Chapter 17 Chapter 15

On the rainy night of the next day, the Dawei Tianchao arrived at Guangzhou Port. Guangzhou was originally a place where fireworks flourished, where ladies and gentlemen were prosperous, boats and vehicles converged, and department stores gathered.However, at this moment, there was not a single light on the long coastline of the port, and a gloomy city tower stood alone in the night wind by the sea.The thick black rain cloud was like a mourning flag, waving slowly over the port.Countless pale sails floated with the waves in the thick night.The night rain hit those sails, making a rustling sound, and everything was gradually corrupting in this boundless sound.

The Tianchao shook slightly and had dropped anchor into the port.Every cabin in the cabin is tightly closed, and there are only a few dimly lit candles struggling in the wind in the corridor. Holding the greeting card, Xiangsi stood anxiously at the door of No. 2 room. The door was not closed, but the faint candlelight and faint music came out from the slightly opened door. The sound of the music is extremely thin, as if it came from a distant and familiar place, like a past event that has been forgotten for many years, but there is always a trace of karma that cannot be stopped.At a certain time and place, a ray of sunshine and a ray of breeze called her back.

As soon as her hand touched the door knocker, a strange feeling came from her fingertips—feeling that she was going to visit a friend she had not seen for many years, so she pushed in lightly. The light in the room was dim, with a touch of old gold in the dark red.She seemed to suddenly think of something, and when she looked up, Xiao Yan stood facing the sea by the window in the inner room, holding a purple musical instrument in her hand. The thick purple waves on the sea surface gently swell, and the new moon and sunset are suspended at the place where the sea and the sky meet. Xiaoyan stood with his eyes closed, his belt fluttering slowly in the halo of the sun and the moon, and the last glimmer of light between heaven and earth was collected on him by the evening wind, supporting his solemn figure like a The reflection of the god in the sea.

A huge group of purple clouds floated slowly from the sky, and the moment it approached him, it suddenly scattered into flying flowers all over the sky, falling like rain, and a few pieces lightly perched on his sleeve. When I looked again, those turned out to be a group of purple butterflies. Facing the group of butterflies, Xiaoyan, with his sleeves lightly stretched out, puts his hands together in front of his chest, with his left hand in the wisdom fist seal and his right hand in the bounding seal.Those purple butterflies immediately hovered in the air, forming a halo around him, flying up and down as if prostrating, their wings opening and closing constantly.

Xiaoyan's eyes suddenly opened. A huge purple butterfly stood out from the halo and sank into his hand.The purple light on the butterfly wings was about to flow, trembling unceasingly, accompanied by a strange stringed sound, extremely sad, as if caring for all the sentient beings in the world, and as if lamenting all the evils in the six realms. Xiao Yan gently put his hands together, and a cloud of purple air wrapped the butterfly around his hands.He stared at the purple butterfly in his hand, a little smile appeared on his pale, almost transparent face. With this smile, the dark night seemed to be opened up by an invisible light.The world is like a long-sinking ancient pool, as if it has been waiting for him for thousands of years, and now it is finally released.

Acacia seems to be crazy about it. Suddenly, the purple butterfly's wings flashed with cold light, and it rushed towards her like an arrow flying from the string.Xiangsi raised her head in surprise, the purple light was already in front of her eyes, she was about to dodge in a panic, only to hear Xiaoyan yell softly: "Don't move." Suddenly, his purple clothes seemed to spread out a cloud of auspicious light to wrap her up. Xiangsi was still in shock, Xiaoyan had already let go of her, and said: "In a hurry, please forgive me for offending." A drop of blood on the index finger of his left hand seemed to be condensed on a white jade.

With a calm expression, he bent down and picked up the purple butterfly on the ground. The butterfly spread its wings and was dead.A little blood, swimming back and forth on the lavender pearl, seems to be a little crimson night dew on the purple lotus. Xiangsi was so shocked by this weird beauty that she was speechless.Xiaoyan looked at her and said slowly: "Only when you die is the most beautiful moment. All life in the world is like this." Xiangsi's heart moved, and it took a long time before he apologized: "I was so abrupt that I killed His Highness's beloved, it really..."

