The drizzle is like silk in the mountains, and the mist gathers and never disperses.
Walking in the Night Terror Hall on the path dug close to the cliff is like a mountain man walking among the clouds and mist. Sometimes you can see steep corners at the end of the cliff, and there may be arrow holes above it. Judging from the structure, it should be that one man is in charge of the pass.
It is a defensive pass, but because there has been no war for decades, no one is stationed there, and many places have been covered by weeds and dead leaves.
Zhe Yunli grew up in Nanxiao Mountain since childhood and was already familiar with the surrounding area. At this time, he was like a junior sister of the mountain sect, carrying a long knife on his shoulder, walking upside down on the steep cliffs, and pointing from time to time.
Surrounding trees and rocks:
"When I was six years old, my teacher's wife asked me to practice calligraphy. I didn't want to learn and was afraid of being beaten, so I ran and hid behind the tree. As a result, my master ran over and caught me. I went back and was trained by my teacher's wife for three days...
Cousin Jing, were you ever naughty when you were a child?"
Ye Jingtang strolled around the courtyard wearing a bamboo hat and responded with a smile:
"When you were six years old, I was only eight years old. I couldn't practice martial arts at that time. I was beaten three times a day. I didn't dare to be naughty. The only time I had free time was to catch fish in the river in the afternoon. Once at the gate of Honghe Town, I saw a very
A beautiful chivalrous woman passed by, and I gave some directions, and then my adoptive father gave me a lecture, saying that when traveling in the world, you should be careful about women, especially beautiful women..."
Zhe Yunli was very curious about this: "Cousin Jing started hooking up with girls when he was eight years old?"
"It's not considered hooking up, just giving directions normally."
"What happened to the heroine next?"
She became my wife, and she was spoiled by all kinds of frivolous things...
Ye Jingtang recalled that he had met Shui'er when he was eight years old, and he sighed in his heart, but the process of ruining it was obviously hard to explain, so he just said:
"The heroine eventually became the Eight Great Leaders and stayed on the ship."
"Aunt Lu?"
Because Zhe Yunli knew that Aunt Lu and his apprentice were serving the same husband, his eyes suddenly became strange:
"So Cousin Jing finally abducted the heroine back home and ruined her?"
"Oh, how can you say it's a waste? Fairy Lu was wearing a curtain hat at that time, and I didn't even see what she looked like."
"Then how does Cousin Jing know to be beautiful?"
Ye Jingtang wanted to talk about his figure, but it was inappropriate to talk about this with Yunli, so he shook his head and said:
"Why do you ask this little girl?"
When Zhe Yunli heard this, he was naturally unhappy and stopped on the path.
Ye Jingtang walked up to him, a little inexplicable:
"What's wrong?"
Zhe Yunli raised his chest slightly: "Who do you think the little girl's family is?"
From the corner of his eye, Ye Jingtang noticed that the skirt of his clothes was high and it must be difficult to look down, so he just said:
"Fifteen or sixteen years old, she was originally a little girl...eh?"
Before he finished speaking, Yunli, who was standing in front of him, walked behind him and landed on his back with a small jump, resulting in two soft lumps that were not too small in size. They were pressed firmly on his back, and his smart voice
Also came from my ears:
"Still young or not?"
Ye Jingtang was suddenly shocked by the meat and balls. He felt that Yunli was really not young anymore. He straightened his back:
"We have reached Nanxiao Mountain. What should we do if Protector Zhang and the others see us?"
Zhe Yunli placed his chin on Ye Jingtang's shoulder, fearless:
"So what if you see me? I am the young master of Nanxiaoshan. Who dares to say that I am not? Tell me carefully, why do I look like a little girl?"
"Okay, okay, not small."
"Hmph~"
Only then was Zhe Yunli satisfied. He looked at the handsome face close at hand, then looked at the misty and rainy mountains. He put his chin on his shoulders and hummed a ditty leisurely:
"Uh huh huh~..."
Ye Jingtang hugged his legs, shook his head and chuckled, said nothing, and continued walking towards Nanxiao Mountain...
——
Compared with Hongshan Mountain, famous mountains such as Tianzhu Peak are not high, but they are extremely steep. They are surrounded by high mountains and ridges. The river passes through the canyon between the two mountain walls, and there is almost no place to stand on both sides of the river.
