The strange story of Huai'an Inn

After that strange incident, Xu Hanke didn't plan to go up the mountain to find Liu Sheng, but instead decided to go back to the inn with Chong Liu.

Walking slowly along the way, Chongliu gradually remembered the identity of the person beside him, and regretted that he had accidentally revealed his true attitude before.Fortunately, Xu Hanke didn't bother with him, but chatted with him briskly.

"Your Tianliang City is so close to Zilu Mountain. It must be very peaceful, right?" Xu Hanke took out his fan and shook it slowly as the heat came up at noon.

"It can't be said that there is not much difference between this place and other places. But I have not been here for a long time." Chongliu said, glanced at Xu Hanke cautiously, hesitated and asked, "Guest officer, are you Our Lord Xiansi on Zhaoning Road?"

Xu Hanke was not surprised, nor did he deny it. He gave a gentle nod of his head, "It's just a mere area, how did my brother know?"

"Our shopkeeper said it. He is well-informed and knows everything."

"Oh?" Xu Hanke seemed to be in high spirits, and his translucent eyes became brighter, "What else did he say to you?"

Chong Liu tentatively said, "It's nothing special, just let me be careful. But since you are so honorable, why did you go to live in our small inn alone? Wouldn't the government be more considerate in hospitality?"

Xu Hanke wrinkled his face, "Living in a place arranged by the government, it's exhausting to be stared at by so many people. Your inn is very clean, and the tea and food are much better than what they entertain."

"Oh..." Chongliu pretended that he didn't know Xu Hanke's intention of coming to Tianliang City, "Are you also here to see the Chuandu Dharma Conference? Do you also like Daoist Qi Yao?"

Xu Hanke shook his head, "Of course not, I'm here to investigate the case. You should know about King Zhong's sudden death, right?"

Chong Liu never expected that Xu Hanke answered so readily.

Can such a thing be so casually told to this little running hall that is almost a stranger?

Zong Liu stared at him with wide eyes, Xu Hanke became more and more interested, "It's really strange to say that the loyal king died. I'm a scholar, I read sage books every day, and I don't believe in these strange powers. But after examining King Zhong's body, I have to... a little believe it."

Chongliu's forehead is sweating, is this Xiansi Dajo to this extent?Why did you take the initiative to tell him so much news?He didn't even mention King Zhong?

How did this man survive until now?

Xu Hanke glanced at him, and asked mysteriously, "Do you want to know that the world-renowned virtuous king, the favorite of the officials (the respectful title given to the emperor in a certain period in ancient times) is the favorite of heaven, and the hottest future prince Why did he suddenly die and be hastily buried?"

Chong Liu didn't know what kind of medicine Xu Hanke bought in the gourd, but since he wanted to say it, he had no reason to be polite.So he nodded repeatedly, like a chicken eating rice.

So during the long journey down the mountain, Xu Hanke slowly told countless jaw-dropping inside information, which made Zhong Liu's mouth grow bigger and bigger, and finally he could swallow eggs.

King Zhong is the fourth son of the current emperor—Qin Yang, and his biological mother is Concubine Shu, whom the emperor once loved so much.Concubine Shu died of a sudden illness when Sheng Chong was in the midst of prosperity. The emperor mourned for three days, and the water and rice had not been eaten, which frightened the whole court to be uneasy. I was afraid that the emperor would hurt the holy body because of his grief.Seven days after the death, Concubine Shu was buried with the ceremony of an imperial concubine. The emperor once said to his close ministers: Concubine Shu is the love of his life.

As Concubine Shu's only heir, Qin Yang, who was only eight years old at the time, immediately became the emperor's favorite child.This favor has faded slightly with the passage of time, but it is still far better than many other princes.Qin Yang appears to be docile and gentle in front of others, and he is very good at understanding the holy will, but in fact his scheming is unfathomable.He aspired to be the crown prince, and had fought against the eldest prince and the third prince for many years. Even if the eldest prince and the third prince joined forces, they could not pull him out of the grace of the Holy Grace. The third prince was deprived of his title and refused to let out the gate of the secluded palace. Within a month, he suddenly died of a sudden illness.

