Relief

At the end of the month, the crows sit on the leaves and look at the leaves. The silence of the night is the silence of death.

In the background of a remnant rainbow soaked in blood, the dark and dull eyes densely packed among the tile-top trees stared at the Liang family and fell into a sudden slumber.It wasn't until the early tenants discovered that the owner's mansion was surrounded by layers of such ominous creatures that they uttered their first exclamation, breaking the deathly silence.

"The Liang family seemed to be possessed by a demon. They all slept soundly at night. Although they were still breathing, they couldn't wake up with gongs and drums. No one responded, so they thought something was wrong, so they climbed over the wall and went in, only to find that the doorman was sleeping with his back against the gate! There were also many maids with lanterns in the garden, who seemed to be going somewhere, and suddenly fell asleep while walking on the road , The lantern fell on the slate and burned until only the handle was left. The scene was very strange. The doctor was helpless, so Zhizhou had to wait for them to wake up naturally. Just now the news spread in the city, saying that Liang Zhen found out My son disappeared, and I was very frightened, and immediately sealed off the whole city with Zhizhou, and anyone who knew the information about the kidnappers and did not report it would be punished with the same crime.”

Wu Li grabbed Xie Zhixu's hand and said: "Xiao Wu, let's retreat quickly, this time the mission will not be completed, it's fine to go back and apologize to Mr., but don't put yourself in it!"

The palms were cold, not only from himself but also from Wu Li's nervous sweat.Xie Zhixu was dizzy for a while, he pulled his hand to stop Wu Lihuatou, stood up while leaning on the edge of the couch, and suddenly swayed.

Wu Li quickly supported him: "What's wrong with you?"

"..." Xie Zhixu breathed a sigh of relief, "I think that I shouldn't sleep so badly when I sleep on weekdays, not to mention the sound of copper coins falling when the thread breaks, even if a cat jumps over the window sill, I can feel it ..."

Wu Li looked at him: "What do you want to say?"

Xie Zhixu lowered his eyes: "It was the medicine given by the second senior brother, which made me and the Liang family fall asleep. He took Liang Ting away at night."

"What's the use of saying this now, don't I know?" Wu Li lowered his voice angrily, "The most urgent thing is to get out of this place of right and wrong before things implicate us. In order to protect your second child, you were in Liang The Jiafu soldiers showed their faces in front of them, and if they found the second child, they would be able to find you, Liang Zhen's posture is not just for fun, if you don't leave, it will be too late!"

Xie Zhixu pressed the back of Wu Li's hand, neither of them spoke.

The door to the opposite room was closed tightly, and it was unknown what Liu Liu was doing inside.She didn't live in this room before, but now she moved here. It seems that Feng Zhichang has really left, but there are still some things that Liu Liu needs to stay and deal with.

"I can't go," Xie Zhixu said, "Tangmen spread the accusation of the second senior brother killing innocent people. Tang Min criticized Mr. for being ineffective in teaching and forced him to clean up the family. Mr. ordered me to find out the facts just to avoid coercion. Hurry up and bring back the second senior brother before all parties, I can't give up easily, and I will trap Mr. and senior brother in unrighteousness."

Wu Li moved his lips, and finally held back from yelling, and gave Xie Zhixu a supercilious look. "The current situation is like this, how can you break it?"

"You have to keep an eye on Liuliu for me. The second senior brother is inconvenient to move around and cannot be separated from others. Even so, Liuliu has to stay alone. There must be something important. If we lose Liuliu, I'm afraid we will have no chance to prevent the situation from deteriorating. .”

"What about yourself?"

"I'm going to find my brother," Xie Zhixu said firmly, "I think I might know where he is."

The ferry in the backyard of Fuyunju is very small, and occasionally guests who enjoy the river view get on and off the boat here, but this morning the number of boats on the river has decreased a lot, and a team of officers and soldiers is stationed at the market on the opposite bank to monitor the flow of people passing by.

After waiting for a stick of incense, the awning boat docked, and the tourists came out cursing: "When you are in trouble, there are people staring at you everywhere you go."

