heaven money

At noon, in the oasis where the temple where An Guoxie died was located, a shop clerk frowned. Something was wrong. Uncle An Guoxie entered the temple last night. Why hasn't he come out yet? According to convention, he would come over and hang out!

He waited for a few more hours, and saw the sky dark red like fire, and the ground in front of him was golden. It was already sunset, but An Guoxie had not come over to hang around. He became more and more anxious, and vaguely sensed that something was wrong.

The clerk retreated into the store and left through the back door, but he had changed his clothes. He was wearing a white robe and a white turban, a typical Shakeh look.

He walked through the town at a very fast pace, bypassed the lake, and arrived at the area where the palace was originally located. Then, he stepped into the temple where he saw An Guoxie walk in last night.

As soon as he entered the temple, his heart sank rapidly. Even though a long time had passed, the air was still filled with a faint smell of blood and an indescribable and uncomfortable smell.

With the help of the setting sun, he searched the ground inch by inch for traces. Suddenly, his gaze froze. On the ground in front of the tattered statue, there was a faint dark spot.

Although it was obvious that someone had dealt with the traces, the splattered blood was hidden very deeply. If the setting sun had not shone on this place at this moment, making it special, I would not have been able to find it at all.

The bandit, who was disguised as a clerk, stood there in shock. Without checking, he could guess that this was the blood of Master Anguo. He was probably no longer in this world. After all, if he had killed someone else, why would he bother to deal with the traces? As long as he hadn't killed the relatives of the boss, the disciples favored by the ancestors, or the descendants of the Snow Mountain Sect, the Vajra Temple, the Shura Temple, or the Happy Temple, who could do anything to him?

Things have gotten out of hand... The horse bandit spy sighed deeply in his heart. This is no longer something he can handle!
One of the two disciples that the ancestor valued most, a great master with all nine orifices opened and a famous name on the human list, was killed so silently?
The murderer's strength is definitely beyond my imagination!
He searched carefully for a while but found no other clues. He did not dare to delay and quietly walked around the store and wrote a letter detailing what he had seen and heard and his own guesses.

Unfortunately, he didn't know that the crying old man was dead. Although Ze Luoju was a master in the field, he was not a real strong man in the field after all, and his influence was far less than that of the crying old man.

Once the news of the death of the crying old man spreads, I am afraid that not many people will be afraid of these horse bandits anymore. Even more people will unite to deal with those who are related to the crying old man in order to flatter and win over Xuan Bei.

At night, he jumped to the woods beside the lake, pinched his lower lip and whistled. After a few long and two short whistles, a strange bird with a white top and black feathers flew out of the woods, landed happily on his shoulder, and flapped its wings on his head, showing great affection.

The bandit exchanged some affection with the strange bird and fed it some strips of fresh meat. Then he tied the letter to its feet and let it flap its wings and fly high into the sky.

The horse bandit stood there in a daze for a while, sighed softly, and quietly returned to the store.

The next day, he was running the store and selling goods as usual. In the evening, when he was about to close the door at the order of the shopkeeper, he saw a tall middle-aged man in front of his eyes. He had no turban, and was covered with a black robe. He had short and thick hair, a beard, a black eye patch on his left eye, and a long and evil black saber on his waist.

"Boss." The horse bandit lowered his head and shouted respectfully, using the language of the Western Regions rather than the unwritten language of the Dajin on the trade route.

This person is Ze Luoju, one of the three major horse bandits in Hanhai, a disciple of the crying old man, a master in the outer scene realm, nicknamed "Hanhai Evil Knife".

Zeluoju's voice was hoarse and had a special charm. He also used the Western language to ask: "Where is the temple?"

An Guoxie was a master with all nine orifices opened. He was one of the two most powerful people in the lineage of the Crying Old Man, besides Ze Luoju and Yan Shiche. His death was a matter of great importance, so after Ze Luoju received the secret letter, he rushed over in person.

The bandit didn't dare to say anything more. He glanced at the shopkeeper and found that he was unaware of anything, as if there was no such person as Ze Luoju at the door of the shop. He suddenly felt emotional, thinking that he was worthy of being the Evil Sword of the Vast Sea.

