Chapter 162 Desolate ruins (8000)
The State Yamen does look very luxurious. Compared with other places, this place looks very luxurious.
Xu Bai also knew the person standing at the door, to be precise, he was very familiar.
It was broad daylight at this time, and the sun was shining brightly. Even though it was approaching winter, the winter sun still gave it a bit of warmth. Under the sun, there was a person standing against the brilliance of the sun, reflecting a burst of light from time to time.
This light is reflected from the top of this person's head, which is hairless and bald.
"Benefactor Xu!" A monk in ordinary clothes walked quickly, with joy on his face.
His strength is as deep as the sea, and it seems that he has increased to the third rank.
Xu Bai showed a smile on his face: "No flowers."
This monk is none other than the long-lost Wuhua.
I didn't expect that Wuhua's strength has improved rapidly after parting for so long, which can be seen just by the elusive aura of her body.
In front of Xu Bai, Wu Hua is like an ordinary person, unlike the one she met before, with a sense of solemnity like a monk.
Once you can enter the world of mortals, you have to find a way to get out of the world of mortals. Now it seems that Wuhua has taken the first step, and she is completely no different from ordinary people.
Wu Hua walked up to her, and said excitedly: "I just happened to be going to Lingyun Prefecture for business, and I happened to pass by here, and when I learned that Master Xu is here, the little monk rushed over impatiently, wanting to meet Master Xu."
The excitement on his face was real excitement. After all, the relationship between them was different. When they were in Sheng County that day, they were born and died together. He, Xu Bai and Liu Xu had indeed experienced such a period of time of sharing hardships. .
Especially Xu Bai, in Wuhua's mind, Xu Bai is a very Buddha-minded person, and he is dedicated to Buddha. Except for this Buddha-nature, everything else is perfect.
"Lingyun Prefecture?" Xu Bai originally wanted to try and chat a few more words, but after hearing what Wu Hua said, he froze on the spot.
This is his next destination, and Wuhua is going there too?
Thinking of this, he temporarily gave up his plan to talk about the past, and asked his doubts.
Wu Hua was also very shocked. He really just came here to catch up on the old days and didn't know where Xu Bai was going to go next, so he couldn't hide the surprise on his face.
The two stood in place and talked for a while before Xu Bai understood what was going on without Hua.
Now, Wuhua is already Sizheng. Compared with before, it has raised a big rank, and the things in charge are correspondingly wider.
The reason why I came here this time is because there was a big incident in Lingyun Prefecture, so I had to rush to deal with it non-stop, and I passed by this place, so I stopped by to see Xu Bai.
After understanding the situation roughly, Xu Bai touched his chin and said, "How about together?"
Anyway, they were on the way, and the relationship between the two was unusual, so there was nothing wrong with walking together.
When Wuhua heard that Xu Bai was going to go where he was going, she had this intention in herself, but she hadn't brought it up yet. Now that Xu Bai has proposed it, of course he fully agreed.
Ye Zi watched from the side, didn't say anything, just stood aside quietly, she knew that this person should be the son's friend, so she also played the role of a maid.
"Benefactor Xu, since we are leaving, let's hurry up without delay!" Wu Hua said.
He is still the same as before, doing things in a hurry, his personality has not changed much, and he will do it immediately when he has a way.
Xu Bai glanced at the gate, but didn't see the state order at the gate. He already knew about this situation, and guessed that he was a pedantic scholar, and he looked down on people born in the rivers and lakes like them.
No, they didn’t even go out to greet them. At least some people would do something on the scene, but obviously, they didn’t even do anything on the scene here.
"This is the way of the world. Many scholars are like this, so don't worry about it." Wu Hua saw what Xu Bai was thinking and explained.
Of course Xu Bai doesn't care, everyone has their own principles and thoughts, and he won't intervene easily.
As long as you don't mess with him, it's fine. If you insist on putting those so-called principles and ideas on him, then he will be cruel.
"Let's go, let's start now." Xu Bai said.