The boatman was also a little depressed: "These days, the nobleman's life is the fate, and it is not the ordinary people who suffer from the nobleman's accident."

Xie Zhixu stepped forward: "Boatman, can I go to the lake island?"

The tourist let out a hey: "Little brother is so heartbroken, Liang's family is about to close the city, and he is still in the mood to travel."

The boatman raised his pole: "You can go, let's get on the boat."

From time to time, there are teams galloping along the coast, heading towards the city gate. Soldiers with raccoon sleeves and hats appear on the streets and alleys. When there are large Taiping vehicles passing by on the street, they will be stopped for inspection. More than 20 mules pulling the carts block the streets. , Passing by without exception.

Walking to the junction of the river and the lake, the situation is a little bit better, Xie Zhixu guessed that because the lake has always been the territory of the Qiu family, Liang Zhen wanted to give his father-in-law face.

Xie Zhixu asked the boatman to bypass the island where Qiu's family is located and go straight to the depths of the reeds.

The boatman was a little hesitant at first, but anyone who sailed in the lake knew that the reeds off the shore were very deep and wide, and the roads were intricate and often changed with the current. People's eyes are completely covered by reeds higher than their heads, and even the most experienced boatman dare not go more than one lead away.

"It used to be that Young Master Sun of the island in the lake got lost here. The boatmen said that they were blinded by the reed ghost and led them to the Netherworld. Later, the island in the lake circled this area as a warning to prevent anyone from getting lost. .” The boatman explained with Xie Zhixu, walked back dozens of steps, and saw a striking red thread tied to the reed in front, leading a blocking rope.

The boatman said: "After passing this line, you will not be able to find your way back. Where is the guest going?"

Xie Zhixu replied: "Go to the place where Young Master Sun got lost."

Boatman: "..."

The boatman's expression instantly became as if he was seeing a ghost, and he stammered, "Where is that, which Young Master Sun?" His tone probably reminded him of the story he had just told about Young Master Sun being led to the Underworld by Wei Gui.

"Young Master Sun of the Qiu family on the island in the lake. I heard that there are thousands of water islands in Taihu Lake, and they are hidden in the deep water reeds and do not appear in the world. Among them, there are no secluded mansions in the fairyland. My friends who practice Taoism say that the young master Qiu is now living here. In the fairyland, I yearn for it, and I also want to find the fairy and ask."

Xie Zhixu tried his best to appear normal and smiled, thinking that he didn't look like a bull-headed horse, and his behavior didn't seem to be insane. Although these words were thoughtless nonsense, they shouldn't scare the boatman .

He had a good idea, the boatman was not so scared anymore, but he looked like a madman.

"My boat can't reach the fairyland, guest, I advise you not to cross this red line. It's not just for fun that the reed cannibalizes people." The boatman resolutely refused to put another pole.

Xie Zhixu had no choice but to ask the boatman to put him there when he saw that the reeds in the slant had parted to reveal a corner of the sandbar.He had looked at this island forest on the island in the lake, and there were continuous peaks and mountains. He guessed that the islands should be connected with each other, and it should not be difficult to reach as long as they landed.

As for whether the prediction is accurate, we can only take one step at a time.

The boatman didn't want to stay for a long time, so he finally confirmed to him: "Will I pick you up here in three days?"

Xie Zhixu answered him: "In three days, Xunxian Buyu will wait here for the master to bring me back to the world of mortals."

The boatman looked suspiciously at him, turned his head three times, and disappeared behind the tall reeds.

The sandbank under his feet sank, and the lake overflowed, Xie Zhixu hurriedly backed away, and then looked around - reed bamboos and water weeds were spreading, standing on the edge, he couldn't see the size of the sandbar clearly.Pushing away the reeds and entering the depths, there are many low-lying water, and the shoes are wet if you step on it without paying attention.

It didn't take long to reach the end. It turned out that this was just a sandy place accumulated by currents and tides. It was so small that it was not connected to an island as Xie Zhixu thought.

