The long night seemed to be endless. When Jiang Wen once again stood at the entrance of Nether Alley, looking at the dilapidated streets filled with water vapor and covered with moss, he fell into deep thought.
"It's obviously been a long time since the third watch, why are you still not ready for dawn?"
Jiang Wen, who was silent, could always taste some familiar things in such a night, hoping that maybe if he walked through this street or turned a certain corner, he would be able to see the familiar neon lights and thousands of tourists. , there will still be busy taxis wandering in the streets and alleys, and the deep and clear sound of the midnight radio station can be heard in the cars.
But after passing through the mist, only the lonely short tower still stood at the entrance of the Netherworld Alley, and the whirling and subdued sound of the wind echoed endlessly.
The moment they stepped into this place, the black and white shadows leading the way disappeared. They were unwilling to face the place where their master died and master and apprentice suddenly parted ways forever.
Jiang Wen actually didn't want to come here, but he knew that he was determined not to avoid this alley tonight.
The key to leveraging the White Lotus Sect lies in the Red Lotus Virgin, in the Netherworld Engravings, in the Nine Nether Scriptures, and must also be in this Netherworld Lane that seems to belong only to the dead.
The heavy gates still press against the sky of the alley, countless stone couplets left by the Song Dynasty have been chipped away, but the high walls rebuilt in the Ming Dynasty still stand tall guarding both sides. In the Nether Book Shop on the left, the evil wind blew up, rolling up fragments of chapters and pages all over the floor, swaying like paper money on a grave.
The crumbling houses and scaffoldings are still struggling to survive, and they are still covered with dirty ink paper that was recently printed. When the wind blows, they turn into flying ghost butterflies in the sky, ready to attack people.
Jiang Wen stepped into it and saw that the zombies that had been standing there were gone. It must have been cleaned up and put away during the day, and the courtyard was turned to pieces. Even the tombstones of the eunuchs were smashed. The bones of the corpses in the tomb are jutting out, as if they were scattered and bleak during their lifetimes.
"Monk Bujie is eager to find the Mani Orb, and his men are not kind people. Even if these corpses are taken away, I'm afraid they won't go anywhere good..."
A gust of wind blew, and Jiang Wen smelled the faint smell of rotting corpses floating in the air again, but his expression suddenly became clear, "The bones are stored in the righteous village opposite."
Jiang Wen jumped up, and with the flow of internal energy, he turned around and suddenly climbed three feet higher. He instantly climbed up the courtyard wall and looked at the gloomy old house opposite, hoping to find traces in advance among the cobwebs and corpses.
But at this moment, Jiang Wen suddenly saw an erratic figure shaking in the narrow Netherworld Alley, who had just jumped down from the ferry tower with both feet stiff.
At first, Jiang Wen only thought that the black and white Wu Chang had come in, but the shadowy figure could not be seen clearly, and his movements were also very strange. Just when Jiang Wen was confused, his limbs were stiff and his head was drooped, and he suddenly stood up from the ground. In an instant, he crossed the high wall of Netherworld Lane and disappeared into the depths of Yizhuang!
Such superb Qinggong, and so familiar, the fright in his eyes only lasted for a moment, and Jiang Wen knew what he should do...
Chase!
A wall couldn't stop Jiang Wen's footsteps. As soon as the rabbit had risen and the falcon had fallen, he followed him and fell into the yard. When he landed, he inevitably stirred up dust on the ground.
Not far away, all the doors and plaques of the Yizhuang houses disappeared, leaving only dark doors. The rotten wooden doorposts on both sides read "No coffins are allowed to be stored around the first ban" and "Beggars are not allowed to borrow pictures in the second ban." Stay for a while." He innocently opened his eyes made of broken paper lanterns and stared at Jiang Wen.
This place was originally supposed to be a temple, but I don’t know when it became a place for coffins and coffins.
There was an unidentified figure in the hall of Yizhuang, walking among the dead bones. Jiang Wen rushed over and without hesitation pulled out the ancient bronze sword from his waist. The cold light had already illuminated it. Deserted hall.
As soon as the two met each other, Jiang Wen heard the indistinguishable voice of male and female.
"……you again?!"
The movement of the shadow in Yi Zhuang stagnated for a moment, and the dazed figure quickly pulled away, reflecting seamlessly among the rotten bones of zombies in the courtyard. Incidentally, a thick and unpleasant smell was stirred up, and an instant later. It merged into the darkness that was so thick that it couldn't be broken away.
