Strange Records of Xijing

The "half-faced ghost" who hadn't appeared for five days appeared again, this time Xiang Shaoxuan didn't dare to hide anything anymore.The next day, after he had checked the token with the successor of the Jinwu Guard, he hurriedly looked for Pei Jingxing, the current envoy of the Jinwu Guard on the Left and Right Streets, amidst the sound of four hundred "door-opening drums".

When Pei Jingxing heard about this, he asked, "Are you sure it's the ghost that was subdued five days ago?"

Xiang Shaoxuan nodded and said: "That's the one, the long black hair, and the blood-stained clothes, only half of the face, that's the ghost! Pei Jieshi, the left half of the ghost's nose and eyebrows No more, only one eye and half mouth."

"Is that confirmed?" Pei Jingxing didn't look at Xiang Shaoxuan, and asked, "Then have you ever seen more than half of the palm print on the ghost's left lapel, and there is a yellowish thumb-sized hole in the center of the palm print?" ?”

Xiang Shaoxuan heard it, and broke out in cold sweat: "This subordinate was so frightened at that time, I didn't have time to look at it."

Only then did Pei Jingxing glance at Xiang Shaoxuan, without saying anything, he just put down his pen and said, "Next time, please remember, I will report this matter to General Shen."

Xiang Shaoxuan heaved a sigh of relief, the two of them had worked together for more than three years, he naturally knew that Pei Jingxing's temperament would sometimes become extremely weird - he clearly made things difficult for others, but no one could point out his mistakes.

When it comes to when, it seems that most of them are related to ghost alchemy.

Seeing that Xiang Shaoxuan didn't speak, Pei Jingxing thought it was his own words, and said, "You've worked hard all night, go back and rest first, explain this matter clearly to your brothers, don't say anything."

"Yes."

After seeing Xiang Shaoxuan off, Pei Jingxing closed his eyes, first raised his right hand and pinched the bridge of his nose heavily, and drank half a bowl of thick tea before getting up.

He hung the horizontal knife on his waist, and glanced at the dragon head and tiger tooth gun in the room. After thinking for a while, he still left this imperial bestowal from the Pei family's ancestors in the inner office, and went out to General Shen's mansion. .

"It appeared again? In Chunming and Yong'an two workshops again?" Shen Congjian frowned after listening to Pei Jingxing's narration: "The people in those two workshops are all high-ranking officials and dignitaries, this ghost has made it clear that he wants to marry us Jin Wu Can Wei make it through? Pei Street Envoy, quickly go to the Taoist priest that Shangguan Shaoqing recruited, and ask him for me if this Taoist priest is a half bucket of water."

Pei Jingxing asked: "Then how should we deal with this 'half-faced ghost'?"

"At the beginning, his Shangguan found a Taoist priest, saying that he didn't need to bother other people, just leave it to him. Now it's good, the ghost hasn't been saved in five days, but the ghost came out to harm people again." Shen Congjian thought A few days ago, Shangguan Yun's swearing face made him angry.

It is his habit to break his mouth when he is in a hurry.After counting down Shangguan Yun together, Shen Congjian then told Pei Jingxing: "Pei Street Envoy, I still have to work hard on you this time. You go to the National Teacher's Mansion to invite the National Teacher's disciples first, and then send someone to arrest Shangguan Yun. Taoist priest. If Shangguan Yun obstructs, you can show me my token. I want to see if he dares to obstruct the Jinwu Guard from handling the case. The general is not feeling well, so don’t bother him about this matter.”

Shen Congjian's order coincided with Pei Jingxing's thoughts.This matter is very important. The "half-faced ghost" claimed six lives in just a few days. Last night, the traces of the "half-faced ghost" appeared in Chunming and Yong'an Erfang again. Pei Jingxing was worried that he would appear again if there was a slight delay. Acknowledging his fate, he immediately said: "Yes."

"It's rare for Pei Jie to come to the National Teacher's Mansion." When Gao Zekai heard that Pei Jingxing was visiting, he personally welcomed Pei Jingxing into the hall with a playful smile on his face.

As soon as Pei Jingxing entered the National Teacher's Mansion, he felt uncomfortable all over his body, regretting that he should have gone back to the inner office if he knew earlier, and brought the dragon head and tiger tooth gun.

Gao Zekai ordered someone to serve tea, but he himself was too lazy to be courteous with Pei Jingxing, and just sat down and peeled peanuts to eat.

Seeing Gao Zekai's behavior, Pei Jingxing's heart that had been hanging around was a little more at ease, and he was not polite, sat down and drank tea, and expressed his intention.

