"This volume records the past of Master Mu Song before his death, and someone cut out part of it." Yan Xu's old face turned red with excitement.
"This man did it very cleverly." The old man gently lifted up the middle part of the fourth white silk and held it up for Mu Qingyan to see. "He deliberately made the fracture into a trace of fire, and then used a new silk The silk was attached, as if he deliberately did not want anyone to know about Mu Song's eldest son."
"The less he wants others to know, the more Nie Hengcheng wants to know." Mu Qingyan said.
"That's what the leader said."
Yan Xu put down his long white book and took out many books from the ground aside. "In order to ensure that there are no errors or omissions in the religious records, the envoys who are ordered to record the history of the religion often record everything they hear and see in their pockets." In the notebook, when I have free time, I will concentrate on transcribing it into the file."
He added: "The envoy who recorded this past is named Qu, and his name is Qu Linglong."
Mu Qingyan was slightly surprised: "Is it a woman?"
"Yes, she is a female elder with advanced cultivation." Yan Xu said, "This elder Qu's descendants have now faded out of important positions in the religious sect and are looking after the warehouse at the foot of a secluded mountain. Elder Qu's letters are kept in a secret room. When I rushed to inquire, they said that Nie Hengcheng also asked them for Elder Qu's letters twenty years ago and took one of them away."
Yan Xu spread out a dozen books flatly, leaving a space in the middle. "These books record the past and present events of Master Mu Song. The one Nie Hengcheng took away is about his eldest son!"
The old man was full of confusion, "What happened to the eldest son of the leader of Mu Song? Why do you want to hide his life?"
Mu Qingyan did not answer, but asked: "Is this all you discovered?"
"No, no, no!" Yan Xu said hurriedly, "I have made another important discovery!" He pushed the books in front of him away, "These are all fake!"
"Fake?" Mu Qingyan was finally surprised, "What's going on!"
Yan Xu's eyes shone: "This forger is really scheming. Not only can he imitate the handwriting, but his perseverance and perseverance are rare in his humble life! In order to win Nie Hengcheng's trust, he actually faked all these notebooks!"
Mu Qingyan frowned: "Since he can imitate other people's handwriting and write the key points directly, why bother to write all these notebooks again."
"The leader doesn't know something." Yan Xu said, "The handwriting can be imitated, but the paper and ink written a hundred years ago are all old things. These mulberry paper volumes were written at about the same time, so they should be about the same age. If only one of them is faked , you can see the flaw. Just use the same old mulberry paper and rewrite it all with imitation handwriting!"
"No wonder Nie Hengcheng is not suspicious - a country boy who never knew a few characters can imitate other people's handwriting in just a few years. What a great skill!" Mu Qingyan murmured to himself.
"How did Elder Yan discover the flaw?" He turned around and asked.
Yan Xu was full of pride, and his face was as red as an old tree in spring: "I carefully read Elder Qu's life and found that she was quite good at calligraphy during her lifetime, and she was also very beautiful, and she had many admirers." Mentioning these men and women. The romantic incident made the thousand-year-old bachelor unable to restrain his giggles.
Mu Qingyan glanced at him angrily: "Tell me what's important!"
"Yes, yes." Yan Xu tried his best to stop giggling, "It's useless no matter how many admirers you have, Elder Qu is as cold as ice and treats all men without pretense..."
Mu Qingyan thought to herself, since she was so polite to all men, how did her children and grandchildren come about? He was not a very curious person, but after staying with a certain little girl for a long time, he also contracted this bad habit.
He nodded slightly and didn't ask any questions.
Yan Xu said: "At that time, there was an altar leader in the sect who was madly in love with Elder Qu. However, the goddess was ruthless. He actually sneaked into her house while Elder Qu was out and copied out all her main handwriting. !”
Mu Qingyan laughed: "Is there such a skill in the world? I thought only the inscriptions on the inscriptions could be copied."
"Yes, of course there is." Yan Xu said, "There is a rare concoction that is smeared on glossy parchment and then pressed firmly onto the original paper. When it is uncovered again, the parchment can transfer the ink characters of the original text. Next level of seal comes.”
"Then the original text and ink marks have faded a layer?" Mu Qingyan asked.
"Yes, that's why Elder Qu found out as soon as he came back, and he was so angry that he wanted to arrest him!" Yan Xu giggled again, "Unexpectedly, the altar owner died outside without making any announcement, and the matter ended like this. Ha ha ha ha."
Mu Qingyan's eyes flashed, "Did Elder Yan find those parchments?"
