I am imprisoned in Kaifeng Mansion

Cui Tao checked the condition of the bodies of the six yamen servants. They had just died not long ago, and they still had body temperature.All six corpses had purple lips, drooling mouths, no obvious wounds on their bodies, and were soaked through.The characterization is in line with the situation of death by poisoning. Since there is no trauma, it is likely that the poison was introduced through the mouth. Of course, the situation of skin contact cannot be ruled out.

However, considering that the six deceased were all drenched and there were no abnormal reactions such as redness and swelling on the skin surface, the poison in the mouth was probably water, and the water was poisonous.

Cui Tao wanted to go into the cave to inform Han Qi, but was stopped by the yamen servants who stayed outside, and she was determined not to let her go.Cui Tao could only order the yamen servant who had moved the corpse to go back and tell Han Qi, who had been exploring the way ahead, to be careful of the poisonous water.

The yamen servants agreed, and they entered the cave along the rope.After a while, the man came back with a pale face, holding the end of the rope in his hand, and the break of the end of the rope was obviously cut by a sharp weapon.

"We want to tighten the rope first to remind the official Han to pay attention to the danger, but we don't want the rope to break!" the yamen servants explained in panic.

The yamen servants present all drew their knives, planning to go in for reinforcements.

At this time, another yamen servant named Kong San ran out of the cave, and was immediately surrounded by everyone, asking about the situation.

"I don't know either. I found out that the rope was broken when I came out along the rope." Kong San advised everyone not to act rashly. Casualties. There are urgent things to do, so I won’t say more.”

After Kong San finished speaking, he rushed towards Anding Village, not knowing what urgent explanation Han Qi gave him.

Cui Tao knows that Han Qi is smart, but he is not sure whether Han Qi can really handle the current situation.After all, even she herself couldn't confidently affirm that she would be able to handle it without confirming the cave.In the same way, Han Qi should be the same.

Cui Tao wandered uneasily at the entrance of the cave several times, but was still worried and wanted to go in.Although she promised to Han Qi, she would not intervene in this case and left it to him to handle it.But at this critical moment, if something goes wrong, she will be the one who suffers, and she will be the widow!

Cui Tao planned to enter the cave while the yamen servants stayed behind to watch Kong San, but was blocked by two yamen servants.

"Han Tuiguan has explained that we can't—"

Before the yamen servant finished speaking, he suddenly felt numb all over, and looked at Cui Tao in surprise.

"Offended, it will recover after a stick of incense.

Cui Tao took out the silver needle and quickly went down the hole.

Unavoidably being chased by other yamen servants who stayed behind, Cui Tao disappeared quickly after entering the cave.The yamen servants have the order to stay behind, so it is not easy to chase after them.Besides, the situation inside is complicated, even if you go to chase, there is a high possibility that you will not be able to catch up with people, and it will make them lose their lives inside.

Naturally, it was impossible for Han Qi to rely solely on the rope to solve the problem of getting lost.To prevent accidents, he also ordered someone to mark the wall, which is a cross circle mark commonly used inside Kaifeng Mansion.

Cui Tao followed this mark all the way to the depths of the cave, but finally faced a wall and the road was blocked.

The cave is formed naturally, but it has been artificially transformed.For example, the ground was leveled, the corridor was dug wider, and stone walls were added.

The wall in front of Cui Tao is a man-made stone wall.

Cui Tao squatted down to examine the traces on the ground carefully. She thought that the stone wall had some mechanism that could be moved or turned over.But there were no traces like this. She checked the wall again, and it was indeed the same as the result of her initial inspection. It was a dead wall.

But she clearly came here following the traces, why did the road come to an end without seeing half a figure?

Cui Tao turned to check a few marks on the wall, recalling the marks she saw when she first entered the hole.It is found that although the two patterns are similar, there are slight differences in the drawing habits.The circle she saw at first, popped out at the first transition.But now the circle she sees is a relatively round circle, and it doesn't stand out.

This mark was not drawn by one person, someone was deliberately marking it randomly to prevent people from following the mark for reinforcements.

There should be people from Tianji Pavilion hiding in the cave, planning to defeat the people of Kaifeng Mansion one by one here.

When Cui Tao thought of this, a chill ran down her spine.

She returned immediately and chased Han Qi again according to the correct marker.

After walking for about half a stick of incense, Cui Tao suddenly heard footsteps in front of her. She prepared her dagger and silver needle and hid aside, and then saw Wang Zhao running past in embarrassment.