The matter here has almost been resolved, the reason why I want to stay here longer is because I want to get more progress bars, now that the bronze coffin lid is finished, it just so happens that Wuhua is here again, and I just happened to walk along the way, and arrived at the next One place, but also one more helper.
Wuhua also took a fast horse, and tied it to a tree not far away. After hearing Xu Bai's promise, he got off the fast horse and prepared to leave with Xu Bai.
Xu Bai didn't write any ink, and the two didn't say much, they rode on the fast horse and left.
Ye Zi and him took one, the fourth-rank puppet took one, and Wu Hua also took one alone.
Didn't stay long, didn't pack up, and after a while, everyone drove away on fast horses.
It was quiet again here, and after Xu Bai left, he didn't stop, and walked towards the next destination at the fastest speed. The field was very dark and quiet, except for the sound of Xu Bai's hooves, there was nothing special to be heard. sound.
The distance between the two places is still very far, and it will take a certain amount of time to arrive.
During this period, the two also talked from time to time, the most important thing was about Wuhua.
After all, it’s been so long since we last saw each other. When we met by chance, it seemed like there was endless talk. Xu Bai also gradually understood why Wuhua improved so fast. Since he returned to the temple last time, he found his former teacher.
The teacher answered a lot of questions for Wuhua, and Wuhua finally knew her own weaknesses through continuous study and understanding. Leaving aside the matter of feelings, he has not yet seen through such things as desire.
So since what happened that day, Wuhua has been obsessed with various places, and her strength is also improving rapidly, but she is still far away from the final world of mortals.
"If I can get out completely, maybe I can be stronger, or reach a higher level, but I'm still a little bit powerless now." Wuhua said.
Xu Bai rode his horse and said with a smile: "It's pretty good to have your strength in a young life."
This sentence has no other meaning, it is pure praise, which is also the truth, being able to reach the third rank among the younger generation is indeed worth bragging about.
Wuhua sighed, looking at Xu Bai's eyes with resentment.
Xu Bai was stared at, making his hair stand on end, and almost fell off his horse.
Before he could say anything, Wuhua spoke up.
"Compared to benefactor Xu, I am really far behind. Benefactor Xu has no roots and no success. It really makes me feel ashamed to be able to reach this point!"
These words are also true, there is no lie, what Wu Hua said is from the heart, after all, he has indeed seen too many miracles in Xu Bai.
"You guy, I didn't expect to learn to lie in such a short time. Didn't you say that monks don't lie?"
"Of course, my little monk never lies. Benefactor Xu's strength is developing so fast, it's unbelievable. Now the capital has countless eyes watching." Wuhua is a superb equestrian, while talking, riding a horse without affecting the speed at all. .
Xu Bai thought secretly.
In fact, he had already expected this result, after all, from the moment he agreed to the emperor, he had already thought of what the result would be.
But to him, it doesn't matter much. Anyway, this step will come sooner or later. It is even more difficult for a golden finger to greatly speed up the realm without exposing himself.
"Let's not talk about this, let's talk about what you have going on next?" Xu Bai asked.
When mentioning this, Wuhua's expression immediately became very serious, and he said solemnly.
"A murder occurred in Lingyun Prefecture, and it was an extremely tragic murder."
"The Gao family in Lingyun Prefecture is a martial artist, but what I didn't expect was that all these people disappeared overnight, to be precise, they disappeared."
"Only dense bloodstains were found on the wall. From this, it can be inferred that it should have been murdered."
Gao family, martial artist, **** case.
Xu Bai didn't understand this, and of course he couldn't figure out any clues. He thought for a while, then suddenly raised his hand, and formed a golden compass in midair.
Since you don't know, let's do the math. Anyway, he has this ability, so it won't hurt him to do the math.
After this scene appeared, what surprised Wu Hua the most was that she stayed on the horse and was almost thrown off by the horse.
"Benefactor Xu, why have you cultivated so many abilities? I told you the other day that if you practiced like this, you would already be astonished as a heavenly being." Wuhua's face was very bitter.
He really didn't expect that Xu Bai even had the ability to calculate algorithms. This was beyond his expectation. After all, he had told someone about the disadvantages of multi-cultivation in vain, and thought Xu Bai would listen to him, but he didn't Thinking of not only not listening to him, but getting deeper and deeper.
