Lanting prelude

Chapter 35
Xuan Guan sat cross-legged on the Zen bed in the abbot's room, his face was as pale as paper, his eyes drooped, his body was motionless, and he had already lost his breath.His face was serene, he didn't look like he was assassinated at all, if it wasn't for the pool of blood on the clothes on his chest, it would be more like he was sitting peacefully.There is a screen behind the Zen bed, on which Bodhidharma is painted on the wall of the Shaolin Grottoes, which adds a touch of solemnity and sadness to the abbot's room at this moment.

When Xiao Junmo, who was wet all over, walked in, he saw dozens of monks, old and young, kneeling under the Zen bed, and most of them looked sad.Xiao Junmo paid attention, and found that the two Zhike monks who came back from the Xuanguan, and the monks who jumped into the release pool were also among them, but their expressions did not show the slightest sadness, only depression and annoyance.

Bian Cai stood beside the Zen bed in a daze, his eyes were red.Xiao Junmo walked over and whispered about Huiyuan in his ear, Biancai was so shocked that he couldn't recover for a while.

After a while, an elderly monk got up from the ground, claiming to be the supervisor of Dajue Temple, and said coldly to the debater: "Master, this temple has been peaceful for hundreds of years, but when you came, something terrible happened. Forgive me for being rude, but before the government intervenes, the mage and a few benefactors should leave as soon as possible."

The debate was stunned for a long time.

He knew that although the prison had issued an order to expel the guests, it was intended for their own good, because the abbot's assassination and death was not a trivial matter. Once the temple reported the case, the government would definitely intervene, and it would be troublesome at that time.Thinking about this, Biancai had no choice but to say something nice to the supervisor, and finally gave Xuanguan a sad look, before leaving the abbot's room with Xiao Junmo.

Chu Lisang and Hua Linger were waiting outside.The four of them looked at each other speechlessly, then quickly left Dajue Temple and hurried back to Yunshui Inn.Xiao Junmo suggested that everyone stay awake and go through a series of weird events that happened tonight from beginning to end to see if they can get some clues.Debate deeply agreed, so the four of them discussed in his room.

"Let me first talk about some doubts I found." Xiao Junmo said, "First, as soon as I arrived at Dajue Temple, the words that Zhike Master Huiyuan said inside the door, although he was giving a secret signal to the mage, but he The tone of calling the mage to 'leave quickly' sounded worried and urgent, as if he really wanted the mage to leave quickly. Second, when Huiyuan and the mage met, they both fell in love with each other. When I found the four monks who knew Huiyuan behind me, two of them were moved and reacted normally, but the other two were indifferent. At that time, I thought that they might have just become monks and had no affection for older monks, but later I I found out that this should not be the reason, but that there is a problem with the two Zhike monks."

"What's the problem?" Biancai asked.

"I suspect that they may be fake monks."

"Fake monk?" Chu Lisang and Hua Linger blurted out at the same time, startled.

"Not only them, but also the two attendants beside Xuan Guan, and the monks who stopped Hui Yuan near the gate of the temple."

As soon as this remark came out, the three debaters were all stunned.

"The reason?" Biancai asked again.

"First of all, on the way to the abbot's room, I casually asked a knowledgeable monk about the origin and history of the Buddhist finger relics in Dajue Temple, but he hesitated and couldn't answer..."

"Just like what you said just now," Chu Lisang interjected, "It's possible that he just became a monk and doesn't understand these things."

"Impossible. The Buddha pointed out that the relic is the treasure of the Dajue Temple. As the monk of the temple, he must first understand the relevant knowledge as soon as he becomes a monk, so that he can introduce it to the pilgrims and believers, so he has no reason not to know." Xiao Junmo looked Xiang Biancai said, "This point, as a monk, the master should be clearer than me."

Biancai nodded: "What Xiao Lang said is true."

"Secondly, the two waiters beside Xuan Guan have arrogant expressions and indifferent attitudes. They have no respect for the elders, and even the abbot himself. This not only proves that they are not qualified waiters, but also proves that they are not qualified. He is an unqualified monk. In order to confirm this judgment, when we came out of the abbot's room and walked towards the Hall of Heavenly Kings, I asked a waiter another question. I asked him, as it is often said in Buddhism, "reward four kinds of grace, and help three times What does "tuku" mean, he couldn't answer it..."

"What do you mean by that?" Hua Ling'er looked confused.

Xiao Junmo smiled: "Let's ask the mage to explain it."

Biancai said: "Repay the fourfold kindness, which means that every person who learns Buddhism should repay the kindness of parents, teachers, land and sentient beings; , suffering beings in the three evil realms of hell.”

Hua Linger was stunned.

"I deliberately asked him this question to insinuate that he is disrespectful to the teacher. If he is a real monk, he can hear it no matter how he hears it. At least he should understand the meaning of this verse. But the waiter's performance is completely different. So, from this, I conclude that these two attendants must also be fake monks."

"What about those people who blocked Huiyuan?" Chu Lisang asked, "When I chased them, I saw that you didn't even talk to them. How can you conclude that they are also fake monks?"