He quickly closed the shop door, left from the back, and entered the temple with Ze Luoju.

Ze Luoju looked at the hard-to-find bloodstain on the ground and slowly took off his blindfold. His empty left eye suddenly lit up with a faint green light, and there seemed to be fish-like creatures swimming and circling in it. The temple was suddenly filled with the cries of wronged souls and became eerie and gloomy.

His left eye was dug out by the crying old man, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise as he mastered an extremely difficult skill - "The Evil Eye of the Netherworld", which is also one of the origins of the nickname of Evil Knife.

The green light became brighter and brighter, and the whole temple seemed to be illuminated by the rippling green light, eerie and terrifying. The horse bandit trembled with fear and his heart trembled.

Ze Luoju looked for a while, turned and walked out of the temple, slowly came to the edge of the small lake, then raised his hand, a strong wind blew up, and a whirlpool suddenly formed in the lake.

The whirlpool expanded rapidly and exploded suddenly, with white waves rushing into the sky and two stones being brought up.

A headless corpse and a tattered head were tied to the stone.

The bandit took a closer look and saw that although the face of the corpse had been bitten into a bloody mess by the fish in the lake, the iconic white hair clearly proved that he was An Guoxie and had indeed been killed!
"Well done! I've wanted to kill this bastard for a long time."

Zeluoju said calmly:

"But no matter how deserving of death he is, we are the only ones who can do it!"

His "Evil Eye of the Netherworld" was unable to identify wounds, so he put on his eye patch again and squatted beside the corpse to examine it carefully.

"There are scars on the forehead and cheeks, but they were deliberately damaged by someone, and they were bitten and devoured by fish. It is impossible to confirm what kind of martial arts caused them, and it is also impossible to confirm whether it was fatal..."

Ze Luoju spoke in a low voice as if talking to himself, and the horse bandit wisely did not respond.

"There were hidden weapon wounds and the body was poisoned. The heart was severely damaged, which should be one of the main causes of death. There are traces of poison gas remaining in the meridians and signs that the internal energy dissipated before death..."

Zeluoju said half in contemplation and half in observation.

"The bones are completely softened. It should be because he was dodging swords and knives. For that bastard to be able to do this, either his strength completely suppressed him, or he came in a hurry and couldn't react in time... The Crazy Sand Divine Art showed signs of reverse luck. Combined with the previous, it should be to resist the influence of toxins and scattered poisonous gas. If he was strong enough to suppress him, there would be no need to go through so much trouble..."

Zeluoju clapped his hands, stood up, and said to the horse bandit:
"The killer's strength is no more than six orifices. He is good at using poison and hidden weapons. He is patient and should be very good at swordsmanship. An Guoxie made a mistake and was not on guard. He was fumigated with poisonous gas and then attacked by someone when he was not prepared. The sword was a cover, and the hidden weapon was the fatal cause. However, judging from the fact that he deliberately destroyed the sword scars, he must have a unique sword skill that cannot be ignored."

"Boss, it should be the young monk. Considering his age, he is probably just beginning to gain insight. What should we do?"

The bandit asked.

"Don't underestimate me. I will pass the order down. All brothers in the vast sea must kill this thief together."

Ze Luoju had to deal with many matters in Hanhai. He saw that the murderer was not as strong as he imagined, and he relied on many tricks to kill An Guoxie. Therefore, he had no intention of chasing him down personally.

But even so, one-third of the bandits in the vast sea are searching, hunting, besieging and killing them, which is also a very terrifying thing!

Among these horse bandits, there are countless masters who have opened up their minds. They are all desperate criminals who are familiar with the terrain, can gather people by shouting, and communicate with each other. If they are caught up by a group of horse bandits and cannot escape from the vast ocean or hide their tracks in time, even a master with nine orifices opened up may die here.

"Yes, boss."

The horse bandit didn't dare to look directly into Ze Luoju's right eye, which was as sharp as a knife.

