Chapter 18
Chapter 18
The small building in the northwest corner of Bixiao Villa stands quietly in the snow. The door of the building is sometimes open, but the inside of the door is always dark, and the inside cannot be seen clearly from the outside.Ji Shuliu stepped into the threshold, his eyes darkened, and he began to feel faintly afraid.If someone finds out that he has concealed a lot of things, will he extract a confession like Qu Ze?
He was taken into an empty room on the first floor, and his hands and feet were shackled.Behind him, the delirious Qu Ze was dragged into the cell in the basement of the small building again.
Xuan Chongzi and Pei Yongguo came in quickly, moved the chairs and sat down, let him sit on the ground, and asked him the whole story of discovering Wang Guitong several times, Ji Shuliu was very wise and thoughtful, barely showing his flaws.
Pei Yongguo stood up and paced back and forth: "I thought it was prudent when recruiting servants, but unexpectedly I made such a big mistake. How the traitors from Zuishi Castle sneaked into our village, and why the outsourced cooks were willing to be used, still need to be thoroughly understood. Check." He closed his eyes and frowned, with an extremely deep regret on his handsome face.
"Master Pei, don't be discouraged. With Mr. Zheng's thoroughness, he chose the wrong bodyguard, let alone you and me?" Xuan Chongzi tried to discuss, "Ji Shuliu concealed the truth is a fault, but forcing the spies away is a merit. In your opinion, can merit and demerit be offset?"
"I'm not good at making decisions. From today onwards, I should focus on thoroughly investigating the servants of our village and ignore other things. Let the friends in Jianghu decide the matter of Ji Shuliu." Pei Yongguo obviously didn't want to follow Xuan Chongzi's wishes Rao Ji Shuliu lightly.
Xuan Chongzi didn't insist, and was about to go out, signaling the two Jianghu people around him to send Ji Shuliu to the underground cell.
Ji Shuliu was dragged up by the two, struggling to stay where he was, and said: "Wait a minute, I have something to say! Ji is certainly at fault, but Qu Ze is mostly innocent. Now it can be confirmed that the one who spied on everyone's residence was Zui Ri who left the morning before yesterday. Fort spies, the one who killed Mr. Zheng was the guard who escaped yesterday morning. What reason is there to doubt Qu Ze? Qu Ze has been imprisoned for three years, and his vitality and blood have already weakened. Let it out and heal."
Both Xuan Chongzi and Pei Yongguo bowed their heads in silence, but the two Jianghu people behind them dragged Ji Shuliu to the door with all their strength.Ji Shuliu struggled desperately, and pinned his feet to the door frame: "Master Xuan Chongzi! The Wudang Party did not kill Qu Ze. Isn't it because he has kindness in his heart and thinks that he will not die? If he dies here unjustly, God will Where is it! In his early twenties, Qu Ze suffered unjust injustice, was besieged by people who didn't know the truth, was seriously injured and was rescued by Zui Ribao, but he never harmed the interests of any innocent people, never Use the hands of Zuishibao to take revenge on those who wronged him. When Zuishibao was besieged, although he resisted, he never killed people in Baidao! What did he do wrong? You should treat him like this!"
Xuan Chongzi raised his head and said, "Don't worry, I will deal with this matter later."
Ji Shuliu froze, stopped struggling, and was finally dragged out of the room.
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The underground is full of cloudy air, with only the dim light of oil lamps.A short corridor, several cells, iron doors and windows, no beds inside, can only sleep on the cold ground, and a chain around the waist with the end embedded in the wall.
Ji Shuliu lived alone in a cell, separated from Quze's by a wall.Throughout the day, he tried to call "Five Brother Qu" many times, but no one answered, only the sound of Qu Ze's breathing echoed among the iron and stones in the short corridor, so weak that it seemed that it would stop at any moment.Around evening, the iron door of Quze's cell was opened with a creak, and several gangsters carried Quze out of the cell, and he was never sent back.
The entrance and exit from the short corridor to the first floor are guarded in turn. The guards can open the cell, but they cannot open the shackles and chains.
The guards changed frequently, some quietly guarded outside, and some directly opened the door and beat Ji Shuliu, saying that they wanted to avenge Mr. Zheng.Fortunately, they were only out to vent their anger, not to extract a confession, and they were not as reckless as they were when they interrogated Qu Ze.
