Before pushing open the iron door, Fu Qin was looking forward to such a scene: there were sparse stalls on both sides of the narrow passage, the lights hanging on the walls were bright and dim, and it seemed that they could be extinguished at any time, and the sellers sat cross-legged behind the stalls, covered their heads and covered their faces, dressed in black, staring at the buyers coming and going without saying a word, listening to the sound of water dripping overhead, smelling the musty smell of the rotten walls, and thinking about how to slaughter the illiterate lambs.

However, the actual situation was that Fu Qin saw a scene that could almost be called peaceful: the room behind the iron gate was very spacious, and although the lights were not bright, they were enough to illuminate the various things on the table, and the sellers sat quietly behind the table, their eyes barely wandering around, and although their faces were covered, they were dressed like ordinary people. The buyers came and went with light steps and low voices, and the whole room seemed unusually quiet.

Fu Qin followed behind Mo Ling, and he didn't dare to come out of the atmosphere all the way, but when he encountered something strange, he couldn't help but pull the corner of Mo Ling's clothes and secretly pointed to something he was interested in.

If it was something that Moling knew, Moling would whisper an explanation in Fuqin's ear, and if Moling didn't recognize it, but was a little curious about it, he would ask the seller a few words, and if Moling didn't recognize it or was interested, he didn't bother to open his mouth and walked straight to the next stall - although Fuqin was very dissatisfied, Moling only pretended not to see it.

Later, Fu Qin couldn't help it, stopped and said to Mo Ling: "If you don't want to help me ask, I'll ask myself." ”

Hearing this, Mo Ling sighed, "There are many things in this, you may not see it for the second time in your life, you know what it is, you don't know what it is, in fact, there is no difference." It is even said that there are some things that only add to the annoyance after you know it. These things are sold underground rather than on the ground, and the reason for this will be understood if you think about it a little. ”

"Then you tell me, what will only increase the annoyance after you know something?" Fu Qin was very unconvinced, "It's so boring to wander around like this." If you don't allow me to buy it, forget it, don't you even ask me? ”

"You, it's okay to be anywhere else, but you love to mess with me," Mo Ling smiled elusively, "Since you've said this, I'll tell you one thing." Didn't you see a strange dagger just now, and you asked me what kind of weapon it was, and I didn't tell you, did I? ”

"Did you deliberately not say it," Fu Qin was shocked and angry, "I thought you really didn't know!"

"Shhhh But after listening to it, you must not regret it. "What's there to regret about this!" "Don't rush to conclusions yet, let's talk about it after listening." "Listen to it, regret it willingly. ”

"Good. Mo Ling nodded in satisfaction, "Let me tell you first, it's not a weapon, it's a torture tool. ”

"Torture instrument?" Fu Qin suddenly felt a creepy feeling when he heard this word.

"Do you want to keep listening......?" Of course, you didn't say anything!"

"Good. I'll tell you what I know, without any concealment. A wicked smile flowed across Mo Ling's face, and he said slowly, "If you want to say that this torture instrument can be traced back to a very long time ago. Since ancient times, among the four counties in the southeast, northwest and northwest, the Xuanwu is cold, the Vermilion Bird is very hot, and the white tiger is barren, but Qinglong County has a mild climate and is suitable for living. A long time ago, the other three counties except Qinglong County had very small populations, and they were far from being as balanced as they are now. ”

"Is it because the other three counties are getting richer, so the population is gradually increasing?" asked Fuqin.

This is the opposite, because the population gradually increased, and the other three counties became rich. Mo Ling's face suddenly became serious, "Many people in Qinglong County may not know it now, but in the history of the county, such a text is recorded very clearly: Qinglong County has had many natural disasters since ancient times, and in hundreds of years, strong winds, floods, ground movements, plagues, and insect plagues have happened more than once before and after. Every time a natural disaster struck, the population of Qinglong County migrated to the other three counties, and gradually, the population of the four counties became as balanced as it is now. ”

"I see...... But what does that have to do with that dagger?"

"Don't worry, the relationship is about to be talked about. In ancient times, people did not know why these natural disasters occurred, so they fabricated that the gods were angry and brought disasters to the world. This theory is widely spread, and there are still many people in the Southern White Tiger who believe that it is the gods who control the changes in the world. Far from it -- according to the idea that the gods will send disasters, what method should we come up with to relieve natural disasters?"

"Hey, do you want to ask me?" Fu Qin was stunned for a moment, then pondered for a while, and replied tentatively, "Is it to eliminate the anger of the gods?"

"Correct. Mo Ling nodded appreciatively and said, "If the gods extinguish the fire, then the calamity will naturally be lifted, but then the question arises, what method can be used to make the gods extinguish the fire?"

