Moreover, it does not explain why he left Shaoyang and why he came back now. Han Ding closed his eyes, his brows furrowed, and his tone was slow and solemn.

"Really, why did you build the palace next to this mountain at that time? If there is a poor Ying, he will be invincible?" Li Xiaobing complained.

"There's no way around it. Shaoyang was originally a place dedicated to sacrificial ceremonies, first with altars and then with cities. The altar of the Jin royal family was built against the mountain, and Shaoyang City was naturally built around the altar. The original capital of Jingchuan was not Shaoyang, but Yuxiong in the north. Later, due to the attack of the northern frontier, the capital was moved to Shaoyang, and the imperial palace in Shaoyang City was naturally built around the altar, and this mountain could not be bypassed. Shen Zhi explained.

"Yes!" Han Ding suddenly woke up from his contemplation, "Yes!"

"What?

"You're right!" Han Ding pointed at Shen Zhi and then at Li Xiaobing, "You're right! ”

Shen Zhi and Li Xiaobing looked at Han Ding, who was incoherent, in confusion, and Han Ding calmed down and said, "Gan Sheng really wants to sneak in from here, but not into the palace, but into the altar. ”

"Altar?"

"That's right, the altar. This also explains why he came back at this time, not only on the day of the national memorial, but more importantly, the national memorial will be held at the altar. At that time, His Majesty will be present in person, and infiltrating the altar is the best way to avoid the guards and approach His Majesty. ”

"But during the national sacrifice, shouldn't Lord Qianying also stand aside to protect Your Majesty?" asked Li Xiaobing.

"Gan Sheng is also a master, since he dares to come to Shaoyang, he is naturally ready to deal with poor Ying. ”

"But the altar is not like the royal palace, although the palace is strictly guarded, after all, there is such a large space for people to hide. A place like an altar has an unobstructed view, and there is no way to hide people at all. Saying this, Shen Zhi walked to the edge of the cliff and looked at the altar.

The altar is built against the hill, where there is a huge gap in the cliff, and three cliffs form the natural wall of the altar. Beyond the cliffs on three sides are the rest of the altar. The Jingchuan people carved out countless cube chambers on the cliff that could be used by one person, and arranged an enchantment, which sealed the souls of the emperors, nobles and martyrs of Jingchuan in the past. For the people of Jingchuan, after death, if their soul can be offered to the altar, it is the highest glory. Directly in the center of the stone wall in the middle is a large cave that can be entered and exited by one person, and there is no barrier at the entrance of the cave, and a steel cable connects the hole to the ground, which is the home of the soul keeper.

The soul keeper burns the soul grass in the cave all year round, and the energy released after the soul grass burns will feed the souls in the altar, and because of this, the soul power of these souls not only does not dissipate, but becomes stronger. The Soul Keeper is not a human, but a zombie. The dead qi of the soul grass and the surrounding souls eroded its body, and he did not eat or drink, had no consciousness, and did not even have a lifespan. The Soul Keeper has burned the Soul Grass for nearly a thousand years, and its only connection with the outside world is that there are guards who come to deliver the Soul Grass every day.

"We can't be careless, let's rush back immediately, send people to cordon off this mountain, and at the same time search, especially the guards in the altar, Gan Sheng is likely to infiltrate the altar as a guard. ”

"Yes!"

The three of them descended the mountain from the south side, came to Wangjin Ling, rented three horses, and hurried all the way back to the Lingwei Division.

After returning to the Lingwei Division, Han Ding arranged for a total of four brigades to go to block the barren mountain, and Shen Zhiqin led a brigade to the altar to investigate. Han Ding and Li Xiaobing went to the copywriting room.

In the copywriting room, nearly 100 clerical officers were lying on the table, quickly flipping through the scrolls on the table, and the pen and ink in their hands were flying. Between the tables, the attendants ran back and forth with scrolls and pen and ink. Even when Han Ding entered the copywriting room, no one looked up.

"You're also poisonous enough, the workload of this national festival is already heavy, and you let them search for documents for four years. Li Xiaobing sighed.

