Extranodal branches

"Jump down, I'll follow you."

In the cold wind in the early morning in the northwest, the public servant gave me a helping hand as the intelligence leader on the night spy beam. This scene is really strange today when the imperial court and the martial arts are faintly confronting each other, not to mention that case happened recently ——This is the reason why I am in the current situation.

Xu Hai is located in the northwest border, and the people in the martial arts, headed by Shendaotang, occupy a large area of ​​power within Pingyang Pass and outside Gutao Town.The mountains are high, the emperor is far away, and the martial arts are equipped with magic swords, so the public is often not as tough as the people in the rivers and lakes.Fortunately, Shendao is one of the orthodox sects of the eight wildernesses. Most of the disciples abide by the sect rules. For ten years, they have been continuously making weapons and harnesses for the troops stationed along the border, and strictly controlling the riots in the northwest region. It is not like the Taibai Sword Sect or the Beggars' Gang. Being ostracized, life is pretty easy.

But this does not mean that the imperial court has relaxed its mind about the Northwest Martial Arts. On the contrary, because of the Shensao Division's heavy forging of troops, every time there is a turmoil here, there will be a tendency to fight.

Since I took over the family business Feisheng Pavilion three years ago, it is the first time I have truly faced the current situation of such an undercurrent. The cause was a serial murder case.

Ordinary cases of course cannot cause such a big disturbance. It is strange that the murderer is suspected to be a disciple of the Eight Desolation, and it is even more strange to me. It is very likely that it is about the number one criminal in Feisheng Pavilion who has been missing for more than a month. , Xue Guike.

In my father's generation, the pavilion didn't have a dedicated person in charge of torture, it's better to say that everyone is good at torture, and now the few uncles who are regarded as hall guests in the pavilion are all smiling and vicious tigers.Now I often show people with a smiling face, but if there is a request in the pavilion, it takes only a moment to take off the mask.

But they are loyal to Father not me.

So I regard him as a guest at the table, and the good name is to share the labor to support the life, and there are two other people who are in charge of the punishment and the steward. The important things filtered tell me to make a decision on the relationship, and then I will hold a secret meeting with the various sects, gangs, and even people in the court as a messenger in the pavilion, and take a look at the overall situation to ensure the stability of Feisheng Pavilion.

But the prisoner Xue Guike has not returned for more than a month.

His entourage only knew that he disappeared overnight, and he didn't know where he was going at all. On the day when I usually return to the pavilion every month, I sent someone to ask, and got a few vague responses, so I realized that he was retreating from his entourage and went out by himself. of.

Most of the scattered information he sorted out was related to the serial case, and he seemed to be very concerned about it. The final collection was just the day before the third serial case, and it was the third case. Killed people with a knife.

The line of torture is not working properly, information is piled up like a mountain, Xue Guike has few trusted lieutenants, and now he is in a state of desperation. The information that the murderer used a knife is what I deduced from the information of the manager, Xu.

She is a child adopted by my father. When he was still alive, he was like the eldest sister in the family helping me with all my studies. Now I am still doing things in an orderly manner. To me, she is both a kind sister and a reliable subordinate, but she is a girl after all. , Often subconsciously avoid many vicious methods that have to be taken with heart.So even though she was very skilled, I only let her stay in the pile of books all day, and didn't go out very much, and I never gave her the items that Xue Guike couldn't finish.She is the reason why I set up two positions in charge of criminal affairs. With me and Xue Guike here, she doesn't need to be a Jianghu person.

The rumor she told me was that after the murderer raped the daughter of a wealthy family, he killed a farmer for unknown reasons that night, and was also seen by the humiliated woman because of the murder. She knew that he was a young man about six feet long, dressed in white, with a thin physique. The man cut off the farmer's head with his hands and splashed blood all over the wall.

