When Cheng Ruoxuan opened his eyes again, he could already vaguely see the banners on the pier in the porthole. She felt a joy in her heart, but she was afraid of disturbing others, so she held her breath, gently pushed the plank away, and stood up. Jing Feng was resting with his eyes closed on the deck, but he didn't know what kind of movement he was disturbing, so he suddenly opened his eyes and said to her, "Awake?" ”

Cheng Ruoxuan nodded and looked out the window, "It's here." ”

Jing Feng looked at the banner, and his face could not hide his excitement. But this little joy was quickly overshadowed by doubt. "Strange," he frowned, looking at the dock carefully, "there was no wind or waves on the way back, and the savvy sailor knew that the weather was good, and he would definitely take advantage of the tide to grab fish." According to this calculation, it is now time for the offshore boat to return to unload its cargo, why is it so quiet on the dock? ”

When Cheng Ruoxuan heard this, he also felt that something was wrong. As soon as the ship came to shore, the two men were surrounded by a crowd of sailors, all of whom were anxious to get out of the cabin. A few sergeants in the boat stopped everyone, but Chen Zhuo was still guarding the tail rudder, and another person stood on the deck and released a ringing arrow in the air. The same scream was soon heard from somewhere on the island, and the sergeants let go of the curfew and allowed the sailors to disembark.

Cheng Ruoxuan boarded the deck, and as soon as his vision widened, he saw a number of dilapidated boats scattered around him, many of which had been cut off, and some of the boats were stained with blood. The blood had dried, and the afterglow of the setting sun had solidified on the ship's board, making it even more unbearable to look at. Cheng Ruoxuan was stunned for a moment, and the Jing Feng on his side had already rushed down the gangway and ran towards the beach. The sky was cloudless, and dozens of ragged bodies were spread out on the sand that had been scorched by the sun for a day. Cheng Ruoxuan's heart was shocked, and he remembered for no reason that in the morning market in Zhuxiang, the butcher had hung a row of dead meat with an iron hook.

She hesitated for a moment, but after all, she was still worried about Jing Feng, and gritted her teeth to follow, but saw that the sergeant guarding the corpse had stopped Jing Feng and refused to let him take a step closer.

"It's all bandits," the sergeant explained impatiently, "what's there to see?" ”

"There aren't that many people on the island." Jing Feng's eyebrows were almost twisted into a dead knot. Suddenly, two sergeants approached, and they lifted a clump of battered sails to the front and threw them with great force as if they were unloading. There was a muffled sound, and a tangled clump of hair appeared in the loose sails, which could barely hide the pale face of the underneath it. Jing Feng's face turned pale suddenly, and he rushed forward suddenly, and the sergeant was about to stop him again, but he couldn't stop him.

Cheng Ruoxuan stood in place, tears rolling to her trembling lips.

She had recognized who had died.

"Who did it?" Jing Feng knelt on the ground, hugging Ah Hui, who was no longer alive, and whimpered and roared like a trapped beast, "Who did it!" ”

There was a sorrow in this voice that no one could bear. Several sergeants were stunned, looking at each other, and did not dare to step forward. Not far away, someone noticed the situation here and hurried over, it was Cao Cao Tie.

"What's going on?" He inquired as he tried to push Jing Feng away, looking rather impatient. Jing Feng didn't even hide, but only blocked Cao Cao Tie with his not very thick back, refusing to let him touch Ah Hui. His lips were furrowed, but his voice was choked in his throat, almost inaudible.

"You let him go. That's his sister. Cheng Ruoxuan trembled when he heard his voice, "How can the local villagers be Tukou?" ”

"What's going on?" Wen Renyue walked to them at some point, but this was asked by Cao Cao Tie. Chen Zhuo followed, standing solemnly at his side, silent.

Cao Caotie stepped forward and bowed, pausing slightly before speaking, as if he was considering his words; Jing Feng suddenly turned around, a pair of bloodshot eyes looking at everyone. He finally looked away slightly, not including Cheng Ruoxuan. She finally heard what he was saying. He said, "You killed her." ”

Cao Caotie didn't look at him, but only said to Wen Renyue, "Don't listen to his nonsense." Even if this woman is a villager in the village, she must have secretly communicated with the bandits, so she will be killed. ”

"You killed someone and refused to admit it, so you made up such a crime to slander her!" Jing Feng gritted his teeth and tried his best to argue for Ah Hui, "Don't say that a place so far away from the island, she hasn't even been out of the township!" She can't even speak, how can she secretly communicate with Tukou? ”

