The person who sent the letter is Gao Yuan, the senior brother of Liuhe Sect.
Zhao Lin was shocked. Why did his senior brother write to him?
With Master Zhu Huaishan here, Gao Yuan should not contact him alone, unless there is something particularly serious, even Master must hide it.
Besides, I just received a letter from Master a few days ago, and this letter has been coming my way.
No matter how you look at it, you feel that there is something unusual in it.
Zhao Lin grabbed the letter, his fingers turning slightly white. For some reason, he didn't want to open the letter.
"Is the letter delivered correctly?" Seeing Zhao Lin in a daze, the servant asked.
"Yes, it's mine. Thank you for your hard work."
Zhao Lin smiled, dismissed the servants, turned and walked into the yard, sat down in front of the steps, and slowly opened the letter.
The first sentence that caught his eye made his heart tighten: "Junior Brother Zhao, the master died of a sudden illness yesterday..."
Master is dead!
Zhao Lin couldn't believe his eyes, staring at the first few words without blinking.
Master said a few days ago that he was in good health and would come to Yanzhou next year. Why did he suddenly die suddenly?
His mind was in chaos. After a moment, he picked up the envelope on the ground. The signature read: Qinghe County, Liuhemen, Gaoyuan...
That's right, it's Senior Brother.
Zhao Lin rubbed his temples and turned his attention to the letter again.
There is not much content in the letter, only a few words. Gao Yuan said that his master died of a sudden illness and his brothers were taking care of the funeral arrangements.
Let Zhao Lin be sad and obedient. There is no need to rush back. It is important to practice in Xingyun.
Zhao Lin read the letter over and over again, feeling extremely confused.
Although the master is old, he is still a martial arts practitioner and has a strong body. Logically speaking, it is not a big problem to live another ten or eight years.
Could it be that Master was lying to himself, that his life was actually in danger and he didn't want to distract himself?
Thinking of this, Zhao Lin returned to his room, took out the letter his master wrote to him last time, and read it carefully.
I want to read between the lines to find words about final instructions or last words.
However, there are no such words.
"No, there is no need for Master to lie to me."
Zhao Lin frowned as he looked at the senior brother's name on the signature.
The senior brother is an honest, mature and considerate person. Is it possible that he deliberately did not tell the truth in order to make himself feel at ease while cultivating in the Xingyun Sect?
If the master did not die of illness, then who might be the murderer?
The remnants of the Zuanshanbao gang?
Zhao Lin shook his head.
All the bandit leaders were dead, and the only ones left were ordinary ones. The master's cultivation level was so great that he couldn't even get close to him.
Conflict with other sects?
It's also unlikely. The master has a calm temperament and won't go into battle personally when encountering such a thing.
Besides, the sects have their own rules, and even if they fight with fists, they will not attack an old man.
Everyone gets old one day.
Zhao Lin thought about it and considered several possibilities, but he still could not accept the reason of sudden illness.
The sun was shining down and his body was warm, but he felt his heart was gloomy, and the master's voice and smile flashed through his mind.
"No, I have to go back and figure this out!"
"It would be fine if the master really died of illness, but if someone harmed him..."
Zhao Lin gritted his teeth, stood up suddenly, and strode out the door.
…
Water mirror ministry, retreat room.
"What? You want to take a leave of absence?"
Elder Shui Jing's face was full of astonishment. He was stunned for a while and then said: "Where to go? How long?"
"Responding to the state, the shortest time is one month, the long time...should not exceed two months."
Zhao Lin said in a deep voice.
"The competition will be held in two days. Why do you have to leave at this time? I remember that your family has been brought to Yanzhou. What else can happen?"
Elder Shui Jing was speechless. He originally expected Zhao Lin to give the Shui Jing Department a place in the competition.
"My master passed away." Zhao Lin looked sad.
"Ah, this..."
Elder Shui Jing fell silent and didn't know what to say for a moment. After a while, he said, "My condolences."
As he spoke, he reached out and patted Zhao Lin on the shoulder to express comfort.
"We are warriors who don't stick to trivial matters. Let's not mention Chunbi for now. It doesn't matter if you miss it in the first year, but you now have one foot on the threshold of the third level of Qi Realm."
"Cultivating is at a critical juncture. I suggest that you should delay attending the funeral for a while. It won't be too late to go back after cultivating to the third level of Qi Realm. I believe that your master has a spirit in heaven and will not blame you."
"Besides, aren't there other brothers in your sect?"
Shui Jing persuaded him earnestly.
"Elder, this disciple must go back."
Zhao Lin's voice was not loud, but his tone was extremely firm.
Shui Jing sighed helplessly. It was hard to persuade him any more. After all, he was still half of Zhao Lin's teacher. If he continued to persuade him, it would be equivalent to telling Zhao Lin that he didn't need to respect his teachers.