"I couldn't hold it back for a while, so I repaired a little more, it's not a problem." Xu Bai smiled.
Wuhua has black lines all over her head, which is not a problem, but the matter is really too big.
But he knew that these things would not work after persuasion, and there must be no way to continue persuading him. After all, he also understood Xu Bai's temper, so he really took the soft rather than the hard.
Xu Bai made a perfunctory sentence casually, and stopped talking. He used Wuhua as a clue to start divination.
After about half a stick of incense, Xu Bai waved away the golden compass in front of him, and his brows were tightly furrowed.
Wuhua was slightly taken aback, and asked, "Benefactor Xu, have you found anything interesting?"
Seeing Xu Bai's abnormality, he couldn't help being a little puzzled, so he asked directly.
Xu Bai said: "It seems that I will also participate in this matter."
He did some calculations just now, and suddenly found that this matter has something to do with him, but he didn't count the subtleties of it, he only knew that it had something to do with him.
But he only needs to guess a little bit to know the reason.
has something to do with him, and he happened to be on the way to the capital, so after all, it can only be those who assassinated him.
Since this is the case, this is a point that can be broken through. Unexpectedly, he already had a clue before reaching Lingyun Prefecture, which is really unexpected.
Wu Hua saw that Xu Bai spoke in a mysterious way, and he didn't point out the reason, so he didn't ask any more questions.
But one thing he can be sure of is that with Xu Bai's participation in this matter, he can relax a lot.
If someone else came to help him, Wuhua would not be so comfortable. After all, if someone else came to help him, it might not be effective.
But Xu Bai is different, he knows who Xu Bai is better than anyone else, and he also knows Xu Bai's strength, which is far from being as simple as it appears on the surface.
For Xu Bai, fighting over the steps is as easy as drinking water, so Wuhua also let go of the stone, and immediately felt a lot easier.
Wuhua asked subconsciously: "Benefactor Xu, is this a business deal?"
Xu Bai shook his head and joked, "If you want to treat it as a business, I don't mind."
Wuhua quickly waved her hand, indicating that she was joking.
In this way, the two chatted and rushed towards the final destination. Unfortunately, the halfway was too long. The two originally stopped at the Yin Post on the way, but they didn't rest for long before they set off up.
The sky failed as one wished, and I never expected that not long after starting again, something abnormal appeared in the sky. Now I am walking at night, but at the farthest horizon, dark clouds are gradually appearing, occupying the entire sky.
The rumbling thunder sounded endlessly, making it feel like a steamer, with the feeling that the mountain rain is about to come.
"It looks like it's going to rain heavily." Ye Zi raised her slender neck, looked at the dark clouds in the sky, and said, "My lord, I need to find a place to shelter from the rain."
Heavy rain actually did not have much impact on the people present. After all, everyone is a master, but most of the mountains are mud. If it rains, the mountain road will become very slippery and not suitable for horses.
People are fine. If the horse is broken, then they can only travel on two legs.
Urgency is not temporary, and sometimes it is better to proceed step by step. Xu Bai and the others didn't think too much, and soon found a small temple in a mountain forest, which happened to be sheltered from the rain.
The small temple has fallen into disrepair. It is located in the deep mountains and old forests. It looks unrepaired and there is a decaying atmosphere everywhere.
Fortunately, there are still a few tiles on the roof, which can serve as shelter from the rain.
There is a clay Buddha statue in the small temple, which has not been taken care of and has been covered with thick dust.
Just after Xu Bai stepped into this temple, the heavy rain hit, and there was a crashing sound in the woods, accompanied by the dull thunder, which made people feel depressed.
"The rain seems to be falling for a while." Wu Hua said, looking at the sky not far away.
Xu Bai took the dry food from Ye Zi, handed it to Wuhua, and said, "It's a rare free time."
I've been on a hurry these few days, and I haven't had a long break in between. Now it's probably raining for a while, so I just take a break.