The Yi Zhuang suddenly filled with dust. Jiang Wen swung his sword to catch up. The shadow penetrated into the aisles on both sides of the dilapidated Buddhist hall and turned into a trance-like ghost. Then he recited strange words in a sharp and harsh voice like a night owl. of scripture.
Jiang Wen suddenly lost sight of him. From the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the withered and damaged Buddha statue in the center of Yi Zhuang. It seemed that someone had pushed it, and the lotus platform collapsed, revealing the mud base of the base. It fell to pieces on the ground.
But at the moment when the damaged Tathagata statue was pushed down, countless strange shadows in Yi Zhuang began to dance quietly in accordance with the sound of the sutra.
【If I go into the fire soup. The fire soup dries up on its own. 】
As soon as he finished speaking, the statues of Arhats sitting in meditation on both sides of the aisle suddenly fell down from their seats. This fall was completely stupid as a heavy object fell to the ground. With a loud noise, the lower body collapsed, revealing the straw stuffed in the statue and the dead white bones!
【If I go to hell. Hell destroys itself. 】
The long-browed Arhat also suddenly jumped down from the throne. The action of stroking his eyebrows with both hands caused his center of gravity to become unstable. He hit the ground top-heavy and smashed his head. He turned his withered yellow skull and stared at Jiang Wen.
【If I were a hungry ghost. Hungry ghosts are full of themselves. 】
The Dragon-Subduing Arhat was originally riding on an ugly dragon. At this time, it suddenly swayed. When its feet broke free from the restraints of the statue, it also tore the rosette, revealing a pale skeleton leg bone, covered with traces of brittle grace.
[If I turn to Shura, my nausea will subdue itself. 】
The happy Arhat was shaped into a posture of raising his hands in celebration and being elated. He was suddenly shrouded in an evil atmosphere. The place where his chest was exposed suddenly shattered. His empty belly was wrapped by a few shriveled ribs. His smile was daunting. Fearful.
Gradually, all the arhats in the hall showed the strange appearance of coexisting skeletons and dharma, and they woke up one after another in different ways. Jiang Wen suddenly discovered that the eyes of all the statues seemed to be emitting scarlet light, and looked at Jiang Wen quietly and calmly. …
"That's enough. Even if you are a trivial person, you still dare to come to your class and try to do it."
The sword light was like a gossamer, floating in the air suddenly and uncertainly. It didn't know when it had caught the black shadow's throat, and it froze in mid-air and glowed faintly.
Jiang Wen, who was holding the sword in one hand, closed his eyes and had a proud smile on his face. The ancient bronze sword was close to the opponent's neck, and it only took one step closer to cut off his head.
"There are people with such perseverance in the world..."
The ghost-faced man said quietly.
Jiang Wen smiled mysteriously, and naturally he would not tell him that he had already understood the poisonous smoke of the White Lotus Sect, and would not be fooled a second time.
"Your Majesty seems to know me from your tone. I wonder if you should take off the mask yourself, or should I do it for you?"
The ghost-faced man who was forced to reveal his body slowly stood up from the ground. The face wearing the upside-down and twisted ghost mask showed an extremely complicated look. He reached out and took off the mask little by little, only to reveal a picture of Jiang Wen beating him to death. An unexpected face...
"Director Jiang, long time no see."
Putting aside the disguise of his voice, the Ghostfaced Man now returned to his original rough voice. In addition to his five willow whiskers, his thin and mean face also had a pair of triangular eyes. He seemed to be frowning and thinking deeply all the time.
The experience of the Minyue Ancient City in Wuyi Mountain was still before his eyes, so Jiang Wen would never mistake the guy in front of him as one of the original Five Shaolin Elders, the current head of the Wudang Sect, and the official uncle of Hong Xi——
Feng Daode!
"If I didn't want to reveal my martial arts skills tonight, how could you easily catch me?"
The Taoist in front of him still sounded angry, but his expression did not change. It is true that he is the leader of the Shaolin and Wudang families, and has already become proficient in internal skills and moves. Just now, he was more anxious to escape, but he did not expect Jiang Wen to recover quickly from the poisonous smoke.
"Is this the point? You are not anti-war, only anti-defeat, right?!"
Jiang Wen put away the ancient bronze sword, stared at Feng Daode's old face in front of him and asked, "Should Master Feng explain first why you are in this righteous village! And you are dressed up like this?" Looks like a ghost!"
