The lights of the first night shone on the young man's cramped face, Xue Ne never thought that before she had time to tell Fan Ning, the brothers of the ghost market had invited her to go first, and the whole person was like being drunk, standing still, and Liang Xiang couldn't say a word.

He has chosen a house three or five miles outside the Ya in Lantian County, bought a home, and was even afraid that she would be bored for a long time, and asked someone to set up a swing under the pear tree in the courtyard, when he went to the acceptance yesterday, Xue Ne stood under the tree and blew the wind for a long time without moving, and his heart was a rare peace, full of thoughts that if he could share his head with her in the morning and twilight here, he would not hesitate to give up the glory of Chang'an City.

But she didn't seem to have any intention of him, she should just see him as an old childhood friend, Xue Ne didn't want her to embarrass her with her affection, a light smile appeared at the corner of her mouth, but there was a loss written in her eyes that was difficult to hide: "It's okay, if you want to go to the ghost city to live, it's not far from Lantian County, if you want, you can come to me at any time......"

Although Fan Ning was familiar with those people in the ghost market, she preferred to stay with Xue Ne, and before the word "actually" could be spoken, she was blocked by his words, she moved her lips, she didn't know what to say, and fell into silence.

"Look, it's snowing!" There was a soft cry of pedestrians in the distance, and the two came back to their senses, only to see small snowflakes floating at some point, and the tiny small snow particles were piled on the orange-red lanterns, which was very cute.

From Luoyang to Chang'an, Fan Ning saw Ruixue again, Fan Ning saw an old friend who had been absent for many days, stretched out his hand and scattered snow flakes. Xue Ne saw that her fingertips were red from the cold, and hurriedly said: "By the way, the shop that sells fur clothes hasn't closed yet, and it's still too late to go down, let's go quickly." ”

After speaking, Xue Ne pulled Fan Ning out of the alley, Fan Ning felt the warmth from his big hand, and his heart was even more indescribable. The two walked hand in hand through the crowd of people watching the lanterns, and came to the south of the West Market, where there are mostly Hu merchants, selling rare treasures from the Western Regions, and each family has three or two camels tied to each outdoors, which is very interesting.

The innermost one is the fur shop, which is different from the Hufu men's clothing in other stores, the owner of this shop is a Hu woman, and the fur clothes made are very delicate and beautiful, and they are famous in Chang'an City. Outside the store, there is a row of small lanterns with the characteristics of the Western Regions, with a sheepskin hexagonal edge, which is very novel and beautiful, and it should be from the hands of the owner.

Xue Ne took Fan Ning to push the door and walked in, and before she could stand firmly, the female shopkeeper of the Western Regions stepped forward, beckoned with a smile, and said in standard Chang'an official words: "Xue Lang is here, the clothes you ordered have been made, it should be for this girl?" It's in the middle.,Go and try it.,If it's uncomfortable to iron.,You can modify it.。 ”

Xue Ne bowed slightly, and walked with Fan Ning to the inner cabinet with the female shopkeeper. The shopkeeper brought two cups of tea and served them, and then withdrew with a sense of humor, so that the customers could try them on with peace of mind.

These two people are not in the same room on weekdays, but today it is inexplicable, Fan Ning took off the noodles, looked around, and saw that this room was extremely exquisitely arranged, and the golden beast small furnace was wrapped in a beautiful and elegant balm, which made people relax quickly. Just in the middle of a beautifully carved table, there is a tray with miscolored gold, and the tray is wrapped in silk, which should be the fur dress that Xue Ne made for Fan Ning.

Xue Ne stepped forward and opened the silk silk and took out a snow-white coat, the coat color was excellent, and there was a faint red circle around the collar, like a little fox, which was particularly playful and cute.

"Let's put it on and try it", Xue Ne shook off his coat and stepped forward to drape it on Fan Ning's shoulder.

Fan Ning's expression became more and more confused, and his tone was a little uncomfortable: "I, I'll do it myself......"

Fan Ning grabbed the fur shirt and walked to the one-person-high bronze mirror, only to see that there were words on the mirror, and it was written: Look at Zhu Chengbi's thoughts, haggard and fragmented as Yijun. I didn't believe that I would cry more than I came, and I opened the box and inspected the pomegranate skirt.

This is a poem written by the Queen of Heaven to the emperor when she was in Ganye Temple, it is very lingering and compassionate, Fan Ning pretended not to see it, and concentrated on trying on clothes, but his heart was beating uncontrollably.

