Chapter 5 Chapter 4 Mystery

Back in Wei Mansion, Yun Jisang walked to his residence along the small road that ran through Wei Mansion. When he reached the door of his room, he heard Ming Huan and Zhuo Anjie's laughter. A smile could not help but float on his lips, after thinking about it, he walked away.At this moment, he felt that his mood was incompatible with the cheerful atmosphere in the room, and he really didn't want to spoil this rare and warm moment. After walking a few steps, there was a faint sound of a piano in his ears. Yun Jisang couldn't help slowing down, and walked along following the sound of the piano.The sound of the zither is melodious and eerie, but it keeps swallowing. In the wind and snow all over the sky, it is like a grass being blown by the gust of wind, swaying helplessly but tenaciously.

After a while, he came to the door of Keng Ranju, and the sound of the piano came from there.Yun Jisang knew that teacher Wei Xingzeng's piano sound was always generous, so it must be Xie Qingfang playing the piano at this moment, so he stood at the door of the room and listened quietly, unconsciously snowflakes had covered his whole body. Suddenly the sound of the piano stopped, and when I heard it, Xie Qingfang's moving voice came from inside: "Who is outside?" Yun Jisang said hurriedly: "It's the student Yun Jisang, who accidentally heard the teacher's mother playing, but disturbed the teacher Cleared up."

"It's Youqing, come in and sit down." Xie Qingfang said harmoniously.Yun Jisang straightened his clothes, opened the door and entered.To his surprise, there was only Xie Qingfang in the room.Seeing him coming in, the beautiful woman said with a smile: "Husband and Mr. Tang are talking at night in the study, and I will be back in a while. Youqing can sit down first." Yun Jisang felt a little uncomfortable facing the beautiful teacher's wife alone, so he asked: "I wonder who composed the music that teacher's wife played just now? The student has never heard such a brilliant piano piece."

Xie Qingfang smiled lightly: "Where is the cleverness, I have nothing to do in my spare time, I wrote it casually, which made Youqing laugh." Yun Jisang was surprised, she didn't expect that the teacher's wife was so talented, and couldn't help but praise: " Master is too humble, this qin music is clear but not obscene, subtle but not overwhelming, it is a rare masterpiece." Xie Qingfang shook her head lightly, and asked, "Youqing, are you still used to living these few days?" Yun Jisang smiled slightly: "The student has lived in the teacher's house for several years, how can he not get used to it? It's just that Ping'an Town has changed a lot..." Xie Qingfang hesitated, and asked: "Youqing said that the ghost wrapped the bell rumors?" Yun Jisang nodded.

Xie Qingfang lowered her head, and gently played with the strings with her slender fingers, and the piano produced a soft string sound like water drops.After fiddling like this for a while, suddenly, Xie Qingfang withdrew her hand, raised her head, looked at Yun Jisang and said, "Actually, then..." "Xiao Xie! Xiao Xie!" Wei Shengzeng's voice suddenly came from the door, and before he finished speaking, he pushed the door and entered. When he saw Yun Jisang, he was slightly taken aback, and said with a smile, "Youqing is also here, That would be the best. Come, let's have a few drinks together!" Wei Shengzeng said happily.

Yun Jisang quickly shook his head: "Students should be exempted. I was only attracted by my teacher's wonderful song, so I will go back. Teacher also drink less alcohol, so that my teacher won't have a headache." After finishing speaking With a smile, he turned and left. Not far away, I saw a black shadow moving by the edge of the forest.Yun Jisang frowned, wondering: why is that dumb servant still outside so late?But it was inconvenient to go forward to ask more questions, and suddenly he glanced out of the corner of his eyes, and saw a thin figure standing in the shadow of a side room, his cold eyes were also staring at the mute servant, Yun Jisang stared at it, but it was Wei Housekeeper Yang Shizhen.

What was he doing there, Yun Jisang was about to step forward to ask, but Yang Shizhen seemed to have noticed his gaze, glanced at him, stepped back, and disappeared into the darkness without a sound... Yun Jisang looked for a long time at the place where the thin figure disappeared, there was a grimacing brass bell hanging faintly, suddenly a gust of cold wind blew by, and the ghost bell hanging under the eaves rang softly. Zhu Changming sat alone in front of the desk, holding a pen and staring blankly at the words on it. After a long time, he raised his head, sighed softly, and put the pen on the pen holder.At this moment, he looked lonely, not as shrewd and free as he was in the daytime.

"Chen Qi...Yu Chenji...Teacher...Brother Jiru..." Zhu Changming muttered in a low voice, "Yes, what happened back then must be like this... But, who did it?" Suddenly smiled, "I How can I manage so much? I just need to..." After finishing speaking, he picked up his pen again, ready to continue writing. For some reason, the pen in his hand suddenly froze.The window paper was shone white by the light of the snow, and the north wind was rushing to blow the snowflakes on the window paper, making a light brushing sound, which showed that the snow was getting tighter.