Jiang Wen had already made it very clear, and even planned to take down the general ledger in Wuyi Mountain and ask him to explain why he could show up confidently in every situation that disrupted the situation.
Feng Daode snorted coldly, and only eight words came out of his mouth.
"When someone entrusts you, you can't help yourself."
Jiang Wen almost laughed out loud.
"Are you being entrusted by others again? Master Feng, you have repeatedly committed murders and caused trouble in the city. I'm afraid you can't restore the reputation of the Wudang Sect by being so involuntary!"
The snake struck seven inches away. Feng Daode hid his head and tail tonight and just wanted to dodge, just because of his status as the leader of the Wudang Sect. At this time, even if a disciple of the Wudang Sect is involved in the mess in Fuzhou City, it may cause hidden dangers. Therefore, considering the interests of all parties, what he is most worried about is having his whereabouts exposed.
And Jiang Wen didn't want to get angry with him. He just said it straight away. It depends on whether Feng Daode is angry enough to kill the enemy.
Sure enough, Feng Daode, who was the leader of a sect and was not the leader of a grass-roots sect like Jiang Wen, stared at Jiang Wen menacingly, but after a long while he still said slowly: "I didn't kill anyone."
"Did you and I fight at Netherworld Bookstore that day to hunt down Protector Huang? Wasn't the death of Chang Qingzi, the leader of the Qingcheng Sect outside the alley, your plan? The mysterious disappearance of the Holy Mother of the Red Lotus of the White Lotus Sect, was it not related to you? It has nothing to do with it? Someone is targeting and killing the escorts of Fuwei Escort Agency day and night. Isn’t it your credit?”
Jiang Wen frowned and said with a hint of joking, "How is it different from stabbing someone to kill, saying that I am not a soldier?"
"I was only entrusted by someone to arrest Protector Huang, so I also used the identity of the White Lotus Sect. I was also careful when discussing with you and never hurt him. It was obviously because he was suspicious and thought someone was plotting against him, so he ran away again and again, and finally Scared myself to death.”
Feng Daode sighed deeply and raised his left hand, revealing a strange-shaped knife in his palm.
"In addition, the other things you mentioned have nothing to do with me. Wudang and Qingcheng are both from the Taoist sect. I came to Yizhuang tonight to look for clues. I want to find out the real person who attacked and killed Taoist Master Hui Lv. fierce……"
Jiang Wen glanced at the ghost mask on the ground and said without hesitation: "Do you think we, the people's police, will believe your lies?!"
This is a lie. He is so sneaky late at night. As long as Jiang Wen is not blind, he will not believe his lies.
In order to safeguard the reputation of the Wudang Sect, Feng Daode tried his best to tell the truth at this time, for fear that Jiang Wenzhen would put all these shit basins on his head.
He knows that in critical moments, instead of making up excuses and swearing, it is often better to analyze and confess your intentions, which will be more useful.
"Director Jiang, this Yizhuang has been a place for bone examinations in past dynasties. It was occupied by the Ti Xing Si in the former Song Dynasty, and was used by the Fuzhou Si Town during the Hongwu period. What's wrong with me coming here to examine the corpses? Did you hear that? The strange incident of 'biting one's finger and dying' in Fuzhou during the former Song Dynasty?"
Jiang Wen looked at him doubtfully: "How do you say that?"
"Fuzhou is also called Rongcheng, and there is a lot of mystery in it. In a certain month in the third year of Shaoding in the former Song Dynasty, eight soap officials died in the Yamen. Seven of them died suddenly on a terrifying night. After hearing that the first seven soap officials After hearing the news of Li's death, the eighth Zaoli was so frightened that he 'bited his fingers and died'."
Feng Daode's eyes were full of fear, "At that time, the Lufu Prefecture Army often killed indiscriminate sacrifices, so this incident even shocked the court. In order to prevent officials from protecting each other, Song Lizong sent Jiangxi pacification envoy Zheng Xingqian Let’s investigate thoroughly.”
"The case was gradually discovered in the Daojun Emperor's Zhenghe Wanshou Daozang. Suddenly, weird things happened in the printing bookstore, which gradually became deserted. However, there were always eccentric and unknown publications circulating in the bookstore. As things went on, Lu Fangweng even wrote to the emperor, saying that he was above 'They are all nonsense and monster words, which are different from Taoist interpretations of scriptures. As for the pronunciation of the characters, the pronunciation of the characters can be recognized. At that time, the apocryphal demon images were engraving and circulating, under the guise of Cheng Ruoqing, an official of Zhenghe Zhongdao, as the collation, and Huang Shang, the magistrate of Fuzhou, as the supervisor of the engraving.' "
"What's even worse is that rumors of Zheng Xingzhi's killings gradually spread in Jipi Alley, and they continue to this day. In the end, the case had to be dropped, and the case was hastily sealed with the death of eight people due to miasma..."