"This ......," Fuqin struggled, "I can't think of it." ”

"Then why don't you think about it the other way around, why are the gods angry?" "This ...... I don't know. ”

"I don't know if it's a matter of course, how can we mortals understand the thoughts of the gods. "However, among those who believe in the calamity of the gods, some people have jumped out and claimed that it is because people have angered the gods that caused the calamity. ”

"Man angered the gods?" "Yes, it seems to make sense, because natural disasters come, and it is the people of the world who suffer, why do people suffer for no reason, it is probably because the people of the world have annoyed the gods, so they have been punished by the gods. ”

When the phrase "it seems to be the ...... of the truth" was proposed, it quickly spread and became part of the teachings. According to this idea, the most direct way to extinguish the fire of the gods is to find out the sinner who annoyed the gods and punish him. ”

"I see. Fu Qin suddenly realized, "So, the torture instrument appeared to punish sinners?"

"Basically. But not always the torture instruments are used to punish sinners. ”

"What other methods are there besides torture tools?"

"That's where the fun comes in. Mo Ling's smile made Fu Qin shudder a little, "Those who believe in the gods of heaven have come up with all kinds of strange methods on how to punish sinners, but unfortunately many methods are not recorded in the annals of history, and they are now lost." If I'm not mistaken, the dagger is supposed to be a torture instrument that will only be used after the outbreak of the plague. ”

Mo Ling's voice was low and soothing, and in Fu Qin's ears, it exuded an inexplicable coolness. Despite swallowing saliva, Fuqin felt very thirsty in his throat.

"One side of the dagger is thin and sharp, and the other side is covered with barbs, and even though most of the barbs have worn out due to age, the long barbed hook at the tip of the dagger is still obvious. Do you know how to use this dagger?" asked Mo Ling, staring at Fu Qin quietly.

"No...... I don't know. Fu Qin subconsciously took a step back, knocked his feet, and almost didn't stand firm, but fortunately, Mo Ling's eyes were quick and he helped Fu Qin.

"It's very simple......" Mo Ling moved his face closer, and the heat exhaled from the tip of his nose flowed through Fu Qin's cheeks, setting off an irrepressible restlessness, and it was all sucked in by Mo Ling's deep eyes. "Use the sharp side of the dagger to gently cut a hole here," while Mo Ling said this, his fingers kept roaming back and forth between Fu Qin's abdomen, so frightened that Fu Qin didn't dare to move, and watched his stiff body let Mo Ling fiddle, "After the whole dagger pokes in, you only need to gently stir and pull, guess what?"

"I don't know ......" "If the means are right, it will bring out the white flowers, on the contrary, if you touch a place that should not be touched when stirring, it is likely to bring out a bunch of vague blood-red fragments, and it will be useless to stuff it back." ”

"Why do you want to do this...... What does this have to do with the plague......" Fuqin asked in a trembling voice, swallowing his saliva.

"Because the plague is a disease, and people who have it have unclean things in their bodies, and they need to be dug up and cleaned up. "It seems like so. ”

"But later, this statement gradually changed to 'there is something unclean in the body, so you will get sick', although it sounds like dirt and illness still mean the same thing, but the two expressions are actually very different, do you know why?"

"I don't know ......" "The difference between this is—" Mo Ling's voice was soft and soft, crawling from Fu Qin's ears into his body, tickling his heart, "In the former case, those who have been tortured are those who have suffered from the plague, and the latter is difficult to say, because for those who have not yet shown the symptoms of the plague, how can we know that they have been contaminated with filth without actually dissecting and looking at them." ”

"So," Mo Ling slowly retracted herself and whispered alone, "which people will be disemboweled, and which will be disemboweled, once the power to decide these matters is in the hands of a few, the situation becomes completely different. ”

"How can this be ......" Fu Qin understood the meaning of Mo Ling's words, if it was turned into a lynching to suppress others under the guise of curing a disease or investigating whether there was filth, it would be far from the original intention of eliminating the disaster.

"More interesting things are yet to come," Mo Ling burst out laughing, "and in different historical records, the texts on how to determine whether a person who has been tortured are defiled, but they are strikingly similar, surprisingly simple and clear. Mo Ling paused for a moment, and then said, "If it is something that is white and flowery, then it means that this person is not contaminated, and then carefully stuff this pile of things back at this time, sew up the wound, and I heard that he can still live." But if it is muddy scrap that comes out, it means that the person is hopeless, and even the work of cleaning and stitching has been saved. ”

"It's, it's ridiculous!" exclaimed Fu Qin, "this is not a cure at all, and the outcome depends entirely on the means of the executioner!"

"Fu Qin, ......" Mo Ling pressed one hand on Fu Qin's shoulder, and whispered in Fu Qin's ear with her mouth, "The means exist for the end, and from the moment the decision was made to start the execution, everything else except the purpose had already been stripped away. ”

Mo Ling's words were very cold, and he didn't seem to have the slightest emotion, Fu Qin looked at Mo Ling a little distracted, and the indescribable feeling that sprouted in his heart made Mo Ling in Fu Qin's eyes suddenly become so strange and alienated.

But that's what Magic Feathers is. A voice in Fu Qin's heart told him that this was Mo Ling's other self that was not hidden, real, unfamiliar and fragile.