Crown Sword

The matter of the ghost sword is not settled all day, and every day comes to every house behind closed doors.

After dinner at noon, the sky was getting darker and darker. Qiao Min came back from the outside, took off his bamboo hat, and shook his head, obviously he didn't get anything.When the cold spring came, Cui Tanfeng didn't know kung fu, couldn't help and didn't dare to wander around to make trouble, so she made cold ginger tea for everyone, and the old servant Shi kept rice and brought it out together.

When Chao Chen heard the call, she put down the scroll and came out of the house, drank a bowl of tea, and saw Gong Yangyue on the left and right, walked out quickly, and asked everyone she met.

"What about Ram Moon?"

"Ram month?"

Shuang Li was squatting in front of the long case and playing with some handymen for money. Hearing the sound, he raised his head and stared at him: "Brother Chao, you look like an old woman now. You never took the initiative to find Lao Yue before."

He came here for revenge, why did he become Gong Yangyue's old lady?

Chao Chen coughed dryly, and hurriedly explained: "Teaching is used to worrying so much."

"Don't worry about him, Lao Yue has a sense of propriety, not adding trouble is the greatest help!" Shuang Li was very lucky today, winning several rounds in a row, throwing all his heart on the dice cup, then waved his hands and shouted, "Come again, come again!"

Chao Chen was so worried that he turned around without paying attention and bumped into the lamp stand.

Hearing the movement, Shuang Li turned his head to take a look, the dice cup in his hand was not grasped, and Gu Lulu rolled out two dice, which happened to land at Chao Chen's feet.Shuang Li leaned over, intending to pick it up by herself, but Chao Chen snatched it first.The latter handed the item to her palm, and without thinking, she would lose in the next round.

Shuang Li Shun muttered, "You lost all my good luck."

Chao Chen froze, holding on to the lamp stand, not knowing whether to leave or stay.

The voice was not low, those craftsmen and even Cui Tanfeng heard it clearly, their eyes looked back and forth, Shuang Li suddenly reacted, and hurriedly explained: "Brother Chao, don't take it to heart, I... I I used to talk nonsense with Lao Yue, I have no other intentions, oh, it's okay, that's all for today."

As she said that, she put the things on the table into the cloth bag, her hands and feet were uncoordinated, and she fell all over the ground, and she blushed and chased to pick it up.

"You said that this girl is not a thief, she will leave if she wins, and she will accept it when she really meets." Cui Tanfeng patted Chao Chen on the shoulder, "Don't worry, anyone who can hurt Gongyangyue will be fined." not much."

Chao Chen clenched his fists, then let go, and said forcefully, "I'm not worried about him."

The shop, which was noisy just now, quickly fell silent as people left. Chao Chen moved a wooden board in front of the shop door, leaned against the gap, and stared blankly at the dark street and the fluttering bamboo lanterns under the eaves.

The old servant Shi came over with a wooden basin of hot water, wrung out the rag, and wiped the small table and Maza in turn.

Chao Chen turned around, lacking interest and feeling a little uncomfortable.

"Master Gongyang asked me to prepare some paper money for incense candles. He must go out of the city to visit the tomb in the west. He is so skilled, he might be able to capture the ghost sword back." Old servant Shi tied the horse together.

After a long silence, Chao Chen asked, "Is it far?"

"Not far, less than five miles."

Gongyang Chi died in Mianzhu, even if there is no body, there should be a tomb. As an heir, it is human nature for Gongyang to worship a month ago.Seeing Wei Zhanmei's meaning, he didn't go to Mianzhu before, but Jiangu, now that he has this opportunity, he also wants to have a glass of thin wine, as a comfort, after all, they won't stay here until Qingming.

Chao Chen nodded, not too embarrassed, "Old man, you just said you were captured, but do you believe it was artificial?"

"I just don't believe in the so-called evil spirits." The old servant shook his head, "Thinking about it carefully, if the collusion with the Qin army and the mutiny were really done by the old senior Gongyang, what grievances did he have? The friendship design with Zhang Yu can’t be taken for granted. Who is that Zhang Yu? The king of Shu who commanded thousands of troops. Who is Gong Yangchi? Jian Gu is second only to Yu Lingzi’s swordsman! Easily manipulated?"

Having said that, Chao Chen also felt very foggy.

If he were Gong Yangchi, if someone used his name to plot against his friends, he shouldn't kill himself on Mianzhu City. Wouldn't it be better to assassinate Deng Qiang in the Chinese army tent with his martial arts?Forbearance for now, wouldn't it be better to avenge Zhang Yu?

"Old man, you are right."

