across the Quartet

Chapter Three

Under the solitary lamp, Gai Nie arranged the collected jade pieces neatly on the table, which turned out to be a complete jade ring with eight bird heads in different poses, lifelike.

"I just recognized it at the first sight. This is Lord Changping's belongings." The county captain said in a low voice.

Gai Nie didn't answer, but raised his head and asked, "Who was the one who found your lord? Did you see anything?"

The county lieutenant said: "It's your lord's minister. Your lord has the habit of getting up early to sort out documents. When it's Yin time, he will send some water to the study as usual, add lamps and ink. But this son is still young and reckless. He yelled and yelled with blood coming from his mouth and nose, but he didn’t even see the shadow of the assassin.”

"How did your lord get killed, have you found out?"

The county lieutenant turned to look at the little official behind him.The man was holding a pen in one hand, a bamboo slip in the other, and a pottery sharpener hanging on his waist. He was quickly recording something; while writing, he replied: "I didn't find a sharp weapon injury. However, my lord's eyes are bleeding, and his fingernails, lips and tongue are black and purple. He probably died of poisoning."

"poison……"

"Have you found anything, sir?" the county lieutenant asked attentively.

Gai Nie looked around the study room, only to feel that the place was too clean and tidy, and there was no trace of fierce fighting.He shook his head, and said: "You need to have someone examine Mr. Li's body carefully before you can be sure. The investigation must be thorough, especially in the eyes, ears, and mouth. Even the traces of needle pricks must not be missed."

The county lieutenant made a gesture, and two guards immediately lifted the county magistrate's body down.Not long after, someone came over and reported carefully—the county magistrate Li couldn't find a trace of scars on his body, and there were no bruises from punches or palms.Gai Nie murmured: "It's weird. I thought it must be that person's poisonous needle..."

"Sir, I think the same." Before the county lieutenant could answer, the little official behind him rushed to say: "Therefore, there is only one possibility left, which is to use poisonous needles, poisonous nails and other small hidden weapons to kill people invisible, without leaving any traces on the surface of the skin." The trace must have been nailed directly into the skull, the hidden weapon remained in the skull, and the wound was hidden in the hair, so it could not be detected. With such accuracy and skill, the assassin is definitely not an ordinary person."

Gai Nie looked up at him, with a strange expression on his face, only to hear the little official continue to talk eloquently: "It's cold and humid this season, and even though the incense burner is lit in the house, it's still not too warm; but at this time, the county magistrate's body is still soft. , it can be seen that he died within an hour or two." After speaking, he said to the county captain: "Cleanse him and bury him as soon as possible."

Gai Nie nodded and said nothing, but what he was thinking in his mind was: Although Xiao Zhuang is also a master of hidden weapons, he has lost all his internal energy at this time, it is impossible to have such a domineering strength to make hidden weapons penetrate his bones; I left for a period of time at the beginning, and when I returned, the first patrol at night had just passed, and it was probably not until Haishi, but judging from the clepsydra, it was almost Yinshi, so the time did not match.Thinking of this, Gai Nie felt a little funny—in the matter of Lord Changping, he originally involved Xiaozhuang; from the hunting encounter to the murder of the county magistrate, the forces behind these events were intricate, how could he alone be able to control them?Why do you feel that you are inextricably linked with your junior whenever something happens?

He turned to the little official who was speaking, and said politely, "Who is your Excellency—"

The little official smiled, and pulled off his collar with his right hand, revealing the spider tattoo between his shoulder and neck. "Mr. Gai, don't you think that you are the only one sent by the emperor to be with Lord Changping, right? Such a major conspiracy, how can you lack the eyes and ears of a snare."

Gai Nie frowned and said, "It turns out that your lord has been suspicious of this person for a long time... Then the county magistrate planned to capture me earlier, just to confuse Lord Changping?"

"Don't blame me, sir." The little official replied, "You don't need to hide the cause and effect of this matter at this time, just listen to me in detail."

According to the spy, Luo Wang obtained two pieces of seemingly irrelevant secret information from Chu's allies half a year ago: First, there was a Chu Jian who had been hiding deeply in the court of Qin State, and he had secretly sent some Important military and political information was passed back to Chu State.Second, some aristocratic families in the state of Chu were dissatisfied with the new king of Chu and conspired to welcome Lord Changping as king; they sent businessmen secretly into Guanzhong to pass letters to Lord Changping, urging him to flee Xianyang and return to the country to succeed him.

