My Chinese ancestors

Chapter 169 The green lotus splashes the autumn rain, and the ancient sword competes with the wind and thunder

Chendu County, formerly known as Yuandu, is located on the south bank of the Hun River across from Zhangzhou in the state of Yan on the north bank. It has six counties under its jurisdiction. Compared with other counties in the state, it is much smaller. However, the exchange of goods between the north and the south is prosperous here, and inns, There are many wine shops, which has given rise to many people from all over the world to come here to make a living, and the public security is extremely poor.

There are rows of small holes on both sides of the wide streets and solid pavement that have been dripped by rain over the years. Low-eaves alleys and stone-paved dirt roads are soaked in rainwater and splashed by hurried pedestrians.

The autumn rain fell continuously for three days. In a nearby wine shop, Fang Xuejun was sitting in a private room on the second floor. Eight knives were bundled together and wrapped in a long cloth and resting on the table.

It was the tenth day after taking a boat from Zhangzhou into Wei territory. In order to hide from others, she and her men dispersed and entered the city in different directions. There were many rivers, lakes and green forests in the city, and there were more than ten people there, but they did not attract attention.

After a moment, a woman in smart clothes came up from below with a body full of moisture.

"Snow-kun..."

She is Fang Xuejun's senior sister, who is good at wielding a pair of mandarin duck knives. Since she found out that her junior sister has now become the princess of King Xia, she brought several senior brothers from her sect and some familiar friends from the martial arts community over here overnight.

"Senior sister, how is your inquiry?" Fang Xuejun poured tea for her.

"Some eyebrows."

The woman's surname was Li. She was famous in autumn. She was one year older than Fang Xuejun. She was quite beautiful but tall. Originally, her family proposed a marriage for her, but the other party heard that she was from the world, so they refused. .

Now I am still not married until I am twenty.

Li Wangqiu drank the tea in one gulp and put down the cup: "Just now, several senior brothers and I took over respectively. After summing up the information, there should be no difference. That person's cousin should have been captured by a gang here. Someone saw him People who crossed them gathered in the middle of the night. According to my inquiries, this gang is related to the Sikong family of the Wei Dynasty, and should be controlled by a family member of the three princes of the imperial court. "

Fang Xuejun frowned. She was somewhat prepared. After all, he found Guo Jia ten days ago. He guessed that someone from the Wei Dynasty might have done it.

It sounds a bit tricky right now.

"Senior sister, can I ask where Su Ting was taken? If he was taken to Luyang, the capital of Wei State, things would be in trouble."

"I can't find out. After the other party captured Young Master Su, there has been no movement. Their people have been living in seclusion recently. If you want to know where Young Master Su is being held, it would be best to capture the leader of the other party... or... ...We have captured the prefect of Chen Du County, but both of them are difficult to deal with. Let alone the prefect’s mansion, it would be good for us to be able to rob the prison.”

What Li Wangqiu said next was actually to persuade this junior sister not to act recklessly.

However, Fang Xuejun didn't listen to what she said next, and raised his eyebrows: "I live in seclusion..."

Under what circumstances would one live in seclusion?
Avoid danger, or...set up an ambush!
After following Su Chen in and out of the military camp for a while, Fang Xuejun knew a few things. She quickly picked up the bundle of knives beside the table, turned it over to her back and tied it, and said quickly: "Senior sister, inform the brothers to get out of the city quickly. There may be an ambush. We have been here to inquire about the situation in the past few days. Maybe the other party already knows. Senior sister will lead us out from the north gate, and I will lead us out from the east gate. Hurry!"

Putting down a few copper coins, the two of them quickly went downstairs and came out of the tea room.

……

There have been days of autumn rain and the temperature has plummeted.

The gloomy prison was even colder and damper. The mottled blood and human feces and urine turned into dirt and mixed together, creating an unspeakable stench.

The ragged figure huddled in the corner, and the pain on his body was not completely healed. Then he heard the sound of the lock being unlocked, and several jailers walked in.

Seeing them, Su Ting trembled all over.

This is the Chendu County Government Prison. They were interrogated and tortured for more than ten days in a row. Su Ting almost collapsed and fainted several times. He was awakened by cold water and continued to be tortured. There was no place on his body that could be hit. After being smeared with wound medicine, he He was thrown into jail for a few days and then taken to the execution room for questioning again.

"Please... I am really an ordinary merchant from Yan State... My surname is Liu... My name is Liu Chuanxu... I am from Lingzhou."

