Following a faint laugh, a small shadow behind the window curtain swayed slightly, and the outline of a person faintly emerged. The laughter passed away, and the figure merged with the night again, and even the sound of breathing became faint.
Zhikarizhen strummed with his ten fingers, and the continuous sound of the piano covered the bamboo tower.
"How prepared are you?" The man's voice drifted from behind the window curtain, blurry as smoke.
"I have been preparing from the moment my father made the plan before he died." Zhikarizhen's eyes slowly passed over the dazzling array of treasures, and he was lost in thought for a while, and said, "In the past few days, my eyesight has become better and better.
, the ears and nose are also much sharper than before. Occasionally, on a whim, I can feel a little good or bad in a trance."
The window curtain shook violently: "Is the witch spirit really going to happen?"
Zhi Shouzhen nodded: "Dad said, 'The five senses are alive, the blood is rising, the eyebrows are moving, and the shaman spirit is about to be born.' I have all the signs."
"Okay, okay, okay! The old patriarch was right. You were born with pure blood and your soul is much stronger than the average clan member. You are the clan member who is most likely to become a witch spirit in the past thousand years!" The man's tone revealed a trace of difficulty.
Suppressed excitement, "We have waited too long for this day! The old patriarch's spirit in heaven has also waited too long!"
Zhikarizhen looked gloomy: "At least you and I don't have to act anymore."
The man shook his head: "Compared with the old patriarch's kindness to me, what does this mean? The old patriarch once said that when doing big things, you have to be ruthless and even more tolerant!"
"You are more like his son than me."
"But only you have his blood flowing on your body."
"So I have no choice but to continue walking on this road." Zhikarizhen murmured, and the sound of the piano gradually became deeper, "Because my surname is Zhi, and I have the blood of the witch clan."
"This road has led to today, and neither you nor I can look back. Don't forget, the old patriarch gave away his life." The man spoke sharply, bursting out with bloodthirsty murderous intent, "In a few days, we will be dead."
A hunting team transformed from horse to horse will find its way to the village, and I have left enough traces for them."
Zhi Kaizhen was silent for a moment and said: "With Barei's temperament, he will definitely have a big fight with Ma Hua."
"Then there's only one last step left - to go to the altar to offer sacrifices to heaven!" The man said solemnly. Historically, the ancestors of the witch clan had all gone through sacrifices and the union of heaven and man could truly give birth to witch spirits.
Zhikarizhen's fingers on the strings couldn't help but stagnate, and the sound of the piano was a bit messy. If the man noticed something, he looked at Zhikarizhen deeply: "Are you still hesitating?"
Zhikarizhen lowered his eyes, and the darkness around him came over: "How can I hesitate?" He suddenly exerted force to pull the strings, and the strings trembled like sharp thorns on his fingertips, "There is a saying in Dachu's "Ruyu"
,'If the name is not right, then the words will not be right.' Although Barre has great power, he still lacks the status of a clan leader. Sooner or later, he will do something to me, or make me slip and fall off a cliff, or drown in a mountain stream while drunk.
...But my people can only clap their hands and cheer, glad that there is one less scourge in the village."
The man said: "As long as you know, why bother about those idiots? The old patriarch said that for the witch spirits and the ancient and noble inheritance of the witch clan, he would not hesitate to shed a river of blood!"
"Is it just like eight hundred years ago..." Zhikaruzhen said to himself, and after a while, he added, "In the evening, Zhiyou released another Blood-eyed Falcon."
"Do you like raising birds?" Wang Ziqiao walked up to the stilted building. The twisted creak of the bamboo ladder sounded extremely sharp in the middle of the night.
"What?" The attic was dark, and the oil lamp was as bright as a bean, illuminating the wrinkles that suddenly shrank on Zhiyou's face.
"Does Wuji like to raise birds?" Wang Ziqiao stared at the hexagonal copper wire birdcage hanging in the corner and asked repeatedly. The light reflected in his deep pupils, and his trance also shone a little sharply.
