Tang riddles

"What's going on?" Upon hearing the bad news at first, Shen Sui frowned and asked, his voice was still calm and calm.

"It's like this. Tang Shisan and others have been shuttling between the mountains and forests. Although they have strong feet, they can delay time. The terrain of the mountains and forests is complicated, and their walking routes are also complicated. But fortunately, we have birds tracking and reporting at close range. They They couldn’t get rid of us. But our people didn’t dare to get too close, and stayed far behind, with a certain distance from them. It was difficult to find each other, and we couldn’t see each other’s movements.

But this group of people is too cunning and cruel, they know that someone must be following behind, and they also know the tracking ability of Qianyumen birds, so they are killing all the birds they can see along the way, or poisoning them into pieces We were almost thrown off several times by slaughtering the flock of birds.Fortunately, our brothers have been following their whereabouts all the time, and followed them all the way to Hebi, Xiangzhou, Hebei Road. This group of people suddenly ran out of the mountain forest, swaggered into an inn in Hebi County, and stayed. go in.Our people feel abnormal in their hearts, dare not neglect, and have been guarding outside.They entered the inn in the afternoon, and our people waited for an hour or two, but didn't see any movement from them. Fearing that things might change after a long time, we decided to find a few people dressed up as long-distance porters, and went into the inn to check it out. Take a look at the situation.Unexpectedly, before our people entered, there was a sudden exclamation from the inn, followed by a commotion, many people in the inn ran out, shouting that they were dead.Our people knew something was wrong, so they didn't care so much, rushed in, and found that thirteen people died in one go in the Tianzihao room at the end of the corridor on the second floor of the inn, all of whom were under Tang Shisan's subordinates. His death was very strange. "

"Weird?"

"Yes, the corpses of thirteen of them are piled up on the floor of the guest room to form the number 'seven', and everyone's expression is very serene, lying flat or on their side, with their hands crossed and fingers placed on their chests. Before, the scene looked quite strange and terrifying."

Zhang Ruohan at the side seemed to feel the strange and terrifying scene very strongly after hearing Huyan Zhuoma's description, and his complexion turned pale involuntarily.She touched the beads on her wrist, fumbled through them one by one, and silently recited the scriptures.

Shen Sui felt the change in her mood, and while hugging her shoulders tightly, he asked Huyan Zhuoma:

"How did you die?"

"They were all poisoned to death. Our people checked, and there are still arsenic/acid powders that have not been swallowed completely in these people's mouths. It seems that they committed suicide by taking poison autonomously." When Huyan Zhuoma said this, he also felt that shudder.

Shen Sui seemed to think of something, and muttered to himself.After a while, she asked again:

"The room is on the second floor of the inn? Is there any other exit?"

Huyan Zhuoma saw that Shen Sui asked the key point, and hurriedly said: "This is the strangest part of the matter. That day, the brand name room was the best room in that inn. It was spacious and transparent from north to south. The door was on the north, and the corridor was outside the door. Open the window to the inner courtyard, and there are rooms sandwiched between the east and west sides. Our people searched carefully, including above the beams, but did not find any secret exits at all, regardless of the front door, back door, side door, or even the inn. The courtyard wall and the roof are all guarded by us, and no one has ever seen anyone go out. Of the thirteen corpses, only Tang Shisan, Yuan Qianhe, and the snake witch were missing. These three people seemed to have disappeared out of thin air. I turned the inn upside down, and I didn't see where they were hiding."

"Apart from Tang Shisan, Snake Witch and Yuan Qianhe, are you sure Tang Shisan had exactly 13 people under his command at that time?" Shen Sui asked.

Huyan Zhuoma was a little strange, he didn't know why the sect master asked this question.But he quickly replied:

"There are indeed 13 people. We have been keeping an eye on the number of people during the follow-up, in case someone leaves the team to report, or has any other actions. When they escaped from Songshan, there were a total of [-] people, and the number has never changed."

Shen Sui fell silent.

There is no way to go to heaven, and no way to go to earth. Under such circumstances, Tang Shisan, Snake Witch and Yuan Qianhe disappeared out of thin air.Shen Sui thought for a long time, then shook his head, but had no idea.But the only thing she can be sure of is that they were played by each other.Tang Shisan may have been contemplating this escape plan for a long time. He knew how to get rid of the tail behind him, and even left a message to his pursuers with great conceit.

The character "seven" displayed by the thirteen corpses and the peaceful death of the deceased seemed to imply some religious messages.In Nestorianism, thirteen represents Judas who betrayed Jesus. It is an unknown number. The deceased happened to be 13. It is a coincidence, but it is a bit suspicious. Shen Sui guessed that thirteen was a number deliberately made up. If the number is not enough, they will arrest people to make up.If the number of people is enough, we will arrange who will die and who will live according to their status and use value.