Cui Tao immediately called people to stop.

Seeing the ugly boy, Wang Zhao was stunned for a moment, then frowned and asked, "Why are you here? Aren't you waiting at the fork outside the village?"

"The east mountain in Anding Village is connected to the cave here."

Cui Tao briefly explained to Wang Zhao what she knew.

"What, Tuiguan Han came down too?" Wang Zhao slapped the wall with his palm anxiously, and sighed, "It's too dangerous here, and Tuiguan Han shouldn't be here. By the way, why didn't you come with Tuiguan Han?" Go? No, you are not from Kaifeng Mansion, and it is impossible for Han Tuiguan to let you down."

Wang Zhao then narrowed his eyes vigilantly, and raised his bloodstained knife to Cui Tao's neck, "Say, who are you! Are you a spy of Tianji Pavilion?"

Cui Tao's hand moved slightly, and Wang Zhao immediately brought the knife closer to Cui Tao's neck.

"Who am I, can you tell?" Cui Tao spoke to Wang Zhao in the original voice.

Wang Zhao was stunned for a while, then looked at Cui Tao in surprise after a while, still a little unbelievable, with an expression on his face that he might be dreaming and listening.

"you--"

Cui Tao took out her unique waist card from her arms and handed it to Wang Zhao.

When Wang Zhao took it and checked carefully, his hands trembled slightly, "Is it really Mrs. Cui? Mrs. Cui, you... you, you, you are not dead?"

After Wang Zhao fully reacted, he pinched his waist in anger, glared at Cui Tao angrily, questioned why she did this, and hurt everyone's hearts.

"I know that there must be a reason why Mrs. Cui and Han Tuiguan did this, but can you not hide it from me? Am I unreliable, but you cry when you know me——

Forget it, it's pointless to mention such things. "

"Wang Siniang and Ping'er don't even know about you people's real reactions, otherwise there is no way to deceive the people behind the scenes." Cui Tao said to Wang Zhao, "There are traitors in the Kaifeng mansion."

Wang Zhao frowned, and hurriedly asked Cui Tao who this person was.

"I have doubts, but I'm not sure, and the other party has an identity, so it's not good to talk nonsense."

Cui Tao saw that the blood on Wang Zhao's chest had almost dried up, and knew that the blood definitely did not belong to him, so she asked him what happened.

"If my guess is correct, the 30 of you should go in teams of six to investigate the situation. The six who were sent up before were in danger together, and the whole team was wiped out."

"Indeed."

After Wang Zhao sighed twice, he told Cui Tao that when they were exploring the cave, they happened to encounter six forks. He ordered thirty of his subordinates to divide into five teams to explore the road, while he explored the remaining one, and returned after a stick of incense. Gather in situ.

"Who knows that after entering this fork, there will be more forks, as many as honeycombs."

After a stick of incense, only he and the other team returned to the original place, and the other four teams disappeared.Knowing that the situation was dangerous, Wang Zhao didn't dare to go in at first, and was planning to take people up to report to Han Qi first, when he heard someone calling for help, and then saw a yamen servant from the team that hadn't turned back running back in a panic, and told them the other five Trapped, he can't rescue it alone.Wang Zhao took people to rescue them with him, and when they went to rescue them, they were suddenly ambushed by men in black shooting arrows, and most of them were damaged.

The rest of the people escaped. They turned around a lot and didn't go out. During the process, they encountered hidden weapons and lost four more people.After that, he was plotted by the people who were ambushing in the Tianji Pavilion in the underground cave.The enemy occupies a favorable terrain and is elusive.The rest of the people never fought, only he escaped alone.

When Wang Zhao finished speaking, his eyes were red with grief and indignation.

After Cui Tao comforted Wang Zhao, he heard footsteps again, but it didn't sound like footsteps.

The sound became more and more chaotic and closer.

"What—"

"Baa baa—"

is it a sheep?

When the sound got louder, Cui Tao and Wang Zhao were both standing against the wall, and a dozen sheep ran past them.

Wang Zhao was stunned, "This is? Tianji Pavilion is still raising sheep here?"

"It's a good idea." Cui Tao laughed and explained to Wang Zhao, "Before I went in, Han Tui sent people to Anding Village, probably for this reason."

Wang Zhao also realized at this time that it was a good idea to clap his hands and sigh.

