At the feet of the Son of Heaven and the roots of the imperial city, what is important on feng shui is that it has all five elements, and naturally it is indispensable to live around the city and reconcile yin and yang. Since there is water around the city and even through the city, it is even less necessary to have a bridge flying in the air to facilitate passers-by.

Counting from the years and months of the Qing Dynasty, there are not a few large and small bridges inside and outside the city, although some places no longer have rivers to pass through because of the change of landform, and the bridge naturally no longer exists, but the place name with the "bridge" has been retained.

Just like a silk reeling field outside the root of the south city wall of Sijiu City, there was originally a group of people in this silk reeling field in the late Ming Dynasty to cook cocoons and reel silk for a living, and the water used to cook cocoon reeling silk on weekdays is based on a small river near the left of this silk reeling field, which is really light and refreshing. In order to facilitate the transportation of large cocoons and cooked silk to there, a stone bridge was crossed, wide and narrow, and two carts could be carried in parallel.

Although in the Qing Dynasty, the small river near the left of this silk reeling field was filled into dry land, and the silk reeling field ceased to exist because of the cut off of water sources, but the name of this place is still remembered. With the help of the small bridge that was originally built on the small river and now has only four piers and large stones, this boundary has gained a name - Silkworm Bridge. For a long time, under the false rumors, the silkworm bridge is also called by many people - the remnant bridge.

In the ordinary days, there is no one living near the left side of the remnant bridge, but in the spring and autumn when there are foreign merchants to transport bulk goods to the city of Sijiu, they will take advantage of the empty yard near the left side of the remnant bridge to pile up and sell the goods, which can also save the cost of bulk goods after entering the city. In the spring and autumn, when the merchants from outside the country finished selling their goods, it was rare to see a personal shadow near the left side of the remnant bridge, but it was really convenient for the green-skinned gangsters in Sijiu City to put up a scene in this spacious territory, and there were many shady transactions that were happy to bargain in this remote area.

It was almost the hour of the willow tops on the moon, and the moon bent in the sky and illuminated the empty field around the remnant bridge, as if a light veil had been put on the earth. It is impossible to see the movement in the distance at all. And next to a stone pier left by the remnant bridge, a long table has been laid down. There were also two futons sewn with thick cotton sewn from muslin cloth on the ground at both ends of the desk. On one of the futons, someone was already kneeling, slightly lowering his head and posing like an old monk.

Beside the figure kneeling on the futon, another rather stocky figure was taking out a few snacks from a large food box, and a small celadon flask and two thumb-sized wine glasses were placed on the table. Only then did he carry the seemingly empty food box and stand behind the figure kneeling on the futon, like a clay carved wood sculpture, and no longer moved.

It's already the days of October, and when you sit in the house at night, you can feel the chills on your body, your hands and feet are cold, and you can sit in this unobstructed empty field outside the city, even if there is no wind tonight, but the cold air in the field is really enough for ordinary people to drink a pot. Standing almost behind Ishikawa Ueno, who was kneeling on the futon, for half an hour, Ishikawa Yokoji finally couldn't stand the increasingly thick and cold air in the middle of the night, and couldn't help but shudder.

Despite being with his back to Yokoji Ishikawa. But Ishikawa Ueno, who was kneeling on the futon, seemed to have a pair of eyes in the back of his head, and whispered, "Yokoji, do you feel cold?" ”

His knees softened involuntarily, and Ishikawa Yokoji got to his knees as he usually did when he talked to Ishikawa Ueno, and whispered to Ishikawa Ueno in a trembling voice: "I'm really sorry, Your Excellency......."

Slightly pressing his eyes, Ishikawa Ueno took a deep breath of the dry and cold air in the middle of the night, and muttered to himself with some enjoyment, "It's a cold night like this." Breathing in the cold air that almost pierces your lungs is like what you felt when you were trained in Rikubetsu Town (Note 1)! Especially in such a remote place. Calmly facing the prying eyes of his opponents, he slowly enjoyed the best sake........"

His eyes froze suddenly, and Ishikawa Yokoji subconsciously stretched out his slap towards the food box that was resting beside him, and whispered in his mouth: "Your Excellency, please ....... Be sure to take care! ”

Somewhat disappreciatively, he reached out and picked up the flask on the desk and poured a glass of sake, and Ishikawa Ueno slowly put down the flask. He picked up the thumb-sized wine glass with three fingers, raised it into the darkness in the distance, and shouted in a man-like voice: "It's cold, since it's already here, how about a drink to drive away the cold?" ”

It seems that he didn't expect Ishikawa Ueno to be able to see through his own hiding. Looking from the direction of Ishikawa Ueno, a slightly surprised voice sounded leisurely after a while: "A Japanese master of business, who can see me from so far away in the dark light, is it really a bit of a doorway?" You have the appearance of a pretended master, on such a cold day, building a fire, roasting meat, drinking wine, and talking about things, how down-to-earth it is! ”

As soon as the words fell, a fist-sized flame suddenly burst out from the darkness that Ishikawa Ueno was looking at. It was only a blink of an eye, and the fist-sized flame had already risen more than three feet high, shining within a radius of three or five zhang beside the flame.