The continuous torture, unpalatable food, and turbid water made him sick and feverish. He was dragged to the execution room by the guards in a daze, and was beaten until he knelt on the ground.

Surrounded by this, Su Ting still kept talking about the made-up name. He knew that once the other party knew that his name was Su Ting, the two wealthy families who had colluded with him would be punished by the Wei court, and it would be extremely difficult to contact them again in the future. .

The second reason was to give Wei Guo an excuse to criticize his clan brother Su Chen, saying that he could not transfer this matter to the massacre of Fenzhou people.It was said that Su Chen was wrong first, and Wei Guo then retaliated.

Whether it's true or not, there will always be people who believe it.

"Brother Liu, just say it. If you keep speaking harshly, you will only suffer."

The one who carried out the execution was the cell leader. There were many ways to torture people. He held a handful of coarse salt in his hand and looked at the disheveled Su Ting with a smile.

"People have to live for themselves... If you say so, you will suffer less."

"I am really... a merchant... there is a shortage of food in the north... I come here to buy food and take it back to sell, and I can make a lot of money... A few brothers are so generous to me, I am rich... Give me a chance to honor these elder brothers, okay? good?"

"Haha, my brothers want to take this money from you, but if you have the life to take it, you can't spend it. Who dares to do it?" The prison head smiled and winked at the two jailers, and took off Su Ting's clothes. , he sprinkled the coarse salt in his hand bit by bit and poured it on the wound.

The wound that had just healed a little bit suddenly hurt. Su Ting scratched it with both hands, and his body became stained with blood in a moment.

"Come on, give Brother Liu a torture device."

The prison head sat back on the old chair, put his legs up and poured a bowl of herbal tea. He drank and watched while the two guards over there put the clamping sticks on Su Chen's feet.

The two jailers pulled left and right and tightened the sticks.

Su Ting yelled "Ah!" and threw himself on the ground, trying to roll over. Two jailers stepped on his back, making him unable to move.

"I've got it, I've got it!"

The prison head smiled and raised his hand, asking his men to let go, "This is right!"

Just as he was about to continue asking, Su Ting quickly said: "My name is Liu Chuanxu, a businessman from Lingzhou..."

"Continue to torture!"

The cell leader felt that he had been tricked and looked ugly. He continued to let his men torture him. But after only a short while, Su Ting called out again, paused for a while, and then retracted his confession.

His face turned green with anger.

In the past, when dealing with this kind of person, he could just extract a confession and get it done, but the other person might have to be escorted to Luyang. If he got there and retracted his confession, it would be difficult for him to do business.

The confession must be written down by the other party's own hand before the matter is complete.

"Brother Liu... You are not very old, so why bother? Don't wait for someone to rescue you. There are informants everywhere outside. They have already set up a dragnet and are just waiting for your accomplices to get involved! Then they will confess. If you don’t, you’ll be worthless.”

"My name is Liu Chuanxu..."

"Continue to torture!"

...The continuous autumn rain has no intention of stopping yet.

The group of seven people wore different costumes. The leader, Fang Xuejun, was wearing a raincoat and a bamboo hat and quickly left the city gate. The eight knives tied behind his back were shaking and clanking.

Less than half a mile out of the city gate, when she turned to the east ferry, she saw several groups of people standing in the rain on the half-sloping terrain, waiting for her and her senior brothers.

"What a handsome girl." A strong man with a bald head and tattoos on his head was holding a knife in the rain. He looked at Fang Xuejun, turned around and said with a smile: "Everyone is lucky to have that thing in their crotch today."

"presumptuous!"

Several fellow apprentices behind Fang Xuejun stepped forward and pulled out their sabers.Around them, the people from the Xuanshui Gang laughed, and they were not afraid of the seven people in this group. They showed off their weapons and surrounded them.

"Don't waste time, capture them!"

"Alas……"

At the same time as the words of the strong man from the Xuanshui Gang rang out, another long drunken sigh came over. The sound was ethereal, as if it was resounding from all directions.

"Who?!" The strong man shouted violently, shouldering his sword.

A long sigh followed closely behind: "...Oh!"

Only then did everyone hear this long sigh, which came from an old tree twenty steps away. Fang Xuejun and the brothers around him looked up and saw a middle-aged man in blue and white robes lying on his back on a branch. A long sword is hanging on the handle, and a gourd is held in one hand, taking a sip from time to time.

