ask willow

The pharmacy of Wenjianmen is located in a remote small courtyard, very quiet and quiet, and the courtyard is full of flowers and trees that can be used as medicine.

At this time, the moon is reaching the middle of the sky, and the night is as cold as water, and only the faint sound of insects can be heard.

A purple-clothed girl looked around in the yard for a while, and ran towards the door of the pharmacy nimbly. However, just as she arrived on the porch outside, a dagger suddenly lay in front of her eyes.

The hand holding the dagger was pale in complexion, with slender and strong fingers. The purple-clothed girl was startled, and abruptly stopped in her tracks, only to hear a voice say coldly, "Miss Yi, you shouldn't be here at this time."

Yi Ru looked along the straight arm, and saw the man in black leaning quietly behind the pillar, eyes closed, expressionless.

"Hey... how do you know it's me?"

"Footsteps." Liu Zhongyi opened his eyes, retracted his hand, and said, "Please go back."

Yi Ru twisted her fingers, and said nervously: "I have no other intentions, I just can't sleep, and I want to know how Master Wen's antidote is prepared..."

Liu Zhongyi said lightly: "Then you shouldn't bother him."

"I see..." The purple-clothed girl nodded, turned around, but didn't leave, and sat down on the steps, "Then I'll just wait here."

"..." Liu Zhongyi glanced at her, seeing that she really didn't intend to leave, and she didn't bother to bother, so she let her go.

After a while, Yi Ru said: "You are guarding here, because you are afraid that someone will attack Master Wen?"

"The responsibility lies." Liu Zhongyi's expression remained unchanged, and he closed his eyes to listen to the movement around him.

"Well, I remember you said you were a guard," Yi Ru propped his chin and said, "What's your name?"

Liu Zhongyi didn't intend to answer her, and said calmly: "Instead of wasting time here, miss Yi, it's better to be with your sweetheart."

"You—you..." Yi Ru stood up abruptly, stared at him and stammered for a long time, but didn't say anything, and finally blushed, "How do you know..."

"I'm just used to finding a person's weakness."

——Only in this way can one strike be fatal.

Of course, Liu Zhongyi would not say the latter sentence.

Yi Ru didn't pay attention to his reason, but said in a low voice: "I dare not go... I'm afraid that if the elder brother gets poisoned, I will be powerless. I'm afraid to watch him die in front of me... just like, other people In that way..."

Liu Zhongyi didn't speak.

Yi Ru patted him and said, "Do you have someone you like?"

Liu Zhongyi moved away calmly, and stood one step away from her, "No."

Yi Ru didn't mind either, and asked with his hands behind his back, "Never?"

"Ah."

Yi Ru didn't ask any more questions, just took two steps to the steps, looked up at the cold moon, and said softly: "Ever since I can remember, Eldest Brother has been asking about Jianmen. When I was young, I pestered him Taking me out to play caused him to be punished by my father to squat for several hours. He never blamed me every time. The happiest thing is that he would secretly run to the street to buy me sugar cakes and sweet-scented osmanthus dumplings He also taught me swordsmanship, I'm stupid, I can't learn it well, even my father gets angry, but he's always been gentle..."

"He'll be fine." Liu Zhongyi stood behind her and said softly.

"Hmm..." Yi Ru turned around and smiled, "I didn't expect you to comfort others."

"I just believe that the owner can make an antidote." Liu Zhongyi frowned slightly: "Don't misunderstand me."

Yi Ruquan smiled indifferently: "You lied just now, you must have someone you like."

"No." Liu Zhongyi looked away and said, "However, there is a person who treats me very well, just like your elder brother."

"Oh?"

"It's my brother."

"I see."

Yi Ru nodded, and wanted to ask something, Liu Zhong saw the petition first and said: "Miss Yi, I have something I want to ask."

Yi Ru looked at his serious look and thought it was something important, "Tell me."

Liu Zhongyi said expressionlessly: "Where can I buy the sugar cakes and sweet-scented osmanthus dumplings you mentioned?"

"Uh..." Yi Ru was stunned for a moment, "There is a small shop in a small alley in the east of the city called Songji Pastry, and everyone nearby knows about it."

Liu Zhongyi nodded: "Well, thank you."

Yi Ru stayed for a while, and finally confirmed that what he wanted to ask was such a simple question, and couldn't help laughing out loud.

Liu Zhongyi glanced at her suspiciously, "What are you laughing at?"

"Ah? No, nothing."

Yi Ru concealed her smile, but Liu Zhongyi suddenly gave her a hand, and before she could stand still, she saw a hidden weapon with a strange shape nailed to the door with a "hoo", and half of it was embedded in the wood.

If Liu Zhongyi hadn't pulled her away just now, the hidden weapon would not have pierced just wood.

