across the Quartet

Chapter Four

It was a particularly gloomy morning.The city is half asleep and half awake, there are few pedestrians on the road, and it is very quiet.The two descendants of Ghost Valley ran wildly in the winding alley, one behind the other.

"Let me carry it for a while." Gai Nie said.

Without turning his head, Wei Zhuang threw the prisoner he was carrying towards him casually.Ge Nie took it steadily and put it on his shoulder, as if he was holding a big bag of grains.

Seeing a fork in the road, Wei Zhuang stopped suddenly, took out a small carved box, and gestured back and forth in the air.There was a rapid sound of insects coming from the box, sometimes changing from weak to strong, and sometimes from strong to weak.

Gai Nie also stood still, a pair of eyes slid back and forth chasing the wooden box. "Xiao Zhuang, the crickets you raise can recognize the way?"

"...This is a blood-stalking beetle used for tracking. What I have in my hand is a baby worm. Wu Shen has a mother worm on his body, and the mother and child can communicate with each other. The closer to the mother worm, the more excited the larvae are. And vice versa. Of course." Wei Zhuang pointed to the left and said, "This way."

"So, wouldn't that Wu Shen also be able to find us in the same way?"

Wei Zhuang showed a sneer: "there is only one worm mother, but there are many worms, and they all happen to be in this city. We only need to find a place where the worms will never make a sound, and we will be safe for the time being." where."

Gai Nie let him lead the way thoughtfully, his gaze seemed to penetrate the back of his junior brother. "Xiao Zhuang, could it be that you have already figured out this situation?"

Wei Zhuang glanced at him sideways. "Brother, do you doubt me?"

"No - I think you have lived in Chu for a long time, and your understanding of witchcraft is obviously far better than mine. If you can teach me a little experience, we can think of some strategies to deal with the enemy together, and we won't just run away blindly."

Wei Zhuang turned his head and continued to face him with the back of his head. "Because I have fought with Wu Shen for many years and know his roots, I have to leave now."

Gai Nie tilted his neck, and there was a "crack" sound from his neck bone. "Even if you and I set up an ambush together to lure him to a place where no one is around, there is still no way to fight?"

"Senior brother, I know you are not willing. If you don't care about your power, if you just rely on your personal performance, there are no more than three people in the entire Chu Kingdom that I fear - Wu Shen is the most terrifying of the three. His ability is unpredictable. ;compared with him, Kan Bo, the owner of the "Three Prison Bloodstained Formation" that we dealt with back then, is just a newborn baby." Wei Zhuang lowered his head and listened to the insects, and said while running: "You northerners I know too little about witchcraft, and I often classify witchcraft and Gu as strange powers and chaotic gods. However, there is a reason why Chu people worship witches so much. Shamans have a very high status in southern Xinjiang. They are proficient in astrology and divination Strange and uncommon knowledge such as medicine, poison, curses, etc., can kill people with just a few hands; moreover, most of them are reserved and conceited, and have a strong sense of revenge, and they will never allow anyone who offends them to live in the world. No different, if you want to kill an unsuspecting sorcerer, a fast sword is enough. However, if a sorcerer decides to deal with you secretly, and has enough time to prepare those lengthy rituals and sacrifices enough, then curse Once the technique is complete, its power is comparable to ghosts and gods, and it is absolutely impossible for ordinary people to resist."

"Having said that, you've already murdered several sorcerers, aren't you still alive and well?"

"...Brother, is this praising me?"

Ge Nie coughed, and said again: "From my point of view, witchcraft is indeed very dangerous, but the ultimate way to kill people is to manipulate the dead and the living, and start with swords, axes and axe. If we can subdue those who are manipulated by witchcraft The 'living creature' may be able to make the spell backfire like it did four years ago—”

"How can it be so simple. I only know a drop in Taicang's knowledge of Wu Shen's various methods; when I met the so-called 'Four Heroes of the Thorn' on the road, I found that they had blood on their bodies, so I guessed that they would use them sooner or later. It can be used. But at present, this kind of maddening technique is unheard of. How did those people become enlightened? How big is the area where witchcraft works? To be cautious, we should stay as far away from Wu Shen as possible and torture in a safe place Let's talk about this person," Wei Zhuang pointed to Lord Changping who was being carried by Gai Nie, "after the reason of the matter is clear, we will consider the method of breaking the formation."