"Because they hold sticks like people who are used to spears." Xiao Junmo said, "Although the monks in Dajue Temple may practice martial arts at ordinary times, the monks have compassion in mind and practice martial arts purely for physical fitness. Therefore, they are usually proficient in fists, feet and sticks, but they are relatively unfamiliar with weapons such as swords and spears. On the contrary, those people wield sticks without any rules at all, and always use the thrusting action of spears unconsciously, It’s completely aimless, first of all. Second, they spat out swear words while beating them, and it was obvious that they were people who were used to swear words. So I’m even more sure that they are fake monks.”

"So, these people are indeed not real monks." Biancai agreed deeply, and immediately frowned, "But the question is, why are there so many people pretending to be monks in Dajue Temple? Who are they? What is their purpose? Xuan Why is Guan willing to be coerced by them?"

"Master, don't worry, let me finish the remaining doubts first, let's discuss these issues later."

The debater smiled apologetically: "Xiao Lang, please tell me."

"The third doubtful point is that when the mage hinted at Xuan Guan about the three cups, Xuan Guan has been deliberately avoiding it, which also proves from the side that he was coerced by the two 'waiters', so he is very reluctant to touch on this topic After the mage clarified it with him, he fell into deep thinking, as if he was considering how to deal with it. In the end, he didn't say anything, and took us directly to the Temple of Heavenly Kings, as if he had made a major decision. Judging from these abnormal attitudes, and the sudden assassination later, do you think there may be a connection between them?"

Biancai and Chu Lisang looked at each other, not knowing how to answer.Hua Ling'er didn't know anything about these things, and she only listened to them, so she couldn't say anything.

"From my personal point of view," Xiao Junmo asked himself when he saw that everyone was speechless, "The reason why Xuan Guan was so abnormal before was because he already knew or foresaw that something important would happen. In other words, in our opinion, such a sudden Assassination, on his own, may have already been psychologically prepared."

As soon as this remark came out, Biancai and Chu Lisang were even more surprised.

"This is completely unreasonable!" Chu Lisang frowned, "If he had foreseen it, why would he go to die? Even if he wanted to die for some reason, there is no need to take out the cup to let people Take it away! Unless...unless he has betrayed the organization, he was going to hand over the cup to Huiyuan, and then he himself apologized with his death."

Hua Ling'er suddenly burst out laughing.

"What are you laughing at?" Chu Lisang was displeased.

"Although I didn't participate in what Miss Chu said, I don't know much about it, but just listening to your few words is very problematic."

"what is the problem?"

"If Xuanguan wants to give that cup to Huiyuan, he could have given it 800 years ago, so why wait until today? Did he deliberately want to die for you to see? Is he sick?!"

"You!" Chu Lisang wanted to refute, but couldn't think of words to refute.

"Li Sang is right about one thing. Xuan Guan must have been prepared to die long ago, but I believe he did not betray the organization. This can be proved by the fourth doubtful point." Xiao Junmo said.

"What's the fourth doubt?" Chu Lisang asked.

"That's what Xuanguan said after he was assassinated. You were chasing Huiyuan, but you were not there. Xuanguan told the mage that there was danger, and let us leave Jiangling as soon as possible. Since he was still worried about our safety before he died, That's enough to show that he didn't betray the organization. As for why he went to die even though he had foreseen the danger, the reason may lie in what Miss Hua said just now."

"What did I say?" Hua Ling'er was a little surprised, "Which sentence?"

"You just said that he deliberately wanted to die for us to see. However, this sentence is only half correct. In my opinion, he didn't want to deliberately die for us to see, but for those who threatened him. Those fake monks."

The other three people were a little stunned when they heard the words, but they were more confused.Chu Lisang thought about it, and suddenly said: "So, Huiyuan's assassination of Xuanguan was not an accident, but a long-awaited arrangement? To put it more clearly, this is probably planned by Xuanguan himself?"

"Smart!" Xiao Junmo nodded appreciatively, "Combining the first and fourth doubts we just mentioned, both Huiyuan and Xuanguan are telling us that Jiangling is in danger and telling us to leave quickly. It is enough to show that the two of them are actually on the same side. Therefore, your judgment is correct, Huiyuan's assassination of Xuanguan is probably Xuanguan's own arrangement."

Hua Ling'er saw that the limelight was robbed by Chu Lisang, she couldn't help curling her lips: "There are still such people in the world? He deliberately arranged for others to kill him. What is he trying to do? He said he was sick, but I didn't expect him to be really sick!"

"Miss Hua, Master Xuan Guan is my younger brother, not to mention the dead one, please pay attention to your tone of voice." Bian Cai was a little displeased.

"I'm sorry Zuoshi, I didn't mean it." Hua Ling'er stuck out her tongue, "I just find it strange, why did Xuan Guan do this?"

"As we said just now, Xuan Guan was coerced by some kind of force." Xiao Junmo said, "I think the reason why he chose to die on his own initiative is to get rid of this coercion."

"But, what is more important than life in this world? Since he can even give up his life, how can others coerce him?" Hua Ling'er became more and more puzzled.