Jiang Wen didn't even understand what he said, but the three names mentioned by Feng Daode attracted his attention.
The lingering ghost of Song Lizong, and the unavoidable Zheng Xingzhi?
And Huang Shang, the pretended governor of the state, could he be the rumored "Skull Governor"? !
Putting these three names together, Jiang Wen instantly remembered all the rumors in this alley, and looked at Feng Daode with a hint of enlightenment.
The two people's eyes met, and they both saw the answer they wanted in the other's eyes, and they said in a low voice almost indiscriminately...
"You are also here for the "Nine Nether Scriptures"!"
Feng Daode's expression became even more fearful, and he looked at Jiang Wen coldly.
"This thing has another origin with our Wudang sect. Grandmaster Zhang Sanfeng once came here at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, and then left two blood books with his finger blood and floated away. It seems that he encountered something unspeakable in this dark alley."
"Therefore, our sect has been speculating that the Zao official who died suddenly encountered the same thing, but his moral integrity was not enough and he died unexpectedly. The last Zao official who bit his finger and died probably also wanted to write something with his blood. But in the end there is nothing we can do…”
Jiang Wen took a deep breath and looked at the corpses everywhere in the Yi Zhuang. He felt cold from beginning to end, a shiver that penetrated his soul, as if something was hiding in the darkness and watching them.
Jiang Wen calmed down for a moment and said slowly, "I sensed the smell of conspiracy. If you think about it carefully, Zheng Xingzhi advocated Zhu Xi's theory at that time, which had already deeply offended the powerful official Shi Miyuan. It is possible that he was involved in this matter by mistake. The battle between the imperial power and the prime minister was maliciously slandered and had to be stopped.”
But Feng Daode sneered three times: "Since ancient times, justice has been hard to find, but murder is easy to pay for life. Is it so difficult to just get the truth? Do you know who investigated the case at that time?"
"Who is it?" Jiang Wen asked.
Feng Daode said slowly: "This person was born in Jianyang. He became an official in the second year of Baoguang, Emperor Lizong of the Song Dynasty. He successively held the position of Jiangxi Registrar and other positions. During the Shaoding period, he was serving as an aide to thoroughly investigate the case under Zheng Xingzhi."
Jiang Wen's eyes flashed slightly, and he vaguely guessed where his confidence lies: "So what you said is..."
"That's right - if it was really as simple as the intervention of the powerful prime minister, would this person sit idly by and watch this person later go to various prisons, go to Zhibao Mo Pavilion, serve as an envoy, and finally reach Song Ci, the Guangdong economic strategy and pacification envoy?!"
The famous Song Dynasty criminal officer Song Ci was actually related to this case!
Recognizing the admiration in Jiang Wen's eyes, Feng Daode said this, and finally said to Jiang Wen eloquently: "You already know the reason for my coming. I just follow the rules of the people in this Fuzhou city, and I will never do it again in the future." Intervene - I hope you can understand that the purpose of my trip has always been only the "Nine Nether Scriptures" written secretly by the deceased!"
Jiang Wen became quiet again.
Ever since the situation in Fuzhou City became turbulent, Jiang Wen has been troubled for a long time. In addition to the intentions of the mastermind behind the scenes, there is also how the ghost-faced man quietly attacked Chang Qingzi, scared the protector Huang to death, and kidnapped the Red Lotus Virgin. He can also wander around the three lanes and seven alleys without anyone noticing, pulling clues from all directions to himself.
Also, the Chang brothers accidentally entered Yizhuang that night and suddenly fell into madness, biting and biting the rotting corpses. They refused to stop until they were discovered. It seemed that they were just people in the world slandering gods and despising corpses. They were killed by lonely ghosts. I was confused and treated as a ghostly joke.
But just like this alley with a hidden door, this type of secret room murder case exploits the blind spots of the mindset. When everyone is thinking hard about how the murderer entered the room to kill, maybe the real murderer has been in the room all along.