"'Half-faced ghost'?" Gao Zekai clapped his hands and asked, "Didn't that ghost be taken away by the Taoist priests that Shangguan Shaoqing called five days ago?"

Pei Jingxing was taken aback for a moment: "You know?"

Gao Zekai waved his hand and said: "Naturally. Master is not here. I will guard Xijing for Master. Every move in Xijing cannot escape my eyes, let alone something related to ghosts?"

"That ghost came out again," Pei Jingxing said, "Xiang Shaoxuan was patrolling between Yong'an and Chunming last night, and found the 'half-faced ghost' at the street corner. Fortunately, the 'half-faced ghost' saw it They ran away, otherwise they would have killed a few more people. Ah Da, what is the purpose of this 'half-faced ghost'?"

"Ada" was what several of their childhood playmates used to call Gao Zekai, because Gao Zekai was the oldest among them, and he liked to put on the big brother posture.It's a pity that when he was young, Gao Zekai didn't have the big brother consciousness to lead by example. In addition to "bullying" these children, he took them to fight with other children, made people cry, and laughed at other cowards. , The next day, just act like nothing happened, and continue to lead them to make trouble.

It's just that Gao Zekai, the "No. [-] tyrant in Xijing", has lived in awe and prestige for only two years. Because of his talent at a young age, he was accepted as a disciple by the national teacher, causing harm to others.

Time has changed, Gao Zekai became the successor of the national teacher, and Pei Jingxing joined the Jinwu Guard after returning from the Western Regions. The two hadn't seen each other for four years, and Gao Zekai heard Pei Jingxing call him "Ada" again.Feeling that time has changed for no reason.

Putting away the momentary trance, Gao Zekai said seriously: "Even my master can't exhaust the matter of ghosts. To give a simple example, the water ghosts that are common in the water are the resentment of drowning people that cannot be dissipated after death. Often they can’t stay, and over time they turn into water ghosts. Water ghosts lurk in the water all the year round. Most of them have no memory of their life, but because the resentment before death is still there, they will take the initiative to pull passers-by into the water. Once an unlucky passerby is killed by a water ghost, the resentment on the water ghost will dissipate, and the water ghost can enter the underworld, and the soul of the passerby will turn into a new water ghost and lurk in the water again. Harmful incidents are not uncommon. Ghosts like water ghosts, which are common everywhere and known to passers-by, can be counted as a family. But I have never met this "half-faced ghost", nor have I seen it in the book. It should be An isolated case. The meaning of an isolated case is that the cause of this ghost's death is something else."

Pei Jingxing didn't intend to investigate the cause of the "half-faced ghost" and asked, "Can you catch the half-faced ghost?" Since the "half-faced ghost" first appeared, six people have been killed in just nine days. Thirteen others are still unconscious."

Gao Zekai didn't nod or shake his head, he just said, "I'll try my best. Is that Taoist still in Xijing?"

Pei Jingxing didn't know either: "I have ordered someone to go to Shangguan Yun's residence to ask for someone."

Gao Zekai got up: "It's not too late, I'll find someone, let's go together."

"Cousin, we haven't seen each other for a few months." Pei Huaiyu followed Gao Zekai and saw Pei Jingxing from afar, showing his white teeth and greeting people.

Seeing Pei Huaiyu, Pei Jingxing couldn't see the slightest bit of joy: "Gao Daoist, you let Pei Huaiyu come over, wouldn't you add to the trouble?"

When Pei Huaiyu heard this, she became sleepy all of a sudden, and she hung her head, not knowing whether it was shyness or disappointment.

But Gao Zekai shook his head and said: "Pei Jie's words are wrong. Whether we can catch the 'half-faced ghost' this time depends entirely on Junior Brother Pei."

With the encouragement from the senior brother, Pei Huaiyu was happy, and hid behind Gao Zekai and winked at Pei Jingxing: "Cousin, don't worry, I am also a disciple of the national teacher anyway, and I will definitely not embarrass the master and the senior brother."

Pei Jingxing looked at Pei Huaiyu, then at Gao Zekai, and was finally defeated: "Forget it, anyway, it's not you who will be unlucky at that time."

Gao Zekai's eyelids twitched, before he had time to speak, Pei Huaiyu pushed him into the carriage.

Shangguan Yun's mansion is in Chunmingfang. Hearing that Jin Wuwei came to visit, Shangguan Yun, who was still handling official business in Taichang Temple, hurried back from leave and welcomed everyone into the mansion.

"Pei Street Envoy came here this time, could it be that the workshop is haunted again?"