"Mad Dog." Cao Caotie didn't seem to even listen to half of his argument, and only reprimanded: "How dare you slander the imperial court officials? ”

Cheng Ruoxuan looked at him in amazement, and a deep disappointment arose in his heart. It's crazy - she bit her lower lip tightly, only in this way can she barely contain the resentment surging in her chest - the tragic death of her loved ones in front of her, anyone who sees this scene will have compassion, but Cao Cao Tie can be so indifferent. His words before are still in my ears, "Do not attack the city of infallibility, do not kill the innocent", but it was a pure and good person like Ah Hui who died. Cheng Ruoxuan couldn't help but wonder if the dignified left guard of the navy army came this time, was it the people who guarded the Liang as she defended, or slaughtered the people?

Chen Zhuo was silent for a long time, but then he stepped forward and squatted down beside Jing Feng. "Get out of the way." His tone was calm but unmistakable, "I look at the wounds of the dead. ”

Jing Feng glared at him fiercely, but did not make a sound or move.

"The sword of the left guard of the navy army is a unified standard, which is different from the weapon of the Tukou." Chen Zhuo explained, "Don't you want to know who the real culprit is? ”

There is some truth to this. Jing Feng sighed resentfully and finally gave in. He leaned over and gently put Ah Hui down, but he still stayed on the side and refused to walk away. Chen Zhuo uncovered the canvas of the shroud, Cheng Ruoxuan only glanced at it, then turned his face away, and couldn't bear to look at it anymore - Ah Hui's chest was pierced by a knife mark, the blood had dried up, and dead white flesh turned out from under a piece of red clothes.

Wen Renyue stood beside her and said in a low voice, "The dead don't hurt anymore. ”

Cheng Ruoxuan's face was dry with tears, and he didn't look at him, shaking his head. She could hear the compassion in Renyue's voice. But his compassion is to see people in the clouds, and his body is not stained with dust, how can he personally experience the suffering of the world? It wasn't just a thoughtless body. Even if the eyes that always looked at her sadly in the past will never open again, Ah Hui is still Ah Hui.

Besides, the living will still ache for her.

Cheng Ruoxuan sighed silently, walked to Jing Feng's side, and tightly clutched his sleeve. She didn't really think it made any sense, but there was nothing else she could do for him. For the first time in a few days, she felt distinctly that she was sinking deeper and deeper into some kind of predicament from which she could not break free. Timid, cowardly, powerless, and overwhelmed by all kinds of emotions. She didn't even dare to touch the terrible knife wound with her eyes. But how could she stand idly by? Jing Feng's hands were trembling uncontrollably.

There was silence. After a while, Chen Zhuo raised his head and said, "It's a saber." He made up his mind and stood up, "Two wounds, the one in the chest is fatal, and only the flesh of the neck is bruised, but it is true that the same man was wounded with the same saber." ”

Cheng Ruoxuan was stunned when he heard this, and couldn't help but look at the side of Ah Hui's neck, and there was really a short and shallow knife mark. The wound seemed to have been stained with hair and blood, and she glanced at it in shock, but didn't notice it; Chen Zhuo looked at it carefully.

"Then it's the Tukou who will kill them." Cao Cao Tie snorted coldly, drew his knife and threw it, and the blade of the knife stood in front of Jing Feng, "You can see clearly, sailors are in close combat, and they are equipped with obstacle knives." This time, you can't blame our navy left guard again. ”

The remnant sun fell on the blade, and the bright reflection crossed Jing Feng's face. He didn't avoid it, and asked rhetorically: "The islanders on the outlying islands make a living by the water, and you say they use sabers?" ”

"Don't forget, they weren't born to live on the island, they were bullies just a few years ago." It was Cao Chengqi who answered. He was just as he was explaining something to the sergeants who had returned from the main ship, and in the course of his words he had regained his earlier gentleness, and when he parted, he patted the sergeants on the shoulders and asked them to be led to the village, and then came to inspect them. He greeted Wen Renyue and asked everyone, "What are you all doing here?" ”

Cao Caotie reported the cause and effect to him. Cao Chengqi looked at Ah Hui carefully for a while, and then said, "I have an impression of this woman. As soon as the words came out, everyone looked at him, and Jing Feng stared at him even more, obviously not allowing him to be ambiguous. Cao Chengqi obviously noticed his eyes, but only asked the sergeant who was in charge of collecting the corpse next to him, "Why did you move her here?" ”

"We heard from the team that this woman was a collaborator." The sergeant didn't seem to understand the inside story either, and unconsciously glanced at Jing Feng as he spoke, perhaps unwilling to touch the man's scales, and his demeanor was quite cautious.

