The walls are made of blue bricks, the house is made of green tiles, the ground is paved with pebbles, and there are pear trees, willow trees, and locust trees planted in the courtyard.

It was lunch time, and the bright and clean lecture hall was empty.

The breeze blew the books and rice paper, making a rustling sound.

The scarlet snake's tongue flickered, collecting and distinguishing the smell.

Soon, Zhu Jiuyin walked around the lecture hall and came to the backyard of the school.

What came into view was a large and lush and quiet bamboo forest.

Under the shade of the bamboo, a man in a green shirt sat on a stone bench, concentrating on looking at a slate on the stone table.

The ancient slate was spotted with mud, as if it had just been dug out of the ground.

From a distance, Zhu Jiuyin smelled a faint smell of decay emanating from the slate. When he got closer

, Zhu Jiuyin saw eight blurry small characters engraved on the slate.

""Dragons fight in the wild, their blood is dark yellow."

Zhu Jiuyin whispered.

The man in green shirt raised his head, with a slightly surprised expression,"Do you recognize these ancient characters?"

Zhu Jiuyin nodded.

"Please take a seat."

The man in green made a gesture of invitation and said,"I dug this ancient stone slab out from the Shenmu Forest."

"These eight ancient characters are really hard to read. I haven't had a good night's sleep for half a year."

The man in green said as he poured a cup of tea for Zhu Jiuyin.

"Fellow Daoist Qi,"

Zhu Jiuyin took the blue and white porcelain teacup and said expressionlessly,"I want to know what happened to my disciple."

"It’s a long story."

The man in green swept the bamboo leaves that fell on the stone table to the ground and said,"The gambling house opened by Zhao Huairen caused many people in the town to lose their families and their wives and children to be separated."

"Fellow Daoist Mang, have you seen Zhonglishan, the man next door to Ah Fei?"

Zhu Jiuyin shook his head."No, I heard from my apprentice that he is a troublemaker who is good at eating, drinking, whoring, gambling and taking drugs."

"Besides, my name is Nanzhu."

The man in green smiled and said,"Emperor Wenjing of Wei is seriously ill and will not live for many days."

"In order to become the next ruler of the country, the nine sons of the old emperor showed their magical powers and made the prosperous Wei capital restless."

"The ninth prince Zhao Jin was the first to be eliminated."

"If he continued to stay in the capital of Wei, he might be killed, so Zhao Jin came here from afar, hid in a small town, and waited for the right time.

The man in green took a sip of tea and continued,"The master of the Zhao Mansion, Zhao Huairen, is a chess piece that Zhao Jin's mother had kept outside for a long time."

"Therefore, rather than saying that the town gambling house and the Yanglangli industry chain belong to Zhao Huairen, it is better to say that they belong to Zhao Jin."

"When he first arrived, perhaps he wanted to establish his authority, so that the Zhao family headed by Zhao Huairen would be afraid of him and dare not have second thoughts. Perhaps he wanted to let those scoundrels in the town understand that it is natural to pay back debts."

"In short, Zhao Jin's methods were very cruel and bloody."

"Alas~"

The man in green sighed and said,"Those who have wives and children sign a contract to sell themselves, and after all, they still have to pay back those scoundrels."

"He who has no wife and no children has only death."

"Zhonglishan owed a lot of money to the lambs and signed a contract to sell Liu Cui'er."

"The little girl was eventually skinned by Zhao Jin and eaten by dozens of vicious dogs."

"After learning about this, Ah Fei……"

Zhu Jiuyin raised his hand,"Fellow Daoist Qi, there is no need to say more."

"Thank you for the tea."

After saying that, he stood up and walked out of the school.

"Fellow Daoist Nanzhu, someone from Weidu will be arriving soon."

"Emperor Wen Jing will not stop until he skins Ah Fei and you, and cuts you into pieces."

The man in green kindly reminded him.

"It's okay~"

Zhu Jiuyin said in a cold tone:"It's just a little bit of wind and frost."

……

Wolong Lane in the town.

The main hall of the Zhao family mansion

"If it weren't for those two fourth-rank girls, if it weren't for the skin of the Ninth Prince of Wei, I would have scraped off Zhao Jin's flesh layer by layer."