"That's right." Wuhua touched her bald head, walked to a place to sit cross-legged, and took out another book to read.
While watching, remembering something.
Xu Bai almost already had an occupational disease, so he glanced subconsciously to see if there was any progress bar. Unfortunately, no new progress bar was generated.
He looked at Wu Hua as if very excited, and asked, "What are you looking at, so red-faced?"
Wuhua said: "It's some of the experience of the little monk who entered the world of mortals. When nothing happens, the little monk will turn it out and review the content above, so as to consolidate his current state."
Experience?
Xu Bai had a weird smile on his face.
He knows how Wuhua entered the world of mortals. The so-called entry into the world of mortals means going to Chunyu Pavilion to wander around. Under such circumstances, he certainly knows what the experience left behind is.
Never expected that Wuhua would have this habit of taking out the things she went shopping in Chunyu Pavilion when she was free.
Of course, Wuhua doesn't know what Xu Bai is thinking, and she is still watching intently, as if she has been fascinated.
The fourth-grade puppet, under Xu Bai's command, took out the epee method and handed it to Xu Bai.
Now, the progress bar of this book is almost halfway through, but unfortunately, there is still a long way to go before it can be completed.
Xu Bai did not give up this rest time. In his opinion, this kind of time is the most comfortable time for the liver progress bar. No one disturbs him, and there are no troubles.
There are still fifteen unnamed knife scriptures left to be finished. He has to hurry up and finish the unnamed knife scriptures as soon as possible.
However, according to his current speed, Xu Bai estimated that even if he arrived in the capital, these books would not be able to complete the progress bar perfectly.
Unless there are some accidents in the middle, there is still such a possibility.
"Am I planting a flag for myself?" Xu Bai thought.
Ye Zi sat next to Xu Bai, resting his head on Xu Bai's shoulder, hugging his knees with his hands, closing his eyes and meditating.
I don't know why, but after being with the young master for a long time, the more she does such things, the more her strength grows.
Of course Ye Zi didn’t know that Xu Bai had the ability to strengthen the body, she just felt that this life is getting more and more relaxed now.
There was heavy rain outside the temple, accompanied by thunder, but the quiet environment inside the temple formed a strong contrast.
Just as everyone was doing their own things, there was a sound of hurried footsteps, and more than a dozen quacks came in outside the temple.
In this kind of heavy rain, the Jianghu people who walk outside also need to take shelter from the rain, and this temple has naturally become a place to shelter from the rain.
The leader thought that there was no one in the temple, but they didn't expect that after letting them in, they were stunned when they saw Xu Bai and the other three.
Those who walk the rivers and lakes naturally know the rules of the rivers and lakes. They stopped not far from the door and did not choose to approach.
It's not good to get close to this kind of strange contact, so they didn't talk much, and each rested there.
Xu Bai just looked up for a while, but didn't look any further, and continued to focus on the progress bar in his hand.
Nothing unusual, even ordinary Jianghu people did not show any abnormal behavior towards him.
All of this is just a coincidence. Everyone gathered together because of shelter from the rain.
These Jianghu people are also very particular. One person walked out, and after a while, he came in with some firewood and lit a fire in the temple.
With fire lights at night, it shows some popularity.
The temple was no longer quiet, and the group of Jiang Hu people began to chat in whispers.
Xu Bai and the others are masters, so they naturally listened to the conversations.
"We're going to Lingyun Prefecture soon, everyone must cheer up."
"Hey, of course, I finally got a chance to repay the favor."
"Gao's family is in Lingyun Prefecture, but his righteousness is thin, and he has made friends with a lot of people in the rivers and lakes. I don't know why he suddenly sent a letter to the people he knew, asking us to gather there."
"Never mind him, I was owed a favor from the Gao family back then, and now I'm going to pay it back."
…
Xu Bai listened in his ears, stroked his chin, and began to think in secret.
They didn't know each other, but when this group of people mentioned the Gao family, Xu Bai became interested.
He sorted out what these people said and got some useful information.
First of all, they have received the favor of the Gao family, and from their words, it can be heard that the Gao family has made many friends, and they still have many ways in the world.