Chu Lisang was thinking about something, and suddenly his eyes lit up: "I see, it must be that thing."

Xiao Junmo gave her another appreciative glance: "That's right, to Xuan Guan, that thing is definitely more precious than his life."

Hua Ling'er was puzzled, looking at this and then at that, unable to figure out what kind of riddle they were playing.

At this time, Biancai also thought of it, and couldn't help sighing deeply: "I never thought that this treasure of the town temple would bring him the disaster of killing himself!"

Hua Ling'er couldn't bear it anymore: "Hey, what are you talking about, can you say something that I can understand?"

Chu Lisang smiled: "If you say it, you may not understand it."

Hua Ling'er was very dissatisfied: "Don't look at people through the cracks of the door, come and listen to it!"

Chu Lisang smiled again, but kept silent, making Hua Linger stomp her feet in anger.

"Buddha refers to the relic." Xiao Junmo took the words, "That is the treasure of Dajue Temple. Someone must use this thing to coerce Xuanguan. If Xuanguan doesn't listen to them, they will threaten to destroy or take it away This thing, so Xuan Guan had no choice but to fight with death in the end. Once people die, they will not be able to threaten them. This is probably the only way Xuan Guan can think of in desperation."

When Hua Ling'er heard it, she really didn't quite understand.Although she had also heard of the Buddha finger relic, she just couldn't figure out why someone would value this thing more than her own life.In order not to make Chu Lisang laugh, Hua Ling'er had no choice but to avoid this question, saying: "If it's as you said, then what is the purpose of those people coercing him? Is it because of what you just said? Is that a person? what?"

Seeing that the words have come to this point, and Hua Linger is also loyal to the Tianxingmeng, so Biancai no longer hides it, and told her the whole story of Sanzhang.

Hua Ling'er suddenly realized, and immediately said in surprise: "You really want to destroy the "Lanting Preface" and the Cup of Heaven's Punishment?"

Biancai let out a long sigh: "In order to prevent Mingzang from wreaking havoc on the world, this poor monk can only do this."

Hua Ling'er thought: "Left envoy, please forgive my subordinate's rudeness, I think there should be other ways."

"What else can be done?"

Hua Ling'er thought for a while, and suddenly her eyes flashed: "For example, we can elect a courageous, resourceful, courageous and insightful person to succeed the alliance leader, and let him lead those sub-helms who are still loyal to the alliance to join forces. Fight against Mingzang!"

As soon as this remark came out, the eloquence was shocked, as if there was a sense of enlightenment, and immediately turned his gaze to Xiao Junmo.Chu Lisang and Hua Linger also looked at Xiao Junmo in unison.

Xiao Junmo was puzzled: "Why are you all looking at me?"

Biancai smiled meaningfully: "What Miss Hua said is indeed a very good proposal, and I found that there is a most suitable candidate in front of me."

Hua Ling'er couldn't help clapping her hands, her eyes crooked with laughter: "Wonderful! Xiao Lang is indeed the best choice!"

Chu Lisang also looked at Xiao Junmo with approval and expectation.

Xiao Junmo was caught off guard, stunned for a moment, and hurriedly said: "Now is not the time to discuss this topic, let's think about what to do next! The force that threatens Xuanguan seems to have a strong background, and it is clear that it is aimed at us We are here. Once we enter Jiangling, we will probably be targeted by them, just as Xuan Guan said, we are in a very dangerous situation now, you should discuss the countermeasures."

When the three of them heard this, their faces darkened immediately, and they all frowned.

"Master," Xiao Junmo continued, "Now we can go back to your question just now. We must find out who is coercing Xuanguan and what their purpose is."

"According to your analysis just now, the purpose of this group of people must be to seize the three cups." The debater said, "If my prediction is correct, they should also be members of the League."

Xiao Junmo nodded, his words were obviously consistent with his judgment: "Master, how many people knew about the entrustment of Sanshang by the leader of Zhiyong back then?"

"Apart from Xuan Guan, Xi Yan, and Xie Ji, there are only the former teacher and me, and no one else knows about it."

Xiao Junmo frowned slightly: "From this point of view, both Xi Yan and Xie Ji are suspected."

Biancai pondered for a while: "Actually, this is impossible. Back then, the teacher entrusted the three cups to three people, but the premise was that the three of them didn't know each other, and they didn't even know each other. In this case, Xie Yan or Xie Ji How do you know that one of the cups is in Xuan Guan's hands?"

"Although they can't be sure, they can speculate. When you and Zhiyong League Leader were stationed at Xi Dajue Temple, everyone in the Tianxing League must have known about it, including Xi Yan and Xie Ji. If one of them had ulterior motives, they would definitely come from Dajue Temple. Get it, go to Xuanguan. Even if Xuanguan doesn't admit it, they can still send someone to wait in Dajue Temple. For example, tonight, if we automatically knocked on the door, wouldn't their previous guess be confirmed?"

The debater smiled wryly: "If Xi Yan or Xie Ji really have a problem, according to Xiao Lang's opinion, how should we deal with it?"