Cao Chengqi thought about it for a while and reported a location, which was the small courtyard where Ah Hui lived: "You go again and bring the man who is in charge of the house." ”

The sergeant took the order and left. Cao Chengqi said to Jing Feng unhurriedly: "It can be seen that you have some resentment towards us soldiers; Even if I explain it to you, you may not believe it. It is better to wait for her husband to come, and you will be sealed with him. After all, the woman died trying to save him. ”

Jing Feng couldn't help but be stunned and muttered, "Fourth Brother Xu? ”

"By the way, it's surnamed Xu." Cao Chengqi continued, "It seems that the gang of bandits has a lot of relationship with the villagers, and as soon as the ship arrived in the port, they fled to the villagers' homes, which is really bold. We searched for half a night, and finally found out one by one. It's a pity that the villagers didn't defend themselves, and they gave these bandits a bite back, and there were many deaths and injuries. ”

When Cheng Ruoxuan heard this, he couldn't help but snort. It's not surprising that this happened to Ah Hui. She has taken in children who have stolen and strangers who have drowned. A group of villagers came in a hurry and knocked on the door at night, and she would never harden her heart to turn them away. But did this kind and weak woman think of it? With this "folk" comes the danger that she simply cannot afford to bear.

"But you are officers and soldiers." Jing Feng said in despair, "I should have protected the people. ”

"Didn't I tell you?" Cao Caotie said impatiently, "It's the Tukou who is the killer!" ”

Cao Chengqi raised his hand to signal him to silence, and continued: "This matter is indeed to blame for our failure to protect in time. The woman had taken her in a very fierce person, and the man took revenge, and when he heard that we had entered, he took her by his side and took her hostage. Most of these sergeants under my command are ordinary people who have joined the army, and no one wants to hurt her. Later, it was the woman's husband who took advantage of the unpreparedness of the coquette and took a kitchen knife to save people, which can be regarded as commendable courage. He sighed as he spoke, "It's a pity that this man is not from the army after all, and as soon as he stepped forward, he was noticed by the bandit, which angered him." ”

This matter was beyond Cheng Ruoxuan's expectations. In her impression, Fourth Brother Xu was a lewd man who would bully even his wife, and she didn't expect that this person would come forward to protect Ah Hui. Although it didn't work, it finally lived up to the love between husband and wife.

Wen Renyue suddenly said: "The thieves are distracted, maybe it's a good time to rescue the hostages." Did Cao Yishi not bring archers at that time? ”

Cao Caotie glanced at him, as if he had something to say, but he still held back in the end. Cheng Ruoxuan has seen that this person has clashed with Jing Feng several times, and it may not be that he is particularly difficult to get along with - Jing Feng ridiculed his name before, but Cao Cao Tie didn't even react at all - he couldn't tolerate someone questioning the left guard of the navy. But this time, the questioning person changed to Wen Renyue, and Cao Cao Tie could only stop fighting. Even though he had a violent temper, he knew that there were some people he could not provoke. Wen Renyue, a person as scattered as Wen Renyue, can have such a deterrent effect, I think it is not only because of the official position of Taichang Shaoqing Zheng Sipin, but also because Qin Tianjian is very favored.

"It's good to hear that people are right. It is true that the archers did not accompany the prisoners when they captured them, but our sailors were mainly in close combat, and everyone practiced extremely accurate knife throwing skills, so there would have been no such mistakes. Cao Chengqi looked helpless, "It's just that no one expected that this woman had a glimmer of life, and she didn't run away, but chased after her to stop her." By the time we got the bandit in check, the woman had died by his sword. ”

Cheng Ruoxuan suddenly felt that something was wrong. The wound on the side of Ah Hui's neck should have been caused by the murderer's abduction. If the murderer is as fierce and brutal as this, why did the knife only cut a superficial layer of oil? She was really puzzled in her heart, and after a little hesitation, she still looked at Ah Hui's corpse - perhaps because she had been here for a long time, and unconsciously, the discomfort in her chest was not as strong as before. The blood from Ah Hui's wound had long since been drained, and the scar that ran through his chest was clearly visible. The knife that could no longer be closed turned shallower from top to bottom, as if the murderer was trying to withdraw the knife.

Perhaps, Cheng Ruoxuan said in his heart that the Tukou wanted to kill Fourth Brother Xu, but he didn't intend to put Ah Hui to death.

However, the knife could no longer be contained.