The disciples of the Qili Sect arrived one after another, and after the senior brother Jiang Yin left after explaining the matter, Zhao Ziheng excused himself and stayed, and then followed the place where he and Yang Sheng encountered, searched in reverse, and then he found the stump on the ground.

That should be what was left over from the battle with Yang Sheng.

He looked at the inky darkness of the sky and fell into deep thought.

......

Back in Qilizong, the monsters were haunted, and the news that the "Seven Heroes" led by the senior brother Jiang Yin had exterminated the monsters in Liangdu had spread, and Zhao Ziheng and others were treated like heroes.

King Liang set off a huge reaction, and Emperor Liang ordered a heavy reward and demanded a strict investigation into the whole of the incident.

This accident brought some unusual atmosphere to this girder after the Yuan Xi Festival.

There are some people who think that they know the inside story, and naturally scold the fugitive Wei Dawu over there, it must be the demon law mastered by Wei Dawu, who has refined his daughter into a monster, that continues to cause trouble. Some public opinion began to put the signs on the Shushan sect people located in Yinxiu Peak. Everything was fine before the Shushan sect people arrived at their beam, but after the Shushan people came, they began to appear in an endless stream of all kinds of demon disasters, and the Shushan demons were also very noisy in Liang for a while.

Because of the success of this demon suppression, Zhao Ziheng has attracted a lot of attention as one of the Seven Masters, if it was in the past, he was only afraid that he would be complacent because of the tokens sent by some female disciples to express his admiration, but now his heart is as heavy as pressing stones.

When the turmoil of this incident was fermenting, Zhao Ziheng received a letter, and the letter had nothing but a time.

Zhao Ziheng received the letter, and Zhao Ziheng did not participate in the next disciple's descent from the mountain, the time left by the letter happened to be the time when he patrolled the mountain gate realm, and the person who knew this time could naturally only be the person who had often met him at that time.

When the sun had just set, Zhao Ziheng came to the junction of Qili Sect and Yinxiu Peak.

Yang Sheng appeared there.

The two seem to need this exchange as well.

"Why were you there at the time?" asked Zhao Ziheng.

"Because I have enough reliable eyeliner and found a monster, I tracked it all the way, why did you people from the Seven Mile Sect come so quickly, could it be that you happened to be nearby?" Yang Sheng frowned and asked.

Zhao Ziheng knew that Yang Sheng's words revealed the fact that he already had a reliable intelligence network in Liangdu, and this intelligence network was very powerful, and this information alone was of great value in the past, which meant that the activities of Shushan disciples in Liangdu had been very frequent.

But Zhao Ziheng didn't have the consciousness of having meritorious information at all now, but nodded, "We are indeed near the Wuzhang River in the outer city. Then we got the information of the monster and went to intercept it. ”

"Why are you in the area of the accident?"

Zhao Ziheng had already seen Jiang Yin's figure in his mind, and even if they immediately rushed to Honolulu, they were chasing that figure together.

Zhao Ziheng said, "I know what you want to say, but what you think must be wrong, why isn't it because your Shushan Sect has something to do with the demon calamity?"

Yang Sheng said, "If you want to say that there is a relationship, it is me." But you should know very well in your own heart that it's not me. ”

Zhao Ziheng stopped talking, indeed, he and Yang Sheng and Xuan Rui used to fight, and both sides did not spare their mouths at all for the sake of their respective sects. But it was precisely because of this that he knew that one day he might stand on the opposite side with Yang Sheng Xuanrui because of the interests of their respective sects. But if Yang Sheng had something to do with the demon calamity, then he would never believe this speculation.

And the current signs in the sect are indeed full of suspicions. It's like although they were located in the outer city of Wuzhang River monitoring at that time, according to the arrangement of the senior brother, everyone had their own areas of responsibility, and these areas, which he marked on the Kanyu map afterwards, formed a circle that surrounded the Wuzhang River in the north of the city.

If it is normal to monitor some places, shouldn't it be to place people in those streets and alleys, instead of letting go of those monitoring locations and arranging people on the periphery?

It's like you know what's going on inside, and you just need to be watched, just in case.

And after the accident, why did the senior brother know the location of the monster fleeing for the first time and lead them to hunt them down. Didn't the elder brother who was active in the inner circle prevent the tragedy from happening?

All of this is like a fog lingering in my mind, and it is becoming more and more unsettling.

Yang Sheng said, "What is really related to the demon calamity, and may even have colluded with the demon, could it be your senior brother?"

Zhao Ziheng shook his head, "No, it's impossible!"

He had great doubts and directions in his heart, but he didn't think in this direction in the end.

Because since he was a child, since he came to the mountain gate when he was a child, and grew up under the care of his senior brother, Jiang Yin is like a real family, he still remembers that Jiang Yin will leave his spiritual tonic and give it to him, and then rub his head dotingly, sometimes after he cultivates, he will come from behind and jam his neck, scaring him a lot.

He made mistakes several times, and was beaten by the master, all of which were brought by the senior brother and smeared on his back and buttocks, and now when he thinks of those gentle bits and pieces, the senior brother is like a tolerant, real big brother, and he appears warmly in his memory.

But at that time, the red thread wrapped around Jiang Yin's body, his expression, really made Zhao Ziheng feel unprecedentedly strange.

A wooden sign was tossed.

Zhao Ziheng caught it and looked down at the bird seal.

