword.

"Don't be nervous," she frowned, "I'm not interested in what you guys are going to do."

Fu Wan patted Bai Chan's arm and said in a low voice, "Let's go first."

About to step out of the back door, the woman whispered again: "By the way, do you know what benefits winter has?"

Fu Wan didn't understand: "What?"

"There are fewer bugs." She laughed softly, and started coughing again with a smile.

Fu Wan frowned: "Sorry, we don't have time to chat with you."

The woman continued to herself: "Southern Xinjiang has always been wet and full of insects, but what I hate the most are insects. They always rustle and live together, which is very annoying. To get rid of a nest of insects, it is not enough to pick the nest , must catch the only female insect—that is, the queen.”

"Mother worm," her voice came faintly in the darkness, "Mother worm is the key to everything."

Fuwan and the two of them didn't take this endless conversation to heart, they just rushed out of the city.

By the time they returned to the mining area, it was already completely dark.The workers had already left work, or gathered in the tent to gamble and drink, or fell asleep.Bai Chan carried Fu Wan across the eaves as lightly as a wild cat, without disturbing the surrounding guards at all.

The mine at night is dark, only a few long lights dimly lit in the depths.The mine is deep, and there are two forked roads in it. They go to the right corner during the day, and the team leader intentionally or unintentionally stops them from seeing the other side.

Fu Wan leaned over the cave roof and looked around, only to see that the mine on the left was a desolate scene.

I saw a lot of crushed ore piled up in the mine tunnel, which seemed to have been abandoned, and the ground became more slippery as it went deeper, probably no one had walked by it for a long time.What happened to this mine?

"Be careful," she said softly.

Bai Chan nodded, folded an extinguished torch from the wall with his backhand, put it on the lamp to relight it, and walked forward holding it up.

The surrounding area is very quiet, so quiet that only the sound of footsteps rolling over gravel can be heard.

Click.Hearing a crisp sound, Fu Wan was taken aback, and stood cautiously on the spot without moving.

Bai Chan turned the torch to shine on the ground, and Fu Wan raised her foot accordingly, only to realize that what she stepped on was nothing but a dry beetle corpse.

"Hey..." She curled her lips in disgust, "Forget it, let's go."

The two moved on.

The deeper they went, the more weird things they encountered. In addition to the weird bug corpses, there were also some fine bones, like chicken bones left over from a mouse, which was probably the source of the bloody smell that Bai Chan said in the morning.

Fu Wan swallowed, "Didn't you feel that the wall of the cave seems to have narrowed?" At the beginning, the two of them could walk side by side, but when they got to this section of the road, they could only move slowly with their backs slightly hunched forward and backward.

As soon as the words fell, a cool hand stretched out in front of her and grabbed her.

In the darkness, this hand seemed to be the only reliable existence, and Fu Wan couldn't help but tighten her grip.

Bai Chan seemed to be pleased by her reaction, and said in a low voice, "I'm here."

Gradually, the rock walls on both sides of the narrow cave changed slightly.

It was just a round stone covered with moss, but at some point, the moss disappeared, and the stone became sharp and shiny, reflecting the light of the torch like countless mirrors.

Fu Wan suddenly stopped in his tracks: "Did you hear the sound?"

"what?"

She listened hard, and finally said uncertainly, "It seems to be... the sound of water?"

Yes, there was a faint sound of water in the distance—not drops, but the noise of the rushing river.

"...Underground River?"

Bai Chan frowned slightly: "I didn't hear it." She paused, then added, "But I believe you."