The beauty in the mirror is like jade, like a star in the sky, dazzling and distant, Xue Ne stood half a step behind her, only to feel separated from her by the Milky Way, difficult to stand side by side. The eyes of the two met in the mirror, and they did not dodge, just when the atmosphere was quite delicate, the female shopkeeper knocked on the door outside and said, "Guest officer, can this dress fit?" Need to be changed? ”

Xue Ne hurriedly responded: "Ah...... It doesn't have to be and fits it very well. ”

Xue Ne motioned to Fan Ning to put on the noodle quickly, and the two hurriedly walked out of the room, paid the final payment and left the Hu Decoration Shop.

As the snow begins to fall, the temperature is getting cooler and colder, but the smiling lantern watchers in the street market are not diminished. Fan Ning stepped on the embroidered shoes on the snow, printing small footprints, leaving long marks on the snow, just like her endless thoughts.

It is often said that beauty is like jade, and the comfort and righteousness of young people are also as beautiful as jade. Fan Ning looked at Xue Ne, and suddenly had a little impulse in his heart, he was about to go to Lantian to take up his post, the period of separation was in sight, and when everything was decided, he was close to the crown, and he had a sweetheart, I am afraid that he would soon be married, and at that time, there would be nowhere to tell her what she was talking about, Fan Ning closed her eyes and her heart was horizontal, and she said in a somewhat ridiculous tone: "Actually, I ......"

"Xiao Ning'er ......"

Suddenly there was a soft cry from the place under her feet, which frightened Fan Ning and almost lost her soul, she followed the voice, only to see the gopher lying next to the ditch where the water was drawn, showing half of his head, and screaming weakly.

Fan Ning couldn't kick his head twice, and said angrily: "I thought why the toad became a spirit and could shout people, you don't stand up in a dignified manner, what are you doing pretending to be a ghost?" ”

"He seems to be injured", Xue Ne stood closer, saw the bruise and purple scars on the gopher's body, was very worried, squatted down, and asked with concern, "What's the matter?" Who hit you? ”

"There's a pharmacy over there, you go buy some medicine and wine, I'll wipe him ......" Fan Ning found an excuse and broke Xue Ne away, not wanting him to get involved in all the bad things in the ghost market.

Xue Ne listened to Fan Ning's words, answered, got up and walked to the pharmacy. With the help of the snow, Fan Ning saw clearly the bruises on the gopher's head, raised his hand and slapped him twice: "Whose little lady are you going to tease again?" But it alarmed other people's families to beat you! ”

"Oh, no, I said no!" The gopher dodged and almost fell into the ditch, "Something is wrong, you listen to me...... Every year before the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, everyone in the ghost market has to sign a new lease deed, do you know? ”

"I don't know, didn't you own that place? Why do you have to pay? ”

"Now it's not as good as it used to be, after Lishan was occupied by mountain bandits, the ghost market has become their territory, and all the people who live in the ghost market have to pay rent every year. That's it, but they do some sprinkling and sweeping, and guarding the mountain pass on weekdays, which can be regarded as meritorious. But since the burglars moved in last year, they have been eyeing our stall and always trying to take the opportunity to drive us away. Two days ago, we were about to pay this year's annual rent, when they suddenly came here and asked the Painted Skin Fairy to give them a more handsome face. The painting fairy didn't dare to offend them, so he painted it as instructed, but they immediately bit back and said that the skin was too ugly, and it must be that the painting skin fairy wanted to humiliate them as the house, so he beat us up and kidnapped the painting skin fairy. Tonight is the deadline they give, and they want us to take out 10,000 taels of gold to ransom people, and if we don't give money, we will kill the painted skin fairy. The Painted Skin Fairy won't let me look for you, but we can't beat them alone, so we can't just watch him die! ”

After a long time of peace, how could there be a sudden conflict today? As soon as Fan Ning heard this, she knew that this matter was directed at her, and estimated that Xue Ne was about to come out of the pharmacy, she motioned to the gopher to silence: "I know, I'll go back to the ghost market with you in a while." You must remember, don't tell Xue Lang about this matter, his father is a member of the third rank of the court, and he will still be the commander of Lantian County in the future, so he must not be involved in such a matter. ”

While speaking, Xue Ne walked out of the pharmacy with an oiled paper bag, and Fan Ning couldn't help but look straight: "It's not for you to buy a medicinal wine, why did you buy such a big bag?" ”

"That Langzhong said that not only should be applied externally, but also taken internally to have a good effect, so I asked him to grab some medicine to promote blood circulation and dispel blood stasis......"