Xiao Yan shook his head slightly: "I don't care about the things I love, they are just useful things." Looking at the body of the fragile butterfly, Xiangsi said doubtfully, "His Highness uses them to..." Xiaoyan sighed, said: "Kill", and then gently lifted the butterfly corpse in his hand out of the window. Xiangsi suddenly recalled the purple light she saw behind the neck of the half-clothed man in white that night, her heart trembled, and she said, "Could it be..." Xiaoyan sighed slightly: "Fengming's butterfly teeth are as sharp as blades. After biting the skin, it immediately spins silk on the wound. The butterfly silk contains poison and attacks the heart with the blood... It's just that those who hurt others will eventually hurt themselves, and it will also Die immediately."

Xiangsi said: "Then your injury—" Xiao Yan said: "I pricked my finger and caused it to spun silk to die, otherwise there is no cure for the poison of the underworld butterfly." What does that mean?" Xiaoyan walked towards Xiangsi, but kept looking behind her, and said: "This one is not an ordinary butterfly, but the mother of all butterflies, which can spit out silk that hurts people. A few days ago, my first butterfly The female butterfly was accidentally lost, and it was just re-raised. Because the timing was important, I knew you came in, and I didn't stop. It's a pity that it was just born, and it suddenly attacked you, so I had to kill it."

His tone was downplaying, but Acacia felt very guilty: "Your Highness has worked so hard, but on the day of the completion of the work, there will be such an accident, which makes me feel unbearable." Xiaoyan said indifferently: "Madam, why blame yourself. I'm just worried that it has already spun silk while flying, and I'm afraid that Madam will accidentally bump into it while dodging." He flicked his sleeves and pointed behind Acacia. Xiangsi turned around in surprise, there seemed to be nothing in front of her eyes, and there seemed to be a ray of moonlight on an autumn night.

