People in the Qin Dynasty, entertained during the Warring States period

But Cao Ze forgot that there are some differences between people and horses.

"Hissing sound—"

Suddenly, the drunkard Bai Ma's eyes turned red and he went wild.

Before Han Fei could even pull on the reins, the drunken white horse, as if injected with adrenaline, began its wild galloping journey...

Chapter 274 What should I do?

Cao Ze and Hong Lian looked at each other in bewilderment.

As they chased after him, Han Fei's drunken white horse seemed to wilted as they approached the foot of the Ancestral Mountain, swaying from side to side as if it had drunk not just a pot of wine, but a whole vat.

Han Fei was so shaken that he fell off his horse and sat down on the grass.

Zhang Liang dismounted and walked to the white horse of the drunkard to inspect it.

Han Fei asked weakly, "Zifang, what happened?"

Zhang Liang asked with a strange expression, "Brother's horse... seems to be in heat?"

"What?!" Han Fei's eyes widened.

He stiffly turned his head, looking at his own swaying white horse, and was speechless for a moment.

I never expected you to be like this, Brother Ma!

How is he any different from that traitor Cao Cao!

I will never drink with you again!

Cao Ze, oblivious to everyone else, admired the scenery of Shizu Mountain, where the snow had melted and the withered branches and fallen leaves were covered with the fallen leaves, with Honglian and Zinu.

They heard Han Fei and Zhang Liang's conversation clearly.

Honglian couldn't help but chuckle softly, "Did you do it?"

Although she didn't win, she was happy and enjoyed seeing her usually serious brother make a fool of himself.

Cao Ze vehemently denied it: "No, it wasn't me, I didn't do it."

This is too embarrassing; I absolutely cannot admit it.

If his brother-in-law found out that his brother-in-law had been violated by him, he would probably want to kill him.

……

The ancestral mountain is steep, with jagged rocks and cliffs as sharp as knives.

The mountain path leading up the mountain is like a flowing, winding stroke of a brush.

Two hours later, the five of them reached the foot of the mountain and rested for a while.

Cao Ze took out a map he had copied from the "Seven Mansions" scroll and a map of the Ancestral Mountain that he had acquired in advance. Comparing the two, he still couldn't make heads or tails of the matter.

Then he tossed the map to Han Fei.

"Brother Han, take a look."

Han Fei put down the map of the Ancestral Mountain and carefully studied the map on the scroll of the Seven Mansions.

"This isn't the original image; it's probably a rubbing. It's lost its original mystery and is now just ordinary."

Cao Ze chuckled and said, "Brother Han is still the best."

He took out the scroll of "Seven Mansions" from his bosom, pieced it together, and handed it to Han Fei.

Zi Nu Hong Lian and Zhang Liang both gathered around to watch.

The mountains above seemed to come alive, which was quite amazing, as if the mountains had been thrown onto the picture.

"Qisu..."

Han Fei gave Cao Ze a meaningful look. Just as he had guessed, Cao Ze had indeed obtained some clues.

This is why the treasure trove in the "Azure Dragon" scroll in the cold palace of Zheng State was found not in Chengying Huangquan, but in Juci Mountain, the ancestral mountain of ancient times.

Cao Ze urged, "Brother Han, have you noticed anything?"

"The runes on the map are quite similar to the Baiyue runes of today. Zifang, do you know what they mean?"

Han Fei looked at Zhang Liang, who, as the Keeper of the Imperial Archives, should know more than he did.

Zhang Liang frowned slightly as he looked at the runes.

“I’ve seen similar runes in the books in the archives. Unlike the runes circulating in the Baiyue region today, these runes were used exclusively by the Baiyue royal family that was destroyed by Han Chu. To decipher their meaning, we need to go to the former Baiyue capital to investigate. However…”

"However, the royal family of Baiyue was slaughtered back then, so even if you went to Baiyue, it would be a waste of time."

After Cao Ze finished speaking, he looked at Han Fei and asked, "Brother Han, do you have any suggestions?"

"Finding a new path is not that simple..." Han Fei pondered the words on the "Azure Dragon" scroll, trying to compare them with those on the "Seven Mansions" scroll.

He just remembered that the shapes of the characters on the Azure Dragon scroll were somewhat similar to the runes used exclusively by the Baiyue royal family.

"Brother Cao, is there any connection between the State of Zheng and the Baiyue?"

Cao Ze paused for a moment, then said, "According to the clues I have investigated, after the State of Zheng was destroyed by the State of Han, a branch of the Zheng royal family fled to Baiyue."

