At Chenshi, Tangchang County, where the gong was sounded last night, Xu Shouguang squatted at the entrance of the alley, carefully inspecting every corner. Chao Qiandai followed Xu Shouguang. She didn't know what Xu Shouguang was looking for. She just followed Xu Shouguang's example and searched blindly.
"What are you looking for?" Chao Qiandai frowned slightly after looking at it for a long time without finding anything special.
"Of course we are looking for clues..." Xu Shouguang continued to lower his head and carefully inspected the base of the wall.
"...I know we're looking for clues, but what I'm asking is what exactly are the clues?"
"How did I know..."
Chao Qiandai asked in vain, he simply stopped looking, squatted behind and held his chin in his hands, looking around boredly. After a while, Xu Shouguang heard Chao Qiandai behind him whisper to him in a low voice: "Hey, hey, hey, look at that person on the street corner over there, his eyes seem to be looking towards us from time to time..."
Xu Shouguang immediately looked back and saw a man squatting on the opposite corner of the street. Sure enough, he was looking this way. Seeing Xu Shouguang turn around, he hurriedly lowered his head and pretended to weave a bamboo basket. Xu Shouguang looked carefully and saw that this man looked familiar. Wasn't he the one who sounded the gong last night?
Xu Shouguang simply stood up and walked towards the man in a swaggering manner. The man was still pretending to weave the bamboo basket. He raised his eyes and saw Xu Shouguang right in front of him. Knowing that his identity had been recognized, he had no choice but to raise his head awkwardly and smiled at Xu Shouguang, "Xu Shaoxia, I just didn't see you. you..."
"Don't explain, it doesn't matter, I just want to ask you something..."
"...What does Xu Shaoxia want to ask?"
"Is it you who saw the ghost bird last night?"
"Yes, when the villain saw the ghost bird, he immediately lit the Kongming lantern and then sounded the gong without any delay!"
"What does that ghost bird look like?"
"...This...little man didn't even see clearly..."
"I didn't see it clearly... Then how are you sure it's a ghost bird?"
"Wings! Because of wings! The villain only saw a dark shadow in the darkness of the alley. The shadow was less than a person tall, but it had a pair of large wings on its shoulders. The tips of the wings were dragging on the ground. It looked very weird. How could anyone think of it? It looks like that, so the villain knows it is a ghost bird."
"Then is there anything special about this ghost bird?"
"Oh, I don't know this little guy. At that time, the little guy was busy setting off lanterns and sounding gongs. How could he have time to take a closer look..."
Xu Shouguang asked some other questions. Seeing that the man didn't say anything more useful, he returned to Chao Qiandai.
"What did you ask?"
"Nothing, it's just that the real culprit seems to be a bird..."
"Impossible! Guhuo birds will not eat children!" Chao Qiandai was anxious.
"I don't know, we need more clues... Let's go and have a look near the Fugui Inn." After that, Xu Shouguang led Chao Qiandai towards the Fugui Inn.
There were not many pedestrians on this road, so the two of them walked one behind the other. Suddenly, Xu Shouguang seemed to have thought of something and stopped suddenly. Chao Qiandai, who was following behind him, didn't pay attention and bumped into Xu Shouguang's back.
"Ouch... why did it stop suddenly?" Chao Qiandai asked, rubbing his head.
Xu Shouguang didn't answer, but turned around and stared at Chao Qiandai for a long time.
"What's wrong?" Chao Qiandai couldn't help but blush slightly when he saw Xu Shouguang looking at him.
"I was just thinking, you look like a human from top to bottom, left and right, how did you become a Guhuo bird?"
"So that's what you want to ask..." Chao Qian said with a slightly disappointed expression, but she immediately took off a hairpin from the bun on her head and handed it to Xu Shouguang, "It's because of it!"
"It?" Xu Shouguang looked at the golden hairpin in front of him that was shaped like a bird feather and confirmed to Chao Qiandai.
"Well, it's called Feather Hairpin. It was originally a pair. As long as I pour my true energy into this hairpin, I can transform into a Guhuo bird..."
"So powerful..." Xu Shouguang reached out and took the hairpin curiously.
The moment Xu Shouguang's finger touched the hairpin, the feathers on the feather hairpin seemed to come alive and began to flutter. Then the feathers gave birth to two, then four, and in just a few breaths, many more feathers were produced. These feathers are arranged together in an orderly manner, forming a black and white picture.