During the conversation, the three of them had already passed through many houses and arrived at one of the most prosperous markets in the city.The streets here are wide, with cars and horses passing by, and the smell of sweat, livestock, fish and shrimp can be smelled everywhere.Even though it was still early, many shadowy human figures could still be seen in the dense fog.But when they really got close, they could see clearly what kind of scene it was.

Ghosts on earth.

There were quite a few city residents scattered around the market, some sat or stood with dull faces, some beat their chests and feet, and wailed endlessly; more people were fighting fiercely, husbands beating women, young men beating old men, it seemed that it was a very common thing .A butcher chopped up a raw pig leg with a blunt bone-chopping knife, eagerly stuffed the meat into his mouth and chewed, blood dripped down his beard to the ground.A group of ragged refugees were happily carrying food from a corner shop. The shop owner's body was randomly thrown outside the door, his face was blue, and he seemed to have been strangled to death.Blood, feces, and all kinds of filth flowed on the compacted loess road, exuding a strong stench.Gasps, wailings, and eerie maniacal laughter followed.

Wei Zhuang frowned, but his first reaction was to look at the wooden box in his hand.The blood trace beetle did not see any movement. "Impossible. This place is already far away from Wu Shen, how could it be - how wide is the range that this formation can affect?"

Before he had time to think about it, Gai Nie had already put Changping Junping on the ground, and walked into the crowd holding his sword hilt.Wei Zhuang grabbed his sleeve. "People have gone crazy, how much can you save if you go there now?"

Gai Nie paused, and suddenly rushed forward with all his strength, and the hoarse sound of silk tearing came immediately.Wei Zhuang's face was livid, and when he was about to explode, Gai Nie had already strode close to a group of people on the ground, kicked two fat and strong men flying with great force, Actually smashed a crack in the wall behind.Only then did Wei Zhuang see a naked body lying on the ground, the body was still small and shrunk into a ball, it was actually a girl.The remaining man was stunned for a moment, screaming and pounced on Gai Nie, Gai Nie grabbed his forearm and folded it against the direction of the elbow, there was only a crisp sound, and the broken bone came out immediately; Let out an extremely sharp scream, straight into the sky.

"It's a good trick 'reverse willow'." Wei Zhuang clapped his hands in a strange voice.He turned his head to look at Mr. Changping who was lying on the ground with an ugly expression, and said with a light smile, "It seems that even Senior Brother has been tricked. If he goes crazy, he might be the strongest weapon in this city."

However, Gai Nie took off his coat, wrapped the girl up, and carefully held the girl in his arms.He strode back, his face was normal, he didn't look like a lunatic who didn't recognize his relatives at all. "Where is a safe place? It's best to find a house that can be locked."

Wei Zhuang didn't answer for a while, but stared at his side face carefully.He knew that although his senior brother came from a humble background, thanks to Guiguzi's many years of teaching, his etiquette and demeanor are perfect. Even with a sword in hand and facing a murderous enemy, he will behave modestly and politely, neither humble nor overbearing, even the most exquisite The nobles can't fault it either.But the current Gai Nie is different, not only is he more aggressive than before, but even his whole temperament has changed, his whole body seems to exude an arrogance that no one cares about.

He felt a pinprick of excitement run down his spine to his fingertips.If it wasn't for the wrong timing, he really wanted to fight Ge Nie in this state.

Gai Nie noticed his junior brother's eyes, turned his head and said, "What's wrong?"