Above the cliff is the fortress that Dayan of the previous dynasty spent a lot of effort to build. However, today, the fortress has basically become a sect residence. All the people living in it are family members or elderly people of the Pingtian Sect. Even Dayan Longqi
, were all removed decades ago and replaced with the flag of the Pingtian Sect.
At noon, the fortress built against the mountain was shrouded in drizzle. Protector Zhang Henggu stood on the city wall again, looking at the mountain road below.
Every time he can stand here and wait before the guests arrive, it's not that Zhang Henggu, known as the 'Nanshan Iron Trigram', has all his plans, but that in order to defend against enemies, the fortress can clearly see the situation on several mountain roads, as long as someone goes up the mountain.
, you will know it when you are at the foot of the mountain.
After Zhang Henggu waited for a while, he found two figures turning out from the cliff.
Zhe Yunli, who was walking in front, found Zhang Henggu standing at the top of the city as in previous years, so he waved from a distance:
"Grandpa Zhang, why did you come out?"
"Come out and get some air."
Zhang Henggu looked at Yunli, who had grown into a grown-up girl, with a sigh as time passed by in his eyes. After replying, his eyes fell on the handsome young man in black behind him:
"Yunli, is this the Night Guardian?"
When Ye Jingtang saw someone greeting him, he speeded up and landed on the city wall with a few ups and downs:
"Junior had a night terror in the hall and met Mr. Zhang."
"Oh, I can't afford it."
Zhang Henggu can be regarded as an old man in the world, but compared with Sun Wuji and Fengguancheng, he is nothing. How can he dare to accept the courtesy of Ye Jingtang? He handed back his hand and sighed:
"I am an old man from the previous dynasty. In this area of Nanxiao Mountain, I take the liberty of calling you Ye Daxia as a protector. I hope you don't mind."
Zheyunli also landed on the top of the city and said with a smile:
"Cousin Jing is one of our own, what's the point of being presumptuous? Grandpa Zhang is too polite."
Ye Jingtang also nodded, and in a blink of an eye he glanced at the fortress that was full of masonry buildings:
"This is my first time coming to Nanxiao Mountain, and it's not quite what I expected."
"This is the pass of the former dynasty. It is difficult to renovate, so we have not changed it. Yunli, you go back and clean up first. I will have a chat with the Night Guardian."
Zhe Yunli still respected Zhang Henggu very much. After agreeing, he quickly ran towards the back mountain.
Ye Jingtang came here to do something. When he saw this, he knew that Zhang Henggu was going to have a private chat with him, so he didn't stop him. After Yunli left, he asked:
"I recently received a letter from Eunuch Cao. What was the specific situation back then?"
Zhang Henggu walked with Ye Jingtang on the city wall and sighed:
"I really didn't expect that Eunuch Cao could summon all the night guardians. Even if Zhao Hongnu really killed the person, it would be too much of a fight to let you deal with it with your dragon-slaying knife."
Ye Jingtang shook his head and smiled: "This matter has something to do with Yunli, so I should come."
After Zhang Henggu said a few polite words, he said:
"Back then, my eldest disciple was walking around the Cangsha River. He didn't know his location at first. It wasn't until his body was discovered by Jianghu people that I learned the news. According to my inspection, my eldest disciple had been hit by the soul-removing needle, and his injuries were 'Six Sects'
Nothing else is known about what the Crane Captor left behind, and his belongings and weapons have not been lost..."
After holding it in one hand, I thought about it based on many months of experience in handling cases:
"If you didn't take anything, it's not robbery. I wonder why you went to Tiannan? Traveling or..."
Zhang Henggu shook his head: "The leader had not yet become famous at that time and was short of manpower. I and even his apprentices were secretly recruiting people to work for the Pingtian Sect. I speculated that it was my apprentice who accidentally discovered Zhao Hongnu and knew that he was being taken over by the imperial court.
He was wanted, so he came forward to recruit. Zhao Hongnu committed the major crime of killing the nine tribes. He was afraid that his identity would be exposed, so he killed and silenced..."
