Listen to the king's order

At this time, Dongchen's Xin family residence was already in chaos.

Cheng Tianjian, who specializes in punishing important cases in Chen Guo, received Feng to take people to Xin's house to investigate early in the morning. The people who came to see the excitement could only see those guards wearing official uniforms with expressionless faces. They didn't know what was going on inside. .

It's just that the more unknown the situation is, the more rumors spread.

It is said that Xin's family ran into water in the middle of the night, and the whole family was burned to death in their sleep.It is said that Xin Zhiyuan, the patriarch of the Xin family, offended some martial arts master and was sent to seek revenge.It is said that the Xin family owed a debt of blood in the early years and was claimed by a ghost.All of a sudden, the rumors became more and more evil, and the people who came and went gathered in front of Xin's house.

"What are you doing? Chengtianjian handles the case, spread out!" A few people in Chengtianjian's official uniforms shouted at the crowd, wielding machetes in their hands. , one by one fell silent, and consciously gave way to the official.

I saw a burly and sturdy man sandwiched between several guards.The man was also wearing Cheng Tianjian's official uniform, with an official hat on his head, a long knife in his hand, and a golden official badge on his waist, with the word "Duan" written on it.The man's brows were tightly furrowed, and he looked particularly fierce when he didn't speak.He strode to the gate of Xin's house, and a guard came from behind him and said something in his ear, then he turned to the crowd in front of the gate, and said loudly: "This is the first Duan Yuheng of Dong Chen Chengtian's Jianjian." Unfortunately, the Xin family is in distress here, and I have been ordered to investigate and deal with it, and I would like to ask all the fathers and folks to give me some noodles, don't spread rumors, let's go away."

Duan Yuheng speaks in a gentle manner, which is quite different from his rough face.The common people came to watch the excitement, but instead of seeing the excitement, they saw Cheng Tianjian's dangling sword, and they were already frightened, so they scattered in all directions.

Seeing that the people had dispersed, Duan Yuheng stepped into the gate of the Xin family.As soon as he entered the door, he was suffocated by a strong smell of blood.Looking around, the corpse had already been carried away, but just looking at the dried blood on the ground, on the door, and among the flowers, one could tell how tragic it was last night.

Duan Yuheng frowned even deeper, making his face even more stern.

"My lord." Han Yu, the chief guard of Cheng Tianjian, bowed respectfully to Duan Yuheng, and said, "The 63 members of the Xin family all died of unforeseen circumstances, and no one was spared."

Duan Yuheng exhaled heavily through his nose. Although he was mentally prepared, he still couldn't help feeling sympathetic when he heard it with his own ears: "What is the cause of death?"

Han Yu said: "All of them were killed with a knife in the throat."

"Killed with one knife..." Duan Yuheng repeated thoughtfully: "This kind of method is commonly used in the Jianghu, and with this skill, the only one who slaughtered the whole family of Xin's family in one night..."

Han Yu gasped when he heard the words: "Your Excellency, you mean... the 'shadow killer' who is frightening in the world?"

Duan Yuheng nodded: "Shadow Killer, a mysterious killer organization in the rivers and lakes. No one knows how many of them there are, and no one knows what they look like. The rumor is that they don't even know how to stand side by side with me every day. The combat partners look different, not to mention the high-ranking shadow commanders. They usually wear black robes and black armor masks. Once the mission fails, just press the mechanism under the mask to destroy their appearance. They The kung fu is extremely deep, and the lightness kung fu is unrivaled, just like the shadow of a person, quietly dormant in the darkness. Their common weapon for killing people is phantom thread, which seals their throats when they see blood. It's just that they never like to interfere in the affairs of the family, if it is them That's why it's troublesome."

Duan Yuheng looked worried and cautious, turned to Han Yu and said, "Han Yu, have you notified Patriarch Pei?"

Han Yu said solemnly: "It was notified early in the morning, and Patriarch Pei sent a message just now, saying that Patriarch Jiang from the south is also coming together."

"From the south?" Duan Yuheng's face was full of doubts, and then he suddenly realized: "You mean Jiang Qichen who is paralyzed? I almost forgot that there is such a person. How could he agree to come?"

