The sea of stars is like a dream, forming a perfect contrast with the dark earth.
The croaking of frogs and the chirping of cicadas echo in my ears, over and over again.
Gui Qinchen was wearing coarse linen clothes and a brown turban on his head. In the night, the brown turban looked the same as black. His burly figure was currently leaning over the weeds and flowers, almost touching the ground. There is a faint buzzing of mosquitoes in my ears. Their mouthparts cannot pierce the skin of a Dachengjing master who has mobilized his internal energy. Even if he gets close to his body, he will be affected by a kind of qi and suffer huge oppression.
His thick knuckles dug into the ground, and he looked like a cheetah. He raised his head slightly, looking through the gaps between the grass, looking at the dots of firelight in the distance, gradually approaching.
Thinking back to more than ten years ago, he was coerced by a group of Dacheng realm warriors to enter the imperial city for the sake of life and survival. He will still ignite the raging anger in his heart, but all this time, he was just incompetent and furious. Until this year, he successfully opened up the Rendu Second Meridian, completed the Great Zhoutian with internal strength, transformed his body, and improved his strength, which gave him the confidence to truly I hate this city.
He did not suffer physical castration. On the day he entered the imperial city, he drank a thick and pungent decoction, and then his lower body began to degenerate. Now it is almost the same as that of a baby. This is the shame of his life. , he has no heirs yet!
He could have escaped from the imperial city, from the place he considered a prison. But he did not leave because he had to maintain chaos in the imperial city for a long enough time. This was the price for helping him escape from the imperial capital after he escaped from the imperial city.
Being able to escape from the imperial city does not mean that he can escape from the imperial capital. Even if he escapes from the imperial capital, the whole world belongs to the emperor in the imperial city. Where can he escape to?
So for true freedom, he must take the risk.
His thoughts were wandering in the long river of more than ten years, and the fire in the distance was approaching unknowingly. Gui Qinchen gathered his thoughts and concentrated on it, and the knuckles of his hands became harder and harder.
Zhang Jinxiang, the leader of Dongchang, became the leader at a young age, which is related to his outstanding martial arts talent. After Mi Yusong's training, Dongchang eliminated the wastes lying on the credit book waiting to die and the dandies who were dawdling, and promoted a group of capable and motivated young people.
Therefore, Zhang Jinxiang has great ambitions. He hopes to reach the peak of Xiaocheng realm in his thirties, so that he can apply for a martial arts secret book. He is best at swordsmanship. I heard that in the Dongchang arsenal, there is a secret book of the former sword king sect. If you can get that secret book, practice hard for a few years, and successfully get started, you should have a combat power comparable to that of the Dacheng realm. At that time, if you apply for assignment abroad, you might be able to get a job from a hundred households.
The status of the Li Xing Hundred Households in Dongchang is equivalent to the Qianhu Households of the pro-military army, and they can also talk to the Thousand Households of Jinyiwei on an equal footing.
After gathering his thoughts, Zhang Jinxiang realized that he was leading the team to the vicinity of the Royal Horse Prison again. This place is only a few hundred meters away from the main entrance of the Royal Horse Prison. There is a forest in front of it and a small river behind the forest. The opposite side of the creek was guarded by a camp of warriors.
Looking at the woods not far ahead, Zhang Jinxiang felt faint heart palpitations. The prisoner he was searching had a cultivation level of Dacheng Realm. If the prisoner was hiding in the woods, it would be extremely dangerous for him. But it was impossible for him not to check the place where the prisoner might be hiding.
So Zhang Jinxiang bit the bullet and came to the woods. There was a large area of weeds here. Because of the remote location, it would only take a long time to sort out the weeds. Looking at the weeds that were almost half a man tall, Zhang Jinxiang decided to report back to Yuan Qianhu and ask him to tell his superiors that these corners in the imperial city needed to be repaired.
"Ji Jiming, Wu Kaiming, you two go to the front and take a look. If there is anything unusual, call the police immediately!"
Zhang Jinxiang asked his subordinates to clear the way. The two Dongchang fans did not dare to disobey, so they had to draw their sabers to be brave. The two of them went deep into the grass and chopped the weeds in half with their hands.
After the two men cleared an open area, Zhang Jinxiang rubbed the handle of the knife with his palm, hummed lowly, and stepped forward, followed closely by several Dongchang fans behind him.