"After all, it's a very good time, and we're not a place to be blessed. Han Ding grabbed an attendant who passed by him, "Let Director Liu come to me with the search results." ”

"Yes. ”

After a while, a fat man with beads of sweat on his face came running with a pile of papers: "What do you command?"

"Did you get any results for what I asked you to search?"

"Yes, among the people who have been in and out of Shaoyang recently, there are four people who have no ears, and there are twelve people who have broken ears, and they ······."

"How can there be so many people with ear disabilities?" Li Xiaobing asked.

"Back to the right lieutenant, it is the day of the national memorial soon, there are many caravans in Shaoyang, some of them are from the northern Xinjiang, Liuze and even the Western Regions, bandits are rampant along the way, and there are not a few people who have their ears cut. ”

"I don't care who doesn't have ears, I only care who has the same long ears as the spirits, the kind of sharp, long ears. Han Ding interrupted.

"Yes, there is one. ”

"Who?"

"It's a woman of the Wei tribe who came as a tribute from the defenders of the Western Regions, and she has been sent to the palace. ”

"What, is there anyone else?" was not the answer Han Ding wanted to hear.

"It's gone. ”

"Could it be that he hasn't entered the city yet, or has already sneaked in? Li Xiaobing said.

"It can't be ruled out that if he sneaks in, this clue will be broken. Han Ding rubbed the bridge of his nose in pain, "What about the qin, is there any information about the qin?"

"Lord Huiling Weidu, none of the people and caravans who have entered Shaoyang City recently carry a qin. ”

"Not a single one?"

"Not a single one, not even a part. Adults also know the feelings of our people in Shaoyang, except for the ghost of the piano back then, who can play the piano? The businessmen are as good as ghosts, and no one will do this kind of loss-making business. However, there is another piece of information, which can be regarded as related to the piano. ”

"What?"

"Five days ago, a music library in the palace was stolen, and some parts of musical instruments were missing, including parts of the piano. ”

"Did the thief catch him?"

"Caught, it's the guard guarding the library who steals it. ”

"He's a guard, what is he doing stealing from the music library? The music library is full of musical instruments, and it's not worth anything if he steals it. ”

"I don't know, because he was dead when he was caught, and the stolen goods were gone. ”

"What! How did you die?"

"He killed, with a knife in the back of the neck, and there was no sign of resistance. ”

"Is there a list of what he stole?"

"Here. Master Liu flipped through the pages for a long time and took out a volume of documents.

Han Ding took the paperwork, looked at it with Li Xiaobing for a while, handed it back to Liu Zhubo, and said, "Let's go." ”

The two walked out of the copywriting room, and Li Xiaobing asked, "Where are you going now?"

"Prepare the horses, go to the Rite Division. Han Ding flicked his scabbard, "There is no room for error at this time, I want to confirm my conjecture." ”

"Tell me how you guessed. ”

"The cause of the guard's death is obvious, he was hired to steal, and then he was killed. Now let's say Gan Sheng has infiltrated Shaoyang City, but he still needs his weapon, which is the Nine Sins Qin. The Nine Sins Piano is different from other pianos, it has nine strings, which is too conspicuous. This alert guy played a trick, he didn't know how to hide his ears, and entered the city alone, and when he left three years ago, he had already broken a Nine Sins Piano into pieces and hid it in Shaoyang. That unlucky guy was the one who helped him get the piano. He stole a bunch of parts that could just be put together into a piano. ”

"But there were no strings in the things he stole from. ”

"Lord Qianying said that the charm department of the Xiling Empire had investigated Gan Sheng, so Gan Sheng must have known that he was being targeted by the charm department. In order to protect himself, he will definitely carry the Nine Sins Qin with him. The strings of the Nine Sins Piano are the most difficult to make, and Gan Sheng can leave a piano body in Shaoyang, leave with the Nine Sins Piano himself, and then come back with the strings at the time of the national sacrifice and assemble a new Nine Sins Piano. If the strings were disguised as ropes, they would not be noticed, and no one would notice. ”

"Then why did he hire someone to steal from the music library instead of his own piano shop?"

"On this point, I would also like to ask the Situ Brigade of the Rite and Music Division. ”