【Hades Hall】

In a large empty hall, the surroundings were dim, and only a few candles that seemed to be extinguished at any time emitted a faint light, and it was impossible to see the inside of the hall at all. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 infoThe owner of this hall doesn't seem to like the bright environment for some reason.。

A man in a black robe was on one knee, his face completely obscured by a wide hood, making it impossible to see his appearance at all. At this moment, he was under the steps of the throne in the hall, bowing his head and reporting forward: "Lord Hall, our people have found traces of the [Fire Messenger] near [Pingsha City]. ”

Looking up in the direction of the black-robed man's head, the throne carved from an unknown strange stone on the top of several steps shone with a ghostly purple light, and a young man in brocade robe sat lazily on the throne. The young man had a handsome face, a black robe embroidered with dark gold lines, and all the accessories were extremely luxurious, showing his noble and unique status. Although he was lying on the throne so casually, he involuntarily exuded a kingly aura from him, just like the emperor of the world, so that everyone he saw was inexplicably born a trace of awe from his heart.

"Hah, is someone finally here? Which one is the [Fire Messenger]?" asked the brocade-clothed man, holding his face with one hand, with great interest, as if he was very interested in this matter.

"[Huo Hu Jiao II]. The black-robed man still didn't look up, and replied in a deep voice.

When the man in brocade heard this answer, a strange evil smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and he said to himself: "It's okay." ”

The black-robed man then asked, "Do we need to postpone our operation?"

The man in brocade waved his hand slightly and said, "It's okay, our action doesn't need to be delayed, everything is going according to the original plan." However, since someone has come from far and wide to be a guest, we naturally have to entertain and entertain people, and we must not neglect someone, so we can invite him to test my new toy. ”

His deep eyes could not see the slightest emotion in the darkness, and they seemed more and more mysterious.

【Pingsha Castle】

Jiao Qi couldn't sleep since he got the red stone, and he really couldn't figure out how the stone came to him again.

"Could it be that those beggars found out in their conscience and felt that they should compensate me for bullying me for so many years?"

"Definitely not. Jiao Qi snorted, shook his head and denied his stupid idea. He thought for a moment, "Could it be that the 'gourd man' is actually a peerless master, and saw me ministering to him this morning, so he secretly came to repay me at night and gave me this precious treasure?" There is no luster on the surface of this redstone, and the texture is very rough, and there is nothing special about it compared to ordinary stone, and it doesn't look like a valuable thing at all, huh?"

Jiao Qi suddenly had a spirit, and thought of those "cursed treasures" that people often said in the sand. Sand diggers, as the name suggests, are the profession of digging sand and treasure in this desert. This desert may seem barren and barren, but it is far more generous than it seems, and under its vast yellow sand lies many treasures that are many times more precious than gold. If you're lucky, even if it's just a fingernail-sized object brought back from the desert, you may never have to worry about money again in your life. The reason why the people of the sand pander endure the boundless wind and sand and the unbearable heat gathered in this dilapidated [Pingsha City] is to one day bump into this great luck, get rich overnight, and enjoy all the glory and wealth from then on. But not all treasures bring good luck, and there are exceptions. Legend has it that there are some things that are not earthly and should not be taken out of the desert. All the sand diggers who disobeyed God's will and took them out of the desert without exception will all end up with a tragic death, which is called "cursed treasures." This kind of rumor may sound very bluffing, but in the end, this is also a story that people have passed on by word of mouth, and no one has actually seen it. Besides, even if there really is something as evil as the "cursed treasure", it must be a priceless thing, according to the virtue of the pile of sand diggers in [Pingsha City] who ask for money and don't want to die, where can there be so much control.

The more Jiao Qi thought about it at the moment, the more he felt empty-hearted, especially when he recalled that day when he was by the city wall, the sglo smile on his face at that time when he told him the rumors, he was even more restless, and his saliva swallowed straight down. Jiao Qi tossed and turned in the firewood room for a long time, changing the red stone from his left hand to his right hand, and from his right hand back to his left hand. In the end, he couldn't stand it anymore and decided to go to the beggar during the day to ask for clarification in person. He figured that he had to figure out why the redstone had come back to him anyway, or he would have to suffocate to death. Of course, it would be better if the "gourd man" could be found and returned to the original owner directly.

Those beggars were able to mingle in [Pingsha City] all year round because there was a powerful boss covering them. It is said that their leader killed a lot of people more than ten years ago, and was wanted, so he fled all the way south to [Pingsha City]. He had nothing else to do, but he made a good swordsmanship, so he half-took in and half-coerced to take the beggars in the city to do petty theft in [Pingsha City]. Of course, they are also bullying the soft and afraid of the hard, and they specially pick some single soft persimmons to pinch. Occasionally, the beggars under his command don't have long eyes, and when they encounter one or two hard thorns, the boss will personally go out to sell face to the other party, return the things and say no, and then just pay something casually, there has really been no major mess over the years. They often collect all kinds of rumors and gossip on the mainland, and passers-by also inquire about it, which can be regarded as an indispensable and important part of the unique ecological chain of this small place [Pingsha City].

The reason why Jiao Qi had the idea of taking the initiative to find the beggars was because he knew that the beggars would gather in the south of the city in the early hours of the morning every day to hand over the day's harvest to their boss, that is, the things they had stolen, and at the same time report the big and small things that happened in [Pingsha City] that day. At this time, all the beggars in the city will be there, Jiao Qi wants to go over and secretly stay aside, and when they are over, he will follow the beggar during the day and ask him alone what the situation is.