Yi Ru stood leaning against the door in shock, and saw Liu Zhongyi standing on the steps, his body motionless, as if even the surrounding air froze with that figure.

In the silence, the shadow of the moon moved slightly, and the sound of a sharp weapon piercing the air suddenly sounded. Liu Zhongyi's dagger was unsheathed, and there were two crisp sounds, and the two hidden weapons were shot back straight, shooting in the direction they came from.Seeing a black shadow flash, Liu Zhongyi moved his hands slightly, and the two silver needles shot towards the black shadow in both left and right directions at the same time.

The man didn't want to fly up and be exposed in the air, so he turned backwards and rolled down the courtyard wall under the cover of trees. Just as he stabilized his body, he heard a soft sound behind him, Liu Zhongyi had already caught up and stood on the wall, a few silver coins The needle follows the shape like a shadow, shooting from top to bottom.

The man rolled on the ground, but still felt a pain in his back, and immediately threw an iron pellet forcefully. The iron pellet hit the wall, sparking sporadic sparks, which exploded instantly, and a cloud of smoke quickly blinded his vision.

Liu Zhongyi tiptoed, turned over and retreated to the courtyard, stopping Yi Ru who was about to go forward.

"poisonous."

I saw that the flowers and trees stained by the smoke quickly withered and withered, and when the smoke cleared, there was no one there.

Probably hearing the noise, some disciples of Wenjianmen rushed to the courtyard of the pharmacy, and not long after, even Yi Zhaoyong also came.

Yi Ru went up to explain what had happened, but Liu Zhongyi just returned to the place where the man left without saying a word.There were several silver needles embedded on the ground, Liu Zhongyi glanced and found that one was missing.

"This...young hero," Yi Zhaoyong walked in front of him, clasped his fists, and realized that he didn't know how to address him when he opened his mouth. He coughed in embarrassment, "What did you find?"

Liu Zhongyi said: "He was hit by my silver needle, and if there is no antidote, the poison will take three hours."

Yi Zhaoyong was surprised: "So...won't it be possible to know who the murderer is at dawn?"

"If only it were that simple." Liu Zhongyi looked at the withered, yellow and wilting flowers and trees around, and said, "It looks like the other party is also a master poisoner. I know the antidote to the poison he used. Then how can I be sure of my poison?" Doesn’t he know how to cure the poison?”

Yi Zhaoyong nodded when he heard the words, "That's right, it's better to be more careful."

"En." Liu Zhongyi responded, turned around and walked back.

Yi Zhaoyong ordered several disciples to stay outside the courtyard, and then left with Yi Ru.

The courtyard returned to tranquility. Liu Zhongyi went back outside the pharmacy, looked at the hidden weapon embedded in the wooden door, and pulled it out with a little force.

"Favorite."

Before he looked carefully, he heard the person inside the door calling him.

"Ah."

"Come in."

Liu Zhongyi frowned slightly, pushed open the door of the pharmacy, and a burst of medicinal fragrance came over his face.There are hundreds of medicinal herbs in the cabinets of the pharmacy, some of which he has never even heard of.

Wen Yan stood in front of the table, with the medicinal materials being prepared in front of him. He lowered his head while holding the pen, not knowing what to write on the paper.

Liu Zhongyi sized up the hidden weapon and said, "Why are you looking for me?"

The hidden weapon is similar to a dart, but the shape is not exactly the same. There is a thin snake logo on the handle, and there are some sharp barbs on the tip.There was a layer of green luster on the cold hidden weapon, which was obviously poisoned.

He happened to recognize this kind of poison.

"You really regard yourself as my bodyguard?" Wen Yan didn't look up at him, still dividing the medicinal materials in an orderly manner.

Liu Zhongyi's mind was still on the hidden weapon, and he didn't care about his question and said, "It's natural to act more realistically."

"You didn't sleep long last night, weren't you tired?"

"No..." Liu Zhongyi frowned, suddenly felt a little confused, shook his head, and sat down on the reclining chair for rest, remembering the smell of medicine when he just entered the door, suddenly realized something, looked at the person in front of the case. Man, "You...you drugged me?"

Wen Yan finally raised his eyes and smiled slightly, "I thought it would not be so easy to get."

Liu Zhongyi unconsciously clenched the dagger in his hand, "...why?"

"Don't worry, it's just a little medicine that helps you sleep, and it's not harmful to your body." Wen Yan walked up to him, put his hand on his shoulder lightly, let him lean on the recliner, and said, "I don't need your protection yet, take care of me." have a rest."

Liu Zhongyi wanted to struggle, but couldn't resist the overwhelming sleepiness, and finally closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Wen Yan took out the hidden weapon from his hand, glanced at it, threw it on the desk, and said in a low voice: "You really...have no defense against me."