Unlike Lear's drunken gossip, which he could only hear in the city's liquor stores, Xu Zi'an could find more useful and accurate information from the channel

He knew that Xiao Heizi still had a chicken leg in his arms before he died, and he also knew who the person who replaced Xiao Heizi's quota was

However, he can't say these things, because the other party is someone they can't deal with, and if they tell Lear, the other party will definitely avenge the little black man, which will only hurt him

Seeing that Xu Zi'an didn't speak for a long time, Lear sighed secretly and could only leave first, he knew that Xu Zi'an sometimes seemed easy-going and calm, but in fact, he was extremely stubborn in his bones, if he didn't want to tell himself, then it was useless to force him

It wasn't until Lear was completely away that Xu Zi'an raised his head

Xiaosunzi has a withdrawn temperament, few friends, and no relatives at home, since he is the other party's best friend, he naturally has to do some things that a friend should do

For example, give the little black a fair hand, or let the little black man at least die less coldly

Thinking of this, the boy jumped over the stream and walked slowly along the mountain path where the pear blossoms fell

There was a bright official road leading to Bocheng, and in the alley of Bocheng, a swarthy young man had died, and he wanted to see where he wanted to go, and then do what a friend should do

That's probably why he felt the clock was pressed in the morning

............

As the largest city in the mountains, the city wall of Bocheng is actually not too high, because it is far away from the war-torn border in the north, although there are beacons built on the city walls, but there are few soldiers stationed in the beacons

There are two gates in the whole Bocheng, one is always open, and the other is used for emergency, the one that is always open is located in the north city, and the emergency is located in the east city

The entourage entered the city from the gate of Beicheng, Xu Zi'an was going to go to Xu Fuji first to retrieve the cotton robe that he had ordered for Shen Li a few days ago, but he thought that there were a lot of things to do later, and the road to travel was quite long, so it was not convenient to take it all the way

Walking along the lively streets, stopping to bargain when he saw something he liked, stopping to buy a few taels when he saw a good fruit pastry, ready to save it for a long journey as a snack to pass the time, after turning a few corners and sparing half a city, he finally came to the remote alley that he had always wanted to come but did not dare to come to

The alley is remote and dark, piled up with all kinds of garbage and sundries, homeless wild cats and wild dogs gather here all the year round, Xu Zi'an's sudden visit caused the eyes of those wild cats, and there is a trace of curiosity in addition to the goodness, as if he doesn't understand why this young man's appearance is obviously clean, why the eyebrows are so heavy

Smelling the stench of corruption in the air, he finally came to the end of the alley under all kinds of unwary eyes, where the corners of the walls were covered with messy knife marks, and there was still a faint blood on the ashes

This corner should be the place where Xiao Heizi was dying, blood stains invaded the wall, it is not difficult to see that Xiao Heizi's injury at that time should be very serious, according to later inquiry, he has a total of seventeen knife wounds of depth and shallowness, the knife edge is in the shape of pear blossoms, it is difficult to stop bleeding when it enters the flesh very deeply, there is a specially processed blood groove at the blade, there are few people who use knives in Bocheng, this kind of sharp weapon that obviously pays more attention to killing will only be configured by the military, and in Bocheng, there happens to be a military camp

I heard that the person who replaced Xiao Heizi for the test had a deep relationship with a certain general surnamed Zhang in that military camp

That general seems to be called Zhang Yiran, who came to Bocheng three years ago, has a violent personality, is accustomed to knives, and is very powerful, I heard that he is a powerful cultivator who has passed through the dark realm, Xu Zi'an took a deep look at the bloodstains on the wall, and these confidential information appeared in his mind

Of course, these are undoubtedly confidential materials of the military department, which he consulted from the study of a certain big man, and the matter about Xiao Heizi was also found there, it seems that such a confidential place, an ordinary mountain boy like him should not be able to enter casually, but for some very unspeakable reasons, he can not only enter anywhere at will, but also have to go once or twice a month

