"Huansha Lane", this is the place where Zhao Yan's mother, Mrs. Qu, was killed many years ago.

Every time she enters Beijing, Zhao Yan will come here for a walk, stepping on these blood-soaked bluestones under her feet, and imagining the bloody wind and rain in her mind.

"The Duchess of the Tangtang Kingdom, a powerhouse of the Sixth Realm, died at the hands of a group of assassins of unknown origin in Luojing City, which was protected by the 'Heavenly Dragon Great Array' and the garrison of the capital."

If such a thing were to spread to the people, it would certainly be regarded as a ridiculous joke, and anyone with a little common sense would not be able to believe it easily.

But it did happen.

Thinking of this, Zhao Yan stopped and stood quietly in the narrow alley for a while.

The breeze ruffled her black hair, rattling her clothes and blowing dust from the ground.

Not far away, there was the sound of passers-by, the cries of vendors, the frolicking of children, and the sound of sparse and messy horses' hooves...... The sound gathers, a noisy scene, and the atmosphere of fireworks.

But Zhao Yan turned a deaf ear to these voices.

She was completely immersed in her inner world, silently estimating the strength of the group of assassins back then, while thinking about how far she had to cultivate to have a chance to defeat them.

"Let's go!"

After about a quarter of an hour, she restrained the complicated emotions in her eyes and said to the maid Qiuyan beside her.

Then she got on her horse and left the long and cramped alley along the way she had come.

She looked extraordinarily calm.

The sun shone on her body, dragging her shadow for a long time.

At first glance, she looks like an ordinary tourist who accidentally took the wrong path.

…………

"Have you found any new clues in that case recently?"

That night, in a small attic of the Luojing City Teaching Division, Zhao Yan asked in a casual tone.

At this moment, she was lying on her side on a carved wooden chaise longue with her hands on her cheeks, her black hair falling like a waterfall. The bright red silk dress wraps around her body, outlining the curves of Miaoman, like mountains and mountains.

Behind a beaded curtain, there was also a woman kneeling on a bamboo mat, bowing her head and silently stroking the harp.

This woman is none other than the Oiran Ruri of the Teaching Division.

She is dressed in a white dress, with beautiful eyebrows and eyes, delicate makeup, and her hair is held up high, and she is also a rather outstanding beauty.

just stayed with Zhao Yan, but he lacked a little bit of his unique demonic and unruly temperament, and seemed to be suppressed by Zhao Yan from his aura. If such a picture is seen by people who don't know, maybe they will think that Zhao Yan is the real Oiran, and Miss Liuli is just a maid serving by her side.

"Not yet, miss." The Glass Girl replied succinctly.

Zhao Yan let out a faint "um", then closed her eyes and continued to listen to the piano.

Ruri's answer didn't surprise her.

If her mother's killer could really be found easily, then she wouldn't have a headache for years on this matter.

The guqin song played by Liuli is the "Pheasant Flying Towards Flight" ordered by Zhao Yan himself.

Legend has it that this piece was composed by a hermit hundreds of years ago. The hermit, who was old and had no wife, saw the pheasants flying in the sky, so he touched the scene and lamented the fate of the misfortune, so he wrote this song.

At the same time, the hermit also sang a song, which reads: "The pheasants fly towards each other, the male and female flock fly in the mountains, I have no room alone, and the time will be twilight, and twilight can be helpless." ”（1）

This piece of music is gentle and continuous, like a mountain spring winding from a deep valley, flowing slowly.

Zhao Yan listened silently, without the slightest change in emotion on her face.

It wasn't until the sound of the piano stopped abruptly that she opened her eyes and whispered, "Liuli, I need you to help me investigate someone." ”

"Who, Miss?" The glass girl looked up and asked respectfully.

Zhao Yan's mind came to mind the figure in a green shirt with a blurred face that he encountered in the lava river.

Although she couldn't see the person's appearance clearly at that time, she was particularly impressed by the temperament of that person's floating dust and not eating the fireworks of the world.

Of course, Zhao Yan also knew very well that for cultivators, things like appearance and temperament were all false, after all, there were many kinds of tricks or magic weapons in this world that could be used to disguise their appearance.

In contrast, the cultivation exercises, martial arts moves, and spell supernatural powers ...... Even the natal objects and dharma aspects are the best way to identify the identity of a practitioner.