The so-called allies here naturally refer to a group of Chu people who received heavy bribes and worked secretly in the Qin Dynasty. The information they provided should be quite reliable.Based on the analysis of the two pieces of information, Luo Wang suspects that Chu Jian, who is lurking in the court, is most likely Lord Changping—because he is loyal to the state of Chu in private, he can get the support of the princes of the state.When the king of Qin learned of this, he ordered people to closely monitor him; soon, he ordered Lord Changping to move to Chencheng.According to the leader Luo Wang's speculation, Jun Shang's move is because the country is preparing for the battle to destroy Chu, and it is not appropriate to keep Changping Jun, who is suspected of collaborating with the enemy, in Xianyang; One of the strategies that can be adopted to digest Chu land and avoid rebellion is to first support Chu people like Lord Changping as false kings and test the attitude of Chu people.Therefore, although King Qin doubted Lord Changping, he didn't have enough evidence, but he didn't want to give up this pawn.Therefore, the King of Qin sent his most trusted guards to escort Lord Changping into Chen; at the same time, two members of the network, "Feng Bo" and "Yu Shi", rushed to the border of Qin and Chu to investigate the activities of Chu spies here.

Gai Nie pondered for a moment, and said, "Perhaps your majesty still wants to know which families secretly support Lord Changping; if you can grasp the various forces in Chu that are dissatisfied with the king of Chu, it will be beneficial to the plan to send troops to Chu in the future."

The net agent codenamed "Rain Master" showed annoyed expression. "It's exactly what Mr. said. Therefore, when I heard that Mr. Changping was out hunting, I guessed that he intended to contact the Chu people. The plan was to wait and see and find out who was colluding with him; considering that the guards who followed him were all Your Majesty chose it himself, so there shouldn't be any surprises. But unexpectedly, the situation has developed to this point... After Mr. Changping returned to the city alone, I had a disagreement with the county magistrate. His Excellency somewhat believed Mr. Changping's words, and thought that if Changping Mr. You have already carried Qin to Chu, so there is no need to come back. But I suspect that this is a trap set up by this person. Yesterday I heard that Mr. Gai appeared at the city gate, so I made a bet with the county magistrate—for now Trapping Mr. Changping made Mr. Changping careless, and then Feng Bo and I stayed at the county office and the other stayed at the residence of Mr. Changping to see who the secret agent of Chu State hidden in the city would respond to. Unexpectedly, my lord was murdered first. This matter must be that Mr. Changping found out that the matter was exposed and killed people to silence it."

Although his language is humble, it also contains the meaning of accusation: Although the plan of trapping the net is very secret, but you, the guards around the king, are so easy to be plotted by the killer, it is really a false name.

Gai Nie ignored his subtext, and only said about the matter in front of him: "There are still many doubts about Mr. Li's assassination. According to the inference just now, the murderer attacked with a hidden weapon and did not fight with Mr. Changping. If it is really Mr. Changping So, how did his jade pendant get into the hands of the adults?"

"Perhaps...he first approached the lord under the pretense of discussing matters, and suddenly made a plot, and the lord grabbed his jade ring when he was dying..."

"If that's the case, then he should quickly pick up the broken jade and run away, otherwise wouldn't he consider himself the murderer?"

"Presumably, he was too flustered after the murder, and he knew that someone would come to fill the lamps and deliver water at Yinshi, so he was eager to escape and failed to clean up—"

"Mr. Changping, no matter whether it is before or after the murder, he will never panic. Even if he knows that someone will come, to him, it is just the difference between killing one person and killing two people." Gai Nie said. "Is there any news from that 'Uncle Feng'?"

The county captain and "Rain Master" looked at each other and shook their heads. "The incident happened suddenly, and the person we sent to spread the word has not returned yet. Although Uncle Feng is considered cautious, when it comes to lightness kung fu swordsmanship, he is no match for Lord Changping. If Lord Changping is not afraid of being exposed and is determined to commit murder, I'm afraid... ..."