After coming out of the alley, there was a small episode, because he suddenly felt a trace of inexplicable uneasiness in his heart, and looked back at a shadow at the corner of the street for a long time, and only after finding nothing did Xu Zi'an settle down a little

And at this moment, he had already walked to the gate of the Heavenly Dao Branch

As the only Taoist hall in Bocheng, the Tiandao Branch was naturally built in the most prosperous area, not far from the yamen hall of the official mansion, and closer to the extremely spacious city lord's mansion behind the yamen hall

The Heavenly Dao Branch is a side branch of the Thousand Mountains Sect, and like all the halls in the world that teach people to learn the Tao, it mainly teaches the world to practice Tibetan righteousness, but due to a series of restrictions such as scale and specifications, it can only teach some relatively shallow morality and realm

This year's township examination was conducted here, and the instructors from Kyoto City who were in charge of invigilating the examination also lived here, and few people knew the real reason why they chose to live here because they didn't live in the restaurant arranged by the government

Legend has it that the officials who came this time were from the Thousand Mountains Sect and were close to the Heavenly Dao Branch of the same lineage, so they would abandon the more comfortable restaurant

Of course, there are also legends that it is because the chief supervisor who came this time is a scholar from a poor family, and it is inevitable that he will have some scholarly spirit in his bones, and he is not ashamed to be in the company of an obese city lord who is sleek and sophisticated and extravagant and fearful of mountains, and he deliberately does not want to have any involvement with the city lord surnamed Zhu who lives here

At the end of this street, there is a heavily guarded barracks, and the guards who patrol the gate from time to time wear bright armor, and the solemn atmosphere and the sound of armor rubbing from time to time announce to pedestrians that this is an important place for military camps, and idlers should not disturb them

It seems that such a heavily guarded military camp should not appear in a remote mountain city like Bocheng, which is far away from almost half of the territory of the Northern Wilderness War Zone, but in fact, not only Bocheng, but also almost all the slightly large-scale city jurisdictions in the territory of the dynasty have such a military camp

In recent years, as the dark night in the Northern Regions has become colder and colder, and rumors have gradually become longer and longer, the desolate warriors who have been struggling to survive in the extreme environment of the Northern Regions have no hope of stepping into the fertile land of the Tianyan Continent, so they have to gradually weaken the scale of the war in order to preserve their strength to survive the long dark night that is about to come

The reduction in the number of wars is undoubtedly a blessing for the people, but for those soldiers who have been fighting on the front line all year round, it has undoubtedly become the most headache for the court and military bosses at that time

Since the establishment of the Qing Emperor, the military has been extremely important, and the treatment of soldiers and generals and other officers on the front line is extremely lenient, and the family of each deceased will receive a generous pension and the most appropriate arrangements, such a move undoubtedly makes the soldiers on the front line want to die for the country It is themselves

Perhaps it is because of this emphasis on every soldier that Da Li's soldiers have always been known for not being afraid of death, and at the same time, it has also allowed Da Li to always surpass the Tianyan Continent as the first dynasty in the world and accumulate enough confidence

But no matter how much the dynasty attached importance to the army, it could not always consume countless financial resources and manpower to support the hundreds of thousands of soldiers on the front line, so when the soldiers and generals who had nothing to do on the front line were tired of seeing all the desolate scenery that could be seen and could not be seen, a holy decree that had been discussed and revised several times was finally issued

The holy decree generously stated that in order to sympathize with the fact that these generals and soldiers who were accustomed to fighting on the front line and could only fight could not adapt to the life of farming and farming after returning home, military camps would be built throughout the dynasty, so that those soldiers who were unwilling to give up their military status would serve in them and manage local law and order together with the local government yamen

It was during that time that the barracks were built by a former captain who had served in the front line, and had been canonized as a general by the imperial court after retiring here, but he was a frontier general

From a lieutenant to a general, it seems to be promoted, but in fact, the power is much smaller, I believe that a military general named Zhang Yiran must also have a lot of depression in his heart, otherwise how could he not allow his subordinates to call him a general, while thinking about this, the young man started to step into the Tiandao Branch

