The moonlight was dark, a woodland in the Shuozhou wilderness was shrouded in a dull twilight, a sound of horses' hooves shattered the silent night, and a white lantern shuttled through the thick inky countryside, and the black shadows followed closely behind, and finally burrowed into a dark ancient temple.

This is a long-abandoned Buddhist temple, the layout is extremely messy, the Buddha statue is covered with dense cobwebs, and the person who enters with the lamp carries a large number of black-clothed mermaids with knives.

There were already people in the Buddhist hall, and several people in green shirts and short clothes stood silently, and past the dim candle flame, you could see an emaciated man with his back to the crowd, looking at the murals on the wall with his eyes.

His face is delicate and feminine, and his eyes are gloomy, but they seem to be full of compassion, and this extreme contrast makes people feel creepy.

A man was thrown to the ground, kicking up a puff of dust and choking in the enclosed space.

The strange and gloomy man twisted his eyebrows, turned his head, covered his mouth and nose, and between his actions, his palms raised his orchid fingers in a very natural and feminine manner, and glanced at the pig who was tied up by five flowers and was still desperately arching on the ground, and commanded in a shrill voice:

"Let him give our family a little ......"

This kind of voice is between men and women, full of feminine atmosphere, and those who have a little insight can immediately think of a type of person - eunuchs.

It is the emperor's personal attendant, Gao Shun.

A green-shirted swordsman stepped forward, lifted the collar of the man on the ground, and slammed his fist on his lower abdomen, only to hear a muffled sound, and the struggle of the person who was desperately struggling stopped abruptly, and his waist arched into a prawn, and he fell to the ground in a daze.

His black face, which was almost buried in his beard, turned purple from the intense pain, and his eyeballs almost popped out of his sockets, and he fainted and convulsed on the ground for a few moments before he let out a cry of pain.

The person who punched this punch was definitely an expert in extorting confessions by torture, and this punch smashed on the lower abdomen, as if the intestines in the stomach were broken, but there would be nothing at all.

Only then did he open his eyes, and a pair of soap-colored soft boots stopped in front of him, and the eunuch with his hands behind his back was covered in gloomy energy, and his voice sounded faintly:

"You listen to our family, if we ask, you will answer, dare not say, or dare to say half a lie, and our family will peel your skin......"

The man had his face up, a rag in his mouth, and a groan of pain came from his throat.

"Cheap bones are cheap bones."

A touch of contempt flashed in Gao Shun's eyes, and he ordered left and right, "Pull out the cloth stuffed in his mouth for our family and let him speak." ”

One person hurriedly stepped forward, pulled out the rag he was biting in his mouth, and then retreated, but his body was still tied with five flowers, two people pulled him up, kicked him at the crook of his knee, let him kneel, the ground was full of sand and gravel, pierced into his flesh and skin, as if chiseled into the depths of the bone, the pain in his heart went straight to the brain, he reflexively wanted to stand up, but was firmly held down by the two hands on his shoulder, after a burst of rough breath and cold sweat, he had endured the pain and was a little sober, The eunuch spoke again in a yin and yang manner:

"You should know by now that if you fall into our hands, you will fall into the net of heaven and earth, and you will not be able to escape...... Rather than be tortured in the future, it is better to do it happily, lest we use some other means, don't you? ”

He said weakly, "You...... Who are you and what do you want to know? ”

"Was that assassination ...... planned by King Nan'an?"

"What are you talking about...... I don't even understand ......."

Hard mouth!

Gao Shun's eyes were sharp, swept over the servants beside him, and suddenly punched him in the lower abdomen.

Now there was no rag to gag his mouth, and his terrible howl resounded throughout the temple, startling several crows from the dead trees outside the temple.

When his howl slowly calmed down, the person behind him grabbed his hair again, reached out and pulled his top melon skin, forcing him to stare at the person in front of him with wide eyes. Gao Shun, the eunuch, was already angry, and walked up to him in two steps, almost nose to nose, gritting his teeth and saying:

"Our family just said, is the person who planned the assassination your master, the king of Nan'an, Gao Sihao......?"

"I'm just a small people, I don't know who the king of Nan'an is, and I don't have ...... I've heard of Gao Si ......! ”

Gao Shun's eyes suddenly became violent, and after a while, his complexion returned to calm, and the corners of his mouth pulled out an inexplicable smile.

"It seems...... Are you not crying when you don't see the coffin? What do you think...... Are we bluffing when we say we're going to skin you? Hehehehehe......"

