Everything in front of him seemed to merge together into a strangely colored painting, only the back of the man who was still talking was clear, wearing a mink hat, braided at the side of his shoulder, one foot on the chair, not even shoes.

Xu Chongmao lowered his body and crouched in the shadows at the entrance of the courtyard, he was sure that he was the only one who heard the man's words, and the others in the courtyard were already drunk, and even if they did, they would forget about it when they woke up tomorrow.

He waited.

Fortunately, he did not wait long, for when the man had finished speaking, he found that no one had answered him, and he was very bored, and after sitting for a while, he staggered to the edge of the table and walked in the direction of the courtyard gate.

Xu Chong will retreat a little, and when the man is out of the courtyard gate, he will follow, his footsteps very low, like a sneaky cat.

Out of the Nanshan Guild Hall, the surroundings instantly became quiet, except for a few wild bird calls, only the footsteps of the man in front of him were heavy and light. But now is not the time, Xu Chong knows that the terrain here is open and there is no shelter, so he has to wait, he has to wait.

He looked around vigilantly, and when he saw the occasional passer-by, he carefully avoided them, and waited for them to go away, and then followed.

Finally, his chance came. The man turned into a narrow path, on one side of which was the barren slopes of Mount Ailao, and on the other side was a field of wheat that had long been abandoned, and the yellow ears of wheat rustled by the wind like strange whispers.

Xu Chong glanced at the front and the back respectively, and when he found that there were only himself and the man on this path, he swallowed his saliva vigorously, chased after him in three steps and two steps, and reached out to pat the man on the shoulder.

The man was startled, and when he turned around, his gaze fell on the sword above, which was shiny in the moonlight.

"Are you...... Are you Xu Chong? He stammered, the smell of wine in his mouth squirting Xu Chong's face.

"Did you see Li Yong that night?" Xu Chong only had this sentence in his mind, so he blurted it out.

"I didn't," the man seemed to be frightened, Xu Chong's eyes were so bright, and he was slightly red from drunkenness, and he looked a little infiltrated, "My lord...... My lord, I don't know anything, no...... I...... I'm not going to say anything. ”

He took a step back, one hand in front of him, as if he was afraid that Xu Chong would hurt him.

"I didn't mean that, you don't have to be afraid......" Xu Chong saw him trembling, so he stretched out his hand to him to explain a thing or two, but when he raised his hand, he happened to touch the hilt of the sword, and the long sword came out of its sheath and fell to the ground with a "bang".

Xu Chong leaned over and picked up the sword, but before he could speak, he saw the man staring in horror at the cold light Shang Fang Sword in his hand, his mouth open and open, like a fish out of water.

"Murder...... Killed...... Xu Chong killed people and killed people......"

I don't know how long later, he suddenly shouted something out of his mouth that made Xu Chong inexplicable, and then turned around and ran forward along the path, shouting as he ran, waving his arms wildly at his sides, like a huge crab.

"Don't shout, I didn't mean that, you come back......"

Xu Chong followed, although he also ate wine, but his steps were not much sharper than that of a man, and it didn't take much effort to catch up with him.

When the man saw that Xu Chong was half a step away from him, he was so frightened that his soul flew away, but he turned to the right and climbed up the slope of Ailao Mountain. The dust he kicked down blinded Xu Chong's eyes, and he also gave himself time to escape.

The bare mountain of Ailao is full of large and small stone lumps, not to mention that there is not a single decent tree, and even the weeds growing in the cracks of the stones, you can count how many there are. The mountains are full of bare rocks, which look old and ugly, like a bald head with leprosy scars.

The man ran on the rocks, foot by foot, and he could hear his own wheezing, "whoosh", as if he were seriously ill. However, he could not hear the footsteps behind him, although out of the corner of his eye, he could catch a glimpse of the figure following closely behind him, getting closer and closer to him, like a tail that could not be shaken off.

Suddenly, the man stopped, and in front of him was a steep cliff, and if he hadn't stopped in time, he would have been pierced by the sharp stones on the cliff wall.

The moonlight shone on the mist rising in the canyon, white, difficult to distinguish the depth, the man glanced at the valley, and quickly turned his head, because Xu Chong had already walked in front of him, and the slender shadow merged with his own.

"Why do you shout murder, I don't want to kill you," Xu Chong's face was covered with dirt ash, but his eyes were still bright, not like a human, but like a beast, a beast roaming in the mountains, "I just want to know...... Did you really see Li Yong that night......"

He took another step forward, his body almost touching the man, and there was only a sword between the two, a sword across the man's neck.

"Your Excellency......" the man sobbed, "Your Excellency...... Small...... The little ones won't say anything......"

There was a lot of wet between his legs, because Xu Chong's eyes were very wandering, as if he was looking at him, but it seemed to be staring at some unknown place behind him. And that long sword, that Shang Fang sword, was also shaking slightly, and the blade as thin as paper had even cut his neck.

"Say," Xu Chong suddenly raised his voice and roared, as if he had lost his mind, "Did you see Li Yong......?"

At the same time, the man tried his best, grabbed Xu Chong's waist and spun around, pushing him towards the steaming cliff.

As soon as his stomach was cold, a stream of heat poured out, and the man covered his stomach and opened his confused eyes as he watched the sword come out of his lower abdomen and fly backwards with its owner, falling into the valley ahead.

The moment he closed his eyes, he met Xu Chong's eyes again, and those eyes were the same as his own, full of horror and unwillingness, in the face of sudden death.

He felt a little more comforted in his heart: it turned out that Xu Chong would also be afraid, and it turned out that he was just a mortal.

***

When Zhao Zaimai visited Xu's house the next day, he learned that Xu Chong had not returned overnight, and when they came over, Wu Yuanli and a group of officials had already learned the news and came to Xu's house first.

"Lord Xu is a popular person in front of the first emperor, with the sword above the first emperor, not only that, but he is also the Dinghai Divine Needle of our Mao City, and the government has to rely on him for large and small cases, and now he is missing inexplicably, what can I do? How should I explain the above question? ”

Wu Yuanli panicked and paced around in the narrow courtyard of the Xu family, like a trapped beast.