"Xiao Geng, this Mr. Ye is not an agent of the patrol police station, but a teacher from the Beijing Normal University Hall."

It was late at night, Qiu Desheng and his wife sat in the living room, put Ye Kenan on the upper seat, and said to Qiu Xiaogeng.

"But he doesn't look like it!"

"Mr. Teacher, now, they are all young talents who have stayed abroad! Not only can you know the four books and five classics, astronomy and geography, and various foreign languages, but you must also learn grappling and fighting. According to what he had discussed with Ye Kenan in advance, Qiu Desheng made up a lie to deceive the children, "The Jingshi University Hall is preparing a juvenile class, and it is necessary to recruit students from among the prodigies from all over the country. Someone recommended Xiao Geng from the Tianjin German Concession, but he needed to go to the capital for an interview. After passing, wait another three years to enter the highest university in the Qing Dynasty. ”

"Really? Who recommended me? ”

Beijing Normal University is today's Peking University, the second national university in modern China after Peiyang University, and it was as sacred and solemn as the Guozijian in the past for students across the country at that time.

"Oh...... It's your German teacher. ”

Qiu Desheng's heart was churning, trying to avoid his son's torch gaze.

Xiao Geng said to Ye Kenan: "But, then why are you looking at the back of my shoulder?" ”

"Your red antler-shaped birthmark, which is said to be the sign of a prodigy, only comes out once in hundreds of years, and it is the chief superintendent of the Jingshi University Hall who took special care of me." After Ye Kenan finished speaking, he secretly admired his ability to talk nonsense, "Xiao Geng, the interview time is only three days. Tomorrow morning, I will definitely take you to Beijing. Regardless of the outcome of the interview, I will personally send you back to Tianjin. ”

"Can Daddy come with me?"

This sentence made Qiu Desheng's face embarrassed, and Ye Kenan said solemnly: "No, there are rules in the hall of Beijing Normal University, to test the independent ability of the students of the junior class, it is strictly forbidden for parents and family members to accompany them, let alone bring servants with them, and they can only be taken care of by a special teacher like me." ”

"Don't worry, Xiao Geng, Mr. Ye is a good person, you are sure to like him."

It was the mother who spoke, she was preparing a few new clothes for the child, Xiao Geng's favorite candied fruit, two Tianjin hemp flowers, plus stationery, books, picture books, school textbooks, and ten silver yuan wrapped in kraft paper, all packed in a bulging leather box, it was simply the rhythm of entering Beijing to participate in the palace examination.

"Mother, now that the imperial examination system has been abolished, I only went out for two days, do I need to prepare so much?"

"I'm afraid you're hungry while you're patronizing."

Finally, my mother added two more raw pears to the suitcase.

Qiu Desheng took out a bag from under the box again, and opened it to be a piece of Hetian jade the size of broad beans, and the mutton fat white seemed to be splashed with bright red blood - it had been collected for nine years, and when he was under the root of the imperial city, he took away the baby who was about to freeze to death, and found that there was a rare piece of warm blood jade in the swaddling clothes, which must be evidence that the child and his biological parents would recognize each other in the future.

"Daddy, what is this?"

"You can go out and stay safe."

Qiu Desheng didn't explain the origin, he found a good rope, through the perforation on the jade, and hung it on Xiao Geng's neck. This is a piece of warm jade, sticking to the beating heart, emitting a warm heat, which is amazing.

Ye Kenan said goodbye and went out, saying that he would pick up Xiao Geng at seven o'clock in the morning and go to the train station. But he didn't go far, and yesterday he rented a house opposite in order to observe Qiu Xiaogeng. In order to prevent Qiu Desheng's family from escaping in the middle of the night, both ends of the alley were guarded by patrols from the German Concession all night.

Mom said that she would sleep with Xiao Geng tonight. He was a timid child from an early age and went to bed alone. He's also a sensitive kid, and he's already aware of something - his father and mother are lying to him! But he didn't want to expose the lie so quickly, but wanted to see where he was going tomorrow and who Mr. Ye was.

After a long night, Xiao Geng shrank in his mother's arms and let her stroke his back. Seeing that he is about to surpass his skinny mother. After thinking about it, there was always a sense of foreboding, first from the warm jade on his chest, and then from the back of the vest hot rising.

The boy had a brief dream.

He dreamed that he had fallen into a claustrophobic space, with a strange beastly face, flashing glass-colored eyes, staring into his eyes in the endless darkness of the night.

He cried.

but made a baby-like cry.

Qiu Xiaogeng was woken up by crying by himself, and his vest was full of cold sweat, as if he was swallowed up by a grave. The wind in the yard intensified, and a bunch of bamboo planted the year before rustled and rattled. Mom was still asleep, and his eyes widened as he watched the shadows of bamboo leaves outside the window.

He quietly got up, pushed open the door, and stepped into the moonlit courtyard. I saw that the lamp in the study was still on, and my father's figure was shining through the window paper, and he was writing a book at the desk. So late, what is the father writing?

Suddenly, a second figure appeared in the study, ghostly raising a sharp blade.

"Daddy!"

At the same time as Qiu Xiaogeng roared, the sharp blade had been inserted into his father's vest, and a blood stain splashed onto the window paper, like a cut of plum blossoming in the snow.

The boy rushed to the study, raised his little fist, and shattered the thin window lattice. He saw Qiu Desheng lying in a pool of blood, with a letter full of ink on his desk and an ivory knife with the handle of an ivory knife stuck in his back.