Han Yu was digesting the words "hemiplegia", and somehow felt that it was inappropriate for the adult to say that about the patriarch of the other party. When he heard him ask, he explained: "It's more or less a disaster between the family. It's right to come here. It's just Jiang The Patriarch's legs and feet are inconvenient, so the pace may be slower."

Han Yu's words caught Jiang Qichen's heart.In the eyes of outsiders, Jiang Qichen is half paralyzed, if he arrives too soon, it will inevitably make people suspicious.

"Master, the carriage is ready and ready to go at any time."

Jiang Qichen, who was sitting in front of the desk reading a book, nodded when he heard the words, moved his eyes away from the book, searched around but did not see Lu Ming, and asked, "Where is Ming'er? He was still here just now."

While pushing Jiang Qichen's four-wheeler forward, Jing Xing said, "Brother Lu Ming went to get the medicine for the master. He said the road is long, so we need to prepare these things."

Jiang Qichen frowned unconsciously: "Let the servants do this."

As soon as the words fell, Lu Ming came over with a few paper bags.

They were all used to seeing Lu Ming in black clothes, and they rarely saw him dressed so plainly, so their eyes lit up.Lu Ming had a good-looking appearance, since Jiang Qichen saw him in the woods for the first time, he knew that when he grew up, he might be a male fox who would bring disaster to the country and the people.

Helplessly, Lu Ming took the slant and did not develop according to Jiang Qichen's expectations. His appearance became more and more out of the ordinary, but his temperament became colder and colder every year.

Lu Ming stuffed the medicine into Jing Xing's arms, then took the armrest of the four-wheeled cart from him, and pushed Jiang Qichen out on his own.

Three black lines streaked across Jing Xing's head, thinking: "Come on, I'm the servant."

Lu Ming pushed the four-wheeled cart and stopped in front of the carriage, and Jing Xing was just loading things onto the cart.

The carriage was large, with a black nanmu body, and the inside of the carriage was wrapped in elegant beige silk, with white gauze on the windows in front of the door, and a thick layer of gilt cushions on the floor.There is a wooden triangular table in the center of the car, and a delicate small incense burner is placed on the table, from which the smoke of aloe incense rises.

Lu Ming looked at Jiang Qichen with a serious face.

Jiang Qichen was suffering from a leg problem, so naturally he couldn't get into the car by himself.But if he was asked to carry Jiang Qichen up, he would feel a bit presumptuous.

In fact, in those old days, Lu Ming also served Jiang Qichen for a while.It's just that at that time he only regarded him as the master, and had no other thoughts.But as the years passed, the old friendship became no longer so simple, so Lu Ming deliberately reduced his intimacy with Jiang Qichen.Guarding that bottom line, standing firmly and stubbornly behind him.

But right now, he had to force himself to make a decision, even if this decision was so insignificant in the eyes of others.

Lu Ming was silent for a moment, deliberately avoiding Jiang Qichen's gaze, and said in a deep voice, "Master, I offended you."

Afterwards, he bent down and hooked Jiang Qichen's shoulder with one hand, and passed under his knee with the other, firmly hugging him.

Jiang Qichen's usual agarwood incense entered Lu Ming's nostrils, and quickly spread to his limbs.Lu Ming felt that his mind was blurred for a moment. He couldn't help but want to take a look at Jiang Qichen in his arms, and he did so, but he happened to meet Jiang Qichen's beautiful peach eyes.

The owner of those eyes was looking at him, his eyes were clear and transparent, without any waves.

Lu Ming's heart suddenly became as cold as if it had been poured by a basin of cold water. He turned his head away in a hurry, not daring to look at him again.

That dirty feeling made him feel ashamed.

"Ming'er, are you not feeling well?" As soon as Jiang Qichen said a word, he felt hugged his body.

Lu Ming gently placed Jiang Qichen on the thick soft-fur cushion, coughed uncomfortably, and his voice was a little hoarse than usual: "It seems to be caught in the wind and cold."

Jiang Qichen always only thought of Lu Ming as a child, and remembering that he was injured yesterday, he really thought he had a cold.After Jing Xing got into the carriage, he said to him: "Jing Xing, Ming'er seems to be suffering from a cold, so I will give him two doses of medicine later."