Ye Jingtang nodded: "This motive makes sense. Are there any sects near the Cangsha River?"
"The Cangsha River area is under the management of Baifo Song Chi, the second head of Honghua House."
?
Ye Jingtang was stunned. He didn't expect that something happened on his own territory, so he asked:
"What did Song Chi say at that time?"
"Hall Master Song is also a real person. He helped to check the contact list. However, in Tiannan, there are too many heroes coming and going every day. Because Fengguan City is here, most of them don't dare to be too public, so it is difficult to check..."
"Is the crime scene still there?"
Zhang Henggu’s eldest disciple and a descendant of Dayan died suddenly outside, but the real culprit was not found. It is impossible to hastily destroy the crime scene. He said in this regard:
"The incident happened in an inn in Cangshahe Town. Because the murderer was not found afterwards, the church took over the inn and handed it over to the care of the believers. All the items were preserved. However, there are not many traces there. Sixteen years have passed.
, the blood stains are all gone, the leader and Eunuch Cao have both looked and found nothing..."
When Ye Jingtang heard that the place where the crime occurred was still there, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief:
"As long as there was a fight at that time, there must be traces. Others can't see it, but it doesn't mean I can't see it. What was the condition of the body back then? Can the coffin be opened for an autopsy?"
Zhang Henggu shook his head: "I did an autopsy and found that there were no fractures at that time. Sixteen years later, there are no traces on the body. I clearly remember that it was a needle inserted into the water point, and there was a bruise on the right elbow joint. The fatal injury was
A sword in the throat..."
After listening for a while, Ye Jingtang stood up straight:
"How tall was the deceased? Was he sitting or standing before the incident? Was the joint bruise caused by the left hand or the right hand? Where was the sword mark?"
Zhang Henggu noticed Ye Jingtang's unexpected professionalism, and immediately became serious: "Excuse me for being presumptuous." He raised his finger and raised Ye Jingtang's eyebrows:
"Height is about eyebrow level; the table was broken, we should have been sitting facing each other in the room before the incident; the joint bruise was caused by the left hand, the sword mark is two fingers under the jaw, one inch deep, from right to left..."
"The swallow looks back?"
"?"
Zhang Henggu was stunned for a moment, looking at his fingers that had not finished gesticulating, and felt a little confused:
"At that time, the experts speculated that it was a 'white snake sweeping its tail'. How could you guess that it was a swallow turning back just based on oral instructions?"
Ye Jingtang said unexpectedly: "How can you think of White Snake's tail?
"The deceased was sitting before the incident, and the injection was filled with water. It is possible that the injection was administered secretly from under the table, otherwise it would not have been so easy to hit the stomach.
"The deceased sensed something was wrong and drew his weapon. The murderer did not draw his sword immediately, but pressed down and clasped his elbow to disarm him.
"The murderer grabbed his right hand with his left hand, and the sword in his right hand must have been used against another person. Then the deceased retreated to break free. He should have retreated after being hit by the needle, but it should be because his companion was attacked and chose to pursue angrily. The other party found the opportunity to turn back and seal his throat with a sword.
"The scars caused by White Snake's tail sweep are similar to this, but this move is used from the front and is mostly used for superior pursuit. It cannot cause front wounds unless the deceased and the murderer are both dizzy and hit each other blindly.
"At that time, the Jianghu people must have seen the murderer fighting one against two and sealing his throat with a sword. They felt that the murderer had a great advantage, so they speculated that the White Snake had wiped out the whole thing."
"..."
Zhang Henggu was silent for a long time, secretly deducing Ye Jingtang's statement in his mind. Although he thought it was extremely credible, after thinking about it for a long time, he still didn't understand how Ye Jingtang could guess the fighting process just by dictating it. After thinking for a while, he said:
"Judging from the position of the corpse, it should be pretty much the same as what Master Ye said. However, turning around like a swallow is also a common move in the world, so it's hard to see too much..."
Because Ye Jingtang was talking empty words, he could only judge these things. He thought about it and said:
"Zhao Hongnu's appearance has been recorded by the court, but his height was measured when he entered the Forbidden Army at the age of eighteen, which may not be accurate. It is difficult to find other clues after more than ten years. This matter really depends on luck. The Cangsha River is a long way from here.
