Chapter 16: The Danger of the Underground Palace

Since entering Beijing, I am not familiar with life.

A normal person will inevitably feel homesick and have difficulty adapting to the unfamiliar environment of being uprooted from home. Even ancient and modern literati and writers are the same, in the face of loneliness in a foreign land, a few glasses of wine in the stomach, write a few strokes freely, and sing through the ages.

However, these three people are diametrically opposed and embrace all the new things in Kyoto.

The little sister naturally wants to visit the streets and alleys of Kyoto, so she has to bring a few domestic servants with her every day, until the domestic servants are full of hands.

Yao Qingshu has always had a stuffy oil bottle temperament, in addition to practicing swords, he helps the master's house take care of flowers and plants every day, and he has a style of retreating to the countryside, in Luo Xiaotian's words, he is an "otaku".

And Luo Xiaotian got up early every day and went out, mysteriously not even the senior brother and sister knew what he was doing.

Kyoto is also very busy these days. It is said that the birthday of the Empress Dowager Nanyu is about to be held. It is a royal celebration that celebrates the whole country and rejoices with the people. The streets of Kyoto can already be seen in the pre-festival atmosphere, and the doors of the shops are covered with red lanterns and red silk cloth. Children are running and shouting with small lanterns, looking at the lanterns, watching the lanterns.

The lanterns shouted by the children are the lantern festival prepared for the birthday of the Queen Mother on the fifteenth day of the month.

On that day, skilled craftsmen from all over the country will light up their best works. The people of Kyoto Castle will also go to the square to enjoy the lanterns, and if you are lucky, you will have the opportunity to witness the true face of the emperor of Nanyu. At that time, the emperor will bring hundreds of civil and military officials, royal relatives and nobles to the stargazing tower of the square to celebrate with the people, and personally light the largest lantern in the middle of the square - the birthday lantern.

That night, the entire city of Kyoto was lit up and stayed up all night.

The festival is just a few days away, and the artisans in the square are busy with their lantern creations. The square is currently closed, with a large number of armored soldiers guarding the surrounding area.

The street next to the square is the busiest street in Kyoto. In addition to the shops that provide food, clothing, housing and transportation, there are also various talent shows: Xiliao wizards who perform illusions, southern singers who sing songs, dancers who dance in the Western Regions, and all kinds of hard-core kung fu of talented people.

Next to the dancing dancers, there is a gambling house with a dense flow of customers, and the guests are coming in and out, only to see Luo Xiaotian's figure appear in the crowd coming in and out.

Luo Xiaotian had been investigating the various foreign settlements in the city for the past few days, and he wanted to get some clues from these foreign feudal settlements in exile in Nanyu. Unfortunately, the personnel were too mixed, the language was not understood, and there was little gain, and I didn't even see a descendant of a tattooed Northern Guard prisoner.

Since they are a secret organization, there must be a place for training. But this Kyoto is so big, and naturally it is impossible for that mysterious organization to be found easily, and to find their hiding place, it is natural to find another way.

So, now he was looking for someone who had promised to help him.

The smoke and noise in the gambling house were unbearable, Luo Xiaotian walked up to a guy and whispered a few words, and the guy led him to the second floor of the gambling house.

The man pushed open the door of a room, and Luo Xiaotian walked in alone.

It turned out that the person I was looking for was Shen Kun. Shen Kun saw Luo Xiaotian come in, and hurriedly went over to salute.

"Brother Luo, you're finally here."

Luo Xiaotian returned the salute and said, "Boss Shen, I'm so disturbed!" ”

"Brother Luo, this is outside, your business is also my business, this kind of seeing outside makes Zai Yu feel uneasy. Brother Luo just call me Shen Kun, don't stick to etiquette. ”

Shen Kun has already regarded Luo Xiaotian as a benefactor, and his sincerity is also natural. His gambling industry is blooming everywhere in Nanyu, and he can be regarded as a low-key and luxurious figure. If there are many industries, you must be able to eat and live, and naturally you will make friends with officialdom and gentry and underground groups in various places. With this in mind, Luo Xiaotian met with him at his mansion the night before he entered Beijing. Regarding Luo Xiaotian's request to find the man in black in Kyoto, Shen Kun also agreed that night.

"Still in trouble! In the past few days, although I have visited and investigated in many ways, it is difficult to find clues. ”

"Brother Luo, don't worry, I have already arranged someone to deal with it, and it has been quite rewarding."

When Luo Xiaotian heard this, he hurriedly asked: "In other words, is there a clue?" ”

"That's not guaranteed. In this capital, although the foreign vassals are mixed, they are also organized, and the leader of that organization, Shen Mou, had some friendship with him a few years ago. There is nothing he doesn't know about this Kyoto matter, he has many minions, and most of them are fatalists. ”

"I want to hear about it." Luo Xiaotian said.

"Brother Luo, please sit down and have tea first, I have already made an appointment with the leader of the foreign domain today, and the time will almost pass together."

Luo Xiaotian didn't expect that Shen Kuncheng had the image of a ruffian and hooligan, but he was also a person who valued love and righteousness and was a man of his word.

After the two of them had tea for a while, Shen Kun took Luo Xiaotian to find the leader of the outer domain.

