After hearing Wu Neng's question, Sun Jinyong shook his head, "As far as I can see, the Lu Clan's manpower in the Southern Wilderness is actually very limited, otherwise, I don't have to put so much thought into dealing with the three of you." As far as I can guess, their main force should be in the Eastern Continent, where there are more things to deal with. Of course, they seem to have operations in the Western Continent, but the Union Khanate has a strong ability to control the local area, and it is relatively difficult to penetrate, and they have not wasted too much energy in the Western Continent. ”

"What about Shanhezhou?" Shi Cheng asked.

"After all, I'm not a core member of them, and I have very little information to hear, so I don't know how well they are infiltrating these weaker forces."

Shi Cheng thought for a moment, and then asked Sun Jinyong: "You and Gao Yan are both pawns of the Lu clan, have you two colluded a long time ago, one sings red face in front of me, and the other sings white face." ”

Sun Jinyong sneered a few times, "Gao Yan, that idiot, after reading a few books, thinks he is smart." Although he and I are both pawns in other people's hands, compared to me, he is just a garbage that will be thrown away when he is used up, and a pawn like him deserves to sing on the same stage with me? ”

"So, doesn't Gao Yan know your identity at all?"

"That's right, I'm a relatively important pawn, so they won't let Gao Yan know my identity." Sun Jinyong nodded, "The two of us are grasshoppers on two lines in the same hand, and Gao Yan's mission in Yunqiu City is just to cover the actions of the Lu clan in the surrounding villages. However, if the Xieyang Dao case continues, the imperial court will inevitably send a messenger to supervise the case, and Gao Yan will not be able to cope with it alone. The Lu clan used some means to make it impossible to send suitable people to the Wangcheng side, and when the time comes, I will volunteer and take the initiative to ask for help, and they will have a way to push me to the position of Qincha. After I take office, I only need to disdain Gao Yan's slander and continue to turn a blind eye to the slanting yang dao. ”

Zhao Ping's voice was low, and he muttered: "So that's the case, I thought you came forward because you couldn't get used to seeing the way the Manchu ministers shirked each other." ”

Wu Neng was still a little puzzled, "Since the power of the Lu clan can influence the decision-making of the Western Desert Country, then why do you still say that you have limited manpower in the Southern Wilderness?" ”

Sun Jinyong coughed up two mouthfuls of blood and closed his eyes, "When I say not enough manpower, I mean the core power that can really be trusted and will never take the initiative to leak the rumors, such as the blood crow, such as the priest named Youhe." Compared to them, I can only be regarded as half a core member. You should have known about the corpse theft in Redwood City before, the Lu Clan has been operating in the Southern Wilderness for a long time, and it seems that there are many forces under their command that can be mobilized directly or indirectly, but those peripheral forces can only be sent to dig a grave or transport a corpse at best. They also have a part in the disappearance case on Xieyang Road, but the Lu clan will never send them to participate in the half-corpse village plan. ”

Shi Cheng asked again, "How did you manage to interfere with the selection of the Qin Dispatch of the Western Desert Country?" ”

"They won't tell me this, but I suspect that the Lu Clan's call for wind and rain in the Western Desert Country should be inseparable from Huang Yuan, the president of the Camel Bell Chamber of Commerce. The merchant was not small, he gave me the impression that he was like a spider waiting for its prey, with a huge cobweb behind it. ”

As soon as these words came out, Shi Cheng, Wu Neng and Tie Mian were shocked in their hearts.

"It seems that it is necessary to deal with that camel bell chamber of commerce." Shi Cheng thought in his heart, and preliminarily determined his next plan in his mind.

"I still have some questions." Shi Cheng asked, "Why did you kill Gao Yan?" ”

"Listening to what Youhe said, this Gao Yan once found something in Wangcheng when he entered Beijing to report on his work, and then his mind began to liven up, and he wanted to use this to coerce the Lu clan to let him go free, I don't know what happened."

"It is impossible for the Lu clan to allow this kind of instability to exist, originally I wanted to arrange for him to commit suicide, and then I will pour all the dirty water on him, that fake diary is one of the evidence I prepared in advance, of course, the last few articles were added temporarily after you came here. Later, after receiving the temporary order to get rid of the three of you, I intend to make you a witness, constantly guiding you to doubt him, and at the same time reducing your suspicion of me, so as to smoothly lead you into the murder. It's just that I didn't expect that I would have seen the flaws, and if I had given me more time to prepare, I would have been able to come up with a more perfect plan. Sun Jinyong said with his eyes closed.

"Hmph, it's still a thief's heart that doesn't die." Wu Neng said angrily: "Listening to your tone just now, does Gao Yan also know about the Lu Clan?" ”

"He? How could he possibly know. Sun Jinyong laughed contemptuously, "At most, he thinks that those who use his secret to blackmail him into doing things are members of a secret organization." ”

"Did you command the poisoning case of the free clinic or Gao Yan?" When he asked this question, Shi Cheng's tone became cold.

Sun Jinyong was silent for a moment and opened his eyes, "It's not me, it's not Gao Yan, it's Youhe's an idea they came up with temporarily." In my original plan, I wanted them to put pressure on Gao Yan to force Gao Yan to arrest you, and then push you to escape from prison. ”

"How much do you know about the Lu Clan?"