Xiaoyan took back a sapphire ring, raised his hand slightly, and the ring drew a blue light, which flew slowly towards the moonlight.The blue light passed through the white light soundlessly, and with a crisp sound, the ring landed on the ground with a clang, and was divided into two halves. The moonlight only fluctuated slightly, as if a drop of water swam quickly, and then disappeared without a trace. Xiangsi's face changed slightly, and she said: "Your Highness's Diesi is truly a unparalleled weapon in the world." Xiaoyan shook his head and said: "The unparalleled person in the world is ultimately his own cultivation, not something that can be obtained by external things." While knocking down the butterfly silk with his hands. "Be careful!" Xiangsi wanted to stop him in desperation, but as soon as she touched his hand, she felt extremely cold, so she quickly let go. Xiaoyan had already held the butterfly silk in his hand, and said: "I forgot to tell Madam, I have this layer of silk fabric in my hand, I can touch the butterfly silk without being hurt. Otherwise, how can I use it to defend against the enemy?" Seeing the faint purple light on his hand, Xiangsi suddenly remembered that the same luster had flashed on the bottom of his sleeve that day on the deck, and said, "Did your Highness use this kind of method to tear up the pirate's head and fend off Zhuang Yi's arrow?" Butterfly?" Xiao Yan said: "Exactly." Xiangsi sighed: "In a short while, dozens of people's lives have been taken away, and Zhuang Yi's black iron arrows have been blocked. There is no magic weapon like this in ancient times. I just don't know what the name of this butterfly is called?" Xiao Yan stared at the butterfly silk in his hand, the flowing cold light made his pale and slender fingers almost transparent, and said, "Dust sound." He raised his head and smiled, "Can't Madam hear it? Butterflies have singing voices." Xiangsi was taken aback by his beautiful smile.There are hummingbirds singing in the world, but butterflies have no sound.For the graceful dance, the butterfly can only flap its wings slowly, so it can never make a sound. No words and no songs, that is the price of her self-admiration. Xiao Yan looked at her, and there was a little smile in his eyes again: "Butterflies have singing, but ordinary people can't hear it because they are covered by their voices." Xiangsi recalled the faint stringed sound that Caicai's mother butterfly made when she folded her wings in Xiaoyan's palm just now, her heart was shocked, and then she said with a relieved smile: "The high mountains and flowing waters sing for the confidant. Ming Die has a confidant like His Highness, and it can be said to be dead." And no regrets." Xiaoyan's smile gradually became indifferent, and he said: "Ming Die is gentle by nature, and will never hurt others without the help of the master, so why would he attack Madam for no reason?" Xiangsi felt that his voice was a bit strange, she raised her head in surprise, and met his gaze. A piercing cold air came from his unfathomable eyes. Acacia looked at him blankly, everything around her seemed to have disappeared, and a feeling of extreme desolation rose from the bottom of her heart.The world seemed to be frozen, destroyed, and reborn at that moment, but I was still a helpless spectator on the deserted snow field. She involuntarily took a step back, suddenly thought of something, and hurriedly said: "Your Highness, I came here this time to send you a greeting card." Xiaoyan closed his eyes suddenly, Xiangsi only felt that the heavy chill on his body dissipated immediately, and his heart instantly returned to calm.He only heard him say: "Please tell Mr. Yu and Leader Yang, I will definitely get off the boat and pay a visit to you two before midnight tonight." Xiangsi looked at the greeting card in her hand, and said, "But...but His Highness hasn't opened it yet." Xiao Yan turned around and said coldly: "No need. Doesn't Mrs. Yu know that there are no words on it?" Night rain is more urgent. The waves are raging, and the sea and the sky are connected, just like a splashed ink landscape painted badly by an inferior painter.The gong of the Sea Forbidden was loud, and several large ships that were still sailing on the sea rushed into the port, and the huge pier was suddenly in chaos. Yang Yizhi's room was very tidy, so tidy and empty that there wasn't even a single extra thing.There was only a jug of wine on the table, which was already half dry. Xiangsi leaned against the window, frowning slightly, watching the rainstorm outside the window. Holding the wine cup, Zhuo Wangsun sighed and said: "Guangzhou is prosperous and the fireworks are in full bloom. I intended to travel with brother Yang tonight, enjoy the flowers and the moon, and point out the scenery. Unexpectedly, the sky is not beautiful, the rain is pouring, and a beautiful event will come true. It's hard work." Yang Yizhi said indifferently: "I have been traveling with Mr. Yu for a long time, why not tonight? I only hope that the real culprit can be found tonight, and Mrs. Yu's suspicion can be cleared." Zhuo Wangsun said: "I don't know if Brother Yang, like everyone else, thinks that his wife is the number one suspect in this case?" "No." Yang Yizhi glanced at Xiangsi, shook his head and said, "Recently, Madam Zun's true