"If Lord Changping really did the assassination, he must have fled far away by now."

"The county's access control is extremely strict at night. If you want to leave the city, you must have an emergency document issued by the county office and stamped with the official seals of the county magistrate and the county lieutenant. Even if Lord Changping escapes, he will not be able to escape the city. He must still be hiding in the city." Speaking of this, Master Yu changed the subject and sighed: "Although I can draw this person's appearance, the people in the city will report it. But Lord Changping's swordsmanship is superb, and he is good at hidden weapons and yin and yang spells. I'm afraid it's not something ordinary warriors can do." Deal with it. To catch this person, you can only rely on the strength of Mr. "

Only then did Gai Nie understand the intention of these people suddenly being so respectful to him. "Don't dare. I will do my best in my duties. I'm afraid that this person is scheming, has a secret hiding place in the city, or knows some secret passages of some agencies..."

The three of them were discussing, when suddenly a messenger rushed over, half kneeling and saluting: "Report—the prisoners in the county prison rioted, killed dozens of guards and escaped—"

The county captain and the others suddenly changed their colors.A few days ago, several gangs of thieves who committed crimes in Yingchuan, Nanyang and other places were arrested one after another and temporarily imprisoned in the county jail; I didn't expect them to suddenly attack.Although this group of people were all daring and reckless desperadoes, the timing was too coincidental.

Gongsun County Lieutenant was a typical soldier of the Qin State. He was a little puzzled by the mystery of a person who died before, but when he encountered such a situation where swords were drawn and blood flowed into rivers, he became more at ease.He issued orders majesticly: "Quickly order the officers and soldiers at the gates of the city to step up their patrols and use torches as a signal to prevent someone from attacking the gates at night. Each battalion of the defenders mustered 300 crossbowmen, 100 light soldiers, and 200 heavy armored soldiers. City search, we must apprehend these criminals."

The orderly led the way.The county lieutenant strode out of the house, and the secret agent "Master of Rain" followed closely.Taking advantage of the two turning around, Gai Nie randomly picked up a few pieces of jade scraps on the table and stuffed them into his sleeves, and then stuffed them into a cloth pouch.The movement of this hand was so brisk that no one who was close at hand noticed it.

The three waited in the courtyard for the soldiers to assemble.The county lieutenant frowned and said, "I'm afraid it will be a tough battle."

Master Yu sneered and said, "My lord, it is clear. Now it seems that Lord Changping returned to the city, there must be some purpose that has not been achieved; and the reason why he dared to take risks is because the people of Chu have already arranged for him to support him."

The clear sound of bells piercing through the thick fog, and after a short while, the sound of hurried and heavy footsteps gathered from all directions; the courtyard was soon filled with warriors holding crossbows and spears, and the first-level officers issued orders one by one, and ordered The content is conveyed briefly and clearly.The team was about to set off, when suddenly a man rushed in from the door, wearing a high crown and holding a long sword, followed by several servants - it was Lord Changping.

Everyone was shocked.The county lieutenant immediately shouted: "Take it from the left and right!"

Mr. Changping pushed with both arms to block the halberd-wielding warriors approaching him. "Wait a minute. Why did your lord take me?"

"You murdered the county magistrate, such a felony, how dare you make excuses?"

"Qi Ye just heard about Li County Magistrate's murder just now. What is the basis for Mr. Gongsun's conclusion?"

"On the side of Mr. Li's body, there is your bird-patterned jade ring!"

Mr. Changping snorted coldly: "Qi's jade pendant has been lost since the day of hunting, and this matter must be framed by others. If Qi is an assassin, how could he leave such obvious evidence? Confession, how to convict with only a piece of jade? Daqin Law's "Sealing and Diagnosis Style" says that in order to govern a prison, the priority is to gain favor without flogging and plundering; flogging and plundering is the bottom; , let Qi plead guilty inexplicably?"

"Mr. Changping is very proficient in the laws and decrees of the Great Qin Dynasty. With your status and title, we dare to punish you at will." The agent Luo Wang smiled and took out a few pieces of scorched and incomplete slips from his sleeve. "However, there are other evidences. It is not without. This thing was found in the ashes of the charcoal stove you use every day. You are indeed careful in your actions, but unfortunately, it is still not completely burned."