Zhu Changming hesitated for a while, and finally wrote. "Hey..." Zhu Changming was awakened by the strange voice, looked up out of the window, and was stunned. On the snow-white window paper, there is a black shadow with loose long hair, and the long hair is fluttering in the wind, like countless haunting ghosts. "Who? Who..." He said with difficulty, feeling his heart beating faster and faster, as if it was about to jump out of his chest.The black figure didn't make a sound, but slowly raised its hand, and Zhu Changming clearly saw that it was holding a small bell in that hand.

"The night is quiet, the west window is cold, and when the red silk hangs, there is a ghost hanging the bell." In an instant, these four strange prophecy poems flashed through his mind one by one with changing fonts.Sometimes they shine golden, sometimes silver, they are gorgeously intertwined, flowing like water, forming a metal-like rippling texture.And in that mercury-like vortex, a pale and familiar face slowly floated up, with its eyes tightly closed. "It's you! Why are you... no, it's not me... I'm not afraid...not afraid..." Zhu Changming stared at the bell in Heiying's hand, his breathing became more and more rapid, and his heartbeat continued to speed up, every heartbeat was like thunder It sounded rhythmically in his ears, getting bigger and heavier.

The black shadow shook the bell in his hand slightly.In the whirlpool, the pale face suddenly opened his eyes and smiled at him. "Ding--" "Xifu, the weather is cool—hey, buttocks—hey!" Early in the morning, as usual, Ming Huan ran to Yun Jisang's room to "make a bed".These few days Yun Jisang slept very late, looked at the warm sunlight outside the window, Yun Jisang sighed helplessly, and started to get up and wash under Ming Huan's tugging. As soon as he went out, Yun Jisang saw Zhuo Anjie sitting in the sunny yard, looking around with great interest, leisurely drinking a wine gourd, obviously enjoying the snow. "Morning..." Seeing him coming out, Zhuo Anjie squinted her eyes and greeted him. Yun Jisang took a deep breath of the clear and cold winter morning air, and then slowly exhaled, then nodded to Zhuo Anjie: "Senior Sister..." "It will be Mr. Wei's big birthday in two days, have you thought about any birthday gift yet?" Yun Jisang frowned. When he came from Koryo, he had brought a thousand-year-old Korean ginseng as a birthday gift, but on the way, he encountered a well-known knight in the Northland who was attacked and his life was dying. The old ginseng was used up, but this time it came empty-handed.Immediately shook his head. "I asked Ming Huan, don't worry, I'll find a way..." Zhuo Anjie comforted. Yun Jisang felt a little uncomfortable. It was fine for her to be taken care of by this senior sister since she was a child. Why should she bother her when she is already a man?Immediately shaking his head, he said, "Don't bother senior sister, I'll just figure out a solution on my own. If I think about it, Teacher won't be angry because of this mere birthday gift." Zhuo Anjie glanced at him, but said nothing. With this glance, Yun Jisang felt that her thoughts were clearly seen by her, so she was a little embarrassed, and hurriedly said: "I'll go out for a walk." After saying that, he didn't dare to stay longer, and hurried out of the yard. After leaving the yard, Yun Jisang was slightly annoyed in his heart. He was made a fool of himself by being a senior sister since he was a child, but he didn't expect to be like this when he grew up.Thinking of this, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth unconsciously.He walked along the bluestone path.Looking down, the path has obviously been cleaned by the servants. The snow from last night has been swept to both sides, and two ridges of white walls have been piled up. The wind in the morning was not strong, only blowing slightly, and from time to time one or two light smokes were rolled up on the snow in the distance.The smoke is also white, ethereal and spiritually swirling, like a dancer wandering in time and space, sadly showing her thousand-year loneliness. From a distance, a graceful figure came into his sight.The snow light was a bit dazzling, Yun Jisang squinted her eyes, and then saw clearly that Xie Qingfang was carrying a food box, walking slowly through the white snow with some difficulty, towards a small building. Today she was wearing a bright red cloak, blown by the north wind, like a cluster of weak flames burning in the white world. Isn't that where Zhu Changming lives? What is the teacher's wife going to do?That's right, yesterday the teacher ordered her to make some medicine for brother Changming too... Looking at Xie Qingfang's back, Yun Jisang frowned and thought. Suddenly, his pupils dilated suddenly, and a black figure followed behind Xie Qingfang.That familiar, terrifying figure slowly turned his head.The pale woman's