Far away? How about we go there now and take a look?"
Zhang Henggu must be worried about his apprentice's enmity, but it was a bit inappropriate to rush to let others handle the case just after Night Jingtang arrived, so he responded:
"It's not too far. After leaving Zhennanguan, it's more than a hundred miles downstream along the river. The visitor is a guest, so why don't you rest for a day first..."
Ye Jingtang shook his head and said: "With traces, just because there have been no accidents in sixteen years doesn't mean there won't be any accidents tomorrow. It's coming, so it's better to get there as soon as possible. I'll call Yunli."
Zhang Henggu nodded when he saw this, turned around and said:
"Then I will go get the weapon I used back then. Your Excellency, please wait for a moment."
…
——
The Pingtian Sect's base is not too big, because it used to be a military fortress, and the buildings were all connected together. The population has increased, and some shantytowns have even been built.
The Xue family has guarded this place for generations. There is a general's mansion on the mountain, which is Bingtuotuo's ancestral home. However, after Emperor Yan Gong escaped from Jiazi, he let the family members and ministers brought by Emperor Yan live in it. Now it has become the platform sect.
Chief Duo, Zhang Henggu and other elderly people all live there.
As the leader of the cult, Bing Tuotuo's residence was not too luxurious, just in a watchtower beside the cliff behind the fortress.
The round watchtower is two stories high, and you can directly jump over the mountains and see the situation in the towns of the Wei Dynasty; the reason why it is called the "rear area" is because the people who built the Zhennan Pass Defense were Tiannan rebels, and the front is on the Tiannan side.
Behind it is Da Wei.
When Night Terror Hall came to the vicinity of the watchtower, we could see a small river passing by the road, flowing down the side of the watchtower and turning into a small waterfall.
Although the two-story watchtower does not look like a residence, there are couplets pasted on the door, the interior is also paved with wooden boards, and there are tables, chairs, tea tables and other furniture. Except that it is round, it is not much different from the living room.
Ye Jingtang heard a noise upstairs, so he entered the living room and walked along the stone steps to the second floor. It can be seen that the second floor is divided into two rooms with an aisle in the middle.
The one on the left should be the master bedroom. There are many books and files in it. There are also some weapons hanging on the wall. There is a makeup mirror but there is no rouge jewelry. At first glance, it is where Bing Tuo Tuo lives.
The room on the right has a completely different style. Although it is neat, it has more things. There are musical instruments such as pianos, pipas, flutes, etc. on the cabinets, and there are various ornaments on the desk. It looks like
Like souvenirs, there are various rouges and gouache on the dressing table.
At this time, Yunli was standing in front of the wardrobe, looking for clothes inside. It could be seen that there were several skirts inside, all of which were long cyan skirts. Although the styles were different, the colors were similar, and they all seemed to be Ning'er's skirts.
Ye Jingtang looked around and saw that Yunli didn't respond, so he said:
"Yunli?"
Zhe Yunli didn't hear Ye Jingtang's footsteps, and was caught off guard and trembled with fright. He quickly turned around and found Ye Jingtang standing behind him, and then he breathed a sigh of relief:
"Why is there no movement at all while walking? I want to peek at the girl changing her clothes. I should come later. I haven't taken off my clothes yet..."
Ye Jingtang shook his head and smiled, but did not answer the words. He came to the room and looked around:
"Is this your house?"
Zhe Yunli continued to look for things in the closet:
"This is Master's wife's room. I lived with Master's wife when I was a child, and Master lived alone. Ping'er lives in the big house outside."
"Your master and mistress still sleep in separate beds?"
"What if?"
"..."
Ye Jingtang thought about it. The two daughters-in-law didn't polish mirrors, so it was normal for them to sleep separately. Then he picked up the big-headed doll ornaments on the table:
"Did you collect these?"
Seeing this, Zhe Yunli came over quickly and put the ornaments back to their original places:
"These are not allowed to go around. My wife used to travel all over the world to buy them. She often told me that she has traveled to many places. I am only a young man and I only followed my wife last year. How can I buy these."
