As the night deepened, the alley outside the Chonglingguan barracks sounded a melodious sound of ticking hooves, and Adjutant Zhou stood alone outside the door with a brand-new long knife hanging from his waist.

A carriage stopped outside the door, and a middle-aged man in a scribe's green shirt walked down, not angry and arrogant, vaguely revealing a general's demeanor, but the man looked tired at this time, and smiled when he saw Adjutant Zhou, "I've kept you waiting, let's go in and say." ”

Adjutant Zhou turned around and led the way with a respectful attitude.

The man glanced at the long knife clenched at his waist and frowned, "The situation is so tense?"

Adjutant Zhou said as he walked: "Don't hide it, if the monks in this city all go all out, it is estimated that Chongling Pass will be razed to the ground in less than a quarter of an hour, and we can't be nervous." ”

The man nodded, "It's been hard work for General Zheng these days." ”

Adjutant Zhou's expression was also a little strange when he heard this, but after all, he didn't say much for the sake of the overall situation, so he had to change the topic, "Your Majesty came this time, did Your Majesty personally speak, or was it dispatched by the Ministry of War?"

The man said: "Take the initiative to ask for help, Your Majesty also opened the golden mouth, so I came." ”

Then he paused for a moment before continuing: "Lord Thorn Shi's body has been sick for many years, and he is about to abdicate. ”

Adjutant Zhou was a little surprised, "Why did your lord tell me about this?"

The man put his hands behind his shoulders, walked leisurely, and sighed: "Dealing with soldiers is no better than dealing with soldiers in the court, you have to break up a sentence and say it three times, and it is still good to have something to say to you." When this matter is resolved, the position of the assassin will be inseparable, not to mention that if Your Majesty is not optimistic about me, how can you allow this errand to come down. You and General Zheng are also relieved, my purpose here is not to scold the general's elbows, as long as you follow the rules, I will definitely not ask for trouble. ”

Adjutant Zhou walked into a courtyard in front of him, and he didn't expect the inspector sent down from above to get straight to the point and say it so bluntly.

It's just that the general was not present, and he couldn't answer these words, so he just asked the man to sit down and said softly: "Wait a minute, my lord, I'll go and inform the general." ”

After the Qingshan man sat down, he bowed slightly: "Trouble Adjutant Zhou." ”

Adjutant Zhou clenched his fist lightly and walked straight behind him.

The man picked up the slightly cool tea on the table, drank it all, and then just sat down in the chair and closed his eyes for a nap.

It didn't take long for the inner room to hear a sound of armor shaking, and a bold voice sounded: "The inspector has come to the adult, Zheng Tao has missed the welcome, and he is guilty of sin!"

The man in the green shirt opened his eyes, shook his head slightly, and then got up to greet him, bowed to Zheng Tao, and said, "Zuo Qiuzhu has seen General Zheng. ”

Seeing this, Zheng Tao smiled and said: "Why should the inspector be so polite, you and I can just sit down and discuss the matter." ”

Zuo Qiuzhu gradually got up, and when he saw Zheng Tao sitting down, he slowly sat down.

Then he asked, "General, is the situation in Chongling Pass really so serious?"

Zheng Tao also restrained his smile when he heard this, nodded, and said slowly: "In addition to those monks in the city, the Pure Water Country has also stationed five thousand people and horses fifty miles away, and the most troublesome thing is that it has been so long that there has been no big mess at all. If something goes wrong, there must be a demon, and the Pure Water Country will definitely make a stumbling block, but I don't know when to make it, my heart has been going up and down, and I can't even eat these days. ”

Zuo Qiuzhu also frowned slightly when he heard this, knowing that the situation was really not optimistic.

As an old fritter who has been in the political arena for nearly 20 years, Zuo Qiuzhu is extremely sensitive to changes in the situation, even if he has not experienced any battlefield battles and battles of attacking cities and conquering land.

Zheng Tao picked up the teacup, drank it in one gulp, and then rubbed his temples lightly with both hands, "It will take three days for the people from the military department to arrive, and the surrounding counties are not willing to wade this troubled water, and the more than 7,000 people in Chongling Pass are definitely not enough." Those Yunding monks, for the sake of the realm of chance, what is the legal situation of the Heavenly Reason? Even if the temple arrests and asks for the guilt, how can those dead people and the lost city be recovered? As a person in charge of Chonglingguan, I can fight for a little bit, and if it really comes to that point, I can only ask for a common life and death, and the rest can only depend on the back hand of the imperial court. ”

Zuo Qiu Zhu was silent.