Seven has many meanings. According to the books about Nestorianism she has studied recently, Shen Sui can list at least ten kinds: God created the world in seven days, created man on the seventh day, seven deadly sins, and seven awns. The stars, the Big Dipper, the seven seals, the seven lampstands, the seven horns, and the seven archangels have too many meanings, and it is unclear which one it is.

What message did Tang Shisan want to convey to himself?Shen Sui frowned and pondered.

"Master?" Seeing that Shen Sui was lost in thought, Huyan Zhuoma couldn't help calling softly.

Shen Sui came back to his senses and said:

"Pass down the order to set off one hour earlier tomorrow morning. The whole team is moving forward at full speed. I want to get to Hebi as quickly as possible. At the same time, let the brothers who stayed in Hebi protect the scene, block the news, and don't let the government know about it. Find The innkeeper, give me some money and buy his inn."

"Here!" Huyan Zhuoma responded, just as he was about to leave, he was called back by Shen Sui:

"Tell the people below to shut up, and no one is allowed to talk nonsense!"

Huyan Zhuoma nodded, turned and left in a hurry.

"Blue Robin!" Standing on the spot, Shen Sui yelled in the direction of Shen Jin's room not far away, and the Blue Robin responded from a distance, and hurriedly ran out of the room.

Shen Sui waved to her, Bluebird stepped forward, Shen Sui whispered a few words to her, Bluebird's complexion gradually changed.Zhang Ruohan was listening, and Shen Sui told Blue Robin the new news just now, and asked Blue Robin to keep it a secret from Shen Jin: "Leave an hour early tomorrow morning. When Qin Nu asked, he said that the news came from the princess. We have clues, and we need to rush over to check them out as soon as possible, so as not to make Qin slave suspicious." Blue Robin answered with a serious expression, and then hurried back.

Shen Sui took Zhang Ruohan's hand and walked back to the room.Before taking two steps, I heard Zhang Ruohan ask:

"Chishi, let's hide Qin Nu, okay?"

Shen Sui sighed, turned to look at Zhang Ruohan, and said in a low voice:

"This is just a temporary response, and it won't last long. Qin Nu is emotionally unstable right now, and I don't want to provoke her anymore."

Zhang Ruohan thought about this matter, and said:

"Akashi, is this a kind of provocation to us?"

Shen Sui cast a questioning look at her, and heard Zhang Ruohan continue:

"Thirteen, Nestorians believe this is an unknown number. The death of thirteen people is probably a threat warning, which means that people may die in the future, and this thirteen is originally a reference to traitors. Could it be that thousands of people died? Crane? Qianhe can be regarded as a traitor among them. Seven is about the time limit. For Nestorians, the most intuitive meaning of seven is seven days to create a man."

"You mean, after seven days, they will kill Qianhe?" Shen Sui frowned.

Zhang Ruohan nodded solemnly.

Shen Sui fell into thought again for a moment.It seemed meaningless to kill Qianhe, Qianhe was still useful to them, if they could kill them, they would have killed them earlier, why wait so long.But from our point of view, we don't know where the value of Qianhe's use is and when it will end. The deadline given by the other party undoubtedly still poses a threat to us, and leaving such a message may be considered Reasonable.

However, if you really just want to threaten, why bother to go to such lengths, leaving a threatening letter is enough to achieve the goal.Even if it is because the number of people is too large and eye-catching, it is impossible to get rid of them and follow them.Then dismiss the subordinates and escape separately.Don't worry anymore, if you want to kill your subordinates to silence them, you can also let them all throw themselves into the river, or kill people and bury them in the wilderness to cover up your tracks.With such a high-profile appearance, aren't you afraid of attracting the attention of the imperial court?You must know that the wind in Heshuo is getting tighter now, and the imperial court has already started investigations in the Heshuo area. Doing so is tantamount to setting yourself on fire.This organization has always acted meticulously and carefully, with secrecy as the main purpose of action, and it will not act like this for no reason.Blowing up Hanjiacang City and kidnapping the prince is already out of the ordinary. I think in a short time, this organization should completely hide and avoid the limelight.

So, taking the trouble to convey these two numbers to them has other purposes.As for the number thirteen, Shen Sui thought that Zhang Ruohan's analysis made sense. Maybe it was really the other party's suggestion to kill the traitor, but it was hard to say who the traitor was.Shen Sui thinks that it is unlikely that it is Qianhe. If this message is for Qianyumen, then according to the normal semantic logic, the other party is threatening to kill the spies that Qianyumen placed in their organization. It is the so-called "traitor".But Shen Sui didn't remember who he had placed in the other party's organization, so it was intriguing to know who this "traitor" was.To whom this message is conveyed also needs to be reconsidered.

