Just after the end of the day, the thick fog had not yet dissipated, adding to the uneasiness of the dim forest.

A gust of wind blew, and he stopped and looked up to the southwest. A few black dots hovering in the sky, looking ill-intentioned.

"Crows don't come out to see the scenery for no reason, there's blood in the wind, there may be a dead deer over there, or something else, but it's probably not a good thing. The shadow said.

He retorted: "Maybe someone needs help. ”

"Ang, we're in enough trouble ... The shadow reminded him.

Aung interrupted the shadow and said, "Just a little detour." ”

He left the main road and walked in that direction.

"I don't like the way you treat me. ”

Aung smiled bitterly and said, "Oh. ”

Shadow's emotions were a little excited, and said, "You don't think about whether what I said is reasonable at all, and you always subconsciously work against me, and finally leave me with the mess." ”

"It seems to be true. Aung Ping's tone was mixed with sarcasm.

"At best, this is the most basic matter of respect between people. ”

Ang said solemnly: "It sounds quite serious, no, you and I are not human, so it doesn't matter if you respect it or not." ”

The shadow said angrily: "Okay, if you have the ability, don't come to me in case something happens!"

"That means you can finally shut up. ”

The shadow didn't squeak again, and Ang smiled slightly.

After walking for about half a day, he walked through a pine forest, crossed a dry riverbed, and saw the last thing he wanted to see under a tree—a corpse. The man, who was over half a hundred years old, fell face up to the ground, with a white octagonal beard, and was dressed in a dark green robe. After a brief examination of the body, he found that the only fatal wound was in the left side of the neck and shoulder, wide in the middle, narrow at the ends, and the size of a fingernail.

This kind of outer door blade, also known as the sleeve spur, is tied to a person's forearm, and the blade is usually retracted, and when used, it is ejected through the mechanism. Because it is not easy to build, and it is difficult to practice, there are always not many people who know how to use this kind of blade, and nine out of ten people who can use this kind of blade well are masters.

Aung replayed in his mind the killer's murder: he (and possibly her, of course) jumped from a height, and before the dead could raise his head, the sword had pierced the soft part with precision, avoiding the ribs and into the lungs. The moment he quickly drew his sword, the blood poured into his lungs, causing the deceased to breathe and collapsed to the ground. The whole process was clean and painless.

"It seems that your crow's beak has been fulfilled. Aung sighed deliberately, but Shadow did not respond.

The corpse had riding boots on its feet, and following the wheel prints on the path not far away, Ang found a four-wheeled carriage in a clearing not far away. The two black horses fell to the ground, no scars or bloodstains, and their bodies were cold. The crows, who had been watching not long ago, were pacing on the roofs of the cars, and some were standing on the wheels. They flapped their wings and chirped hoarsely in an attempt to scare off uninvited guests, but when they failed to achieve the desired effect, they all scattered in an instant.

Pushing the car door, the other body was in much worse condition. The deceased was a woman, who looked to be in her early twenties, with long black hair scattered and the makeup on her face that had been wept, but it was not difficult to conclude that she was a beauty when she died. The milky white silk dress on her body was torn and tattered and stained with black blood clots, most of her body was exposed, and the bruises on her neck, wrists, and thighs were clearly visible, presumably she had been tortured for a long time.

"It's a pity. Aung said silently, "In these days, beauty is a curse for women. ”

The shadow remained silent.

Contrary to the previous style, the abuser finally decided to end her life in an extremely painful way for some reason - a short knife cut open her stomach, the wound was deep, four inches long, wide on the right and narrow on the left. The perpetrator does not seem to be satisfied, or deliberately wants to exacerbate the victim's suffering. So, he tortured her for a while, which also explained the white intestines that flowed outside, and the black blood stains that spread all around.

The car's valuables had been looted, and Ang wrapped the female and male corpses in the carpet of the car, removed the wooden planks from the door, and used it to dig a half-man-deep pit to bury them. "At least I'm right, someone needs help. He said to the old voice.

"Are you kidding me!" Shadow finally couldn't hold back the fire in his heart, and said in a loud voice, "What can you do for them but to keep their corpses from being eaten by crows or wild dogs?" ”

"I said the babies who were taken away by their attackers. Ang pointed to the bright spot in the weeds at his feet, then lowered his waist and picked up a small silver lock, erasing the dirt attached to the surface, revealing the four Kyushu characters of "long life and 100 years old".

"Robbers don't take babies away, and it's common practice to leave them frozen to death, starved to death, or eaten by wild beasts. And robbers don't choose a squeamish weapon like a fist blade to rob, and I don't think they've even heard of such an ancient and religious ritual killing method as the 'Sword Drinking Sacrifice'. "The Freedom Corps often kidnap children and train them to be future warriors. After the Battle of Pulti, this area should have been controlled by a free army called the 'Afterlife', among which there are many down-and-out nobles, and it is not surprising that they will use fists and 'sword drinking sacrifices'. ”

"Even the half-aged will take away the garbage that is a prostitute, how can they be reluctant to kill a woman with such a look. Do you smell a faint strange scent around the dead horse?" Ang corrected him, and sold him by the way.

"Well, it's like a woman's scented powder, but it's not like it. ”

"The strange taste is because it is mixed with two kinds of fragrances together, one is a man's spray incense, which is prepared by Kyoto Huatian Pavilion and is only used by the Kyushu Imperial Palace, and the other is a poison called 'Ou Yu', which is colorless and tasteless, kills people invisibly, and leaves a fragrance when exposed to water. Presumably a poisoned horse mixed with water. ”

"The men in the palace, except for the emperor, are eunuchs. The shadow paused, "If you are ordered to kill someone, why bother doing it, you have to leave Kyushu to do it." ”

"I don't know, I don't want to guess. It is certain that the killers did not plan to return to Kyushu, and judging by the trajectory of the scent, they were heading east. The smell doesn't dissipate much, it shouldn't have been long away, at most half a day, move faster, maybe you can catch up with them before the evening eclipse the day after tomorrow. ”

"Again, we're in trouble enough. ”

Ang's answer was a little illogical: "The fate of the child who was taken away from his mother will not be too good, look at me as a living example, so I have to take care of this matter." He paused for a moment, and then said slowly: "In exchange, I'll let you out to play for a while, isn't it interesting enough." ”

"Hmph. The shadow said unconvinced, "There are at least three people on the other side, and the one who uses the fist blade is obviously a master, and the left-hander who killed the woman should not be bad, and there is naturally no shortage of good skills among the eunuchs." You can't do it yourself, if you want to beg me to lend you strength, please don't express it too tactfully. ”

Ang nodded, "Of course, I can also listen to you, don't wade into this troubled water, so that I will have time to practice the art of cicada escape." ”

"You!!" the shadow's voice was hoarse, and if he had teeth, he would have been bitten and gurgled at this moment.

After a moment of silence, the shadow took a deep breath, exhaled it harder, and continued, "Time is tight, so don't waste it." ”

Aung smiled with satisfaction.

They didn't go far in a hurry, and a cold sentence came out of the shadow's mouth: "Say it in advance, I have to drink enough blood this time." ”

The voice was not loud, Ang could hear it clearly, and his mood was far more complicated than his face.