"Found it!" Yan Xu excitedly found a stack of yellowed tissue paper from the cage, "The altar owner has a loyal subordinate. Unfortunately, the altar owner just wanted to do it for King Xiang, so he lied to Elder Qu that the parchments could not be found. , in fact, it was placed in the coffin of the altar owner and was buried with him."
Mu Qingyan narrowed his eyes slightly: "So you dug someone's grave?"
"How can being loyal to the leader be called digging a grave?" Yan Xu said confidently, and then smiled, "Later, I buried it back for the altar leader, and not a single bone was missing."
Mu Qingyan stared at the thick stack of parchment and asked hesitantly: "Why doesn't Nie Hengcheng know about the altar master's rubbing of Elder Qu's handwriting?"
"Because no one outside knows about this matter!" Yan Xu said loudly, "It's not a glorious thing, and the person is dead, so Elder Qu didn't make any further announcement at all."
"Then how did you know?"
"Guess, leader, what is the surname of the altar leader's loyal subordinate?" Yan Xu covered his mouth and snickered.
Mu Qingyan closed his eyes: "It can't be Yan."
"The leader has a clever plan, and that loyal subordinate is none other than humble duty's grandfather!" Yan Xu's wrinkled old face smiled like a chrysanthemum, "When humble duty was young, I heard my grandfather recite this story, and it served as a warning to our children and grandchildren - —I said, why is the altar owner’s name so familiar? It’s really God’s eyes!”
"God did help this time." Mu Qingyan chuckled.
"Please look it up, Master!" The old man offered the parchment with loyal hands, "This stack contains all the past history of Mu Song's eldest son. I don't know much about the eldest son. It seems that the eldest son has practiced a strange skill. His efforts made Mu Song furious, and father and son almost turned against each other."
"Although I don't know what the forger wrote to Nie Hengcheng, the rubbing on the parchment must be the truth!"
As soon as it got dark, Cai Zhao woke up on his own.
The bedding was soaked in the sun and exuded a pleasant lazy smell, as soft as clouds. He reached into the bed and touched a familiar, round, pumpkin-shaped box from the pillow. Without opening it, Cai Zhao knew what was inside: mouth-watering sweet and sour dried fruits, plump and supple meat, kidney bean cake that was so soft that it melted in your mouth...
"Hey, what is that squeaking sound? Could it be that the little mouse is stealing something? Go get the mouse trap and see if I don't pinch its toes!"
"No, no... I'm eating, aunt, don't pinch my toes!"
Cai Zhao buried his head in the pillow, as if the gentle and joking woman's voice was still lingering in his ears.
When I opened my eyes, the room was quiet.
When she was young, little Cai Zhao never got enough sleep, so her aunt would put her cold hands into the quilt, grab her ears, like a chubby little lazy cat, and urge her to practice kung fu. At that time, the fragrant and soft bed was the most comfortable place for her. Nowadays, something seems different.
Over the past year, she has slept in many places.
The sect's bedding was clean and tidy but cold. One look at it revealed that it had not been exposed to the sun, but was directly blown dry by the mountain breeze that could blow people away; the bed frame of the country inn shook whenever it moved, and the bedding exuded a damp smell. , or smoked and dried with charcoal; the most bizarre thing is the Hague bed in the Paradise Palace, which is carved from a whole giant North Sea mother-of-pearl shell. It is inlaid with gold and jade from the head to the foot of the bed. I'm so embarrassed - the people in the Demon Cult really have very bad taste.
I don’t know if it’s because I’ve grown taller, but the bed at home feels a little cramped, not as comfortable as lying on the huge, cold bluestone in the cave where I’ve been facing the wall.
Cai Zhao got up, sat down at the table and poured himself a glass of cold water. The half-old white porcelain toad incense burner gradually cooled down, but still exhaled the sweet and gentle scent of citrus. This fragrant cake was steamed by Ning Xiaofeng with orange peels, borneol, agarwood, pear, etc. Cai Pingshu suffered from illness before her death, and only this incense could help her sleep peacefully.
After drinking the cold water in one gulp, Cai Zhao unconsciously looked at the incense ashes in the small porcelain stove again and again, full of meditation——
She and Fan Xingjia of Song Yuzhi arrived in Luoying Valley three days ago.
Cai Zhao was very happy to see that his parents were safe and sound. He also learned that Song Shijun had actually woken up twice, but he was too seriously injured and lay down again in a daze.
Seeing that Song Yuzhi was extremely sad, Cai Zhao couldn't help but comfort him: "Third senior brother, don't be too sad. Your third uncle is also a first-class figure in the world, not to mention he has decades more skill than your father. If the two of them work hard together, they will naturally There is damage. Now that your third uncle is almost over the age of seven, your father can still be saved."