Ji Shuliu calmed down, all fear disappeared, and doubts arose.He could feel that the guard was very careful not to injure his face or hit his hands hard, which meant that at least his life was not a problem.But who is framing Qu Ze? Who did the scene of the two men in white originally intend to act for? Why did they get the wrong person?He couldn't figure it out.
"Is Qu Ze still alive?"
He asked three people this sentence.The first one is the person who came to deliver food, the person dropped a piece of hard cake and left expressionlessly; the second one was the silent watchman who stood far away from the exit, that person remained as motionless as a wooden sculpture; the third one It was Wang Hu who came in to beat him. Wang Hu continued to beat and scold him as if he didn't hear it.
So he asked no more questions.
The sky was not visible on the ground, only the person who delivered the food told the time, so four days and four nights passed.
On the afternoon of the fifth day, the clouds were gray and the sky was dark, with light snow and strong wind.
Two gangsters escorted Ji Shuliu out of the dark gate of the small building.Ji Shuliu's hair was disheveled, and the clothes he wore when he entered were too embarrassing and had been replaced. Now he was wearing a brand-new, dark ochre jacket that didn't fit indiscriminately. The color of the newly stained blood on the clothes was dim, and he couldn't see clearly from a distance. , can barely cover up the past.
He walked in front, and the two behind him pushed him when they encountered a corner.He staggered and faltered, but he didn't fall down after all, and stood in front of a house surrounded by many people.
The crowd gave way, revealing a low table placed ten feet away from the gate of the house.On the short table, there are two stacks of paper spirits pressed by stones, one large and one small, swaying in the wind; there is also a large porcelain bowl on the ground beside the short table.
The two Jianghu people quickened their pace, dragged Ji Shuliu to the other side of the short table, and turned to face the spirit seat and the heroes of the white way behind the spirit seat.Ji Shuliu's legs trembled slightly, and he was pressed to kneel on the frozen ground.
Pei Yongguo and Xuan Chongzi stood right behind the short couple, followed by Zhao Zhangmen and other respected seniors, and the younger Gao Yi also stood among them.Ji Shuliu raised his head slightly and squinted at them, but they didn't move or speak.
Qin Songfeng came out from the crowd, stood behind Ji Shuliu, faced the spirit seat and said, "Mr. Zheng, we haven't caught Kong Xuan, the murderer who killed you. You know it. Please forgive me. We will try our best to catch him! One thing. The day before you were murdered, Ji Shuliu let go of the spies who had been placed in the kitchen of Zuishibao without permission, and kept the information from being reported. As a result, we failed to discover Kong Xuan's biggest flaw in time. Now he is here to tell you Make amends." He paused, "Ji Shuliu, you plead guilty."
Ji Shuliu said in a deep voice: "Mr. Zheng, Mr.'s guard, and the cook at Bixiao Villa, the younger generation is ignorant and stupid and made a big mistake. I have no face to say more, I just want to assure you..."
Pei Yongguo interrupted him: "Your Excellency, you don't have to apologize to the cook in our village. He once accepted bribes from Kong Xuan, and was ordered by him to lie about taking leave for a sudden illness. Unexpectedly, before the money was sent out, Kong Xuan killed him and silenced him. Therefore, he died of Greed. I have already told Quan Zhuang that life is at stake in Jianghu, and he committed the crime knowingly. If he does not die, the crime will be even more serious."
Ji Shuliu was silent for a moment, and continued: "This junior assures the two spirits in heaven that if this junior meets Kong Xuan in the future, he will try his best to avenge them. If the relatives of the two are in need in the future, this junior will also try his best to help."
Someone in the crowd taunted: "This kid really knows how to talk nonsense. It's not his turn to kill Kong Xuan. Mr. Zheng's family is rich and can't use him. Mr. Zheng's guard has no relatives and no reason, and he doesn't have a family at all." Ji After hearing this, Shu Liu could only hang his head in silence.
Qin Songfeng squatted down and pulled Ji Shuliu's left hand, pointing his wrist at the top of the big porcelain bowl a few short ago, and said word by word: "The rules of the world, blood is paid with blood. Since you know your mistake, let the bloodletting before their two souls A bowl, as an apology."
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The large porcelain bowl was blue in gray with no patterns on it, and it was about half a liter in size.The dagger Qin Songfeng was holding was sharp and bright, with a tinge of blue light.
The rules of the rivers and lakes take people's lives and destroy their martial arts at every turn, and there is no lighter way to make amends than bloodletting half a liter.