Gai Nie glanced at it, and most of the characters on the bamboo slips were charred and unreadable, but the characters of Chu State on it could be vaguely recognized; the content was about the end of a letter.I just heard Master Yu read aloud: "... If you agree, you can wear this thing with you until... If you don't want to cooperate, you might as well smash this thing and put it under... the patio. Suiyu will understand your decision and cut off any news..."

Mr. Changping's face changed slightly, but he quickly suppressed it, and still maintained a calm and composed attitude. "The words are vague. Who knows what they mean? Qi doesn't remember the letter, and he doesn't know when it was burned. Besides, what does the content of the letter have to do with the death of the county magistrate?"

"This letter is obviously evidence of the collusion between your Excellency and Chu Dixie! That jade ring is the token of the contract. You have agreed with them on one thing, or the magistrate finds out, or the magistrate is yours." Target... After you committed the murder, you saw broken jade all over the place, even if you cleaned it hastily, it was inevitable that you would miss something, so you simply left the thing where it was; then you went back and pretended that you just heard about the murder, thinking you could hide it from the world ——" Yu Shi talked endlessly about his deduction, which sounded quite reasonable.

Mr. Changping hurriedly interrupted him and said, "That's strange, how did your Excellency know that this letter must be addressed to Qi? You said that this thing was found in the charcoal stove used by Qi, but Qi's residence is usually served by servants. There are no less than a hundred maids coming and going, and the twelve guards who were sent by the King of Qin to protect him can come in and out at will, how do you know that it wasn't one of them who burned his letter in Qi's room in order to get rid of suspicion?" Said Arriving here, he immediately cast a meaningful gaze on Ge Nie.

The county lieutenant hurriedly said: "It must not be Mr. Gai. Mr. was kept in a cage all night... and never left the courtyard. This is absolutely true."

"Then how can your lord determine that he has no accomplices? Maybe he pretended to be captured just to divert our attention and make it easier for his companions to attack secretly—"

Gai Nie rubbed the center of his brows feebly, thinking that Mr. Changping is really obsessed with blaming him - think about it carefully, besides Mr. Changping, it seems that there are other people who have similar hobbies.

The county lieutenant's gaze couldn't stop wandering, as if he was carefully pondering the debate just now.Master Yu was very determined, still staring at Mr. Changping with a sneer.Although the soldiers of the Qin State were strong in fighting power, they were in complete chaos at this time: Among the people present, Lord Changping had the highest title and was highly regarded by the King of Qin in the past; ; They each hold a word, who is the loyal minister and who is the thief?

The atmosphere in the courtyard was extremely dignified.At this moment, there were bursts of indistinct screams in the distance - it was impossible to distinguish whether it was one or two people, or many people.Gai Nie's expression changed, and he drew his sword and said, "There can be no further delay. Please, my lord, immediately order the suppression of the rebellion in the city, and leave it to my subordinates to deal with."

"Gai Nie, what do you intend to do?!" Chang Ping Jun also drew his sword out of its sheath, but subconsciously took a step back.After the Jiulongxia battle, he had developed a feeling of hatred and fear towards Ge Nie. Although he wanted him to die by any means, he was unwilling to fight him anyway.Back then in Xianyang, I heard about Gai Nie’s deeds of fighting to death in the city on the day Handan City was broken, breaking through the crossbow array, robbing the net, and killing the sword master. Most of the swordsmen in Qin did not believe it. , only Mr. Changping firmly believes in it—that person can really do it, he can do it.

He is crazy.

"Mr. Changping, the case in front of us seems to be unable to tell who is the real criminal with our wisdom; why don't you come back to Xianyang with me, and let the king personally judge it." Gai Nie calmly posed starting gesture.

"Ridiculous! If you kill someone on the way, who will know?!"

"If you will be arrested without a fight, I will also be bound voluntarily, and the county captain will send a trustworthy person to see you off all the way."

Mr. Changping gritted his teeth and said, "Qi still, I can't believe you—"

"You don't have to believe it."