Zhang Liang said, "This matter is also recorded in the classics. Could it be that the Baiyue royal family, which was destroyed by Han and Chu, was a descendant of the Zheng royal family?"

Cao Ze shook his head slightly. He only knew from Li Kai that Huo Yu Gong was a descendant of the Zheng royal family. As for whether the Baiyue royal family was a descendant of the Zheng royal family, he had no idea.

Unless Tianze comes out and compares it with the history of the Baiyue royal family that Tianze knows, it will be impossible to find out.

However, if the Baiyue royal family were indeed descendants of the Zheng royal family, that would be very interesting.

They were defeated twice by South Korea, wiped out twice...

Han Fei said, "It's also possible that the Baiyue royal family accidentally obtained these rune inheritances."

While the three were discussing, Honglian suddenly cried out in surprise, "Look!"

Cao Ze and the other two rushed over.

Zi Nu used her inner energy to scatter the withered branches and fallen leaves around her, revealing a little girl who had been dead for some time and was no more than twelve years old, curled up in the mud, holding a sharpened bone spur in her hand, which was stained with dark red blood that was of unknown origin, whether human or animal.

Due to the low temperature, the little girl's body had not yet decomposed and was still quite presentable.

"This……"

Han Fei squatted down and examined the little girl's tattered clothes. He used his fingers to lift the little girl's eyelids and saw an eyeball frozen into an ice ball.

"The time of death was no more than a month ago. The cause of death was frostbite. He had been in a fight or similar struggle before his death, and had multiple muscle tears. If I remember correctly, there was a heavy snowfall about two weeks ago..."

Han Fei's voice was low, realizing that something was wrong.

Zi Nu asked, "What could possibly cause a girl who is only twelve years old to brave the wind and snow to go up the mountain? To hunt?"

“No, it’s not hunting.” Zhang Liang pulled a hard object out from under the little girl’s tattered clothes.

"This is raw meat, it has teeth marks on it, and a lot of it has been eaten."

Cao Ze fell into deep thought, a vague sense of foreboding creeping over him.

Honglian was in a terrible state and tried to look away to calm herself down, but then she saw another corpse.

"They're here too!"

Cao Ze focused his gaze, looked around, and gasped.

Upon closer inspection, there were at least ten corpses, all of them boys and girls.

At that moment, everyone fell silent.

My initial enthusiasm for exploring and searching for treasure vanished completely.

"Let's check it out."

As a Legalist scholar, Han Fei could not convince himself to turn a blind eye.

Cao Ze slowly brushed aside the withered branches and leaves covered in mud, and together with Zhang Liang, moved the thirteen corpses from the surrounding area to the open ground.

Han Fei examined them one by one.

Some were stabbed to death with sharp objects, some were beaten to death with blunt objects, and some, like that girl, froze to death.

There was no particular way he died, but that's precisely what makes things so strange.

In the desolate wilderness, there are more than a dozen corpses of young men and women, seemingly killed in a fight. There must be someone behind this.

into the night.

The group found a sheltered, shallow cave and lit a campfire.

The firelight was intensely hot, dispelling the surrounding chill and turning everyone's faces a bright red. The figures of the crowd swayed from time to time as the firelight flickered.

Honglian sat on the ground, hugging her leg with one hand and holding a long tree branch in the other, unconsciously poking at the dry branches that had been burned to embers in the campfire.

She had heard the palace maids say in private that people were freezing to death in various places, and that it was fortunate that they could eat in the palace.

But seeing that the palace maids spoke so casually, and even laughed, she didn't take it to heart.

Even today, the sudden discovery of a corpse much smaller than herself in the mountains has made her feel even more distressed.

Han Fei, munching on dry rations and drinking strong liquor, asked, "Zifang, who do you think did this? And what is their purpose?"

Zhang Liang's handsome face was filled with sorrow. "Who did this, I do not know. As for their purpose..."

Zi Nu calmly said, "This is a common method for training assassins."

Zhang Liang nodded slightly: "That's right, this way of training assassins is rarely seen nowadays."

A well-funded and powerful assassin organization wouldn't do something so short-sighted; they would place each person in a different position.

Like a net, those suited for assassination are assassinated, and those suited for infiltration are infiltrated. Resources are not wasted easily.

Cao Ze and Han Fei exchanged a glance, and both knew the answer in their hearts.

"Brother Han, what do you think should be done about this?"

Han Fei fumbled with the wine flask, realizing that this was very likely a secret place where Nightfall kept assassins.

Given Ji Wuye's cautious nature, he would certainly not directly intervene in this matter.

Therefore, it is virtually impossible to indirectly strike at Ji Wuye through this place.