Fu Shifeng

Chapter 6
After burying Peng Ning in the outskirts of Hongsha Town, Cheng Sanwu followed the footsteps left by the people of Maocai Society, turned to the north, and arrived outside Quzhi City in less than three days.

Different from the vast desert with yellow sand and boundless Gobi, Quzhi City, located at the southern foot of the Tianshan Mountains, is rich in water and grass. When this place was still under the rule of Quzhi Kingdom, the countryside outside the city was already full of barley, japonica rice, peach, apricot and pear, and even grapes and pomegranates. It is a rare specialty in the Central Plains, and its abundance and abundance can be called the first in the Western Regions.

And even though the Great Xia court annexed the Western Regions, Quzhi City's geographical advantages remained undiminished, and it became the residence of the four towns in Anxi.The city is densely covered with commercial warehouses, wine shops and music workshops. Whether it is the fashionable Chinese clothes, poetry collections, or the highly sought-after orchid dance music and exotic tricks, you can find them in Quzhi City.

It can be said that as long as you have money, you can enjoy supreme enjoyment in Quzhi City. In the past two years, Baochang Society even built ditches from the north of the city to divert water into the city and set up soup pools for tourists to bathe.

Not to mention this kind of thing in the Western Regions, even if you look at the Central Plains, it is considered a first-class extravagant move. No wonder Baochang society is being targeted.

Of course, Cheng Sanwu knew that Baochang Society was hated by his peers in Quzhi City, and Su Wangting took him in because he was relying on him to eliminate his opponents. Cheng Sanwu also thought that he had lived up to Su Wangting's expectations.

But now the situation is not as usual. As soon as Cheng Sanwu entered the city, he found that the paving industry managed by Baochang Society in the past had either changed owners or closed down.Those shopkeepers who would take the initiative to say hello to me when they see me are avoiding them at the moment.

Witnessing such a situation, Cheng Sanwu had to admit that Baochang Club had undergone drastic changes, and no matter how good his martial arts were, he could not turn the situation around.

Just when Cheng Sanwu found out that some passers-by who were peeping at him whispered and turned away, apparently to inform the Maocai Society, at this time a child suddenly walked by, tugged at his sleeve and asked:

"Guest officer, do you want to buy Tianzhu incense medicine?"

Seeing that it was a barbarian kid, Cheng Sanwu spoke not-so-fluent Chinese, and was about to wave away, but saw the other party persistently grabbing his sleeve and gesticulating with his eyes.

"I want a lot more, do you have any more here?" Cheng Sanwu understood immediately, led the horse to follow the child, and walked into the alley.

Compared with the newly built Nancheng after Daxia's occupation, Quzhi Beicheng has more old houses, and unlike Nancheng's Lifang streets, which are horizontal and vertical, the alleys here have twists and turns, high and low, forming a dangerous place that outsiders can't fully detect. It is a shelter for the poor.

Cheng Sanwu was on guard secretly, and the barbarian child led him to the end of an alley, opened the curtain, and there was a downward passage inside, where horses could not follow, so Cheng Sanwu could only venture in.

After walking for a short time, they came to a cellar, in which several caverns were dug out, and the voices of several people talking could be heard.

"Old Su?" When Cheng Sanwu saw Su Wangting here, he hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "What happened to Qu Zhicheng?"

Su Wangting didn't rush to explain, he handed a Persian silver coin to the Huren kid, and said to him: "Hide the horse well, don't say too much to the outside world."

The Huren kid nodded silently, turned and left without asking any further questions.

Cheng Sanwu couldn't help taking a look, and asked, "This is the hiding place you arranged? Why didn't I know before?"

"The three caves of the cunning rabbit, can't you just say everything?" Su Wangting showed a tired face, looked at the three or five times of the departure, saw that his body was covered with dried blood, and sighed: "It seems that you also met the Maocai Society?"

"More than that." Cheng Sanwu pouted.

Su Wangting turned around and told the other people in the cave: "You leave now, be sure to deliver the letter."

The few people stood up and left one after another.

"Are they Lu Xiangye's people?" Cheng Sanwu asked with a frown.

"Don't you usually not care about these things?" Su Wangting was not as gentle as usual: "Tell me, how are things going?"

"Looking at me like this, I know it's a mess." Cheng Sanwu sat down self-consciously: "I will follow the route and direction you gave, and when I arrive, there will be only one survivor left in the White Horse Club."

"Did they encounter horse thieves?" Su Wangting asked, "Did you see what happened?"

"Hu and Han are mixed, and they are all martial arts in the army." Cheng Sanwu raised his eyes and said, "The remaining Peng Ning told me that they were attacked by horse bandits five times."

Su Wangting rubbed his brows, worried, and Cheng Sanwu went on to say: "After I rescued Peng Ning, I originally planned to bring him to Quzhi City, but he refused to accept anyway, so I led him along the North Path of the Hanhai , ready to go to Yumen Pass."

