Jinan, Qiaojia Dart Bureau. In the past few days, Jinan has blown a rare strong wind, the sky is dim yellow all day, the cloud pressure is very low, making people feel that the chest is very stuffy, and the courtyard buildings are pressed by cumulus clouds, which is also breathless. The wind, yes, blows head-on, and it doesn't make people feel refreshed at all, and it rolls up the sand, making it more difficult for people to breathe.

Liude stood on the edge of the spring. Every spring in Jinan, every household weeping poplar. In the garden of Qiaofu, there is a "golden dragon" spring. Usually in the morning, Qiao Yisheng and Liude strolled by the spring, watching the water droplets in the spring, and listening to the spring water gushing, which was quite enjoyable. But at this time, looking at the bubbles on the surface of the water, Liude's heart felt even more uneasy. At this time, a waiter walked quickly behind Liude.

"What's the matter?"

"Young Master Yu is back. ”

Liude turned around: "Where are the people?"

Before he could finish speaking, a man came from outside the garden. I saw that this person was wearing a white robe inlaid with gold lace, pedaling on the scribe's shoes, and pulling the dart flag of the Qiao family's dart bureau in his hand.

Yu De took two steps forward and said, "Young Master Yuyan is back." Then he asked, "What's the matter with this dart flag?"

Yu Yan said: "The flagpole was blown off by a strong wind just now. I caught the flag and didn't let it fall to the ground. ”

Liude's heart sank more and more, and said, "Come on, re-tie the flag." ”

Someone had already come, and Yu Yan handed them the flag. Liude asked, "When did Young Master Yu arrive in Jinan?"

"Just arrived, straight here. ”

"Do you know everything?"

"I almost got to know a little bit on the way here. ”

"What does Young Master Yu think?"

Because there are trees in the yard, the wind is not as strong as outside. Yu Yan looked at the sky and said, "Dense clouds and no rain......"

Liude nodded, and the two stood silently-

It was night, and the city of Jinan was stormy. Someone ran down the hallway and came to the door of Liude's house. "Great steward, the flagpole was blown off by the wind, and the dart flag was blown away. ”

Liude didn't sleep, so he hurriedly opened the door in his clothes and said, "Quickly find the dart flag." ”

The man said, "The brother on duty tonight has already gone to look for it, and the flagpole was newly replaced in the afternoon, but I didn't expect it to ......."

Liude said: "Count the account, I have something to arrange." ”-

In the meeting hall, the remaining heads and faces of the dart players in the dart game gathered together. Liude sat on the Taishi chair in the middle, and said to a short-dressed dart master in the lower left hand: "You arrange the fourth batch of spies, and be sure to get in touch with the master." Then come back and tell us the news. The master got up and hurried away. Liude said to the rest of the people: "The weather has been uncertain these days, all the brothers should pay more attention and strengthen their vigilance in the past few days when the master is escorting." The crowd agreed in unison.

Liude arranged some specific things again, and let everyone patrol the guards, go back to the room to rest, and come to the pond in the garden again. He found that someone had come before him.

Yu Yan had been standing on the edge of the pool for a long time with an umbrella. The low rock fence by the pool is carved with gray animal decorations. On weekdays, lanterns are always hung here at night, so that the owner can enjoy the spring scenery at night. Tonight, all the lanterns are extinguished, and the pool looks dark, as if it can suck all one's thoughts into it.

Liude said: "Young Master Yuyan ......"

Yu Yan said: "You don't need to call me young master, my eldest brother has always treated you like a brother." And in terms of reasoning, you can be regarded as my senior. ”

"What are your plans?"

"Now the matter is too urgent, on the one hand, my eldest brother lost contact on the road, and on the other hand, Yao'er and Xiaoshan are still out of town and have not been contacted. You also sent Jian Bo to bet on a fake dart, and he is also very dangerous. I can't figure out how Chizuru arranged it, what did the old ghost Chizuru and his four Dharma Protectors do!"

"The lord thinks it's time to make a move, so he should take this dart. Jian Bo is my son, and I am more worried than anyone else, but now these arrangements are a last resort. ”

"Yao'er and Xiaoshan may be on their way to the capital right now. I think I'll send some people to the capital to find them first, and I'll follow the dart route you and my eldest brother have agreed upon. ”

"Now?"

"Yes. ”

At this time, someone hurriedly came and said, "Someone outside is asking to see Young Master Yu." ”

"Who is it?"

