Si Tian Guan

The bright moon has been gnawed into a curved hook by the day, it is already near the end of the month, and it catches up with the cloudy sky again, the sky and the ground are black, like a chaos with nothing.

There was the sound of footsteps stepping on the grass very lightly, the fresh tender grass was trampled down soundlessly, and there was only a little swishing sound when it crawled to the ground.

But even so, some people scolded in a low voice: "Have you lived enough? Take it easy!"

The footsteps became more cautious and whispered down.

"How far is it..." Someone held back heavy breathing and asked in a low voice, "Is there anyone here to help?"

Someone responded very softly: "I have already passed on the order of the prince, it should not be far away, and then move forward and level off..."

He hadn't finished his sentence when there was a sudden piercing sound in the darkness, and a scream sounded not far away.

"There is an ambush!" Someone exclaimed: "Go first, Lord Protector!"

Mu Jingde didn't even have the strength to swear, just as he put his hand on the handle of the knife, someone grabbed his clothes: "My lord, this way!"

They didn't have many people left, so they couldn't fight against each other anyway.

He only listened to the voices in the darkness, and he didn't struggle in vain. He was as embarrassed as a bereaved dog, and he didn't care about the screams around him. Under the protection of several people, he plunged into the woods.

"Which side?"

Even though he has led troops for many years, he has never fought on the battlefield like the Bai family, let alone being chased and fled in a hurry. In a panic, he can only seek reassurance from the people around him.

"All right, where?"

Jiang Xingzhi touched the muddy water on his face, lit up the flint instantly, and quickly extinguished it in the palm of his hand: "This way."

No one had any doubts. They relied on Jiang Xingzhi along the way and squeezed their way out of the cracks several times. Otherwise, the number of people who arrived here would be even more reduced.

The shouts of killing never stopped, as if they were always behind him-the other party wanted to kill people before they entered the halberd level, and they would definitely do their best.

All eyes were on Jiang Xingzhi.

After turning on the Flint twice more, Jiang Xingzhi finally stood still, not far in front of him were bushes surrounded by weeds.

He poked into the bushes with his knife, repeatedly probed on the ground, pointed at one place, and ordered in a hurry, "Pull it out!"

The crowd pulled out the bush and the soil in a hurry, leaving a very small piece of land. Jiang Xingzhi jumped in and started to pick it up. Soon, a wooden board underneath was revealed, and the opening was opened, allowing one person to get up and down.

"My lord, let's go in quickly." He panted heavily, "Let's move forward and lure people away. There are ladders below. After dawn, the lord will come up again to join the people who came from Jiping."

Mu Jingde also stepped in, and saw that the dark hole was like a terrifying beast's mouth, even though he stretched out his hand to touch it, there was indeed a wooden ladder on the hole, his heart couldn't stop beating.

"My lord, come down quickly. They are catching up!" Jiang Xingzhi urged: "This is not an ordinary cellar well, it will not be stuffy inside, it is safe."

The voice behind him seemed to be approaching, and there was no further delay. Mu Jingde suddenly grabbed Jiang Xingzhi who was about to leave: "Xingzhi, come down with me!"

"Yes!"

In the dark, he couldn't see Jiang Xingzhi's face, but only a quick response made his heart beat less violently.

He stepped down on the ladder first, and heard Jiang Xingzhi coming down from above his head, but half of his body was exposed outside, and ordered others to cover the soil with a thin layer and move the shrubs back to their original places.

The cellar well was very deep, and he didn't feel at ease until he stepped on the ground.

Maybe it's been a long time since no one took care of it, and the ground is a bit slippery and sticky, presumably because it's underground.Not long after, there was another sound on the platform.

Before Jiang Xingzhi got down to the ground, there was the sound of soil splashing on the wooden board above his head, and then the surroundings gradually became quiet.

They didn't dare to start a fire, so they touched a corner and sat down.

After about a cup of tea, there were many unfamiliar voices stomping heavily on the ground above their heads, not only footsteps, but also horseshoes.

Someone shouted: "Scatter around, search carefully for me!"

Mu Jingde couldn't help but cursed in the dark: "You shit."

"Prince, wait patiently. As long as the reinforcements come, they can't let them run wild here," Jiang Xingzhi persuaded: "It's not too late for a gentleman to take revenge."