"Uproot them! How can you cut leeks like that?"

"I killed everyone, I'm afraid of killing people, who would dare to borrow money from me?"

Zhao Huairen, who was dressed in gorgeous clothes, smiled faintly,"The kid from the Chen family did something that I, the master, dare not do."

"It is true that a newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger."

On the side, the old housekeeper bowed his head and flattered:"Zhao Jin is dead, and his mother, Concubine Bai Ningzhi, was also given poisoned wine by Emperor Wen Jing. Master, you are no longer bound."

"From now on, the master of this acre and three mu of land in Qingping Town is still our Zhao family."

Zhao Huairen laughed

"By the way, sir, what should we do with the human skins peeled off by Zhao Jin?"

Zhao Huairen pondered for a while and said,"Hang them all on the archway at the entrance of the town."

The old housekeeper was surprised and said,"Sir, didn't you just say that if the people in the town were afraid of us, they would not come to borrow money?"

"Hehe~"

Zhao Huairen sneered and said,"Master, I have been merciful for a long time. Even if Zhao Jin doesn't come, I am ready to kill the chicken to scare the monkey."

"Zhao Jin helped me do it, but it was a little too much"

"Lao Zhang, people are forgetful."

"Next month, the price of rice will be raised sharply."

"Hunger makes the dogs that escape from me wag their tails and beg for mercy again."

"At that time, we will lend a sum of money without interest to save the dogs from dire straits."

"By then, the dogs will be grateful to us and will shout"Master, I am a great man and a living Bodhisattva""

"Lao Zhang, look, have we lost anything?"

"No, but I got a lot"

"Master, I only need to use a little trick to tease the dogs at will."

The old housekeeper, who was once one of the 'dogs' in Zhao Huairen's mouth, sighed softly in his heart.

He murmured softly:"Dogs, don't blame the master, and don't blame me, this is fate!"

Will the town be better without Master Zhao?

Absolutely not!

Without Master Zhao, there will still be Master Wang, Master Li, Master Guo, Master Huang and many other masters.���

……

Zhu Jiuyin, dressed in white and barefoot, with a white cloth covering his eyes, came to Wuyi Lane.

He pushed open the gate and looked around through the white cloth.

Although he had only been here once, everything was very familiar to Zhu Jiuyin.

He walked into the main room.

On the wooden bed, the mattress was flat without a wrinkle, and the quilt was folded into tofu blocks as smooth as if it had been cut by a knife.

On the windowsill, there was a bronze mirror that the woman had used for many years.

The mirror was spotless, and it must have been wiped every day.

He left the main room and came to the east wing.

It was equally clean and tidy.

Zhu Jiuyin squatted down and opened the wooden box in the corner.

A faint smell of soapberry powder came to his face.

In the box, the clothes were neatly folded.

On the top, there was a faded tiger-head hat.

This was a tenth-year-old birthday gift given by the woman to her son.

The boy had been keeping it carefully.

……

As the sun was setting,

Zhu Jiuyin came to the century-old locust tree at the entrance of the town.

The long bluestone street was empty, and the doors and windows of every household were closed.

The whole town was eerily quiet.

Zhu Jiuyin, who was sitting on the tree stump, suddenly smelled a slight smell of blood.

Looking up at the entrance of the town, Zhu Jiuyin got the answer.

The archway in the town, which was carved from granite and was about six or seven feet high, was densely covered with bloody human skins.

Flies were like a black cloud.

Zhu Jiuyin had a blank expression on his face and retracted his gaze.

He looked at a stone stump not far away.

Six years ago, it was under this old locust tree.

Zhu Jiuyin sat on the tree stump.

The girl who always wore a green skirt sat on the stone stump.

That day, the girl told Zhu Jiuyin the story of the mother and son of the Chen family. How the woman of the Chen family sawed off her own legs.

How the boy of the Chen family, at the age of three or four, stood on a small stool and learned to cook and decoct medicine.

"He is really a kind person~"

Zhu Jiuyin whispered.

He stood up slowly and walked towards Wolong Lane.

After nightfall, no one from the Zhao family was left alive. Not for the dozens of bloody human skins hanging on the memorial archway, but for the tofu-selling girl.

"Miss Liu, please wait~"

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like