face, with traces of blood overflowing, smiled slightly at him. The evil smile hides a deep secret... Yun Jisang's breath became short of breath, he quickly closed his eyes tightly, and kept warning himself: that was an illusion, an illusion, just an illusion... that's all... There was a light knocking sound, it was Xie Qingfang knocking on the door.The sound continued, knocking for a long time, but no one answered. Yun Jisang's heart moved, and he opened his eyes, but he didn't dare to look up, he just looked down. The white snow stretched forward with his gaze, and there were only two lines of footprints on it.A line is faint, deep and large, which should have been left by Zhu Changming when he returned to his room last night, and a line is small and delicate, but it was left by Xie Qingfang just now. However, if there were only two footprints, Zhu Changming should still be in the room, why didn't he reply?Yun Jisang suddenly had an ominous premonition in his heart.He didn't care too much, jumped up, tapped twice on the snow, and flew to the front of the small building. Xie Qingfang heard the strange movement, turned around, and said in astonishment: "You Qing?" Yun Jisang felt that the black figure seemed to be still standing behind her, so he didn't dare to look at her, and opened the door with a palm, his expression changed immediately, and he stood there frozen.Xie Qingfang also screamed, the food box dropped to the ground, and the air was filled with a strong medicinal fragrance. Inside the house, Zhu Changming's body fell on the ground on his back, his limbs twisted strangely, his tongue sticking out stiffly, his eyes protruding, and his eyeballs rolled up, revealing the lifeless whites of his eyes.It was exactly the same as the dead body I saw on the snow that day. There was no sound in the room, Yun Jisang entered the room cautiously, and looked around carefully.Except that the latch had just been split by him, there was nothing unusual about the doors and windows, and there was no sign of other people entering.The layout of the room is very simple, all the furniture is neatly arranged, there is nothing abnormal, and there are no traces of fighting.A gust of cold wind rushed in, and the paper on the desk was blown up by the wind, making a slight rustling sound, and drifting towards Yun Jisang. Yun Jisang grabbed the white paper in the air.Looking at it, there are seven unfinished words: It's not like Huilan envying the flowers, just like Chaoyun in front of the hall; badgers, wolves and roe deer are not old, Tara is auspicious and always explains Zen.The scriptures are difficult to hold absurd dramas, and the dancing clothes still look old-fashioned; Fengtai rides the three mountains of Fu and goes to the Gaotang... The poem has no title, and the handwriting is scribbled. It is obvious that Zhu Changming wrote it casually, and the poetry is obscure, so he didn't finish it.Yun Jisang read it several times, but couldn't see the meaning of the poem, so he put it in his arms. Yun Jisang put down the paper, and carefully inspected the room again, but found nothing suspicious.He bowed his head and knelt down beside Zhu Changming on one knee. Zhu Changming's body was already stiff, and it was obvious that he had been dead for some time. As expected by Yun Jisang, the corpse had no trauma and no trace of poisoning. Could it be that he was scared to death again?Yun Jisang thought silently. Suddenly, his gaze froze and he looked towards the window. There, under the shadow of the sun, a small black dot was swaying strangely. Yun Jisang walked slowly, and saw a ghost bell tied with red silk swaying in the wind at the height of the window sill. The hall was deathly oppressive, and everyone in Wei Mansion sat around the hall with gloomy faces. Chen Qi was sitting blankly, his clothes were surprisingly simple, his whole body was only in black and white, but he wore a strangely shaped tusun hat on his head.The hat was so big that it covered most of his face, and he couldn't see his expression clearly, but the corners of his mouth were slightly twisted, like crying or laughing. Tang Pan's face was still as deep as water, and he tapped the table lightly with his left hand. The monotonous rhythm seemed to hide something, making it hard to figure out. Maybe it's a coincidence, Yu Chenji's clothes today are very similar to Chen Qi's, also in black and white, her face is unusually calm, it seems that no matter what happens in this world, it can't affect her clear heart.I just don't know why, but today she didn't bring the dust whisk that she is used to. Wang Zhenwu's expression was very excited, and he was muttering something, but his voice was vague and hard to hear.And he looked out from time to time, as if expecting something. Only Liang Xideng's Shijia smile was the same as usual, and he sipped the tea with great interest.Ming Huan, who was