"It can only be this way."

Mu Jingde sighed, recovering himself, the darkness and silence made him very uneasy, without saying anything, he always felt as if he was about to pounce on hideous monsters from all around him.

"All right, this place was dug by you? Why didn't I know?"

"It was a long time ago," Jiang Xingzhi said softly, "I'm afraid that one day it will become like this, and I have made advance preparations in many places for emergencies."

Mu Jingde was silent for a long time before he sighed.

"I still don't understand why the emperor is furious, isn't it just a few heads? How much we have captured before, the emperor has never cared about it. What did Ren Rui provoke this time?"

"It's just... a few heads..." Jiang Xingzhi chuckled: "My lord, before I left Beijing, I heard a saying that might explain my lord's doubts."

"What do you say?"

"It is said that the emperor was born weak, so he found many children with the same fate from the people, and blessed them as grass substitutes. The grass substitutes are healthy, free from illness and worry, and every blessing is gathered to the emperor."

Mu Jingde couldn't figure it out.

He hadn't heard Cao Ti'er's explanation, but he could know a thing or two from this explanation that children in wealthy families who couldn't raise them would seek all kinds of substitutes for shelter.

For example, sometimes when he leads troops outside, the mother and concubine will go to the temple to ask wooden figures to make offerings and bless him to be safe when he is outside.

"Then what?" he asked.

The moment he uttered these three words, he jumped up, his body trembling like a pendulum, and finally understood what Jiang Xingzhi meant.

"You...you mean...the person Ren Rui killed in that village...is the emperor's..."

This was the only possibility he could think of, but he couldn't accept it anyway.

"Impossible. Ren Rui clearly said that he met Bai Shiyan by accident and chased Bai Shiyan to see that Zhuangzi! How could there be such a coincidence!"

"Could it be that Bai Shiyan did it on purpose?" He didn't even think about lowering his voice: "Impossible! It's impossible for the emperor to let Bai Shiyan know about this!"

"Does Bai Shiyan know, what's the big deal?" Jiang Xingzhi answered him indifferently: "There is a man who commanded everyone from a high position, and everyone is just a pawn. He kept them in the dark and didn't know what would happen elsewhere. What."

"Who? Who is it!" Mu Jingde roared in a low voice: "Jiang Xingzhi, from whom did you hear this! Why didn't you say it earlier! Who is plotting against me! Who is plotting against me! Is it Mu Jingyan! "

"It's not him. The pretty fox who made the deal with me also said half of the story to me. It only told me Cao Tier, but didn't say that Zhuangzi was near Chengfeng paddock. When Ren Rui came back from hunting the head, even I I don't know what kind of disaster he caused."

"who is it!"

In the sparks that Jiang Xingzhi polished, he saw Mu Jingde's distorted face approaching with anger, and was quickly engulfed by the darkness where the sparks were extinguished. He could only hear the voice of almost going crazy.

"Who are you making a deal with? What deal?"

Jiang Xingzhi's lapel was picked up.

"You hurt me? Did you hurt me?"

"My lord is too worried." Jiang Xingzhi pushed the hand away: "Your lord, calm down, you are the one who told Ren Rui to get rid of Bai Shiyan, and it was Ren Rui who killed the scumbag in the village. How can I be in the middle of this?" What happened? I also heard that the emperor was furious, so I linked up the cause and effect."

Mu Jingde had already been chased and killed all the way to the point where he was strong but weak, but after being pushed like this, he fell to the ground.

"Could it be that the sky is going to kill me..." He tried to say a few more words, but he couldn't muster any strength: "Jiang Xingzhi, so I really can't go back..."

"It turns out that the prince is still fantasizing that one day the emperor will call the prince back to Beijing?" Jiang Xingzhi put his hands in his sleeves and sneered: "I advise the prince to calm down and think about how to get out when the pursuers outside leave. For good."

The pillar supporting Mu Jingde's escape was gradually cracking, and it took a long time for a hoarse voice to come: "Where did you... hear that statement?"

"My lord's question is on point," Jiang Xingzhi let out a sigh of relief: "Since you won't be able to get out for a while, is your lord interested in listening to me tell a story?"

There was no response from the other side, but this did not prevent him from talking to himself.