In Kyoto City, there are two gathering areas for foreign countries: one is a luxurious mansion arranged by the imperial court, which belongs to the foreign feudal merchants and officials who entered Beijing; One is a place where the homeless people gather together, and the leader of this foreign domain is in this homeless gathering area.

In places with mixed people, it is inevitable that there will be some chaos, and it is common for the floor to be dirty. There are even more thieves, Luo Xiaotian has always been vigilant, and was stolen by a thief as soon as he entered it, but fortunately he was discovered by Luo Xiaotian and chased away directly.

The thief is only a relatively low-level character here, and the killer assassin is too numerous to mention. Those mysterious people who wore cloaks, hid their swords under them, covered their faces with hoods, and had vigilant and malicious eyes in their eyes, and who were athletic, also encountered a lot along the way.

Walking through the streets and alleys, the two came to a dim place, and the alley they entered was very narrow. At the end, there was a narrow and steep staircase, which stretched down to the depths of the earth where you could not see your fingers.

"Brother Luo, the underground palace below is it. The leader's name is Pan Lao, he is a red-haired ghost, there are many rules, and the reselling information fee is also high, but it is valuable. I've paid for all the money, and I've given him two days, I don't know if there's any news now, so I'm bringing you over to ask. ”

"I'm sorry for you, the money spent will be sent back to the gambling house another day."

Luo Xiaotian didn't dare to let people break the bill for himself, with his temperament, he would definitely have to pay it back.

"Oh - can you please stop being polite to me! Can't you really treat me as a brother? Hugh will mention it again. ”

Shen Kun said as he walked towards the bottom of the stairs.

Although the outside of the underground palace is dim and narrow, it is bright and smooth inside. The ground was supported by huge black stone pillars, and inside stood samurai wearing black robes and hanging scimitars from their waists.

In the middle of the hall stood a man - tall and dressed in a golden brocade robe, with a mink cloak over his shoulders, red hair, deep-set eyes, an eagle-hooked nose, and an older man. Seeing the two of them enter, dark brown eyes stared straight at them.

"Old Pan, I brought the person, I know your rules, you must see the person concerned, is there any news now?" Shen Kun came to Pan Lao and said.

Pan Lao didn't answer Shen Kun's words, his eyes stayed on Luo Xiaotian's body, giving people a sense of oppression, and ordinary people would definitely be afraid when they saw it.

Smack-

The subordinate next to him threw out a bag of silver coins and threw it in front of the two of them and said, "Take it back!" ”

Seeing this, Shen Kun hesitated, didn't dare to say more, and was about to pick up the money bag on the ground, when Luo Xiaotian's hand was put on his shoulder to stop him.

"Old Pan, my name is Luo Xiaotian, and I am also your client. I also know a little bit about the rules here, but now it seems that Pan Lao is also an unruly person. ”

Shen Kun broke out in a cold sweat on the side, you must know that no one in the entire Kyoto is black-faced, and no one dares to speak to Pan Lao like this.

"Hahahaha......" Pan Lao looked at the fearless young student in front of him, looked up to the sky and laughed, and then said: "The rules are set by me, and naturally others are required to abide by them, and I don't want to help you, this is no longer a problem that money can solve." ”

"If I'm not mistaken, Pan Lao must feel that he can't afford to offend the person I'm looking for." Luo Xiaotian said contemptuously.

Facing Luo Xiaotian, who was a little arrogant in front of him, the annoyed Pan Lao first looked at him angrily, and then his eyes returned to calm and said: "In this capital, there is no one that my Pan Lao dare not offend. Little Housheng, while I haven't been so rude to you, it's best to leave now. ”

In the face of Pan Lao's threats and intimidation, Luo Xiaotian did not back down by half a point, and continued unrelentingly: "It seems that Pan Lao is not as magical as the legend, and he can't even find a small descendant of the Beiwei captives, in my opinion, don't make any rules in the future." On my side, the police station will be able to help you with these little things. ”

Pan Lao was obviously angered at this time, staring at Luo Xiaotian with horizontal eyebrows, and the subordinates beside him also wanted to draw their swords against each other. Although he didn't know what kind of organization the police station was, he could clearly hear the sarcasm in Luo Xiaotian's words.

"Old Pan, don't be angry, my brother is also in a hurry, I'll take him away immediately." Seeing the situation, Shen Kun hurriedly came out to play a round game, pulling Luo Xiaotian and preparing to go out. "Brother Luo, let's go."

"Wait! You come with me to meet someone. Pan Lao said suddenly.

It seems that Luo Xiaotian's radical method has worked, but how to end it later? The words just now have offended Pan Lao, and the two of them are afraid that it will be difficult to get out.

The two followed Pan Lao to the dungeon, and the door at the back was unknowingly closed by his men.

Shen Kun was already trembling with fright, and his forehead was sweating.

The dungeon was cold, damp and dimly lit, and he couldn't see the environment inside clearly, and he could only vaguely see a few people locked up in the dungeon, but he couldn't see his face clearly.

Pan Lao came to the door of a dungeon cage, suddenly turned around and pulled out the matching sword of his hand next to him, pointed at Luo Xiaotian, and said coldly: "Kill him!" ”

The atmosphere instantly dropped to freezing, and Shen Kun was even more in a cold sweat on his back in this shady dungeon. Luo Xiaotian also remained motionless in the face of Pan Lao's sword.