Zhiyou walked to the table, sat down cross-legged, and subconsciously did not look at the birdcage: "Sometimes when I am bored, I play with birds to kill time and make my husband laugh." In the middle of the night, Wang Ziqiao suddenly came to visit and made him laugh.
Feeling uneasy.
"What kind of bird is this? It looks very special." Wang Ziqiao walked straight to the birdcage, stretched out his fingers and moved it. The cage shook, and several blood-eyed falcons stared at him coldly.
"How do you know what a wild bird caught blindly in the mountains is called?" Zhi You coughed dryly and picked up the water bottle on the table to moisten his throat. "Sir, you are here late at night. What do you think you are doing?"
Wang Ziqiao smiled and did not accept Yu Yu's words. Instead, he kept looking at the Blood-Eyed Falcon: "The coat is blue, the eyes are red, and the neck is particularly thick. I should have seen it in some illustrated book. Let me think about it...
"
The rickety back stiffened suddenly.
"That's right!" Wang Ziqiao continued, "It seems to be called Blood Eye - Blood Eye -"
Zhiyou hurriedly scrambled to speak: "It's the Blood-Eyed Bird!"
"Ah... yes, it's the blood-eyed bird, that's what it's called." Wang Ziqiao suddenly patted his forehead, turned his head, and looked at Zhiyou with a half-smile, "Huh? So Wu Ji knows the name of the bird?"
"As soon as the gentleman said it, I suddenly remembered that a servant occasionally mentioned the name of this wild bird. As I get older, I really can't remember these inconspicuous things. But the gentleman is really good. He is well-informed.
A big shot." Zhi Youqi said with a smile, and his stiff back relaxed. Wang Ziqiao mistook the blood-eyed falcon for the blood-eyed bird, which was exactly what he wanted. The blood-eyed bird is bad and difficult to tame. It is common in the wild eastern mountains and forests. Its appearance is similar to the blood-eyed bird, except that it is the former.
The tail feathers are green with a hint of blue, and only an expert can tell the difference.
"It's not that great, but I have a friend from the Yu Clan who told me a lot of interesting things about birds." Wang Ziqiao said, "Everyone knows that the Yu Clan likes to raise all kinds of birds, and they can accompany them with songs and dances.
It adds elegance; it can also be used as a sentinel to track and deliver messages; some spiritual birds are also gifted with magical powers."
Hearing the words "Yu Clan" and "Send a message", Zhi's heart was beating wildly. He secretly looked at Wang Ziqiao's expression and wondered whether he was talking nonsense or if there was something in his words. If there was something in his words, what did Wang Ziqiao guess?
?Otherwise, why does the topic always revolve around the Blood-Eyed Falcon?
"I wonder if the blood-eyed sparrow raised by the witch priest knows anything special?" Wang Ziqiao asked with great interest.
With his throat dry, he picked up the water bottle and drank a few more sips: "I, these wild birds, are stupid and can't do anything."
"Wild bird? I think it's more like a domesticated one." Wang Ziqiao suddenly stretched out his hand to open the cage door, grabbed a blood-eyed falcon, and took out a dark yellow tree seed from its furry neck feathers.
After a while, he said, "Look, they fly out and they still know how to fly back."
The jug shook, and the tea splashed out. Zhiyou's smile stayed on his face. This blood-eyed falcon was the one he sent out to deliver the message. On the way back, the feathers accidentally got stuck on the tree seeds.
"The bird of the witch sacrifice is still spiritual." Wang Ziqiao said slowly, playing with the feathers of the blood-eyed falcon with his fingers. Zhiyou felt as if the hand fell on him, tightly grasping his racing heart.
"Sir, you are joking, what kind of spirituality does this stupid thing have?" Zhi You quickly gained wisdom and said hurriedly: "These are the tree seeds I usually feed them." He picked up the water can, walked to the birdcage, and added some water to the food bowl.
After getting out of the water, he deliberately looked at the blood-eyed falcon in Wang Ziqiao's hand, making a gesture to close the cage door.
Wang Ziqiao smiled slightly, shook his robe sleeves, and the Blood-Eyed Falcon suddenly disappeared in the palm of his hand.
Zhiyou's expression changed slightly: "Sir, what are you trying to do..."
