By the time we arrived at the village in the center of Jingshui, it was already twilight. The honest man led us to the area of the Dry Valley. Under the cover of the dark sky, I saw a few grass huts and wooden platforms temporarily erected on the empty sun-drying valley, and the light of the torches lit around me was also heard with whining sobs.

There was a white shadow on the wooden platform that was bowing down to paint, and there were several iron cages in the grass hut, and the people who were locked in it were standing stiff, their eyes closed, and their expressions were very blank. There were also some villagers gathered outside the hut, their faces frightened and sad, and the sobs came from those people.

"Who are these people?" I looked at the men in the iron cage, but I didn't see my familiar figure.

"The villagers who have been poisoned by Gu medicine have been temporarily placed in iron cages by us. "Honestly," their families were all against it. It's just that this time the Gu medicine is extremely ferocious, and anyone who has contact with it is easy to get infected if they are not careful. In doing so, we also hope to reduce the harm done to innocent people. ”

In the broken temple that day, Qinghe couldn't help but be hit by the enemy's Gu medicine, which shows the fierceness of the Gu medicine. I understand that. It's just that most of the women and children in the iron cage who are gathered outside the grass hut and look at the elderly Weng Yuan, there is pain in their eyes, but they also know that they can't do anything. I couldn't help but feel a pang of pain in my heart.

Just like me at this moment, I can't do anything in the face of Qinghe, who has Gu medicine in my body but his whereabouts are unknown.

"Heroes, I beg you...... I beg you to save my son...... "The tearful old lady suddenly rushed over and grabbed my arm, "Our family has been passed down for nine generations...... My son is very obedient and filial...... If he dies, what will I do, what will I do......"

The old woman's crying gradually attracted the remaining villagers on the side, pleading as if grasping at a life-saving straw.

"We can understand your feelings. Now that there are more and more people who fall into the Gu, we will definitely not sit idly by. Eighteen years ago, the medical saint Yun Niangniang developed the technique of solving the Gu, and I believe that we will definitely be able to find a way to deal with it. It's just that those who fall for the Gu are extremely easy to hurt the innocent. If you notice something abnormal, you must bring someone here and hand it over to us. In addition, because of rumors, people in the Jingshui area are already panicking. Everyone must stay calm, and don't let those who have a heart mess up their minds first. ”

An honest man deserves to be an honest man, and his words made the crying villagers quiet down a lot, and their faces slowly lit up with a light of hope.

He took people to check on the situation of those who fell for the Gu. I saw that the white shadow in front of the wooden platform was still drawing something.

This is the first time I have seen the "stroke of genius" Jiangnan painter paint.

"Mr. Shiyou, what are you painting?"

As soon as the words fell, I saw a snow-white picture scroll, the mountains were in the distance, and near was a forest, a long white water fell from the sky, and under the mountains, beside the grass and trees, were some villages and ancient roads. The scenery of Jingshui suddenly appeared in Ma Shiyou's pen, and at that moment, everything in the painting suddenly jumped out, which made me a little confused whether I was really in Jingshui or in his illusion painting.

"Don't look closely!"

A hand reached over to cover my eyes. The cold chest pressed against the back of my head, and I woke up in an instant.

"That's it. ”

Bang Bang –

It's the sound of a pen resting.

The hand let go of my eyes, and the light returned to my gaze. The horse master in front of him had already picked up his scroll and looked at it with a happy face.

"Brother Ma's painting skills are getting better and better. Meng Yunsheng walked out from behind me as he spoke, "I think it won't be long before the price of Brother Ma's masterpiece will increase again." ”

"Brother Meng, don't praise me. Most of the rumors on the rivers and lakes come from your mouth, and your mouth is a living baby. Once upon a time, so many people came to the alleys every day to listen to you, but you didn't love silver, you loved to drink. Ma Shi sighed.

Meng Yunsheng smiled when he heard this, and he didn't deny it.

"Mr. Shi You, why do you want to paint the scenery of Jingshui?"