These people came here in a hurry because of the favor of the Gao family. This time, the Gao family sent them a letter telling them to gather in Lingyun Prefecture.
According to their intentions, not only this group of people rushed over, but also others.
"It seems that they don't know about the disappearance of the entire Gao family." Xu Bai thought to himself.
It’s okay to think about it this way. After all, it’s normal to get information like this suddenly and hurry along the way without general information. Who cares about other news on the way?
Wuhua coughed lightly, and winked at Xu Bai, meaning he went over to take a look.
Xu Bai doesn't care, Wuhua has his idea, so just do it.
Wuhua walked up to the group of people and said the Buddha's name.
The group of Jiang Hu people were very surprised. They didn't know why Wu Hua would suddenly find them.
The leader had sharp eyes, and he saw the sign hanging on Wuhua's waist at a glance. It was the sign of Jian Tian Si Si Zheng.
Si Zheng is different from Si Li. Although the difference is only one level, there are too many things that can be managed.
The leaders are Jianghu people, and they are also Jianghu people. After all, they are still under the supervision of Tiansi.
Something went wrong on weekdays, and Jian Tiansi came to look for them. Obviously, Wu Hua stepped forward suddenly, which made the group of people a little dazed.
"My lord, do you know why you came to see us?" Although the leader was puzzled, he still asked without being humble.
If they made a mistake and were approached, they might panic, but they didn’t make a mistake, and now they are approached, they don’t panic at all.
Because I don't know Wuhua's name, the leader just calls me "Master".
"It's really presumptuous to disturb you suddenly, can you lend me your letter?" Wu Hua said with clasped hands.
The leader was even more confused when he heard this, and asked, "But what happened to the Gao family?"
Wuhua nodded, and said: "All of Gao's family is missing, only the walls are covered with blood, so I'm here to investigate this case. You may have clues, but you don't know."
While Wuhua was talking, Xu Bai raised his finger and turned the compass made of golden light. After a while, he waved his sleeve to dissipate the compass.
This group of people from the rivers and lakes has nothing to do with it, and nothing can be done, which proves that they did not participate in this matter.
But when Wuhua mentioned that letter, Xu Bai became interested.
The Jianghu people were obviously shocked when they heard this.
The leader did not hesitate, took out the letter in his hand, and handed it to Wuhua.
Since something happened, there is no way to say more, just take out the letter honestly, so as not to burn the fire on yourself.
This is the way of the rivers and lakes. Sometimes they are arrogant, but sometimes they can only seek to be alone.
Wuhua took the letter in her hand, walked to Xu Bai's side, and opened the letter in front of Xu Bai.
Xu Bai glanced roughly, the above content is very simple, it is to let them gather in Lingyun Prefecture, there is no purpose or reason, it is just a simple content.
He performed Feng Shui calculations again, and used the compass to deliberate, but there was still no information at all, but he still noticed a little difference.
"The font on it is very scribbled, obviously written in a panic."
"That's right, I can see it too." Wuhua nodded and said, "It seems that he must have experienced something before this, and it was enough to scare him, so he was so flustered."
Ye Zi interjected: "It's not just fear, but he also foresaw the consequences of the incident, which should be terrifying enough, so he wanted to change the consequences, so he hurriedly wrote this letter."
Xu Bai nodded, thinking carefully in his mind.
At this time, the leader came over, thinking that he still had to say something, at least to remove his suspicion.
"My lords, it's like this. The Gao family has made many friends in the world. I guess he sent this letter to many people this time."
"Our group of people actually come from three different places, and we got together after we met halfway."
The leader didn't know how to address Xu Bai and the others, but seeing that Wu Huadu and Xu Bai were getting along well, it was always right to call them adults.
At this time, the rain outside has become slightly smaller, and gradually, from small to none.
Xu Bai came to the door, looked at the gloomy weather outside, and said: "It seems that we have to hurry up, it's getting more and more interesting."
The Gao family is related to him, which was calculated before, but now that the Gao family has disappeared for no reason, it must be related to the person who assassinated him.