"This is also a way." Su Wangting shook his head: "But you returned to Quzhi City alone, which means that Peng Ning did not survive."

"Compared to horse thieves, monsters are worse." Cheng Sanwu was not as happy as usual: "First, a big corpse vulture almost swallowed me, and finally killed it, and it ran into Hongsha Town at night. A hag."

"Hares?"

"It's a flying Yaksha in human form." Cheng Sanwu waved his hands to signal: "It's the kind of monster that looks like a moth."

Su Wangting couldn't laugh or cry: "First of all, the flying yaksha looks like a bat. Secondly, the dominatrix you saw was not cultivated by ordinary flying yakshas."

"Isn't it the same thing?" Cheng Sanwu didn't understand.

"There are experts in the court who have studied it. In short, you can treat it as the difference between a tiger and a civet cat. Although they are similar, they are different after all." Su Wangting sighed: "So, Peng Ning was sucked dry by a hag?"

"No." Cheng Sanwu was a little downcast: "Early the next morning, people from the Maocai Society rushed to Hongsha Town. I originally planned to escape separately from Peng Ning, and I would forcefully break into the front to lure the enemy away for him. As a result The Maocai Society had already prepared, let me break out of the city, turned around and shot Peng Ning into a sieve."

Su Wangting fell into silence. Seeing him like this, Cheng Sanwu said with a little dissatisfaction: "Old Su, you shouldn't hide it from me. Before, you just said you were accepting the White Horse Club, but you didn't mention the Buddha bone relic at all."

"Buddha bone relic?" Su Wangting looked delicate.

"Peng Ning told me before he died that his real mission this time is to send the Buddha bone relics to the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Chang'an." Cheng Sanwu took out a pass certificate and a fish talisman from his pocket: "This is what I have never done before." What he finds on him cannot be faked."

Su Wangting took it and checked it carefully, his expression became more serious, and he sat down slowly. Seeing him like this, Cheng Sanwu asked, "What's wrong? Something's wrong?"

"You also know that I'm working for the Prime Minister Lu." Su Wangting tapped his finger on the table next to him: "As for the Ministry of Internal Affairs, it is presided over by Eunuch Feng. Order, go out to supervise the army."

"Oh, so it's Beisi, I've heard about it." Cheng Sanwu stroked his beard, "No, I don't think Peng Ning looks like a eunuch."

"Of course, there are not only eunuchs who work for Beisi, but also many embroidered envoys who have been dispatched to various places." Su Wangting knocked on the case and said, "This Peng Ning is probably the person who was placed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Baima Club. In the end, he survived."

"Wait, let me take a look." Cheng Sanwu couldn't get his head around: "You mean, the White Horse Club has been Lu Xiangye's property from the very beginning, and he made a special trip to escort those Buddha bone relics. Si's group of eunuchs put Peng Ning'an in the caravan of Baima Club...why did they make such trouble?"

"If you ask Mr. Lu, he will definitely not say that the White Horse Club is his property." Su Wangting reminded.

"Okay, okay, don't talk about such nonsense." Cheng Sanwu waved his hands repeatedly: "Now the Maocai Society has snatched the Buddha bone relic, and I followed them back to Quzhi City. What do you think should be done now?"

Su Wangting got up and paced back and forth, and asked, "Do you know the origin of Mr. Wu from Maocai Club?"

"I don't know, I guess it's about the same as you, and it's also working for nobles in the court." Cheng Sanwu said angrily.

Su Wangting smiled wryly: "I'm a commoner, how can I compare to the son of the Duke of England?"

"Who? The British Duke? The British Duke who destroyed the Tocharian Kingdom?" Cheng Sanwu said in astonishment.

"good."

Cheng Sanwu found it unbelievable: "The son of the Duke of England, does he need to earn money in the Western Region Trading Company?"

"The Duke of England has more than one son. Now Mr. Wu from Maocai Society is just the concubine's concubine's son. He has no chance to inherit the title of Duke of the country, so he was sent to the Western Regions to find another way of life." Su Wangting looked down at the toes of his boots, feeling quite moved Helpless: "Today's four towns guards are the generals brought out by the British Duke back then. It is not surprising that Mr. Wu can mobilize troops and horses to work for the Maocai Society."

Cheng Sanwu said angrily: "I don't understand, what do they want Buddha bone relics for?"

Su Wangting pondered for a long time, looked at Cheng Sanwu, thought for a moment before saying: "That thing...is not a Buddha bone relic."

Cheng Sanwu's face was distorted with anger, his mouth opened and closed, and he couldn't speak. Su Wangting said earnestly, "Don't mention what I'm going to say next—this time, the escort is a project called Morocco. It is a thing of Nizhu. This thing does not come from Buddhism, but a sacred object of Zoroastrianism. It is said that Manizhu can emit infinite light, illuminate the heavens, and eliminate all evils. Those who hold Manizhu can be freed from suffering..."