"That person is cultivating fire attribute exercises, at least medium-grade, and maybe even top-grade," Zhao Yan said slowly, "In addition, he is also very good at concealing his appearance, concealing his aura, and escaping spells. ”

"It seems that he is a cautious monk who likes to be secretive," Ruri responded, "Miss, do you know his cultivation realm?" ”

"I guess his cultivation should not be lower than the fourth realm," Zhao Yan pondered for a moment, recalling the huge turbulent whirlpool in the lava land river at that time, and replied, "It may even be stronger than me." When investigating him, you must be extremely careful not to be noticed by him, so as not to get into trouble. ”

Liuli nodded, taking Zhao Yan's words firmly in mind.

Miss Zhao's attitude was very serious when she spoke, and it could be seen that she attached great importance to this unidentified cultivator who cultivated fire attribute exercises.

"In addition, before the 'Luoshui Conference' officially begins, I hope you can give me a list of all the participating monks," Zhao Yan then instructed, "It is best to have everyone's identity, background, cultivation realm, cultivation techniques, good moves, and so on. ”

"Yes, miss." Ruri nodded again.

Then she paused for a moment and asked rhetorically: "I see that the young lady's eyes are firm, it seems that she is determined to be the leader of this 'Luoshui Conference'?" ”

"That's right," Zhao Yan said in a bland tone, as if this was a matter of course, "According to the information revealed by the imperial court, the monks who won the championship in this 'Luoshui Conference' will have the opportunity to enter the inner treasury of the Great Qi royal family and choose a precious magic weapon.

"This is a unique opportunity. I have to take this opportunity to get into the inner library and get the 'flint'. ”

Ruri lowered her head and stopped talking.

"Flint" used to be a valuable magic weapon of the Great Yan Kingdom.

Although it is not a "famous weapon", in the eyes of the people of Dayan, the meaning is beyond the "famous weapon".

In the legend of the Yan Kingdom, it was once a sacred relic left by the god of fire in the world.

After stealing the fire, the god of fire learned the meaning of fire and created a "flint" that could produce flames by striking it.

In addition, the "flint" can also help the "Flame Spirit Body" like Zhao Yan to further activate the bloodline and stimulate the full potential in her body.

It is said that during the dark period before the birth of the Dharma, the god of fire used the "flint" to fully awaken the power of the bloodline to one of his disciples who possessed the "body of the fire spirit", thus giving birth to the "Fire Phoenix Wings" that could instantly incinerate ghosts to ashes.

When the god of fire was slashed to death by the gods of the Nine Heavens with thunder, the young disciple became the new leader of the Terran tribe, protecting the Terran from demons and monsters during the long dark night.

The people of Dayan once honored her as the "Holy Maiden" or "Phoenix Maiden", and enshrined her on the altar together with the god of fire.

Zhao Yan had fantasized more than once that if the "flint" was still in the hands of the Zhao clan in Youzhou, then she, as the "body of the fire spirit", would be able to awaken a pair of phoenix wings condensed by flames like the "holy woman" at the beginning, and have the powerful power to protect everyone around her.

However, after the last Yan king surrendered to Emperor Taizu of Great Qi, he had to offer a "flint" to Taizu of Qi as a sign of submission.

Subsequently, Emperor Taizu threw the "flint" of the Great Yan Kingdom and many other collections into the imperial treasury.

As far as Zhao Yan knows, the treasures collected in the royal treasury of the Great Qi Dynasty, in addition to the "flint", also include the heirloom jade seal of the Great Chu Dynasty, the skull of a certain khan in the northwest, and so on.

"Miss, I'm sure you'll be able to get the 'flint'!" After a short silence, Liuli said seriously to Zhao Yan word by word.

"Promise your good words." Zhao Yan smiled faintly.

With that, she got up, tied up her long black hair like a waterfall with a wooden hairpin, and then turned and left the small attic.

The girl of the Oiran Ruri of the Workshop Division sat quietly in place. After a few moments, her red lips pursed slightly, and she whispered a spell in her mouth, and soon the wooden floor lit up with a golden light, condensing into an intricate golden pattern.

In the next second, Liuli also disappeared in place out of thin air.

The whole room was restored to its original state.