Xu Hai is good at swordsman, and he has the most magic swords; walking in the rivers and lakes in white clothes is often a luxury that only rich disciples can afford; among young disciples, there are only a few who can cut off people's heads with one knife, and Xue Guike has three items. Quan, after collecting so much information, it took half a month and still no reply. People in the pavilion were scattered and rumors spread everywhere. It has already reached the point where I have to bring him back to clean up the mess.

In the past, Xue Guike was responsible for the dirty work in the pavilion, but it didn't mean that he was bloodthirsty by nature. The Feisheng Pavilion was an intelligence pavilion, not a killer building.If we only talk about the flower picker, based on my understanding of him, he is by no means a kind person who can't do such indecent things, otherwise I wouldn't entrust him with the punishment.I can understand that he committed some sins that were spurned by the righteous way due to the pressure of his position, but it is absolutely impossible for him to still be interested in torture and murder outside of the mission, so I will not arrest him for another lame flower picker who appears in the rivers and lakes Asking the crime, what really makes people angry is the dirty water called killing innocent civilians that is poured on the head of my capable men-different from the people left behind by my father, he has been extremely loyal to me since he first joined the cabinet, and even has awe. He seldom causes troubles, and he has done a good job over the years, which can be regarded as flawless.

It's a pity that this advantage is greatly discounted now, and I am sure that I am not harsh, so I can't help but wonder what he is thinking, and whether there is someone in the court who has another idea behind his back like him.

This matter cannot go through the hands of others. I understand the possibility of delays in the newspaper, so I have to arrange for A Xu to temporarily take over the affairs of the pavilion and secretly investigate alone.

This is the reason why I was caught when I walked into the deep courtyard of the county government.

I also forgot that my legs could no longer use light work. When I found that the morgue was unlocked, I couldn’t escape. I squatted on the eaves and covered my dull ankle and looked at the man in blank dismay.

I really didn't expect the county government's office staff to be so dedicated. They started work when the sky was still dark and there were only stars in sight, as if they were just waking up and eager to perform an autopsy.But the room was pitch black, and he had no torch, no cloth towel, no candle, nothing in his hand.He was even wearing a white jacket, and a few strands of his long black and gray hair were still pressed under the clothes, and the faint smell of corpses was carried by the cold wind and rushed into my nostrils.

I regret not wearing a mask because of the darkness, so that my face is completely exposed, and worst of all, I am still a stinking official.

I don't know if this man is still awake. He squinted his eyes and glanced at my knife, but instead of defending, he stretched out his hand: "Jump down, I'll follow you."

There is no weapon on his waist, and of course there is no hairpin on his head that can be used as a hidden weapon. I don't understand why a gangster can open the door unsuspectingly in front of a magic knife who broke into the county government at night, although the old injury looks terrible. One blow, but after all I am at the commanding heights, if it is a murderer who comes to destroy the evidence, it is easy to draw a knife and kill him from here.

"If you don't come down, do you still want me to go up?" His voice was very hoarse, with the subtle discomfort of being disturbed, he raised his head and half-closed his eyes to urge me.

The pain in my leg eased a little, and I was in a dilemma, so I had no choice but to jump down.

When he threw himself into his arms, the smell of corpses became more obvious, mixed with the smell of smoke, his chest was icy cold from the cold wind, but the three inches below his navel were warm, which showed that he had strong internal strength, and was superior to me What is different is his soft and smooth hands, which shows that he is not taking the path of body training.Before I stood up straight, I only came across these two places in the chaos, but it was enough to understand that he should not be an ordinary job.

He quickly pushed me away, and when he got up, he was about the same height as me, standing very tall and straight, even though he couldn't see clearly in the dark night, he could still make people feel a unique style, this is a warrior from a noble family habitual gesture.

——He was recruited into the public family with a decent background. If he was not from the Shenwei military camp, this kind of person must be despised by most people in the Jianghu. However, I have never heard of it in the news of the Feisheng Pavilion. I think there are other secrets and hide very well.