"The cave is dangerous, and the 'sheep' pawns are the best. Where these sheep pass by, if any mechanism is triggered, people will be safe if they pass by!"

"Such a simple idea, why didn't I think of it, if I thought of it earlier, the brothers wouldn't—" Wang Zhaohu choked up when he said this.

"You come in first, you are the most adventurous, and you have no time to go out."

Wang Zhao adjusted his mood and wanted to speak again, but he saw Cui Tao put his finger on his lips, signaling him to keep quiet.Wang Zhao listened carefully, and there were light footsteps following behind the sheep.

Cui Tao and the others hid around the corner, and immediately saw a black-clothed man in his 20s holding an ax in both hands, chasing the sheep in front of him.

As soon as Wang Zhao saw that this fellow was from Tianji Pavilion, he immediately intercepted him and challenged him.He was subdued shortly thereafter, but the man in black still struggled unconvinced. Wang Zhao pressed his knees on the man's back, making him lie flat on the ground, then pulled off his belt and bound his hands.

"Do you know the way out?" Cui Tao asked.

The man in black glared at Cui Tao viciously, but remained silent.

Cui Tao stuck a silver needle on his pain point, and the man in black was in pain, his face was grim, but he couldn't pronounce a single word.When Wang Zhao was fighting with him just now, Cui Tao also noticed that he was silent, including when he was subdued by Wang Zhaozhi and struggled violently on the ground.

"Say it!" Wang Zhao asked fiercely, grabbing the man in black by the collar.

"He's dumb, so he can't speak. Maybe he can't write even if he doesn't know a single big character." Cui Tao sighed, and then thought of Mrs. Qian's 'craft' of using silver needles to make her son dumb. Dumb, the people in Tianji Pavilion are good at this skill, he must not be the only one."

The man in black still stared fiercely at Cui Tao and Wang Zhao, without any hesitation or emotion because of Cui Tao's words.This shows that he is likely to be willing to become a mute. Not only him, but the whole Anding Village has been brainwashed severely.Just imagine that sub-rudder masters like Madam Sun are not qualified to know the location of the main helm of Tianji Pavilion. Those who can stay here must be loyal servants that the leader believes are the safest and most reliable.It is almost impossible to interrogate the results of these dead men in a short time.

Wang Zhao tied up the man in black, stuffed him behind a hidden boulder, and continued to follow Cui Tao to explore the road.

"I'm very curious. How did Tianji Pavilion manage to raise such loyal people? How stupid? They don't want to confess to save their lives when disaster strikes?" Wang Zhao was very puzzled and couldn't figure it out.

"The environment can easily affect a person, not to mention that they stay in an environment that can easily affect them all year round." Cui Tao told Wang Zhao that she has already briefly summed up, generally only need to complete three kinds of control over some people, basically By doing so, you can cultivate loyal subordinates or dead soldiers.

The three types of control are: need control, mind control, and affiliation control.

Wang Zhao was confused, so he hurriedly asked Cui Tao to explain carefully what the three kinds of control meant, so that he could clear up his doubts and increase his knowledge.

"Everyone will have their own needs, such as money needs, respect needs, longevity needs, etc. If people have desires, they will have weaknesses. If you hold on to these temptations, you can control some people through their needs.

For example, Su Yuwan, after experiencing an accident, hated her relatives to the core.If someone told her at that time, follow me, I will give you a different life, and you will have a chance to take revenge through your own efforts. "

Wang Zhao nodded knowingly, he really has gained knowledge.

"Spiritual control refers to the use of people's spiritual pursuits to control them. If you believe in Buddhism and Taoism, why can't you 'believe' in Tianji Pavilion?"

Cui Tao's words pointed to Wang Zhao once again, making him nod in admiration.

Wang Zhao: "I understand the last ownership control. Everyone must have a home and belong to one place. For example, if I am my family, I must fight for my name."

"That's almost what it means." Cui Tao added, "There are also conformity, suggestion and infection."

Seeing Wang Zhao's puzzled expression again, Cui Tao took the initiative to explain this time without waiting for him to ask.

"It is inevitable that there will be contacts between people, so the atmosphere will have a great impact on a person. For example, the brothers in Kaifeng Mansion all wear green shoes and say they look good, and the Korean pusher also advocates that everyone wear them. Kaifeng Mansion is on duty. Everyone I see wears green shoes, but you will attract strange eyes when you wear black boots. Although you think the green shoes are ugly, after a long time, can you resist wearing them? ? And when you put it on, everyone praises the green shoes you are wearing. After a long time, if you look at the green shoes again, will you still find them ugly?"