The Dongchang fans raised their torches high. This place was full of flammable weeds. If they were accidentally lit, they would become roasted chickens.
Zhang Jinxiang pressed the handle of the knife, his steps were slow and steady, his nerves were tense, and he was always paying attention to the surrounding environment.
There were rustling footsteps underfoot. Ji Jiming and Wu Kaiming were still clearing the way ahead, and they were already very close to the woods. Zhang Jinxiang gradually relaxed his mind, and his hand on the handle of the knife relaxed.
But suddenly, Zhang Jinxiang stopped, the rustling footsteps suddenly stopped, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead, as if he noticed something was wrong.
At some point, the only sound of footsteps was his own. There should be eight more people behind him, but there was no sound of footsteps.
What a weird scene this is!
There was still the light of the torch behind him, which proved that someone was holding the torch at this time. Zhang Jinxiang held the handle of the knife hard. He did not believe in any ghosts and gods in this world.
So the next moment, Zhang Jinxiang turned around and drew the sword in one go. Zhang Jinxiang's skill in drawing the sword was very good. As soon as his body turned halfway, the sword had already left the scabbard. The blade reflected the firelight and disappeared in the night.
Zhang Jinxiang groaned, and a strong muddy smell rushed into his mouth and nose. A strong hand pinched his mouth, making him unable to speak. The knife in his hand had been taken away. He didn't even see what the other party did. His wrist just went numb and the knife disappeared. In his eyes, there was only the light of the torch and a figure hidden behind the fire.
What speed is this! Zhang Jinxiang believed that he could compete with even Dacheng realm warriors, at least he would not be without resistance.
But the person in front of them must be the one they are searching for. Although he is a Dacheng realm warrior, is the speed of Dacheng realm so terrifying?
Boom!
There was a muffled sound in his chest, as if he had been hit hard. His heart and lungs were hit hard in an instant, and the look in Zhang Jinxiang's eyes quickly faded.
Gui Qinchen pinched Zhang Jinxiang's face and slowly leaned over. Zhang Jinxiang's body collapsed in the grass. Gui Qinchen squatted on the ground, his eyes falling on the two Dongchang Fanzi who had arrived at the edge of the woods. Although there was a strong murderous intent in his eyes, he endured it and slowly backed away. , passing by eight Dongchang fans who were also lying on the ground, finally abandoned the torch in his hand, turned around and disappeared into the darkness, holding Zhang Jinxiang's saber in his hand.
The changes in the firelight behind them caused the two fans who were opening the way to turn around suddenly, but they could only see the fire burning slowly in the grass. In the night, there was no figure of Zhang Zhangban, let alone the shadow of other fans.
In the space of a cup of tea, Yuan Dongxiang and Ma Wei came to this grassland with a large number of Dongchang soldiers. The fire in the grass has been extinguished, and the bodies of Zhang Jinxiang, the commander of the East Factory, and the eight squadron officers are neatly placed together.
Yuan Dongxiang frowned and looked at the nine corpses.
"Ma Qianhu, let's take a look at the cause of death!"
Lieutenant Ma turned his head, with some disbelief in his eyes. You have been using me all night, and now you have asked me to do the autopsy. I am a member of the army!
Yuan Dongxiang looked at Ma Wei. Ma Wei's heart tightened, he coughed lightly, squatted down, and began to look at the nine corpses.
After a while, Ma Wei stood up and said to Yuan Dongxiang:
"The cause of death was the same. Internal force shattered the heart and lungs, and he died on the spot."
After a pause, Ma Wei added: "This is the third batch. That Gui Qinchen's cultivation level is not the ordinary Dacheng realm. He may be a middle-grade Dacheng. It is difficult to deal with. Report it to the admiral, or report it to me." Yanshan left guard, send more manpower!"
Yuan Dongxiang shook his head and denied: "It can't be a middle-grade Dacheng. If he has that kind of cultivation, he will come directly to us! And I don't understand. What on earth is he going to do? With his skills, he can force his way in You can also break out of the imperial city and stay here to kill people, why?"
Captain Ma couldn't help but look at the nine corpses and said, "This guy is just a lunatic. Maybe he just wants revenge?"
