Crown Sword

After leaving Yanjin Village, the two spent three and a half days rushing to Bodao County in southern Sichuan.Three rivers converge here, with dense ferries and many boat gangs. Chao Chen thought that Gongyangyue was going to take a boat on the Minjiang River to Chengdu, but unexpectedly, he just shot a feint, found a place to drink a bowl of hot bamboo fungus soup, and turned around to the southeast.

Seeing Wanling Qingqing in the distance, Chao Chen suddenly realized: "This is the Bamboo Sea, you... come to see Li Daxia?"

Gong Yangyue replied, "That's right, taking in a traitor like me, although it's only a name, but it will damage his reputation, so I will check from time to time to see if I am mad."

In the past, a master surnamed Shen took care of this area of ​​southern Shun. When Gong Yangyue left Daiguo with his master Li Zhouyang, he met him once, and later lived in Jiangu, but he never saw this person again.When he rebelled against his teacher five years ago, he had bid farewell to Zhuhai. At that time, he heard faintly that Master Shen was dead.

Li Zhouyang buried him in Wanqing Ridge, wearing white mourning clothes, and even Lou Xijia, who had never heard of him, sent a eulogy from southern Yunnan.Gongyangyue didn't know much about this person's life, but he wasn't an unknown person.

In fact, when he first stepped into the border of Bashu, Gongyangyue had more doubts than now. He didn't understand why Li Zhouyang, a disciple of the master of the valley, didn't live in Jiangu, but lived alone in the Bamboo Sea in the south of Shu; Why there are always many masters lurking; I don't understand why the master never admits that he is a descendant of "Xixia" Li Changli, even after Fu Jian's defeat, the Qin Kingdom fell, and the Shuzhong, which was slaughtered by the Qin army, was very popular Sheng.

Later, he learned not to ask, because everyone has something to hide.

The people of Shu seemed to be hoping for something, but they never came.Sometimes, he felt that this death was more like the end of an era.

"I heard that 90 years ago, the king of Chengdu, Li Xiong, proclaimed himself emperor here, established the Kingdom of Han, and ushered in a prosperous age in central Shu where the doors were closed day and night, and the people were prosperous and happy." Under the eaves of the shop, the cakes in the bamboo steamer are waiting to be cooked.

Gong Yangyue was engrossed in counting money, calculating how much should be eaten for this meal, when he overheard his exclamation, he added casually: "The world is so chaotic, many good things are just fleeting fireworks."

"pity."

"What's the pity? The old ones don't go away, and the new ones don't come. To put it bluntly, people are born with two characteristics, one is cheap, and the other is forgetful. Hey, don't look at me like that, I didn't scold anyone," said the public. Yang Yue glared at her and continued to talk eloquently, "Cheap means that life is as cheap as grass, but it is reborn in the spring breeze. These thousands of years have been killed, but there are still countless people alive; as for forgetting, just look around, except for you. Those who nostalgia for the past and hurt the present, there are still a few who remember Cheng Han."

After finishing speaking, he handed the money to the baker and said, "Give me six. By the way, ask someone, do you know Li Xiong?"

"Li Xiong?" The cake steamer replied while poking his chopsticks into the cage to quickly grab it, "I've never heard of this guy, but there's a guy named Li Goudan in the next village."

Gongyangyue split into three and put them in Chao Chen's palm.

Holding it in hands, Chao Chen hissed and sighed: "Whether you are talented or beautiful, heroic or beautiful, in the end, you can't escape the loess and bones. Probably only people in the book can live forever. It's a pity, it's a pity that neither you nor I." When he came back to his senses , the heat had soaked into the palm of his hand, making him grin his teeth.

"If you are a mother again, don't eat it." Gong Yangyue annoyed him and raised his hand to snatch it.

Only then did Chao Chen shut up, and turned his back to hide.

At this time, a firewood bearer came from outside the shop, and he opened his mouth not to shout for steamed cakes, but to follow Gong Yangyue's question just now, and said with a smile: "Master, I know who you are asking." The chai man asked for two cakes, and while he was biting, he invited two people to accompany him. He walked across a Banqiao and saw that there was no one around, so he put down his sticks and saluted Gongyangyue.