The man said: "I don't know, he just kept saying that he wanted to see Young Master Yuyan of the Qiao Family's Dart Bureau." ”

Liude and Yuyan glanced at each other, and said in their hearts that in the middle of the night, it was pouring heavy rain again, who was coming to the door!

As soon as the door of the Qiao family's dart bureau opened, Yu Yan's eyesight was the best, and he was shocked in his heart. He saw an old man, in tattered clothes, and he didn't know if he was already wearing shabby clothes or if he had made it look like this in the wind and rain along the way. This old man didn't know him, but he pulled a cart, and there was a person lying on the car, just covered with thatch, and Yu Yan saw at a glance that the one lying on it was Qiao Yisheng, a golden dart long knife. At this time, Yude also saw it, and hurriedly took the torch from his men. After Yu Yan looked carefully, he suddenly felt a chill mixed with strong sadness permeating from the bottom of his heart. Qiao Yisheng in front of him had a gloomy complexion, not only was his face lacklustre, but he had begun to decay under the washing of the rain, and he had obviously been dead for a long time.

The torch in Liude's hand fell to the ground suddenly, and he quickly reacted, ordering his subordinates to carry Qiao Yisheng's body into the courtyard, and then pulled the old man pulling the cart into the house.

In a temporarily vacated room, there were only three people, Liu De, Yu Yan, and Lao Han, and Qiao Yisheng's body was placed in the center of the room. More than a dozen large candles were lit in the house, and outside the house, there were all the old and young of the Qiao family's dart bureau. Everyone stood solemnly, and the sound of wind and rain was buzzing in everyone's ears.

Liu De spoke first, and he asked the old man directly: "How did you find him?"

The old man may not be used to such an environment, and he said the whole thing a few times in a trembling voice, and Yude and Yuyan understood.

The old man was a widower and lived alone. One day, a dart team passed by in front of his house, which turned out to be Qiao Yisheng's dart team. The dart team paused here and moved on. Before leaving, Qiao Yisheng came to the old man's residence alone, gave the old man ten taels of gold, told the old man the direction they were traveling, and agreed to arrange for someone to send a peace letter to the old man a day later. If someone reports safety, then please don't worry about anything, if no one comes here to deliver a letter of safety a day later, then ask the old man to look for his body along the direction of the dart team and be sure to take the body back to Jinan Qiaojia Dart Bureau and hand it over to a person named Yu Yan.

"But that night I knew something was wrong. The old man said intermittently.

It was night, and the wind and rain were rising. The old man was alone at home when he heard the door creaking from the wind and rain. He seemed to hear someone outside the door. The old man was a little puzzled, got up and lit the oil lamp, and opened the door.

As soon as the door opened, a gust of wind blew the old man and almost staggered, and the oil lamp on the table was immediately blown out by the wind, and the room was dark. The old man looked at the heavy rain outside, how could there be half a figure. At this moment, he heard someone talking in the wind and rain, it was a man's voice, "There are people in that broken house." A few more voices shouted, "Let's go back and deal with him." The old man was startled when he heard that the words seemed to be aimed at himself, but it was dark and rainy, how could he see anyone. At that moment, he heard a female voice say, "It's just a village man, forget it, it's a big deal." The sound of wind and rain was deafening, but the words were clearly legible, and the old man could feel that the voice was getting farther and farther away from the first word to the last word. The voices just now shouted, "It's cheaper," and I felt that the people who were speaking were also far away from just now. The old man stood at the door for a long time, thinking back to what had just happened, when he suddenly felt an inexplicable chill invade his whole body, as if he had been suddenly thrown into an ice cellar. When the old man shivered and couldn't resist it, the cold suddenly disappeared, and even the wind and rain felt very warm on his body, and then he heard the woman's voice in the distance, "I looked, it's an ordinary old man." In an instant, only the roaring sound of wind and rain was silent.

It rained for two days and two nights, and the old man did not receive a letter of peace. As soon as the rain stopped, the old man stepped on the muddy road and searched in the direction of the dart team. On a dirt hill, the old man saw that the dart team was in front, the people were still there, and the goods had lost their traces. The corpses were all the people of the dart team. And Qiao Yisheng, who gave himself ten taels of gold, stubbornly used a long knife to support his body that had been washed away by the rain and began to decay. The old man kept his promise and used a flatbed truck to transport Qiao Yisheng's body back to Jinan.