Gai Nie swung his sword, and an arc of light cut through the thick fog, and rushed towards his face with a chilling aura; Changping Jun's half body suddenly fell obliquely to the rear, barely avoiding this move.Regardless of the tight terrain, the two quickly exchanged hands in front of all the officials and soldiers; even though Mr. Changping was not interested in fighting, he tried to jump up to the roof several times, but was repeatedly suppressed by Gai Nie with his sword moves, unable to do so. get away.Gai Nie has made up his mind, he wants to take advantage of his opponent's guilt and impetuosity, and fight fast with slowness, so that the advantages of "complexity", "urgency" and "fastness" of Yuenu Sword cannot be used.Strangely, even though the clash of sword blades was louder than the other, he still heard another sound.

"Chirp, chirp." "Srust, rustle."

Grass insects like hundreds of crickets and grasshoppers fluttered their wings and chirped at the same time—the sound was faint and invisible, sometimes it was far away in the sky, and sometimes it seemed to penetrate the ear holes.Although there may be stinging insects in the yard, but it is winter now, so it is absolutely unusual for such insects to sing.

Out of the corner of his eye, Gai Nie saw a vague and strange shadow slowly moving closer from the entrance.His heart suddenly trembled: This scene seemed familiar.Before I had time to think about it, the mutation had already happened suddenly.

The first thing I noticed was that the expression on Mr. Changping's face became more ferocious, the muscles of his arms bulged, he gave up the lightness and quickness of the Yuenu sword, and slashed vigorously with the sword in both hands, just like a reckless man who has just learned how to use a sword.Gai Nie could have taken advantage of the gap to subdue the enemy with one move, but at this moment, his body was full of flaws, but his aura was astonishing, and his sword energy was soaring, it was difficult to sneak attack and subdue him without seriously injuring him.What's more troublesome, Ge Nie himself gradually developed a sense of anxiety, as if bewitching him in a low voice - just kill him, why bother with this kind of scum...Kill, kill...

Slightly distracted, Lord Changping's sword wind had arrived, and Gai Nie raised his head to let go, almost having a piece of scalp cut off.

At this time, more strange things happened one after another.A halberd-wielding soldier in the courtyard suddenly roared, and pierced the neighbor's lower abdomen with his halberd. When he pulled it out, the halberd branch hooked out the opponent's intestines and flowed all over the ground.Several people around him rushed over to restrain him at the same time, but the murderer seemed mad, yelling, biting and tearing like wild animals.Almost at the same time, chaos of various sizes also occurred in the formation of crossbowmen and light soldiers.The eyes of the crazy people were bloodshot, and they fought and killed each other regardless.Many soldiers threw down their weapons, or wept bitterly, or ran away, or pulled out their daggers, and cut off the heads of comrades who fell on the ground or were wounded or dead, and hung them on their waists, their faces were full of joy. Victory—the warrior of the Qin Army, who has always been known for his iron-like military discipline in the Seven Kingdoms, instantly became a pot of boiling water.

The county lieutenant's face was pale, and his shouts were drowned out by the roaring, screaming, and crying that filled the courtyard.On the other side, Rain Master had already cut the throats of several soldiers who accidentally approached him with a sharp knife.His lips trembled, and his left hand pinched his right wrist with bruised and purple fingerprints; however, once someone approached five feet from his body, he would still be killed instantly.

The chaos submerged Gai Nie's fierce battle with Lord Changping.Gai Nie knew that the madness of the crowd must be related to the strange figure in the thick fog.There were two impulses in his heart: one was desperately wanting to get closer to that shadow, to take a closer look; the other was to stay as far away from that shadow as possible, absolutely not to get close.The fierce confrontation between these two minds was more exhausting than fighting with Mr. Changping; the sweat dripped from his forehead, and some of it hung on his eyelashes, but he had no time to wipe it off.

All of a sudden, a figure descended from the sky, and the long sword in his hand slammed into the vague and weird shadow like an eagle hitting a falcon.When Gai Nie saw this person, he felt certain in his heart.

——Xiao Zhuang finally made a move.

