Nightwatcher

Yang Qianhuan said slowly: "After this period of reflection, I finally understand the difference between myself and Xu Qi'an."

"What's the difference?"

Zhong Li looks like a qualified fan.

Yang Qianhuan didn't answer, but asked instead: "Junior Sister Zhong, do you still remember when Xu Qi'an was loved by the people?"

Zhong Li tilted her head, her hair was hanging down, revealing a pair of bright eyes, and her voice was soft: "Solve major cases during the Jingcha?"

At that time Zhong Li was "suppressed" at the bottom of the building as a pitiful little girl, and didn't know Xu Qi'an yet, and then slowly came to understand Xu Qi'an's past. .

"No, although he was in the limelight during the Jingcha, his reputation was only spread in the officialdom, and the common people in the market had heard of it a little, but it was far from being loved."

Yang Qianhuan's voice was low and eloquent, and said:

"What really made the people of the capital remember him was the Buddhist martial arts and the trip to Yunzhou. Later, Cai Shikou beheaded the Duke of the State, and his reputation reached its peak. But these are also good, the legend of the follow-up Yuyang Pass, and the feat of killing the king. In fact, they are all the same.”

After a pause, he said in a tone of revealing the truth behind the fog:

"Because he keeps establishing an image of "serving the country and the people" for himself, the people will naturally love him. If he kills Yuanjing, he is Zhanhunjun. If I kill Yongxing, I will be a traitor."

Zhong Li was very moved when he heard this, Senior Brother Yang finally understood.

Yang Qianhuan continued: "Therefore, I will start working for the well-being of the people, so that the people in the whole capital will be grateful to me."

"Then what is Senior Brother Yang going to do?" Zhong Li said softly.

"I plan to open a few shops in the capital and help the people of the capital for free. Over time, I will surpass Xu Qi'an and become a hero in the hearts of the people of the capital." Yang Qianhuan said loudly.

"Senior Brother Yang is really amazing, he came up with such a good way." Zhong Li was happy for him.

With the approval and praise of Junior Sister Zhong, Yang Qianhuan left with confidence.

The cold wind howled, and the grass rose and fell.

A group of thick dark clouds were solidified in the distant sky, followed by the strong wind, a group of people walked on the barren mountain path, and Mu Nanzhi on horseback wrapped her fox fur cloak tightly.

She frowned, turned to Xu Qi'an and said, "I'm a little cold."

This winter has been extremely cold, and the eaves are covered with frost not long after the winter.

Xu Qi'an nodded, and put his palm on the belly of the little mare, continuously inputting energy. He is now able to refine and transform qi, and he has produced a lot of qi, which is equivalent to the eighth-rank qi training state.

Feeling the heat from her master, the little mare neighed happily, turned her head, and rubbed Xu Qi'an's face.

"The surname is Xu!"

Mu Nanzhi gritted her teeth angrily, is she not as good as a horse?

"For you, being cold is also a good experience. It's too leisurely to travel around, and it's no fun."

That being said, Xu Qi'an still held her little hand and passed the air blower.

Li Lingsu saw the interaction between the two of them, and said to herself that the wife is not beautiful enough, that's why Xu Qian, a bad old man, despises her so much.

Thinking of his group of beauties, all of whom are outstanding beauties, Shengzi inevitably feels a little superior, and at the same time guesses whether Xu Qian is not good at beauty, or is he not good at dealing with women?

Otherwise, with his cultivation level, what kind of beauties can't be obtained?

"But Madam Xu is mediocre in appearance, but she is very attractive. The more we get along, the more I feel that she is different from ordinary women. This is probably the reason why Xu Qian married her."

Li Lingsu thought to himself.

After a few weeks of air circulation, Mu Nanzhi felt warm all over her body, and even fell asleep lazily. She forced herself to pull herself together, put the little fox on the horse's back, and then took out the "Dafeng Geography" from the luggage. ", flipped through it a few times, and his face suddenly changed slightly.

She swallowed quietly, and said in a low voice: "The book says that there are two major characteristics of Xiangzhou: water ghosts and exorcising corpses."

The boundary where they are located is exactly Xiangzhou under the jurisdiction of Zhangzhou.

When the little white fox heard it, he shrank his head in fear, and stammered like Mu Nanzhi in a useless way:

"What, what? There are a lot of water ghosts."

