The little boy named "Zhu'er" is just one of many young children who have died in Longzhou in recent days.
The murderer was naturally Bai Youheng, who escaped from the Dafeng Army.
In order to complete the ancient ritual that would allow him to reach heaven in one step, he needed the souls of 33,333 dead people and the souls of 3,333 unbroken boys.
At the moment, there is a national war between the two countries, so the former is now enough.
However, the latter is still far behind.
"One thousand four hundred..."
"There's still two thousand left, alas..."
Bai Youheng took the simple bronze mirror back into his arms and sighed softly.
There are still fifty days until July 15th, which means that on average, at least forty children will be killed every day.
This goal is undoubtedly difficult to achieve.
After all, the Gu Diao's range of activities is limited to Fengyuan City, and all the children in the city will soon be gathered around the princess mansion where Wei Changtian lives. Once they take action, they will most likely be noticed by the latter.
Bai Youheng didn't know whether Wei Changtian had the ability to kill the Gu Eagle, but he was unwilling to take the risk.
What's more, there is the mysterious old man who is rushing to Fengyuan.
This is also the reason why the Gu Eagle has not committed crimes near the Princess Mansion in recent days.
Since the Gu Eagle will soon be out of stock, the remaining two thousand souls can only be obtained by oneself.
Bai Youheng has no psychological burden on "killing children", but he is not immune to all attacks after all. If he acts carelessly, he may be in danger, so the progress will not be fast.
Just like in the past few days in Longzhou, he had only "collected" less than fifty souls in total, and as the Longzhou government's search efforts continued to increase, he would soon have to change places to commit crimes.
"Squeak~"
The dilapidated wooden window was gently pushed open. Bai Youheng looked at the pedestrians walking on the street outside the window, wondering where to go next.
Is there any place where I can quickly complete my goal?
I frowned and thought hard for a long time, but I still couldn't think of any good place to go.
However, at a certain moment, a bold idea suddenly came to my mind.
Just like when I decided to come to Wonju battlefield to collect the souls of the dead.
Instead of taking huge risks and constantly "committing crimes" outside, killing people one by one.
It would be better to simply "finalize it" and get rid of the remaining two thousand souls at once.
And looking at the entire world, there is only one place where so many young children gather.
That was what he had always tried to avoid—
Fengyuan, Princess Mansion.
...
...
Two days later.
Princess Mansion.
"Sir, Wang Qian and the others have received Senior Zhang in the Gobi Desert."
In the study, Chu Xianping reported: "It is estimated that we will arrive at Fengyuan in six or seven days."
"Huh? Got it?"
Wei Changtian raised his head, his expression not too surprised.
This old man really wants to come to Feng Yuan.
It seems that he really should have come for "Yam Luo".
However, Li Qi once said that the mysterious swordsman who killed Yama with one sword sixty years ago was named Zhou, and he didn't know what his relationship was with Lao Zhangtou...
Forget it, there's no point thinking about it now, just ask when people arrive.
"okay, I get it."
Nodding to signal Chu Xianping to sit down, Wei Changtian asked again: "How is the situation in Daning recently?"
"Nothing to praise."
Chu Xianping answered truthfully: "Dafeng's army has returned to Yuanzhou City, but the imperial army is still stuck in Fengxian County. The two sides have ceased fighting for several days, and no one has the intention to act rashly for the time being."
"There is no important information from the capital. Ning Yongnian doesn't seem to care much about the war in Yuanzhou. He has sent several orders to Yuanzhou, but he only asked Wu Ding to guard the front line of the county."
"As for Shuzhou... Mrs. Lu is now the head of the family. It is said that she handles all affairs in an orderly manner and has not made any mistakes."
"Oh, by the way, Mrs. Lu also opened a branch of Chunshen Bookshop in Shuzhou City, and now she has started selling newspapers and other items..."
"..."
Chu Xianping slowly talked about some of the things that had happened in Daning in the past few days. Wei Changtian listened and flipped through the Yama Luo files, his expression always calm.
Because as the former said, there really is nothing to praise.
He didn't care whether there was a war or not in Yuanzhou.
He didn't care what Ning Yongnian's plans were for the frontline war.
He didn't care what Lu Jingyao did after going to Shuzhou.
As for the fact that she has now become his "master of the harem"... Since Xu Qingwan and the others had no objection, Wei Changtian just let her go.
"That's right, Brother Chu."
Suddenly, Wei Changtian remembered something that he cared about very much: "When will my grandpa arrive?"
"Master Qin has left Shuzhou eight days ago, and he must be able to arrive in a few days."
Chu Xianping replied: "I have previously handed over the location of the Princess Mansion to the Freemasonry to Master Qin. He should come here directly after he arrives in Fengyuan."
"That's good."
When he heard that Qin Zhengqiu was coming soon, Wei Changtian immediately relaxed a lot, nodded and finally warned: "Keep an eye on Youjia, and let me know as soon as she returns to the capital."
"I see."
Chu Xianping stood up in response: "Master, if there is nothing else, I will go out first."
"Um."
"..."
Pushing open the door, Chu Xianping quickly left the study and walked out along the bluestone path.
Pei Dajun happened to be walking towards him at this time, so he stopped and said hello.
"Master Pei."
"ah?"
Pei Dajun turned around and looked over as if he had just woken up from a dream, and returned the favor with an apologetic expression: "It turns out to be Young Master Chu. I'm sorry, I was just thinking about something."
"It doesn't matter."
Chu Xianping nodded and asked casually: "Master Pei, are you going to find the young master?"
"Yes, there are some things I would like to discuss with Mr. Wei."
Pei Dajun asked: "I wonder if Young Master Wei is in the house at this time?"
"Here, I just came out of the house."
"Mr. Chu, I'll excuse you now."
"Well, Mr. Pei, go quickly."
"Farewell."
"..."
After saying "goodbye", Pei Dajun hurriedly walked towards the study.
Chu Xianping, on the other hand, stood there and looked at his back, not moving for a long time.
Pei Dajun and he had not met many times, and the few exchanges they had were just polite after encountering each other by chance like today.
To be honest, the two of them are not acquainted at all, and even "acquaintance" is very reluctant.
But just relying on the few short conversations just now, Chu Xianping noticed that Pei Dajun seemed different from usual.
"Master Pei!"
Suddenly, Chu Xianping shouted loudly from behind.
"ah?"
Pei Dajun turned his head and looked at Chu Xianping who was walking towards him again from far away and asked doubtfully: "Mr. Chu, what's wrong?"
"Nothing, I just want to ask the adults..."
Chu Xianping lowered his voice, leaned into Pei Dajun's ear and asked with a smile: