Wei Guo was stunned for a moment, but still took the reins, and watched Xuan Qi enter the carriage first. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

The space on the carriage is not too large, but it is covered with precious Persian carpets, and on the walls, doors and windows are more precious Suzhou cloud brocade. On the carpet was a small sandalwood table with a few delicate pastries. There is no stove, but it is not cold in this cold weather. The furnishings of the whole carriage are luxurious and full of atmosphere and ease.

Li Zhe followed into the carriage, and the two sat down on either side of the table, the wheels rolling slowly and moving forward.

Li Zhe claimed to be from the capital, two years younger than Xuan Qi, and his family was very rich, but this time he was going to Yueyang to inspect the family industry. Xuan Qi could hear from his words that Li Zhe had something to hide, how could this kind of young man who had just entered the rivers and lakes hide anything in front of an old man like Xuan Qi.

Xuan Qi didn't break it, the two talked happily, Xuan Qi had a good impression of this scheming, smug Li Zhe. When Li Zhechu heard Xuan Qi's name, he didn't react for a while, and his words at this time did reveal his incomparable familiarity and admiration for Xuan Qi. Xuan Qi naturally saw that Li Zhe's family was not just very rich, and there must be someone in the family who was an official in the imperial court. Li is the surname of the king, the biggest possibility, this Li Zhe is a member of the royal family, so it makes sense to be very familiar with himself. Moreover, who can be chased and killed by the "Dark Star Pavilion" is a nobody!

Li Zhe heard that Xuan Qi was going to the area of Dongting Lake and had no specific destination, so he immediately invited Xuan Qi to go all the way to Yueyang. Xuan Qi saw that Li Zhe was sincerely invited, and he had a good impression of Li Zhe, thinking that maybe he would encounter the killer of the "Dark Star Pavilion" along the way, which could also be regarded as the same destination, so he agreed immediately.

Since then, Xuan Qi no longer has to worry about food and accommodation, and the three of them have arranged it properly all the way, and his friendship with Li Zhe has become deeper and deeper. Li Zhe is quite interested in the affairs of the rivers and lakes, and Xuan Qi is not tired of explaining them one by one. Li Zhe naturally also talked about the scenery of the capital, and his words unconsciously revealed some court affairs, and Xuan Qi was even more sure of his thoughts.

Sure enough, just after Jingmen, he met the killer of the "Dark Star Pavilion" again, but he failed to leave a living, which made Xuan Qi a little regretful. After that, all the way, until he almost arrived in Yueyang, he didn't see the killer again.

Xuan Qi said goodbye to Li Zhe in Yueyang, and found the beggar disciples on the street and asked about the news of the "Dark Star Pavilion". There are disciples all over the world with beggar gangs, but there is no news. Xuan Qi thought about it and decided to go to the "Seven Star Villa", maybe he could find new clues. Before leaving, Xuan Qi suddenly thought that since he left the Tianshan Mountain, there was no news of Xia Xingyun, with Xia Xingyun's skills, of course he would not worry about his safety, but he still told the beggar to help his disciples pay attention.

Sure enough, three days later, when Xuan Qi was about to arrive at the "Seven Star Villa", a beggar disciple came with the news of Xia Xingyun, and some disciples had seen Xia Xingyun in the capital three months ago, and there has been no news since then. Xuan Qi saw that he was almost arriving at the "Seven Star Villa", and immediately decided to put Xia Xingyun's matter aside.

On the second day, Xuanqi finally arrived at the "Seven Star Villa". I entered the villa, but there was still no one to see. Xuan Qi searched for a long time, but there was still no clue, and immediately expanded the scope of the search, searching towards the mountains around the villa.

Sure enough, the hard work paid off, and Xuan Qi found clues in a small river in the back mountain. This small river Xuanqi has been here, but he has never penetrated deeply. The ancient trees on both sides of the river are towering, covering the entire river surface, which is very quiet, but it is more dense than when Xuanqi came more than ten years ago. Xuan Qi saw that a branch stretching out of the river seemed to be broken from it, and he had some doubts in his heart, so he immediately walked towards the ancient tree.

Xuan Qi jumped onto the ancient tree and walked along the branch. Sure enough, there was a flat cut where the branch was broken, but it looked like it had been cut by a sharp weapon. According to the size of the branches, it was estimated that the cut off section was on the surface of the river, and it was thought that it was cut off because it blocked the passage of the boat. This is already a deep mountain, and few people have always come, but now there are obvious traces of man-made, so that Xuan Qi has to be suspicious.

Xuan Qi walked along the river in the direction of the source. After two or three miles, the mountains are getting higher and higher, and there are cliffs on both sides of the river, only the towering ancient trees are still covering the river surface, covering the river surface tightly, and the sun is not visible. Xuan Qi saw that it was almost dark, so he decided to withdraw first and investigate again tomorrow.

Before dawn on the second day, Xuan Qi had already arrived at the place where he returned yesterday. From this inward, there was no way out, Xuan Qi could only jump up the tree, from one tree to another, and so on. Fortunately, the ancient trees are dense, and I am not afraid that there is no place to stay. Moving forward like this, Xuan Qi really found two places where the branches were artificially chopped, and he was even more convinced of his guess.

After another five or six miles, the cliffs on both sides of the river became steeper and smoother, and the eyes were bare, and there were no ancient trees to settle down. Xuan Qi had to retreat a little, find a cliff that was not very steep, and climb up.

It wasn't until noon that Xuan Qi climbed to the top of the mountain. Although it is only the beginning of February, the snow at the foot of the mountain has begun to melt, but the top of the mountain is still covered with snow, making it difficult to walk. Xuan Qi walked on the top of the mountain in the direction of the river, and from time to time he had to watch out for the slippery snow under his feet, and his speed was much slower.

After walking to the top of this mountain, there is a cliff in front of you, and through the mist, the river is divided into two. Xuanqi looked at the mountain, and the direction to the east was just enough to walk, so he turned to the east and marched along the river.

The river grew narrower and narrower, until there was only one stream left. Xuan Qi did not find any suspicious traces on this road, and seeing that the creek was no longer able to sail, he thought that he had chosen the wrong path. Xuan Qi secretly thought, since he was here, it was better to go deeper and see if there would be any discoveries.

After another five or six miles, the stream was gone, and I saw a spring gurgling out under the cliff, but it was already at the source of the stream. There are cliffs everywhere, but there is nothing suspicious. Xuan Qi finally decided that he was going in the wrong direction.

Seeing that it was almost dark, Xuan Qi was a little helpless. Walking among the cliffs in the dark is quite dangerous, and it is covered with snow and ice. Xuan Qi immediately decided to spend the night at the source of this creek and wait for tomorrow to investigate. After eating dry food and drinking a few sips of cool mountain spring water, Xuan Qi suddenly felt refreshed, and immediately found a towering tree, jumped onto the tree, and fell asleep at the branch.