Auspicious five years, April.

Gangnam.

It was raining lightly, and the cool wind was pouring into the house, making a loud noise. There was a thin grinding sound from the other side of the window, like something scraping against the window. Li Er opened the window and saw a thin white cat retract its paws and stare at him with a pair of very round eyes.

If it was in previous years, Li Er might have fed the cat a little food. But now no one is having a good time, Li Er had to gently rush it: "Go, go, there's nothing for you to eat here." ”

The white cat is not afraid of people at all, licking its paws and squinting at him, and it is not like other begging cats that will put their heads under people's hands and rub them. Li Er observed the strange white cat curiously, and at this moment, a drop of thick liquid hit the tip of his nose.

Li Er thought that the floor of the room on the second floor of the inn was leaking, but the smell on the tip of his nose was tinged with a faint smell of rust. He subconsciously raised his hand to wipe the tip of his nose and saw a touch of red.

Li Er was stunned, he looked up at the top of his head, and drop by drop of blood was seeping down from the cracks in the floor.

The white cat jumped into the rain with a "meow", flexibly climbed over the courtyard wall and disappeared. Li went upstairs tremblingly, and summoned up the courage to shout several times outside the door, but there was no movement in the room. He pushed open the door in fear, only to let out a scream the moment he saw what was going on in the room.

There are three men dressed as foot merchants living in this room, who talk and laugh when they come, and are quite thoughtful in receiving people and things. At this moment, the three people were all hanged on the beam by ropes, and all of them were disemboweled, and their internal organs flowed to the ground.

Bloody and cruel like a slaughterhouse.

——

In the drizzle, the white cat ran with its fluffy tail and caught up with the black back of the teenager. The white cat climbed from his calf to his shoulder, and lay on his shoulder to "meow" noisily, and the muddy water on his paws stained him.

The hat he wore on his head just covered one man and one cat, and the white cat curled up its tail to cover the back of his neck, which was blown cold by the wind.

There was not a single pedestrian on the road, and the boy stopped by a stream to wash away the blood that had not yet dried up on his hands. He slowly rubbed the white skin on his hands, until it came out with a cute crimson, and his joints were pale pink.

After a long time, he picked up a touch of water from the stream and poured it on his face, washing away the blood on his cheeks and reflecting his face.

Even if it is pale and expressionless, it is still a face that makes people breathe less.

Shen Zhou shook off the water droplets on his hand and pulled the white cat off his shoulder. The white cat was caught in his hand, twisted around coquettishly, and turned out its belly for him to touch. Shen Zhou didn't appreciate it, but just checked that the cat didn't roll on the blood, and let go of his hand.

The white cat rolled on the ground, rubbing his calf affectionately.

Shen Zhou squatted by the stream, took out a piece of candy from his belt and put it in his mouth, and then took out another one and fed it to the white cat.

Not far away, the three words of Aoyagi Town became clearer and clearer in the fading rain.

——

After Shen Zhou left the unknown mountain, he received a steady stream of news from Luo Shuangyi. Luo Shuangyi served as a hub between him and Luo's spies, telling him who his next target was, where the mountain ghost clan's forces were, and what false identities these people were using.

Shen Zhou walked in the drizzle of early spring in the south of the Yangtze River with a broken sword and a white cat, killing people.

This cat brought out of a dilapidated house in a narrow alley is particularly clingy, no matter where the sinking boat goes, it can find it, and it will never leave. When he didn't hear from Luo Shuangyi, Shen Zhou wandered aimlessly in the town.

Qingliu Town, Shen Zhou has no impression of this place name, presumably some kind of poor countryside. Shen Zhou just wanted to find a place to hide from the rain and rest, and the non-stop killing made him feel that a part of his body belonging to "people" was slowly draining.

He was a little afraid, afraid that when they met again, Chu Zhixia looked at him with unfamiliar eyes.

But as soon as he stepped into the town, Shen Zhou felt a strange aura.

Everywhere there was the smell of burning crops in the fields and being extinguished by the light rain, but the town was eerily quiet. Now is the season of turning over the soil and sowing seeds, and the crops in the south of the Yangtze River are harvested twice a year, and they are even more diligent in farming. Even if one or two are lazy, the doors of every house will not be closed.

There must be a demon when something goes wrong, and Shen Zhou was just about to withdraw when he heard a squeak.

A little girl with a dirty face stood behind a fence and looked at him, her hair disheveled. Her eyes were dark and bright, and she was not afraid to look at Shen Zhou at all. She looked like she was only five or six years old, and the hut behind her was empty.

"Brother, do you have anything to eat?" The little girl asked.

Shen Zhou hesitated, he didn't have much to eat, only a few pieces of sugar and a piece of dry bread, which he had bought in the previous town. But the little girl's eyes were eager and vigilant, like a wounded little beast, carefully poking her first step out of the nest.

Shen Zhou approached her, took out the hard piece of dough from his bosom and handed it to her. The little girl almost snatched the bread and chewed it with great difficulty.

"What about your family," Shen Zhou asked, "why is there no one in town?" ”

"Daddy, Mr. Yang, who teaches, and the uncles and uncles next door have all been arrested." After two mouthfuls of dry noodles and cakes, the little girl seemed to be relieved and replied with difficulty.

"Everyone's in town arrested?" It sounds strange.

"The outsiders were not arrested." The little girl replied.

"Why were they arrested?" Shen Zhou asked again.

The government said that the emperor asked them to re-measure the land. After the official errand calculated, he said that our family's land was originally less, and the taxes were less, so they took advantage of the outsiders and took away all the food at home to make up for the previous shortfall. Dad and many others refused to accept it, and were arrested by the government and taken to prison. Mr. Yang reasoned with them and was also arrested. ”

The little girl whispered, "Brother, do you still have anything to eat?" ”

Shen Zhou shook his head.

