Pawn Crossing the River

About five hundred miles away from Jinling Mansion is a large port, which is one of the important cargo ports. There is also a secret ferry about thirty miles away from this large port.

This is a ferry that is not under the control of the government and Taoist gates. It is considered a black ferry. From here, you can sneak out to the sea. Smuggling goods is secondary. The key is to sneak out to the sea.

At this time, a middle-aged man in casual Taoist robes was standing on the trestle of the black ferry waiting anxiously.

Ahead was a dark sea with no light at all.

His name is Dongfang Yao, and he is the Taoist priest in charge under Li Tianlan. As early as when the investigation team stationed in Jinling Mansion, there was already some chaos and rumors. A few days ago, a "good friend" revealed some "rumours" to him, saying that it was an investigation. The investigation team was pressing harder and harder, and they could no longer withstand it. They planned to throw out a few unlucky people to block the investigation team's mouth. Unfortunately, he was among these unlucky people.

After getting this news, Dongfang Yao certainly didn't want to sit still and wait for death. Although Fengxian Hall and Beichen Hall were both under the control of Taiping Dao, Taiping Dao would not help the scapegoat get away with his crime. Otherwise, how could he be called a scapegoat? Feng Xiantang and Beichen Tang would only pin all the charges on the scapegoat, and then tell the scapegoat to shut up and wait to die.

So Dongfang Yao decided to escape from Jinling Mansion. He gave up his identity as a Taoist priest in charge, took the money he had accumulated over the years, took a boat to sea, and fled overseas.

He is just a small person. The investigation team will probably not mobilize a large force to arrest him, and Taiping Road will turn a blind eye - provided that he can leave the land safely.

At this moment, a little light lit up on the dark sea.

A small boat came slowly.

Of course, this small boat cannot be expected to cross the ocean. The real passenger ship is parked at sea to prevent being discovered by the navy of the South China Sea. This small boat is carrying guests to the passenger ship.

Dongfang Yao took a few steps forward, holding a wooden box in one hand and waving vigorously towards the boat with the other hand.

"Master Dongfang, where are you going?" A voice suddenly sounded from behind Dongfang Yao.

Dongfang Yao's whole body froze suddenly, and his waving movements stopped abruptly.

After a moment, Dongfang Yao turned around with difficulty and saw a Taoist wearing a black crane cloak standing behind him, his face full of despair.

At the welcoming ceremony to welcome the investigation team to Jinling Mansion, he met this Taoist - Pei Xiaolou, Assistant Manager of Wanshou Chongyang Palace.

Pei Xiaolou patted Dongfang Yao on the shoulder and took the portable wooden box from his hand.

Many spiritual officials appeared in the shadows, walking silently behind Pei Xiaolou.

Pei Xiaolou handed the portable wooden box into the hands of a spiritual official, who held it with both hands. Then he opened the lid of the box and saw a set of forged identification documents, a set of clothes, and a stack of official tickets inside. , and many eagle oceans.

Pei Xiaolou picked up an eagle and looked at it carefully.

This is also a kind of silver coin, but unlike the Taiping coin, this kind of Western silver coin has no words on it, but the pattern of a double-headed eagle. It is said that this is the pattern of the emblem and flag of an ancient Western empire. It was originally a single-headed eagle, but later it was It reflected that the empire spanned two continents and was changed to a double-headed eagle. Although the empire has collapsed now, the successors of the empire still use this double-headed eagle symbol.

As the exchanges between the East and the West became more frequent, a large number of foreign silver coins entered the Central Plains. This kind of Western silver coins with a single-headed eagle or a double-headed eagle symbol was shortened to "Eagle Ocean" by the people, which is very appropriate. Even the imperial court and Daomen were influenced and acquiesced in Yingyang's statement.

"With so many eagles, I'm really well prepared." Pei Xiaolou threw the eagle back into the box and looked at Dongfang Yao.

Dongfang Yao was sweating like rain and was speechless.

Speaking of this, Pei Xiaolou suddenly discovered that the boat did not escape, but still came closer.

As they got closer, they saw a person standing on the bow of the boat, with a good appearance. It was Li Tianlan, the deputy head of Jiangnan Daofu.

"Master Li." Pei Xiaolou's expression changed slightly.

Li Tianlan smiled, cupped his hands and said, "Master Pei."

Pei Xiaolou asked: "Why is Zhenren Li here?"

Li Tianlan jumped onto the trestle and said, "I received news that someone was absconding in fear of crime, so I came to arrest him."

"What a coincidence, so am I." Pei Xiaolou said, but he was observing Li Tianlan's expression.

Logically speaking, the Taoist priest in charge named Dongfang Yao has many secrets. Li Tianlan definitely does not want him to fall into the hands of the investigation team. Now that the two sides are meeting on a narrow road, Li Tianlan should not be like this. But judging from Li Tianlan's performance, it seemed that he was not surprised to meet Pei Xiaolou. Was this also what Li Tianlan expected?

Thinking of this, Pei Xiaolou tentatively said: "This person is very important and should be handed over to the investigation team for interrogation. I wonder what Li Zhenren wants?"