The black and white picture shows an extremely prosperous city, with busy traffic and crowds of people on the streets. A man with a resolute face was riding on a horse. A small official in a green robe on the roadside greeted him warmly: "Lord Abe, don't you need to enter the palace today?"
The man smiled and said: "Hahaha, it's sunny and sunny today, what are you doing in the palace? You should go for an outing, hahaha..."
The green-robed official looked envious, thinking that he had stayed in Chang'an City for half his life and had never entered the palace, but this man in front of him...
"By the way, don't call me Lord Abe anymore. I have a new name, Chao Heng!"
Immediately afterwards, the scene changed, Chao Heng had already rode to the foot of a mountain and saw mountain flowers blooming all over the mountains and fields, which was very beautiful. Chao Heng became very interested, so he simply dismounted, tied the horse to a big tree at the foot of the hillside, and walked forward while admiring the scenery.
Perhaps it was because the beautiful scenery of the mountains and fields was so overwhelming that Chao Heng didn’t know how far he had walked. Suddenly, a heavy fog arose in the mountains and fields. Chao Heng could not tell the direction in the heavy fog and did not dare to go any further, so he had to return along the same path he came from. But the fog was too thick. After Chao Heng took a few steps, he couldn't even find the previous footprints. In desperation, Chao Heng had no choice but to brave the fog and move forward.
Gradually, the fog became thinner, and Chao Heng found that the scene in front of him was very unfamiliar. It was a forest full of spring, and it did not look like the way he came. Chao Heng knew that he was lost, but when he thought about the vast sea of fog, instead of groping around in it, it was better to keep moving forward. Maybe he could find another way back, so Chao Heng continued to explore along the forest.
The scenery in this forest is also very beautiful. It is spring at this time, and the trees are beginning to sprout green buds. Many unnamed wild flowers are blooming on the ground, and beautiful butterflies are dancing with colorful patterns on their wings. , adding a bit of poetry to this forest.
Chao Heng was walking in the forest, and he could vaguely hear the sound of water coming from far ahead. Chao Heng followed the sound of water and came to a lake. The water was sparkling, and a group of small fish were swimming in the water. They jumped from time to time. Coming out of the water, there was a splash of water. The lakeside is covered with various flowers, plants and trees, and the colorful flowers sway in the breeze, exuding bursts of fragrance.
Chao Heng closed his eyes and listened to the sound of water and the breeze blowing through the leaves. At this time, a burst of melodious singing came to Chao Heng's ears. The sound was like a spring breeze, gently blowing through his heart, making him intoxicated and lingering. Chao Heng curiously turned his head in the direction of the singing, and saw a beautiful girl in the waves with her back to him. Her black and bright hair was spread over her shoulders, falling like a waterfall. Her shoulders were as smooth and delicate as white jade. The water drops slipped from her skin, like a string of crystal pearls, shining with charming light. The girl was singing a song while combing her hair with a comb. At this time, Chao Heng's eyes seemed to be unable to move away anymore, and they stayed on the graceful back of the girl in the lake for a long time.
A burst of rapid bird chirping suddenly sounded, and the girl turned back to look here, and happened to catch Chao Heng's eyes. I saw that the girl's appearance was delicate and beautiful, like a blooming flower. Her face is fair and delicate, her eyebrows are picturesque, and her eyes are bright and energetic, revealing a trace of innocence and innocence. Her nose is straight and three-dimensional, and the slightly upturned tip of her nose adds a bit of playfulness. The girl's lips are red and plump, and her chin is slender and well-proportioned with smooth lines, showing an elegant temperament.
The girl suddenly saw a stranger and immediately screamed in surprise. This sound immediately brought Chao Heng back from fantasy to reality. Realizing his impoliteness, Chao Heng quickly turned his head to one side, closed his eyes tightly, and kept chanting: "See no evil, see no evil, see no evil..." until after a while, there seemed to be no movement around him. Only then did Chao Heng dare to open his eyes slightly and look over cautiously. Apart from the sparkling waves, nothing else could be seen on the lake. Chao Heng looked around hurriedly, but found nothing after searching for a long time.