"According to the original plan." Xiao Junmo said without hesitation, "I will meet the two of them tomorrow. As long as they are willing to show up, the fox's tail will show up sooner or later."

"But now Huiyuan is missing, and the whereabouts of Yuan Shang are also unknown," Chu Lisang said with a sad face, "Even if Xi Yan and Xie Ji are willing to hand over the other two cups, what use will it be to us?"

"Now it seems that Huiyuan's purpose of stealing the round cup must be to protect it under the order of Xuanguan, so as not to be taken away by coercion." Xiao Junmo said, "If this judgment is correct, then I believe that Huiyuan Will contact us sooner or later."

Hua Linger interjected: "If it is true as you said, Huiyuan is protecting Yuanshang, then when you chase him tonight, he can give Yuanshang to you. Why wait until later to contact me?"

"The Dajue Temple is so chaotic tonight, there are so many people pretending to be monks inside, and we know they are in the dark, and our every move is monitored by them, how dare Huiyuan take the risk of handing things over to me?"

Hua Ling'er was right after thinking about it, so she stopped talking.

Biancai continued the topic just now and asked: "What did you mean just now, that Huiyuan will take the initiative to return the Yuan Shang?"

Xiao Junmo nodded, then thought about something, and added: "Of course, the premise is that nothing happened to him."

Xiao Junmo and the others definitely would not have imagined that just as they left Dajue Temple, a young man in brocade clothes and a haughty look appeared behind the screen of the abbot's room.

This person is actually Pei Tinglong.

As soon as Pei Tinglong appeared, those fake monks who were kneeling on the ground immediately stood up and saluted respectfully and neatly.The guard on the side took a few steps forward tremblingly, nodded and bowed to him, while the rest of the monks were still kneeling on the ground, their sad expressions turned into fear.

Pei Tinglong didn't even look at them, walked up to Xuan Guan with his hands behind his back, stared at him for a long time, then put his hand on his heart for a moment, then felt his pulse and sniffed his breath, Finally, he said to himself: "This Xuan Guan, is he dead like this?"

"General Qi," said the subordinate pretending to be a monk, "just now when Beizhi carried him in, he was still breathing, but as soon as Beizhi helped him stop the bleeding, the old monk stopped breathing..."

"Has the murderer been caught?" Pei Tinglong didn't answer.

Just as his subordinates were about to answer, the heavily armed Xue An and several Xuanjia guards walked in with the wet Huiyuan on their shoulders.Huiyuan's forehead was bloody and bloody, and his head drooped, as if he had lost all life. "General," Xue An said in frustration, "the subordinates are incompetent, just when he was surrounded, this monk... hit the wall and killed himself."

Long before Biancai, Xiao Junmo and the others entered Dajue Temple, the Xuanjia Guards had ambushed around the entire temple, so when Huiyuan escaped from the water channel through the secret passage of the release pool, he ran headlong into Xue An's encirclement.At the last moment before being arrested, Huiyuan resolutely chose to commit suicide.

"They're all dead?!" Pei Tinglong turned around and looked at Xue An fixedly, "Where's the things on him?"

Xue An lowered his head in panic: "I searched all over my body, but I didn't... I didn't find it."

Pei Tinglong sneered: "Bring Gao Dui here." A Xuanjia guard led the order to go out.Pei Tinglong turned to the prison again and said: "You stay, everyone else will go down." The real monks who were kneeling on the ground hurriedly retreated, and Xue An ordered his subordinates to carry Huiyuan's body down as well.A moment later, the skinny "waiter" with a wounded shoulder was brought in.

"Tell me, what happened in the Palace of Heavenly Kings just now?" Pei Tinglong stared at him.

Among the two pretended waiters, the other one has been killed by Hua Ling'er, and the team surnamed Gao is the only witness of Xuan Guan's assassination.He told the story in detail.After hearing this, Pei Tinglong narrowed his eyes: "What does that round bronze thing look like, and what words or patterns are on it, can you see clearly?"

"Back to the general, just as Xuan Guan took out the thing, Hui Yuan snatched it away. This subordinate...the subordinate really didn't see it clearly."

"Trash!" Pei Tinglong said two words from between his teeth.

Gao Dui was kneeling in a hurry, with a look of panic.

"You said that as soon as Huiyuan fled, you and your men chased him out, but they didn't catch up, and you were killed and injured instead. What's going on?"

"When my subordinates were chasing after him, they saw a black shadow on the tree. They thought it was Hui Yuan, so they shot. They didn't expect that person to be a woman. The subordinates wanted to get away, but they were entangled by her instead, and then... "

"Woman?" Pei Tinglong was surprised, "Have you seen who it is?"

"I didn't see it clearly at first, but I realized later that it is... Hua Linger, the chief female thief of the Thousand Devils Cave."

Pei Tinglong laughed dumbfounded, and immediately shook his hand impatiently.Team Gao retreated in a hurry.Pei Tinglong stood quietly for a while, and suddenly said to the prison: "Master, take me to pay a visit to the treasure of the temple in your temple."