Yang Sheng said, "I'll tell you how to use it, and you can contact me individually through him." You have a lot of doubts in your heart, if you think that there is no such thing in your Qili Sect, then go and investigate it yourself and prove it. If you have any needs, you can contact me through this bird seal. ”

After Yang Sheng informed Zhao Ziheng of the usage, Zhao Ziheng pondered for a moment and said, "This involves the reputation of my sect, how can I exchange news with you?"

"The reputation of the mountain gate is important. Yang Sheng paused and said, "But what are we cultivators for? are we cultivators practicing for the sake of the Great Dao alone, or can we stand up as a capable person to protect those sentient beings in the face of the threat of the demon clan's devastated beings?"

Zhao Ziheng looked down at the wooden card in his hand, his five fingers curled.

......

To review what happened that day, it is not difficult for Zhao Ziheng, Liang Du's case-handling officer, how can he not disobey him, the disciple of the Qili Sect who eliminated the monster, plus Emperor Liang asked the Qili Sect to intervene in a thorough investigation, Zhao Ziheng easily got a lot of information about this matter, in addition to the confirmed death list of the Wuzhanghe incident, there are also some missing people, Zhao Ziheng decided to look for some clues through the missing people on the list.

After some investigation, the demon disaster first appeared in Taiping Lane of Wuzhang River, and then expanded outward, attacking the car of General Huaihua, who had just passed by here at that time, and finally escaped. In Taiping Lane, several missing people have been confirmed to be killed, but one of them, a young man named Cheng Zhuo, caught the attention of Zhao Ziheng.

This man was the son of a criminal official, who was once a scholar, and his father's house was raided after the crime, so he rented a low house in this desolate Taiping Lane. On the day of the disaster, this person also disappeared. The owner of the house was worried about bad luck, coupled with the seal of the Si Ya investigating the scene, this person's low house had not been touched, Zhao Ziheng unsealed it, entered the house, and found that the house was in a mess, and there were mottled bloodstains.

According to the investigation of the secretary, it is inferred that this person is very likely to have been killed. Zhao Ziheng felt puzzled, because even if it may have been devoured by monsters, many missing people, in the follow-up investigation, can deduce the identity of the other party based on the remaining physical clues. But this person alone did not leave the slightest trace.

Zhao Ziheng searched the room, and on the wall, he found a brick of the same color as the surroundings, but it belonged to the new brick, he stood on tiptoe, grabbed the brick, and pulled it out, it was half a brick, and there was a booklet inside.

Zhao Ziheng opened the booklet and found all the daily essays recorded by this scholar named Cheng Zhuo.

There is the resentment of his family, which records the process of how he was a big official in his family and how he interacted with some of his sons and sons, and how these people changed the law to avoid seeing him after he was down, or some people still cared about their original feelings and brought some useful things. One by one, this Cheng Zhuo was recorded, and he also said that if he was Tengda in the future, he would repay the other party's thoughts.

But in fact, Zhao Ziheng knew that this was just his wishful thinking, after committing an official, there was no possibility of being hired as an official, this scholar named Cheng Zhuo, it was impossible to get ahead by studying in this life, and it was impossible to reach the level of the sons and brothers he had previously interacted with. So it's good that those people avoided him and didn't directly drive him away from him and draw a line with him. After all, this is already a person who has no great chance of turning over in his life, and he is not afraid of offending.

The diary was originally like this, there was this Cheng Zhuo who wanted to work hard for a while, and he was ashamed of himself, there were words about not bullying the poor young man, and there were complaints about the divorced lady and the longing for the future achievements of slapping the other party's face.

However, in the end, it seems that the days in Taiping Lane are sinking day by day, and after the other party gradually recognizes him as a criminal official, there is probably no future for him.

He suffered, suffered, and sank...... Until one day, I suddenly met a person named Mr. Jiang.

He didn't know who this man was, but the man promised him that if he did something for him, he could help him get what he lost.

He didn't believe it originally, although the other party's dress was more dusty than any "well-informed" boy he had ever seen. It wasn't until Mr. Jiang showed him what he could do, that the enemy official who impeached his father died violently at home the next day.

He believed the other party's statement, wealth, more important status, identity, and thought that these things that were once lost and painful could be regained, and he promised that Mr. Jiang.

Then, Mr. Jiang made him eat a red pill and showed him a portrait.

The portrait was of a middle-aged man, with a murderous aura between his eyebrows.

After taking the pill and looking at the portrait again, he felt that he was hot all over, and he wanted to kill someone, and he really wanted to kill the man in the portrait...... (By the time the diary arrives, it's full of recurring killings and resentment.)

Zhao Ziheng closed the notebook.

Later, this kind of record was interrupted, before the interruption, what shocked Zhao Ziheng's heart the most was that Cheng Zhuo said that his body began to change, he saw that his body had bone spurs, he saw that his face was weird, and finally his original excellent pen and book, which became crooked.

"Am I not human anymore......"

"I hate it...... Who's going to save me......"

"I want to live...... I'm human, I'm human......"

Closed the booklet, although it was just words, Zhao Ziheng seemed to have heard the last struggle and screams of this person named Cheng Zhuo in this room.

In the end, he must repeat what he wrote.

"I want to live ......"

"I am ...... human"

This booklet was finally put back on the wall, it was Cheng Zhuo's last clarity, and he must also want to leave his mark and inform the people who will find out about it one day.

In the gloomy and messy room, Zhao Ziheng held the booklet in his hand, squinted his eyes, turned his head, and saw the figure that appeared at the door at some point.

Looking at his senior brother, Zhao Ziheng forgot to speak for a while.

After a few moments, he spoke, "You are...... Mr. Jiang?"

vertex