energy has leaked out, and her internal strength has been greatly damaged. Even before, she was unable to complete this case at all." Zhuo Wangsun said with a smile: "Brother Yang really has good eyesight, and even knows my wife's weak skills like the palm of my hand." Yang Yizhi looked at him: "If a person possesses superb martial arts, he can't escape these eyes." Zhuo Wangsun raised his head and drank the wine in the cup: "Then brother Yang, do you have doubts?" Yang Yizhi shook his head and said, "If Mr. Yu wants to kill someone, he doesn't need to use those tricks." Zhuo Wangsun pushed the wine jar to him and said: "The world is unpredictable. The sages use ominous things as a last resort, let alone us?" Yang Yizhi's face darkened, and he said: "No matter what, after tonight the ship will enter the open sea, and it won't dock in January. This is the only chance. If the murderer is really among the three of us, the third Heavenly Festival's notice will come to nothing. .” Zhuo Wangsun said: "I'm afraid the murderer is not among the three of us." Yang Yizhi said: "Other people, Yue Jie can handle them." Zhuo Wangsun cast his eyes out of the window: "In this case, the time of Xu is approaching, and we should all disembark." Guangzhou Port on a rainy night looks gloomy and awkward. The narrow and wet streets are empty, and the doors and windows of the densely packed two-story residential buildings are closed.The fronts of restaurants and shops, and the lanterns have long been put away, and even the spare transom windows are firmly sealed with thick cross wooden strips.Looking around, the whole city is shrouded in thick black rain, like a fortress that is about to fall, revealing the breath of dying everywhere. A shrill sound came from nowhere, and a vicious dog seemed to be disturbed and howled like crazy.In an instant, a dog barked, and a hundred dogs barked, and the whole city was full of dogs barking. I didn't expect the residents of Guangzhou City to raise so many vicious dogs.And those vicious dogs seemed to be stern, and there was a faint panic in their ferocious barking, and then they whimpered, like a ghost crying. The sound of wind and rain swept over and quickly drowned out the barks. Xiangsi involuntarily held Zhuo Wangsun's hand. Zhuo Wangsun looked up at the lifeless night sky, and said: "It seems that it is not easy to not only visit the scenery, but also ask for a shelter from the rain." Standing in the rain, Yang Yizhi said coldly: "No need, Madam Yu, please take shelter under the eaves, we will wait here." Suddenly a lantern appeared not far away. The red light swayed in the wind and rain, followed by a series of footsteps.One shouted in a rough voice, "Who?" Through the flickering lights, two night watchmen stood in the rain. They walked quickly with lanterns in their hands. Although they were holding umbrellas, their official uniforms were already soaked.The one in front lifted the lantern and looked towards Zhuo Wangsun with vain eyes, while the one in the back was cursing and pulling the iron chain in his hand. Through the hazy rain, Xiangsi vaguely saw a person still handcuffed at the other end of the iron chain. The man ignored the night watchman's urging, and just followed behind the two of them unhurriedly, raising his hand to yawn from time to time. Seeing that the three people did not answer, the leader of the watchman raised his voice and shouted: "Who is it!" Zhuo Wangsun replied: "Outsider." The watchman said: "Do you have a night walk token?" Zhuo Wangsun said: "When I first arrived in your land, I didn't have a badge." The eyes of the watchman at the back lit up, and he regained his energy immediately, and said: "Boss, I was lucky today, and caught three more. It seems that the rain was not in vain." The one in front nodded, cleared his throat, and said loudly: "Now the Japanese pirates are disturbing things, and the province's coastal defense is in a hurry. All people who travel at night must bring tokens. If you three don't have them, just go to my yamen." Zhuo Wangsun smiled and said, "It's better to be a guest at the county government office than to be exposed to the rain on the street." While shaking his chains, the watchman said with a sinister smile, "This friend can think about it. Yes, when we get to the county government, our brothers will show their full skills to entertain the three of you, especially—" He chuckled, Pointing at Acacia, he said, "Especially this girl." Yang Yizhi frowned slightly and said, "Brother Yu, it's never appropriate to disturb the place." The watchman sized Yang Yizhi up and down, finally suppressed his smile, and turned his head and said, "You're really showing off the airs of being a distinguished guest. Boss, do you think these two people were fooled by the rain?" "It's really stupid!" A long sigh came from behind the two, the sound was not loud, but it was still extremely clear in the storm, which scared the two night watchmen. Following the sound, it turned out to be the half-dead man on the chain. The two night watchmen were taken aback for a moment, and the leader waved a lantern to shine on the man's face, cursing, "You're looking for death!" Under the light, I saw that the man was a boy in his twenties, not only young, but also quite handsome. The white clothes were soaked through, but the luxury