Star Gate

Return to your seat from the room director's office.

Li Hao glanced at the calendar on the table, July 12, 1730.

"Almost a year!"

Whispered softly.

Opposite me, Chen Na asked curiously: "Why is it almost a year?"

Li Hao smiled and explained: "I said it has been almost a year since I joined the Inspection Department."

"Oh, you have such a good memory."

Chen Na didn't pay attention anymore. Who would remember this? It doesn't mean anything.

Li Hao didn't say much.

He remembers!

I remember it very clearly!

On August 1, 1729, he joined the Inspection Department.

Just a few days ago, on July 23, the day after the incident, Li Hao chose to drop out of school. Soon, Li Hao joined the Inspection Department.

On July 22, 1729, a self-immolation occurred in Yincheng Ancient Courtyard.

Zhang Yuan, a second-level student of Guyuan, set himself on fire outside his dormitory and was burned alive.

In order not to affect the reputation of Yincheng Ancient Academy, and after the inspection by the Inspection Department, it was indeed caused by an accident, the news of the matter was blocked, and very few people knew that a student of Yincheng Ancient Academy died.

Of course, one thing that prevented it from getting serious was that Zhang Yuan's parents were both dead, and he had no relatives or victims at home, so the matter was quickly suppressed.

Afterwards, Li Hao dropped out of school, and his tutor also speculated that it was related to Zhang Yuan. It is said that Li Hao and Zhang Yuan had a good relationship.

"Zhang Yuan!"

I thought silently in my heart, it was almost a year since Xiaoyuan died.

The scene of that day came to mind again.

The red blood shadow seemed to grasp Xiaoyuan's soul, and the blood-red flame burned Xiaoyuan's soul. The pain, struggle, collapse, and various emotions were not seen by others, but Li Hao seemed to see them clearly.

He wanted to step forward to stop him, but at that moment, Xiaoyuan's mouth kept opening and closing. In such extreme pain and unable to make any sound, his mouth kept moving.

Others might think it was wailing, but only Li Hao knew it was not.

"escape!"

Yes, that is letting yourself escape.

Li Hao is too familiar with Zhang Yuan!

Keep yourself away, keep yourself away.

Zhang Yuan did not die in the dormitory. When he died, he was only wearing a pair of underwear. He looked ridiculous, but Li Hao never found it ridiculous.

When Zhang Yuan died, he should have been ready to sleep, but he escaped from the dormitory in extremely painful circumstances. The direction he was going was Li Hao's dormitory!

He couldn't make a sound, so he smashed a tile with almost the greatest perseverance. Only then in the dead of night did he cause a lot of commotion. Many people went out to check, including Li Hao.

Is Zhang Yuan asking for help?

Outsiders think this is the case, but Li Hao thinks... it's not.

He was warning himself. Zhang Yuan escaped from the dormitory, made a noise, and attracted Li Hao. Finally, he silently said "escape". This was not asking for help from Li Hao, but letting him escape.

"14 years."

Li Hao murmured again in his heart.

He and Zhang Yuan have known each other for 14 years. They are not just classmates for two years as others imagined. They have known each other for 14 years. They have been classmates since childhood, or should they be best friends?

It's just that both of them are taciturn people, and the friendship between men doesn't need to be talked about all the time.

Just like Zhang Yuan, at the moment before death, he struggled to escape with extremely strong willpower, just to convey a message to Li Hao and escape!

Zhang Yuan's self-immolation case was finally suppressed and silenced.

Naturally, few people would investigate Li Hao, a close friend.

"Xiaoyuan asked me to run away, was it because of something he saw or heard, or because of pure fear? Or... Xiaoyuan knew that Xueying's next target was me?"

This is also a question that Li Hao has been thinking about for a year.

He couldn't imagine how much pain Zhang Yuan endured. At that moment, he still warned himself. Li Hao felt that it was not simple. Maybe... Xueying's next target would be him!

"Six people, plus me, maybe seven people. What do we have in common?"

"It spans ten years, and time is getting faster and faster. If you include me, there are seven people, except for me and Zhang Yuan, there is nothing relevant. Is it a random target, or is there a clear purpose?"

Li Hao rubbed his forehead gently and looked through the documents in front of him. These were all the files of six people, and they were also some clues he had collected through various channels over the past year.