Wei Zhuang let out a long breath. "I remembered. Bai Feng once stole a roll of animal skin from Wu Shen, which recorded some extremely bizarre witchcraft and secret techniques. This technique is probably the so-called Chi You's Great Wilderness Formation. This formation seems to be able to It arouses the desires in people's hearts, makes them unable to control themselves, and becomes violent and fierce for desires—of course, everyone has different desires hidden deep in their hearts, and there are also various ways to vent them."

Ge Nie pondered for a moment, and said, "No, I seem to be controlled by witchcraft."

"...You just found out?"

Gai Nie touched the hollow on the back of his neck, "I can still hold myself. If I lose my mind and hurt someone, you can use that needle to restrain me."

Wei Zhuang smiled and said: "It's easy to say. You have lost your mind, not martial arts; will it be so easy to be restrained?"

Gai Nie sighed, with a troubled expression on his face.

Wei Zhuang thought to himself why are you sighing, maybe he was thinking "I'm so powerful, it's really difficult to deal with" and made a plan, if Ge Nie really dared to reveal anything similar, he would immediately poke him to death with shark teeth.But Gai Nie said, "Xiao Zhuang, why are you not affected?"

"Me? Naturally, it's Wei who is determined and determined." Wei Zhuang thought for a while, and suddenly his expression changed, "No. Brother, what did you eat for me in the forest yesterday? It really is Shennongcao The fruit? I have been in Guigu for three years, but I have never seen Shennong grass bear fruit?!"

Gai Nie nodded and said: "Indeed, it's just that it's not easy to harvest. When I was in Guigu, I was busy practicing swords, and I didn't study the characteristics of Shennong grass carefully enough. Later, when I asked Mr. Ji——Mr. Shen Nong’s method of grass growing.”

"any solution?"

"From the day of flowering, water it with human blood for seven days."

With Gai Nie's personality, there is no need to ask whose blood it is.Wei Zhuang is even more sure that his senior brother has deep witchcraft - if it is the usual Gai Nie, at most he will say "planting is not easy, but finally found a way" here, and he will never explain the second half of the sentence.

At this moment, the blood-stalking beetle in his arms made another series of "chirping" sounds.

Wei Zhuang picked up Mr. Changping, Gai Nie hugged the sleeping girl, and ran along the road again.Sometimes Gai Nie couldn't help but fight, or kick some assailants away, Wei Zhuang felt anxious and hated, so he could only grab the shark-tooth scabbard and chase him away.

After so procrastinating, he didn't go far, when a knee-high yellow dog suddenly emerged from the street corner, dripping red and white foam between its teeth, barking wildly and pounced at Wei Zhuang.He raised the sword in his hand and cut the dog's head in half.Gai Nie showed a shocked expression—not to mention dogs and wolves in Yunmeng Mountain, even tigers and leopards have to walk around when they see their juniors; this local dog dares to provoke directly, it is like a dog.

"Behind!"

Wei Zhuang roared.Sure enough, a large group of watchdogs, big and small, emerged from the other side of the road, baring their teeth, very fierce.Many dogs had blood-stained straw ropes hanging around their necks, and it seemed that they broke the ropes abruptly and escaped.The leading dogs were particularly strong, leaping up from three or five steps away, and biting people's necks, wrists and other vital points.Gai Nie drew his sword out of its sheath, the sword flashed, and in a flash, the dog's corpse was lying on the ground.But the group of beasts seemed to have no fear at all, and they continued to pounce and bite him one after another.

Gai Nie was protecting the girl in his arms with one arm. It was not easy to use swordsmanship, and the group of mad dogs were several times stronger than ordinary dogs, and their movements were more agile. .Finally, the number of mad dogs decreased slightly, he looked back, but saw that there were more mad dogs all running towards his junior brother.Wei Zhuang was forced by the beasts swarming up, grabbed Changping Jun's lapel with his left hand, yelled, and threw him onto the nearby roof with all his strength; The strong wind is like a dragon and snake dancing wildly; even if there is no inner strength, the momentum does not decrease at all.Gai Nie leaned towards him, and asked while helping out, "Why do these dogs seem to hate you so much—they are all manipulated by witchcraft? Have you eaten a lot of dog meat recently?"