sitting next to Yun Jisang, looked at this and that, apparently a little afraid of everyone's gloomy faces, shrunk his small head, and leaned into Zhuo Anjie's arms. Yun Jisang and Zhuo Anjie looked at each other, and they could see deep worry in each other's eyes. With a slight cough, Xie Qingfang, who was dressed in plain black, walked in slowly while supporting Wei Shengzeng, who was dressed in a straight black body. The two of them, one old and one young, one black and one white, were very eye-catching.The old man had obviously received the bad news in advance, and his eyes were red and swollen at the moment, obviously he had already cried. Seeing him coming in, everyone stood up to greet him. "Everyone sit down. Unexpectedly, this old man is approaching sixty years old, but this white-haired man gave away a black-haired man. Poor Chang Ming..." Wei Shengzeng shook his head, his eyes were red again.Liang Xideng stood up and bowed, comfortingly said: "Weng Wei should not be too sad, even though your apprentice is haunted by ghosts..." "What ghost haunts you!" Wei Shengzeng suddenly grabbed the teacup on the case and threw it on the ground, "It was clearly murdered by a traitor! Check! You Qing, you must find out for me and see who killed Chang Ming. ! My Wei Shengzeng's disciple must not just die in such an unexplained way!" The old man's rage reminded people of his majestic aura when he bluntly said that he had violated the emperor in the Golden Palace, and all his voices were silent for a while. Yun Jisang nodded and said: "Don't worry, teacher, this disciple will definitely find out the truth of this matter." Before finishing speaking, Yang Shizhen walked in with a bow and reported in a low voice: "Master, the government is here." Wei Shengzeng frowned and said, "Come in, please." Following his words, a man dressed as a headhunter entered with alacrity. Yun Jisang was slightly taken aback, and recognized that man was the headhunter Wang Yansi. After Wei Sheng had introduced everyone present for him, this capable headhunter first clasped his fists to salute everyone, and then said loudly: "My humble Wang Yansi is currently a headhunter in Xianghe County. The purpose of coming here is to meet this evil spirit that disturbs people's livelihood. Unexpectedly, Mr. Wang has only been here for three days, and two people have died because of it..." He said, looking around the crowd, "Here, Mr. Wang I swear, I will definitely find out the ghosts and monsters hidden in the dark." His words were so righteous that everyone nodded their heads. "What Wang Butou said is correct, but they are just some scumbags who pretend to be gods and ghosts, and they can fly into the sky!" Wang Zhenwu echoed with his hands. Wang Yansi's gaze swiveled among the crowd, paused slightly at Yun Jisang, and then turned away: "In this case, Wang Yansi was offended. I wonder who was the last to see Zhu Changming among all of you here? " "It's the old man..." Wei Shengzeng sighed with red eyes, "The child has been coming to say hello every night for the past few days, and he came here today too. After drinking a few cups of tea here, we discussed some things with me. Zizhan’s poems, and left, just at this moment, the old man and Brother Tang had something to say, so we left with him, we walked together for a while before we parted, who knew it would be a farewell..." "I don't know when he left?" Wang Yansi asked hurriedly. "Is this..." Wei Shengzeng thought for a while, "It should be the third quarter of the fifth hour, right? What?" "Wu Zuo has just experienced the corpse. The deceased died around midnight last night. Please also report the whereabouts of last night one by one." Wang Yansi glanced sharply at everyone. "Zi Shi? At that time, I had already fallen asleep and didn't see anything." Liang Xideng said hastily. "The old man went to bed late last night. That's because I went to Brother Wei's room to drink and talk. We had a very happy chat. When we left, we were afraid that the time would be over, right?" Wang Zhenwu hesitated. Xie Qingfang shook her head lightly: "The old escort made a mistake. When you left, it was just the time of Haishi. I remember very clearly that the watch for Haishi rang after you left for only a moment." Wang Yansi looked at the shy Wang Zhenwu, and asked Xie Qingfang, "Madam Wei, what were you doing at that time?" "Me? I sent Old Escort Wang away, and then came back to serve Master Hou to sleep." Xie Qingfang thought about it. Thinking, "By the way, Mr. Tang came to visit again at that time. I think the master has already fallen asleep, so let him come back tomorrow." As he said, he looked at Tang Pan again. "Not bad." Tang Pan nodded. "It's so late, why is Mr. Tang still looking for Mr. Wei?" Wang Yansi stared at him and asked. "It's something." Tang Pan replied briefly. Wang Yansi snorted, but didn't ask any more questions, and turned