Pawn Crossing the River

What will happen to Cuo Wenbu next, and what changes will occur within the Taoist sect as a result, have nothing to do with Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu tied up his armored horse and ran all the way, along the long coastline of Cuowenbu, and came to the east of Cuowenbu.

Because Cuo Wenbu is so huge, the east of Cuo Wenbu and the west of Cuo Wenbu are almost two different worlds. The west of Cuo Wenbu is a vast Gobi desert, which is often called "a place where birds don't poop". , known as the "West Gobi". However, the east of Cuowenbu is not the "East Gobi", but an oasis, so it is also called the "Eastern Oasis".

This is like "East Prince" corresponding to "West Queen Mother", rather than "East Queen Mother" corresponding to "West Queen Mother".

It's no wonder that Bai Yutang chose to hide here. Not to mention anything else, just in terms of environment, it is much better than the West Gobi. After all, the members of the secret society are not ascetics, and they also hope that their living conditions will be better.

Following the guidance of the map given by the innkeeper, Qi Xuansu ran for several miles and found a small river in the southwest of the East Oasis, tracing its source upstream. After walking for several more miles, the creek suddenly disappeared and turned into an underground river.

Qi Xuansu could only dive into the water and then enter the underground river. The top dome of the underground river was only two feet away from the water surface, so Qi Xuansu could only move forward under the water. After swimming for a while, the river water emerged again. As the saying goes, water flows to lower places, so the terrain here is obviously lower than before.

Qi Xuansu emerged from the water and saw mountain peaks standing on both sides. He looked up at the sky and saw only a thin line. The mountains are green and the water is green, and the scenery is extremely peaceful, but there is silence all around, and there is a faint danger.

Qi Xuansu couldn't help but secretly admire Bai Yutang's ingenious thinking. This line of sky is narrow at the top and thick at the bottom. Even if a heavenly person looks down from a high altitude, it will be difficult to find that there is a cave in this deep valley. He has to get closer to take a closer look.

Qi Xuansu walked out of the river. Fortunately, the official ticket, Zimu Talisman and "Dragon Hand Gun" were all waterproof. He only needed to use his true energy to steam dry his clothes, and then continued walking along the river bank for several miles, and finally came to A green valley full of flowers, surrounded by mountains and protected from the cold wind, is a good place to spend the winter and escape the cold.

There is a small village not far from the entrance. There are more than ten houses of various sizes gathered together. There are no fences and there are fields and mulberry forests around. It is really an idyllic scenery.

Qi Xuansu walked into the village along a path and found that the place was deserted, with not a single person in sight. Qi Xuansu walked into a house and checked various traces. There was no obvious dust, which meant that someone had lived here not long ago. However, the fire was no longer warm, which meant that they had not just left.

Qi Xuansu should have calculated the time. It took him about a day to return from the workshop to Qianhu Office and then leave Qianhu Office. It took one day to get from Qianhusuo to Cuowenbu, and three days from the west bank to the east bank of Cuowenbu.

Time, six days have passed since we finally found this place.

It seems that Bai Yutang evacuated this place during this period.

Qi Xuansu walked through the empty village and came to the other side.

There is a huge manor here, which is not quite like the local buildings in Yongzhou. It has an obvious style of the Imperial Capital, just like the various summer gardens built by the Imperial Capital's dignitaries outside the Imperial Capital, such as the famous Yuqing Garden. This garden was first built during the reign of Emperor Xiaozong of the previous dynasty. The original owner was the father of Empress Xiaozong, and it was taken back to the royal family during the reign of Emperor Sejong. When Daxuan conquered the world, the garden was put under the name of the new royal family. After repairs by successive emperors, it now covers an area of ​​about 1,500 acres. There are front lake, back lake, Yihai Hall, Qingya Pavilion, Tingshui Pavilion, Huaju Pavilion and other buildings imitating Jiangnan landscapes are known as the first garden in the imperial capital.

Qi Xuansu once went to the Imperial Capital with Qiniang. He took a look at it from a distance and was deeply impressed.

This manor has the style of Yuqing Garden. It can even be said that it is modeled after Yuqing Garden, but it is much smaller. It does not occupy an exaggerated area of ​​1,500 acres, but only a few dozen acres. This is interesting. Bai Yutang imitated Jinque in its organizational structure, its name alluded to Yujing, and now it imitated the imperial family's Yuqing Garden. I really don't know what they are going to do.