His laughter stopped suddenly, "—chop off his left hand first." ”

"I'm just a businessman who came to Shuozhou to do business...... his voice stopped in his throat, and then, bursting out into a terrible scream, ten times more terrifying and painful than just now, "-ahhhh!!h He was about to fall backwards in pain, blood was dripping behind him, and the palm of his left hand was really cut off entirely, and the flesh and bones were still twitching slightly at the bloody mouth that had just been cut......

"Isn't it a man, shouting like a petite lady......"

"Father-in-law, he fainted."

"Splash water, pinch people...... Wake him up, and he has to continue to interrogate," Gao Shun was too close, and the bloody atmosphere floating in the air was disgusting, and he took a few steps back with his nose covered, "Sprinkle a handful of grass ash on the wound, hurry up and stop the bleeding, don't let him die...... If you die, our family will do your ......."

After a long time, the bearded man woke up again, and said almost pleadingly:

"You...... Kill me, kill me, ......."

"Why do you bother? Why bother with such a hard mouth? Isn't it good to live, why die? ”

The bearded man didn't listen to the bewitchment, closed his eyes, the muscles on his cheeks twitched slightly, and under the light, he was as pale as paper.

"You're good, our family has used these methods, and you still don't want to speak? …… Balls! Gao Shun didn't get angry but laughed, "But there must be a limit to loyalty, you are loyal and think well, but he is a thief, and he is a thief who does not enter the stream, if he dares to make the slightest move, His Majesty can make him turn into powder in an instant, if you confess obediently, our family can still let you go......"

"I said, I don't know the king of Nan'an, I'm just a merchant peddler, you caught the wrong person......"

"You can't even pretend to be pitiful and pleading, how can our family believe you......"

“……”

"I'm just a peddler passing through Shuozhou to do business......"

"Hawkers?" Gao Shun looked at him with the eyes of a fool, "Come to Shuozhou to do business?" ”

He took a breath, "...... Please don't challenge our bottom line again, you put Jinyang's flower world and great business opportunities alone, and go to the poor countryside of Shuozhou to do business? Who do you think would believe it? ”

"Believe it or not, there's only one sentence I can tell you."

"......" Gao Shun's eyes completely became cold, "Do you think that your past is really covered up tightly, and we really can't find out the details at all?" You'd better be honest, or we'll let you die with your whole family......"

"Hmph......" The bearded man turned his head contemptuously, obviously not wanting to hear more from him, and not believing the eunuch's nonsense.

"Looks like you're a little skeptical about our abilities, do you want to make a bet?"

“……”

"Heh, I'm really underestimated......"

Gao Shun made a gesture, and a person searched out a file from his body, and read:

"Song Chunlai, Youzhou people, since childhood with his father herding, fishing and hunting, courageous, chivalrous style, once joined the army, to get an official and a half position, Qinghe for three years, because of the conflict with Shangguan, missed the killing, was sentenced to death, was rescued by Gao Sihao, the king of Nan'an, since then Song Chunlai has been incognito, served under Gao Sihao, specializing in assassination...... There is still a wife, two daughters and an old father in the family, who lives in Youzhou......"

The bearded man opened his eyes suddenly, staring ahead in a daze, his body trembling. Gao Shun whirled around him with amusement.

"How? Now believe it, our family has always been a person who says and does. Those good brothers of yours before, Li Dayong, Cui Yi, He Bavoen, Zhang Qiang...... None of these people survived, so don't struggle, recruit it, they are all mixed under Gao Sihao's hands, they are all recruited...... It's not worse than you, how good is it to be neat and tidy? ”

"They...... Recruited? ”

"Yes, it's recruited, and I'm going to send you."

"Why are you interrogating me when they've all been recruited?"

Gao Shun shook his head, "None of them are Gao Sihao's henchmen, they know less than us, they recruited, it's useless...... So aren't we chasing you quickly? ”

The bearded man grinned, more ugly than crying, "Looks like I have to thank you for your lift, ......?" ”

Gao Shun nodded unceremoniously, "It's easy to say...... Well said......"

The bearded man's face was like ashes, his heart had been shaken, after the last line of defense in his heart was broken by Gao Shun, he couldn't keep any secrets, and after a while, he licked his pale lips because of blood loss, and said:

"Last month, that assassination was indeed arranged by the king of Nan'an, and hundreds of dead soldiers, all of whom were secretly raised by the king of Nan'an, had received his favor and worked for him to kill ......."

"We know this, and the more valuable it is, the better."

"There are still a lot of dead soldiers in Nan'an, in Yecheng, Shuozhou, Jinyang...... These places have dead soldiers that he raises, and only he can summon them by special methods...... Most of the Shuozhou army is already under his control, as long as he gives an order, he can ...... at any time."