Li Tianlan said: "Even I myself have to be questioned by the investigation team, let alone him. Naturally, I have no objection, but..."

"Just what?" Pei Xiaolou looked at Dongfang Yao from the corner of his eye.

Dongfang Yao's face was pale, his lips were trembling, and big beads of sweat kept falling on his forehead.

Pei Xiaolou couldn't help but feel a little strange. This man was the Taoist priest in charge after all. Even if he couldn't compare to Qi Xuansu, he shouldn't be so helpless, right? We haven't gone to Fengxian Hall and Beichen Hall yet, let alone the front line of the battlefield, which would be too much for a Taoist priest in the garden.

However, Pei Xiaolou soon realized that something was wrong. Dongfang Yao stretched out his hand to cover his chest, and his whole body trembled. His eyes were bloodshot and bulged outward, which was very scary.

Li Tianlan said: "No, he will commit suicide out of fear of crime."

Pei Xiaolou hurriedly reached out to grab Dongfang Yao, but it was too late. He saw Dongfang Yao falling softly to the ground, his face was withered, his eyes were lifeless, and he was no longer alive.

Pei Xiaolou failed to notice when Li Tianlan had tampered with Dongfang Yao. He couldn't help but glared at Li Tianlan: "Master Li, you should give me an explanation!"

Li Tianlan glanced at Dongfang Yao's body and said with regret: "He was promoted by me. He was also a down-to-earth and capable young man at the beginning. He was diligent and conscientious. How did he become like this? He was greedy and swallowed the elephant. He has forgotten how the Taoist sect trained him, ignored Xuan Sheng’s teachings, and lost the integrity that a Taoist sect should have, and he should take this as a lesson.”

Pei Xiaolou said coldly: "Just die."

"Yes, I will die." Li Tianlan sighed, "Speaking of which, I also made a mistake. It was an oversight. I failed to notice what he did early and failed to remedy it in time, which made him make a mistake. If I make another mistake, I will not only lose my life, but also cause heavy losses to Jiangnan Province. This is all my fault."

Pei Xiaolou was silent for a moment and said: "Dongfang Yao is carried by Zhenren Li. This should be called the grace of knowing and meeting, or it can also be called the kindness of reincarnation. It is equivalent to the grace of saving one's life and the grace of parents' childbirth." A great favor.”

Li Tianlan narrowed his eyes: "I can't understand what Master Pei said."

Pei Xiaolou said slowly: "There is nothing important in life except death. Dongfang Yao commits suicide out of fear of crime. He is not even afraid of death. So what is he afraid of? Is he trying to hide something? Or is he trying to protect someone?"

Li Tianlan's expression turned cold: "Pei Zhenren means that Dongfang Yao chose to commit suicide out of fear of crime in order to protect me and repay my kindness. Is that so?"

Pei Xiaolou said in a deep voice: "I didn't say that. I just wanted to ask Master Li to give me a reasonable explanation."

Li Tianlan did not speak, but took out a pocket watch from his sleeve, opened the cover and took a look.

Pei Xiaolou did not urge him.

After all, both of them are second-grade Taiyi Taoist priests, and there is no difference in their positions.

After a while, Li Tianlan said: "That's it, I am willing to accept the investigation by the investigation team. The investigation team can search my residence and the mortgage room. This is the explanation I gave. Is Mr. Pei satisfied?"

Instead, Pei Xiaolou fell silent.

Li Tianlan continued: "If I really have any improper relationship with Dongfang Yao, or to put it more bluntly, I am Dongfang Yao's backer, then I am willing to accept any punishment. But if I am innocent, I have nothing to do with Dongfang Yao. Yao's death has nothing to do with it, so how about asking Master Pei to give me an explanation?"

Pei Xiaolou fell into a dilemma of riding a tiger.

At this moment, a spiritual officer quickly walked up to Pei Xiaolou and stopped talking.

Li Tianlan took the initiative to get out of the way and walked to the other side of the trestle, facing the sea and standing with his hands behind his back.

The spiritual officer then whispered: "Something happened in Zhenwu Temple."

Pei Xiaolou thought he heard wrongly and frowned: "What did you say?"

The Spirit Officer repeated it again: "The news just came, something happened to Zhenwu Temple, and it has turned into a sea of ​​fire."

Pei Xiaolou only felt a chill rising from his coccyx, rushing through the twenty-four spines, passing through the Fengchi point, and exploding on his scalp, making his scalp numb and like a ray on his back, but he quickly He suppressed his shock, tried his best to stay calm and asked, "What's going on?"

Lingguan lowered his head and said, "It is said that a secret society attacked Zhenwu Temple."

Pei Xiaolou understood immediately, looked at Li Tianlan whose back was turned to him, gritted his teeth and said, "What a plan."

Li Tianlan was indifferent and seemed not to hear Pei Xiaolou's words at all.

Pei Xiaolou didn't care about getting entangled with this old fox and turned around and left: "Let's go! Pass the order and everyone will rush to Zhenwu Temple's aid immediately!"

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