"It must be Luo An!" Luo Li's face sank and he clenched his pink fists.
"Cai Ji's parents are his friends, but he actually plots behind his back!"
She reasoned confidently:
"Eighteen years ago, Luo An and Cai Ji's parents came here to look for treasures. Maybe they found something, but Luo An suddenly attacked them from behind."
"He is a master of martial arts, so it is no surprise that he uses the Heavenly Dragon Claw. After killing Cai Ji's parents, he took their things and left as if nothing happened."
"Cai Ji was only a few years old at the time, and Cai Quan'er was just born. How could the two of them know that their parents had died? When they grew up, they thought their parents had died somewhere else."
"The Cai brothers and sisters did not expect that the gentle and approachable Uncle Luo would be the murderer of their parents."
Lu Pianpian looked around the corpse for a while, took out the wine bottle, took a big gulp of wine, and said slowly:
"Since Luo An killed Cai Ji's parents, why did he help their brothers and sisters so that they could grow up smoothly?"
"The Cai family brothers and sisters grew up eating the food of hundreds of families, but it's also thanks to Luo An's care, right?"
"Did he feel guilty after killing his friend? Is he the kind of person who would feel guilty?"
She shook her head lightly, her eyes were deep, and she said slowly and firmly:
"Luo An didn't kill him. Because I know who killed him."
"Who?" Luo Li's innocent little face was full of questions.
Lu Pianpian smiled half-heartedly: "It's your grandpa, Medicine Master Tang!"
"What? My grandpa?" Luo Li's eyes widened, "How is that possible?"
"Didn't you say that the person who killed them was a martial arts master? Eighteen years ago, my grandpa must have cultivated to the venerable realm."
Because of her oath, Lu Pianpian could not tell Luo Li that Medicine Master Tang was the leader of the True Sacrifice, her master.
But Su Chuo can tell Luo Li.
So Luo Li had already learned from Su Chuo that her grandfather Tang Yaoshi was the leader of the True Sacrifice and Lu Pianpian's master.
"Hee." Lu Pianpian said, "Looking at the wounds, the person who killed Cai Ji's parents is indeed a martial arts master."
"Eighteen years ago, your grandpa had long been a second-level master. But this was his strongest cultivation of the Poison Dao. And your grandpa not only practiced the Poison Dao, he also practiced martial arts."
"Eighteen years ago, not only was he a second-grade Poison Lord, he also happened to be a martial arts master! Martial arts is a level lower than Poison Dao."
"He doesn't use the strongest poison to kill people. Of course he is hiding the identity of the Tang family."
"I know this old guy too well."
Luo Li shook his head, "Based on this alone, do you think that Tang Yaoshi is the murderer? Couldn't Luo An be a martial arts master eighteen years ago?"
Lu Pianpian said: "You are smart as ice and snow. You should have thought that Luo An was not the one who killed him. But you prejudged it and it blinded you."
"This is darkness under the lamp."
Luo Li slapped his forehead and said, "I understand! Luo An is an extremely cautious person and doesn't show any signs of weakness in front of his family. How could he kill someone and leave a body behind?"
"If he really killed her, given his character, he would definitely not leave a body behind."
"Leaving such obvious clues is completely inconsistent with his style of doing things."
Lu Pianpian nodded, "Yes. Moreover, if Luo An really kills Cai Ji's parents, he will wipe out the roots and leave Cai Ji's brother and sister alone."
"Of course, based on this alone, I cannot conclude that the murderer is Pharmacist Tang, but I still have evidence!"
She pointed to the wound on the corpse, "The claw mark on the right side is weaker than the claw mark on the left side. What does this mean?"
Luo Li understood, "It means that the murderer's left hand has stronger attack power."
"Yes." Lu Pianpian smiled, "Grandpa You's martial arts is precisely because he is accustomed to using his left hand, and his attacks are stronger with his left hand. This is because he needs to use his right hand to use his poisonous magical power."
"But most martial arts monks have stronger attack power with their right hand than their left hand. This is the second reason."
"third…"
Lu Pianpian showed a trace of reminiscence, "I was raised by your grandpa, called master and apprentice, but actually father and daughter. And he was better to me than his daughter."
"Eighteen years ago, I was just ten years old. Master said that he was going on a long trip. At that time, I only knew that he was returning to Yizhou, but I didn't know his specific whereabouts."
"More than half a year later, Master returned to Jingzhou General Altar from Yizhou. I went to his quiet room and found leaf bookmarks in his book."
