Quiet night whispers, autumn insects chirp.
Lu Anran stood at the foot of Yanshan Mountain, looking up through the faint starlight. The road was very bumpy and difficult to walk, and some of it was even covered by branches and weeds.
Yun Qi lit a fire stick, handed it over and said, "Light it."
Lu Anran took the fire fold and shook it upward to make sure there was no road behind, "Go here?"
"This place is close to the back mountain, and no one is guarding it." Yun Qi said: "After Yin Subaru's accident, no one was guarding the scene, but there are two people on duty on the way into the back mountain every day. You have to mention the punishment department. People, logically speaking, can’t go there.”
Lu Anran took a step forward, "Okay..." A hand suddenly wrapped around her waist, and the next words were stuck in her mouth.
"The waist is quite thin." Yun Qi raised his lips and smiled.
Lu Anran's face froze, and when she was about to break free, she asked someone to restrain her left arm. Yun Qi said almost close to her ear: "Don't move. If you fall down later and break your leg or foot, I will not be responsible." in the end."
His body was under control, especially when Mian Silk's breath was blowing against his ears. The unprecedented feeling made Lu Anran's whole body tremble slightly. Something spread from his heart, a tingling and weird feeling.
Lu Anran frowned. She was not used to such a strange and strange feeling.
Yun Qi chuckled and said, "Let's go."
The vegetation in front of her was like floating light, and the wind blew into her ears. Lu Anran squinted her eyes and couldn't see the direction in the dark night, but she could clearly feel the body temperature and heartbeat of the person hugging her.
This was the second time Yunqi used Qinggong to lead her on a journey, but the previous time he was secretly speculating on Yunqi's intentions all the way, ignoring the surrounding environment.
But this time, she could clearly feel that the skin where she was being held was uncontrollably hot.
Her calm heart was beating wildly as the warm breath blew out from close to her head.
Facts have proved that the shortcut Yunqi was looking for was very effective. After almost a cup of tea, the two of them were standing on the ground in the back mountain.
Qinggong was so convenient, Lu Anran suddenly thought of Mo Yan's other uses besides being a carriage driver.
Mo Yan: I have an ominous premonition.
"Can't bear to leave my prince's arms?" Yun Qi said with a smile.
Lu Anran suddenly woke up, took a few steps back, and frowned: "Your Majesty, can you speak and act in moderation?"
"No." Yunqi stepped forward, walking gracefully among the withered grass, as if he was strolling through his own back garden, "Unless you jump down now and climb up again."
Lu Anran pursed her lips and followed Yun Qi silently.
The road was difficult to walk, and it was even harder to walk after dark. Lu Anran tripped over gravel and grass several times. If she hadn't been calm-minded, she would have screamed a few times if she had been there.
After walking for a while, the person in front suddenly stopped, and Lu Anran raised his eyes with confusion.
Yun Qi stretched out a noble right hand and said, "You can lend me my prince's arm."
Lu Anran: "Thank you, that's not necessary."
The clouds dispersed in the wind and laughed softly, "Don't worry, I will not count your favor debt this time."
Lu Anran glanced at him quietly, brushed aside the branches sticking out from the side, crossed Yunqi and walked in front. The next moment, his arm was suddenly grabbed.
Lu Anran fell backwards with inertia, and unconsciously let out a low cry, and covered his mouth.
"Don't stare at me." Yunqi came closer and said in a low voice, "There is someone."
After calming down, Lu Anran looked in the direction indicated by Yun Qi, and sure enough he saw an open fire burning in the distance.
The fire was not big, but it was very obvious in the dark night, and she could still smell the pungent smell of smoke.
"Thanks to your short legs, if you had taken a few steps faster, you might have disturbed the other person." Yun Qi said.
Lu Anran ignored the words "little short legs", moved his head left and right to let Yun Qi let go, and said with confusion in his eyes: "Who will come?"
The firelight danced in Yunqi's dark eyes, and there was a hint of excitement: "Today is the seventh day of Yin Subaru. Who do you think will come over at this time to burn paper money for him?"
"Relatives..." Lu Anran said slowly: "Maybe someone with evil intentions."
Yun Qi: "We'll find out if we catch him and ask him."
—
The wind blows, the clouds move quickly, and the stars rise and fall.
Half of the thousand-year-old tree that had been struck by lightning was missing, but the remaining branches were still stubbornly stretched out. In the rich dark night, they looked like decayed and ancient people, vicissitudes of life, sad, and lifeless.
A weak flame sprang up, and the air was filled with papery smoke.
In addition, it seems that the residual smell of burnt and blood can be vaguely smelled.
A piece of paper was lifted from the fire by the wind, jumped three times on the ground, was grabbed back by a pale and trembling hand, and was thrown into the fire again.
"Collect the money, collect the money quickly, I'll give it all to you..." One person squatted on the ground and muttered, his face almost buried in his knees, and he nervously repeated who should collect the money.
Finally, the stack of paper money was burned. Seeing that the paper swallowed by the flames slowly turned into ashes, the man seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and said, "Just put it away, just put it away."
Before the fire was completely extinguished, he took out a sea bowl from the basket next to him, opened half a large circle with his hand, and pretended to spill all the contents, when his wrist suddenly asked someone to grab it.
"Ah!" The paper-burner exclaimed, and when his hand loosened, the bowl hit the ground.
"You're pretending to be a ghost at night, and you still know how to be afraid?" The joking and laughing voice sounded particularly careless in the empty back hill.
Before the frightened man could fully react, a petite man came out of the darkness. He spoke in a female voice, and his voice was particularly cold: "Don't be scared to death, there are many lives."