"Girl! I'm Chao Heng. I accidentally came here due to the heavy fog and unintentionally disturbed my girl's peace. I hope you can forgive me!" Chao Heng shouted loudly. The voice echoed in the open woods for a long time, and there was no other response except some echoes.
Chao Heng searched for a while, but there was still no sign of the girl in the lake. Chao Heng had no choice but to leave reluctantly. On the way back, Chao Heng made a lot of marks along the way. He didn't know how long he walked, but Chao Heng finally saw his horse tied to a tree.
After returning to his mansion, Chao Heng lay awake all night. As soon as he closed his eyes, the girl's beautiful appearance appeared in his mind. Early the next morning, Chao Heng hurriedly led his horse out without having breakfast. He came to the hillside again and tied the horse to the big tree again, and followed the marks made yesterday to find it.
Hearing the melodious singing surrounding the forest, Chao Heng felt happy and quickened his pace a little more. He came to the lake and looked into the lake. Sure enough, the girl was bathing in the lake. He hurriedly turned his face, clenched his hands into fists, put them to his mouth and coughed. When the girl heard the movement, she turned her head and looked over, and saw a man standing on the shore. She quickly sank into the water, only one person was exposed. head.
"Why is it you again!" The girl's cheeks turned slightly red, with a hint of sullenness in her tone.
"Girl, I'm Chao Heng, yesterday..." Chao Heng saw the girl speaking and bowed in front of him.
"Ah! Turn your face first..." The girl saw Chao Heng looking over and shouted quickly.
Chao Heng hurriedly turned his face to the side and closed his eyes. But he was afraid that as soon as he turned his face, the beautiful girl in front of him would disappear again, so he simply hugged the girl's clothes off on the big rock on the shore, turned his back to the lake and shouted loudly: "Girl! I'm here Chao Heng, yesterday I accidentally saw the girl's beauty and couldn't forget it anymore, so I came here again today, hoping to meet the girl so that I can express my true feelings to her."
After saying that, Chao Heng stood blankly, waiting for the girl to reply. Seeing that there was no sound behind him for a long time, Chao Heng was just about to turn around and take a look when he heard the girl's clear and sweet voice coming from the water: "You... please give me back my clothes first..."
Only then did Chao Heng realize that he was being rude again this time. He quickly put his clothes back on the big stone and turned his back again to wait.
Then Chao Heng heard a rustling sound coming from behind him, and soon after he heard the girl say: "Turn around."
Chao Heng then slowly turned around, blushed, rubbed his head and said, "I've just offended the girl by being rude, please don't take offense!"
Seeing Chao Heng's panic, the girl found it very interesting and couldn't help laughing.
When Chao Heng saw the girl in front of him smiling, he couldn't help but laugh along with her, and the atmosphere suddenly became harmonious and natural.
Afterwards, the two chatted a lot together. The girl's name was Qingluan, and she had grown up by the fairy lake in the southern suburbs of Chang'an. All because this fairy lake is hidden in the mountains and is inaccessible. The girl has not seen anyone since she was a child. If it were not for the heavy fog, Chao Heng would not have entered here by mistake.
For a period of time after that, Chao Heng would come here every day to meet Qingluan, and soon Qingluan married into the Chao Mansion.
A year later, Qingluan gave birth to a daughter for Chao Heng. Chao Heng was very happy and gave his daughter a nice name, "Qiandai". Chiyo was also very well-behaved. In this way, the family spent nine winters and summers happily, and the time came to the fourteenth year of Tianbao.
One day, Chao Heng returned home from court. When Qiandai saw his grandpa, he happily threw himself into Chao Heng's arms.
"Grandpa, look! My mother gave this to me, doesn't it look good?" Chiyo pointed to the feather-shaped golden hairpin on her head and danced.
"It looks good. Chiyo looks great with it!"
"My mother also has one on her head. Master, who do you think is more beautiful, me or my mother?"
"Hahaha, you two are equally beautiful!" Chao Heng laughed and took out a windmill from his back and handed it to Qianyo's hand.
"Windmill!" Chiyo took the windmill, raised it above his head excitedly, and spun around in circles.
"Hahaha, there's a strong wind in the courtyard. Qianyo quickly takes the windmill to the courtyard to have a look." Chao Heng said with a smile.
"Okay! Thank you, grandpa!" After saying that, Chiyo took the windmill and ran out of the house.