"The texture of those leaves is strange, bright red like fire, like maple leaves, but not like maple leaves."
"The leaves were picked a few months ago. I found that there seemed to be some pattern in the vein texture of each maple leaf."
"Master is not a boring person. Why do you collect these leaves and put them as bookmarks in ancient books?"
Luo Li interjected: "The leaf bookmark is the same as the maple leaves in our village? The maple leaves in Maple Leaf Village are indeed beautiful, and they are very different."
"Actually, no one is sure it is a maple leaf, but since we can't name it, we just call it a maple leaf."
"There are also maple fruits, which are purple, slightly longer, and somewhat different from maple fruits in other places."
Lu Pianpian took out a red leaf with green veins and said:
"When I came to your village today, I discovered that the leaves that Master brought back eighteen years ago are the 'maple leaves' here."
"This is enough to prove that he came to Maple Leaf Village eighteen years ago. His daughter eloped with Luo An and settled here. It doesn't seem strange that he came here."
"But the purpose of his coming here is definitely not for his daughter Tang Wan."
"He knew that the 'elopement plan' was of no use, but he still spent ten years with Luo An. He probably wanted to understand the secret that Luo An was looking for."
When Lu Pianpian said this, Su Chuo couldn't help but secretly said:
"That's pretty much it. Since he knows Luo An's identity, he will definitely keep an eye on Luo An's actions in Maple Leaf Village."
"He speculated that Luo An had another purpose in Maple Leaf Village, which must be of great importance. That's why he patiently spent so long with Luo An."
"It's a pity that neither Luo An nor he gained anything, and both parties wasted ten years in vain."
"This is the hidden truth behind the elopement. Both parties are not just for the "Nine Poisons Manual" and the inheritance of the Brotherhood."
"Luo An is a foreigner. He needs to find a woman to settle down in the local area and integrate into the village. Tang Wan just happened to be used."
What Su Chuo thought of, Luo Li quickly figured out.
It turns out that both Grandpa and Luo An have two purposes.
Although Luo An was treacherous and forbearing, Grandpa Tang Yaoshi was also forbearing.
Lu Pianpian drank half a bottle of wine, sat upright on the stone, and continued:
"Of course these are not enough, so there is another piece of evidence."
She pointed at the bones and said, "Only the high-level officials of the true priests would realize that the souls and blood of Cai Ji's parents were used as incense to sacrifice to the gods."
"The souls, essences and blood of two fourth-grade masters are already rare sacrifices. Master cannot give up."
"There is still a trace of the aftertaste of the red fragrance after sacrificing to the gods in the bones. This kind of aftertaste of the red fragrance can only be sensed by the high-level officials of the True Sacrifice Sect."
"Obviously, the person who killed this couple was a great monk from the True Sacrifice who knew how to worship gods."
"And my master happens to be carrying a statue with him. But his statue is not as powerful as my True God of Chaos."
"The murderer first used martial arts to kill the two men's bodies, and then used their souls and blood to sacrifice to the gods."
"Taken together, who is the murderer if it's not Medicine Master Tang? He didn't run away."
Luo Li couldn't help complaining: "My grandpa is not a good person either!"
Why do all my elders and relatives have this kind of virtue? Except for my aunt Tang Xiang, they all have very bad character.
After thinking for a while, he said: "So, Tang Yaoshi killed Cai Ji's parents just to serve as sacrifices and strengthen the magic power of the gods?"
"I don't know." Lu Pianpian frowned slightly and said thoughtfully, "Cai Ji's parents probably didn't find any treasures or clues."
"Master, if you kill them, you can't say that they are killing people and seizing treasures."
"Master is not someone who kills innocent people indiscriminately. It is unlikely that he would kill two fourth-grade monks who had no grievances and no grudges just for the sake of sacrifice."
"Why did you want to kill the Cai family and his wife? I can only ask the master personally at that time."
…
Lu Pianpian and Luo Li searched for a long time in Qianhu Cave, but found nothing.
But they found that there were holes everywhere under Maple Leaf Village, which had been dug out.
The entire underground has been rummaged through by Luo An and others. Their spiritual consciousness should have explored every piece of soil and every stone.
If there was anything here, it would have been taken away by Luo An, Tang Yaoshi, and Father Cai long ago.
"Lu Pianpian, is it possible that the treasure is not the real thing?" Su Chuo suddenly reminded.