It has been ten years since the first person died. There may or may not have been something before that. Li Hao has no way of knowing.

The time span spans ten years, and many things are actually difficult to query.

"Gender? Age? Occupation? Identity? Common contacts?"

Li Hao has looked through the documents in front of him many times. Li Hao has never discovered the common points in the conventional sense. These are a few completely unrelated people.

"Why did Blood Shadow kill them? Did they threaten Blood Shadow, or did they have other purposes?"

Countless doubts filled Li Hao's mind.

Of course, if you keep pursuing it, there is one more thing... revenge!

No one would care if Zhang Yuan died, but Li Hao did.

The night watchman's side was full of uncertainties. If he had not been able to get effective clues, or had no good way to deal with a blood shadow that no one could see, Li Hao would not have hoped that the night watchman would kill the blood shadow. Shadow, he wished he could kill that guy!

"Li Hao, look at the information of those people again?"

Across the way, Chen Na couldn't help but ask when she saw Li Hao opening the familiar document again.

Over the past year, she had seen it many times. Li Hao had been reading this document, and the document was getting thicker and thicker, and Li Hao could almost see the edges.

But every time she wanted to take a look, Li Hao quickly closed it.

I've only vaguely seen it, it's some personal information of a few people.

Li Hao raised his head and showed a pure smile, "Sister Na, just take a look."

"cut!"

Chen Na dismissed it and took a look at it casually. Have you been able to watch it for almost a year?

This guy is not honest sometimes.

"I've been watching for so long, Li Hao, what do you want to check? There are so many veteran inspectors here. You don't ask, so you just check by yourself. You are a newbie, what can you find? Why don't you show me, maybe I can I’ll give you some advice, don’t worry, I won’t leak it.”

Chen Na smiled and said: "How about it, show me?"

Really curious!

Li Hao didn't want people to know that he was investigating this before, and he was also worried about attracting Hongying's attention. But now, he has been unable to find anything, and the case has been reported to Wang Jie. It is not impossible to show it to Chen Na now.

However, after thinking for a while, Li Hao still said: "Then take a look, but don't bother other people."

He didn't want too many people to know that he was paying attention to this.

Chen Na is also considered a newcomer, not so sensitive and sharp. Once others see the materials of these people, they may quickly think of the previous cases and know that Li Hao is investigating the self-immolation case.

It was shown to Chen Na, and Li Hao had been looking for too long, but found nothing. I don't know if it was because he was too involved and the authorities were obsessed with it, or because there was really no connection.

Chen Na, an outsider, might be able to see something?

Well, Li Hao actually didn't have any hope, but he was a little unwilling to gain anything for a long time.

"Do not worry!"

Chen Na suddenly beamed, finally having a chance to see Li Hao's little secret.

Afraid that Li Hao would regret it, she hurriedly knelt down, snatched the document from Li Hao's hand, and quickly looked through it.

After a while, Chen Na said: "Li Hao, what do you want to find from these documents? I looked at them and found that there are too many. You have recorded every little thing in them, and they can be read as memoirs. You What result do you want?"

Li Hao thought for a while and said, "What they have in common! What the six of them have in common!"

Chen Na was immediately speechless.

She looked through it carefully and found six people, all of different ages, occupations and identities, both men and women, and in different circles.

And those who died early have been dead for 10 years!

The latest one died a year ago.

What do these six people have in common?

Li Hao has been reading this for the past year since he co-authored it. It's really... quite leisurely.

But after taking a look at the information of the last person, Zhang Yuan, a student of Yincheng Ancient Academy, Chen Na vaguely knew something. Li Hao's main purpose was still because of this person, right?

"Zhang Yuan died on July 22, 1729...it seems not long after Li Hao dropped out of school, or did he drop out around that time?"

Chen Na looked at it carefully for a while, thinking of Li Hao's dropping out of school, and seemed to know something.

A student from the Ancient Academy did not drop out of school despite promising a bright future. Some people have always failed to understand. After seeing this file today, Chen Na felt that she might have some clues.

Thinking of this, Chen Na, who had been looking at the files with a playful heart, became a little more serious.

Did Li Hao suspect that Zhang Yuan was killed by him?