After Qiandai left, Chao Heng sent away all the servants, his expression gradually becoming solemn.
"Today, His Majesty finally agreed for me to return to Japan. You go and pack up and bow down. I will inform the retainers and we will set off early tomorrow morning."
"Leaving tomorrow, in such a hurry?" Qingluan was puzzled.
"Yes, I will leave early tomorrow morning. Everyone on the road knows about An Lushan's rebellious spirit. I read his book a few days ago, and An Lushan already has a grudge against me. He has many informants in the court, and your majesty allows me to return today. Hometown, I believe this news will reach An Lushan’s ears soon. I’m afraid he will harm us, so I have to leave as soon as possible!”
"Then...then I will listen to your husband and I will prepare now."
In the early morning of the next day, a group of people and horses at the gate of Chao Mansion were already ready to go. Chao Heng was riding a tall horse. When he saw that everyone had arrived, he shouted: "Let's go!", and then the group of people marched eastward in a mighty way. go. However, as soon as Chao Heng and his party left, a homing pigeon flapped its wings and flew towards the east not far from the wall.
A month later, in Dengzhou, Chao Heng and his party were resting in the inn. Suddenly, there was a commotion from outside, and then they saw a retainer covered in blood, holding on to the wall and stumbling into the inn.
"...It's the Pinglu Army...Quick...Quickly..." the retainer shouted, but before he finished speaking, the retainer fell forward with a thud, with a white feather stuck on his back. There were mostly civil servants and maids in the inn. When they saw that someone had been shot and died by an arrow, they immediately panicked.
Chao Heng and the guards immediately took out their sabers from their waists, took a step forward, and guarded the door. But at this moment, there was only a bang, and a black horse broke through the back door and broke in. Sitting on the horse was a general in black armor, shouting loudly: "Your Excellency, you ordered us to kill all these Japanese people and leave no one alive." !", and then countless soldiers poured in from the opened hole, holding steel knives and slashing at everyone they met.
Chao Heng quickly led his troops to turn around and fight. After a desperate resistance, they finally temporarily blocked the Pinglu Army's offensive.
"Jun Yuli, take your wife and leave first!" Chao Heng shouted to a man dressed as a warrior in armor.
"My lord, it's better for you to go first, and my subordinates will come down to hold them back..."
"No! Their target is me. You take your wife to the boat first, and I will attract their attention for the time being. When you are safe, I will find an opportunity to escape, and then meet you on the boat!"
"Lord..." The armored warrior wanted to say something more, but seeing Chao Heng's determined eyes, he stopped trying to persuade him. He said "take care" and turned around to go up to the second floor.
At this time, some Pinglu soldiers had also climbed up through the ladder. The armored warriors shouted loudly, rushed left and right, and chopped down all the Pinglu soldiers in the upstairs corridor in a few strokes. Then, the armored warrior kicked open the door of one of the wing rooms, and saw two Pinglu soldiers climbing in from the window holding simple knives, approaching Qingluan mother and daughter step by step, while Qingluan held a dagger in his hand. Chiyo hid behind Qingluan, holding Qingluan's sleeves tightly with his two small hands.
When one of the Pinglu soldiers saw the armored warrior coming in, he quickly raised his sword and slashed at the armored warrior. The armored warrior dodged and easily avoided the blade. Then he raised the Tang sword in his hand and wiped out the Pinglu soldier. neck. Looking up again, another Pinglu soldier had also died under Qingluan's dagger.
"Madam! My lord, let me protect the madam and young lady first and get to the ship!"
"What about him?"
"Don't worry, madam. The master said that when madam is safe, he will find an opportunity to escape and come to the ship to find us."
"No, how can we leave him alone..." Qingluan was anxious, picked up the dagger and rushed out.
"Madam...you will only distract my lord here!" The armored warrior said with some pleading in his tone.
After Qingluan listened, he gradually calmed down.
"Then please leave it to Yu Li-kun..."
The armored warrior nodded slightly to Qingluan and took the lead in opening the way with his Tang sword in hand. At this time, several more Pinglu soldiers climbed up the corridor. The armored warriors were worthy of their excellent sword skills. In just a few rounds, they slashed all the way downstairs with Qingluan and Qianyo.
At this time, Chao Heng was gone downstairs. The Pinglu army and retainers were fighting in a massacre, and the scene was extremely chaotic.