Lu Pianpian secretly sighed, "What you thought of, Luo An, Tang Yaoshi and others must have thought of it. Otherwise, why would the old guy bring back a bunch of maple leaves to study the texture?"
"Luo An has been here for ten years. He has probably studied the sounds, smells, and patterns."
"It's probably that the ancient Silkworm Nest is teasing future generations. Maple Leaf Village is indeed a bit weird, but it should just be due to Feng Shui. In fact, there is nothing?"
Lu Pianpian didn't have much energy anymore.
Su Chuo reminded again: "Ask Li'er where Xiao Hei found it."
Lu Pianpian asked Luo Li and said it was in the ancient maple forest eight miles away.
"...The ancient maple forest is the oldest maple forest in the village. Those trees are very old, and they don't look like maple trees."
"...When I found Xiao Hei, he was in a tree hole. The tree hole was very deep and led into the ground. Xiao Hei may have climbed up from the ground."
"Let's go to the ancient maple forest and have a look." Lu Pianpian said, "If we don't find anything, we won't waste our time."
After saying that, he walked out.
"Wait a minute!" Luo Li pointed to the two bones, "Cai Ji has helped me. I want to bury his parents' bones."
The two buried the bones and then left the maze-like Thousand Fox Cave.
…
The lights in the village were extinguished one after another, and the villagers fell asleep. Only the barking of dogs could be heard faintly in the night.
The entire Maple Leaf Village surrounded by Maple Ridge is immersed in the night.
Luo Li took Lu Pianpian with him on familiar roads, through the village like a night wanderer, up the hill, and came to an ancient maple forest.
This ancient maple forest is a thousand acres in size, with dense ancient trees and dragon-like branches, full of a vigorous and desolate atmosphere.
Compared with the surrounding trees, the ancient trees here really don't look like maple trees.
The fiery red maple leaves sway in the moonlight, and the lavender maple fruits are silent in the clear frost.
Lu Pianpian suddenly exclaimed, "Luo Li, look at these maple leaves, do they look like mulberry leaves?"
Luo Li's eyes lit up, "It's true! If it were green, it would look more like a mulberry leaf."
"Even these purple maple fruits look like mulberries."
The knowledgeable Su Chuo secretly said: "Lu Pianpian, seeing these ancient trees that look like red maples, I suddenly thought of a record in an ancient book."
Lu Pianpian thought to herself: "What record?"
Su Chuo said: "The Supplementary Records records that "Shaohao's mother, Huang'e (Leizu), weaved at night in Xuan Palace, traveled by day on a log, and passed by Qiongmulg Pu."
"For those who are poor in mulberry, there are mulberry trees on the shore of the West Sea, which reach thousands of miles high. The leaves are as red as maples and the mulberry trees are purple. If you live long, you will never grow old if you eat them."
Lu Pianpian was a little impatient, "Sister, I know you are knowledgeable and speak human words!"
Su Chuo could only explain: "The mother of the Western Emperor Shaohao was called Huang'e, who was the inventor of silkworm rearing and weaving. She weaved in the palace at night and traveled around the world in a wooden boat during the day."
"One day, she came to the west coast and passed a place called Qiongsangoura. Why is it called Qiongsangoura?"
"Because there is a huge mulberry tree on the seaside. It reaches up to the sky and covers the sky. It is the poor mulberry tree."
"Although the poor mulberry tree is a mulberry tree, its mulberry leaves are as red as maple leaves, and the purple mulberries mature once every ten thousand years. If you eat them, you will live forever."
"Of course these maples cannot be the poor mulberry trees in ancient books, but they just reminded me of the records in the book."
After listening to Su Chuo's explanation, Lu Pianpian also had strange thoughts in her heart.
Could it be that these ancient maple trees are really a special kind of exotic mulberry tree?
Luo Li couldn't hear the exchange between Su Chuo and Lu Pianpian, but she saw that Lu Pianpian seemed to be thinking about something, so she didn't interrupt.
Su Chuo continued to say to Lu Pianpian: "If it is really an unknown mulberry tree, if I contact Mu Xianling, is it all related to silkworms?"
"Aren't celestial insects just silkworms? Silkworms feed on mulberry trees, and silkworms cannot be separated from mulberry trees."
"Based on various ancient books and known information, I have a bold speculation. That insect is a kind of divine silkworm or fairy silkworm."