Fan Ning only felt angry and funny, thinking that this Da Langjun of the Pingyang County Mansion really hadn't suffered hardship, and he didn't even blink an eye when he spent money indiscriminately, but she had no intention of going to Lang Zhong to settle accounts at this time, and she had to hurry to Lishan, so she reluctantly took it: "You are really a big fool Xue, you go back by yourself, there is something in the ghost market tonight, I won't go back to your house." ”

"Is something wrong?" Xue Ne looked at the injury on the gopher's face and couldn't help but worry.

"A few of them are fighting, I'm going to persuade and persuade peace", Fan Ning smiled a little distractedly, but fortunately, her face blocked her expression, and she could only see a few waves flashing in her peach blossom eyes.

"Then you should be careful, and come back early tomorrow."

Fan Ning nodded in response, and turned around and left with the gopher. Xue Ne stood in place, and saw her white clothes disappear into the dense crowd, so she sighed lightly, turned around and walked towards Chongrenfang through the snow.

At the foot of Li Mountain, the cold wind is howling, the branches are swaying, and the gate of the ghost market naturally formed between the rocks of the mountain is like a huge ghost skeleton, with a terrifying mouth, as if it wants to devour everything, which is daunting. In front of the gate, more than 100 people were dressed in black, holding torches and standing silently, filled with the sound of the vast valley wind. Scattered snowflakes fell on the torch, helping the fire to burn more vigorously, reflecting the steaming faces. The leader was about twenty years old, born with a leopard head and ringed eyes, more than eight feet, a short hair obviously tortured, and a black blindfold covering his left eye, which should be a one-eyed dragon.

The 10,000 taels of gold was just nonsense, and all he wanted was the cardinal. From the founding of the Tang Dynasty, strengthened the care of the emperor's mausoleum of the previous dynasty, the business of stealing the door is becoming more and more difficult to do, seeing that the livelihood of the ancestors is going to be cut off in their own hands, at this time there are people with high-ranking officials and lulu temptation, as long as Fan Ning is arrested tonight, this life is an endless glory and wealth, who is willing to do the work that does not see the light of day, night and night with the dead face to face.

But as time passed, this person gradually lost his breath, raised his eyes to look at the painted skin fairy hanging from the tree beside the road, and asked the person who looked like a military advisor beside him in a low voice: "Is your information accurate?" Would the Cardinal Yaksha really come here for this bad old man? ”

The man was also dressed in black, and he was dressed in Confucian clothes, in order to show his identity as a scholar, he also shook a feather fan on a cold day: "It should be good, young master, don't worry, you might as well wait and see......"

In the dense forests on both sides of the ghost market, Gao Min and the thirty strong crossbowmen in the Yulin Army were lying in ambush under the cover of grass and tree trunks. The person who looked like a scholar was an undercover agent they had worked hard to buy, and today this person reported that he had arrested a number of Fan Ning's close friends, and prepared a plan to invite you into the urn, just waiting for Fan Ning to take the bait.

No matter how others treated the case of the Hongwen Pavilion Annex, Gao Min has always insisted on visiting in the past two months, and has not relaxed for a moment. After getting Li Qianyou's approval, he took the Punishment Department Talisman and borrowed these thirty strong crossbowmen from the Yulin Army, and as soon as Fan Ning appeared, he would fire ten thousand arrows in unison, shoot him and then surround and arrest him.

Unlike the uneasiness of the young master of the thief, Gao Min was like a wolf on the grassland, quietly guarding in the wind and snow, waiting for his prey to appear. At this moment, the subordinate officer trotted forward and said in a low voice: "Master Gao, there are ambush soldiers in the forest down the hillside, and the subordinate officer sent a brother to investigate, it turned out to be a member of the Dragon and Tiger Army, about 200 people, led by the county lord of the British Mansion, and there are ......."

"What else?"

"There is also the newly appointed Lantian County Commander, which is the ...... Xue Yushi"

"Xue Yushi?" Gao Min was stunned, his eyes gradually sank, "It's an old acquaintance, just take the official to meet you." ”

After saying goodbye to Fan Ning, the more Xue Ne thought about it, the more he felt that things were not very simple: the gopher was seriously injured, and it was definitely not left by ordinary brotherly battles, this was one of them; Today is the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, and there is no curfew, but the Dragon and Tiger Battalion, the Yulin Army and the Flying Cavalry Battalion in the city will be on standby to avoid emergencies. The third is her eyes, Xue Ne can't say anything wrong, but she knows very well that it is not her relaxed appearance when nothing is ordinary.

Xue Ne did not return to the house, but deliberately went to his old Ministry of City Gate Bureau to inquire, and learned that the Criminal Department had mobilized the Yulin Army tonight, so he immediately rushed back to Chongrenfang and went to the British Mansion to find Li Yuanyan for help.