Ji Shuliu blinked, watched Qin Songfeng clean up the snow in the bowl, grabbed his left hand with one hand, and cut the blood on his wrist with a dagger with the other.Blood dripped into the bowl and soon covered the bottom of the bowl.The weather was too cold, and the blood from the wound was easy to condense. Qin Songfeng put away the dagger and kept wiping off the blood scab formed on his wound, making his hands covered with blood.
The blood in the bowl accumulated more and more, but the blood on the wrist flowed more and more slowly. Qin Songfeng signaled Ji Shuliu to kneel as straight as possible and lower his left hand as much as possible.
Ji Shuliu strained his whole body, but still felt the cold wind blowing straight into his bones, the more blood he bleed, the stronger the cold.He stared at the dark red blood in the bowl, and suddenly felt sick. Although he couldn't vomit at all, it became more and more unbearable, so he could only raise his right hand to cover his mouth.Qin Songfeng remained expressionless, but the hand holding Ji Shuliu's left hand became tighter and tighter.
It wasn't until the bowl was overflowing with blood that Qin Songfeng tore off a short piece of Ji Shuliu's sleeve and wrapped it around the wound on his left wrist. Ji Shuliu took the opportunity to touch his neck, his tentacles were wet and cold, covered with sweat.
After wrapping up the wound, Qin Songfeng kicked him lightly and said, "Kowtow, ten kowtows."
The sharp wind echoed in Ji Shuliu's ears, his arms trembled unconsciously, and he kowtowed ten times to the two spiritual seats.After knocking on the last one, he couldn't straighten his waist, he only felt that his head was on the ground to stay awake.
Qin Songfeng grabbed his arms and dragged him backwards, causing him to sit down directly, and dragged him all the way into the door behind him.The ground was covered with fluffy snow, and there were many stones under the snow, touching the wounds he suffered in the cell, leaving sporadic bloodstains along the way.Qin Songfeng pulled Ji Shuliu up and pushed him into his room, turned around and walked out of the house, closing the door.
The stove in the room was burning very hotly, Ji Shuliu went to the stove to keep warm, suddenly felt uneasy, held back his nausea and gritted his teeth, went to the window, opened the window a little, knelt on the ground and looked out the window.
Qin Songfeng was bending down to pick up the big porcelain bowl, then stood upright where Ji Shuliu was kneeling just now, poured a big bowl full of blood in front of the spirit seat, and calmly said in his usual tone: "Ji Shuliu In terms of martial arts and the same root as our sect, in terms of livelihood, he has been seeking a job in our sect for the past two years, and in terms of whereabouts he has been living with us, no matter how he counts, he is a member of the Chisu sect. He has a special background, but I didn’t expect to prevent it Yu Weiran, I was wrong. This time I have to make amends." Suddenly cut his left wrist with the same dagger, and lifted the big porcelain bowl full of blood to catch it.
Ji Shuliu was stunned, and Xuan Chongzi and Gao Yi stepped forward to stop him at the same time. Qin Songfeng took a wrong step backwards, but he didn't see how far he moved, but let the two of them rush into the air together.Qin Songfeng said solemnly: "I will take responsibility for my mistakes, so don't stop me."
You can't see Qin Songfeng's bleeding wound from the window, only his straight back and the stunned expression of the heroes of the White Dao.Ji Shuliu shivered, slowly closed the window, and tried to climb to the side of the stove and curled up.
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When Qin Songfeng returned to his room, Ji Shuliu sat by the stove and looked up at him with a serious expression and extremely sharp eyes.
Ji Shuliu has read a lot of books and has seen little of the world, so he was a bit bookish. He has been teaching in Chisu School for the past two years, and when he is not going out, he often dresses up as a scholar, pays more attention to being a teacher, and pretends to be elegant. It seemed that he was a little less immature as a young man, and a little more handsome and stable.Qin Songfeng turned around and closed the door to help him, he said first: "I have two important things to tell you." His voice was weak, but his tone was unquestionable.
"Don't worry, heal the injury first." Qin Songfeng bent down and supported his armpit to pull him up from the ground.
Ji Shuliu stared at Qin Songfeng and asked, "Where is Qu Ze?"
"It's in Senior Brother Qian's room. He's weak now, sleeps a lot and wakes up less, and I haven't had time to talk to him yet. He's been in better spirits these past two days. You heal your injuries first, and you'll be waiting for him if you have anything to do." Wake up and talk together."