Through the window, in the light, he also saw a face—a man with two beards, in his forties, dressed in black, with a black cloth head, a slender face, a narrow nose, and eagle-like eyes.

He is the murderer, drawing the murderous dagger from Qiu Desheng's back.

Nine-year-old Qiu Xiaogeng was trembling from his scalp to the soles of his feet. For the first time, I saw a murderer with my own eyes, and it was my father who was killed. He instinctively backs away until he spots a second intruder.

The other party jumped from the roof, also dressed in black and wrapped in black cloth. The moonlight illuminated the face, and the man looked quite young, probably less than twenty years old, and also held a dagger.

How to describe these uninvited guests? Xiao Geng remembered the word "assassin" in the ancient book.

At this time, my mother also went to the yard and saw that the study was splashed with her husband's blood, so she screamed and rushed to Xiao Geng.

"Mother, go back!"

Too late, and the young assassin moved like a rabbit and plunged the dagger into her chest. Very accurate method of killing, directly piercing the left side of the heart, without any struggle or screaming.

In an instant, both parents died, right in front of Qiu Xiaogeng's eyes.

Unexpectedly, the assassin seemed nervous, and when blood spurted into his eyes, the dagger fell to the ground along with the dead.

The middle-aged Assassin had already turned over and jumped into the courtyard and yelled at the young Assassin, apparently furious. Taking advantage of the fact that the two of them looked at each other, Xiao Geng casually picked up a bamboo pole - this was originally intended to be the keel of the model aircraft, imitating the bow impact angle of early battleships, so the end of the bamboo pole was sharpened extremely sharp.

Qiu Xiaogeng stabbed it in the face of the young assassin. At close proximity, the other party instinctively dodged, and the spikes of the bamboo pole grazed his cheeks. Although it was between lightning and fire, Xiao Geng's palm holding the bamboo pole still clearly felt the friction and shaking.

A string of blood beads flew out of the assassin's cheek, like a broken ruby necklace, flying slowly through the air, and a few drops splashed onto Xiao Geng's lips.

The taste of the blood of the enemy.

Xiao Geng's brain was blank, or scarlet, and he only thought about avenging his father! Roaring and stabbing a second with a bamboo pole. Not so lucky, the young assassin was stabbed in the face, and in a fit of rage, dodged the blow with ease, clamped the bamboo pole under his armpit, and pulled a second dagger from his waist.

However, the middle-aged assassin in the back roared again, and his voice was quite muffled and could not be heard clearly.

The young assassin didn't hear it, and thinking about avenging himself, stabbed the dagger at Xiao Geng's face.

Qiu Xiaogeng's heart was also about to explode, he shrank down like a monkey, the jade pendant on his chest shook with it, the dagger grazed the top of his head, and the sharp blade cut off several of his hairs.

At the moment of life and death, the door of the enemy's house was kicked open, and Xiao Geng heard a crisp gunshot.

Is there a third assassin? The moonlight illuminated Ye Kenan's face.

The bullet, which happened to hit the wall tile on Xiao Geng's head, turned out to be aimed at the young assassin. However, the light was dim in the night, and the movement of kicking the door had alerted the other party, and the shot did not hit.

The middle-aged assassin happened to be hiding by the door and stabbed Ye Kenan. Ye Ke jumped away from the ground and fired a bullet that hit the opponent's left shoulder.

Unexpectedly, the assassin was a tough guy, and he didn't say a word, just leaned his body and quickly rushed out of the enemy's door.

At the same time as Ye Kenan dodged, the young assassin grabbed Xiao Geng's bamboo pole and threw it at Ye Kenan like a spear.

The spike of the bamboo pole struck Ye Kenan in the left arm, and his third bullet missed the crosshair and stumbled into the gate beam.

Xiao Geng shouted "Stop", but was unable to stop the young assassin from escaping.

Ye Ke couldn't bear the pain, pulled out the bamboo pole inserted into his left arm, chased out the door, and fired the fourth bullet, and he didn't know where it went.

Qiu Xiaogeng only thought about revenge, so he rushed out of the gate and saw that at the end of the alley, there was indeed a third assassin!

He was also dressed in black, but his body was thinner than the other two, and he was hidden under the eaves and his eyes were not clear.

Three-on-two, Ye Ke couldn't think that he was in trouble, there were only two bullets left in the revolver, and it was impossible to shoot three people.

However, the other party had already supported each other and fled. In the courtyard of the neighborhood, dogs barked one after another, but none of them dared to open the door to take care of this stall.

Ye Ke remembered the ancient adage that his father had taught when he was alive - the poor are not chasing. What's more, he is alone, and his arm is still bleeding.

He went to the entrance of the alley to inspect and found two German Concession patrols standing guard, lying in a pool of blood, their throats cut from behind, and their tracheas exposed—the killer's movements were crisp and neat, leaving no chance to resist or call for help.

A biting cool breeze blew by the Haihe River, Qiu Xiaogeng shivered like a swing, tears rolling in his eyes.

Ye Kenan covered his left arm and grabbed Xiao Geng's shoulder: "Hey, are you okay?" ”

"You're not a teacher at the Jingshi University Hall, you're the inspector of the Patrol Police Bureau!"

"Yes, I'm here to protect you."

There was no need to hide it anymore, Ye Kenan bent down and hugged Xiao Geng, and found that the child's feet were so shaky that he couldn't walk. He simply picked up Xiao Geng sideways, supported it with his uninjured right hand, and returned to the scene of the murder step by step.

On the night of the extinction, the air was filled with a strong smell of blood, and the moonlight was dyed blood-red......