"Okay, I will explain it to you about Chunbi."
"You are leaving the sect temporarily, and try not to delay your practice. I will ask the Medicine Pavilion to deliver the daily practice medicine for you to take on the way."
"But we can only prepare a month's supply of medicine at most. You try to get there as soon as possible."
Zhao Linzhong nodded and said gratefully: "Thank you, elder, for your help."
Elder Shui Jing nodded slightly and asked, "When are you going to set off?"
"Without further delay, disciple will leave tomorrow."
"Then go early and come back early. The sect doesn't have to worry."
…
In the early morning of the next day, Zhao Lin left Yongning City carrying his baggage.
He went back home yesterday afternoon and told his parents that he was going on a long trip. However, he did not mention the news of his master's death. He only said that he was working for the sect and would not be back for about a month.
He came to the carriage and horse shop in the south of the city and bought a yellow gelding for fifty taels of silver.
Yanzhou is located on the border, and horses are relatively cheap. However, what he bought was not a stage horse for pulling carts, but a retired stage horse that was good at running. The price was two or three times more expensive.
Yingzhou is in the southwest of Yanzhou. Zhao Lin was riding horses all the way. The horse was too tired to run anymore, so he found a place to sell it at a cheap price, and then bought a new one to go on the road.
In order to rush for time, you can no longer worry about money.
The odor left on a person's body can generally be retained for three to five days, and under special circumstances it can be retained for more than ten days or even longer.
Zhao Lin was not sure about the cause of his master's death. If he wanted to track down the murderer, he might have to use his sense of smell. The sooner he got to the scene, the better.
In mid-March, the grass grows outside Qinghe County and orioles fly.
A tall young man walked up the official road leading to the west gate, with a dusty look on his face.
"I didn't expect that after more than half a year, I would be back here again."
Zhao Lin looked at the familiar city gate and sighed to himself.
It took a month to go from Yingzhou to Yanzhou, but it only took ten days to come back. Apart from eating and sleeping, I spent most of the time on the road. It was a journey day and night.
Rushing back in such a hurry, Zhao Lin did not go directly to Liuhemen. Instead, he bought a pair of coarse clothes and a white sweat towel at a clothing store.
Then he bought dark pearl powder at a gouache shop and applied it on his face to darken his face before heading to Qingchun Street where Liuhemen is located.
After changing his clothes and putting the sweat towel on his shoulders, ordinary people would only think that he was Lifu from the dock.
Zhao Lin didn't want others to know that he was back, at least until he found out the truth.
Today's Liuhemen is much deserted than in the past. There are only a few apprentices practicing listlessly in the yard.
Standing not far across the street, Zhao Lin frowned slightly as he observed secretly.
With his current hearing ability, he could hear sounds from the entire street.
After listening for a while just now, I found that there were very few people in Liuhemen, and none of the senior brothers were there.
I was a little worried. Could something happen to my senior brothers?
"Xiaofan, do you think I am doing the right thing by opening my bow from left to right? Why do I always feel awkward?"
"Brother Huang, I got started later than you, why do you still ask about me?"
"Aren't all the senior brothers going out of the city to pay their respects? Who else can I ask..."
Zhao Lin breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that he had thought too much, so he calmly waited for his senior brothers to return.
Near noon, three men and one woman walked quickly down the street.
These four people were all wearing linen clothes and white cloth on their heads. They looked solemn and just walked with their heads down.
The leader is Senior Brother Gao Yuan, followed by Second Senior Brother Fu Guangming, Fourth Senior Sister Zhang Ying, and Sixth Senior Brother Qian Chengfei.
"Why aren't third senior brother Yuan Cheng and fifth senior brother Chu Liu here?"
Zhao Lin was puzzled, but he didn't step forward to question them directly and watched them pass by.
Until the truth is found out, no one can get away with it.
"Senior Brother, is there any news about Fifth Senior Brother from Senior Brother Yuan?"
Qian Chengfei suddenly asked.
Before Gao Yuan could answer, Fu Guangming's face darkened and he said coldly: "What fifth senior brother? That beast Chu Liu deserves it..."
Gao Yuan turned around and stopped him: "Let's talk about it when we get back. Don't let others hear the joke."
"yes."
Fu Guangming and Qian Chengfei responded at the same time.
The four people hurriedly entered the Liuhe Gate, and the door closed with a bang.
Zhao Lin froze for a long time without moving.
The information revealed in just a few sentences allowed him to make a rough guess.
The death of the master is related to the fifth senior brother... Bah, Chu Liu!
Zhao Lin felt angry.
The master was extremely kind to Chu Liu and would not give up no matter what mistakes he made.
With Chu Liu's frivolous, lustful and unyielding temperament, he would not be able to stay in any sect.