As he figured out Feng Daode's suspicion, Jiang Wen had already thought that since the face of the Ghost-Faced Man had never been revealed, perhaps all parties saw were not the same person, and the most dangerous and unpredictable one among them might not be the same one. To hide in what seems to be the most bizarre and mysterious alley.
The people behind the scenes have repeatedly seduced and pointed the finger at Fuwei Escort Agency, which shows that their intentions have been grasped. When the strategic goal is clearly exposed, no matter how subtle the strategy is, it will lose its mobility and can only become trapped in the net. of prey. The other party wants the prey that struggles the most to fall into a cocoon and end up surrounded by enemies on all sides.
To break the situation, sometimes it doesn't mean that you have to defeat many enemies with one enemy and overwhelm the others.
At this moment, Jiang Wen had slowly entered into the mind of the mastermind behind the scenes.
He now wants to clean up the chess pieces that have entered the game. Once there are no pieces available on the chessboard, the manipulator behind the scenes will have to do it himself. As long as the goals of each party are different and the other party has a way to provoke a fight, he will have a way to sweep all the chess pieces out of the game.
Do you like playing chess?
Then don't always think about being superior. One day you will become a pawn in the chess game and have a face-to-face duel with Jiang Wen.
Fuwei Escorts was the first.
White Lotus Church is the second one.
Feng Daode will be the third.
"Master Feng, if you continue to search for the "Nine Nether Scriptures", I will not stop you. I can pretend that I didn't see what happened tonight, and I won't ask you who you owe for running around..."
Jiang Wen said word for word.
Feng Daode nodded slightly. Even though his night clothes were covered with dust, he still looked like a master: "Thank you very much."
However, Jiang Wen continued: "But I hope you can tell me something you know, such as what 'they' are for and the whereabouts of the Red Lotus Virgin."
Feng Daode was silent for a long time, and finally raised his head, his eyes focused like lights.
"How can I trust you?"
Jiang Wen said proudly: "Then there is another condition. If I can find the "Nine Nether Scriptures", I can share it with you. But there is a lie, you can come to Wuyi Mountain to find me at any time!"
After saying these words, Feng Daode finally put aside his last concern and spoke slowly.
"Actually, the Netherworld Bookshop in the alley was just the publishing house of the former Song Dynasty Zhenghe Wanshou Daozang. The place where Fuzhou magistrate Huang Shang actually checked and proofread the scriptures was in the imperial Jade Emperor Pavilion on Jiuxian Mountain. The person you are looking for, It's probably there..."
"good."
Jiang Wen didn't say much, and turned around to leave as promised, but at this time Feng Daode spoke slowly again.
"Director Jiang, I owe you a favor in the ancient city of Minyue. If you have to be involved in this, there are a few words you must remember."
"Thank you, Master Feng."
Jiang Wen stopped and turned his head to listen to Feng Daode finish an obscure prophecy poem passed down from the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms in a strange tone.
“Later came the Three Kings, and the tide brought disaster.
When the rocks meet, they will inevitably be destroyed.
The descendants follow my way and entrust Fujian territory from generation to generation.
The emperor is born in Fujian, and the three mountains are the battlefield! "
The howling cold wind in the middle of the night passed through the gate of Yizhuang and suddenly swept around the two of them. The ancient courtyard in front of them was as quiet and motionless as an ascetic who had been sitting in the wilderness for a long time. As the grass and trees withered and the sun rose and set, dust finally covered the whole body. , weeds and weeds.
At this moment, Jiang Wen kept turning his head and turned his back to the gate of Yizhuang. Suddenly, he found that the expression on Feng Daode's face suddenly froze. In addition, there was a vague shadow standing not far behind Jiang Wen. It seemed that his head was hanging sideways and his limbs were stiff.
Almost instantly, the strange-shaped knife in Feng Daode's hand was thrown out like an electric shock. He didn't even have time to use the martial arts moves he was familiar with, and flew past Jiang Wen as if facing a formidable enemy.
What on earth could make Feng Daode, the head of the Wudang Clan, lose his temper like this? !
Jiang Wen woke up instantly and turned around with his hair on end, but neither he nor Feng Daode caught up with the figure in the end.
He only had time to see a ragged and shriveled figure fleetingly disappear. His limbs were stiff and strange, and his knee joints seemed to be nailed to death. He soared into the air in an instant and jumped onto the roof of Yizhuang, which was more than ten feet high. There was no disturbance in the whole process. of smoke.
But there is one thing that Jiang Wen has seen clearly.
The head on this thing's neck...is broken!
