in the world of murder

Chapter 21

On Qingming, the weather was fine, the sun was shining brightly, and the breeze was gentle.Fu Gui carried a green cloth bag on his back, and went to bid farewell to his master.

The medicine shed of Master Yao is full of all kinds of herbs, and the air is filled with the bitter fragrance of herbs.Under the hut, a middle-aged man in black cloth was grinding medicine.

Fu Gui stepped forward and said: "Master, the disciple is here."

Master Yao only responded lightly without raising his head.

"Today is Qingming, the disciple is going down the mountain, so I come here to say goodbye to the master."

Yao Fuzi finally stopped what he was doing, and looked up at Fugui.He is a tall, thin, middle-aged man with a serious face and deep grooves between his brows, as if he has never smiled.

"Leave now?" Master Yao asked.

Fu Gui nodded.

Yao Fuzi pondered for a moment, then threw him a purse.Fu Gui touched it, and there was a hard sign in the purse, but he didn't know what it was.

"Go, don't come back after you go down the mountain."

Fu Gui put away the purse, cupped his hands and said, "Disciple bids farewell to Master."

The master of medicine buried his head in grinding the medicine again, and did not speak again.

There were huge crowds of people in front of the mountain gate, and the carriages of the major families stopped in front of the mountain gate to pick up their sons or daughters.

Fu Gui saw Xi Zhen in the crowd at a glance. He was wearing a red cloak, standing beside a sandalwood carriage, looking back at something.

Fu Gui squeezed over, patted his shoulder, and said, "You haven't left yet."

Seeing him, Xi Zhen asked, "Have you seen Xie Li?"

"Eldest senior brother?" Fu Gui said, "It seems that he was called away by the mountain master."

Xi Zhen frowned slightly, Fu Gui asked: "Do you want to wait for Senior Brother?"

Xi Zhen was silent. After going down the mountain today, the friendship of the same family is no longer there.When they meet again, they will be the opponents for the competition for flowers, and they must die.

Xi Zhen took a deep breath and said, "Don't wait for him."

He looked at Feng Xin and said, "Let's go."

Feng Xin nodded, and ordered his servants to get ready to leave.

Xi Zhen looked at Fu Gui, "Follow me back to my house?"

Fu Gui shook his head, "I still have unfinished business down the mountain."

"Alright then." Xi Zhen said, "There will be a time later."

Fu Gui waved his hand, "There will be a period later."

He watched Xi Zhen get into the carriage, and the curtain was lowered to hide Xi Zhen's figure.In front, Feng Xin got on his horse and led a long team down the mountain.

In the hall, there was silence.The mountain master stood at the head, looking down at Xie Li in the hall.

"Is there someone to pick you up from the mountain?" the mountain owner asked.

Xie Li shook his head, "No."

The owner of the mountain responded, and said again: "There is a storm in Beijing, you go back alone, you need to be careful."

Xie Li said yes.

Shanzhu and Xie Li are not considered close, at this moment, all they can say are these polite words.

Xie Li was only eight years old when he entered the mountain gate. Because of his mother's death, he wore mourning clothes.However, even though he was wrapped in rough linen clothes, the young Xie Li still showed a calmness that was not what he should have at his age.

Fast forward ten years, Xie Li has grown into the appearance of the bright moon now. Standing in the hall, he is really like Zhilan Yushu, and the courtyard is full of splendor.

The owner of the mountain looked at him, his expression gradually became complicated, "When she came down the mountain, she was only your age."

Xie Li raised his head abruptly, facing Shang Shanzhu's eyes with indistinguishable emotions.

"Your mother, she is an immortal genius of Jiuyi Mountain, and the best direct disciple of Jiuyi Mountain for hundreds of years." The owner of the mountain stared at Xie Li, as if he could see the old man through his eyes.

He still remembers how high-spirited and bright that girl was when she came down the mountain.

"It's a pity," the owner of the mountain frowned, "with her own strength, it is difficult to save the building from falling. She had to give up her lifelong wish and assist your father. Later, because of giving birth to you, she hurt the whole family. , so that the heart and blood dry up, and the years will not last forever."

Xie Li looked at the mountain master, and he keenly sensed the mountain master's dislike for him from the mountain master's words.

Sure enough, the mountain master looked at Xie Li for a long time, and then sighed, "You are her only blood, but you are not like her at all."

Xie Li lowered his eyes, presumably in the eyes of the mountain master, she is a character of Xizhen style, bright, wanton, dazzling like the morning sun.

Xie Li's mood suddenly became very bad, it was his mother, but he could only deduce her image from the few words of others.

"It's such a pity that the mountain lord said, but when my mother was struggling, where was the mountain lord?"

The mountain master looked at Xie Li, his eyes suddenly turned cold.

Xie Li did not hide, and looked at the mountain master calmly, "For more than 20 years, the mountain master has been staying on the wall of Jiuyi Mountain and watched my mother die step by step. If this is the case, why do you have to show regret The look of remembrance. My mother is willing to give birth to an offspring for my father, is it just because my father tricked her with his rhetoric?"

The owner of the mountain had a gloomy expression, "It's because she has no other choice."

"No," Xie Li looked at the mountain master, "it's because my father and my mother are in the same boat, sharing weal and woe."

The owner of the mountain suddenly tensed his expression, as if he was offended, he looked at Xie Li coldly.

Xie Li took one last look at Shanzhu, "You have never done anything for her, but here you are acting affectionately."