At the same time, downstairs in the teaching department, there was a drunken boy in a brocade robe, with a delicate face, dragging a maidservant, and shouting again and again: "Why doesn't Miss Liuli want to see me? Is the money given by Xu not enough? ”

"Young Master Xu, Miss Liuli is receiving distinguished guests tonight, so I can't meet with you."

"Distinguished guests? Where did the guests come from? How much money does he give me? Xu Gongzi hiccuped, and at the same time took out a few silver tickets from his pocket, and slammed them on the table next to him, making a loud "pop" sound, causing the liquid in the wine glass on the table to shake violently, "If it's not enough, I'll give some more, the last thing this son lacks is money." ”

The maidservant was taken aback by his posture.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Xu, that distinguished guest has a special status," the maid took a deep breath and tried to maintain a polite attitude, "She is Miss Zhao from Youzhou. ”

"What? Miss? Miss also comes to this kind of place? ”

"She is Youzhou Zhao Yan."

Hearing this name, Xu Gongzi seemed to wake up instantly. His eyes were wide open, like a mouse that had seen a cat.

Before the maid could react, Xu Gongzi turned around and left the Teaching Division.

"Xu Gongzi, I forgot to take your silver ticket!" The maidservant hurriedly ran out of the door and shouted loudly at Xu Gongzi's back.

Her voice pierced the silence of the night and made many curious passers-by turn their heads.

But Xu Gongzi didn't look back for a moment.

So the maidservant girl understood that this Xu Gongzi must be a victim of Miss Zhao's hands a few years ago.

…………

That night, after dealing with the affairs of the elixir workshop, Gu Xu came to the yamen of the headquarters of the Exorcism Division and went straight into the library pavilion, wanting to find some information about the "astrolabe".

At this time, although the time had passed, there were still many monks in the library who sat quietly at their desks, intently flipping through books and studying all kinds of martial arts and spells.

For the environment of the involution of the Luo Jing Exorcism Division, Gu Xu has long been accustomed to it.

Especially now that the "Luoshui Conference" is coming, many monks of the Exorcism Division have already signed up to participate, and they are even more eager to try for this, hoping to take advantage of this rare opportunity to become famous in one fell swoop.

When Gu Xu entered the Library Pavilion, some monks raised their heads and glanced at him, with a look of surprise on their faces.

They couldn't help but think in their hearts: An excellent genius like Master Gu actually wants to engage in a pre-game assault with us mediocre people! This really doesn't give us a way to live!

Of course, Gu Xu didn't care what they thought.

He quickly held more than a dozen thick books, found a vacant seat at random, picked up the top book, and in a few minutes, he "brushed" it from beginning to end.

Immediately afterward, he picked up the second book, and with the same unimaginable speed, he turned from the first page to the last.

Then the third, the fourth, the fifth.

His movements of flipping through the book seem to be flowing smoothly and extraordinarily smooth.

With the authority of "wisdom", he only needs to glance at the contents of each page of the book to memorize it in his heart, and he will never forget it.

The monk next to him couldn't help but be stunned when he saw this scene.

"Master Gu...... Was he really reading? ”

"He reads books so quickly, can he really understand the contents of the book?"

"Alas, the gap between genius and me is bigger than the gap between man and dog!"

“……”

In less than half an hour, Gu Xu flipped through all these books, but he didn't find any words related to "astrolabe" on any of them.

It's as if the "astrolabe" is a concept made up out of thin air by a white-haired teenager that does not exist in this world at all.

He sighed softly, put the books back in their place, and then prepared to find a few more books and continue searching for information on the "astrolabe".

However, at this moment, a familiar figure suddenly appeared in front of him.

It was a plain woman with a melon seed face, willow eyebrows, and a light green Luo skirt, who was showing a shallow smile at him.

"Gu Daoyou," Shangguan Jin handed him a piece of letterhead, "Lord Si thinks that you should be very interested in what is written on this letterhead, so I specially asked me to send it to you." ”

"Thank you!" Gu Xu took the letterhead and thanked him politely.

Then he lowered his head, unfolded the letterhead, and saw that it read:

"A noteworthy collection in the imperial treasury of the Great Qi Dynasty."

(change first, then change)

ps: Ask for a wave of double monthly passes!!

…………

Exegesis:

(1) Warring States Qi Luo Xuan "Pheasant Dynasty Flying Song".

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