"Master is above me, but my disciples are incompetent. We haven't caught that thief Chu Liu so far..."
Gao Yuan came to Zhu Huaishan's study alone, offered a stick of incense and bowed to the memorial tablet.
"It seems that the murderer is Chu Liu and has nothing to do with senior brother."
Zhao Lin understood clearly, so he called a child playing on the street, took out a few copper coins from his arms, and said gently: "Little brother, please give me something, I will give you this money..."
The child happily took the money, ran to Liuhe Gate and banged on the door.
"Who are you looking for?"
The apprentice opened the door and saw a ten-year-old child. He thought it was a prank and said impatiently.
"Give this to Senior Brother Gao."
The child handed over a letter.
The apprentice took it and took a look, only to see four words written on the envelope: Personally signed by Gao Yuan.
"Who gave it to you?"
The apprentice opened his mouth to ask, but found that the child had gone somewhere.
"strangeness……"
The apprentice muttered something and walked to the backyard. He happened to see Gao Yuan coming out of the study and handed the letter over, "Senior Brother, someone is delivering a letter to you outside."
"who is it?"
Gao Yuan took the letter and asked casually.
"A kid ran away after delivering the letter."
Gao Yuan opened the letter, glanced at it, and his expression changed instantly.
…
In a tea shop on Qingchun Street, Gao Yuan and Zhao Lin sat opposite each other.
"When did you break through to the second level of Qi Realm?"
Gao Yuan couldn't hide the shock in his eyes.
He didn't know that Zhao Lin had been hiding his strength at the beginning. He only remembered that Zhao Lin was still in the realm of strength when he left. In just over half a year, he had reached the same cultivation level as himself. The speed was simply beyond his imagination.
"Now is not the time to discuss this."
Zhao Lin waved his hand, stared at Gao Yuan and said, "Master is not seriously ill, why don't you tell me the truth?"
Gao Yuan sighed, "Yanzhou is thousands of miles away from here. It's not easy for you to practice in Xingyun Sect. I want to wait until the matter is settled before I tell you the truth."
Zhao Lin grabbed the teacup and took a sip, "Tell me, how did Master die?"
Gao Yuan lowered his eyes and said, "Since you left, Chu Liu has been asking me about your whereabouts."
There was a trace of regret on his face as he said, "It's my fault that I couldn't hold it back. I couldn't bear to be entangled by him, so I told the master about sending you to the Xingyun Sect. I think it was from that time that he started to hold a grudge against the master."
"I originally thought that Master was going to make a big fuss when he came back, but he acted like he didn't know about it and stayed calm for a while, so I felt relieved..."
Zhao Lin turned the empty cup in his hand and listened silently to Gao Yuan's story.
It turned out that on the second day of February, Zhu Huaishan called Chu Liu to the study to reprimand him for some unknown reason.
"Have you ever worked hard? Not to mention comparing with several senior fellow apprentices, all the apprentices in the front yard work harder than you!"
"With your talent, you can only rank among the best in Qinghe County. Looking at Yingzhou, who do you think you are?"
"If you do something like this again in the future, don't come here again..."
After a while, Chu Liu's voice came from inside.
"Why don't you work hard? I already know what you taught me. You are obviously partial!"
"Why are you so nice to the mud-legged guy named Zhao? I'm already at the second level of Qi Realm. Why don't you send me to Xingquzong."
"Why don't you give me a chance..."
The two had a big quarrel. Gao Yuan and Yuan Cheng didn't expect Chu Liu to dare to talk back to their master, and they were shocked. They hurried into the study to persuade the master to calm down, while reprimanding Chu Liu.
"Hurry up and admit your mistake to Master!"
Chu Liu didn't listen at all and walked out directly, threatening never to stay at Liuhemen again.
Zhu Huaishan was so angry that he was shaking all over. He wanted to rebuild the "family tree" on the spot and remove Chu Liu from the family.
Unexpectedly, Chu Liu came back in the afternoon. Not only did he take the initiative to admit his mistake, he also knelt outside the study and refused to get up.
He knelt down for the whole afternoon. Zhu Huaishan finally relented and his anger subsided, and he opened his mouth to let him in.
Chu Liu entered the study and soon came out with a happy face.
Gao Yuan thought that the master and the disciple had reconciled, so he stepped forward and asked, "Lao Wu, has master forgive you?"
Chu Liu smiled and said "Yeah" and said, "Don't worry, Master is a little tired. Don't disturb him." After that, he went out on his own.
Several disciples believed it and continued to practice in the backyard. However, when it was almost dark, Zhu Huaishan still did not come out.
Now they felt something was wrong, so they walked into the study together and found that Zhu Huaishan had been dead for a long time, with a sharp knife inserted in his heart.
(End of chapter)