Despite his harsh words, Song Yuzhi finally cheered up and devoted himself to serving his father every day, wiping himself and combing his hair, and helping Fan Xing prepare acupuncture and moxibustion decoctions when the family went in and out.
In the dead of night, Cai Zhao and Cai Ning entered the secret room and told their parents everything they had experienced over the past year.
After Cai Pingchun suddenly disappeared in Qingque Town, he discovered Qianxue Shen, the orphan of the Thousand Faces Sect, and went to the Snowy Mountains in the far north to search for the saliva of the Snow Lindra Beast. On the way, he met Zhou Zhiqin, Duan Jiuxiu, Snow Girl and others - this is It was the first time that she and Mu Qingyan knew the details about the "Purple Heart Sutra", and it was also the first time that she and Mu Qingyan learned about the story of Cai Pingshu and Mu Zhengyang.
Ning Xiaofeng was shocked: "Zhou Zhiqin has died in the Snowy Mountains! Sister Zhixian and the others thought he was still looking for his son's bones outside!"
"It turns out that there was such a secret about Chen Shu's death twenty years ago!" Cai Pingchun also changed his expression, "Zhou Zhiqin, huh, when I was young, I saw that he only had a light-hearted appearance, but in fact he was very unconvinced by Brother Zhizhen! No! To think that in order to practice evil arts, he actually colluded with demons from the Demon Cult!"
Cai Zhao was silent for a moment: "My daughter promised Yuki Onu and Qian Xueshen that she would never mention their affairs, so she never said anything."
"...You did the right thing." Ning Xiaofeng sighed, "Oh, they are both poor people in this world, let them live quietly in that snowy land. Sister Pingshu didn't do that back then. Without mentioning a word, I didn’t even know she had been to Snow Ridge.”
Next, Cai Zhao began to talk about rushing to the Hanhai Mountains with Song Yuzhi to help Mu Qingyan in the civil strife of the Pingding Demon Cult - Nie Zhe, Han Yisu, Yu Huiyin, Li Ruxin, Bone Erosion Tianyu, the majestic underground palace maze, Mu Donglie and Luo Shiyun ancient legend...
The most important thing is that before Nie Zhe and Sun Ruoshui were silenced, it was revealed that there was a mysterious person behind the scenes who had been colluding with the Demonic Cult for many years. The person behind Mu Zhengming's death and the murder of Changjia Wubao were both responsible for this person. Planned secretly.
After listening to this paragraph, Ning Xiaofeng's reaction was normal. First, he sighed deeply and said: "Oh, I didn't expect that the evildoers of the Demon Cult also have so many difficulties. This grudge lasts for several generations..."
Then his big almond-shaped eyes widened, "Zhao Zhao, your surname is Cai, not Luo. Don't let your imagination run wild after hearing a few ancient legends! What good will happen if you follow the demon sect? You can't go back to your home, you can't see your relatives, you can only hide. Go to the ends of the world, like a lonely ghost, you will remember it all!"
Cai Zhao did not continue to coax his mother as usual. After a moment of silence, he said softly: "The note left by Cai Changfeng's uncle said that there is a unique scenery in every corner of the world."
Ning Xiaofeng almost stared out of her eyes in anger and turned around: "Brother Xiaochun, look at this damn girl..." Only then did she realize that her husband's reaction was very unusual.
Cai Pingchun frowned and was lost in thought for a long time. After hearing this, he raised his head and said, "Nie Zhe actually has a son. Isn't he infertile?"
Both mother and daughter were surprised. Although the reasons for their surprise were different, they quickly asked Cai Pingchun how he knew.
"Didn't Zhao Tianba send someone to seize brother Miao Jianshi's family heirloom halberd that year, and beat his uncle Miao half to death. Brother Miao was so angry that he took his sister to capture Nie Zhe, so as to blackmail him. Nie Hengcheng." Cai Pingchun said.
Ning Xiaofeng was confused: "Why don't I know this?"
"Because this is Zhao Tianba's condition." Cai Pingchun said, "He sent someone to tell my sister that he hoped that the two parties would trade secretly, handing over the person with one hand and the halberd with the other. At that time, he could say that he was careless, and the Miao family's halberd was stolen again. Sister and the others took it back. But if the news of this matter spreads, with Nie Hengchen's ruthless temper, he would rather lose his useless nephew than bow his head and endure the anger."
"This man named Zhao is very kind. He would rather be punished by his master." Cai Zhaodao.
Cai Pingchun said: "The old devil's disciples are all very filial. Although Zhao Tianba despises Nie Zhe, he can't bear to think that Nie Hengcheng will have no wife and children throughout his life, so he can't bear to damage the Nie family's bloodline."