"It happened a long time ago. It has been about eight years. There is a Kangquan County on the edge of Luocheng. It is not far from the capital and Luocheng. Although the place is small, the people in the county can get enough food and clothing."

"There is a family of three in Kangquan County. The mother does female red embroidery, and the father does some carpentry. He has learned some martial arts, but he only wants his son to study hard."

"My son lived up to everyone's expectations. He is an outstanding student in the school. People in the county say that he will be the material for the number one scholar in the future."

"Later, the officials from Luocheng to the capital revealed the bandits, and the imperial court sent officers and soldiers to suppress the bandits."

Jiang Xingzhi's voice stopped for a long time before he spoke again.

"The officers and soldiers broke down the county residents' homes and searched them from house to house. Because he was protecting his wife and son, the father had some conflicts with the officers and soldiers, so he was taken away as a robber."

"Early the next morning, the son saw his father's head hanging outside the county seat with his own eyes. He didn't dare to face his mother. He lingered for a long time. When he returned home, his mother had already heard the bad news from others. She hanged herself and her body was cold."

"You!" Mu Jingde finally responded, others may not know, but he knows how his subordinates do things.

"Later," Jiang Xingzhi didn't hear his growing panic and anger, and said lightly, "Later, my son chased after him to the capital, but the capital was too big, and he didn't know where to go or whom to seek revenge."

"Fortunately, he was lucky enough to meet a nobleman, and later... he found an enemy and became that person's assistant!"

"Jiang Xingzhi!" Mu Jingde seemed to be bitten by a poisonous snake, and wanted to jump up, but his whole body was stiff and unable to move: "Jiang Xingzhi! Is it you... You came to seek revenge on me?!"

"In the past, I was too greedy and weak. I couldn't find a place to attack, so... I made a deal with that fox."

Jiang Xingzhi smiled slightly: "He said he could help me, but I just need to persuade you to take that mad dog Ren Rui to the paddock. Now, does the prince want to understand how he angered the emperor?"

Mu Jingde trembled, not even in the mood to argue with the person in front of him, groping for the ladder in the darkness.

He finally discovered that this cellar was not a hiding place to help him escape, but a burial place dug especially for him.

The ladder|ladder was still there, standing in the middle, with one end stuck in the ground, but just as he took a step up, he fell to the ground together with the ladder|ladder.

"I can't go up," Jiang Xingzhi persuaded him patiently: "There is a riveting mechanism on the ladder, which was pulled out when I came down, and it can't stand people."

A little spark lit up amidst Mujingde's hysterical roar and fell to the ground.

In an instant, the darkness was expelled, and sparks ignited the kerosene soaked in the soil, and the orange-yellow flame licked the untouchable piece of wood.

Mu Jingde went crazy, he rolled and crawled to pick up the sword, and roared hoarsely: "Jiang Xingzhi!"

Jiang Xingzhi was still sitting where he was, not even intending to dodge. Seeing the sword's edge sinking into his body, he looked up to the sky and laughed wildly.

"Mu Jingde! With you accompanying me on the road to Huangquan today, I, Jiang Xing, will die with no regrets!"

In an instant, the mouth was full of fishy sweetness, and every word spurted out with blood from the wound.

He covered his chest with his hands, his hands were warm, Mu Jingde's cursing voice gradually seemed to be far away, and gradually changed to another person's voice.

I was asking him—OK, would you like to come with me?

"Well," after such a long time, he loosened his shoulders for the first time, and calmly looked at the void: "Jingchen, I..."

A bamboo stick flew out of the stick, landed untimely on the incense stick in front of the Buddha, and broke a piece of it.

The little novice at the side hurriedly got up to dig out the incense ashes, but was scalded again.

The abbot also hurriedly got up, and while asking people to fetch bamboo sticks, he apologized to the young man in front of him.

"My lord forgive me."

The edge of the bamboo stick in the incense burner gradually turned black, and the abbot saw Mu Jingchen staring at it without blinking, so he panicked and asked someone to change the stick holder himself.

"My lord, you don't have to think about it. In the past few months, the travelers you've been asking about have always been safe. This time, it's just that your lord was impatient and used a little more force. Please shake your lord again, good old monk." Release the sign for the prince."

Mu Jingchen's eyes turned red suddenly, he turned and left without saying a word.