Li Yuanyan was really righteous enough, Xue Ne couldn't explain the reason in detail, but she was willing to believe him to help him, mobilized the two hundred cavalry under her name, changed into a military uniform and went out with Xue Ne. Xue Ne speculated that they should not make a move in the ghost market, so he led his troops to ambush in the dead forest outside the ghost market, hoping to save Fan Ning's life at the most critical time.

Fan Ning should have known that there was a fraud in this matter, but in order to save the painting fairy, and he didn't want to involve him, he broke him apart and came alone to go to the soup for his old friend. Xue Ne felt distressed and blamed herself, thinking that in the end, she was not strong enough, so she didn't dare to rely on him with confidence, and she had to avoid taboos and plan, for fear of affecting him and the Pingyang County Mansion.

The deeper the night, the heavier the wind and snow, seeing Gao Min walking from the depths of the jungle not far away, Li Yuanyan touched Xue Ne with her elbow and said in a low voice: "That kid from the criminal department is only afraid that he thinks that you are here to compete with him, how ugly and ugly his face is." ”

Xue Ne smiled faintly, but his eyes refused to take his eyes off the group of people who stole the door, the time was coming, but Fan Ning had not yet appeared, and his heart was full of unspeakable apprehension. Today is facing a difficult situation, the ghost market has existed for many years, it has always been impermeable, but it has never done anything out of the ordinary, so it has always been with the government well water does not violate the river water, and how the power of the criminal department has infiltrated it, it is really puzzling.

After thinking about it, Gao Min had already walked in front of Xue Ne and Li Yuanxi, and said in a low voice: "I have seen Lord Li and Xue Yushi, and today the lower official was ordered by Li Qianyou, the Taichang Uncle of the Criminal Department, to arrest Fan Ning, the murderer of the Hongwen Pavilion case, I don't know the two ......."

"Is it possible that this lord in charge doesn't know that now Xue Yushi has been transferred to Lantian County? Defending the surroundings of Gyeonggi during the Shangyuan Festival is also the duty of my Dragon and Tiger Army, I heard that there are night thieves in this fire, and Xue County is afraid that something will happen, so I invited my generals to come here. This is the land under the jurisdiction of Lantian, Xue County has a request, and the county lord will lead the troops to help, why not? ”

"I see", after listening to Li Yuanyan's words, Gao Min looked clear and seemed to be much more relaxed, "Then there is no conflict with Gao, I don't hide it, in order to arrest the suspect, Gao has been up all night for the past two months, dreaming of sleep, and has hardly slept a peaceful night. ”

Li Yuanyan glanced at Gao Min, thinking that this person looked good, how could he open his mouth and close his mouth to get promoted and make a fortune, which made people disgusted. But before she could reply, she heard the angry shouting of the young master of the thief at the entrance of the ghost market: "The time has come, it seems that this red-clothed yaksha is not going to save this old man, just burn it." ”

"There are a few other strange-shaped people, don't forget the young master......" The military advisor leisurely mentioned the point, the feather fan swayed lightly, and the attitude of pointing out the country was good.

"Aren't they all tied up in that attic, and they will burn in one go!" The more than 100 disciples behind him all shouted loudly, and some even began to add firewood under the tree where the painted skin fairy was hanging.

Unexpectedly, a woman's laughter suddenly sounded in all directions, rushing straight to the ear drums, which was particularly terrifying in this snowy night, and frightened everyone to stay in place. The north wind was howling, and the snow flakes were scattered to obscure people's vision, which also made Fan Ning's laughter even more long, and he couldn't tell which direction it came from. The young master turned his head around looking for the source of the voice, but he couldn't find it, so he jumped to his feet and said, "Red Yaksha, since you dare to come, why don't you dare to show up!" ”

Suddenly, the red-clothed figure floated through the forest, attracting everyone's attention, and the thirty crossbowmen of the Yulin Army also raised their big bows in unison, aiming at the red-clothed figure. But the red-clothed figure seemed to be able to fly, shuttling through the jungle extremely quickly, difficult to aim, and the bow and crossbow of the Yulin Army swayed left and right with it, and it was impossible to do anything about it for a while.

The young master of the thief only felt dizzy, held his forehead with one hand, and scolded angrily: "You are not always a hero, what kind of ability is it to fly around and hide, there is a kind of you coming down!" ”

"I'm obviously behind you, haven't I seen you for months, and your one eye is blind?" Fan Ning's cold, blade-like voice suddenly came from behind the young master of the thief door, and at the same time, a blade overflowing with blue light was already in his throat.

