Tibet

Li Ye basically stayed in the inn during the day and would go back to his home to rest at night. He had a separate small courtyard in the inn, mainly because it was more convenient here.

Li Ye was pacing back and forth in the courtyard. At this time, Wang Feng, the director of Dali Temple, came to report.

"Captain, I have found out about Zeng Honger!"

Li Ye was not interested in the news about Zeng Honger. Since the other party used him as an assassin, they must have dealt with the aftermath long ago. If the assassin failed to take the poison, wouldn't it be exposed?

"It must be bad news!"

Wang Feng nodded, "I checked the files of Chang'an County in the past two days and found that Zeng Honger's record stated that he died of illness during the journey."

The humble official visited the person who was escorting him and learned the truth. Three years ago, when he was being escorted to Hanzhong, Zeng Honger fell seriously ill and died soon after. "

"Didn't you ask a doctor for diagnosis?"

"Please, the doctor said he was too thin and had been ill for a long time. He could not support himself and died on the road."

"Then what?"

"Then the escorting officials threw his body into the Han River, and based on the doctor's diagnosis, the government wrote him off as a dead person."

"You know what I think?"

Li Ye smiled slightly and said: "Even if he is in front of us now and honestly explains everything, it is useless. I guess he has been hiding in the darkness and was temporarily hired as an assassin. He definitely doesn't know. Who hired him, but I can’t figure out why he committed suicide? He didn’t have much family. For him, no matter how much money he had, it was of no use. Life was the most precious thing.”

"The Governor is right, it is indeed strange."

At this time, Peng Haiyan hurriedly walked into the courtyard and said urgently: "Captain, there is a mess over at the Prince Consort's Mansion. The assassin's body is actually missing. It was replaced by a dead dog, and the Prince Consort's head is also missing."

Li Ye laughed and said to Wang Feng: "The answer is here, have you thought of it?"

Wang Feng nodded, "He faked his death once on the way to distribution, and now he fakes his death again. This man is amazing!"

Peng Haiyan was startled, "Why did you fake your death on the road?"

Wang Feng told Peng Haiyan about his investigation.

Peng Haiyan smiled bitterly and said: "Actually, what I should have thought of is that suspended animation is a traditional illusion in Baixi. Many monks from the Western Regions are good at it. This Zeng Honger has been in the Baixi Troupe for twenty years, so he must have learned it."

Li Ye smiled and said: "As long as the assassin Zeng Honger is not dead, there will be another clue to investigate the case."

Peng Haiyan sighed: "Captain, I suggest we investigate separately! I went to Luoyang to arrest Yang Shun while His Highness continued to search for Zeng Honger in Chang'an. After much deliberation, I came up with only these two clues."

Li Ye thought for a moment and finally nodded: "That's it!"

Speaking of the slums in Chang'an, everyone will think of Yonghefang, as well as several other surrounding slums, such as Yongpingfang, Chang'anfang, Tongguifang, etc. These are places where poor people live together, and the population of each village is There are many and the buildings are very dilapidated.

But Yonghefang belongs to the bottom of the normal neighborhood, but there are some unspeakable neighborhoods in Chang'an, just like there is a layer of untouchable untouchables below the lowest caste in India, the Shudras.

The indescribable squares of Chang'an are mainly those close to the south city wall, such as Zhaoxing, Da'an, Anle, Yanzhao, etc. These squares are very large and are Chang'an's vegetable fields and funeral grounds. They are all places where wild foxes and rat snakes are found.

Is there anyone here? have! There were quite a lot of people there. The official official preliminary estimate was that there were tens of thousands of people. In fact, there were even more people without statistics.

These workshops were filled with shacks. The earliest origin of these shacks was that after disasters struck various places, hungry people fled to Chang'an for food. The government had no place to accommodate them, so they were allowed to live temporarily in the vegetable fields and funeral grounds in the south.

This temporary period lasted for hundreds of years. Some hungry people left, and some hungry people finally chose to stay. Generations of generations gave birth to children here, and generations of generations continued to build shacks here.

But it doesn't matter if it's a hungry people. At most it's a low-end version of Yonghefang. But in fact, the people here are extremely complicated, and all kinds of marginalized people live here.