Pei Jingxing explained the purpose of coming, and then asked: "Shangguan Shaoqing, where is the Taoist priest at that time?"

Shangguan Yun showed a look of embarrassment: "To tell you the truth, the Taoist priest was recommended to me by others at that time. After catching the ghost, he said that he would take him to the suburbs of Beijing to refine it. I have already paid him, and the Taoist priest left. And never came back after that. But what happened?"

Pei Jingxing didn't hide it either: "The 'half-faced ghost' appeared again last night at a street corner between Chunming and Yong'an."

Shangguan Yun's eyes widened: "Isn't it refined?"

Gao Zekai suddenly asked at this time: "Shangguan Shaoqing, I see that the trees in the mansion are covered with red silk, but is Shangguan's wife happy?"

Shangguan Yun nodded and said: "The pregnancy was only detected a month ago, but my wife's fetal gas was moved because of the 'half-faced ghost', and she almost turned red. Her bones are not good, and now she can only stay in bed."

Gao Zekai said slowly: "Since Shangguan Shaoqing is going to have Lin'er in a few months, you should pay more attention to it in these few months. The increase in killings for no reason is not good for the child."

The muscles on Shangguan Yun's face tightened, but when he spoke, he said calmly: "Thank you, Taoist Gao, for reminding me. It's just that this 'half-faced ghost' has already killed six people, and almost killed my son, as well as my Yue family. Well, this 'half-faced ghost' made the family restless, and I am doing my son good deeds except for this disaster."

Gao Zekai nodded with a smile and didn't speak any more.

Pei Jingxing didn't give up, and asked again: "Who recommended the Taoist priest to Shangguan Shaoqing?"

Shangguan Yun thought for a while and said, "It's vaguely a Hu businessman at the banquet, and he took the cavalry back to the Western Regions a few days ago."

The implication is that this person cannot be found.

Pei Jingxing was a little unhappy at the moment, and said solemnly: "The Taoist priests Hu Shang knows, what kind of serious background can they come from? Shangguan Shaoqing, as a high-ranking member of the court, has he even forgotten such a simple truth?"

Theoretically, Shangguan Yun, as the Shaoqing of Taichang Temple, is the fourth rank, while Pei Jingxing, who is also the envoy of the left and right streets of the Jinwu Guard, is the sixth rank, Pei Jingxing shouldn't have talked to Shangguan Yun like this.However, as the second of the royal twelve guards, the left and right Jinwu guards, in addition to guarding the safety of the emperor, are also responsible for day and night inspections of the palace and Xijing, and have greater rights than the other ten guards.

The "half-faced ghost" matter is not big, but it is not small-"half-faced ghost" has already taken the lives of six people, one of whom is Judge Habayashi, if it is not eliminated, the night of Xijing will be destroyed. I'm afraid there will be no peace.

The Taoist priests recommended by Shangguan Yun failed to succeed but failed, and the "half-faced ghost" appeared again. Pei Jingxing could report Shangguan Yun as a suspect to General Jinwuwei, and then the general of Jinwuwei would decide whether to arrest him or not.

Shangguan Yun said helplessly: "I was wrong about this matter. I heard that the Taoist priest is quite famous among the people, and I only regarded him as a powerful one, but I didn't expect it to be a half bucket of water."

"The workshop?" Pei Jingxing grasped the key point in Shangguan Yun's words and asked, "Which workshop?"

"Pingkangfang." Speaking of this, Shangguan Yun showed shyness, "I lost my beloved wife back then, and I lingered in Pingkangfang. If I hadn't met Hong'er, I'm afraid I would still be living a drunken life."

The three present were really unwilling to accompany Shangguan Yun to reminisce about the well-known past in Xijing, Gao Zekai coughed, Pei Huaiyu put down the celadon tea bowl he was playing with, and Pei Jingxing took his saber from the servant beside him : "Thank you Shangguan Shaoqing, I won't bother you later."

Shangguan Yun seemed to be still immersed in that time, he only let the housekeeper see off the guests, while he lowered his head and meditated.

After leaving Shangguan Mansion, Pei Jingxing planned to go to Pingkangfang to inquire about the whereabouts of the Taoist priest, while Gao Zekai wanted to go to the street corner where the "half-faced ghost" appeared last night.

Pei Jingxing first accompanied Gao Zekai and Pei Huaiyu to the street corner, but when they arrived, there was already a person standing there.

Pei Huaiyu saw the man's appearance clearly, left her senior brother and cousin behind and went up to say hello: "Daozhang Su, we meet again."