He didn't care about the death of his disciple at all, and even wished he could kill An Guoxie with his own hands. This shows how cruel Ze Luoju was.

In Liushaji, Meng Qi in a white Confucian robe and Gu Changqing, who looks like a frail scholar, return on horseback, like two scholars who have traveled far away.

"Finally we're here." Gu Changqing breathed a sigh of relief. He had taken the wrong path several times on the way and arrived at Liushaji a day later than expected.

The corner of Meng Qi's mouth twitched. This guy seemed a little unreliable. Wouldn't it be self-inflicted to rely on him to go to the depths of the vast ocean to look for his junior brother?

"Well, we're finally here." Meng Qi no longer used the monk's language.

Hearing Meng Qi's answer, Gu Changqing said awkwardly, "I am relatively inexperienced. It's not that I don't know enough about the terrain. Look, we finally arrived at Liushaji, didn't we?"

"Yes." Meng Qi nodded to save his face.

Poplar trees of various shapes and sizes stood by the road. Liusha Village seemed to have gotten rid of the influence of the battle between Xuan Bei and the Crying Old Man that day and had regained a lot of its popularity.

Meng Qi and Gu Changqing stepped into the "First Store in Hanhai" together. The first thing they saw was the counter and Qu Jiuniang, who looked beautiful and mature but had an extremely bad personality.

Qu Jiuniang ignored everyone and lay on the counter with a lazy and seductive look, which made many passers-by swallow their saliva but dared not look any longer.

"Boss, I want to ask for some information." Meng Qi wore a gauze hat to cover up the fact that he had no hair.

"No news." Qu Jiuniang said straightforwardly, without wanting to say more. This is a place to eat and stay, not a place to inquire about news!

Meng Qi once again had the urge to teach her a lesson. She was too bad. However, thinking that she might be an expert in outdoor scenes, he held back his anger and took out an emerald: "Boss, I am willing to pay a high price."

As soon as she saw this emerald of obviously extraordinary quality, Qu Jiuniang's eyes suddenly lit up, and her whole body suddenly became energetic and even more beautiful.

"Just take it out earlier. Money will make things easier!" Qu Jiuniang said angrily.

This was the first time she looked Meng Qi in the eye since she came in. As soon as she finished speaking, her expression changed slightly. She looked at Meng Qi carefully from head to toe. She looked at his eyes, his ears, his skin, his hands, the dark red ring knife hanging at his waist and the long sword wrapped in the light gold scabbard. Meng Qi was uneasy. What was she looking at?
Qu Jiuniang thought to herself:
"As expected of a little monk who was recommended by that evildoer, his strength has improved so quickly, and it seems that he escaped from An Guoxie's clutches on his own!"

My evaluation of Meng Qi improved again.

Then, Qu Jiuniang's face regained its composure and she said nonchalantly, "Since you want to get the news, go to the room so that no one can hear you."

Meng Qi had no objection to this. The information he obtained might expose his identity, and there were probably horse bandits and spies here.

Qu Jiuniang walked out of the counter and went upstairs first. She had a slender waist and a graceful back, and she walked slowly and gracefully, like a willow tree swaying in the wind. Meng Qi and Gu Changqing quickly followed behind her.

Some guests laughed in low voices: "Since when did you have to go to the room to get information? I remember Jiu Niang never had such a rule?"

"It turns out that Jiu Niang likes this kind of pretty boy, who eats him up and is the most nutritious, hehe." They laughed in a very obscene way.

When Qu Jiuniang heard this, her eyebrows raised. She picked up the wooden basin that the waiter was using to clean the table and splashed it over, "Go nourish your mother!"

The guests who were talking were drenched like drowned rats. Their hair stuck to their faces and their clothes were soaked and stuck to their bodies. They looked extremely disheveled, and the food and wine in front of them were naturally soaked.

It's shameful to waste... Meng Qi had to take the rules of the Changhua Temple into consideration, and he had to maintain the image of a senior monk in front of Duan Xiangfei and others. He hadn't eaten meat properly for two whole months. He only occasionally sneaked out at night, caught some wild animals, and grilled them himself. However, due to the incomplete seasoning and poor cooking skills, the taste was really disappointing.