What are marginalized people? It is the gray area between legal and illegal. For example, more than ten years ago, Pei Sanniang was forced to work as a treasure hunter for several months due to the pressure of life. She went out to hunt for treasures at night. In fact, she was teetering on the edge of stealing. These treasure hunters in Chang'an are fringe people looking for the belongings that their owners left behind after moving. There are about a dozen groups and thousands of people.

They live in shacks in the south and usually come out at night, so marginalized people are also called people who cannot see the light. Of course, people who cannot see the light are far more than just treasure hunters. The treasure hunters are just an example.

In addition, almost all the bounty hunters in Chang'an live in a few shacks in the south. It's not that they can't afford a better place to live, but no one cares about it here, so everyone can live freely.

But just because people were not taken care of, a large number of ghosts, ghosts and snake gods from all over the world lived here. Especially after the Tianbao period, there were more and more people with unknown origins here.

Why did so many people suddenly increase? Because after Tianbao, the polarization between the rich and the poor became more and more serious, and the world's wealth became more and more concentrated in Chang'an. Various funds easily amounted to tens of thousands of dollars, and the rich and powerful were squandered, making Chang'an become a place in the world. The easiest place to make money.

As a result, all kinds of people with supernatural powers flocked to Chang'an.

That afternoon, a middle-aged man in Tsing Yi came to a group of shacks in Zhaoxingfang. The shacks here were all connected together, and it was unknown how many people lived there. The shacks were all made of rammed earth, with bamboo strips and felts draped over them. , because the rammed earth is high and easy to collapse, so the shacks are less than one person high, so you have to lower your head to get in. It is pitch dark inside, and there is a rag outside as the door. Basically, it is like this.

When it rains, the place becomes muddy, dirty and smelly, but it is a paradise for children. Apart from not having enough food and clothing, they have nothing to worry about.

And there are almost no elderly people here. The reason is obvious. The environment is too bad to live long. It would be good to live to fifty years old, but there are many children. Although the death rate is high, the birth rate is also high, which is basically balanced.

The clothes of people in Tsing Yi are very clean and they are definitely different. Of course, people here have to wear clean clothes when they go out to work, but there is no way that people in Tsing Yi behave in a polite manner.

The man in Tsing Yi came to a shack and stopped. He hesitated for a moment, then opened the curtain and went in.

It was dark inside and as dirty as a pig's nest. The man in Tsing Yi turned around and was about to leave when suddenly a thin black figure jumped up from behind and put a sharp dagger at his throat.

The man in Tsing Yi was not afraid and said calmly: "I thought you would leave Chang'an!"

In the darkness, a child-like shadow showed its beast-like white teeth and said grimly: "You haven't given me the money yet, why should I leave?"

"I brought the money!"

The man in Tsing Yi threw a cloth bag on the ground, "There are fifty taels of gold in it!"

The thin figure shook his head, "The money is not enough, I want more money!"

"We agreed to pay five hundred guan each before and after the event. Why don't you keep your word?"

"Because I brought out his head. You don't want the head?"

The man in Tsing Yi knew that there was a head in his hand and asked calmly: "How many do you want?"

"Add thirty taels of gold."

"I didn't bring any money, I'll give it to you tomorrow!"

"I won't be here tomorrow. You will silence me. I know it very well."

The man in Tsing Yi smiled, "You want money but are afraid of being silenced, so how can I deal with you?"

The dagger tightened around his neck, and the black shadow asked fiercely: "Do you want to kill me and silence me?"

"We are going to kill you and silence you, and now you are dead."

After a moment of silence, the shadow said: "There is a Yishui Tower in Yongle Square, do you know?"

"Of course I know the most famous building street in Chang'an."

The shadow swallowed, "On the second floor of Yishui Building, there is a flower bed above the big well. At noon tomorrow, the head will be behind the Maitreya statue in the flower bed. You take the head and leave the gold. I will fly away."

"My lord, you'd better go back to Japan."

"Then you don't have to worry about it."

"No! You must return to Japan. This is the only condition that I won't kill you and silence you. My master is worried if you stay in the Tang Dynasty."

"Okay! I'm going back to my hometown of Nagasaki. I've had enough of this hellish place."

The black shadow put away the dagger, and Qing Yi walked out of the shack, dusted himself off, and walked away gracefully with his hands behind his back.

The thin black figure threw himself on the cloth bag and held up five ingots of gold. The shining golden light made him laugh hysterically.