to look at Yu Chenji. The beautiful Taoist priest frowned slightly, thought for a while, and said in a low voice: "I was meditating last night, and I just went out to fetch water and make tea at the beginning of Haishi, but I ran into Mrs. Wei on the way. But we didn't speak at that time, They just nodded to each other." "Oh? At that time, Mrs. Wei was..." "I went to the pharmacy to get the medicine. My master is not in good health recently, so I have to take the medicine on time every night." "So, after Mr. Wei took the medicine, Mrs. Wei and Mr. Wei stayed in his room around midnight?" Wang Yansi asked again. "That's right, we had already fallen asleep at that time." Xie Qingfang nodded. "Then what about Lady Zhuo?" Wang Yansi asked again. "Ming Huan and I had already fallen asleep when we were in the middle of the night. The younger brother came back at the end of the fifth hour, and I heard his voice returning to the room." Zhuo Anjie said flatly. Yun Jisang was a little distracted at the moment, he stared at the white snow in the courtyard in a daze.Ming Huan softly called him from the side, and then he came back to his senses, nodded, and gave a rough account of his whereabouts at night. Wang Yansi turned to Chen Qi again: "So what about Mr. Chen?" Chen Qi's face was dull, he didn't know what he was thinking, and he said after a long time: "I was studying last night and I went to bed very late, but I can't remember what time it is. I just know The snow had stopped while I slept." "In this way, everyone has already rested in their own rooms at Zishi, is Wang right?" Seeing everyone nodding, he continued: "If I remember correctly, it should be Zishi when the snow stops. Three quarters...that's amazing." Wang Yansi murmured. "Is there something wrong?" Wei Shengzeng asked. "Everyone, please come with Wang." Wang Yansi said. So a group of people followed him to the small building where Zhu Changming lived. "Everyone, please look at the traces on the snow..." Wang Yansi pointed to the snowy road from the small alley to the front of the small building, "The ones on the left are all left by Wang and the police." Sure enough, there were several rows of messy footprints intertwined on the snow, forming a thick trace, which made a big bend in the distance, leading to the front of the small building. "The one on the right is left by Mrs. Wei and Shaoxia Yun." He pointed to the footprints on the right. Xie Qingfang's footprints lead straight from the small path to the small building, the footprints are small and neat, and there is a graceful aftertaste between her actions, but when she approaches the small building, she begins to gradually become scattered and strenuous, obviously because of the deep snow near there.However, Yun Jisang's footprints came from the side, only a few inches deep, and were more than ten feet away from each other. In addition, there is another footprint not far from Xie Qingfang's footprint. This footprint is shallower than Xie Qingfang's footprint, but it is extremely broad and heavy, appearing calm and powerful. "If Zhu Changming returned to his room at Wushi, then this footprint was obviously left by him. But apart from that, there was no one else's footprint from then to dawn!" Wang Yansi said in a deep voice. "This... why is this?" Xie Qingfang trembled, "Could it be that there are really ghosts in this world?" Yun Jisang stared at the footprint, and his heart was full of doubts: "Is this really the only footprint? This small building is more than ten feet away from the Qingshi path, and the snow is nearly a foot deep. Killed, Xue stopped at the first quarter of the child's hour, only a short quarter of an hour, no matter how good the murderer's Qinggong is, he should leave some footprints. Could it be that there are really people in this world who are so brilliant in Qinggong?" Suddenly thought of something, and said to Wang Yansi: "Wang Butou, in the case of the death of Xiangsha in Qiba Villa, the murderer used ice silk to jump vertically, I don't know..." Wang Yansi's eyes lit up: "Shaoxia Yun is really brilliant!" Before he finished speaking, the man flew towards the small building, and Yun Jisang hurriedly followed.But the two searched up and down the small building, and found no trace of silk thread being entangled. They looked at each other suspiciously, and returned to the crowd. Wei Sheng was the first to ask, "Youqing, how are you doing? What did you find?" Yun Jisang shook his head: "This matter is indeed strange. It is not impossible that there are no traces in the rivers and lakes, but there are only a few people. But these few people are all well-known seniors in the rivers and lakes, even if some of them With a ferocious nature, if you kill someone, you will kill him, how can you pretend to be a ghost like this?" "Don't Shaoxia Yun think that there are ghosts in this world?" Liang Xideng asked