"Nonsense, dog meat is astringent and bitter, I prefer beef and mutton. Besides, fish and bear's paws are what I eat most after arriving in Chu State—"

"Chu is really rich in products. I remember the fruit called 'tangerine' that I ate here last time. It is sweet and juicy, which is not available in other countries. No wonder Dr. Sanlu wrote an 'Ode to Orange' to praise it. "

"...I think you have deeply misunderstood Dr. Sanlu's intentions."

Wei Zhuang had a terrible headache.He found that his brother's thoughts are very unrestrained, as unrestrained as a wild dog. "Since Shennong fruit can restrain this—no matter what kind of witchcraft it is, you should eat a piece quickly."

"I have only collected seven pills in three years, so I have to save some. It's okay, I feel energetic and refreshed right now; you and I will join hands, and we will definitely be able to fight a bloody road in this city—"

"No, you are completely dead, you can eat as soon as you are told!"

Gai Nie still shook his head in refusal, and suddenly felt a mass of warm force attacking from behind, and stabbed the creature's abdomen with a backhand sword - at this time a forelimb was already on the shoulder.Ge Nie turned his head to look, and let out a surprised sound in his mouth—the living creature that rushed from behind was not a dog, but a human!

But the man was no longer human, with protruding eyes and bruised veins, as if he had some deep hatred, he was grinding his white teeth, and his saliva slipped down his chin.

"Don't be distracted!" Wei Zhuang shouted.The shark teeth drew a silver arc, and the sword body was cold, reflecting the frosty sky and the waning moon.

Gai Nie held his sword and looked around, but saw more and more "people" gathering on the front, back, and left and right roofs.These people all fell on all fours, panting with their tongues out, really no different from dogs.He said badly to himself, raised his breath and jumped onto the roof of a low house, forcing back several dogmen who were about to bite Lord Changping.Because of these people's weird behavior, he inevitably had some scruples, and several times it seemed that a whole piece of flesh had been bitten off.

"What is this..."

"You just need to treat them as dogs." Wei Zhuang also jumped up and scolded, "As long as they look like people, they can't kill you? How did you survive in the army for so long?"

"They may be just civilians in the city, controlled by witchcraft—but, if the function of this magic is really only to arouse and intensify people's desires, how can anyone's desire be to be a dog?"

Wei Zhuang waved his sword and sneered, "The difference between humans and beasts is actually not that big." He swept down several dog-men who were lying on the roof one after another, and Ge Nie found the gap and jumped down from the patio, finding an empty room People's kitchen, hide the girl in the corner.Before he left, he thought for a while, took out a few half taels from his bag and stuffed them into the child's left hand, and then took out a short dagger from the boot and stuffed it into her right hand.

When he came back, the younger brother had already cleaned up a large area of ​​the roof, holding the sword with both hands, and was adjusting his breath.On the ground, there were still many dogmen who couldn't jump high, staring at the sky, barking strangely from time to time, like whimpering.Gai Nie suddenly came to his senses and leaned over to tug on his junior brother by his collar.Wei Zhuang stepped aside with a half-smile, and let Gai Nie pull his front lapel open. "Brother, what do you want to do?!"

"I understand." Ge Nie frowned and said, "Those dogs stared at you because they smelled blood."

Wei Zhuang snorted and covered himself with his cloak.Three blood holes were pierced on his chest by the blind old beggar. The wounds were small but deep. One of the swords may have injured a lung lobe, and it will not heal in a short time.Coupled with repeated hard work, the old creation has long since collapsed.

Gai Nie said: "I will carry you for the rest of the journey."