"I came after a long journey and didn't even have time to take a few sips of wine..."

"Everyone recruits the best, brother over there, surround him first!" The strong man was not afraid, "Let's surround this side first..."

Before he could finish his words, the seven or eight people who rushed over suddenly let out screams and fell down. Under the old tree, they saw several figures in brocade robes and embroidered clothes standing under the old tree, with tree bark in their hands. The disguise was thrown to the ground.

"what?!"

The strong man looked at the moment when the man over there fell to the ground. When he went to the branches above the old tree, only the branches and leaves were left swaying. The drunk old man had long disappeared.

The next moment, I heard a sound: "All the birds are flying high, and the lone cloud is alone..."

He suddenly raised his head, and the figure in blue and white robes had jumped above them, and then rushed down with a sudden movement, the sword light was flying, and the falling raindrops were split in an instant, turning into fan shapes and flying out.

"We never get tired of looking at each other..."

The strong man rushed into the battle group with a roar, and slashed out with a bang. With a 'ding' sound, the sword flew into the air, and a round of sword light passed along his neck.

The figure in the white robe of Qingshan stood behind him, and then the last verse fell: "...Only Jingting Mountain."

The strong man's body fell down with a thud. The middle-aged man inserted the long sword into the scabbard, reached out to take the fallen wine gourd, and poured a sip into his mouth.

He smiled and raised his hand towards Fang Xuejun and others who were all opening their mouths.

"I'm in the Department of Embroidery...Qinglian layman Li Bai!"

……

almost simultaneously.

At the east gate of Chendu County, Li Wangqiu and five Jianghu people were not so lucky. Before they could reach the city gate, they were stopped by people from the Xuanshui Gang on a street.

Under the eaves in the rain, she moved vigorously along this long street, jumping back and forth, kicking on the pillars under the eaves, turning in mid-air, and slashing out a pair of mandarin duck knives in her hands, and slashing at a master of the Xuanshui Gang who flew towards her. He was stabbed several times in the chest.

The body fell to the ground, and Li Wangqiu followed him. The bamboo hat was gone, and the coir raincoat was chopped to pieces in the chaotic fighting.

She touched the water stains on her face and looked at the street, which was already in chaos. In the direction of the city gate, not all the masters of the Xuanshui Gang were out.

Two of his Jianghu men fell, and the rest were pushed back.

Li Wangqiu clenched her silver teeth, knowing that she couldn't escape today. She held the handle of the knife and whispered: "Children of the Jianghu, you will die sooner or later. You all fight again!"

The three people who retreated pursed their lips and nodded.

The footsteps, which were originally inaudible under the sound of rain, breathing, and words, now came clearly to everyone's ears, and several Xuanshui Gang masters in the direction of the city gate turned back.

The raindrops fell on the top of the umbrella and splashed.

A figure in black robes and white clothes held an umbrella and walked through the cyan rain curtain. He held an ancient sword in his left hand, with a leather rein tied to the sword's head, swinging back and forth at the man's feet.

"Your Excellency, don't come over here!" Li Wangqiu thought he was a knight-errant who was fighting an injustice, and he hurriedly shouted at him.

However, the expressions of the experts from the Xuanshui Gang changed slightly. They sensed a hint of 'trouble' from each other's breathing and walking movements.

"Who are you?" someone asked in a low voice.

"I'm here to catch someone."

Under the paper umbrella, Pei Min slowly raised his face and looked at these people, "His name is Daozhantie. I heard he is the leader of the Xuanshui Gang, but is he here?"

"Don't be ashamed!"

A master of the Xuanshui Gang who wielded a long whip and wore a bamboo hat rushed through the stagnant water towards Pei Min, who was approaching. Pei Min raised his left hand, pushed his thumb to the hilt of the sword, and the sword came out with a buzzing sound. He grabbed the hilt with his left hand. , even if a sword struck the opponent, before the scabbard fell to the ground, the ancient sword had been returned to the sheath, and was held by Pei Min on the way down.

The long whip broke into two pieces and fell into the pool of water. The flying master fell directly to the ground, and a bloodstain spread from his forehead to his jaw.

But Pei Min only paused for half a breath and walked away holding a paper umbrella.

"I have Pei Min, the commander of the Embroidery Department of Yan State, here to kill someone on the order of King Xia."

The skill just now was enough to shock everyone.

Hear the other person's last words.

Everyone present was shocked, including Li Wangqiu and the others.

(End of this chapter)