Ye Jingtang nodded slightly, thinking that Ning'er was quite cute before, and of course she is very cute now. Seeing Yunli running back to the closet to rummage around again, he asked:
"What are you looking for?"
Yunli rummaged in the closet for a long time, and finally pulled out a letter from the bottom of the closet and handed it to Ye Jingtang:
"Don't tell Master, Mistress. The first time Master and I came back, Master secretly wrote it at night, but she didn't dare to give it to Master."
Ye Jingtang was stunned for a moment, subconsciously looked around, then picked up the letter and looked at it, and saw that it was a 'divorce agreement', with the general content:
I have been busy as the wife of the leader for so many years, but I have not received any remuneration. Now that I am not young, I have to spread the incense for the family, so I left Nanxiao Mountain to get married. I have recorded the past feelings in my heart, and will come back to look at them from time to time.
You should find a good man to marry as soon as possible, etc...
Ye Jingtang looked at the hesitant handwriting on it and knew that when Ning'er came back for the first time, she had already had the idea of marrying him, but she couldn't bear to betray the sisterhood, so she didn't give this letter to Bingtuo in the end.
lump.
After Ye Jingtang glanced at it a few times, he folded the letter:
"Don't dare to look at this thing. If your wife knows, we will be punished to copy books together. Come on, let's go to Cangsha River to do something."
When Zhe Yunli heard that he was doing something, he naturally became energetic and quickly put away the letter:
"To be a killer?"
"As a police officer, we must eliminate harm for the people. First, go back to the ship and say hello."
"That's okay, let's go, let's go..."
…
——
Not long after, a large ship floated slowly past the steep canyon.
Yuhu and Shui'er were still playing chess on the boat, maybe because Yuhu lost so miserably, Qingzhi also ran up to them and made suggestions with Sanniang.
Although Qingzhi is the younger sister in the boudoir and can be bullied by anyone, when it comes to music, chess, calligraphy and painting, she is the only one who can make two moves. She helps the empress with suggestions, so the pressure naturally falls on Shui'er, who is so focused that she doesn't even drink.
Already.
The Empress Dowager originally took a few glances, but she couldn't understand the chess moves at all, and she couldn't say a word, so she excused herself from being tired and went back to her room to rest.
Li Ren was diligent and practiced martial arts secretly in his room alone.
Ye Jingtang came down from the mountain with Yunli. He was planning to go to the back to say hello. When he passed by the door, he noticed some movement in the house, so he opened the door and took a look.
As a result, when I looked up, I saw that Da Benben was in a posture with his hands spread out, looking like a mountain fairy.
The big bird that was full of food flapped its wings and hung in the air. If it pushed to the left with its clumsy hand, it would fly left as if it was out of control, and it would fly to the right if it pushed to the right...
?!
Zhe Yunli poked his head out from the door and saw the posture of this 'flying bird in the air', and his expression instantly became strange. If he wasn't afraid of offending the Queen, he might have laughed out loud.
Night Terror Hall was also very uncomfortable holding it in. He opened his mouth without saying anything. He felt that Benben had at least rewarded him with a roast leg of lamb, otherwise Niao Niao would not have acted so realistically.
Dongfang Liren, who was learning how to control objects through the air, froze slightly when he heard the sound of the door opening. Then he changed into the posture of a wild horse parting his mane and turned around slowly:
"Why are you back so soon?"
Ye Jingtang didn't dare to laugh, so he walked into the house and caught Niao Niao, who was still cooperating with Ben Ben's performance:
"If you are going to Cangsha River to investigate Zhao Hongnu's case, you have to go first. You continue walking along the boat. I will wait for you at the dock."
Dongfang Liren was extremely bored on the boat, so when he saw this, he stood up straight:
"I met Zhao Hongnu back then, why don't we go over together and give you some advice?"
Ye Jingtang knew that Benben wanted to go out and have fun together. It was not a fight to see the crime scene, so he naturally said happily:
"Then let's go."
Dongfang Liren was immediately delighted when he saw this, and quickly ran behind the screen and began to change his clothes.
Ye Jingtang was originally going to look around, but Yun Li pulled him out and closed the door. He had no choice but to give up. He waited for Benben to change into the costume of a chivalrous woman, then went to the back of the ship building to say hello, and then