Although the people in Zhuhai were dismissed after Shen Fuzi's death, there were always some diehards who refused to leave, cut firewood and hunted, and they would guard until Li Zhouyang died.

Gong Yangyue cut to the chase: "Is Li Zhouyang here?"

"I don't know, there is no entry or exit."

With Li Zhouyang's current skills, even if he leaves openly and there are not many people who dare to confront him head-on, he still chooses to leave quietly. It must be because even he feels that the target to be investigated is very difficult.

Gongyang Yue asked again: "Then has anyone come here recently?"

"Yes, there is a Taoist priest."

Taoist priest?

There are quite a lot of preachers in Sichuan, but most of them are familiar to people. Since they are strangers, they must come from other places. Where did they come from?Ganzhou?Or Beiluoxuan Mansion?

After the questioning, Gong Yangyue called Chao Chen and went to Zhuhai.

After all, it is impossible to enclose mountains and land, and there are many ways to enter and exit, but they are basically dangerous roads, only those who have lived here for a long time know about digging bamboo shoots, but in the cold winter months, there are very few people going up the mountain.As for the road, there is only one road, over the Tiyan, to the colorful lake to Moxi Valley, the so-called mountain gate is also here.

This road is full of green bamboos, vast like the sea, and a natural lost valley. There is no need to set up any formations, but after Li Zhouyang returned to the rivers and lakes with his left-handed sword, it didn't take long for many swordsmen to come here, not for apprenticeship. , Just to ask for advice, occasionally one or two can stumble in by mistake, and most of them are trapped in the bamboo forest and have to wait for someone to rescue them, so that he can't study swordsmanship with peace of mind.

It was his old friend who was familiar with formations, set up checkpoints nearby, and released a message that he would see you later, and he could pass through the checkpoints openly, but the power was terrifying, life and death were irrelevant.

After hitting a wall a few times, the news spread, embellishing the story, it was a horror, what kind of endless hell, there is no return, as time goes by, the number of people coming is less, even if there are one or two people who can't think about it, it's not a problem.

Chao Chen followed Gongyangyue into it, and didn't feel anything scary, and wondered, "Can this level really kill people?"

"I hope so." The closer to the destination, the more restless Gongyangyue is. This is the killer's unique intuition, but it is difficult for Zhun to explain it to others. He can only resolve the uneasiness in his heart through eccentric words, "but It is to take advantage of people's fearful nature. If there is a philanthropic swordsman living here, if people are sleepy, they will show them the way, and give them food and drinks. Naturally less."

Chao Chen pointed to a corner of the slope rock: "Gongyangyue, look!"

Gong Yangyue also saw it, stretched out her hand to grab it, and pulled Chao Chen directly to the top of the bamboo grove, raised her eyes, there was a gentle breeze, and the waves were rippling, nothing unusual, it could be seen that the fight had stopped.Then, he performed lightness kung fu and rushed forward, looking down through the gaps in the bamboo leaves under his feet, the blood flowed continuously along the way, and the corpse was grim.

"Most of them are in black clothes, with ropes and hooks tied around their waists. They must have climbed the mountain at night. There are two petite, dressed in ramie clothes. They are dressed in local clothes. They were probably arrested to lead the way," Chao Chen said. He focused his gaze and scanned roughly, "Looking at the direction of the fall, it doesn't seem like he was ambushed. He should have been killed directly in the middle. Either it was man-made, or there were thorns lying on the ground, cutting people apart."

"anything else?"

"The wound, the wound can't be seen clearly..."

Running to the end, a bamboo courtyard appeared beside the stream that went straight down the stairs. The ram moon landed, kicked the corpse over, and took off the mask: "The appearance that can be forgotten in a flash is suitable for lurking and tracking," which can explain why The wood bearer and his companions were not alert.Then, he touched the skeleton again, raised his elbow and hit the leg bone hard, "Although the frame is not big, but judging by the hardness of the bones, it is an adult, and it should have nothing to do with Duan Zan's Tongzimen."