In order to better drive Ma Wei, Yuan Dongxiang has informed Ma Wei of some unimportant contents of the case.
"I don't think so. Everything today is very strange. He suddenly killed the head of the Royal Horse Supervisor and stayed in the imperial city. If it was for revenge, he could have done it earlier, why did it have to be today!"
Yuan Dongxiang murmured to himself in confusion, but in the distance a fanzi and a soldier from the Yanshan Left Guard came running quickly. The two reported to Yuan Dongxiang and Ma Wei respectively, but the things were the same.
Gui Qinchen appeared, right in the corner tower, and was killing people!
Yuan Dongxiang felt that Gui Qinchen might really be crazy as Ma Wei said, otherwise his actions should not be so ridiculous.
Yuan Dongxiang and Ma Wei immediately rushed to the turret. The two Dacheng realm warriors directly got rid of the people behind them. They wanted to rush there as quickly as possible.
Soon, Yuan Dongxiang and Ma Wei came to the turret. There were vague sounds of fighting on the turret. Under the turret, there were corpses everywhere, and the smell of blood was extremely strong.
Yuan Dongxiang's expression changed suddenly, his speed became faster, his figure pulled out a shadow and flashed into the turret.
Lieutenant Ma took a step slower, but he saw a figure flying across the sky from the turret. His movement was as ethereal as if he was crossing through the void. After crossing for more than ten meters, he saw another figure on the top of a big tree about ten meters away from the turret. With strength, the figure flashed again and once again borrowed strength from the top of a big tree. He just moved sideways on the top of the tree, very fast, and his figure was ethereal.
The turret was not far from the imperial city wall. Ma Wei used the moonlight to see clearly that Gui Qinchen's figure landed on the imperial city wall after several ups and downs. The wall seemed not to have expected that someone could come across the sky. When he counterattacked, The Taoist figure has climbed over the city wall and disappeared into the darkness.
Ma Wei was so drunk that he had never seen such a movement before.
"Hurry up and chase!" Yuan Dongxiang's words were like a thunder, which woke up Ma Wei. When Ma Wei came back to his senses, Ma Wei saw that Yuan Dongxiang had jumped off the turret and chased towards the city wall. Ma Wei followed immediately.
In front of Dacheng realm warriors, the 27-meter-high outer wall of the imperial city is not a big problem, but no one would do this on weekdays, because it is trespassing.
But he didn't care about that today. Yuan Dongxiang directly threw out the Dongchang token and shouted: "Dongchang arrests the murderer!"
Yuan Dongxiang and the two used their strength to climb up the city wall, then crossed the ten-meter wall corridor and jumped down on the other side. Ma Wei followed closely, and the soldiers on the city wall stared blankly. One of the leaders was Ma Wei's subordinate. When Ma Wei jumped off the city wall, he did not forget to tell the man:
"Notify the commander!"
Yuan Dongxiang thought that he was not too far behind. When he jumped off the city wall, he could vaguely see a black shadow flying on the roof in the distance, but it quickly fell into the street.
The houses in the inner city are all occupied by high-ranking officials, or at least high-ranking nobles. There are indispensable experts in the house who are housekeepers and caregivers. Some houses are inaccessible to Dacheng realm warriors, so Gui Qinchen would not choose to walk on the roofs of these houses.
On the streets of the inner city, patrols are extremely tight at night, and it is impossible not to alert anyone. Jin Yiwei is responsible for the security of the inner city. The masters of Jin Yiwei have compiled a large network in the inner city. It is impossible for ordinary people to easily act at will within this large network without being noticed. This group of masters, directly under the command of Jin Yiwei commander Wang Zhongjie, is an extremely powerful force. Even Dongchang is afraid of this force.
It is also for this reason that Yuan Dongxiang is not afraid of Gui Qinchen escaping the imperial city. He is more worried that Gui Qinchen has been hiding in the imperial city. Now he is basically sure that Gui Qinchen possesses the best body skills. This kind of body skills should not be possessed by Gui Qinchen who comes from a small sect like Yuma Sect. This confirms that there are high-level figures behind Gui Qinchen.
Arriving on the streets of the inner city, Yuan Dongxiang slowed down. The surrounding environment was very quiet. The big shots in the courtyard had all taken a rest. It was already past noon, the quietest time in the night.