"Because I find that it's easier to entice those who fall into the Gu in this way. ”

The three of me walked towards the cages. There were three people in the last iron cage. Unlike the others, their faces were blue, their eyes were rolling, and their faces were already ulcerating in several places, and when they saw us coming, they roared and stretched out a pair of claws towards us.

This is a symptom of the early stage of Zhong Gu.

The horse master held his breath, and suddenly unfolded the scroll into the air to seal the iron cage. The man in the cage roared even more when he saw the scroll flying over. Their eyes were all in the same place, and as several pairs of sharp claws were about to crush the scroll, their movements became sluggish.

Soon, the eyes of those people were blank, their expressions were confused, and they slowly stiffened their bodies, lowered their heads, and had fallen into an illusion.

Ma Shi breathed a sigh of relief, and said to Meng Yunsheng and me with a solemn expression: "It's strange that my illusion technique can find the weaknesses of ordinary people, so as to confuse their minds. And not long after these Gu people entered the illusion realm, there seemed to be a force in their bodies that made them not controlled by the illusion, and even became crazy. I had tried to draw different illusions, and found that only the Jing Shui Scene could temporarily control them. ”

Meng Yunsheng said: "Could it be that because the people in the Gu are all villagers in the Jingshui area, and they are all in Jingshui, and the surrounding scenery coincides with everything in the painting, so they can confuse their vision and be more likely to be psychedelic?"

"Quite possibly, but I'm not sure how long the illusion will be able to keep them under control. Ma Shi showed a worried expression, "This time the middle Gu is actually different from the one eighteen years ago, I think Ling Tianjun is very likely to have developed a more powerful Gu medicine." ”

"Have you ever heard of Changjuesan?"

"Changjuesan?" the two of them said stunned.

"Qi girl, the Changjuesan you said is a drug that was banned by the imperial court eighteen years ago?"

"Yes. I nodded, "I've heard Xiao Jiu say that Changjuesan is made of seven kinds of Gu worms, and its power is a hundred times that of ordinary elixirs. It has two pills, the mother medicine and the child medicine, and the person who swallows the mother medicine can control the words and deeds of the person who swallowed the child medicine. So to be precise, Changjuesan is also a kind of Gu medicine. ”

"I've heard of that, too. "Ma Shi has a way," This Changjuesan has also harmed many people, and I still don't know who developed it. Ever since the imperial court ordered it to be banned, its secret recipe has been kept in the treasury. ”

"That's right, there is no real secret recipe for Changjue Sansan among the people. But just now you said that those Zhong Gu were not affected by the illusion, as if someone else was manipulating them, which made me think of the similarities between this and Changjuesan's child and mother medicine. ”

Ma Shiyou and Meng Yunsheng froze their expressions, and their faces became heavy little by little.

"Mr. Shiyou, and you just said that some of them may be even more powerful Gu medicine than eighteen years ago. ”

"So you suspect that someone in the Gu medicine among them has added the secret recipe of Changjue San, making the medicine a hundred times more ferocious, and it will be easier to control them?"

Meng Yunsheng took his words, "Moreover, it is very likely that this person is Ling Tianjun who faked his death back then. ”

I bowed my head.

"That's right. And I have a guess. Ling Tianjun faked his death for eighteen years but never appeared on the rivers and lakes, he should always have a place to live, a place that ordinary people can't find. Changjuesan's secret recipe is hidden in the treasury, so it is very likely that Ling Tianjun's hiding place is-"

"The Royal Palace. ”

The horse's eyes lit up.

Meng Yunsheng's folding fan paused, and after a while, it shook gently, and his expression was not wavering.

"It turned out that he was hiding in the palace. ”

Ahh

As soon as Ma Shiyou's words fell, there was a sudden shout. I turned abruptly and saw the scroll on the iron cage fall. Those few Gu people suddenly woke up, facing us with hideous faces, and made a terrible sound from their mouths, as if they were about to break through the iron cage.

()