The dark courtyard is built in a shady corner of the side peak of the Hengshan faction, hidden behind the dense pine trees, it is a place to temporarily store the corpse, few people come here on weekdays, the wind is gusting here, and the sun is not seen all day long, even in the hot summer, the disciple in charge of the patrol can not help but shiver when passing by. What's more, it's late autumn at this time.

In a room in the backyard, rows of beds were neatly arranged, and almost every bed was filled with corpses, and at this time, Lu Shiqing and Ming Su were studying a gloomy white bone with 'great interest'.

The human skeleton is nearly seven feet tall, intact, with no traces of broken bones, not even the slightest wear and tear, and the whole body is white, so it can only be judged that this person is an adult man, but the specific age cannot be speculated. Lu Shiqing observed carefully, and always felt that it felt a little weird.

Mingsu was still carefully inspecting, and when he raised his eyes, he saw Lu Shiqing's strange expression, and asked casually, "What's wrong?"

Lu Shiqing shook his head and said helplessly, "It's rare to see such a perfect human bone, it's a pity not to collect it." ”

Mingsu was dumbfounded, then picked up the handkerchief on the side and threw it over, and quipped, "Let's wipe your hands first!" I didn't say a word just now, but I was churning at the bones, and if there was any wear and tear, it was purely caused by you. ”

Lu Shiqing smiled wryly, and suddenly, as if he had thought through something he had not understood for a long time, his searching eyes walked up and down Mingsu's body, and he could see that Mingsu's heart was furious, "What's wrong?"

"Senior brother, you... What did you say?"

Mingsu's throat was a little dry, "I just said... If the bones are worn out, you are the ones who caused them. ”

Lu Shiqing paused, "So that's the case." Then he instructed Lu Yundao, who was standing at the door and waiting, "Go get some vinegar, a basin of water, a stove, and that red oil-paper umbrella." ”

After the order, I saw that Lu Yun was still standing stunned, "What are you still doing in a daze?

"Oh, yes, yes!" Lu Yun came back to his senses, nodded again and again, and trotted all the way away.

Mingsu watched Lu Yun walk away, then looked at Lu Shiqing, pondered what he had just said, suddenly understood something, and said with a solemn expression, "Do you suspect that this corpse has been artificially processed?"

Lu Shiqing was noncommittal, "I just want to confirm my guess." For some reason, when he looked at the human bones, he always remembered the packet of bitter almonds that Li Zifeng sent two days ago.

Also, looking at the appearance of the bones, it is estimated that this person has been dead for at least half a year or so, and according to the memories of the female disciple who first discovered the abnormality, the soil where the bones were buried was loose, as if it had been turned over for a short time. The key is, who is this person? The Hengshan faction has to count the number of people every day, and when they go out to run errands, or new recruits, including those who have passed away, they will register in detail. But why doesn't this person have any records?

Li Zifeng stood in front of the second gate of the Hengshan Sect, looking straight down at everything below, one hundred and eight stone steps, peaks of different heights hidden in the mist, speckled green, and looming brick-red buildings...... Li Zifeng couldn't be more familiar. In the past, every time he stood here, Li Zifeng would be refreshed, but now, his mood was extremely heavy. Not just because of himself, but also because of the human skeleton that was accidentally discovered.

The human skeleton appeared between the second and third mountain gates, buried in the jungle next to it, and such a big movement actually escaped the eyes of the patrol guards and secret guards, which shows how familiar the person who did this is with the environment.

A seemingly reasonable explanation is that there is a traitor in the sect! Li Zifeng gasped, if this speculation is true, during the martial arts conference a few years ago, the killers of the Lingye Palace easily lurked in and poisoned the children of various families, and he was plotted by others, and the disciples of the famous sects died tragically...... It seems to be explained, who is this person?

At this time, Xiao Yun, the chief of the guard who arranged to guard the three mountain gates of the Hengshan faction, walked quickly in front of Li Zifeng, bowed slightly and said, "Please report to the head of the sect on your behalf, your subordinates have already verified, there has been no abnormality around the mountain gate in the past few days, and all the people who enter and leave have a record." ”

This sentence is really ingenious, he was ordered to investigate the cause of the matter as a disciple of the attendant, he was already embarrassed, and he didn't know how to face the guard's reply, but Xiao Yun skillfully resolved it, not only avoiding the title of himself, but also being respectful and polite without breaking the rules, Li Zifeng smiled bitterly, and sighed silently in his heart, "Got it." There's the chief of the guard, Laushaw. With that, he nodded, signaling that he could go back.