A gust of cool wind swept over, blowing away some of the mist in front of his eyes, so that Gai Nie could see clearly the figure who was fighting with his junior brother—it was actually a short and fat old man.The flesh on this person's neck was sagging, his belly was round and protruding, and his ten fingers were stubby and strong. He was holding a black-green rod with twelve human spines embedded in it.His martial arts are extremely weird, as if a rattan stick had its own will, it seemed to retreat forward, seem to turn left and right, sometimes it seemed numb and slow, and in a blink of an eye, it knocked the brains of several Qin soldiers who accidentally broke into the battle; Wei Zhuang's movements were much faster than his, but it seemed that he had some scruples. Many of the exquisite moves in the horizontal sword technique were retreated to protect himself before they were fully executed. In addition, he had no internal energy to protect his body, making it dangerous and thrilling.

Gai Nie wanted to step forward to help, but the more anxious he was, the harder it was to escape from the opponent's sword in front of him.He turned around to avoid Changping Jun's head-on blow, and the few strands of sword light gathered like needles, pierced through his side and stabbed at the opponent's Jingmen, Huantiao, Fengshi and other acupoints - he recognized the acupoints very accurately, and his shots were steady and fast. It's a pity that Mr. Changping was no longer an ordinary person at this time, his body trembled and twitched uncontrollably, and every sword pierced his muscles instead; Gai Nie didn't want to seriously injure him, so he had to withdraw his sword and return to defense.At this time, the distance between the two of them, Wei Zhuang, and the sorcerer has been pushed closer and closer intentionally or unintentionally, and the sword energy almost cuts into the opponent's battle circle; the positions of these four people can be said to be different. , Who will deal with whom, and who should guard against whom, I am afraid that ghosts and gods cannot predict.

When Gai Nie was in a difficult situation, he suddenly heard a burst of shouting "Arrow array!" He felt something in his heart, lowered his half body, and then rushed out suddenly, shooting at the short and fat sorcerer like a white rainbow.

No one has ever dared to abandon the person in front of him and attack another person in a serious battle with his opponent.No one expected Gai Nie to do this; but the door behind him was wide open, but it couldn't be more clear.Mr. Changping's eyes were in a trance for a moment, and the sword in his hand stabbed mercilessly at his back.Seeing that he was about to succeed, he suddenly felt a numbness in the back of his head, like being stung by a bee, it was painful and itchy.Mr. Changping froze for a moment, and immediately noticed that his tongue was swollen, and then his neck became stiff, his hands and feet were numb, and he rolled straight to the ground like a log.His eyes were wide open, staring at the sky obsessively - he couldn't figure out when Wei Zhuang, who was just a few feet away, came behind him.

Wei Zhuang just yelled "Arrow array!" But what he said was a code word that only the two of them knew.In the first year of studying in Guigu, a group of bandits provoked at the gate of Guigu and besieged the two brothers with arrows; in the dense stream of arrows like flying locusts, Wei Zhuang also squatted down halfway to operate the crossbow, and shot himself The side rear is completely handed over to Gai Nie for defense.So when he shouted, Gai Nie immediately knew that his junior brother had a plan to break the game, so he forcibly intervened in Wei Zhuang's battle as before; at the same time, Wei Zhuang gave up Wu Shen and instead used a hidden weapon to attack Lord Changping, the timing was extremely clever.Such a change stunned the few people present who were still sane—it was unimaginable to dare to switch opponents at the most intense moment of the decisive battle, and it did not conform to any kind of martial arts or swordsmanship; It's done.

A thin blue needle was inserted into the dumb door behind Jun Changping's neck, making him unable to move.Wei Zhuang rolled his long arms, pinched the man under his arm, and ran away.

"go!"

After Gai Nie got the news, he didn't want to fight any more. He used "Suo Wang" to push the fat wizard back a few steps.With a wave of his sleeve, he flicked away a string of hidden weapons fired by the sorcerer, swayed his body left and right, and disappeared behind the door like thick ink melting into water.

The chunky sorcerer seemed to be supported by an invisible hand, with wind under his feet, he chased out of the hospital with a "huh--".It's a pity that the backstreet of the county government office is adjacent to a large area of ​​high and low houses, and several small and rugged alleys are scattered like the veins of leaves, and covered by thick fog, how can they distinguish which one is their escape route?

The sorcerer was not anxious.He raised his head slightly and smiled sinisterly.

"Escape? Run away, run away...I want to see how far you can escape in this 'Chi You Great Desolation Formation'."

TBC