The supervisor murmured for a while, managed to squeeze out a smile, bowed and said, "Please, general, please, general."

The Buddhist finger relics of Dajue Temple are enshrined in the relic tower behind the Sutra Pavilion.There is an underground palace under the relic pagoda. Pei Tinglong and Xue An entered the underground palace with a number of soldiers, and soon came to the stone room where the Buddha finger relics were enshrined. The large stone chamber was as bright as day.

In the center of the room is a square, stone-carved Sumeru altar with lotus petals. On the altar is a square iron box with a top and an iron lock on the cover.The prisoner took out the key from his waist, unlocked the lock tremblingly, lifted the cover, and carefully took out a small copper box with the same square shape and top from the inside.The body of the letter is extremely exquisitely carved, and the words "Respect and build the treasure letter of Sakyamuni's real body for the emperor" are engraved on the lower edge.

With the opening of the copper letter, Pei Tinglong was surprised to find that there was a smaller silver letter inside the copper letter, and inside the silver letter was a jade letter, and inside the jade letter was a sandalwood treasure box with nine layers of colored silk. A gilt silver coffin was wrapped in the silk, and there was a crystal coffin inside the coffin. When the coffin cover inlaid with gemstones was opened, the innermost layer was a pure gold pagoda with one eaves and four doors, and the Buddha finger relics were It is treasured in this golden tower.

Pei Tinglong counted it carefully, and there are eight layers of utensils to support this Buddha finger relic, which is really amazing!
Seeing this scene, Xue An and all the soldiers behind him were all amazed.

The supervisor bowed down to the small golden pagoda, murmured something, and then took down the pagoda respectfully.At this point, the supreme Buddha finger relic suddenly appeared in front of everyone.

The Buddha finger relic is more than an inch high, columnar, hollow, and pale yellow in appearance. It looks nothing out of the ordinary, but it has a breathtaking sense of solemnity and holiness, which makes people awe-inspiring.Although he is not a Buddhist, Pei Tinglong couldn't help clasping his hands together and bowed deeply three times.Seeing this, Xue An and all the soldiers in the back quickly joined him and bowed.

Pei Tinglong watched the Buddha finger relic silently for a moment, then suddenly flicked his sleeves and walked out of the stone room without saying a word.

"General, don't you intend to invite this thing back to Chang'an?" Xue An couldn't help asking when he followed Pei Tinglong out of the tunnel of the underground palace.

"Xuanguan people are dead, is there any need to use it as an argument?" Pei Tinglong said coldly, "What we need to do now is to closely monitor Xiao Junmo and others, to see who they will connect with, and to see what is lurking in Jiangling How many sub-helms of the Sky Punishment Alliance, and then dig them out one by one!"

"Yes, the subordinates have made arrangements, please rest assured, the general."

A few days ago, when Pei Tinglong was sitting at the foot of Wuliang Mountain and ordered Xue An to go to Xunyang to set up a blockade, he received a letter written by the emperor himself.Li Shimin stated in the edict that according to the information obtained by Xuanjiawei, Biancai lived in Dajue Temple in Jiangling for a period of time in the early years of Wude. And get in touch with the sub-helm of the Tianxing League in Jiangling.This is the judgment reached by Li Shimin and General Li Shiji by coincidence, and the accuracy should be very high.Therefore, Li Shimin emphasized that Pei Tinglong's next task is not only to arrest Xiao Junmo and Biancai, but also to follow the vines and dig out all the sub-helms of the Tianxing League lurking in Jiangling.In order to achieve this goal, we should not scare the snakes with grass, but put a long line to catch big fish, and wait until we have found out all the accomplices of Biancai, and then catch them all in one go.

After Pei Tinglong received the edict, he immediately changed his deployment and rushed to Jiangling with Xue An and other troops, and arrived at Dajue Temple two days before Xiao Junmo and the others arrived.As soon as Pei Tinglong arrived, he threatened Abbot Xuanguan with the Buddha finger relic, saying that if he did not cooperate with the imperial court's actions, he would invite the Buddha finger relic, the treasure of their town temple, to be enshrined in Chang'an, and said it was the emperor's order.Xuan Guan was helpless and asked him how to cooperate.Pei Tinglong said, as long as you don't have anything to do, you can do it after the debate, no matter what you ask for, you should do it, don't make extra troubles, and the rest will be handled by the official.

Xuan Guan seemed to be very knowledgeable about current affairs, and nodded repeatedly after listening to it, expressing his full cooperation.Pei Tinglong immediately ordered a dozen of his men to shave their heads, pretend to be monks and lurk in the temple, waiting wholeheartedly for Biancai and Xiao Junmo to come to their door.But he never expected that although Biancai and Xiao Junmo came, they killed Huiyuan halfway, not only assassinated Xuanguan, but also snatched that important "object".Now that Huiyuan is dead again, the whereabouts of that object is also unknown, and it is not clear what significance it has to the Tianxingmeng, which really annoys Pei Tinglong a bit.