[Pingsha City] is the size of a slap in total, although Boss Ding's access inn is in the north of the city, but to the south of the city is actually only a matter of a few steps. However, Jiao Qi was afraid of running into the beggars in advance on the road, so he walked very cautiously, and it took twice as long as usual to get to the vicinity of the place where the beggars gathered. Before he got closer, Jiao Qi faintly saw a group of beggars kneeling in front of a man and didn't know what they were saying. Jiao Qi thought to himself, that man was probably their boss, so he quickly found a nearby broken wall and squatted down, his thin body was just right to hide behind it. At this time, although it was already early in the morning, there was silence in all directions, but the place where Jiao Qi was hiding was really a little far away from them, and they didn't speak loudly, so there was no way to hear what they were talking about, only some vague sounds. However, Jiao Qi didn't plan to step forward, he decided to just turn his back to the broken wall here and wait for them to finish. It was the first time he had done such a thing, and he still had a trace of anxiety in his heart, and he had already begun to regret why he had come.

What Jiao Qi didn't know was that he just had a trace of worry in his heart, but the "cat horn" who was only a few steps away from him was kneeling there, and his heart was already terrified. This morning, a companion who has always had a good relationship with "Mao Jiaoer" kept showing off a stone he had just come along with, and of course he also boasted about his miraculous stealing skills, and Jiao Qi was also portrayed as a "troublesome thin man" in the Passage Inn. Seeing that the crimson stone was dull, the "cat's horn" disagreed, and thought to himself, "This thing is not worth much at first glance, and I don't like to pile it up like a mountain." But Cathorn was really excited to see his companion, so Cathorn decided to tease him. After his companion had left, he himself found the place where his companion had always hidden his treasure, and secretly took the stone, and prepared to return it to him in the evening, so as to play a good trick on him. Walking on the street with the red stone "cat's horn", it seems that he has seen his companion panicked because he can't find the baby, and he can't stop smiling. However, when Cathorn returns to the treasure spot at night to put the redstone back, he finds his companion dead in sight. "Maojiaoer" sat on the ground in fright, frightened, his brain was also running rapidly, and he immediately realized that this red stone was a big disaster in his hands, and in a panic, he thought of Jiao Qi, the "obstructive thin man" of the passage inn mentioned by his companion, and hurriedly ran over with a rolling belt, and threw the red stone on the door of the firewood room where Jiao Qi lived.

"Cat's Horn" thought that this matter was settled, but somehow, the boss actually knew about it, and was now asking about the whereabouts of Redstone one by one. The boss's means "Cat's Horn" knows, this red stone obviously has a lot of strange things, if he finds out that he has anything to do with this matter, then his little life will definitely not be saved.

"As long as I don't say it, no one will know. "Cat's horn" can only comfort himself silently in his heart.

"But where did the Boss know about this redstone?" "Cathorn" thought as she knelt down as her head lowered and her body began to tremble with fear.

"Where?" the boss's voice suddenly came to his ear.

"Cat Horn" trembled, the tragic death of his companion and the voice of the past continued to alternate in his mind, and he slowly raised his head, already full of tears. The "cat's horn" looked at the boss's eyes in fear, and those eyes were full of boundless indifference and greed.

"Where!" exclaimed the Boss again, hunching down, having drawn his sword from his waist and resting it on the neck of the "cat's horn". The beggars around them all knelt on the ground and bowed their heads desperately, silent, and some of the timid pants were already wet.

Jiao Qi, who was not far away, finally heard some movement, turned around and wanted to peek twice, just in time to see the "cat horn" slowly sinking his head and facing the sky violently, shouting: "Jiao Qi of the Access Inn!"

The sword flashed, and the desperate voice of "Cat Horn" came to an abrupt end. If "Cat Horn" could see his unwilling appearance of dying with his eyes open at this moment, he would be surprised that he and his companion Qi'er's death were surprisingly similar.

Jiao Qi witnessed this bloody scene with his own eyes, his mind was blank, and he didn't know how long it took to take his eyes off the beggar who had been beheaded, and when he came to his senses, he saw that the boss of the group of beggars in the distance was looking at him coldly. Only then did he realize that when the beggar shouted his name, he had unknowingly stood up. And at the same time that he realized this, he found that his legs were a little weak, and he was about to be unable to stand.

"What about [flint]?" The beggar boss on the opposite side walked slowly towards Jiao Qi with his sword, and the sword was stained with the undried blood of the "cat's horn", and a little bit of red dripped down all the way, and in a blink of an eye, it was less than ten meters away from him. Every time the beggar boss took a step forward, Jiao Qi felt that his breathing became more difficult.

In a panic, Jiao Qi hurriedly took out the dark red stone from his arms with a trembling hand, and desperately wanted to throw it at the beggar boss, but he couldn't do it, he was so afraid that he didn't even have the strength to raise his arm and throw the little stone out.

Seeing Jiao Qi take out the dim red stone, a gleam flashed in the eyes of the beggar boss opposite, and then there was irrepressible ecstasy on his face, and he rushed towards Jiao Qi while laughing.

The sword pointed straight ahead, but this time it was the person holding the sword who trembled with excitement.

The fear in Jiao Qi's heart was on the verge of breaking the ground, only to feel that he was about to lose consciousness, and his vision had begun to blur uncontrollably.

"Thank you!" the beggar boss's voice revealed unconcealed excitement.

On one side of the sharp blade of the sword reflected the hideous face of the sword's owner, the hungry expression of the wolf when he saw the sheep, while on the other side he saw a dazzling flaming red light.

"You're welcome, but I still prefer to return things to their original owners. ”

A man carrying a fiery red gourd slowly descended from the sky, and the sword and its owner froze in the sprint and turned into ashes.

Jiao Qi also fell to the ground with a "poof" and fainted.