Chao Chen nodded, pushed aside his clothes, and said, "There are a few of them nearby, all of which have no obvious external injuries. They didn't die from swords, but there are scratches on their shoulders, red bruises around their necks, and they could all be wound with ropes and hooks."

As we all know, Li Zhouyang is a swordsman, and the checkpoints he set must also be inseparable from the edge of bluffing, both of which can be ruled out now.

Gong Yangyue's face turned serious, and she pointed to one of the boots: "The soles of these boots are wear-resistant, but you see, they are almost worn out, and it looks like they have traveled a long way."

"Didn't you come here for the respected master?" Chao Chen was stunned.

Gong Yangyue connected all the clues together, and immediately replayed the scene in his mind: there was such a person, who was seven feet tall, strong, and could wrap his neck without using a sharp weapon. It's whisk.This person was chased by the killer for thousands of miles, and Jingye walked into the bamboo sea intentionally or unintentionally, either to ask for help, or to avoid disaster, or to ambush the murderer.

"Go in and have a look."

"Don't go in," Chao Chen wanted to pull him back, "beware of an ambush."

Gong Yangyue listened carefully: "There is no one in the room." After he finished speaking, he stretched out his hand, turned directly from the side of the bamboo wall, rolled under the window with his hands and feet, and used his thin sword to pick apart the bamboo that was pushed up and down. window.He knows the structure of the house very well, and he can see the whole picture clearly by finding two angles that complement each other.

There were no traces of fighting, indicating that Li Zhouyang was not ambushed here.

Pieces of bamboo slips are hung in the small courtyard, young bamboos that have been washed off their green skins are piled up in the corner behind the house, and several buckets of bamboo hemp that have not yet been poured into the papermaking tank after being boiled. If you sniff hard, you can smell A touch of citrus.

"Come in."

Chao Chen was waiting outside, watching Gong Yangyue put down the bamboo window, and pushed open the door openly, knowing that there would be no problem, so she followed in, and asked casually, "How do you know there is no problem?"

Gong Yangyue took out the letterhead left by Lou Xijia, and waved his hand in front of his nose: "What do you smell?"

"Citrus scent?"

"Bamboo and hemp will have a rancid smell after being boiled. If you need to make paper to produce fragrance, you need some materials. This letter was sent to southern Yunnan by Li Zhouyang a month ago. People have moved." Gong Yangyue circled around the room, scanning the shelf tables and bamboo couch one by one, "when the doors and windows are closed, it is impossible to know the situation in the house, and the person living inside is a master, if you have a heart Unruly people will definitely not follow the usual path when tempted, and they will definitely trample over the wooden barrel under the wall of the backyard."

"It can be cleaned up if it is spilled, but I don't believe it. I can still spend time and effort to boil a few barrels again, and even have the time to put spices and spices right. With that effort, what's wrong with doing something?" A row of crock pots filled with incense powder, each of which has no label, except for the well-known owner, the rest can only distinguish the smell by nose.

Chao Chen is still worried: "What if you come in openly? For example, that master."

Gong Yangyue knelt on one knee in front of the bamboo case: "I didn't say that no one came in. Li Zhouyang is a fastidious person, he doesn't stain his clothes with sword blood, and sweeps the floor three times a day. He might even clean it once before leaving. The doors and windows are closed, why are there still mud on the legs of this desk? Besides, look at this bamboo leaf," he pointed, and there was a withered yellow bamboo leaf right in front of Chao Chen's shoes, "the leaf floats through the window How did you get through the case and land here?"

According to him, there is only one possibility——

Someone came in and took one of the things on the case, and the bamboo leaf was glued just under it.

"Wow--" There was a sound of wind blowing the door open, there were three applause in front of the door, and one person held a whisk in one hand and an envelope in the other, and said coldly, "Both of you, are you looking for this?"

Looking at the envelope mark, it should be something unique to Li Zhouyang.

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