"Gao Sihao's ambition is really not small, is this the story of wanting to learn from the three horses? And raised so many dead soldiers. Go on. ”

"Gao Sihao ambushed someone by the emperor's side, I don't know who it is, but I know that he does have eyeliner by the emperor's side, and he is the emperor's cronies......"

"Go on......"

"I didn't ...... No, that's all I know......"

Gao Shun's brows furrowed, and said: "It's not interesting to say this, these things can protect your whole corpse at most, what else, hurry up and recall, there is not a lot of time left for you." ”

The bearded man pondered for a long time, and finally said, "Yes, yes, it's still ...... There is one more thing, that day the assassin, those dead soldiers are indeed the people of the king of Nan'an, but others...... Those ...... who wore armor and drove iron chariots were not arranged by the king of Nan'an. ”

"What did you say?" Gao Shun's pupils shrank like a needle's eye, and he said quickly: "You say it again, be clear!" ”

"That'...... Those dead soldiers in armor were not arranged by the king of Nan'an, but they were another group of people......"

"Who?"

"I don't know," the bearded man said, "I came to Shuozhou this time because of the order of King Tuonan'an, and I came to investigate the case." Those dead soldiers in armor are wearing the unique iron armor of the Shuozhou army, and some people are calculating the king of Nan'an...... Want to play praying mantis cicada hunting...... The yellow finch is behind. ”

"......" Gao Shun pondered for a long time, the halo of flames shone on his face, and he was cloudy for a while, and finally waved his hand, and a knife pierced the chest of the bearded man from behind, and there were a few scattered blood foams spraying in his mouth, and he stared at Gao Shun with wide eyes before he died, as if he was dying.

Gao Shun stood for a while, then slowly turned around, "Our family promised you that we would never touch your family, after all, they are also innocent...... But you can't live, the previous ones are all dead, and they are also working hard under Gao Sihao, why are you special? It's still neater, and it looks good on the face. ”

"Right now...... Send a message to your Majesty! ”

The sky was already dark.

The sky is high and cloudy in Shuozhou, but Yecheng is a continuous cold rain, the spring rain is still non-stop, the rain accumulates outside the threshold, and slowly flows to the lower lying places, the rain has been falling for half a month, the mud and dirt on the street have been washed almost, now this small piece of flowing water is clear and clean, the water surface is constantly splashed by the raindrops dripping from the eaves, outlining a series of wonderful patterns, two people and a horse, holding an umbrella on the street, One of the scholars, dressed as a scholar, looked at the hazy drizzle in front of him and sighed.

"Sending you a thousand miles, you need to say goodbye in the end, and Uncle Fu will take care all the way."

The tall horse's horse had a horned bow hanging around his neck, and the man dressed in a sabre beside Gao Gong was He Ruobi, and at this time he rolled his eyes at Gao Gong, "Okay, why send you a thousand miles, obviously only sent three streets......

Gao Gong also rolled his eyes and replied, "Do you understand what politeness is?" ”

"Understand, understand, I'm leaving, you can help my wife more during your time in Yecheng, she is still pregnant, and it is inconvenient to do things......"

"Okay, you've said it a few times, besides, my sister-in-law has a very hard temper, and I'm afraid there aren't many places where I need help."

"No matter how hard she is, she is also a woman, I am not around, what should I do if she is bullied?"

"Then you insist on leaving now?"

He Ruobi glanced back abruptly and said, "Don't miss the opportunity, a good man should win fame, and the love of children can't care so much...... I'm sorry for her, and when I'm stable over there, I'll pick her up and the baby. ”

Gao Gong also sighed, and took out a heavy cloth bag from his arms, "Originally, I wanted to go to the merit test with you, but now you go to Huainan to listen to it, as a good friend, I can't help you too much, you can bring this money with you......"

He Ruobi waved his hand again and again, "No, no, no, Brother Zhaoxuan, I am already very grateful to you if you can help me take care of my family......"

"—take it!" Gao Gong couldn't help but force it into his hand, "You are a Zhou person, you have no foundation and no popularity, you are indispensable to be studied for a period of time, take this money, make a little bit up and down, and it is still necessary to have a good relationship with Paoze...... You stinky temper has to be restrained, that subordinate who likes cowhide coaxing? You have to mix up your personality to be qualified to be my friend of Gao Gong, don't let me look down on you, otherwise I won't bother to take care of ......you when I am ranked as Zaifu in the future."

"Hey, look at your boy's bullish ......" He Ruobi was not polite, took the money bag and turned over on the horse.

"I don't know when I'll see you again, Uncle Fu, take care all the way!"

He Ruobi urged the war horse, waved his hand backwards, and stepped out of the city without looking back, the drizzle was even denser, and Gao Gong was in the smoke and rain of the city, leaving only a lonely place......