Unexpectedly, the old servant Shi threw the rag into the water basin, raised his eyelids, and said angrily: "What's the use of it, how important do you think the truth is? I can imagine that those old gods in Jiangu are not as good as me, naturally Intentions. What's more, what do you have to do with other people's lives and deaths? After Zhang Yu died, Mianzhu returned to Qin. Whoever dared to complain to the Qin army could only vent his anger on the dead. Otherwise, why did Gongyang Lao Senior doesn't even have a tomb."

Chao Chen was taken aback, and murmured to himself, "It's not Gong Yangchi, who is the one from West City?"

"It's Xia Houzhen. Mr. Chao, don't you know? Six years ago, he died in Mianzhu, and it's only a few days if you count the days." Old servant Shi finished packing and left with a basin in his hand.

The night wind blew cold on his face, Chao Chen folded his arms and shivered uncontrollably.He didn't want to wait any longer, so he turned around and moved back to the wooden board that was set aside, and installed it on the door.At this moment, on the brick wall across the slanted street, two shadows flashed, one in front and one in the back, and after the sound of the dog's barking subsided, it was faintly Ji Ci's shout.

Chao Chen immediately put down his things, poked his head to look, and found that Ji Ci and Zhou Bihai were heading west.

For some reason, his heart was beating like a drum, and he was very uneasy. He turned around and called the old servant to explain a few words, then squeezed out from the gap and followed with a dagger, although he didn't admit in his heart that he was worried about Gong Yangyue, but only He used an excuse to tell himself that he was afraid that he would bump into Fang Jing when he returned to the city, and there would be another conflict.

----

After following for about two or three miles, not only did they miss Gongyangyue on the return journey, but Zhou Bihai and Ji Ci also lost track.Chao Chen's heart was always up and down, and he was still not at ease. According to the old servant, Gongyang left before the end of the month. Mianzhu is a small city, and it took him at most an hour to go back and forth with his feet, but now it is almost Youshi, which takes two hours.

Relying on the position he came from, he walked on the grass and slowly groped forward.

I don't know if it's because he has been "tempered" by Gong Yangyue's changing methods in the past few months. His body and legs are more solid than before, and he can walk like a flying swallow without using internal strength to perform light work. In addition to the accumulated experience, ordinary thieves should is all right.

So, while paying attention to the movements in the direction of the official road, he walked along the mountain.

Walking through a rapeseed ridge, pushing aside the kapok branches in early spring, a tomb was built at the intersection of the water and the creek, and the green grass on the tomb was as high as green, and it had been growing for a long time, and no one took care of it.The wild grass around the tomb has been cut clean, and the fracture is flat and neat. The "Jade City Snow Ridge" is inserted in front of the monument.

Gong Yangyue leaned against a jujube tree that hadn't grown up yet, and pillowed the broken sword "Merry Boneless" on her lap, with her long hair spread out, and she drank dryly with a flagon in her hand. Out of sorrow and joy.

In the pitch-black mountains and plains, it was impossible to see clearly, but fortunately, Old Servant Shi had prepared enough candles, and the person in front of him was a careless person, so he lit as many candles as there were in the basket, illuminating a radius of three feet. bright.

Chao Chen's eyes are good, and he took advantage of the light from a long distance to see the lonely name engraved on the black stone tablet——

"Xiahouzhen's tomb."

There is no appellation, no taboo, no monument erector, no epitaph, and even the handwriting is so simple that even the handwriting is extremely rough, with dark strokes and light strokes, as if someone carved it with a sword stroke by stroke.

Sorrow and loneliness are often invisible, and you don't need extra words to describe, just a look can betray you.

Gong Yangyue seldom reveals her fragile side to others, but now, Chao Chen only needs to stare for a while to empathize with them.

Although he never brought it up on his own initiative, this Xia Houzhen must be very important to him.

Chao Chen wanted to go forward to comfort him, but his legs seemed to be filled with lead, and he couldn't move on the ground, so he could only sigh silently and stand there in agony.Gongyangyue seemed to have a feeling, and flew towards the kapok tree, but he remained indifferent and continued to drink with his head held high.Chao Chen looked sideways at the white petals falling on his shoulders, and didn't make up his mind until the wind blows them away.

Just as he was about to step out, he heard footsteps from another direction.

Fang Jing has always known that Xia Houzhen was buried in Mianzhu. She had advised the Seven Elders several times to move the grave back to Jiangu, but she didn't know what Gong Yangyue and her colleagues said. The grave was moved, and the excuse was that the Nine Schools only had the rule of returning to the grave with a sword, and it didn't matter where the body was buried.