"Ah? Okay." Jing Xing's ass was next to the seat, and he asked his master to order him around again, wondering for a while, "When I got up in the morning and watched Brother Lu Ming practice, he was very energetic."

Jiang Qichen's trip was very low-key, he only brought Jing Xing and Lu Ming with him and a coachman.

Along the way, Jiang Qichen's legs were sore and sore, and most of the time he was pale and closed his eyes to rest his mind, and seldom even ate anything except medicinal food.Seeing it, Lu Ming insisted on giving him internal energy regardless of Jiang Qichen's objection, and it was finally a bit easier.

It was already the third day when we reached the border of Dongchen.At this time, the pain in Jiang Qichen's leg had almost disappeared, but he couldn't walk for many days, so it was inevitable that he felt a little soft.

Jiang Qichen asked the coachman to stop by a small stream to rest for a while, then got out of the carriage and started to move around.

Lu Ming held the water bag and handed it to Jiang Qichen: "Master, after passing this ancient road, we will arrive at Dongchen."

Jiang Qichen nodded, took a sip of the water bag, looked up at Lu Ming standing in front of him, looked him up and down, and chuckled, "It seems to be growing taller."

Lu Ming was taken aback when he heard the words, he recalled the few encounters with Jiang Qichen in the past three years.It seemed that every time I came back, I always caught up with Jiang Qichen falling ill.Even when Jiang Qichen's legs and feet were good, Lu Ming would just say a few words to him and then leave. It was rare for Lu Ming to face each other day and night for several days like now since he grew up.

As if he was used to Lu Ming's silence, Jiang Qichen continued without waiting for him to answer, "When I brought you back, you were only about this tall." While talking, he gestured to Lu Ming according to his belly: "Now It's almost as tall as me."

Lu Ming took the half-empty water bag from Jiang Qichen, and followed his words: "Master, Ming'er has grown up long ago."

Jiang Qichen suddenly recalled that when Lu Ming first entered the mansion, he followed his ass every day, for fear that he would throw him into the deep mountains and old forests again.Look at this Lu Ming in front of him again. He no longer has the clingy temperament he had when he was a child, but he doesn't get close to anyone. When did these changes start?It seems that after Lu Ming entered the shadow.

Jiang Qichen suddenly said seriously: "Ming'er, have you ever blamed me?"

Lu Ming understood the meaning behind his words, walked to the side of the stream, pulled out the stopper of the water bag, and took a bag full of water.He squatted by the stream, turned his back to Jiang Qichen and said in a deep voice: "Master, this is my own choice. If the stream like this does not flow, it will only become stagnant water. If Master hadn't kindly picked me up, I might have died. And no one knows."

The back of the head was knocked without warning, and when Lu Ming turned his head, he saw that Jiang Qichen had touched the folding fan on his waist at some point, and he was looking at it carefully with the fan spread out.

Jiang Qichen stood there, the sunlight enveloping his whole body, his expression was blurred: "You are talking nonsense again. Your fan is not bad, so give it to me." Then he lifted the corner of the white robe and pulled the one pinned around his waist. Pull out the white jade flute and throw it to Lu Ming: "Your Qingyue scimitar is inconvenient to show in front of outsiders, this flute is just right for your green clothes."

Lu Ming took the jade flute and rubbed it between his palms. He felt a refreshing coolness coming from his palm. Then he looked closely at the end of the jade flute, and the word "Ming" was engraved on it.

The flute that Jiang Qichen gave to Lu Ming was not an ordinary musical flute. It was forged from the thousand-year-old cold jade on the top of Yujue Mountain in the five-flame fire pool for seven years. It was called the Yinshuang flute.Not only is the timbre excellent, but it is also indestructible. A person with deep internal skills only needs to add a little bit of internal energy to the flute to transform it into a long sword, while a person who is proficient in music theory can spread thousands of miles once he plays it, and he is ranked first in the Jianghu list. The fourth weapon.

Lu Ming's heart skipped a beat, thinking of what Jing Xing said last night, "I always miss you", and his throat trembled: "Thank you, Lord."

At this time, Jing Xing, who was squatting by the carriage and nibbling on the rough pancakes, looked at the master and servant not far away, and almost choked himself to death with a mouthful of pancakes: "Is that twitching expression on Brother Lu Ming's face a smile? Last night I'm going to spit out my food..."