In any case, the message from the other party should indeed be for Qian Yumen, because they knew very well that the person who discovered the scene at the first time would only be Qian Yumen who had been chasing after him.However, what this message wants to warn is not Shen Sui, but someone else. This person is currently in Qianyumen, and he should also receive this warning message immediately.Then, there are only two situations, either this person is by Shen Sui's side, or this person is someone who handles the various links of news transmission along the line from Qianyumen Hebi to Heyang.

Thinking about this, Shen Sui seemed to feel that she had vaguely caught something.If her guess is correct, it seems that there is indeed someone inserted by her side, and this person has already betrayed that organization.The traitor may or may not have something in the opponent's hands.If there is, then Tang Shisan is warning this person that they will kill him.If not, it means that the person's life is in danger.

Shen Sui thought, walked very slowly, Zhang Ruohan didn't rush.When the two returned to the door, the night was already dark.Shen Sui held Zhang Ruohan back and said:

"Lotus Maid, you have to be careful, there may be hidden piles around us. Be vigilant. From now on, as long as it is imported food, it must be inspected. No matter how familiar people approach, don't relax easily. You must always be by my side, don't Get out of my sight."

Zhang Ruohan frowned, feeling puzzled for a while.

"Tang Shisan's drunkard's intention was not to drink. The news of death was not for me, but for the hidden stake around me. This hidden stake may make some moves recently." Shen Sui explained.

Zhang Ruohan's eyes moved slightly, and after thinking about it, she instantly understood Shen Sui's thoughts.

Before she could speak, a female voice suddenly sounded behind them:

"Shen Sizhi, can you take a step to speak?"

When the two turned their heads, they found that it was Li Jilan.

At this time, this female Taoist priest who had always been cynical and lingering, had a stern expression on her face that she had never seen before.The charming charm in the corners of the eyes and the corners of the mouth can't be found.

"If you have anything, let's discuss it here." Shen Sui's meaning was obvious, she would never be alone with Li Jilan, and no matter what Li Jilan wanted to talk to her, she would never avoid Zhang Ruohan.Even Li Jilan's behavior is very unusual now.

Li Jilan glanced at Zhang Ruohan, the woman in front of her looked much softer than a few months ago.Recalling the scene of Shangyuan Tage that day, she understood that this beautiful woman and Shen Sui should be true lovers who finally got married, and her wish was fulfilled, and she couldn't help feeling admiration in her heart.She gave a bitter smile, took a step forward, made a half salute, and said straightforwardly:

"Shen Sizhi, Ji Lan confessed to you. Until just now, Ji Lan listened to all of your conversations. And I, as you guessed, are the hidden stake placed beside you."

"What?!" Shen Sui was taken aback, and then she suddenly realized that she couldn't help sighing secretly, the other party's move was really brilliant.A hidden stake who is distant and has little contact with each other, and a romantic and talented woman with a great name who is not surprising to associate with anyone, completely deceived her, she never even thought about it.After Zhang Ruohan heard Li Jilan's words, she was still a little dazed and didn't react for a while, but when she saw the surprise on Shen Sui's face, she couldn't help but gasped, Chi Shi didn't even know Li Jilan's identity?

But at this moment Li Jilan suddenly lifted the hem of his Taoist robe, knelt down straight, and kowtowed:

"Please Shen Sizhi save my sister-in-law's life!"

Shen Sui didn't move, he frowned and looked at Li Jilan who kowtowed to the ground, and asked:

"Who is your righteous sister?"

Li Jilan fell on the ground, her voice trembling: "Pingkangfang, Mrs. Yan."

The author has something to say: Seven is a wonderful number, and many things in the world coincide with the number of seven.And the word "seven" is also very interesting from the perspective of the origin of oracle bone inscriptions.Seven looks like "ten" in oracle bone inscriptions. It is a special indicator. One horizontal line represents all, and the short vertical line means that all will be divided. Therefore, "seven" has the meaning of "segmentation" in oracle bone inscriptions. It is 6 A positive integer between 8 and 0, the loneliest number in 9-[-].In Bronze and Seal scripts, the short vertical line of "ten" changed into a vertical fold and a vertical fold, and later evolved into a horizontal fold hook in the official script, and it became the final seven-character form.The meaning of seven's division gradually disappeared, and in order to express the meaning of division, the word "cut" was created with "seven + knife".

Digression, the next chapter continues.