Since the blood relatives said so, she is not good for an outsider to make her own opinion, but after that, she never came to Mianzhu again, and never looked at it again.

Hearing the gossip about Gongyangyue in the city today, she couldn't help thinking of similar rumors in Sword Valley back then. At that time, Xia Houzhen was still a corner in the rumors, but now, it is a deserted grave.

Fang Jing felt congested, out of breath, and her heart hurt like a piece of flesh had been gouged out.

Then, like a walking dead, she dragged her stiff body to Yizhuang to check the collected corpses.After the defendant had asked his relatives to bring him back, he went to two or three houses to investigate. The results were either that his clothes were straightened and he was not allowed to look through them, or that the house was completely empty and he was buried hastily.Seeing that there was nothing to gain, she felt even more depressed and uneasy. After wandering around the city, she left the city in a daze, and came here unconsciously.

Zhou Bihai and Ji Ci didn't see anyone at the agreed place, so they searched all over the city after dark, for fear that something might go wrong.It's just that Fang Jing is fine at the moment, but they don't know where they went by mistake.

Gong Yangyue heard her footsteps and recognized her, without raising her head.Fang Jing was not blind, and Gong Yangyue was not wearing a cloak, and she was dressed in red like blood. She couldn't imagine it, but her eyes only stayed there for a moment, and she quickly moved away and walked forward.It is said that enemies are jealous when they meet each other, but the two of them seemed to have made an appointment, and they neither fought nor made noise in front of Xia Houzhen's tomb, which made Chao Chen's hair stand on end.

Fang Jing reached out to pull the weeds, but found that the grass had been chopped flat, so she turned around and went to burn the incense, but the incense was lit by Gong Yangyue, and she almost planted it around the tomb, and she was empty-handed and had no stock. .She stood dejectedly on the spot for a while, filled with grief and anger, addicted to alcohol, and touched the gourd around her waist, but the gourd was empty, and she was so angry that she smashed it to the ground.

"It's useless to look at me, I'll give it to you, do you dare to drink it?" Gong Yangyue sneered.

Fang Jing cursed in her heart, "You can't drink to death", turned around and plunged into the rapeseed field, picked some of the brightest plants, made a wreath, and hung it on the tip of the stele.

Gong Yangyue spilled the rest of the wine on the ground, even threw the wine urn casually, took off the coat hanging on the tree and put it on her shoulders, and left resolutely, as if it was unbearable to stay any longer.

Fang Jing was already sensitive. Seeing his actions, she thought it was aimed at herself. After chasing him for a mile, she yelled unscrupulously: "The bastard, it's all caused by you! You're not welcome here, since It has nothing to do with you, why don't you broom star get out!"

The scolding was so harsh that Chao Chen's eyes went dark, and he almost fell into the ditch. As a bystander, he just wanted to cover her mouth right now.He really didn't understand where this girl got her confidence. If it wasn't for Gong Yangyue, she would be more principled and not care about women, but instead of a leaf knife, if she dared to challenge her like this, she would have nailed a sword to a tree long ago.

But after thinking about it, Chao Chen felt relieved, he was too reasonable, he had already worn out his vigor after a few months of delay, and now he wanted to fight with Gong Yangyue, first of all he lost in momentum, let alone fighting, as long as he Ghosts come up with ideas every second, and if they are not tossed and teased by him, they will call Amitabha.

It was rare for Gongyangyue to be scolded and not to fight back. He listened with great interest, and inadvertently stepped on a dry wooden branch on the ground.

Gong Yangyue's eyes flew over, he quickly bent down and bowed his head, pulled his sleeves to wipe off the cold sweat on his forehead, moved away slowly, and left as soon as he could see no one.He was worried and uneasy, fearing that he would be caught up to settle accounts, so in a panic he made no choice but to go in the wrong direction unconsciously.

The night swan in the mountain screamed twice, Chao Chen walked in a hurry, did not care about his feet, and was tripped and fell to the ground.

Looking down, there is a person under him, his face down and his back up, motionless, he is throwing a wooden stick in his hand, with a bag hanging on it, a few copper coins are faintly printed on the cloth, and the soles of his feet are turning over. It's just a broken earthenware bowl, the bowl is full of cold leftovers, half spilled, half filled, like a beggar.

Chao Chen stretched out his hand to touch his neck, his skin was soft and warm, his pulse was throbbing, it was not a corpse.

"Who?"

The man subconsciously grabbed his retracted wrist, turned over, hiccupped, raised his elbows and stood up, but because he was so drunk, he could only lie straight like a dead fish, with his eyes closed .

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