Cui Tao told Wang Zhao that this actually included the three situations she just mentioned.

Wang Zhao stared round his eyes, surprised for a long time, then sighed for a while.This is indeed a very common phenomenon in life.

In the past two years, there was a time when people especially loved the green gauze Futou, because the gauze was light and thin, and when the hair was wrapped, the black hair inside could be seen through the gauze, and the color seemed strange at first glance.And as soon as you go out, there is a little wind, and the thing will float left and right on your head.Wang Zhao felt that it was ugly when wrapped around his head, but everyone liked it, so he asked him why he didn't have it.Within two days, he also got one to wrap around his head.

Just imagine, if the Tianji Pavilion controls and trains their subordinates in this way, and keeps repeating the propaganda, making them all glory in loyalty to the death and sacrifice as a noble act, some diehard loyalists will be cultivated to some extent, and then these people will be selected It makes sense to come out and stay in Anding Village.

"This 'three controls' is really scary." Wang Zhao sighed again.

Cui Tao finally found the "heading" mark that she saw at the beginning, she and Wang Zhao quickly followed the mark, and after about a stick of incense, they saw two hacked sheep, and then heard There was a fight ahead.The two cautiously went forward to explore, and found that there was an open space in front of them, surrounded by many tall rocks, which was indeed a good place to ambush.

Han Qi and the yamen servants were fighting with thirteen black-clothed men, and five black-clothed men had already died on the ground.Look at the appearance of these men in black, they are exactly the same as the one Wang Zhao captured before.

Wang Zhao had already joined the battle at this time. He was relatively advanced in martial arts, and he still attacked from behind the men in black, so he went up and killed two of them.

The yamen servants surrounded by the inner circle were all happy when they saw Wang Zhao, and their morale was greatly increased. They did not forget to tell Wang Zhao that these men in black had poisonous powder on them. Don't give them a chance to be empty-handed, or give them a chance to attack with poisonous powder. People, the eyes will not see.

At this time, Cui Tao noticed that there were three yamen servants surrounded by Han Qi and others, protecting them in the middle. They covered their eyes and kept crying.

The martial arts of these men in black are much higher than that of the one they met before. Cui Tao noticed that the collar of these men in black had a word "Wei" embroidered with bright yellow thread, but the man they met before had the word "Wei" on their clothes. No.

Cui Tao also wanted to join the battle, but considering that her identity as an ugly child could not be exposed to too many people, she could only stand aside and watch, but if she had the opportunity, she would secretly attack with stones.

In terms of the force of the two parties, Han Qi and others had the upper hand, but because the men in black suddenly used the poisonous powder before, and after injuring three yamen servants, they let the yamen servants know the power of the poison powder, so they had to fight the border defense This delays the battle time.Now that Cui Tao and Wang Zhao came out from behind, it was almost time, and everything was resolved within half a stick of incense time.

After Han Qi stopped, he had time to focus on Cui Tao.

The hatchback just nodded slightly, Cui Tao went to check on the situation of the three yamen servants with poisoned eyes, while Han Qi had to organize the rest of the yamen servants to take precautions, and then check the surrounding environment to prevent another surprise attack.

The man in black had two survivors, and the yamen guards questioned them, but they didn't say a word.

Wang Zhao: "Don't waste your energy, you are dumb."

When the yamen servants heard the words, they suddenly realized that during the battle just now, it seemed that they were the only ones who made a sound.

There is no medicine now, but judging from the condition of the eyes of the three yamen servants, it is not impossible to cure them.Cui Tao asked the yamen servant to quickly help the three of them out, wash their eyes with clean water first, then bandage them to protect them from the light, and then ask the doctor to come to Quanzhou to see them.

The servants somewhat questioned Cui Tao's statement.

Han Qi came over at this moment and ordered the servants to do the same.

"Worried about me?" Han Qi asked Cui Tao in a low voice when they left.

Cui Tao nodded, she didn't make a sound, but all the emotions were conveyed to Han Qi in her eyes.

Han Qi smiled, but at the moment he was not happy, but a little relieved, the people of Kaifeng Mansion suffered heavy losses in the cave.

"The setting of the roads and organs in the cave should not simply lure the enemy in so that they can attack. There must be secrets in this cave." Cui Tao looked around and said to Han Qi, "Craftsmen all have similarities. There...is there a tomb here?"