Could it be that all six people were killed by homicide?

Series of cases?

…

Chen Na was looking at the file carefully, and Li Hao waited for a while, but couldn't get any feedback. He didn't care too much and didn't care anymore. Instead, he thought about his next step.

Now, the case has been handed over to the Inspection Department, which should investigate it, but Li Hao doesn't have much hope.

Unless the night watchman gets involved soon!

"The key is, if the next target is me, maybe I will encounter a blood shadow in the near future. Is the red shadow I vaguely saw a few days ago a blood shadow? Is it looking for me? Or has it found me? Is it just because of my status that I don’t dare to take action for the time being?”

The Inspection Department is, after all, a law enforcement agency. If a student burns himself to death, it may not cause much commotion, even for the students of Guyuan.

But if a third-level inspection officer dies, as one of our own, the inspection department will definitely check and investigate carefully. This is more serious than the death of a student.

"According to the information I know, every time this blood shadow appears, there should be a time limit. It won't last too long. It may even appear at a certain point."

"The deceased people actually have something in common, but...it's a little unclear!"

Over the past year, Li Hao has not achieved nothing.

At least he found out something, including Zhang Yuan's death and the day when six people died, the weather didn't seem to be very good.

What thunderstorms, ball lightning, rainy days...

Not many people cared about this kind of weather conditions, and Li Hao paid attention because he really couldn't find any more clues.

On the day Zhang Yuan died, Li Hao clearly remembered that it rained lightly at night, but it was not too heavy.

"They only appear when it rains, or when the weather is bad, they only come out to commit crimes."

Li Hao kept writing something on the paper, and soon tore the paper into pieces. After completely smashing it, he put down the pen and fell into deep thought.

Just as he was thinking about it, across from him, Chen Na suddenly exclaimed in a low voice: "I found it!"

Li Hao was startled and quickly raised his head. Did he notice?

What was found?

How can it be!

He didn't have any hope. Chen Na noticed something after looking at it for a while. Li Hao felt that this guy was deceiving him.

Li Hao frowned, and Su quickly raised his brows and restored his smile: "Sister Na, what did you find?"

Chen Na vaguely saw the way Li Hao frowned before, feeling a little embarrassed. Then she remembered that Li Hao was very concerned about this matter and was not joking. She said with a little embarrassment: "Well... I actually haven't finished reading it. There is too much information. ."

Li Hao's heart was calm and he guessed it.

There was no disappointment because I had no hope.

But the next moment, Chen Na still spoke: "I haven't finished reading it, but...it seems to be somewhat related, but I'm not sure."

As she spoke, she raised the paper beside her and said, "I have the habit of writing and drawing. I just looked at the document and I wrote down the names of several parties involved."

Li Hao took a look and nodded slightly.

Six parties!

Li Hao could recite these names by heart, so what could he discover?

Not the same name, not the same surname, some two words, some three words, simply have nothing to do with each other.

When Chen Na saw Li Hao's attention, she quickly said: "Zhou Qing, Hong Jiao, Wang Haoming, Liu Yunsheng, Zhao Shihao, Zhang Yuan, are these six people's names?"

Li Hao nodded slightly.

Chen Na looked at the name on the paper again, and suddenly felt a little unsure. She was afraid that if she said it, Li Hao would feel that she had fooled him, which would be bad.

A little embarrassed, Chen Na coughed lightly and said, "Forget it, just pretend I didn't say anything. I'll take a closer look and it doesn't seem right. There are still two left."

"What?"

Li Hao was stunned for a moment: "Why two more?"

Chen Na became even more embarrassed: "If there was one more person named Zheng and one more person named Li, that would be right. Now there is no... ahem, I just said that, don't take it seriously."

She didn't want to say it anymore, it was too embarrassing!

Li Hao was shocked.

Why do we need two more?

His surname is Li...his surname is Li!

There is still one person named Zheng, one less... Li Hao can only find some cases from ten years ago, because if they are more than ten years old, some cases that are not doubtful will destroy the files, because there are too many accidental cases, and there are too many cases. , not all confidential rooms will be saved.