Wei Zhuang raised his eyebrows, and smiled angrily: "Oh? Then what are you going to do with this man?" He pointed at Mr. Changping.Gai Nie thought for a while, "Can I take out the sealing needle for him temporarily? Anyway, he has been poisoned, and he dare not run away."

"I'm afraid that he has been deeply controlled by witchcraft, and he will hurt people if he releases the acupuncture points. He has already spared his life."

"How about you tie him up and I'll carry it together."

"..." Wei Zhuang clutched his chest, feeling that the injury was getting worse. "you dare."

"咴咴—咴咴——" A high-pitched neigh suddenly came from the north.Then there was a fierce stomping sound, as if the ground was shaking up and down.

"No, the herd is startled."

The two hurriedly looked to the north, and although covered by fog, they could still vaguely see many undulating black shadows—it was herds of cows and horses, rampaging on the road like crazy.

Wei Zhuang muttered to himself: "It's too far...Could it be that the entire city is now within Wu Shen's formation?!"

"The whole city... is it possible?" Ge Nie asked in disbelief.

Wei Zhuang knocked down a dog man that jumped into the air with a sword, and said: "I have been fighting with them for many years, and I have figured out some ways. Although witchcraft is wonderful and treacherous, it has to satisfy certain potentials. For example, the more powerful the witchcraft, the greater the cost - of course, the caster himself will not pay such a price, but it will be transformed into offering a large number of sacrifices to ghosts and gods, that is, sacrifice .On the other hand, there must be some kind of connection between the sacrifice and the power controlled by the sorcerer. Once the connection is severed, the technique will fail. For example, the "Three Prison Bloodstained Array" we broke back then, the three The monster must have been fashioned from a part of the flesh of the sacrificed man and beast; this is the link between the sacrifice and the spell. We burn the flesh and the link is severed, and the spell will return."

Gai Nie pondered: "So if we want to break the formation this time, we must also find this connection."

"The difficulty is here. The key to the blood-smeared formation is just three tangible monsters, which are easy to break; but now this formation can cover the entire city, and people and animals are crazy. It seems that there is an invisible connection, connecting them with witches. The scholar himself is connected together. What could this invisible thing be?"

Gai Nie stood quietly on the roof for a moment, as if in a daze.Suddenly there was a "hmm".

"what?"

"Do you think this fog is a bit unusual?"

"Not bad." Wei Zhuang's eyes lit up, he hurriedly jumped down the street, and took out an unopened jar of wine from a wine shop that was smashed open.He returned to the roof, tilted the mouth of the altar, and shook it back and forth in the air several times.Immediately he put down the wine jar, looked inside, his face changed slightly, and he waved to Ge Nie, "Come and see."

Gai Nie also went to the mouth of the jar, and saw some dust-like things floating on the fluctuating wine liquor--looking carefully, it was some tiny black insects with transparent wings, floating and struggling on the water.

"This is--"

"This thing is hidden in the fog." Wei Zhuang turned his head to look at his senior brother, and said, "Squat down."

Ge Nie's knees were slightly bent, and he took a firm horse stance.Wei Zhuang poured off a layer of worm-soaked liquid on the surface, took a handful of stale wine with his hand, and involuntarily pulled his elder brother's ear and poured it in.Gai Nie felt a burning pain in his ears, and he trembled a bit, then two streams of reddish blood stained wine flowed out from the earholes, and several small black insects that had died could be faintly seen inside.

Then Wei Zhuang explained in detail: "From yesterday to today, the fog in this city has not dissipated even for a moment, and it is getting thicker and thicker. It is unnatural. Chencheng is close to Yingshui. They are interlinked. And I heard that the 'mosquito' refined by Wu Shen likes dampness in nature, and is especially good at laying eggs in human corpses; the larvae feed on the nutrients of the corpses, and finally bite through the sacrificed skin and fly out. I speculate that Wu Shen first burned a large amount of medicinal materials on the outskirts of the city, and when the fog lifted, he threw offerings containing insect eggs at the water source; It constitutes the connection between the technique and the sacrifice. No wonder Wu Shen has arrived at Chen long ago, but he himself has not shown up for so long. There is only one reason - he is waiting for these weeds to emerge from their corpses."