Wang Zhao had just finished comforting the brothers, and came to find Cui Tao and Han Qi, just in time to hear Cui Tao's words.

"Tomb? Why do you suspect there is a tomb?" Wang Zhao was too confused. He was still glad that Mrs. Cui, who had been explaining to him, was still alive, so he couldn't help but hasten to ask.

"Do you still remember the Xinghua Lane case? The murderer was a dwarf named Tao Gao. He built a tomb under Xinghua Lane to bury his father. The tomb there was built by an old carpenter named Wang Guan."

"That's right, the tomb passage below Xinghua Lane is intricate, narrow, and full of traps. At that time, I listened to Mrs. Cui's advice and used bull dung mushrooms to force people out. If you go to the tomb rashly, there will be casualties... "Wang Zhao reacted, and then looked around in horror, "So, the place we are going out now is actually similar to the tomb under Xinghua Lane?"

"Yes, but it's bigger, more intricate, and more terrifying. Bull dung mushrooms are definitely not useful here." Cui Tao agreed.

So many people have already been lost, which is enough to show that this cave tomb is terrible.

Wang Zhao: "Then what should we do?"

"The flock of sheep is very useful. Judging from the current situation, we should have penetrated deep, otherwise those men in black would not be eager to attack." Cui Tao speculated.

Everyone rested in place for a long time, but Han Qi didn't order to move on.

After a while, Zhang Chang followed the previous wave of yamen servants who had poisoned their eyes, and behind him were two men in coarse clothes.The eyebrows and eyes of the two are somewhat similar, and they seem to be only one or two years apart in age.

After seeing Han Qi, the two brothers began to observe the surrounding situation, and then led the four Yamen servants to go ahead to explore the way.Not long after, the brothers turned back and told Han Qi that they had already explored the road ahead, and two organs were broken, so they were still safe.

"Who are these two?"

Han Qi ordered the remaining yamen servants to follow the two brothers immediately, and then explained to Cui Tao and Wang Zhao: "These two have a lot of research on tomb exploration."

"You have long suspected that this is a tomb?" Cui Tao asked Han Qi.

Han Qi: "Since there was no news of Wang Zhao and the others going down to the cave, after a preliminary inspection of the situation at the entrance of the cave, I have some guesses. Although I am not sure, but I am prepared."

Like Han Qi, Zhang Chang lived in Quanzhou since he was a child, and he is familiar with the situation here. Moreover, Zhang Chang knows more people here than Han Qi, and they have all kinds of teachings and nine streams.It was not difficult for him to find two grave robbers.

"The brothers from the Yu family not only want money and rewards, but also an official document from the court to praise them. I really didn't expect that this tomb robber would turn around one day." After Zhang Chang introduced the situation of the two brothers, he couldn't help complaining helplessly.In order for the two brothers to come as soon as possible, he could only agree.

"There is a specialization in the art industry, and now it's up to them to show their skills. If you praise them in official documents, you will praise them. Now I just hope that there will be no more casualties of brothers." Wang Zhao said sadly.

After burning incense, everyone came to a seven-meter-wide pool, which was built artificially and lay in the middle of the road.The distance is so wide that it is absolutely impossible to jump directly.

"Everyone be careful, Zhao Min and the others were soaked and died of poison earlier, most likely due to water poisoning." Han Qi immediately instructed.

After Cui Tao heard the words, she pursed her lips slightly. She was too worried, and with Han Qi's intelligence, she could naturally come to the conclusion that 'water is poisonous'.

"This water is indeed poisonous. The purpose is to prevent people who visit the tomb from entering the main tomb. If I'm not wrong, this place is very close to the main tomb." After Yu Dalang said, he searched around, and then looked around the wall. I found a movable brick on the ground, pushed it down hard, and heard the sound of a mechanism running, and then an iron chain fell from the sky above the pool. Because of the sudden fall, the iron chain echoed back and forth.

Yu Erlang pulled the iron chain cleanly. If he didn't catch it in time, it would be difficult to catch it again when the rope stopped.

"What are you thinking about?" Han Qi turned around and found Cui Tao was deep in thought.

"I was thinking 'Caring for chaos', I was impulsive, I shouldn't have come." Cui Tao said.

When Han Qi was not paying attention, he grabbed Cui Tao's hand.

"Smart people do stupid things for the pleasure of their heart."

"I lost a lot today, and you are my only happiness."