Xu Qi'an said angrily: "You are a monster, are you afraid of water ghosts?"

The little white fox hesitated halfway, and whispered: "I, I'm afraid of ghosts."

Li Lingsu said: "Xiangzhou has many water systems, and the river network is dotted and criss-crossed. Countless people drown every year, and it's normal that there are many water ghosts. As for driving corpses, it's a long story."

Seeing the two of them looking at each other, Li Lingsu explained:

"It is said that about 180 years ago, a strange man suddenly appeared in western Hunan. His skill at controlling corpses reached the peak, and he used thirteen iron corpses to defeat the invincible opponents in Xiangzhou. He established a sect in Xiangzhou.

"Inherited to this day, many powers in the rivers and lakes in Xiangzhou have more or less methods of controlling corpses. Among them, the Chai family is the most powerful, and the main business of the Chai family is to exorcise corpses, sending the dead back to their hometowns.

"But any corpses taken over by the Chai family will not rot and stink."

Xu Qi'an led the little mare and asked, "Is this the method of the Witch God Sect to control corpses, or the method of the Corpse Gu Department?"

Li Lingsu smiled and said:

"The means of the Corpse Gu Department. That strange man was born in Xiangzhou. When he was young, his whole family was murdered by his enemies. For some reason, he survived. He was sold to southern Xinjiang by his enemies as a slave. He learned a good skill at controlling corpses from the Gu tribe.

"After consciously cultivating a great achievement, he escaped from southern Xinjiang, returned to Xiangzhou to avenge, and founded a sect. This person is called Chai Siming, the ancestor of the Chai family. However, his method of controlling corpses is flawed, and he can only cultivate to the fifth-rank realm.

"Later, the Chai family developed martial arts, and the clansmen usually cultivate both martial arts and Gu. The current head of the Chai family is only the fifth rank, but there have been several fourth rank patriarchs in the history of the Chai family."

Xu Qi'an was surprised: "Have you traveled to Xiangzhou before?"

"No."

"Then how do you know these things?"

"Because one of my confidante happens to be from the Chai family." Li Lingsu smiled as a winner in life.

Gan! Inadvertently giving you another chance to pretend to be aggressive Xu Qi'an complained in his heart, he nodded with a calm tone:

"Tomorrow we will arrive in Xiangzhou City, just in time to visit the Chai family."

Li Lingsu's face changed slightly, and he quietly covered his waist.

The wind was getting stronger and stronger, and the dark clouds were overwhelming. Seeing that the heavy rain was about to pour down, the group speeded up and walked for a quarter of an hour. Mu Nanzhi, who was sitting on the horseback, pointed to the distance and said happily:

"There's a ruined temple there."

The little white fox happily agreed: "There is a ruined temple."

The ruined temple is on the side of the road. When we got closer, we found that it was a mountain temple with a rather large area. I think it had a beautiful time back then.

The gate of the temple is rotten and half-open, as if it would fall if pushed.

Xu Qi'an helped Mu Nanzhi get off the horse, and the three of them entered the temple one by one, and crossed the threshold. The courtyard was covered with dead branches and leaves, emitting a faint rotten smell.

The statue of the mountain god enshrined in the temple was overturned, covered with cracks, and entwined with spider silk. Xu Qi'an glanced at it roughly, and visually judged that the temple had been abandoned for at least ten years.

There are several carbon ashes in the temple, which seem to be left after the people who rested here before lit the bonfire.

"ah!"

Mu Nanzhi suddenly let out a low cry, pointed to the south corner, and stammered, "Coffin, coffin."

Next to the south wall, there is an ebony coffin, the color is dull, it seems to be some years old.

The dilapidated ruined temple, the old coffin, and the approaching dusk, the dark clouds covering the top, and the howling wind are strange.

Mu Nanzhi was timid, and was immediately terrified.

Bai Ji, who was clearly a fox demon, seemed to be affected as well, she took the initiative to crawl into Mu Nanzhi's arms, and the two female creatures huddled together to keep warm.

Xu Qi'an glanced at the coffin, then turned his gaze away, and looked at Li Lingsu: "Go outside to pick up some firewood, and we'll make do with it in the temple tonight."