After coming back, he and Gu Changqing traveled across the vast sea, relying on dry food to fill their stomachs. They had no idea of ​​the taste of meat. Therefore, after entering "The First Restaurant in the Hanhai", the aroma of meat made him so hungry that he swallowed several times.

Qu Jiuniang took a look at the messy food and wine and snorted, "If you want to eat, eat. If not, get out of here."

After saying that, he went upstairs without looking back.

Meng Qi reluctantly withdrew his gaze, told himself that he would be able to eat it soon, and quickly caught up with Jiu Niang.

Those guests were also businessmen who came to Hanhai all the year round. They were considered regular customers of Hanhai’s No. 1 store. At this time, they looked at each other as if they were used to it and laughed.

"Haha, I just like Jiu Niang to be so hot!"

"That's right, those little girls don't have the flavor of Jiu Niang. Alas, it's a pity that the water just now wasn't her foot washing water."

Hearing this, Meng Qi couldn't help but wipe the cold sweat for them. If they continued to say this, they might see their bodies in the vast sea tonight.

Qu Jiuniang pretended not to hear anything, pushed open the door of a guest room and walked in, sitting on the bed with her legs spread wide, watching Meng Qi and Gu Changqing carefully close the door, and then said with a half-smile:
"You are so brave that you dare to return to Liushaji even though Zeluoju has issued a hunting order. To tell you the truth, there are five horse bandit spies among the guests below, and two of them are Zeluoju's subordinates."

Meng Qi didn't expect that his disguise was not professional enough to deceive Qu Jiuniang, who had met him face to face before. After all, she was also rumored to be in the outer scene: "I hurried back specially to find out which direction Junior Brother left? Where did my master fight with the crying old man?"

Qu Jiuniang had a cold expression, her eyes were full of movement, and she seemed to be intoxicated. Of course, her target was not Meng Qi, but the emerald in Meng Qi's hand: "One question, one gem."

I'll go, you go grab it! Meng Qi cursed, but still took out a blood-red gem and a emerald green gem: "Three questions."

Who says this is a monopoly business? Going down to ask will only expose their whereabouts!

Qu Jiuniang stared at the three gems without blinking: "The last place where they fought was 'Bo Mi', which is a dangerous place in the vast sea, where evil people gather. The little monk went due west, so he should be chasing them..."

As soon as he finished speaking, a fragrant breeze filled the air, refreshing his heart and lungs. Meng Qi's eyes blurred, and the three gems in his hand all fell into Qu Jiuniang's hands.

"There is one question I haven't asked yet." Meng Qi worked hard to fight for his rights.

Qu Jiuniang played with the gem in her hand with a dazed look in her eyes and said impatiently, "Ask quickly."

"What is the Evil Sword Hunting Order? Where is my master now?" Meng Qi asked with concern.

Qu Jiuniang raised her head suddenly, with an expression that said, "Don't bully me because I'm not good at divination."
"Those are two questions."

Cough, cough, Meng Qi coughed, took out a piece of jade and threw it to Qu Jiuniang. There were only a few jewels left from An Guoxie.

Qu Jiuniang's black and white eyes sparkled as she looked at the jadeite intently and waved to catch it. If such a look, coupled with her mature and beautiful appearance and figure, was used on a man, Meng Qi doubted that few would be able to resist it.

"After the weeping old man died, Xuan Bei seemed to be following your trail, but he seemed to be led away by an unknown existence, heading deep into the Western Regions!"

Qu Jiuniang put away the gem with satisfaction and continued:
"The Evil Knife Hunting Order is a symbol of Ze Luoju's dominance over the Vast Sea. It is used to deal with important enemies that are not worth his time. Once the Evil Knife Hunting Order is issued, all the bandits and lone robbers who have submitted to him in the Vast Sea will hunt him down like crazy, because Ze Luoju will satisfy his reasonable request." (End of this chapter)