When walking through a street corner, there were hurried footsteps behind him, and Captain Ma rushed over. His face was full of anxiety. Before he could speak, Yuan Dongxiang suddenly stopped and then raised his head in one direction. He arched his hands and said:
"Dongchang Yuan Dongxiang!"
Ma Wei seemed to have thought of something and looked up in that direction. There was a building covered in bright moonlight. This should be a bank. On the roof of the bank, a figure stood up slowly. The moonlight gave his figure a somewhat mysterious look. The figure raised his hand towards the place.
"Someone passed by here just now. Is he a key criminal arrested by Dongchang?"
asked the man on the roof.
Yuan Dongxiang responded: "Yes!"
The man on the roof pointed in a direction and said:
"Go there. Lu Qianhu is watching over there. No one can escape. You go quickly."
"some more!"
Yuan Dongxiang simply returned the greeting, and then walked quickly in that direction. Ma Wei followed closely, but glanced at the roof of the bank, where there was only a bright moonlight and no one could be seen.
"Is that the place where thousands of households live in the inner city?" Ma Wei asked softly.
Yuan Dongxiang did not answer, so Ma Wei stopped asking further questions.
After passing through three streets, Yuan Dongxiang's steps suddenly slowed down. In the middle of the street, there was a person standing, and there seemed to be another person lying under the person's feet.
Yuan Dongxiang stepped forward. Under the moonlight, the person standing was wearing the flying fish suit of Jin Yiwei.
The Jin Yiwei turned his head and looked at Yuan Dongxiang. The former wore a black mask on his face and seemed unwilling to show his true face. The people in Qianhushao in Inner City are all dressed up like this.
"The Jin Yiwei in Inner City are doing business. Who are you?" The black masked Jin Yiwei asked coldly, pointing the embroidered spring knife diagonally in his hand.
Yuan Dongxiang stepped forward and touched his arms, but remembered that Dongchang's token had been thrown to the guard on the wall of the imperial city. He turned to look at Ma Wei, who immediately understood, took out his token, and threw it away.
"Dongchang Yuan Dongxiang, and Yanshan Zuowei Ma Wei, hunt for the murderer!"
The black-masked Jin Yiwei took the token and threw it back without looking at it. His tone softened slightly. He looked at the man at his feet and said with a hint of doubt, "Is this man running away from the Imperial City?"
Yuan Dongxiang nodded, looked at the motionless figure lying on the ground and asked, "Yes. How is he now?"
The black-masked Jin Yiwei took two steps back, looked up at Yuan Dongxiang, and said, "I am Jin Yiwei Deputy Qianhu Lu Bangning. This man is already dead. He was dead when I arrived."
"What!" Ma Wei was shocked. They chased Gui Qinchen out, and the time difference between them was only one stick of incense. How could he die!
Yuan Dongxiang was silent, walked forward slowly, squatted down, and inspected it himself.
Gui Qinchen's face was pale and he had lost his voice, but his body was still warm, indicating that he had just died. The cause of death was simple. The sternum was completely shattered and dented, and it was likely that the internal organs and lungs had burst.
The cause of death was not much different from what he had created in the imperial city. Could it be that the murderer had the same origin as what he had learned?
Yuan Dongxiang stood up, looked at the deputy Qianhu Lu Bangning who was wearing a black mask and said: "Lv Qianhu, did you find anyone else when you came?"
Lu Bangning shook his head and said: "I was on duty in the next street. I heard something moving here, so I rushed over. It took no more than three breaths. But when I arrived, I didn't find anyone else. This person was still alive. But he died without saying anything."
Yuan Dongxiang nodded. He did not question Lu Bangning's words because the injury on Gui Qinchen's chest also included his throat bone. Such an injury left him unable to speak, and judging from the severity of the injury on his chest, even with the vitality of a Dacheng-level warrior, he would still die within a short time from such an injury.
Gui Qinchen's body lay quietly on the street. Under the moonlight, Yuan Dongxiang felt a little chill in his heart. With Gui Qinchen's skills, death can only occur in an instant. The master who can kill him must be so terrifying.
------------------
At the same time, Liu Mansion
Liu Xin, who had already fallen asleep, suddenly opened his eyes, turned over and sat up without making the slightest sound.