It was reported that the third prince's food might have been poisoned, and if the mastermind behind the scenes wanted to trace the source, it was likely to be traced to King Zhong.So the emperor did not allow anyone to investigate the matter, and soon buried the third prince.

The eldest prince lost his favor because of being implicated by the third prince, and he saw that the crown prince was about to fall to King Zhong.However, more than ten days before Qin Yang's sudden death, strange things began to happen in Prince Zhong's Mansion.

The first thing that came up was the disgusting stench and the cockroaches.One morning, Qin Yang was pulled out of his dream by a sudden stench on his side concubine's bed.It was an indescribable stench, reminiscent of things rustling and wriggling in the cold and damp ravines under the wet wood that had rotted for more than ten years in the forest.

He opened his eyes in a daze, sat up with his hands covering his nose, trying to find out the source of the stench.The side concubine was still asleep, King Zhong came closer and sniffed, and concluded that the smell did not come from her.He had no choice but to sit up and put his feet into his shoes, but suddenly felt something wriggling.He hurriedly raised his feet, but saw several huge winged cockroaches quickly crawl out of his shoes, and disappeared under the bed.

It was not surprising that there were cockroaches in the palace. Qin Yang didn't take it seriously. He called in the servants in charge and reprimanded them, ordering them to clean up the palace. Mosquitoes, snakes, and ants were all cleaned up, and then he went to have breakfast. .

Qin Yang watched with a smile as the princess was feeding his son milk soup.When the maid brought a bowl of bird's nest porridge, the son just happened to be amused by the princess.While watching, King Zhong put a spoonful of bird's nest into his mouth.

He froze suddenly.There was a hairy, disgusting feeling in his mouth... He immediately spat out the porridge in his mouth, only to find that along with the porridge, there was also... a strand of hair.

Everyone around let out an exclamation, and even the princess was stunned.

That strand of hair was hanging in the porridge bowl, and the other half was still in his mouth.He reached out, grabbed the strand of hair and pulled it out, and something was pulled out between his teeth, but it was longer than he expected.He even started to feel it, even in his throat.A steady stream of hair was being pulled out by him, compressing his esophagus and making him retch.

There were screams around him, and he wasn't sure if it was the princess.All the servants looked dumbfounded.

Finally, all the hair was pulled out.The esophageal fluid and hair were tangled and slumped on the table.

Qin Yang looked at the scene in front of him in disbelief, and some kind of goosebump fear spread from his fingertips to his heart.Then, at this moment, the hair squirmed as if alive.

Where is the hair, that is the bug!Bugs like hair!They frantically twisted their slender black bodies, and began to scatter around.

Qin Yang stood up abruptly and overturned the entire dining table.The cries of children and the exclamations of adults were mixed together and made a great noise.Qin Yang ordered people to arrest all the cooks and servants who had touched the bowl of bird's nest and torture them, but in the end, nothing came out.

Qin Yang didn't dare to eat lightly anymore, and had to be checked repeatedly before eating.He locked himself in his study to paint and meditate, and no one was allowed to enter.

But about two hours later, there was a scream in the studio.

The servants guarding the door rushed in immediately, and first smelled a disgusting stench, as if leftovers had moldy and maggoted in the hot and humid air.The paint, paper and pens for painting were all overturned on the ground, while King Zhong was curled up in the corner next to the shelf, with intense panic spreading on his pale face, and his eyes were fixed on a certain place on the wall.The servants followed his line of sight and saw a crack in the wall, and several things that looked like centipedes quickly crawled into the gap.

Although King Zhong was not good at riding and shooting, he was by no means a coward. How could a few centipedes scare him into such a state?

Since that day, King Zhong has become a little weird.He ordered the guards and servants to search the entire palace. All the gaps, no matter how small or inconspicuous, must be sealed up, and insect repellent incense should be lit everywhere. The smell was so choking that everyone couldn't breathe.Even so, King Zhong was still like a frightened bird, looking around vigilantly from time to time, as if he wanted to find some living insects from every corner.

