Accompanied by the sound of drums, and the bells of dozens of Taoist temples in Chang'an City rang, it woke up the sweet dreams of millions of people in Chang'an City, and it was also the first day of the second year of Tianbao.

The snow in Chang'an City has not yet melted, and the roofs and trees are still covered with white snow.

The snow in front of the door has been cleared by their own homes, and the street has been cleared by a special person to clear a road that can be used by cars and horses.

As for the big street outside the fang, it had been cleaned up by the Jingzhao Mansion organizers the day after the snow stopped, and the ground was so dry that even the slightest snow could not be seen.

On the first day of the new year, the long-lost sun finally rose from the east, and when the golden sunlight shone in the eyes of the early risers, it seemed to be flashing with the hope of the new year.

The vast majority of people like sunshine and warmth, just like getting up early in the morning and lying on a recliner to enjoy Qin Zhaoyu, who is not a warm sunshine.

But there are also people who don't like the sun, like the old blind man in that dark room, who is always standing behind the blue curtain and looking at the world with one eye.

Of course, there are many such people.

In the northeast corner of Yongxingfang, there is a narrow alley, and most of the surrounding houses are dilapidated, with ruins and broken walls, rusty locks hanging on the doors, and some are even inserted with wooden strips at will.

The rammed walls of the loess have been washed out by the rain, and some places have collapsed, and you can see the dilapidated scene in the courtyard.

The alleys are so few people pass through them that there are only a few footprints scattered on the snow, let alone someone to clean them up.

Walking inside, the puppet can see one or two slightly decent yards, but there is no life. Even human voices are rarely heard, and they seem lifeless.

The end of the alley. There is a small courtyard near the wall, and some blackened houses. There is a smell of decay, there are traces of repair on the courtyard wall, and the old wall is newly mudded, some of which are twisted and extremely ugly.

There was an old willow planted in the courtyard wall, the bark of which was dry as wrinkles, and its long empty branches could not hold the snow and swayed slightly in the breeze.

It was a very ordinary courtyard, and the walls of the house were already blackened. The roof tiles were covered with moss, and there were no spiders in the cobwebs under the eaves. In addition to an old willow tree, there were only scattered dead yellow weeds, which were now covered with snow.

A series of footprints stretched from the door to the old willow tree, under which lay a square black stone, leaning against the rough trunk of the old man who was over the age of six, his silver-gray withered hair sparse, and the gray-black spots on his face lifeless.

The not-so-tall earthen wall just blocked the rising sun, and the old man sitting under the tree with squinting eyes sat casually on the black stone. Hidden in the shadow of earthen walls and willow trees.

He held a half-foot-long log in his left hand, and a delicate knife in his pale right hand, his hand trembled slightly, and layers of powder fell from the wood. It's surprising. His right hand with a knife has six fingers.

Xing Yang, the old man of the black prison of the Yuntai Division. He was one of the first people to show up there since the black cell was erected.

Generally, the people of Qinglong will call him the sixth master. In the past 20 years, many apprentices have been brought out from him. Most of the people in the black prison who are being punished with various kinds of punishment are his disciples and grandchildren.

However, except for the people of Qinglong, the rest of the Yuntai Division called him the Six Fingers of Punishment, firstly because he had six fingers on his right hand, and secondly, because of the rumors about him that had been circulating in the Yuntai Division over the years.

Before the six fingers of the punishment entered the Yuntai Division, he was the executioner of the prison of the criminal department. Everyone in the world knows that this terrible punishment is cut with a thousand knives, but if it is really cut thousands of knives on a person's body, and the prisoner is not dead, there is no more than one hand in this world, and the six fingers of punishment are among them.

It is said that ten years ago, he cut 3,600 knives on a felon, cutting off almost all of the flesh from the man's body, but the prisoner still did not die. One can imagine how terrifying and powerful his knife skills should be.

However, the punishment of a thousand knives is too tragic, and there have been few people who have been executed like this over the years, so no one in the black prison has inherited the mantle of the six fingers of punishment.

In addition to this appalling thousand cuts, the six fingers of the punishment who have been in charge of the punishment of the Yuntai Division all the year round are said to have another habit, that is, to eat the heart and liver.

For those prisoners who are bound to die, the Yuntai Division does not need to go through the cumbersome procedures of the Criminal Department, and generally disposes of them directly in the courtyard.

There are rumors circulating in the Yuntai Division that the six fingers of torture broke open the chests of those people, cut off their hearts and livers in front of the prisoners who were not yet dead, and ate them with wine.

However, the things in the Qinglong Black Prison have never been talked about outside, and compared with the black stone prison, the people in the Qinglong Room are generally pale, as if they have not been exposed to the sun all year round.

The knife in Xing Liuzhi's hand shook unhurriedly, and the delicate wood powder fell on the snow, finer than snow sand. He carved a person, but he didn't carve a face, so he couldn't see a man or a woman, let alone who it was.

This knife has broken the chests of many people, and has also cut off the flesh of the first beauty in Chang'an one by one, and cut the heart and liver of the first prince of the country.

And now, it's just a knife carved in wood.

I don't know if the faceless person who is carving is a famous prostitute who was named Chang'an at the beginning, or an unlucky ghost who died in a black prison and was gouged out of his heart.

As the old man of the Qinglong Room, the six fingers of the punishment who were regarded by the younger generation as the ancestor and other figures, no longer need to stay in that dark stone hall every day.

However, after staying there for more than 20 years, Xing Liuzhi still likes to enter the black prison before dawn every day, and only comes out after dark, just like an old ghost walking in the dark, and his yin aura makes people stay away.

However, Xing Liuzhi has a habit of staying in the courtyard on the first day of the new year of every month, not going to the black prison, nor going out, just holding the knife to carve people.

No one knew who he carved, and few people even knew that he had this preference, because there were not many people who dared to enter this courtyard.

Sitting quietly under the willow tree, if he didn't know those appalling things, he was like an ordinary craftsman, carving the wood carving in his hand with great care.

The patterns on the dress gradually became clear, and even the delicate shoes on the feet were vivid, and the slender hands attached to the side of the dress were delicate, where did the ordinary wood carvers have such craftsmanship.

It's just that the head that has been carved into a bun and even carved a hairpin is still blank, which looks a little weird and a little regrettable.

The thin knife slowly scraped the wood-carved hem and the long pleated skirt were a little messy, but elegant.

The knife in Xing Liuzhi's hand suddenly stopped, and several figures fell into the small courtyard from outside the wall and from the trees, stepping on many footprints on the snow. (To be continued.) )