Prince Qiao said coldly: "I am entrusted by Wu Wu to thoroughly investigate the troubles within the clan. If there is any obstruction, I can do it easily."
Zhiyou hissed: "What does this have to do with me?"
Wang Ziqiao looked directly at Zhi Yu, and his words were as heavy as a thousand words: "As far as I know, isn't the blood-eyed sparrow only eating insects and not vegetarian? Is it really the blood-eyed sparrow domesticated by the witch sacrifice?"
With a "pop" sound, the jug slipped from his hand, and his lips trembled as he met Wang Ziqiao's bright and blazing gaze.
He knew! He must have known something! Zhi You was so confused and frightened that he wanted to kill the other party immediately. He touched the poisonous powder paper packet hidden in his sleeve and wanted to throw it, but he didn't dare. For a long time, he
The palms of my hands were sweaty, and the coldness seeped into my bones.
He suddenly realized that he was really old.
"Why are you uneasy about the witch festival? I don't mean anything else. I just want to ask about the past eight hundred years of the nobles." Prince Qiao's calm voice came slowly.
Zhiyou's heart trembled, and his suspicions grew. What on earth was Wang Ziqiao going to do? Is he really trying to beat himself up to help Barre solve the family's troubles, or was there another purpose?
Finally he buried his head and sighed dejectedly: "What do you want to know, sir? I will tell you everything I know."
"Zhi You, this son of a bitch who colluded with the Yu Clan and ripped things off, is digging his own grave! Hehe, the older you get, the more afraid you are of death. The old patriarch had seen through him before he was alive." The man sneered, and a flash of snow-white flashed across his bared teeth.
The coldness of the forest.
Zhikari said: "Prince Qiao is a person who doesn't see things clearly."
The man said: "This man is very weird. I searched the bamboo house where he lived inside and out, but I couldn't find a single fallen hair. I couldn't even see any skin flakes. It's really a ghost.
!”
"It is recorded in our clan's classics that only those who are about to ascend to immortality will have a completely pure body, no sweat or dirt, no hair falling out, and no dandruff. Of course, Wang Ziqiao has not cultivated to this level." Zhi Shouzhen said,
The scene when he met Wang Ziqiao for the first time appeared before his eyes: he was pushed down by Ba Lang, and he took advantage of the situation to grab the hem of Wang Ziqiao's robe, and the latter retreated without leaving a trace.
"The only explanation is that Wang Ziqiao is quite afraid of the Wu clan, so he specially cleaned up the hair and dander he left behind. No wonder... I didn't succeed that day." Zhikarizhen stretched out his hand and twisted out a nearly transparent hair from his hair.
The small needle was as short as a fingernail and as thin as an ox hair. It was the Fengqian needle he bought from a businessman at a great expense. With just one prick, it could penetrate the clothes and draw out a drop of blood. The person who was hit by the needle would not be hurt.
You will feel nothing strange at all. Unfortunately, Wang Ziqiao is too vigilant and cannot even get close to a drunken and weak boy.
The man frowned: "I can't suck his blood, and I can't get any hair or dander. Isn't it troublesome?"
Zhikarizhen said thoughtfully: "It's enough to have something like that. After all, it's impossible to really cast the Zhu Youjin Curse on him. However, Wang Ziqiao should understand the Zhu Youjin Curse so that he can be wary." He pushed away.
Gu Qin, with a thoughtful look in his eyes, "Even Zhi You can't figure out Zhu You's forbidden spell, so why should Wang Ziqiao understand it? His purpose of coming to Bailing Mountain is probably not simple. I hope we are not luring a wolf into the house."
The man said: "If I had known this, I wouldn't have persuaded Barre to find him. How can the best alchemist in the world be easily exploited?"
"But he is the most suitable candidate." Zhikarizhen shook his head, stood up and walked to the flower and bird rosewood inlaid marble cabinet against the wall, and took out several thick stacks of books.
"Eight hundred years ago, what happened during the migration of the Zhi clan?" Prince Qiao asked, sitting calmly on his knees and flipping through the witchcraft books collected by Zhi You.