Looking forward, there are countless similar sand fields looming in the depths of the reeds. At the end of the route, there are snail greens emerging from the tips of the reeds.

It should be the top of an island.

It seems that we can only wade forward. Fortunately, Xie Zhixu also had a naughty childhood, hang out with the boys of his uncle's family in Zhuangli, and go swimming in the river in summer.It’s just that when he was young, he only thought it was fun to swim naked in full view of the public. When he was an adult, even if he hid behind a lot of reeds, he would feel awkward and uncomfortable when he took off his clothes.

When he untied his belt, he found that the dagger given by the fake Taoist priest Lu Hui was still hanging on his body. Xie Zhixu wrapped it in his clothes and tied it into a bag, carrying it with the Qingjingtian scabbard.

The lake water under the reeds can’t get sunlight, it’s icy cold, and the wind blows through the grass poles, which makes people’s skin get goose bumps.

Xie Zhixu's teeth chattered, and he swam across the water, feeling the flock of swimming fish scattered by him.Pushing aside the reeds and climbing up and down a sandbar, only then did the warm sunlight come in, and the sheath of the Qingjingtian sword on my shoulders was as cold as ice under the eaves in winter.

Damn it, Xie Zhixu couldn't help shivering, it was too cold.

After swimming across the sandbar group, I finally saw an island not far away, so I simply swam there.However, swimming in the lake is quite different from swimming in the reeds. The undercurrent in the lake is ups and downs, and it takes a lot of energy to move forward, making the island appear to be closer and farther away. When he finally hits the reef on the shore, Xie Zhixu is so exhausted that he wants to stick out his tongue. .

The peak of the mountain I saw earlier was behind the island, and there was a deep and dark forest near the water, with rotten leaves and dead branches all over the ground.Xie Zhixu sat on the pebbles and rested for a while, and he didn't have any tools to make a fire, so he had to dry his body with his coat and put on his clothes, feeling really pitiful in his heart.

Presumably, when the Qiu family's Young Master Sun, who died in the island forest at a young age, came to play, there was no red line of prohibition, and the boatman could send him all the way to the island.

But the strange thing is that this so-called ghost-covered reed marsh obviously existed before Qiu's family. Didn't the boatmen in the lake have a rule of not being allowed to enter the lake? Police descendants?

Xie Zhixu picked up a thick | long branch as a walking stick, and walked into the deep forest.

From this, it can be seen that many details of Master Qiu's disappearance need to be added.For example, maybe Master Qiu was warned by someone before he left, but the child was very playful and didn't listen to the persuasion, but what's so interesting in this deserted wilderness, thank you Zhixu, I really can't see it.

For another example, Young Master Qiu didn't want to come, but someone insisted that he come.This coercive behavior is commonly known as kidnapping.

It was a coincidence that the two cousins ​​of the Liang family and the Qiu family were kidnapped 13 years ago. Sure enough, troubles often happened to wealthy families.

Xie Zhixu used his crutches to push aside the thorny bushes, and the cuffs and hem of his clothes were scratched several times. In the depths of the forest, there was no moonlight at midnight, nor was there a bird singing, only the occasional crackling of dead branches and fallen leaves. movement.

The one who kidnapped Mr. Liang was the enemy of the Qiu family, and the reason given was to torture Qiu Hengdao. This trick was really roundabout. After all, Mr. Liang's surname is Liang, and he is a grandson. It is better to go to Master Qiu directly.Judging from the timing of the two incidents, Mr. Liang was kidnapped before Master Qiu, but unfortunately the family did not find out, and Master Qiu disappeared in Daolin after that.

Could it be that the kidnapper saw that kidnapping Mr. Liang didn't work as expected, so he kidnapped Young Master Qiu instead?

Xie Zhixu shook his head straight, the action was so unplanned, no wonder the army was defeated in the end.

Presumably a reasonable explanation is that Mr. Liang and Master Qiu were both in the plan of the kidnappers. The two incidents happened at the same time. The Qiu family wanted to kidnap and torture the Qiu family. same person.