in a low voice. Yun Jisang glanced at him, but didn't speak. "There are ghosts, there are really ghosts in this world..." Liang Xideng looked at the crowd, and said in a strange voice, "Besides, ghosts are all around us." When he said this, a gust of cold wind suddenly blew, and the ghost bell hanging under the window sill suddenly made a series of mournful bells. In the room, Ming Huan blinked her lovely big eyes, watching Yun Jisang slowly walking from left to right, and then from right to left.After watching for a while, she became a little tired, and couldn't help but raised her head and yawned long, and patted her small mouth with her small hands. Yun Jisang stopped, and patted her on the head lovingly: "Are you sleepy? If you're sleepy, go to sleep with your aunt." Ming Huan shook her head vigorously, staring at him with big round eyes as a sign I am not sleepy. Yun Jisang smiled at her, and thought again. At that time, everyone had no witnesses to prove that they were not the murderer, so everyone was suspected.Ghost haunting bell... Why did the murderer hang a small bell there?What exactly does that mean?With the ghost bells hanging everywhere in Ping'an Town, what kind of terrifying truth is hidden by the numerous ghost bells?How did the murderer kill Zhu Changming without leaving any trace?Why was Zhu Changming killed?Does Zhu Changming's poem on the case have any profound meaning? He picked up the pen and slowly wrote down a few words on the paper: Zishi, heavy snow, footprints. His right hand was newly severed. Although his left hand practiced calligraphy hard, he still wrote a few lines crookedly, like a child.Looking at the ugly handwriting, Yun Jisang couldn't help feeling bored.He loved calligraphy since he was a child, because Zhuo Anjie would rarely praise him after he wrote a big character in a flying style. That was also his happiest moment, but now... He threw the pen on the table and stared blankly at the few lines.Slowly, pictures appeared in front of his eyes, as if what he had written and what he had experienced in the past few days had become vivid scenes, which kept flashing in his mind.However, these scenes were extremely chaotic and blurry, and he couldn't distinguish the details and authenticity of the scenes. It still doesn't work, if only my six spirits' dark consciousness is still there... Yun Jisang sighed and looked at the table again. Judging from everyone's words, it seems that everyone has a chance to kill Zhu Changming.However, apart from the teacher, teacher's wife and Chen Qi, who else knows Zhu Changming?Wang Zhenwu should know, Tang Pan is also very likely.Yuchen machine?Maybe.Liang Xideng should have never seen it before... Wait, Yun Jisang picked up the pen again, and wrote down the names of Aunt Xu, Mute Servant, and Yang Shizhen on the paper. These three people should know Zhu Changming, but what about the other servants?Why were those who died before killed?And who was that person who had a high lightness skill that night?Is it the murderer?In this way, he thought about it for a long time, but the more he thought about it, the more confused he became. Under the agitation, he couldn't help but clenched the paper into a ball and threw it on the ground. A lazy hand picked up the ball of paper from the ground, and gently unfolded it: "This case is strange, junior brother, don't be too eager." Then, Zhuo Anjie gently smoothed the paper and put it back on the table superior. Yun Jisang took a deep breath, he also knew that he was too impatient.Such a weird case cannot be solved within a day, but the teacher's birthday is approaching, and now he is concerned about it, so if something goes wrong, he will never forgive himself. "Senior sister is right..." Yun Jisang thought for a while, then said in a deep voice: "The cause of Zhu Changming's death is abnormal, in my opinion, let's start with this matter." "I think what Liang Xideng said today clearly meant something, why don't you pay a visit to this dear friend?" Zhuo Anjie smiled.Yun Jisang nodded: "Okay, then senior sister..." Zhuo Anjie pouted at Ming Huan on the side. Yun Jisang glanced at Ming Huan who was sleeping soundly like a piglet, shook his head and smiled wryly. The place where Liang Xideng lived was not far from his residence. When Yun Jisang arrived, the wealthy businessman was sitting leisurely in the yard, holding his hands behind his back solemnly, admiring the snow scene with his head shaking.His messy footprints covered the snow.By the looks of it, it's been a while.Seeing him coming, this old man showed that harmless smile: "Oh, it's Shaoxia Yun, it's really rare, honored guest! Liu Fu! Quickly make a pot of good silver needles! Shaoxia Yun, inside Please!" Yun Jisang was polite and followed him into the house. When I looked up, I found that the businessman's residence was unexpectedly simple, and the bedding was not elegant, just