"After you have practiced Qinggong, you can come out to use it. Don't make jokes for the Shendaotang. Next time you fall into the county government, you will not be so lucky. Let's go, I will take you out." Thinking about being bold, he turned his back to me and hit me. Yawning and walking out.His steps are small, and the distance is almost exactly the same. If he is a disciple of the Eight Wildernesses, he should be closest to the gait of Tang Sect or Yihua Palace, elegant and dignified, not reckless.He doesn't wear gloves to pull the silk thread, so he probably isn't the Tang Sect whose puppets never leave his body; but Xu Hai is too far away from Yihua Island, and the mountains and rivers are not very attractive, and there have always been few traces of Yihua's disciples.

I originally planned to find out the cause of death of the deceased, and then look for clues to find Xue Guike's whereabouts, but I never expected that there would be a crouching tiger, a hidden dragon in the county government, and there was a stubborn problem that I had nowhere to attack.I followed behind him with my head down, already giving up hope in this plan, and I was going to go directly to the murder scene tomorrow to get some confessions from the parties.

The footsteps suddenly stopped.

In the night, a pure white carrier pigeon was particularly eye-catching, and it flew over and landed on his shoulder. He leaned against the stone wall at the entrance of the county government office, and read the letter by hanging a lantern. ?”

Why, is there a turning point in the letter?

"Yes, because of this, my qinggong is good and bad." I followed his words and continued. The red light of the lantern penetrated the letter paper, and the words "disciple" and "entrustment" could be vaguely seen between his fingers from the back. .His appearance is younger than his hair, but he is also old enough to teach others what he has learned. The letter mentioned is most likely about accepting apprentices.

I imitated the boy who just came out of the rivers and lakes, and thought about it: "I have always wanted to worship a powerful master who can teach me some skills that do not rely on lightness kung fu."

He looked at me and returned to the letter paper, and said in a hoarse voice indifferently: "I don't know how to master swordsmanship. If you want to practice swordsmanship, find someone else as soon as possible. With me, you only have one-third of an acre of land in the county government office. What can I do?" No big deal."

The homing pigeon in mid-air was suddenly grabbed by my hawk, and it struggled. A few pieces of its tail feathers slid past the tip of my nose, mixed with a strange smell of incense.

This kind of incense... is Yihua Palace!

He didn't show anything unusual about the lies I made up, and it seemed that what was written in the letter was almost the same as my guess, and I continued with a dejected look: "I have long wanted to transfer to Yihua martial arts, I have no knowledge of falcon taming at all. The old injury on the leg is always bad, and the footwork of swinging the knife is disordered. I can't learn martial arts that require subtle lightness, only Yihua can help me."

"Take care of your hawk." He caught my hawk that was pecking at the pigeon, and threw it back into my arms after watching the pigeon fly away. People, to be able to win the blue eyes of senior brother must not be stunned, so just stay if you want." He said no more, walked back to the backyard bedroom, saw that I was still following, only pointed to the next door, and left a sentence "sleep in this room from now on" , turned and went back to the room.

Although I couldn't see the corpse tonight, just looking at the relaxed attitude towards the magic knife, it is enough to speculate that the murderer is not the magic knife, and naturally it is not Xue Guike.At this point, I could have withdrawn immediately, but seeing this person today has to make me pay attention, outside of Feisheng Pavilion's intelligence network, Xu Hai actually has a master hiding in the Gongmen.But such a master, let the flower picker go again and again?

Unless the flower picker is extremely light-hearted, or the two are in the same boat.

However, the thin, six-foot-long young expert in white clothes had another one in front of his eyes.

That night I let the eagle go out and asked Ash to give me a copy of the official roster—in order to prevent being exposed, I didn't even ask the author's name.There is also the letter from his senior brother who just served as a springboard for me. I don’t know which unlucky ghost who was replaced by me is mentioned in the letter. In short, it is best not to let him appear in Xu Hai until I investigate the matter clearly.