"Stop, stop!" Cheng Sanwu stopped, "Do you think I can understand this?"

Su Wangting was not in a hurry: "Think about it, Mani beads have all kinds of incredible powers, and this alone is enough to attract competition from all parties. Moreover, Mani beads are sacred objects of Zoroastrianism. If this object is presented to His Majesty today , naturally doubly honored and favored."

Cheng Sanwu was at a loss: "Since this is the case, wouldn't it be better to just send troops to escort it? It's Mr. Lu, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the British Duke...why make it so complicated?"

"You have pointed out the key point." Su Wangting said with a helpless smile: "The same Mani beads are donated by different people, and the meanings are quite different."

Cheng Sanwu hated this from the bottom of his heart, and said impatiently: "Since you say that Manizhu is a sacred object of Zoroastrianism, what about Zoroastrianism? They are indifferent? There is a Zoroastrian workshop and a fire worship temple in Quzhi City. "

Su Wangting thought about it for a while, and then said: "You may not have noticed, but the imperial court ordered the Zoroastrian ban to destroy temples more than ten years ago, at least in the Central Plains."

"Then the Zoroastrianism dedicated the Mani beads to the emperor, can it be exchanged for lifting the ban?" Cheng Sanwu asked.

Su Wangting couldn't help laughing out loud: "You, it's better not to bother thinking about these things. Will the Zoroastrian Church obediently abandon its own holy things?"

"Then if I am a Zoroastrian believer, wouldn't it be better if I knew that the holy relic passed through the Western Regions, so I would simply grab it?" Cheng Sanwu just finished speaking, his expression changed.

"Why? Do you think Zoroastrianism has also interfered in this matter?" Su Wangting noticed it.

"Could the monsters I met on the road be from Zoroastrianism?" Cheng Sanwu asked, "I'm afraid that the big corpse vulture is only seen once in decades in the Western Regions, and that hag, I just sent her Forced back, failed to kill her."

Su Wangting was slightly suspicious: "Zoroastrianism has the means to drive demons? I haven't heard of it before. I'll find out later."

"What's the situation of Baochang Society?" Cheng Sanwu turned to ask: "Maocai Society really swallowed up all the industries?"

"It's not that simple." Su Wangting did not admit defeat: "He Maocai Club just took advantage of my lack of manpower and took advantage of the vacancy. Just now, those few people were going to contact Lu Xiangye and other people. I have plenty of ways. Let the Maocai Club spit out what they swallowed."

"I see you have injuries on your face." Cheng Sanwu motioned to his forehead: "Who did it?"

"That's Mr. Wu." Su Wangting stroked his eyebrows lightly: "In terms of martial arts, he is not my opponent, but he is blessed by magic, so my iron palm can't hurt him."

Cheng Sanwu is one of the few people who has seen Su Wangting's iron palm kung fu. When this kind of kung fu is used, his palms really turn into pig iron, and it's just easy to turn stones into mud.Flesh and blood being hit by the iron palm will hurt the muscles and bones in the slightest, and die on the spot in the severest.Even if they survived by luck, the potential force of the iron palm penetrates into the limbs, internal organs, and will gradually cause disease, making the victim's muscles and bones rigid, and eventually unable to move.

"Is it the monk's vajra body protection spell?" Cheng Sanwu was curious.

"It's not quite like it." Su Wangting recalled: "The strength of the palm dissolves into nothingness. I have never experienced this kind of situation before."

"Even your iron palm kung fu can't hurt you, isn't that Mr. Wu invulnerable?" Cheng Sanwu was secretly surprised.

"Spells are not omnipotent, and the protection of the body cannot be protected for a long time. Once the time passes, it will return to normal." Su Wangting thought with his hands behind his back.

Seeing him like this, Cheng Sanwu asked, "Are you planning to take down Mr. Wu directly? But I'm afraid he has a lot of people under his command."

"At least there are two to three hundred people."

Cheng Sanwu counted with his fingers: "The number of people in Baochang Club is more than this, right? If they are all called back..."

"At present, the borders of the western regions are in turmoil, and the general guard will not let people go easily." Su Wangting was a little annoyed: "This is the confidence of Mr. Wu to act like this. Relying on his father's old department, he wants to take this opportunity to overthrow Baochang society and let Xiangye Lu There is no way to intervene in the affairs of the Western Regions."

"This is your big man's trouble." Cheng Sanwu said: "I have nothing to say, just grab those mani beads back."

"It's rare to see you take the initiative." Su Wangting was slightly surprised.

"You can't just watch Baochang Club, which you have been running for many years, being snatched away by a group of bastards, right? I have also worked for you for ten years." Cheng Sanwu leaned his back against the wall, secretly furious: "Besides, I have promised Peng Ning, definitely help him get the Mani Pearl back!"

(End of this chapter)