However, he was fortunate that now Xiao Junmo and Biancai were under the close surveillance of Xuanjiawei, and they could not escape from his palm no matter what.Next, as soon as they connect with the people from the Heavenly Punishment League, Xuanjiawei will be able to lock those people immediately.The only thing that Pei Tinglong is worried about at the moment is that what happened tonight made Xiao Junmo alert - if he and Biancai do not dare to talk to their colleagues because of this, then the plan to catch big fish with a long line will come to naught.

Just now, in the abbot's room, the supervisor asked Biancai and others to leave quickly, but it was actually Pei Tinglong's instruction.He did this to stabilize Xiao Junmo and the others, so that they would think they were out of danger, so that they could join hands with the party with confidence.As for whether things can progress according to Pei Tinglong's plan, it can only depend on God's will.

"Where do you think the thing that Huiyuan stole is most likely to be hidden?" After walking out of the underground palace, Pei Tinglong suddenly asked Xue An who was following behind.

Xue An thought for a while: "According to my subordinates, the release pond and the secret path are very likely."

Pei Tinglong stopped in his tracks: "Give me an order, all brothers with good water skills, let me go into the water to search!"

"Yes." Xue An thought of something, "May I ask the general, what should I do with the prison house and the monks in the monastery?"

Pei Tinglong pondered for a while: "Now it seems that Xuanguan and Huiyuan are undoubtedly members of the Tianxing League. It can be seen that this Dajue Temple is a den of thieves, and none of these people can escape! Take them to Jingzhou Mansion tomorrow , have a good trial, and at the same time, use the murder case as an excuse to seal this place."

"As ordered."

Anxiang Building is located in the southwest corner of Chongrenfang, next to the wall of the square, across the street from the imperial city.

Outside the square wall is the intersection of Chunmingmen Street and Qixiamen Street. At this time, the sun is high in the sky, and the streets are full of cars and horses, and pedestrians are bustling.

Li Tai, Du Chuke, and Du He sat in a private room on the second floor of the Anxiang Building, and the food table in front of them was full of food and wine.Outside the door of the private room, Xie Chong and three tall and burly men stood on both sides of the door, watching the staff and guests coming and going in the corridor vigilantly.

Li Tai poured wine for himself, picked up the wine cup, and said with a smile on his face: "Come on, Chuke, Erlang, let's make a drink for your uncles and nephews to turn wars into jades!"

Du Chuke and Du He also raised their wine cups and finished with a smile, but there was a bit of unnaturalness hidden in their smiles.

"Your Highness, to be honest, I don't really have any problems with my uncle, it's just a misunderstanding." Du He laughed a few times, "Thank you, Your Highness, for giving us this opportunity to let my uncle and I settle our differences."

"Well said!" Li Tai patted the food table and laughed loudly, "Then why don't you respect your uncle?"

Du He quickly poured himself a cup and respected Du Chuke from a distance.

Du Chuke picked up the wine cup and said with a faint smile, "Erlang, your father passed away early and entrusted you two brothers to me before he died, and asked me to strictly discipline you, especially you. So, these years, I have Your request may be a bit strict, I hope you can understand, don't blame me."

"Uncle, from today onwards, let's not talk about the past, okay?" Du He raised the wine cup a little higher, and said boldly, "The words are in the wine, and my nephew should do it first!"

The two drank the wine one after another, showing the bottom of the glass.

"Okay, I'm really happy for you to see that you two, uncle and nephew, can put aside the past and have a good time with each other!" Li Tai laughed at the side, and drank his own wine.

"Your Highness, I have something to say, I don't know if I should ask it or not?" Du He picked up a piece of mutton and threw it into his mouth, chewing while saying.

You kid really can't hold back, you want to talk to me so quickly.Li Tai sneered in his heart, but said on his mouth: "Look, you're out of touch with me, aren't you? If you have anything to say, just say it, don't hesitate."

Du He leaned forward and lowered his voice: "I just want to ask, your Highness has been fighting with Donggong for so long, why didn't he think of a solution once and for all?"

"I would like to, but how easy is this kind of thing?" Li Tai sighed and looked at him sideways, "Erlang, you have a bright mind, why don't you think of one for me?"

"Your Highness was joking." Du He quickly waved his hand, "How can I, Du He, have that ability? At best, I'm your pawn. It's okay to give you a tip or something, but if you want to make a plan, it has to be me. Uncle full of knowledge!"

Du Chuke smiled: "It seems that Erlang has improved a lot, and he has become so humble."

"Uncle, if I remember correctly, this is the first time you have praised me. Nephew is very honored. Come on, nephew will toast you again. I'll do it. You can do whatever you want." Du He said, drinking another glass .

"By the way, Erlang," Li Tai glanced at the door suddenly, "Since when did you bring bodyguards with you when you went out? Is it necessary to have such a big battle when we have dinner in the root of the imperial city and the Shoushan area?"