Xiao Yun bowed slightly and turned to leave. Li Zifeng sighed again, knowing that there was no result, he was still unwilling to come and ask, and was ready to investigate from other aspects, such as He Yi......

When he turned around and was about to leave, the deacon elder walked towards the wind, and since Li Zifeng had become an attendant disciple, he rarely had separate contact with the high-ranking elders of the Hengshan faction to avoid embarrassment. But no matter how much resistance there is in my heart, now that I have encountered it, I can no longer turn a blind eye, thinking of this, I exhaled deeply, and generously stepped forward and bowed, "Disciple Li Zifeng, meet the deacon elder." ”

Xiang Yingfeng stared at Li Zifeng carefully, and an imperceptible smile appeared on his face, "I haven't seen you much for a long time, but now that I look closely, you are still the same as before, and it seems that you have not changed at all." ”

Li Zifeng maintained his bowing posture unchanged, but an inexplicable feeling rose in his heart, he straightened his sleeves to the wind, looked at him condescendingly and continued, "Actually, you don't have to be so groveling, you don't feel uncomfortable, I look uncomfortable, the most important thing is to be a good follower disciple of the head of the sect, and there are some things that don't be pursued again." ”

"What the elders taught was that the disciples wrote it down. Li Zifeng raised his head slightly, looked at Xiang Yingfeng, frowned slightly, for some reason, he always felt that his eyes had an inexplicable sense of familiarity, and it was definitely not the feeling that he had only had until now.

Looking at Xiang Yingfeng looking at himself like a torch, he hurriedly lowered his head, "Disciple is rude." ”

Xiang Yingfeng squinted his eyes slightly and looked up and down, "It's okay, just remember where you are now." After that, he didn't look at Li Zifeng again, turned around and left.

And Li Zifeng looked at his back, recalled that look again, and a strong uneasiness suddenly rose in his heart, as if to arouse the fear that he deliberately hid in the depths of his memory. Li Zifeng couldn't help but shudder.

Lu Yun carried a lot of things on his back and panted back to the dark courtyard, "Elder, senior uncle, the disciple is back, ouch, I'm tired." ”

Lu Shiqing came back to his senses and scolded with a smile, "You stinky boy, you don't know how to find someone to help, but you are complaining here." ”

Lu Yun smirked, the three of them worked together to put things away, Lu Yun lit the candle, and the originally dark room was suddenly brightly lit. The dark brown vinegar was poured into the basin without reservation, and then it was boiled on the stove, and after a while, the water bubbled, and the room was filled with a strong smell of vinegar.

Lu Yun is young in the end, not as good as Mingsu and Lu Shiqing, the smell of this room is already weird, and now that it is smoked with vinegar, Lu Yun can't help but sneeze, and vomit again and again, and finally he can't stand it anymore, and after saying hello, he retreated to the door of the room to find fresh air.

Lu Shiqing stared at the human bone tightly, waiting patiently, waiting for any subtle changes on the human bone, but after the half-pillar incense effort, seeing that the whole pot of vinegar burned to only half a basin, there was still no reaction on the human bone, Ming Su said, "Perhaps, this is an ordinary corpse." It's only now being discovered. ”

Mingsu said, he also lost his confidence, judging from the current situation, this is by no means an ordinary incident.

Just when the two of them were about to give up and think of another way, the color of the human bone underwent a subtle change, it was no longer the color of forest white, but gradually darkened, Lu Shiqing smiled slightly, held up a red oil-paper umbrella, and covered it above the human bone, under the red light, the originally gloomy white bone suddenly turned black!

"Sure enough, it was poisoning. Ming Su frowned.

"I remember that there was a chronic poison called rocky sand, which was colorless and odorless, and if taken for a long time, it would cause hallucinations, unconsciously at the mercy of others, and everything seemed normal to outsiders, and the pulse could not be detected. Silver needles can't be checked either. However, if the poisoned person forcibly uses internal force to sober himself, his death will be accelerated, and at the time of the autopsy, it will not be seen that he died of poisoning. ”

"So you used this method to make the signs of poisoning visible. Mingsu's expression was solemn.

Lu Shiqing was noncommittal, but sighed heavily.

(End of chapter)