Ji Shuliu softened slightly: "That's fine."
Qin Songfeng pressed him on the bed, and he struggled and said, "No, my body is covered with dirt, and I won't be able to sleep if I sit on it."
"If you can't sleep, just make do with it." Qin Songfeng pushed Ji Shuliu down hard, went to the table and poured a bowl of warm water for Ji Shuliu, opened the lid of the pot himself, and drank the remaining half of the pot in one gulp.He sat down against the wall and rested for a while, brought wine, water, sore medicine, and a towel, slowly stripped off Ji Shuliu's clothes, scrubbed his body and cleaned his wound.
The wounds were all over the body, and there were even a few burn marks. Qin Songfeng frowned slightly looking at Ji Shuliu's almost naked body, showing a somewhat uncomfortable expression, and his hands were very gentle.
Ji Shuliu lay down and raised his hand, as if to touch his face, but it landed on his shoulder: "Sorry, I didn't expect you to be so tired that you would have to bleed to apologize. Don't you want to rest for a while?"
"I'm fine, I can make up for it by drinking some water. It's not your fault, I'll just pretend to be fair." Qin Songfeng was silent for a moment, "Don't blame me, they are willing to hand you over to me when they focus on the first thing."
Ji Shuliu smiled and said: "You are not serious, even I can see that you are actually protecting me, and others must be able to see it too."
"What are you afraid of when you see it? It's fine if you don't say it."
"Speaking of protection, why isn't my aunt missing?"
"She was too worried about you, so she didn't dare to let her watch this time. Your uncle watched her hide in the house."
"Then I'll take a break first..." Ji Shuliu closed his eyes, frowned, turned his head to the side and stopped talking. His body was occasionally stiff due to pain, but he cooperated with Qin Songfeng's movements very well.Qin Songfeng hastened to clean up his whole body, gently wrapped him in a piece of silk cloth, covered him with a quilt, brought a plate of snacks and put it beside the bed, and drank a pot of water himself, and sat down on the side of Ji Shuliu's feet Rest against the wall.
Ji Shuliu took a nap for about a cup of tea, opened his eyes, turned over on his side and ate up the snacks, then tilted his head to look at Qin Songfeng's face.Qin Songfeng was also looking at his face. Their eyes met and they stared at each other silently, their expressions calm as a matter of course.Qin Songfeng got up a few times in the middle, fed Ji Shuliu some water, or wiped Ji Shuliu's sweat, then sat back and continued to stare at Ji Shuliu.
After what seemed like a long time, Ji Shuliu withdrew his gaze, got up slowly with difficulty, asked Qin Songfeng for a light jacket to put on, clasped Qin Songfeng's arm and said solemnly: "I have two important matters, one is waiting for Qu Ze wakes up, one thing as long as you are here."
"You said."
"I just want to tell you this matter. Can you guarantee that after I tell the truth, I will never disclose it to others?" Ji Shuliu looked at Qin Songfeng eagerly.
Qin Songfeng asked: "What happened in Jianghu? Does it have anything to do with Zuishibao?"
Ji Shuliu slowly let go of Qin Songfeng's arm: "It does matter."
Qin Songfeng's eyes became sharp: "Then I can't guarantee it. I don't know what you are going to say, but since you asked me to keep it secret, it must be because it is useful to others."
Ji Shuliu hesitated to persuade: "I understand that you are upright, and I also understand that you are serious about your promise. But if you don't agree to keep it secret, I will never tell the truth. Others still don't know the truth; if you agree, at least you know it yourself The truth, maybe it can help."
Qin Songfeng said decisively: "How much help can I alone? There are hundreds of people here in Baidao, and many of them have family members. I can take care of at most a dozen people, which is a drop in the bucket. If It’s fine if I don’t know, that’s because I’m not capable, as long as I know, I can’t watch anyone jump into the pit.” He paused, and persuaded instead, “I won’t force you, but you should think about it. Thinking about Mr. Zheng. What are you hiding this time? If you tell me, is it possible to save someone's life?"
"No. At least this may be very small." Ji Shuliu was still insisting.
"Then why do you want to tell me this, other than because it could save my life?"
Ji Shuliu was startled, lowered his eyes and froze on the bed, his face was pale, as if he had turned into a stone statue.
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Note: The size of 1 liter in the book is similar to the contemporary
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