Nodding his head to the acquaintance or the students of the gym, he also gave up his hands along the way

Since the establishment of the branch library, in order to take care of many students who can not practice in the museum for a long time, the Taoist Institute will give a public lecture on the terrace of the museum every once in a while, and Xu Zi'an will come on time every time he lectures

After waiting in line in the wide and bright lobby for a while, the young man looked at the court official in front of him who came from Kyoto to be in charge of the itinerary and asked carefully about it, and after figuring out all the specific arrangements and matters to be paid attention to, Xu Zi'an twisted for a moment, and still asked the official in front of him who was already quite impatient with a question of greatest concern

"Can I bring my family members? If so, will there be an extra charge? How much will it cost? If it's too much, are there any discounts or something?"

After the official had repeatedly confirmed that there would be no charge for bringing only one family member, the boy left with a happy farewell

But after leaving the gate of the branch hospital, Xu Zi'an was embarrassed again,

In the past few days, he seems to have been embarrassed a little too much, not because he has any difficulty in choosing, but because the place he is going to next really makes him very difficult

That place was next to him, the golden ring knock on the Zhu Gate, extravagant to the jade paved steps, that kind of rich and luxurious atmosphere did not need to be deliberately looked at at at all, it could easily occupy the entire look and touch of everyone who passed by here

This trip to Bocheng, in addition to asking about the specific matters of traveling to Beijing and taking a look at the dark alleys after Xiao Heizi's death, the most important place he wants to go to is here, and similarly, the place he is most unwilling to go to is here

Because this is the castle lord's mansion, and whoever lives in it is the lord of the city

Being in such a barren mountain, but still being able to build the mansion so spacious, is a little more luxurious than the official yamen funded by the imperial court, I have to say that this Gucheng city lord, who is famous for his fat and sleek in the mountains, is as good as his sleek and sophisticated ability in the ability to scavenge the people's fat and people's ointment

I heard that the city lord is also extremely lustful, lingering in all kinds of green mansions all the year round, with a wide range of interests and special habits............

"Hey, brother, who is that young man who just entered? Why did you go in without anyone blocking the report?"

At the door of the City Lord's Mansion, which was several people high, next to the two stone lions with angry eyes, a young guard with a particularly childish face took advantage of no one's attention, and hurriedly glanced at the figure of the young man behind him from the corner of his eye, and asked in a low voice to another doorman next to him

"New here"

A middle-aged guard next to him didn't look behind him, and continued to stare at a weed swaying in the wind opposite, with a serious expression, as if he wanted to wipe out this weed that had just sprouted green with his eyes

"Isn't this new to office, and I'm not very familiar with the rules of our house."

The new guard wanted to turn his head and give a flattering look, but he thought that a stern butler was not far away, so he had to dismiss the opportunity of this excellent warm relationship, and continued to stare at the pedestrian outside the door without squinting

The older guard, perhaps because he had been here for a long time, was more familiar with it, and did not have so many scruples, so he withdrew his gaze from the grass and looked around, and saw that the housekeeper was talking to someone at this time, and he didn't have time to take care of this side for a while, so he leaned closer to the other party a little, and whispered with a mysterious face

"There are some things, you don't know much yet, brother, I have a good heart, and I will tell you quietly, so as not to provoke you in the future, but you just remember what you say, you can't talk nonsense at will"

Seeing that the other party trusted him so much, the young guard immediately tensed his green face and looked grateful

Seemingly satisfied with the other party's attitude, he nodded slightly and said with a strange face

"That young man is a ............ in our city lord's study Regular"

The young guard was slightly stunned and a little puzzled, but inexplicably remembered some rumors of the city lord's long-standing fetish, and suddenly realized, revealing a strange smile as meaningful as the other party

It is rumored that the lord of the city likes to take a boy with him every time he goes to the Qinglou, and he likes the handsome young boy the most