In order to make people feel that this was an ordinary banquet afterwards, Li Tai deliberately did not bring bodyguards, but only brought a few horses and horses with him, and they all stayed outside the restaurant at the moment.But what Li Tai didn't expect was that Du He had brought four bodyguards with him today, and judging from the appearance of those four, they seemed to be not weak, which would undoubtedly hinder the assassination later on.However, despite this unexpected situation, Li Tai was not very worried, because the three dead men arranged today were all handpicked by Wang Hongyi, and all of them were strong in martial arts, especially the one named Li Feng. According to Wang Hongyi, He is also one of the most powerful killers under his command.With such a person making a move, Li Tai believed that no matter how many bodyguards Du He brought today, he would definitely die.

When Du He heard this, he grinned unnaturally: "They are not bodyguards, they are just a few servants. You also know that I have a good face, and I feel that it is more dignified to take a few more people out, which makes His Highness laugh. "

Such an explanation is obviously far-fetched, and Du He must have smelled something dangerous in advance.Li Tai thought, it seems that there is no need to talk with him anymore, success or failure depends on one action, and he must act immediately.

Having made up his mind, Li Tai called out to the door: "Dude."

A fellow came in at the sound.

"Bring up your signature dish 'Elephant Trunk Grill'."

The man agreed and bowed to leave.

This is the signal to start the action.Li Tai secretly exchanged a look with Du Chuke.Du Chuke understood, so he smiled and said to Du He: "Erlang, have you ever eaten the roasted elephant trunk in this restaurant?"

Du He shook his head: "Don't talk about eating, even the name of the dish is the first time I've heard of it. It's named 'Elephant Trunk'. I don't know what it means? Is it shaped like an elephant's trunk?"

"It's not like, this dish is made with the trunk of an elephant."

Du He frowned, showing a disgusted expression: "This... can this be eaten?"

"Look at what you said," Du Chuke smiled, "If you can't eat it, wouldn't the Anxiang Restaurant be closed long ago? This is their signature dish."

"That's my nephew's ignorance. But it must be a new trick, right? Why haven't I heard of it before?"

"Erlang, I used to criticize you for not studying, but I didn't wrong you." Du Chuke maintained a smile, "It has been recorded in "Lu Shi Chunqiu·Benwei Pian", and the "Jingxiang's Covenant" mentioned in it, said The most important thing is the trunk of the elephant. This dish has existed as early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. People in Lingnan captured wild elephants and divided the meat into twelve parts. Among them, the meat of the elephant trunk has the best taste and is baked Cook it in the same way, add onion, ginger, garlic and other condiments, and it becomes a fat, crisp and sweet elephant trunk. I believe that once you taste it, you will never forget it!"

Hearing Du Chuke speak clearly and logically, Du He couldn't help feeling excited: "Really, then I really have to try it out."

While the two were talking, three killers dressed as buddies came over from the other end of the corridor with a tray each, each with a pot of sizzling and fragrant elephant trunk burnt.The three of them came to the door of the room and were stopped by Xie Chong.Xie Chong looked at them coldly and ordered his men to search them.The three men searched them from head to toe, and shook their heads at Xie Chong, indicating that there was no murder weapon.

Xie Chong didn't give up.Because the guy walking in the front looked like he lowered his eyebrows, but it gave him a faint sense of murderous aura.

This guy is the killer Li Feng.

Xie Chong stared at his face, and said in a deep voice, "You look unfamiliar, are you new here?"

Li Feng chuckled: "Guest officer is really good at joking, I've been in Anxiang Building for almost ten years! It's your first time here, sir, so you feel that you are unfamiliar?"

Xie Chong was taken aback.He wanted to bluff the other party, but he was defeated instead.Embarrassed, Xie Chong had no choice but to shake his hand.Li Feng laughed, lost his smile, and immediately led the two assistants into the room.

At this time, Du Chuke was still talking about all kinds of unimaginable "delicacy" in Lingnan.Du He listened with gusto, and didn't notice at all. After Li Feng put the dishes on the food table, he grabbed a chopstick on the table.

For a real killer, many things can be used as weapons, such as this chopstick.If it can penetrate a person's throat with sufficient strength and speed, then its lethality is absolutely no less than any weapon.

When Li Feng held the chopsticks, a light flashed in the eyes of Li Tai and Du Chuke at the same time.

The light in Li Tai's eyes was purely excitement, but the light in Du Chuke's eyes was much more complicated. In addition to nervousness and excitement, there seemed to be some strands of guilt and helplessness mixed in.After all, Du He is his own nephew, no matter how much he hates Du He, the blood relationship cannot be changed, and it is not something he can throw away immediately if he wants to.

In an instant, the masseter muscle of Li Feng's jaw tightened, and the chopstick in his right hand pierced Du He's throat like lightning.

Li Feng seemed to have seen the scene of blood gushing out after Du He's throat was cut open.But at this moment, there was a loud shout at the door: "Erlang, be careful—"

Du He was also considered sensitive. Hearing the sound, he flicked to the right immediately, and the sharp blade-like chopsticks moved more than an inch to the left, piercing the flesh on the left side of his throat with a pop sound, and blood gushed out immediately, but it didn't seem like It was splashing as Li Feng imagined.

When Xie Chongfang and Li Feng and others came in, he was still worried, so he didn't close the door tightly, but left a gap, and then stared at Li Feng's every move.So as soon as Li Feng grabbed the chopsticks, he immediately sounded a warning, kicked open the door at the same time, drew a knife in his hand, and rushed straight to Li Feng's back.