At this moment, Li Hao's heart was shaken, but his face remained calm and he smiled and said: "Sister Na, what do you want to say? What's the matter? Just talk about it and just treat it as a chat. Why do you think it's right to have two more surnames? "

Chen Na looked at Li Hao and asked curiously, "Aren't you from Yincheng?"

"yes."

"That……"

As Chen Na said, she thought of something, nodded and said, "I understand, are there...not many elderly people in your family?"

"My grandparents passed away early."

Li Hao became more and more curious, why did he contact the old man again?

Seeing his interest, Chen Na was no longer embarrassed and said, "If there are elderly people at home, some elderly people like to speak some local dialects. My grandma used to like to speak these when I was a child."

Chen Na thought for a while and recalled before saying: "I used to live with my grandma, and my grandma liked to sing some folk songs that are popular in Yincheng. I remember that there was a folk song that was sung like this..."

Chen Na followed the example of her previous grandma, cleared her throat, and sang in a low voice: "The Li family's sword, the Zhang family's knife, the Zhao family's fists, the Liu family's legs...the young master of the Zheng family is holding us back!"

After singing for a short period, Chen Na herself felt embarrassed and said with an embarrassed smile: "Singing in Mandarin is a bit unpleasant. In fact, my grandma used to sing in Yincheng dialect which was quite nice. Of course, it was some local operas. I didn't listen to them. If you pass it, you’ll feel a little bit rustic.”

But at this moment, Li Hao's eyes flashed crazily.

Folk song!

The sword of the Li family, the sword of the Zhang family...

There are eight surnames in this folk song!

Li, Zhang, Zhao, Liu, Wang, Hong, Zhou, Zheng!

He snatched the paper from Chen Na's hand without any politeness, and instantly landed on the first name, Zhou Qing.

This is the one who died ten years ago!

He was also the first person involved in a self-immolation case that Li Hao investigated.

Then came the salesperson Hong Jiao, then Wang Haoming...

If, if the first person to die was not Zhou Qing, but a person named Zheng, then Zhou Qing would be the second, Hong Jiao would be the third, and Wang Hongming would be the fourth...

In the folk song of Yincheng, the eight surnames are reversed, and the order actually matches the time of death.

Zhang Yuan, the last one to die, corresponds to the Zhang family's sword.

That said... there's one more!

There is another person who will die, the other person's surname is Li, the first one in the opera, the sword of the Li family!

Li Hao's expression changed.

He hurriedly looked at Chen Na, unable to suppress the shock and excitement, and his voice was a little hoarse: "When did this song... begin to circulate, and who spread it..."

Chen Na was startled by his eyes and quickly calmed down, "Don't worry, Li Hao, many old people should have heard this song, but few young people have heard it, so you don't know. If you are interested, we You can check it slowly, don’t be impatient!”

Li Hao took a deep breath and suppressed the impulse in his heart.

There is no rush!

He didn't expect that after just giving Chen Na a glance, the other party actually gave such an important clue. Li Hao had never heard of this song, and no one had sung it. It should have stopped being popular many years ago.

Because with the popularization of Mandarin, these local rural songs have long been buried with the older generation and gradually lost.

Grandpa Li Hao's generation died early, and Li Hao has never seen it, so naturally no one will sing it to him.

"Calm down!"

Li Hao shouted in his heart, what's the rush? Now that we have a clue, this is the key, don't rush.

The key now is that I need to confirm whether the first person to die is named Zheng.

Some of the case files from ten years ago had been destroyed in the confidential room, but there was no place to check. Moreover, he did not need to check in detail. He only needed to find out whether anyone died due to self-immolation from fifteen to ten years ago. The deceased’s surname is Zheng.

At this moment, Li Hao was both excited and scared.

If they really matched up, then the next one... would be me!

Xiaoyuan must have seen something or heard something, so he allowed himself to escape.

"The Li family's sword..."

"The Li family's sword!"

Li Hao thought in his heart, his eyes suddenly widened, the Li family... has a sword!

PS: The update time is around four o'clock in the afternoon and around ten o'clock in the evening. The new book period is tentatively scheduled to be updated twice a day. There is no way. The new book period here is about 40 days and it must be completed. After it is put on the shelves, we will update it according to the situation. I will also write more about the chapter "Eagle" in the new issue, and this chapter will be five thousand.