Zheng Tao closed his eyes, "If it weren't for the northern border of red leaves, I would have resigned from my official position and practiced with peace of mind." ”

The general of Chongling Guanzhen stood up, walked to the window, and said in a deep voice: "In the fifth year of Jiaqing in the Red Leaf Kingdom, that is, twenty years ago, the three county towns, including Longquan County, were in chaos at the same time at night, with Longquan County being the most serious. A group of monks of the Pure Water Country came secretly, and more than 30 officials of the imperial court who were killed were more than seven ranks, and hundreds of people were killed or wounded? In the next two years, the officials of these three counties were the last to kill a group, and no one could control them as if they had entered a no-man's land. ”

Zheng Tao's face was miserable, and his lips moved slightly, "All this is just because of the inaction of General Chonglingguan at that time, just because of this bastard, who died so many good officials and good people, I, Zheng Tao, am resentful, and even more unwilling." ”

Zheng Tao turned his head and looked at the inspector, "I even know that the general Chonglingguan at that time is still alive and well, do you know what kind of mood I feel?"

Zuo Qiuzhu wanted to speak and stopped.

Zheng Tao's face gradually calmed down, "I complained to the adults, and please don't care about it." ”

Zuo Qiuzhu sighed, he has never been able to help himself when he enters the court as an official.

......

......

The speed at which Haoran Qi floated out was very fast, and Ye Fan could only know its whereabouts by sensing it carefully.

The boy closed his eyes and felt the trajectory of Haoran Qi, and suddenly felt it stop somewhere.

Ye Fan opened his eyes and shouted softly, "In the cellar of the inn!"

When Zhongli heard this, he immediately moved with his sword in his hand, and quickly swept to the bottom of the inn, and Ye Fan hurriedly followed when he saw this.

The inn is not big, but there are many rooms, and Ye Fan and the others went around for a long time before they found the location of the cellar.

Hongri in Zhongli's hand slowly exuded sword energy, and then said to Ye Fan behind him: "The old man takes the lead, you slowly follow behind the old man, remember not to get too close and not too far away, if there is an accident, hurry up and run first." ”

Ye Fan nodded heavily, took out a flying sword from the jade plate, and carefully followed behind the old man.

Zhongli slowly opened the wooden door of the cellar, emitting a faint purple light from the cellar.

Ye Fan said softly: "In the deepest part of the cellar, Haoran Qi floats on it. ”

The sword light of the rainbow sun was even stronger, and the old man did not dare to relax his vigilance, and walked slowly down on the dusty plank.

There was no light in the cellar, and it was extremely dim, but fortunately, the purple light of Hongri's sword qi and Haoran qi reflected each other, and even Ye Fan, who was not very eyesighted, could see the surrounding situation clearly. This place should be a wine cellar where wine is stored, with a strange smell of wood mold and the aroma of wine, Ye Fan followed behind the old man, and his vigilance was the greatest.

Haoran Qi just floated quietly above the deepest corners of the cellar, exuding an extremely sacred aura, waiting for the arrival of the master.

Zhongli frowned slightly, there was nothing strange under Haoran Qi, but it was just flat land.

Then he stretched Hongri to the dirt and stabbed slightly, but suddenly felt the presence of a hard object, and then the tip of the sword was lightly picked, and a black spar with a little black soil was picked out.

Zhong Li was well-informed, stepped forward and took a few glances to see the name of this thing, breathed a sigh of relief, turned back to Ye Fan and said: "It's okay, don't worry too much, this stone is called Songmo Stone, it is the refining material of the Dan Master or the Formation Master, and it is surrounded by evil qi but not fatal, and it is often used as a blinding method, but I don't know why it is shelved here." ”

Ye Fan was also relieved when he heard this, but he was a little strange in his heart, why did such a small thing let Haoran Qi get out of his body without his control?

Suddenly.

The turquoise stone emitted puffs of black smoke and galloped towards the zenith.

"Not good. Zhongli snorted lightly, "Why did the evil qi outside suddenly skyrocket?"

Ye Fan said suddenly: "Hurry back, Sister Qiaoqian, they are still on it." ”

Zhongli nodded, and strode out with Hongri in his hand.

Haoran Qi suddenly emitted purple light, wrapping Ye Fan tightly, causing the young man to be surprised, but now he can't care about this. Then he hurriedly followed the footsteps of the old man, and his heart was a little anxious.

But don't let anything happen again.