After Li Lingsu went out for a while, it started to rain, and it was miserable.

Xu Qi'an took out two robes from the storage bag and put them on the ground so that Mu Nanzhi could sit. After waiting for a while, Li Lingsu returned with a large bundle of firewood.

Portions are plentiful.

A bonfire was quickly lit in the temple to drive away the chill, Xu Qi'an set up a pot and cooked a pot of meat soup.

Not long after, the rich meaty aroma wafted away, and Mu Nanzhi was no longer afraid, holding a porcelain bowl and enjoying the soup.

The little white fox also has a bowl, licking it happily.

At this moment, Xu Qi'an's ears moved, and he heard hurried footsteps.

At the gate of the temple, two figures rushed in, two men and one woman, one of them was wearing a Confucian shirt and a Confucian crown, carrying a bookcase, he seemed to be a scholar.

The other man had a long knife in his waist and hips, and was wearing a black suit. He looked like a martial arts practitioner.

As for the woman, she has a pretty face, wearing a neat bunt, and her long hair is tied up high like a man's, but her shoulders and neck are not embellished, making her look more slender and thinner.

"smell good!"

A young man with a long knife in his waist and hips entered the temple, staring straight at the iron pot.

The scholar cupped his hands and said, "You two brothers, the mountain road is hard to find, and it is cold and rainy occasionally. I don't know if it can be convenient."

Li Lingsu smiled and said, "It's up to you."

Two men and a woman immediately stepped aside and sat down not far from the coffin.

His body was wet because he was traveling in the rain. The man in the black suit took off his saber, looked at the old coffin in the corner, and wondered:

"There is actually a coffin in the temple. It's just right. Let's chop it up and use it as firewood."

The young scholar's face changed slightly, "No way, Brother Wang, this is unlucky, the dead are the worst, don't disturb others."

When Mu Nanzhi heard this, she shook her little hand and shouted, "That's right, why are you hacking up some coffin to die?"

It was completely dark, and the raindrops were falling. In the ruined temple on the barren mountain, the bonfire was swayed by the cold wind that was drawn into the temple, and the figures twisted into deformed outlines on the wall.

The young man in black clothes frowned and said, "What does it have to do with you!"

He turned to his companion and muttered, "It's not certain whether there are dead people in the coffin."

At this time, the beautiful woman said:

"Whether there are dead or not, it's not auspicious. Brother Wang, we are martial arts practitioners with strong vitality and blood, and are not afraid of the cold. It's just you, Brother Lu."

The scholar quickly waved his hand: "It's not in the way, it's not in the way."

The woman shook her head, stood up and walked in front of Xu Qi'an and the others, clasped her fists together and said, "Brothers, can we come over and warm up together?"

"sit down!"

Under Mu Nanzhi's squinting gaze, Xu Qi'an maintained a cold posture and didn't let himself show a warm male smile.

So the three of them sat down by the campfire, and Xu Qi'an noticed that they were staring straight at the iron pot and the meat soup inside.

"If you don't mind, just use the bowl we drank from."

Xu Qi'an didn't reveal in front of them that he had stored magical artifacts.

"Thank you very much."

The scholars were overjoyed and bowed again and again.

Hearing this, the bad-tempered man in black clothes softened a bit.

The beautiful woman drank a mouthful of the broth, wiped her lips with her sleeve, and said, "Little girl Feng Xiu is a disciple of the Plum Blossom Sword Sect."

She looked at the man in the black dress and introduced: "His name is Wang Jun, a disciple of Songyun Sect. Our two sects have been friends for generations. This brother Lu is a friend we met in the mountains."

The scholar took the topic and said: "Here in Lu Wei, a person from Qingshan County, the new king will ascend the throne, and next year he will open Enke, so he plans to go on a study tour and go to the capital."

The Crown Prince ascended the throne. Xu Qi'an was taken aback.

For Dafeng, this is a good thing.

The only advantage of Yuan Jing's Taoism is that he doesn't have many heirs, otherwise, if the prince seizes the heir, it will only make the situation worse.

Li Lingsu challenged, "Are you two traveling together?"

Feng Xiu's gaze stayed on his face for a moment, and she said softly, "We are responding to Aunt Chai's call to come to Xiangzhou to participate in the Demon Slaying Conference."