Gai Nie looked down at the bug that had gotten into his ear just now, and his throat rolled. "Then all the crazy people in the city are because of bugs getting into the seven orifices? We pour wine into them one by one, can we save them?"

"It's too late. We rushed down to fight and rescued at most a few people, dozens of people, but the people in other parts of the city have already killed each other. If we want to cure the root cause, we can only try to dispel this fog."

"If the fog is to disperse, there must be extremely strong winds, or torrential rain. Unfortunately, we are all mortals, who has the ability to call the wind and rain..."

"I thought of it." Wei Zhuang smiled confidently. "There is a simple way. The world is filled with yin and yang qi; when yin is deficient, yang will flourish, and when yang declines, yin will prosper; if a big fire is lit in the city, the yang will rise upwards, and the yin outside the city will flow to the sky. The emptiness of the city gathers, and the wind rises. Then the mist will lift."

Ge Nie said in surprise: "In order to break the formation, we must set fire to the city? How many casualties will it cause!"

"Do you have a better way? As you said, if the formation is not broken, sooner or later the people in this city will go crazy and die. If we want to avoid harming the innocent, we can go to Ying Chen's old Chu Palace, maybe in the palace city We can also find the warehouse where the forage was stored in those years. The two-story city wall outside the palace city is a natural fire barrier, and the fire is not easy to spread to the outer city."

There is undoubtedly a cunning in the eyes of the junior brother, "Anyway, the people of Qin don't feel sorry for their territory".But the situation was urgent, and Gai Nie had no choice but to agree.

After making up their minds, the two immediately diverted to the Chu Palace.Mr. Changping was also carried by Gai Nie, but at the same time, Wei Zhuang rejected the suggestion of carrying his junior brother behind his back.Along the way, collect fire starters, such as flint, firewood, ointment and the like.In addition, I also met a few reckless men with broken hair and tattoos, who were also unconscious, using the shackles on their wrists as weapons to attack and hurt people indiscriminately; Ge Nie guessed that they were the group of rogues who escaped from prison, but at this time It is not suitable to fight for a long time, and Wei Zhuang used copper balls to clean them up from a distance.

Although Yingchen's old palace has been abandoned for many years, it was the palace of the king of Chu after all.Compared with the palaces of other countries, the people of Chu are better at the details: the pillars, beams, and railings are all painted with vermilion lacquer and gold powder, such as birds, animals, fish and insects, sun, moon, stars, clouds and flowing water. Wait; among them the common pattern is a nine-headed bird with its head raised and its wings spread.It's a pity that Wei, Gai, and Mi didn't appreciate the leisure and ease.They bypassed several Qin guards stationed on the outer wall of the palace, and swept through many palace rooms, looking for the most suitable place to start the fire.

The gardens and courtyards in the royal city are also vast. Although no one takes care of them, there are still many remarkable features: running water has been introduced into the garden, but it is not frozen at this time, and there are still many brightly colored small fish living at the bottom of the pool.The withered and yellow grass blades are as long as a foot, and they are cushioned under the feet, like a soft blanket.There are many plum trees in the garden. At this time, the bare trunks are full of white flowers, and the fragrance is refreshing.

Standing in the garden, Wei Zhuang squinted his eyes to look around, and pointed to the southeast of the garden, "That should be the stables in the inner garden, so let's start the fire from there."

Gai Nie nodded, threw Mr. Changping to the ground, and walked over with fire oil ointment and other things.After a while, faint blue smoke began to rise from the top of the abandoned stable, confused in the thick fog, not too conspicuous for the time being.