a green cloth quilt. It seemed that he didn't bring any useful household items with him. "Brother Liang, it turns out that you are not someone who likes extravagance..." Yun Jisang looked around and said. "Liang has been traveling all over the place, and he spends a lot of time eating and sleeping in the open, so he didn't care about it." Liang Xideng sat down with a smile, and a rather elderly man dressed as a waiter came in with a tea tray and poured tea for the two. Yun Jisang looked at the old man carefully, and saw that his eyes were slightly closed, he seemed to have no energy, but his steps were extremely calm, and his hands did not shake at all when pouring tea. "Liu Fu, go down." Liang Xideng waved his hand. The old man bowed slightly and stepped back. "Brother Liang's buddy is really extraordinary, surely this business must be very big?" Yun Jisang asked with a smile.Liang Xideng smiled awkwardly; "Where, I, Mr. Liang, have been running tea for many years, and it's just a small business." "Oh? Brother Liang turned out to be a tea merchant? That would be the best. I just bought some Tianchi a few days ago, but some experts said that they were stolen leaves, and there were pine leaves in them. I couldn't tell the truth. Come on, I hope brother Liang can give me some pointers." Yun Jisang said excitedly. Liang Xideng smiled and said, "Young Xia Yun is just joking. If the apprentice of the most wise man in the world bought the wrong tea, wouldn't we tea merchants already be invincible in the world? What's more, Tianchi Lake is not unique. I have the best Wanchun here." Yinye, Shaoxia Yun might as well take some with you when you leave later." Yun Jisang smiled and said, "Thank you Brother Liang." "I don't know what you can learn from Shaoxia Yun when he comes here this time?" Liang Xideng raised the teacup, brewed the tea foam, and asked casually. "I don't know what is the meaning of what I said at the place of the bloody case today?" Yun Jisang put the bowl cover aside, raised the teacup, and asked casually. "There's no deep meaning here, it's just something Liang said casually." Liang Xideng took a sip of tea, closed his eyes, and tightly closed his lips. After a long time, he sighed contentedly, "Good tea." "It really is good tea." Yun Jisang also praised, "Brother Liang has been in business for many years, and he has seen a lot. You must have heard of such weird things." "Not many, but..." Liang Xideng paused suddenly, and lowered his voice, "I wonder if Shaoxia Yun believes that there are ghosts in this world?" Yun Jisang stared at him, shaking his head slowly. "That's right, after all, he is the disciple of Lord Chongshan, not to mention that the theory of ghosts and gods is also very vague. It's just..." Liang Xideng seemed a little hesitant. "Brother Liang, you might as well speak up if you have something to say." "One of Liang's friends once went to Yunnan to buy tea. It used to be a place where barbarians lived. The mountains and rivers were dangerous, the ethnic groups were diverse, and the folk customs were tough. If there was any disagreement, they would draw their swords and confront each other. Shanyi natives often have strange deeds and strange customs. One of them is said to be born of a woman's ancestors who were conceived by ghosts. Therefore, their people are half-human and half-ghost, and they are best at summoning souls. Therefore, they are called Bimo by the local natives. .” Liang Xideng’s voice was low and quiet, without a trace of color, as if he was telling a legend from another world. "Bimo?" "That's right. After the locals die, they must be guided by Bimo to enter the underworld, otherwise they will definitely turn into ghosts and harm people. And the way Bimo guides ghosts is to hang a copper bell with a grimace on the wrist of the deceased. When ghosts hear it, they can follow the sound and go to the underworld and heaven.” "Ghost lingering bell?" Yun Jisang blurted out. "That's right, it's the Ghost Entangling Bell." Liang Xideng's voice became even more hollow, and the expression on his face became weird, "My friend didn't believe in chaos and power, so he denounced it as a joke in public. It was raining heavily, and some servants were in a trance in the rain, but they could hear bells passing through the room. When the servants went to call my good friend the next day, they found that he was already dead, and his death was extremely horrific." Yun Jisang thought deeply: "Is it the same as brother Changming?" "Exactly the same." Liang Xideng said every word. Coming out of Liang Xideng's place, Yun Jisang thought as he walked: Is what Liang Xideng said true or false?If it is true, then how did the half-human, half-ghost Bimo come from Weifu?Why do they harm people?If it was false, why did he tell such a big lie? Distraught, he went to the teacher's study again. He wanted to ask Wei Shengzeng what