After the immortal disappeared

Zhao Song didn't know what the confidence of Island Master He was, and he dared to let everyone eat and drink at this time.

But it was so righteous to do this. When the palace guards mentioned Master He, their thumbs almost broke off.

Only through comparison can we understand the difference. Compared with the noisy Tianshui City, the current Yongquan Villa is as beautiful as a paradise.

…

The western suburb of Yongquan Villa, Taoxi.

The gurgling stream ignores the sorrow of the world.

Dong Rui had a decisive battle with Cao Wendao, the owner of the red hut, here a few days ago, but the big hole in the ground that was blown up has not been healed.

The government originally sprayed pesticide powder for backfilling and buried the giant turtle that was killed by the explosion on the spot. But I don’t know who dug up the ground again, revealing the fish carcasses inside.

Fortunately, the weather was very cold and the corpse of the demon puppet decomposed slowly, so there was no foul smell.

So there was a huge patch of loose soil on the ground, and the surrounding trees that were destroyed remained intact.

He Lingchuan approached under the moonlight and called out twice: "Auntie, Auntie!"

He was a little worried because there were two new signs of bonfires by the stream. He bent a piece of half-burnt wood and found that the cut was still a little wet.

"Why are you acting like a thief?"

A voice sounded, close at hand. He Lingchuan turned his head in surprise, only to find that a dead tree moved in the forest about ten feet away.

It also changed color when it moved, and even took two steps closer to him.

Aunt Zhu.

He Lingchuan gave it a thumbs up: "Madam, your discoloration skills are becoming more and more sophisticated."

"Uh-huh." Aunt Zhu's figure has become smaller than in the Yangshan Islands. "Where is my wine?"

Aunt Zhu has been wandering around the Yongquan Villa. She can survive for a month after one full meal. She doesn't need to hunt frequently. She usually finds a cave to hide and sleep. She also has the magical power to hide herself. Almost no one can detect her whereabouts. .

But it likes to drink, and every few days, Dong Rui has to give it wine. Now that Dong Rui has left, the job of delivering wine falls to He Lingchuan.

The aunt and the two ladies have very different personalities, but they both like fine wine.

He Lingchuan took out the good wine from the storage ring and placed one jar after another on the ground. There were six jars in total: "I don't know which owner made the apricot wine at Yongquan Villa. I won't take it away anyway. Just drink it all." ”

This job of delivering wine could have been left to his subordinate Wan Qifeng and others, but He Lingchuan felt that no matter how busy he was, he would have to have a drink and chat with his aunt in person. After all, this big monster followed him all the way from the Yangshan Islands to Yao Kingdom to protect him, and his heart was admirable.

He opened the mud seal of the wine jar, took a bowl and poured out the wine. The aroma was overflowing.

Aunt Zhu directly stretched out her mouthpart, pierced the mud seal, and drank happily.

"Yes, Gudu Gudu, this wine is good." The aunt asked him while drinking, "How do you get rid of those followers when you come here?"

Dong Rui took Snail Toad away, leaving He Lingchuan with no tools to escape. Although Aunt Zhu put an eyeball spider on He Lingchuan, the little thing had to take a nap occasionally and would not be connected all the time.

After all, this also consumes spiritual energy.

He Lingchuan smiled mysteriously: "The mountain man has his own clever plan."

Zhao Song and other palace guards thought he was staying at Yongquan Villa and in his own yard.

Aunt Zhu didn't ask any more questions. When the boy went back later, wouldn't he understand after just one look with his eyeball spider?

He Lingchuan pointed to the bonfire on the ground and asked, "Who left it?"

"Refugees. There have been so many refugees sneaking out of the city recently!" Aunt Zhu said, "I was sleeping in the woods, and six or seven refugees sneaked over. They found a shovel from nowhere and started digging. Cut the corpse into pieces and roast it.”

It paused and said, "They went into the forest to collect firewood and almost came to rip off the hair on my legs."

Aunt Zhu disguised herself as a dead tree and refused to move when the refugees came. When people were picking up branches, they almost picked it up.

He Lingchuan laughed: "These little geniuses."

Yes, the refugees didn’t have enough to eat, so someone thought that there was a huge dead fish by the Tao River, which had only been dead for a few days.

It's freezing cold, and not to mention the dead fish that are just a few days old, people dare to eat them even for two weeks.

I almost fainted from hunger, why are I so picky about food? With the size of this turtle, there is no problem in feeding a hundred people.

"What these people feel is nothing more than the daily life of ordinary people, and they can't bear it." Aunt Zhu said lightly, "But not long after they finished eating, they held their stomachs and cried out in pain, and then they died."

"..." The aunt spoke as briefly as ever, "The demon puppet is made with divine blood. If ordinary people eat it, there will be no bad consequences. What about them?"

"I threw it away." After drinking the first jar of wine too quickly, Aunt Zhu began to taste the second jar carefully, "The dead body is an eyesore."

"Has Ashmona shown up in the past few days?"

"No." Aunt Zhu didn't even raise her head. "I put some eyes around Youhu Lake and Yongquan Villa, as well as in the dark forests and hills, but I couldn't find its whereabouts."

The government has not received any relevant information, indicating that this monster is quite secretive.

"However, when I was walking in the south of the city, I found an empty camp. Judging from the traces on the ground, there may have been many people resting there, but at that time there was not a single living thing left. Several carriages were damaged and abandoned. The horse only had a few hooves left, and the ground was covered in blood."