Li Feng missed the blow, and was about to pull out and stab again, when he suddenly felt a gust of wind blowing from behind, he was forced to let go, and turned to face Xie Chong.Du He was terrified, sat on the ground and backed away, clutching the wound tightly with his left hand, and the chopstick was still stuck in his neck.

Du He's first reaction was that Li Tai wanted to kill him, but when he saw the other two killers attacking Li Tai and Du Chuke with chopsticks in their hands, he was stunned.

what's the problem? !
Li Tai and Du Chuke pretended to dodge left and right, and the two killers also stabbed left and right in a serious manner.In the blink of an eye, Du Chuke's shoulder and arm were stabbed several times, and blood flowed out.

Among Xie Chong's three men, one attacked Li Feng with him, and the other two attacked the two killers.

For a moment, the three killers were all entangled, and none of them could spare a shot to kill Du He.

The action was out of Li Tai's control.He never expected that the bodyguards brought by Du He were so fierce that they even fought to a tie with Li Feng and the other three.A thought suddenly flashed through his mind: Could these bodyguards be members of the Sky Punishment League?Since he himself can join forces with Mingzang, why can't the prince and Du He join hands with other sub-helms of the Tianxing League?

In a blink of an eye, the two sides fought for more than a dozen rounds.One of Du He's two bodyguards was pierced through the throat by chopsticks, and the other was pierced through the eye socket, while Li Feng's two men were also chopped down by the other party in a pool of blood, and the four died together one after another.

At the same time, Li Feng had also picked up a horizontal knife and killed Xie Chong's third subordinate with one against two.

So far, only Li Feng and Xie Chong were left fighting.

Du He looked around for a while, got up and wanted to run outside, but was kicked away by Li Feng, hit the wall hard, bounced back and fell to the ground, unable to get up for a long time.Xie Chong took advantage of Li Feng's distraction and slashed his right arm with a knife. Li Feng's knife fell to the ground with a clatter, and his arm was bleeding profusely.

Li Tai was extremely anxious.

Now it doesn't matter whether Du He is dead or not, but Li Feng must not die, otherwise his plan to attack Dong Gong will fall short.

Damn Li Ke, why haven't you shown up yet? !

At this time, Li Ke was leading a group of Marquis Wu cavalry on horseback from the main street east of the imperial city.Beforehand, he had made an agreement with Li Tai that he led a team to "patrol" here, and "just in time" heard the sound of fighting from the Anxiang Building, so he broke in through the window facing the street and captured the killer Li Feng alive.

However, Li Ke deliberately arrived a little later than the agreed time.

He has his own calculations.After all, these Marquis Guards under him are soldiers of the imperial court, not his own personal soldiers. If he patrols the downstairs of Anxiang, it happens to be the time when the assassination operation starts. Such a coincidence will inevitably make his subordinates suspicious. Tracking down is more likely to arouse the suspicion of the father.

Therefore, at this time Li Ke had clearly led the team to the downstairs of Anxiang, but he pretended not to hear the sound of fighting upstairs.

Hearing the sound, a lieutenant beside him said in astonishment: "General, there are people making trouble in Chongren Square!"

"Where is it?" Li Ke turned his head slowly.

"Listen to the voice, it's Anxiang Building."

"Dark Fragrance Building?" Li Ke set up the awning, glanced to the left, and then his expression turned serious, and he said loudly: "It's the wrong way! How dare you make trouble on the edge of the imperial city in broad daylight, brothers, follow me!"

Li Ke took the lead and rushed to the wall of the square, then got up from the horseback three steps away from the wall of the square, stepped on the top of the wall, and jumped up to the window on the second floor of the Anxiang Building.The lieutenant general and a dozen cavalrymen did the same, jumped up with the help of the square wall, and jumped in through several open windows.

The moment Li Ke jumped in from the window, Li Tai couldn't help shouting "Thank God" in his heart.

At this time, Li Feng was already at a disadvantage due to the loss of the weapon and the injury to his right arm, and frequently dodged under Xie Chong's fierce attacks.Suddenly, he tripped over a fallen flower stand and fell to the ground.Xie Chong grinned grinningly, and made an ultimate move, slashing his Tianling Gai with the horizontal knife in his hand.Seeing that Li Feng had no way to avoid it, he would definitely die with this knife, but Xie Chong suddenly stopped at this moment.

Because Li Ke's knife had already pierced his body first.

Xie Chong opened his blood red eyes, fell straight forward, and threw himself heavily on Li Feng.

Until his death, he didn't know who killed him.

Wuhou's cavalry guards rushed forward one after another, pressing Li Feng to the ground with all their hands and feet.

Li Feng's face was firmly pressed to the floor, but there was an imperceptible smile on the corner of his mouth.

As the most loyal and outstanding soldier under Mr. Mingzang Wang Hongyi, he knew very well that his mission was to die on the execution ground after framing the East Palace, not to die here meaninglessly.

(End of this chapter)