In the middle of the night on the third day, the howling of the loyal king was heard in Wangfei's room, followed by the crying of Wangfei.The lights of the entire palace were turned on, and the courtyard of the princess was sealed off. Only the imperial physician, the most trusted guards and servants who were urgently summoned could enter.

But as long as someone sees, something will always leak out.A guard who was called into the princess's room to clean up the "mess" saw a very strange and frightening scene.

The imperial physician was preparing something, while King Zhong took off his shirt and sat in the inner room with his back facing him.Although it was only for a moment, the guard clearly saw that there were several strange bumps on King Zhong's back skin, some were bulge-shaped, and some were long strip-shaped.

And those bulges are moving fast.

It was as if something was crawling rapidly under his skin, but couldn't find the exit.

And the imperial doctor straightened up, holding a small knife that had just been tempered with fire in his hand.

King Zhong couldn't sleep anymore because he always felt that there were cockroaches or spiders trying to crawl into his ears or nose when he fell asleep.His ears were always itchy, and so was his throat, as if something furry was wriggling.Gradually, that itchy and painful feeling began to permeate his whole body, even in his eyeballs, and even deep in his skull.

He began to have frequent nightmares and even hallucinations, seeing dead people standing in his room, staring at him from afar with stiff and weird smiles on their faces, and black cockroaches crawling out of their eyes constantly.

King Zhong called an alchemist to exorcise the evil spirits, and suspected that someone had cast a gu on him.Several grand ceremonies were organized in Prince Zhong's Mansion, and many famous alchemists from the Exorcism Sect were invited, but they couldn't get rid of the bugs that kept coming out from nowhere.It is said that a bhikkhuni from Fuhumen only took one look at King Zhong, then shook his head and said that it is better to invite alchemists from the exorcism school at this time than to invite those practitioners from the Ascension School who focus on cultivating the next life. of.King Zhong naturally couldn't accept such dejected words, and ordered the guards to imprison the Fuhumen nun.But before the guards could make a move, she turned into an egret and flew away.

When the order to summon the loyal king to the capital came, Qin Yang held a glimmer of hope.Perhaps leaving the palace, the nightmare will end.

On the second morning after entering Beijing, the court ladies who waited for him to get up in the morning to meet the empress dowager and the emperor brought several other maids into his bedroom and smelled a disgusting stench, but they dared not show any discomfort. Filed to his inner room.The leading lady-in-waiting called the King Zhong several times, but there was no response.Just as she was getting closer to the bed, Zhong Wang, who was lying flat on the bed, suddenly opened his eyes. The sudden movement made her cry out in surprise, and the hot towel in her hand almost fell to the ground.

King Zhong's eyes stared as if they were about to fall out of their sockets, and his entire face was subtly deformed.He stared directly at the top, opened his dry lips and said in a hoarse voice that made the skin crawl, "Third Brother, I'm so itchy."

As soon as the words fell, suddenly, King Zhong's body began... to swell.As if he suddenly took a full breath, his whole body expanded slightly, his neck became thicker, and his facial features began to tense and deform.

Then, all of a sudden, as if a water-filled bubble of pig urine had burst, something started gushing from his eyes, nostrils, earholes, mouth.

Bugs, thousands of bugs.Cockroaches, centipedes, spiders, worms... a black mass, rushing out of all the holes in his body like ink.His skin also began to swell and undulate irregularly, and worms as thin as hair began to crawl out of his pores.His belly swelled high like a pregnant woman's.Amidst the wet sound of skin being torn apart, densely packed bugs fled in all directions from under the quilt, spread along the bed to the ground, and spread in all directions.

The maids screamed, and the sound of basins falling to the ground and porcelain being broken was mixed in.When the guards rushed in, they happened to see King Zhong deflated.His flesh began to shrink and collapse, as if everything that filled him had crawled out, leaving only the puddle of wrinkled skin on the bed.