"The divine silkworm needs to eat special mulberry leaves in order to grow, transform, and spin cocoons. And the cocoons it spins are the cocoons of heavenly insects mentioned by Su Yu?"
"Mrs. Hua Die is a descendant of the Can family. So Hua Die means rebirth. Does it mean ascending and becoming immortal?"
"If this guess is true, then is the treasure here the mulberry tree that the sky insect needs?"
"The original meaning of the word Shu is silkworm that turns into a butterfly, and Shu embroidery is still unparalleled in the world. There is a bronze sacred tree in the ancient Shu ruins, which is called the sacred tree that reaches the sky, but it is actually a poor mulberry tree."
Lu Pianpian couldn't help but said: "Isn't that bronze sacred tree the legendary fusang tree? Fusang and poor mulberry are the same tree?"
Su Chuo was a little speechless at Lu Pianpian, who didn't like reading.
"Read more. The hibiscus tree is originally a mulberry tree! It is the two big mulberry trees of yin and yang that support each other, so it is called the hibiscus tree!"
Only then did Lu Pianpian realize that the hibiscus tree was really a mulberry tree, and it was a yin and yang tree.
Su Chuo continued to explain: "The Fuso tree and the poor mulberry tree are actually the same kind. However, the fusang tree is composed of two poor mulberry trees."
"It's like, one chopstick is called Qiong Sang, and a pair of chopsticks is called Fusang."
Lu Pianpian didn't think her guess was bold. She touched her forehead and thought for a while, then said in a rare tone of admiration:
"Only today did I know that people in Jianghu study more."
"If you hadn't been knowledgeable enough and read enough books, how would you have come up with this guess?"
"Sister, I think your guess may be very close to the truth."
"Luo An, my master, Father Cai has been looking for him for so long. Maybe there is only one reason."
Su Chuo couldn't help but ask: "What's the reason?"
"It's not stupid." Lu Pianpian chuckled secretly, "It's just because I don't study enough!"
"If you don't read enough obscure ancient books, the information will be broken at critical moments and you won't be able to make effective deductions."
"Su Chuo, if you think about it again, you might be able to find some clues."
What she said may be true. There are very few monks who like reading, especially reading obscure and miscellaneous books.
Neither Tang Yaoshi nor Luo An really like reading.
Even if I really like it, I don’t have Su’s conditions for studying.
Su Chuo said: "Okay. I'll think about it carefully. You and Li'er have a look around first, and we'll divide the work."
Lu Pianpian was about to tell Luo Li Su Chuo's guess when he suddenly showed a strange smile and winked at Luo Li.
Luo Li knew it well and smiled without any trace.
At this time, the wind suddenly picked up.
The moon hides behind the clouds.
The frost is thicker.
Maple leaves are like blood!
I don't know when, a white figure appeared under Gu Feng.
Standing there quietly, like a tombstone.
"Little girl." The white figure suddenly spoke, her voice a bit cold and hard, not like the Yizhou accent.
It whipped like a frosty wind.
"Are you Luo Jishi's daughter? What's your name?"
"Who?!" Luo Li turned his head in shock and looked at the uninvited guest who suddenly appeared not far away.
Seems surprised.
This white figure is short in stature, holding a wooden staff and wearing a Nanzhao feather crown.
And there was a small snake as black as ink wrapped around his hand.
This Nanzhao man is none other than Nanzhao’s special envoy, Kun Mi!
Lu Pianpian also looked shocked, "Is it you? Are you following us?"
"I'm passing by by chance." Old God Kun Mi walked slowly over with a strong momentum.
"Why follow?"
The leaves on the ground danced like the wind following his footsteps!
"Miss Luo," Kun Mi said with a smile, "Is your father Yizhou Mu?"
"I am a close friend of your Majesty, and we will never go back on our friendship. How about asking Mrs. Luo to accompany me to Nanzhao as a guest?"
"Don't worry, Her Majesty the Queen will love Madam Luo, and you will become a distinguished guest in Nanzhao Palace."
Luo Li took a step back and said, "Senior, I don't understand what I said. I don't want to go to Nanzhao! I understand it with my kindness."
Kun Mi chuckled, "Since Miss Luo doesn't want to be a guest in our country, I can only offend you."
After saying that, he raised his hand and made a gesture.
He is a master of the fourth level of perfection. As soon as this trick is played, the powerful Gu Dao aura descends like a nightmare!
PS: I don’t dare to eat too much, I’m so hungry. What do you think about Su Chuo’s speculation?