He Lingchuan took a sip of wine: "Do you think Ashmona did it?"

"When it ate Dong Rui's No. 66, it swallowed it whole, which shows that it likes to eat like this. So all the living people in the camp disappeared." Aunt Zhu analyzed, "The horse is relatively big, and it can't swallow it in one bite. It can only be eaten open. Although it is a clay demon, I can feel its desire for flesh and blood.”

"There are several people and horses, and his appetite is really big." He Lingchuan pondered, "Is it possible that he is still thinking about me?"

He is Cao WenDao's mission target.

"No," Aunt Zhu explained, "Dong Rui told me that it hates Cao Wendao and everything Cao Wendao forces it to do. So after it gets free, it will first stay away from you and Yongquan Villa."

"That's good. I really don't have time to worry about this lately."

Aunt Zhu asked: "Where did Dong Rui go?"

Its eyeball spider has a limited range. If Dong Rui goes too far, he will lose contact.

"Based on what I know about him, he should be almost at the border now." Snail Toad broke his leg, and Dong Rui injured his shoulder, but Gui Yuan was still fine, and there was also a bat demon puppet that could fly. They were traveling so fast Still much faster than ordinary people. "Perhaps he has gone straight to the Red House."

There are research materials of Cao Wendao and his men in the red house, and maybe experimental products. Dong Rui hopes that these will be helpful to his research on demons and puppets, and he also hopes to get a glimpse of the secrets of the Celestial Palace.

This guy is very slippery, and He Lingchuan doesn't need to worry about his safety.

"Have any unusual people come to Qingyang in the past two days?"

"No, she hasn't had a single visitor."

He Lingchuan nodded. Since he was targeted for attack by Honglu, and the body of the turtle was used as evidence, King Yao has stepped up surveillance on Qingyang. Even when Yu Wenxu and He Lingchuan were drinking, they mentioned that the officials who had interacted with Qingyang in the past few months had been sent for strict scrutiny!

As soon as He Lingchuan said his name, he suddenly understood.

No wonder so many officials commit suicide. It turns out that this is the root cause.

This was unimaginable last fall. At that time, Qingyang was still wielding the big stick of reporting, pointing out who was panicking. Even Xue Zongwu was uneasy, and King Yao did not dare to be so rude to her.

Since the construction of Youhu Villa and the eastward expansion project of Tianshui, her authority and reputation have plummeted. King Yao has gradually gained the upper hand and won most of the officials behind her.

At least that's how it looks on the surface.

"King Yao must also be alert, so Qingyang speeds up his actions." He Lingchuan swung the wine in his bowl, "The recent refugee riots are the work of Qingyang's group. King Yao has probably guessed it, There’s just no evidence.”

King Yao has arrested many officials recently, but he never knew that Qingyang's accomplices were hidden among his "own people".

Aunt Zhu asked smoothly: "How come the food shortage and riots in Tianshui City for more than ten days have become more severe the more they are suppressed?"

"Is it strange?" He Lingchuan took a sip of bayberry wine, "If the food shortage is not handled properly, it will inevitably lead to riots. Wasn't the Yuan Kingdom like this before? Hong Xiangqian revolted... Oh, you have never been to the Yuan Kingdom, so you don't know these things. ”

If there had been no famine, Hong Xiangqian’s uprising would not have broken out in the Yuan Kingdom, and state officials such as Nian Zanli would not have rebelled. Sun Fuping and Nian Songyu would not have gone to the Panlong Desert to pursue the Dafang Hu idea. He Lingchuan is probably still doing well now. Be his dandy in Blackwater City, right?

"A turmoil can often trigger countless causes and effects."

Aunt Zhu wondered: "It's almost two hundred years since the Yao Kingdom was established. Is it possible that it has never encountered a food shortage?"

Haven't you accumulated any experience?

"The situation is special this time." He Lingchuan took out a peach and washed it in the stream. There are five varieties of peaches in Yongquan Villa. This kind is called Dragon Blood Peach. It is not big but is as red as blood. It is especially soft and glutinous when you bite it.

During the food shortage, there are still fruits to eat, and these peaches are twice as sweet when chewed.

He shook the peach in the opposite direction, but Aunt Zhu didn't want it. It only eats gravy and drinks a little wine at most.

"The people of Yao Country used to have a prosperous life and developed economy and trade, or the family wealth was very strong. Here, food shortage is not the same as famine." He Lingchuan took a bite of a peach, "According to the history of Tianshui City, Yao Country also encountered food prices forty years ago. The price of rice and noodles rose sharply to thirty-five cents per kilogram. Although it was not as high as today’s fifty cents, it was still not low. At that time, people in Yao complained, but it was not at the point where the people were in dire straits.”

"This period of high tide lasted for about three or four months, and then slowly declined. Conflicts and frictions between officials and citizens broke out in several places, but they did not lead to greater unrest."

"Yes, forty years ago it was possible to do thirty-five cents, why can't it be fifty cents now?" Aunt Zhu still doesn't know much about the human world.

"There are so many differences. At that time, the price of food was as high as 35 cents. Now that we have just entered the climbing period, everyone can see that the price of food will continue to rise." He Lingchuan smiled, "The most important thing is that now, in the hands of Yao people I’m really out of money.”

"No money..." Aunt Zhu thought for a moment and said, "Xincheng?"