He looked out the window, and in the moonlight, a figure was reflected on the window.
Liu Xin got up and got out of bed, but there was still no movement under his feet, and his breathing was still slow and heavy.
When he came to the window, the figure outside the window suddenly shook and then disappeared. Liu Xin frowned, rolled up his robe from the side, quietly opened the window, threw the robe out, and then he opened the door in a short moment and stepped out of the room.
Liu Xin jumped into the yard, and at this time, the robe thrown by Liu Xin slowly fell to the ground.
Liu Xin suddenly turned around, looked up, and saw a figure climbing over the courtyard wall. Liu Xin hooked his toes, grabbed his robe that had fallen to the ground, and chased after him.
After climbing over the courtyard wall, a figure just disappeared at the far corner.
Liu Xin stopped, and the other party seemed to be seducing him.
After hesitating for a moment, Liu Xin did not hesitate anymore and decided to follow him to see the situation.
The opponent's movement skills and speed did not exceed the range of Xiaocheng Realm, and Liu Xin's performance was also within the scope of Xiaocheng Realm.
The figure in front was indeed luring Liu Xin, because no matter what speed Liu Xin used, the other person would always disappear at a certain street corner the next moment Liu Xin appeared.
Liu Xin had already put his robe on his body. He touched the Jin Yiwei token at the hem of his robe and chased after him with confidence.
From Senior Brother Cheng, he learned that Jinyiwei also had a special department, which was directly under the command of Jinyiwei. It is called the Qianhusuo of Inner City, and there are one Qianhusuo, two deputy Qianhusuo, and five Baihusuo. They are the elves of the night, responsible for guarding the safety of the inner city at night.
That is a group of people whose per capita quality far exceeds that of other Qianhu places. Brother Cheng guessed that the four Imperial Guard Qianhu Stations in the imperial capital, and even other pro-military Qianhu Stations, would serve in the Inner City Qianhu Station, because everyone in the Inner City Qianhu Station would wear masks to hide their identities.
This is Liu Xin's first late-night trip in the imperial capital. If he didn't have a waist card, he wouldn't have followed the person in front of him. If he met the group of people from the Qianhu Office in Inner City, according to what Senior Brother Cheng said about urine, there would be a curfew. After that, they can attack people without identification.
Thinking of this, Liu Xin became curious about the identity of the person who seduced him in front of him.
Soon, after crossing several streets, Liu Xin had arrived at the edge of Bianyifang. In the past, it was the wall of the village, which was guarded by pro-military troops. Even if he was a royal guard, he could not cross it during the curfew.
Of course, the person who brought him here should not be able to do it either.
After chasing him through another street, Liu Xin slowed down. The man who lured him did not disappear at the corner of the street again, but stood in the middle of the street. This man was wearing tight clothes and his face was covered with a black cloth.
Liu Xin looked at the man opposite him thoughtfully, his eyes falling on the latter's right hand.
The tights suddenly raised his right arm, and the sound of breaking through the air suddenly sounded. Liu Xin dodged to one side, directly avoiding the incoming hidden weapon, but when he came back to his senses, the tights had disappeared and appeared in the side of the house. roof.
The man looked back at Liu Xin, waved his hand, then pointed behind Liu Xin, and then jumped down the ridge of the roof.
Liu Xin felt that this person was a little confused, but he suddenly reacted and turned around to look at the location where the man's hidden weapon had fallen.
Those two hidden weapons were fired at my feet. No one would fire hidden weapons at the enemy's calves.
With this in mind, Liu Xin began to look for the two hidden weapons, and soon he picked out two hidden weapons from the door panel of a closed shop next to the street:
Two dice made of pure copper.
"Dice?" Liu Xin looked at the two dice in the palm of his hand. With his knowledge, he could confirm that these were ordinary dice, but they were made of pure copper. There was no poison on them, and it was unlikely to be poison. There is nothing strange about it other than some weight to start with.
Why did that person lead him here and throw two more dice? What did he mean?
Liu Xin thought like this, suddenly raised his head and looked around, and then fixed his eyes on a shop plaque somewhere on the street.
"Sunchon Casino!"
In the upper right corner of the gambling house's plaque, there is a dice pattern painted with copper paint, which is exactly the same as the two copper dice in Liu Xinxin's heart.