With his eyes rounded, Ishikawa Yokoji was shocked to see two sturdy men in dark gray tights sitting next to the campfire. One of them was wielding a knife, skinning a living creature like a cat and laying it on the freshly lit bonfire, while the other was smashing open the mud seal of two black clay wine jars and simmering them next to the bonfire.

And the objects padded under the buttocks of the two sturdy men were two living people in dark blue tights. I don't know what kind of forbidden measures have been put on those two living people, although they ask people to sit under their buttocks and keep squirming, but their hands and feet can't move too much, and they can't make a single sound in their mouths!

Almost uncontrollably, Yokoji Ishikawa suddenly pulled out a small knife from the food box beside him, and roared and rushed towards the place where the bonfire was lit: "Motojiro...... Jiechuan ......"

Without waiting for Ishikawa Yokoji to rush out three or two steps away, from the darkness in the other direction, a tailless crossbow arrow with the thickness of a pigeon's egg and a length of three feet came with a wolf-like wind roar, and accurately nailed it in front of Ishikawa Yokoji's feet!

Suddenly stopped, Ishikawa Yokoji quickly turned around, blocking his body in front of Ishikawa Ueno, who was kneeling on the ground, and a pair of eyes stared at the direction where the crossbow bolts were flying and shouted: "Do you want to plot?!" Come out and fight me! ”

Listening to Ishikawa Yokoji's loud shouts, the fierce man sitting by the bonfire couldn't help but sneer, and shouted at Ishikawa Yokoji with a loud voice, "Yo...... Or is it the master who doesn't look down on the plot and wants to fight with a knife and a gun? If you really have such a bright style, why do you still feed poison to the cat's paws and release the black cat with poisonous claws to harm other people's birds? ”

With a slight cough, Ishikawa Ueno, who was kneeling behind the desk, drank the sake in his cup in one gulp, and casually threw the glass on the ground next to the desk. With Ishikawa Ueno's actions, from the darkness near the bonfire, a series of sharp weapons suddenly sounded in the air. Only after the blink of an eye, the two fierce men sitting by the bonfire were densely packed with dozens of strange-shaped dark green seeds!

Slowly reached out and took another wine glass and put it in front of him, Ishikawa Ueno raised his hand to pick up the small wine jug and poured wine into the glass, but at the same time, it was the sound of man shouting to the two fierce men around the bonfire: "Ishikawa Ueno, I am the treasurer of the Chrysanthemum Society!" Can you tell me where your name came from? ”

Waving his hand towards Ishikawa Ueno, the fierce man who was sitting by the bonfire and scalding wine smiled in a steady voice: "It's all here, and it's still hidden, is it a little interesting?" From the moment I came out of the main gate of the fire, and then met my friend at the base of the southern city wall, those broken characters under your hands are inseparable from you! What's wrong? Are we going to pick up the stubble and pretend to be in this wilderness, or are we going to make it clear what we want to say? ”

After drinking the sake in the cup in one gulp again, Ishikawa Ueno snorted lightly, looked down at the delicate wine glass in his hand, and sneered like a night owl screaming in the woods: "Fire is the main gate, there is a leopard!" My ghost shop is in your hands, right? And that little junior brother of yours was also injured by the ghost fang? ”

Raising his finger and pointing at the skinned cat leaning on the bonfire, Xiang Youbao shouted at Ishikawa Ueno, who couldn't see his face clearly, "The ghost fang you are talking about, is this this thing?" I know that the black cat minions you trained are poisonous, so before the barbecue, my friend has already gone to the black cat's minions! What's the matter, why don't you come over and have a try? ”

Sneering and putting the wine glass in his hand back on the table, Ishikawa Ueno shook his head slightly: "How can my ghost shop end up being roasted and eaten?" It's your junior brother...... Although Tong Ren Tang's medicine is effective and the doctor is also very clever, it can't help your junior brother live a few more days, right? That pain....... Even the best samurai may be unbearable! When I first saw you today, I called you a father, and naturally we should be honest with each other! Please come over for a glass of Japanese sake and then let's talk more about your brother's injury? ”

Although they are far away from each other, they must speak with a slight increase in their voices to make the other party understand. But it's not just the leopard or the Ishikawa Ueno, but they all refuse to move towards each other, as if there is some kind of ghost that will harm human life in the empty wilderness between the two....... (To be continued.) )

PS: Note 1: Rikubetsu Town, known as the coldest place in Japan, can reach temperatures of -30 degrees Celsius in winter.