Gai Nie quickly returned to the garden, and saw that Wei Zhuang conjured another bag of wine out of nowhere, and poured it into Changping Jun's ears and nostrils.The man's face was swollen purple, and he looked extremely painful, but he couldn't make a sound, rolling and convulsing on the ground.After a while, blood flowed from his mouth, nose, and ear holes, and black insects were also brought out.His appearance was extremely miserable, but his eyes gradually cleared up.

"It will take some time until this fire is lit." Wei Zhuang took out the wooden box and looked at it again, but the blood-stalking beetle was dormant and silent. "Wu Shen can't find it here for the time being either. We just hit the nail on the head, so I ask this young master to help my brother." He put two fingers on the back of Mr. Changping's neck, "Wei will pull out the needle for the young master. However, the poison quenched on this needle is called 'Xi Shi', and as long as the poisoned person does not use the qi, he will not suffer from the attack; once he secretly uses the internal energy, he will suffer from being devoured by thousands of ants. Do you understand, my lord?"

Changping-kun moved his eyes with difficulty.Wei Zhuang put his two fingers together and gently pulled the needle out.Mr. Changping immediately covered his face with his sleeve and coughed violently.

Gai Nie lowered his eyes and remained silent, as if he was listing a bunch of questions in his mind.Wei Zhuang straightened up, pulled out the shark's teeth suddenly, compared Mr. Bichangping's arm, and said with a light smile, "Young Master will know what my senior brother asks in a while; if you can't give me a satisfactory answer, I will give you an answer." Cut off one of your fingers. Brother, you can ask a total of ten questions, but you have to think carefully."

Before Gai Nie could answer, Wei Zhuang said to himself again: "Ten seems too few...otherwise, I would cut them section by section, so that would be thirty. It should be enough."

Mr. Changping's eyes rolled, and he really wanted to jump up and escape, but he was locked up for too long, his body was extremely inflexible, and Wei Zhuang stepped on his waist and eyes, making him even more unable to move.His lips and tongue were still swollen, his hair was already disheveled, his face was covered with blood, and he looked more and more embarrassed.

Gai Nie finally spoke: "Magistrate Li, was it you who killed him?"

Mr. Changping made an indistinct sound from his throat, he didn't know whether it was answering or begging for forgiveness.However, he shook his head vigorously and could still understand.It was too late, it was so fast, before Gai Nie asked carefully, Wei Zhuang had already landed his sword, and cut off the little finger of his left hand with incomparable accuracy.Changping Jun let out a scream, and his body suddenly curled up, trembling.

Gai Nie quickly grabbed his junior brother's arm and said anxiously, "What are you doing? You may not be able to tell the truth with such abusive punishment."

Wei Zhuang sneered and said: "Brother, you don't understand the knowledge of extorting confessions. But when you threaten to ask questions, you must first show your prestige and show that you will do what you say; otherwise, the people who answer will still take chances and think that you are nothing more than empty words and intimidation. That's all. It was the same reason when Wei Yang established his faith in the past."

"...I think your misunderstanding of Shang Jun is also very deep." Gai Nie squatted down with a sigh, tore a piece of silk from Changping Jun's own coat, tapped his acupuncture points to stop bleeding, and bandaged it reluctantly. "I won't punish you, but you should be aware of the current situation. Concealing the truth will only cost you your life." Mr. Changping gritted his teeth and said no.

"Ask again," Wei Zhuang said with undiminished interest, "Did you kill the county magistrate?"

Mr. Chang Ping cast his gaze over Gai Nie, and then flinched back. "Yes..." His tone was vague, but Ge Nie still heard it.He frowned. "Then why did you leave Yu Jue in the room?"

"……I do not know."

"What's the meaning of this?"

Mr. Changping's pronunciation gradually became clearer. "Qi's jade ring is indeed lost. Why it's there... I don't know."

Gai Nie turned his head to meet Wei Zhuang's eyes, and his junior raised his eyebrows silently.A few white plum petals were blown by the breeze and fell lightly in his hair.

TBC