"You go back, don't get involved in this matter." Wu Hua followed behind Xu Bai, and said something to the group of Jiang Hu people.
Now it is already chaotic enough, he doesn't want the situation to become more chaotic, so it's good to let these people go back.
The leader watched Xu Bai and the others walk away, gritted his teeth, and finally said: "Let's go, the farther away the better."
This situation is not something they can participate in, and it is better to leave.
At this time, a Jianghu man stuck his neck and said: "But the Gao family was so good to us back then, and now we see them in trouble, we leave. How can this matter be unjustified?"
As soon as this sentence came out, everyone present fell into silence. People in Jianghu pay attention to one morality. They really wanted to leave before, but now they are mentioned by this Jianghu person. If they leave, it would be not very good.
Everyone wants to save face.
Another quack came to the door quietly, ready to leave.
Everyone looked over, not knowing why.
A person who knew him was even more puzzled, and asked, "Aren't you the most righteous? You want to leave now."
The Jianghu people who were about to leave were breathless, then turned their heads, looked at them with idiot eyes, and said: "You idiots, don't you think that even the blood slaughter swordsman can't solve the problem, we can solve it. Solved it?"
Blood butcher swordsman?
As soon as these four words came out, everyone present exclaimed in unison.
They suddenly thought that there was a man with a black knife stuck in his waist just now, and even Si Zheng, the supervisor of Tiansi, talked with Yan Yuese.
There are rumors in the rivers and lakes that the blood butcher swordsman hangs a black knife all year round. It seems that this is the blood butcher swordsman.
At the beginning, the quack man who was swaying his neck and talking about loyalty, suddenly silently packed up the package without saying a word.
While tidying up, he also muttered.
"Forget it, the blood butcher swordsmen are here, so it's better not to get involved."
Everyone silently followed his example, started to pack their things, and soon left one by one. They left in different directions, but there was only one thing in common, which was to stay away from Lingyun Prefecture.
…
After Xu Bai and the others left the temple, they rushed all the way to Lingyun Prefecture.
It is not too far from Lingyun Prefecture. After walking for a few days, they finally arrived in Lingyun Prefecture.
Compared with the previous Fenghua Prefecture, Lingyun Prefecture has a different performance, and the customs here have also greatly improved.
The most different thing is that Lingyun Prefecture is more affluent than the previous Fenghua Prefecture.
It is right to think about it, the closer to the emperor's feet, the richer and richer it is, which is common sense.
"Shall we find a place to rest first, or go directly to have a look?" Wu Hua asked.
Xu Bai looked around and found that there was a sense of sadness among the common people who came and went.
Presumably something happened to the Gao family. Hundreds of people disappeared here for no reason. It also spread. There is no wall that does not leak in the world, so the people are naturally worried.
"Go and see first."
Since there are clues, let’s look for them first.
Xu Bai doesn't have procrastination, on the contrary, he still has some obsessive-compulsive disorder. If he has a clue, he will feel uncomfortable if he doesn't look it up immediately.
Wuhua nodded and walked ahead.
As for how to find Gao’s family, it’s actually very simple. Just ask any commoner on the road, and after asking clearly, everyone didn’t stop and rushed towards their destination.
When they arrived at their destination, they couldn't help being taken aback when they saw the empty mansion in front of them.
The door of the mansion was open, and the inside was empty, with nothing, and it became extremely deserted.
Hundreds of people disappeared for no reason, and no one remained. When it was circulated among the common people, it was also a kind of taboo, so no common people passed by here, and they were all afraid of bad luck.
The few people didn't shy away from this, they raised their feet and walked towards Gao's house, and soon came to the empty yard.
"Hey, the state order is straightforward. Knowing that the monk is coming, he didn't even stay behind the guardian." Wu Hua was slightly dissatisfied.
These days, some people become officials just for the sake of being officials, and the state order doesn't care about things like this, which are obviously supervisors, so as not to get burned.
Xu Bai didn't answer, he raised his right hand, and drew lightly in mid-air, a golden compass appeared.
He always felt that he should be able to find clues here.
(end of this chapter)