"Except that they are also stealing corpses and transporting corpses in the Western Desert Country, that's all. Ever since I became a member of their forces, they have been in contact with me through secret letters. Before this operation to create the Xieyang Dao case, they only asked me to pay attention to the people of the Western Desert Country, regularly pass information on to them, and occasionally let me use my position to provide cover for their corpse transportation. I don't know what methods they have, the letter we have passed on to each other for so long has not been discovered by the internal guards and the Ti Qi Division of the Great Wei. ”

"Who the hell is that Mr. An?"

Sun Jinyong nodded at the "Night Blade" in the distance that had been burned into black charcoal by Shi Cheng's divine powers, "He has died at your hands." ”

"No wonder, it turned out to be a half-step grandmaster of the Blood Crow." Shi Cheng's gaze lingered on the charred corpse for a moment, then turned his head, "How many forces are still related to the Lu clan in Yunqiu City?" ”

"Some of the family members in Gao Yan's Mansion were bought off by the Lu clan, as were several important officers in the city guard. Those officers used some coercion and inducement to 'buy' a small number of city guards who were on night patrol in the city during the days of your free clinic. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to get the poisoning case in Youhe, and I wouldn't have been able to get the fake diary. As for whether there are other powers under the command of Youhe that I don't know about, I don't know. ”

"Who are they?"

"I can't remember the names of so many people, but after coming here, in order to finish it as soon as possible, the Lu clan should have killed some people who know more at the same time, you can go back and see who suddenly died unexpectedly."

After hearing this, Shi Cheng's face became more and more ugly.

"My last question." Shi admitted seriously, "Why are you doing this? You are an official to the Shaoqing of the Criminal Procuratorate, and you can be regarded as a group of people in the upper reaches among the military ministers, you won't be unclear about what kind of force the Lu clan is, I really can't think of any reason for you to work for them, don't you have any handle in their hands? ”

Wu Neng nodded, obviously he was also very curious about this question.

Sun Jinyong suddenly smiled, "Shi Cheng, I still remember what you once said to me, many things are related to each other. What you say is right, because where there is an effect, there must be a cause. ”

Sun Jinyong raised his head and looked back at his past in his mind, "Shi Cheng, in this world, not everyone is grateful and loves this world. I know you're going to the royal city next, and maybe the Eastern Continent in the future. Trust me, when you've seen and heard enough, you'll understand the choice I've made. ”

Sun Jinyong did not continue, and Shi Cheng was also silent.

After a moment of silence, Sun Jinyong turned his head to look at Zhao Ping, "Ah Ping, no matter what you think in your heart now, come and talk to me, sit in front of me, this is the last time we will have a heart-to-heart relationship." ”

Zhao Ping slowly walked to Sun Jinyong's side, sat down, and said nothing.

Sun Jinyong didn't pay attention to Zhao Ping's silence, and said to himself: "Do you remember the first time we met, when I was just promoted to the junior secretary of the Criminal Procuratorate, and the third case in charge of the Black Knife Guard was to go to your Yuncheng." You give me the deepest impression of the local officials, speaking of which, the reason why I chose to promote you is still selfish, you and my brother are quite similar. ”

"Ah Ping, I have to say I'm sorry to you, in order to let Shi Cheng and them come here without suspicion, I have actually been using you all this time." Speaking of this, Sun Jinyong's eyes showed a hint of apology.

"You've been using me?"

"I will never hide my suspicions and complaints about Gao Yan in front of you, and I will often let you see the conflict between me and Gao Yan intentionally or unintentionally. When Shi Cheng proposed to have a free clinic in the city, my first thought was for you to spy on him, I knew a little about what Shi Cheng had done in Redwood City, and I also knew how similar he was to the person you remembered when you were a child. ”

"I know you, and I also know that according to your temperament, you will definitely change your opinion of Shi Cheng, your personality is not like a person in our industry, because sometimes you can't hide words in your heart, and in some specific circumstances, you may not reveal what you see to Shi Cheng."

Hearing this, Zhao Ping's heart couldn't help but shudder, and he suddenly thought of a few days ago, after Gao Yan left, Sun Jinyong said something in front of him that seemed to be talking to himself.

"Last time Shi Cheng came to report the case, after learning Shi Cheng's identity, why didn't Gao Yan be as tough as he was today......

"I'm sorry, Ah Ping, my master has disappointed you." Sun Jinyong's voice was a little bitter, he leaned towards Zhao Ping's side, and continued: "In the future, you will have to learn to walk on your own, we have been a master and apprentice for so many years, what makes me most gratified is your personality, but what worries me the most is your personality." It stands to reason that you are also a person who has reached the age of establishment, and you have been a poor person for so many years, so you should not understand the truth that it is easy to fold. ”

"Ah Ping, you are very smart, I believe you also understand the meaning of my words, the way forward, so that you can do it yourself." After saying this, Sun Jinyong suddenly stretched out his right hand and pulled out Zhao Ping's waist knife with great speed, and his left hand used the last strength to push Zhao Ping away.

Shi Cheng and Tie Mian rushed forward and wanted to snatch the knife from Sun Jinyong's hand, but it was too late, Sun Jinyong turned the waist knife in his hand and plunged it straight into his heart.

Zhao Ping knelt on the side, looking at Sun Jinyong, who was dead in anger, in a daze, and cried bitterly for a long time.