At this time, the gate of the manor was closed tightly. Qi Xuansu did not push the door rashly, but jumped up to the gate tower and stood on a high place overlooking the manor.

At a cursory glance, except that there is no one around, the entire manor is still as usual. It seems that the owner here only went out temporarily, so he didn't take anything with him. No one else came during the period, and it still looks like when the owner left.

Qi Xuansu jumped down from the gate tower, kept vigilant, and walked cautiously to the main hall.

To Qi Xuansu's surprise, there were no mechanisms or formations along the way. Qi Xuansu came directly to the main hall. There was also no human figure here. All the furnishings were well preserved and not cluttered. It can be seen that the people in Bai Yutang did not evacuate. Don't panic, be methodical.

After Qi Xuansu wandered around the main hall, he went to other places, including side halls, gardens, bedrooms, greenhouses, small living rooms, etc., and finally came to the most important study.

Nothing else has changed, with the exception of the study. The three walls of the study room were filled with bookshelves, but at this time the bookshelves were empty, with nothing left. There is also a huge brazier in the middle of the study, which is filled with ashes. It is obvious that someone once burned some important files here.

In addition, there are many scattered papers on the ground. Qi Xuansu glanced through it and found all kinds of information, including information about the imperial court, Taoist sects, and even the specific movements of the imperial army and Taoist sect spiritual officials. However, the information is time-sensitive. Because it is out of date, the information that was once worth thousands of dollars has no value at all now and is just a pile of waste paper.

Qi Xuansu saw a

A piece of paper wrote the news that Qin Wubing was about to lead his army into the West Gobi. Before that, it was indeed top secret, but now even Qi Xuansu knows it. Qi Xuansu even met Qin Wubing in the West Gobi. It's a piece of waste paper, no wonder it was thrown here carelessly.

Qi Xuansu walked around the brazier and came to the bookcase. The four treasures of the study are all on the desk, and there is a piece of paper under the paperweight. Qi Xuansu hesitated for a while, then picked up the paperweight and found

This letter was not accidentally left here, but was left behind intentionally by the owner of this place. Judging from the handwriting alone, there are no obvious features and it is quite satisfactory.

The letter was written to Qiniang. Strictly speaking, it was written to the person sent by Qiniang, that is, Qi Xuansu.

The content of the letter was very simple, and it roughly explained the reason why they had to leave this place, mainly because of the Taoism. Daomen is not a weak giant who has entered his old age and is riddled with all kinds of diseases, but a giant whose actions are uncoordinated due to schizophrenia. Although this giant often fights with his left and right hands or slaps himself in the face, he even takes the initiative to stretch out his fingers to let people outside Snakes and insects came to gnaw at him, but there was no doubt that this giant was in the prime of his life, and when he drew his sword, he was still unstoppable.

Although the internal fighting within the Taoist sect has become increasingly fierce, following a certain inertia, the sword of the Taoist sect will not stop. In a short time, the Taoist gate will sweep across the entire Cuowenbu. If they continue to stay here, it may be difficult to survive. This is the reason why they have to leave here.

Before leaving, he decided to fulfill the contract with Qiniang, which is what Qiniang said to pay off the debt.

The signature is "Mountain Ghost Ballad".

Qi Xuansu felt that it was unexpected but reasonable. Bai Yutang was originally a union of multiple secret societies, so the existence of members of the Qingping Society was very reasonable. From this point of view, both "Shan Guiyao" and Qiniang joined Bai Yutang, but Qiniang later left Bai Yutang for some reason and will not return to Bai Yutang for the time being. As for the relationship between "Shan Gui Yao" and Qiniang, it may be that they were former colleagues, or it may be that "Shan Gui Yao" took over Qiniang's position in Bai Yutang.

After thinking about it more deeply, there is no obvious distinction in the tone of "Shan Gui Yao"'s letter. He should be on the same level as Qiniang. Qiniang is a second-class member, so "Shan Gui Yao" should also be a second-class member. .

As for the rest, no more.

Qi Xuansu read the letter twice more and used some methods of roasting it with fire and soaking it in water to make sure there was no mystery on the letter paper, only these contents. "Mountain Ghost Ballad" talks about repaying the debt, and then stops abruptly without saying how to "repay the debt" or even what the debt is, let alone where to put the things.

"Pretend to be a ghost." Qi Xuansu cursed lightly and put down the paperweight he had been holding.

etc.

Qi Xuansu suddenly felt that this scene seemed familiar.