of the material could still be seen.The man yawned again, but the light in his eyes gradually brightened, as if he saw something of great interest. What he was interested in was not Acacia, he almost didn't even look at her, but looked at Zhuo Wangsun and Yang Yizhi, and said slowly: "The two seem to be elegant people, but they don't do elegant things, what a pity, what a pity." Zhuo Wangsun smiled and said, "How can there be something elegant in a rainy night?" The young man sighed: "On a stormy night, of course, you need singing and red teeth, and luminous wine can relieve your boredom. Otherwise, even if it is raining all over the sky and hearing dogs barking everywhere, it is better than going to some shitty county government office to see the faces of these common people and listen to them. It's better to be noisy." Zhuo Wangsun said with a smile: "If you have a place with song boards, red teeth, night lights and fine wines, of course we would like to visit them." The boy's eyes lit up again: "Those two might as well follow me immediately." The two night watchmen looked at him as if they were looking at a hopeless lunatic—a man was chained around the neck by others, dragged all over the street in the rainy night, and yet he still invited others to visit him, no? What is a madman? The watchman behind suddenly burst into laughter: "Where are you going? Is the gate of hell closed?" The young man frowned and shook his head and said: "Wan Fang dresses like a girl, drinking wine among the flowers is not alone. The place I want to take the two sons to is the most romantic and happy place in the world, how do you ordinary people know." Yang Yizhi looked at him coldly, Xiangsi was even more incomprehensible.Zhuo Wangsun smiled and said, "Could it be Wanhualou?" As the name suggests, Wanhualou is of course a place with countless flowers. It is said that the Wanhua Valley where the Wanhua Building is located is full of flowers, and the seasons are like spring, and there is something a hundred times more attractive than flowers-one hundred and eighty beautiful women.Each of these 180 women is named after a kind of flower, and each of them is beautiful, beautiful and artistic, and it is said that their secret arts in the room are also unparalleled in the world. However, what is even more disturbing is that these women are prostitutes. In other words, as long as you have enough money and enough status, you can buy them. This place has been a world of fireworks since ancient times, and the folk customs are obscene. Many girls have been trained since childhood to play the piano and flute, recite poems and write calligraphy, draw Go, play Shuanglu, wipe dominoes, and all kinds of obscene tricks.As the character grows up a bit, someone specially teaches her to comb her hair and face, point her cheeks and thrush her eyebrows, frown and smile, walk and sit, all with a certain attitude according to the beauty picture.When she was 14 or 15 years old, she taught her the secret art of living in the room, and made her sleep on the pillow, so that in the future, the prince and grandson would laugh all night and spend a lot of money on his head.At that time, people called it raising lean horses, which is the folk custom in the south. No wonder so many poets, talents, beauties and courtesans were born here in ancient times. Most of the girls in Wanhualou were recruited from the Jianghuai area since they were young, and they received extremely strict training and selection in Wanhua Valley. In the end, less than one percent of them can be listed in Wanhualou. Others were famous courtesans in nearby provinces. There are many fireworks shops in the four provinces in the south of the Yangtze River, among which the top three picks of the oiran ladies are bought by Wanhualou with a lot of money every year.No matter how famous those famous prostitutes were before, when they arrive at Wanhualou, they will rush to change into new names named after flowers.Because these seemingly vulgar names are the real honor of these prostitutes in their lives. This kind of honor can only be given to them by the golden signboard of Wanhualou. When the lights are turned on at night, various signs are hung on the Wanhua wall outside the door of Wanhualou. There are seventy-two gold medals and ninety-six silver medals for the famous twelve girls. These signs look very small, but if a man wants to turn over these signs, the gold he pays is not calculated in days, but in minutes and seconds.However, there are still countless cars and horses coming from all directions every day and stopping at Wanhua Building.Because this place is not only a gold-selling nest and a gentle township, but also a status symbol. However, when the two watchmen heard the word "Wanhualou", their expressions were as if they had seen a ghost.The night watchman in the lead stared at him for a while, and said, "What are you doing at Wanhualou?" The boy said: "Of course I went to Wanhualou to find a girl I knew." The watchman suddenly sneered twice, and said, "I think you are looking for death." The boy laughed and said, "Even if the peony flowers die, it's better than being dragged around in the rain by the two of you." The leader Xun Ye sneered and said, "There are no girls in Wanhualou now, but there are quite a few ghosts. Do you know any of them?"