Unexpectedly, the red-clothed figure was just a trick created by the paper kite brothers, but I saw that the tall brother was standing on a boulder under the cover of dead branches, holding a thick rope and standing in the wind, while his small brother tied himself to the huge paper kite, flying high in the air, and then hanging down from the air with a long thread, wearing a red-clothed dummy, so that he could make the illusion of the red-clothed yaksha shuttling back and forth in the forest. The real Fan Ning snatched a certain disciple's black sword, and took this opportunity to blend in with the crowd of thieves, and staged a "capture the thief and capture the king first".

Seeing that the young master was arrested, the thieves were in an uproar and wanted to come forward to save him. Fan Ning turned his head, revealing a cold and beautiful little face, and smiled evilly: "I don't know if my knife is fast, or your legs and feet are fast?" ”

When the thieves heard this, they all retreated in fright, for fear that this red-clothed yaksha would really seal his throat with a sword and kill their young master.

The young master of the thief who was still arrogant just now was completely arrogant at this moment, his whole body trembled like chaff, and he said: "Fan Nuxia spares his life...... Fan Nuxia spares her life......"

Fan Ning sneered, his face full of disdain: "What kind of breeze are you, why are you cowardly now?" With your looks, you still blame the painting fairy for painting you ugly? Phew! The wild monkeys in the mountains are all prettier than you! ”

Gao Min, who was ambushed in the jungle, saw that Fan Ning was holding the young master of the thief hostage, and just turned his back in his direction, and hurriedly raised his hand and whispered: "Release the arrow!" ”

Before the words fell, dozens of black feather swords swished out, flying towards the crowd, and they were about to shoot Fan Ning, who expected that Fan Ning seemed to have eyes behind him, and suddenly turned into a body, blocking the young master's body in front of him.

Gao Min screamed in his heart, and looked at the young master's body with several arrows, almost pierced into a sieve, while Fan Ning took the opportunity to blend in with the group of disciples who scattered and fled, causing the Yulin army to lose their target.

However, Gao Min didn't mess up, he knew that Fan Ning would definitely save the painting fairy, so he calmly ordered: "Shoot down all the black-clothed disciples next to the tree, and be careful not to hurt her life!" ”

Fan Ningfang jumped on the trunk of the tree, wanting to climb to the top of the crown to save the painting skin fairy, when he saw the arrows shooting from the sky, flying by his side, and almost injured. Brother Paper Kite, who was not far away, wanted to come forward, but was scolded by Fan Ning loudly: "You go first!" Otherwise, everyone will die here! ”

Seeing that Fan Ning still needed to take care of them, and the situation was becoming more and more dangerous, Brother Paper Kite gritted his teeth and stomped his feet, turned around and fled to the agreed hiding place.

Fan Ning dodged the flying arrows, and a harrier rolled over and climbed higher branches, but she found that the higher she climbed, the higher the arrows shot by those strong crossbowmen, and even if she painted a skin fairy, she would also be at risk of being hit by an arrow.

Fan Ning was in a hurry, and suddenly saw a long arrow shot out from the jungle in the other direction, flying towards the top of the canopy with a devastating momentum, and actually shot the hemp rope that tied the painted skin fairy to the ground, and the painted skin fairy fell to the ground in response, and was quickly dragged away by the gopher hiding nearby.

Fan Ning turned around in surprise, only to see that at the end of the snow, where the fire was faint, a handsome young man was holding a big bow, looking at him with worried eyes.

The more than 200 people in the Dragon and Tiger camp were all surprised, not only because of this superb archery skill, but also surprised at how anyone in the army could assist the fugitives.

Li Yuanyan hurriedly suppressed the bow and arrow in Xue Ne's hand, and whispered, "Are you crazy? If you are ginseng to the emperor and queen, even His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will not be able to protect you! ”

Xue Ne hurriedly said, "I'm sorry, I missed the shot", but his eyes were still staring at Fan Ning, seeing that she jumped off the tree smoothly and completely disappeared into the crowd, and could no longer be found, Fang Chang breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing that the fat on the side of his mouth was gone, Gao Min's expression was extremely ugly, I don't know if he was more annoyed or confused, but he didn't say anything, just looked at the corpses that were all over the ground, and made a gesture of retreat.

"Chief, aren't you going to chase it?" The subordinate officer was puzzled, and did not understand why he did not give the order to enter the valley.

"The terrain in the valley is steep, and there are hundreds of merchants, it's not something we can handle," Gao Min said, turning his gaze to Xue Ne under the dry cover of the deep forest bushes on the other side, "Today is the case for the time being, tomorrow we will see who kills the deer." ”