"Windmill, the windmill that grandpa gave me is still up there..." Chiyo suddenly broke away from Qingluan's hand and ran upstairs.
"Chiyo!" Qingluan was about to chase after him, when he suddenly saw a black horse leaping high in front of him, and the horse's hooves faced him and stepped on him.
Qingluan quickly ducked sideways, but before she could stand still, the black-armored general on the black horse stabbed her directly with a spear. With a clang, the tip of the gun collided with the blade. Chao Heng appeared at some point and blocked the blow. Then Chao Heng jumped up, and before the black-armored general had time to put away his gun, he cut off the black-armored general's head with a single blow.
"You guys go to the boat first, and I will go find Qianyo. We will meet on the boat later." After Chao Heng said that, he ran towards the stairs.
"Madam, let's go quickly. My lord is very powerful in martial arts. It's okay..." The armored warrior chopped down the two Pinglu soldiers blocking the door and shouted back to Qingluan. Qingluan hurriedly followed the armored warrior out of the inn. She looked back at the back of Chao Heng who was going upstairs, and she seemed to have a bad feeling in her heart.
As soon as the scene changed, Chao Heng went up to the second floor, walked through the corridor full of corpses, and entered the wing. As soon as he entered the door, a bright sword slashed at him. Chao Heng, with quick hands and quick eyes, immediately grabbed the wrist of Pinglu Jun in front of him, twisted it, and inserted the sword into the chest of Pinglu Jun in front of him. At this time, there was a Pinglu Army by the window, holding Chiyo's hand. Seeing that his companion was immediately killed, he expected that he was no match for the man in front of him, so he picked up Chiyo and jumped directly from the window.
Chao Heng saw it and hurriedly chased him, but before he could jump down, several arrows were shot at him. Chao Heng hurriedly turned around and hid behind the wall. At this time, several Pinglu soldiers rushed into the side room from the door. When they saw Chao Heng, they raised their swords to chop them, but Chao Heng had no choice but to choose to fight them. After these Pinglu troops were dealt with, he looked out the window and saw that all the people in the crowd were Pinglu troops, and there was no trace of Chiyo anywhere.
At this moment, Chiyo is being tied up on the horse by the Pinglu Army. The horse is running wildly. The Pinglu Army on the horse is happy. The little girl behind him is gorgeously dressed. She must be of noble status. Handing her over, this military merit is incomparable. Cutting off people's heads is small. Suddenly, he felt a pain in his waist. When he looked down, he saw a gold hairpin piercing his waist. Pinglu Jun screamed and pulled Qianyo behind him and fell off the horse.
The war horse neighed and ran away, leaving the two men lying on the ground. Chiyo slowly got up and carefully walked to Pinglu Jun and lowered his head to check. Seeing that Pinglu Jun had not moved for a long time, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. At this time, he looked at his waist again, and saw that the gold hairpin was still stuck on it, so Chiyo bent down and pulled out the gold hairpin with force.
"Ah!" Pinglu Jun screamed, and the pain woke him up. Chiyo was startled, held the gold hairpin in both hands and took several steps back. Pinglu Jun covered his waist, got up from the ground, pulled out his sword, and roared with a ferocious face: "You little brat, how dare you hurt me? I'll skin you alive!" After that, he approached step by step. The little girl in front of me.
Chiyo looked at the ferocious villain in front of her. She was unwilling to die here. A strong desire to survive inspired the powerful power hidden in her body. This power was transmitted to the golden hairpin along her hands. The golden hairpin gradually lit up. Chiyo She felt her body changing. Feathers grew all over her body, her arms turned into wings, and the soles of her feet turned into bird claws. Pinglu Jun, who was originally fierce and vicious, was instantly frightened to the extreme when he saw this scene. He threw away the simple knife in his hand, turned around and ran away in the distance, shouting about monsters.
The black and white scroll gradually dissipated, and Xu Shouguang seemed to hear Chao Qiandai calling him.
"Hey, what's wrong with you? Why are you in a daze..."
"...Nothing..." Xu Shouguang replied. He looked at the beautiful girl in front of him and seemed to understand why she had to come here.
Xu Shouguang returned the feather hairpin to Chao Qiandai, patted his chest, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, as long as I'm here, I will definitely clear your name!"