Xie Li turned and left, and the mountain master's angry voice came from the hall, "Do you think she really likes your father?! She just has no choice! Even you are just a way for her to make a covenant with your father. !"

Xie Li's footsteps paused, and he went straight out of the hall without looking back.

There were not many people in front of the mountain gate, a disciple carrying a burden was about to leave when Xie Li stopped him and asked, "Where is Xi Zhen?"

"Junior Brother?" The disciple said: "Junior Brother must have left long ago. Someone from his family came to pick him up. The team is huge, and they have already gone down the mountain."

Xie Li's face darkened in an instant, and the disciple watched from the side. He was clearly handsome and unparalleled, but there was a bit of gloomy and hostile look between his brows and eyes for no reason.

The carriage swayed down the mountain, and everything under the mountain was revived, and the vegetation was lush.

"Where did you go?" Xi Zhen's voice came from the carriage.

Feng Xin rode his horse to the side of the carriage and replied, "I just arrived at the foot of the mountain."

Xi Zhen opened the curtain, and there were two spacious roads in front of him, one going south to Shuzhong, and the other entering the city.

Feng Xin sighed: "The young master has been studying abroad for more than ten years, and now he can finally go home."

Xi Zhen looked at the road leading to the city in front of him, and said, "Feng Bo, you go first, I still have things to finish."

Feng Xin was startled, and said: "What else is there? Before the Patriarch comes, tell me that you must be brought back safely."

"I'm already an adult, and I can go back safely even by myself." Xi Zhen jumped off the carriage and said, "Go first, I will chase you after I finish my work."

Feng Xin couldn't persuade him, and watched him pull out a bundle from the carriage, put on a dark red hood, and strode away with a sword in hand.

Feng Xin had no choice but to leave a few people behind to support Xi Zhen, and the rest dispersed to search for traces of the flower competition order.

Xi Zhen took a small road into the city, and the more he walked, the more desolate he went. On both sides of the road were weeds that had withered through winter, and only a little green appeared in the heart of the grass.Xi Zhen was walking along the path in a red dress. It was getting late, and the wind blew his robe.Xi Zhen raised his eyes, facing a carriage head-on.His eyes flashed, and he covered his hood and stepped aside.

The moment he passed by, Xi Zhen heard a voice from inside the carriage.

"I'm the master of Jiuyi Mountain, so the Xuan family sent you guys to pick me up, it's really deceiving!"

A man riding a horse beside the carriage said: "I advise you to be quiet, the disciples of the Xuan family were expelled from Jiuyi Mountain under your care, the Patriarch's crime of not punishing you is already giving you face."

With just a few words, Xi Zhen guessed who was in the carriage.

The wind blew the curtains of the carriage, revealing Master Han's distraught face.He also saw Xizhen under the hood, his face changed suddenly, and he exclaimed, "You—"

The front and rear guards reined in their horses and stopped, but Xi Zhenjian was faster than all of them.In the blink of an eye, all the guards fell off their horses, almost powerless to fight back.Xi Zhen dragged Master Han out of the carriage and threw him on the ground, stepped on his chest, with the long sword across his neck.

"Master Han, long time no see." Xi Zhen smiled more viciously and beautifully.

Master Han shook like he was sifting chaff, and said, "Xi Zhen, I am Master, what do you want to do to me?"

"Master?" Xi Zhenjian patted his face on the back, "Don't you see what boundary this is."

From the moment the disciple descended the mountain, the fighting began.

Xi Zhen looked at him and said: "I still want to ask you, you are not staying in Jiuyi Mountain, what are you doing down the mountain?"

Master Han's eyes wandered, but he didn't speak.

"Could it be..." Xi Zhen's eyes gradually deepened, "Do you have a reputation for competing for flowers?"

Master Han's complexion changed slightly, obviously Xi Zhen hit the mark.

Xi Zhen's smile faded away, and under the dark sky, Yun Li's face became more gloomy, "Hand over the flower competition order!"

Master Han said: "I...I don't have an order to compete for flowers."

With a flash of sword light, blood gushed out from Master Han's leg. He screamed and said, "I really don't have the order to compete for flowers! The order to compete for flowers has been snatched away!"

"The flower competition order has been taken away, are you still alive? Who are you lying to!" Xi Zhen said, and was about to give him another sword.

"Don't, don't! Let me tell you!" Master Han was sweating profusely from the pain, "The flower competition order on my body was given to Xuan."

Xi Zhen frowned, "Xuan Yunhuai has been expelled a long time ago, he is not qualified to compete for the direct disciple, what is he doing for the flower order?"

Master Han didn't answer, he twitched in pain, and said: "Anyway, I don't have the order to compete for flowers. If you want it, you can go to Xuan's family to ask for it!"

Xi Zhen turned around, "Master Xuan wants to support a direct disciple?"

Han Fuzi stopped talking for a while, his eyes wandered, not daring to meet Shang Xizhen's eyes.

"Looks like I guessed it right." Xi Zhen let go of Master Han and fell into deep thought.

It's not unheard of for aristocratic families to intervene to snatch the flower competition order, and Xi Zhen is not afraid.He looked at Master Han sarcastically, "Emperor Yan was born recklessly, and his throne was won by him in battles, not by these aristocratic families. If you still think of him as those cowardly and incompetent emperors in the early Zhou Dynasty, but Miscalculated."