"Tsk, it's so strange that just one person dies in a place where people have died before."
"It's not easy to deal with."
The man almost went crazy listening to the words of the two people who suddenly appeared. Did he encounter a murderous bandit?
After Yun Qi and Lu Anran sang threats together, they rekindled the fire.
after a cup of tea
Three people sat down next to the big tree that had been struck by lightning. A pile of dead wood was piled up in front of them, and a bonfire was burning, matching the starlight.
The orange-red firelight made the young man's face look even paler. His eyes were wandering as if he was still frightened. His hands subconsciously hugged his knees, and he huddled up. His lips trembled three times and made a trembling sound.
"Yun, Prince Yun, you, you, how did you get here?"
Yun Qi threw a dead branch in, glanced at him, and said in a nonchalant tone: "Investigate the case, arrest—" He deliberately prolonged his tone and evoked a sneer, "The murderer!"
"Ah!" The young man was so excited that he almost fell back.
Lu Anran stared at the young man intently for a moment, then said, "Wuka, do you have a good relationship with Yin Subaru?"
The timid young man was Wuka from Lanzhou County. Hearing this question, Wuka quickly shook his head, "No, no, no, no, Yin Subaru and I are not familiar with each other."
Lu Anran didn't need his answer, so he thought to himself: "Today is the seventh day of the Yin Pleiades. The soul of a normal person will return home on the first seventh day after death, cut off the relationship with the world, and enter the Nether Palace of the Underworld." Speaking of this, the words are sharp. After a turn, he suddenly said: "But Yin Subaru died of homicide, his head was separated, his death was tragic, and he would not be able to travel with peace of mind because of the horror after death."
Yun Qi propped his head and said lazily: "Be careful he turns into a ghost. Come to the crime scene tonight to seek revenge on the murderer."
The dead branches exploded with a crackling sound, and the flames shot up like fire snakes. Uka's heart skipped a beat, and his lips turned pale white, "You're not with me, it doesn't matter, no, no, you're not looking for the wrong person. "
Lu Anran looked at him, "What are you doing here?"
Uka buried his head, with a bit of struggle in his eyes.
Yunqi picked up a long branch and carelessly stirred the burning fire, which made a constant crackling sound. The sounds seemed to hit Wuka's heart, making him more and more confused.
"I'm here to find the murderer." Finally, after gritting his teeth, Uka raised his head and said.
Yun Qi raised his eyebrows, pointed to a bit of ashes next to him, and sneered: "Can you still find the murderer by burning paper money?"
Wuka stretched out his hands and rubbed his face vigorously, took a breath and said: "Prince Yun, you are the Prime Minister of the Criminal Division. Originally, I said this because I was afraid that you would say that I have strange powers and disordered spirits, but this method is indeed unique to my mother's family. The secret of passing on.”
"On the seventh day of the deceased's return to the soul, burn paper money to summon him, and then use hen's blood to guide the way," Uka pointed to the blood spilled on the ground and said: "Then apply cow's tears on the eyelids to communicate with yin and yang. "
Uka took out a small porcelain vase, which probably contained the cow's tears from his mouth.
"I want to use this method to let Yin Subaru guide me who the murderer is."
Yunqi had some objections to the pool of blood, so he swept away the dead branches in his hand and covered it directly, making Uka slump his shoulders with great regret.
"You are not familiar with Yin Subaru, but you still bother to help him find the murderer?" Yun Qi raised his peach blossom eyes and said with a half-smile, "It's very touching."
Wuka's face was slightly embarrassed, he avoided Yunqi's gaze, dug his fingernails into his palms, and muttered: "Yes, no, I am doing it for Brother Xu."
Lu Anran said: "Xu Shaokai."
Uka nodded sadly: "Well, Brother Xu is a very just and loyal person. He has helped me a lot. But something happened to him now. After much thought, I can only try this method."
"Before Yin Subaru's accident, Xu Shaokai had several arguments with him. He even fought and was imprisoned. This was the motive. Later on the night of the incident, someone saw Xu Shaokai leaving the yard at the same time as Yin Subaru's death time. This is a witness." Lu Anran said straightforwardly: "Xu Shaokai is a martial arts practitioner. He can easily subdue Yin Pleiades. Moreover, Xu Shaokai often helps his family members slaughter and skin them. His techniques are very skilled. This is the condition."
Wuka asked Lu Anran to be stunned for a long time. He had nothing to say for a long time, and then he said in a daze for a long time: "Even if it is like this, I believe that Brother Xu will not kill anyone." In the confusion in his mind, he suddenly found a clue, "...I can also testify that Brother Xu didn't leave the yard that night until he turned off the lights at midnight."
Lu Anran's eyes met his, and her clear eyes seemed to be able to see through all the thoughts of a person, causing Uka to subconsciously avoid looking at him.
"Did you really see it?"
Wuka bit his lower lip, his whole body shivering in the cold mountain wind at night, "I, I..." Suddenly he clenched his fist and took the initiative to meet Lu Anran's eyes. His timid look became more awe-inspiring, "I really saw it."
Yun Qi and Lu Anran exchanged a look, and the latter said: "I hope you will be so firm when the government is trying the case."
Uka: "Huh?"
Yun Qi threw away the dead branches that were burned to the length of his fingers, stood up and patted the dust from the grass and trees, "Let's go, it's up to the government to investigate the case. What's the use of your bowl of goose blood."
Uka resisted weakly: "Chicken blood."
Lu Anran walked around the scene a few more times before the three of them left the back mountain.