"Do you know Lord Thorn? Mr. Jiaoshu and his brother said that the official mission was a favoritism, and as long as he told Lord Assassin, his father would be released, and the stolen food would be returned to us. ”

Launched by the cabinet Pei Cifu and supported by His Majesty, the "Ten Concerts of Military and Political Affairs" was occasionally heard by scholars and businessmen when Shen Zhou wandered around the bustling towns. Shen Zhou knew that this was the handiwork of Chu Shixia and Pei Zhang, but he didn't expect such a consequence.

The men in Aoyagi couldn't bear the exploitation of the fields on which they depended, and the taxes on their backs were increased layer by layer, so they joined forces to go to the government to seek justice, but they were all imprisoned. The stored food was looted, and the old and weak, women and children hid in their homes in fear.

Shen Zhou asked, "How many people are still in your family?" ”

"Me and my mother, the younger brothers and sisters in my mother's womb." The little girl obviously didn't eat enough, but she only took a few bites of the cake, and the rest was clutched tightly in her hand, as if she was afraid that the boat would grab it.

"Take me to see it."

The thatched hut leaks on all sides, and the deep marks in the corners of the walls should be left by the perennial stacking of farm tools. The tools of the farm, which were second only to the fields in importance to the peasants, disappeared without a trace, and should have been taken by the men of the family when they went to "reason" with the officials.

At a glance, Shen Zhou saw the woman lying on the cold bed, her belly bulging high, but her hands drooping weakly. Her cheeks were emaciated, and her cheekbones were high and bulging, as if she had been drained of nutrients by the child in her womb.

The little girl ran over and gently pushed her shoulder, shouting, "A-Niang, A-Niang, there is something to eat", and broke the dough and fed it to her mouth.

But the woman fell asleep and did not move at all.

Shen Zhou's heart moved, he reached out to touch the woman's pulse, and after not getting the desired result, he tried his breathing and heartbeat one by one. Her body was still warm, meaning she had just died.

The little girl was still shouting "A-Niang" again and again, shaking the woman who wouldn't wake up.

"Stop shouting, eat it yourself."

Shen Zhou said abruptly: "Your aunt is dead." ”

The little girl's tears welled up all of a sudden, and she said with a crying voice: "Brother, don't talk about my aunt like that." You touch her, my mother's body is still warm, how could she die? She clutched the woman's limp fingers tightly, like a drowning man grasping at the last straw.

Shen Zhou didn't say anything more, he found a clean broken porcelain bowl from the hut and took some clean water. Shen Zhou took the dough cake from the little girl's hand, soaked it in water and softened it and fed her.

"Eat, I'll take you to your brother when I'm done." Shen Zhou said, "When did your brother go to find Thorn Shi?" ”

"Six days ago." The little girl choked up and replied.

Shen Zhou frowned.

Six days is enough for a lot of things to happen, her father is in prison, her sister is young, her mother is pregnant, as the only person in the family who can be relied on, how could the little girl's brother leave her mother and sister who have no ability to take care of themselves and never go back? Even if it's too late to hurry, you should go to a higher-level official nearby, and it's really a long way to find a thorn history.

Shen Zhou had a very bad premonition.

"You're full and wait here for me, I'll go out and have a look." Shen Zhou told her, "Don't run around, don't cry, and find a place to hide quietly." Don't come out of anyone but me. ”

The little girl nodded blankly with tears on her face.

——

Aoyagi Town Yamen.

In the dark, damp cell, the stench mixed with the smell of blood permeated every crevice of the masonry. The person hanging on the torture rack can no longer be called a human being, but more like a skin bag filled with flesh and blood, which has been cut open one after another, revealing the blood stains inside.

The dim light of the sky leaked through the cracks in the iron window and fell on his eyes, which were covered in dried blood and sparse flesh.

"Still want to find Thorn History? You're crawling! The official whipped him viciously and spat, "You haven't seen the gate of the Assassin's Mansion before you let people twist it back, right?" Something that is born cheap, gives you a way to live, you have to find death! ”

"Brother Huang, take a break." Another official said, "Look at him like that, he doesn't have a few days to live." Leave him alone, he's a death. ”

Brother Huang was fat, with greasy fat, and he was out of breath with a simple movement, and sat down with his belt in his hand.

"This kid is the same as the old man Yang, just thinking about cutting off the wealth of the old man outside the staff, isn't this looking for death?" Brother Huang said, "Did he think it would be useful to sue the Assassin's Mansion?" The real money was sent to the Thorn Mansion, what kind of good person did he think the Thorn Shi was? ”

The sound of boots stepping on the water alarm them.

The two officials looked at the man standing silently at the door of the cell, and his hand unconsciously pressed the hilt of the knife. However, the moment he saw the comer, the anger overshadowed the surprise. It was an excessively handsome young man, who looked calm and weak, and the black hat was dripping with water.

Is it raining that hard outside? The two of them thought in unison.

"Who are you and how did you get in?" Brother Huang scolded loudly.

"The door is open, and I'll come in." Shen Zhou took off his black hat and threw it on the ground, his fingers dyed a layer of red like Kodan.

Only then did the two officials react in horror, and it was not rain on the hat, but blood.

"I was going to give her to her brother, but you're really causing me a lot of trouble." Shen Zhou pressed the young man's still heartbeat on the torture rack, tilted his head slightly and said, "It doesn't matter, anyway, if you see my face, you all have to die." ”