"Later, what does this have to do with whether Nie Zhe can have children?" Ning Xiaofeng asked.
"My sister and Brother Miao went out to negotiate with Zhao Tianba, and I was ordered to guard Nie Zhe." Cai Pingchun said, "At that time, Nie Zhe was slightly injured, so I asked Lao Huang to help diagnose and treat the injuries. Unexpectedly, Lao Huang came out secretly. He said to me, 'The boy named Nie suffered from gills when he was young, which has left him with troubles in the future. I'm afraid he won't have any trouble in the future'."
Ning Xiaofeng was surprised: "Isn't Lao Huang a wine seller? Ha, it turns out you locked Nie Zhe in Lao Huang's wine cellar."
"Lao Huang was not born to sell wine. His family has been practicing medicine for generations, especially Lao Huang's mother, who specializes in treating various pediatric diseases." Cai Pingchun said, "With Lao Huang's temperament, he will not take things lightly if he is unsure. Open your mouth."
Ning Xiaofeng was a little confused, "Where did Nie Zhe's son come from?"
Cai Pingchun touched the table with his fingers dipped in tea, and suddenly smiled and said, "I'm afraid it was caused by the affair between Yu Huiyin and Li Ruxin. Look..."
——The word 'Yu Huiyin' is written horizontally on the table, and the word 'Li Ruxin' is written horizontally below it. Cai Pingchun combines the word 'Yin' with the word '心', which happens to be the word 'En', Nie Si'en's 'kindness'.
Cai Zhao was convinced: "Dad, you are really good at predicting things, it is true."
While resting in a small tent on a tree in the dense forest, she once asked Lu Fengchun and others what happened to them. Mu Qingyan said in an understatement - Nie Zhe was indeed infertile, and Nie Si'en was indeed the son of Li Ruxin and Yu Huiyin.
She thought again, no wonder Uncle Zhou always said that her father was young and mature, clumsy in speech and wise in heart. Cai Pingchun knew many things clearly in his heart, but he saw it so clearly that he had nothing to say.
"Dad." Cai Zhao's heart moved, "Who else knows about Nie Zhe?"
"This transaction was settled in less than three days, and there were only four of us who knew about it." Cai Pingchun said, "Sister, I don't like to expose people's shortcomings the most, so I shouldn't say it. I didn't say it. It didn't take long for Lao Huang to get old. The injury recurred and he died, but Brother Miao..."
He was a little hesitant, "Brother Miao probably won't publicize this private matter of the Third Road everywhere, but he may mention it to people close to him."
Cai Zhao held his breath: "Who is Uncle Miao best friends with?"
A vague idea came to her mind. Previously, Mu Qingyan said that the person behind the scenes threatened Lu Fengchun to accumulate weapons and food outside, forcing him to rebel. So what did he threaten Huiyin for?
According to Cai Zhao, Yu Huiyin was not an ambitious person who just did what he said. He must have something that could ruin his reputation forever before he mustered up the courage to stab Hu Fengge.
Mu Qingyan also accidentally discovered this secret when he was conducting a comprehensive investigation of the traitor's background. Li Ruxin and Yu Huiyin have rarely interacted with each other for decades, and ordinary people would not think about this place for no reason.
"Not much, but not much. But..." Cai Pingchun seemed to have guessed what his daughter was thinking, "Your master and Brother Miao's younger brother who died young were born in the same year and month, so Brother Miao pays special attention to your master."
Cai Zhao was confused and his face turned pale. Seeing her father's expression as normal, she couldn't help but said: "Dad, aren't you worried at all that the person who repeatedly commits evil behind the scenes might be someone very close to us?"
Cai Pingchun said calmly: "Luoying Valley has been peaceful and stable for two hundred years because it relied on being independent and paying little attention to the disputes in the world. Without the coldness and coldness of generations, it would not be alive today."
Cai Zhao was at a loss, and Ning Xiaofeng patted her daughter's little hand and motioned for her to continue talking.
After Mu Qingyan regained the religious power, Cai Zhao remained honest in the Qingque Sect for a long time, until he went to Changjia Wubao to pay tribute, and the peace was broken again. She and Mu Qingyan discovered Lu Chengnan's underground tomb, and estimated the secluded place of the Shi family brothers from the buried objects. After a rainy night attack, they were finally picked up by the reclusive Shi family.
Shi Tieshan conveyed Lu Chengnan's last words to the two of them, as well as the reason for Nie Hengcheng's rebellious behavior and crazy killings in his later years - this was also the second time they learned the secrets of the "Purple Heart Sutra".