was wrong with Zhu Changming all these years, and he was even killed. When they arrived at Kuweizhai, they found that Wei Shengzeng was not in the room, only the elderly Wei An hunched over, struggling to clean up the room. "Wei An..." Yun Jisang laughed. "Master Yun, you're here, sit down quickly, I'll call the master right away." Old Wei An said hastily. "No, I'll just come and sit down. You can do your work." As he said, Yun Jisang randomly picked a book from the bookcase to flip through it, shook his head, and threw it on the table again. "Master Yun is still the same, throwing books everywhere, be careful not to let the master see it, or he will be scolded again." Wei An said with a smile. Yun Jisang smiled slightly: "I'm not afraid of scolding, but I'm afraid that the teacher will take out the iron ruler that guards the house again. I only have one hand now, and I can't eat if it is swollen." He took out a volume of poems and looked carefully, but it was Zhu Changming's masterpiece.He was startled in his heart, and began to read the poem carefully, but after reading it, he was greatly disappointed. There was no clue in the poem, it was nothing more than some scenery, flowers and birds, although the words were still gorgeous, they seemed to be full of talent. The content is useless.Yun Jisang shook his head, thinking: It's okay for me to throw books around, but Chang Ming showed these manuscripts to the teacher. Depending on the teacher's temper, he would really be scolded.Just as I was about to put it down, my eyes suddenly stopped on a small poem: Ye Sad Ai Zifang is weak, and the young man is as heroic as a candle.If it is too early, it will be difficult to burn forever, and it will be fatal! The tone of the poem is sad, but it is Wei Shengzeng's handwriting.Yun Jisang sighed in his heart, and a gentle and respectful young man appeared in his mind.Wei Jiru, the only son of Wei Shengzeng, is really a kind boy.When all the students were high-spirited and full-bodied, he was the only one who always smiled slightly and never argued with anyone.But Yun Jisang knew that deep in his heart, he had a very thorough view of the world, and he was unusually firm about the ideas in his heart.It's a pity that this young man who was enough to become a pillar of the country passed away so early.Thinking like this, he suddenly said: "Wei An, what disease did brother Jiru die of?" Wei An was picking up a book that fell on the ground, when he heard that his hands trembled slightly, the book fell to the ground again. "Young Master...Young Master, he got a sudden illness and went away in just a few days. Since then, the house has become deserted, alas..." Wei An shook his head, and put the book on the desk. Yun Jisang felt apologetic, secretly regretted that he should not have mentioned the old pain in the old man's heart, and was about not to ask, but his heart moved: Ghost Winding Bell appeared three years ago, but Wei Jiru died exactly three years ago. Could it be that...then asked again: "Which people were there when Brother Ji Confucian passed away?" "Who are they... Let me think about it..." Wei An looked up and thought for a while, "At that time, everyone in the mansion was there, and it was A Qi and Brother Ming who sent the sick young master back, so他们俩都在的，唐先生来老爷家做客，也在，还有么，对了王捕头当时也在……” “王延思？他来府里做什么？” “这个么，好像是当年府里刚刚死了人，他是来查案的。” “什么？府里还有人死去？是谁？”云寄桑大惊问道。 “唉，不就是王老爷子的孙女小梅么，惨啊，好端端的闺女，就那么被糟蹋啦……”魏安摇头，低声地叹息着。 “被糟蹋？难道……”“不错，小梅是被人糟蹋后才遇害的。那个杀千刀的混蛋，一定不得好死，不得好死啊！”魏安继续摇着头。 云寄桑心乱如麻，又问：“凶手可曾抓到了？” “抓到？这么多年连凶手的影子都没抓到，王捕头说，可能是采花大盗李寻芳，谁知道呢？唉，不得好死啊……”魏安终于停止摇头。 云寄桑定了定心神，继续问道：“那小梅当时怎么会在府里？” 魏安又继续摇起头来：“那丫头本来就常和她爷爷来府上玩耍，老爷和夫人都很喜欢她，大少爷待她也好。渐渐地她也就把这儿当成自己家了。那时大少爷不是生病么，她来府里探望，天晚了，便留宿在府里，谁曾想便出了事，唉，杀千刀的混蛋，不得好死啊……” “那……这小梅和继儒兄之间，可有情爱之事么？” “那倒没有，少爷待她就好像亲妹子一样，不过当年少爷游学回来时，倒是好像说过，有了意中人了。” “有了意中人？是谁？”云寄桑急问道。 老魏安想了想道：“这就不清楚了，不过当时他是和陈少爷还有朱少爷一起出游的，也许他们知道吧。” The room was silent. 陈启略显呆滞的目光盯在案上的宋姜铸娓金龟纹炉上，缕缕的青烟从七星炉孔中袅袅升起，将他苍白的面孔遮掩在一片迷雾之中。 “子通兄？”云寄桑试探着问道。 陈启沉默了一会儿后，缓缓答道：“我……不清楚……” “可是……”“寄桑兄，我这些年一直在想……”陈启打断了他的话，低头望着膝上的莲座钱纹手炉，“如果当年我像你一样去投军，也许会更好……纵然战死沙场，至少也算是死得其所了……” 云寄桑望着眼前的同窗，紫色的绣袄配着红色的比甲，妖异中又透着几分鬼气，最让他在意的，便是袖口处竟然缀了一圈的铃铛，陈启每一个动作，都夹杂着细碎的铃音。 “子通，你这是……” 陈启摇了摇手，似乎要从身边挥去什么，然后又茫然道：“我怎么了，我不是很好么，我很好……”“子通，当年你们不是一同出游的么？究竟发生了什么？”云寄桑继续问。 “当时我们正在洛阳书院游学，正好是九月，秋高气爽，继儒便提议我们几个一起出去赏秋。长明开始不太乐意，想留在老师家里温书，可架不住继儒一意坚持，终于还是和我们一起上路了。”陈启呆滞的声音带着浓浓的回忆气息，又隐隐透着几分诡异。 “那天的天气很好，我们几个一路上都很开心，继儒一路上连作了三首诗。只是朱长明的兴致却不是很好，一副心事重重的样子。后来，我们遇到了那个女人。她可真美，一身的白衣，根本不像这世上的人。从看到她的第一眼起，继儒的眼睛就亮了起来，我看得非常地清楚。我还是头一次看到他对一个女人这样……继儒过去邀她和我们同座，她竟然答应了。她的才学非常出众，我们天天一起吟诗，作画，饮酒，一连过了半个月，玩得很开心，后来，长明突然有一天对我们说，那个女人身上有鬼，劝我们避开她，继儒却不信……再后来，继儒就病倒了……”陈启喃喃地道。 “那个女人是谁？”云寄桑忙问。 陈启古怪地一笑：“你昨天不是刚刚还喝了她沏的茶么？怎么就忘了？”“鱼辰机？”云寄桑大吃一惊。 “那女人是个巫女，谁遇到她就会被鬼缠住……”说着，陈启突然一把抓住了他，力气大得令人吃惊，“寄桑，我们会死的，我们都会死在这里，谁也逃不了！”陈启低声笑起来，越笑越响，直至疯狂。 云寄桑怀着疑虑，又向鱼辰机的住处走去。 天气依然寒冷，只是阳光却好，照得庭院银灿灿的，晶莹剔透的树挂给老树披上了堂皇的白袍，朱门与棂窗也一改本色，换了身雕栏玉砌的仙装。云寄桑扬起头，松枝上是蓬蓬白雪，压低了的身姿显得沉甸甸的，宛如献殷勤的宫女。脚步落在厚厚的雪地上，宛如踩着名贵的波斯毛毯。走在这样的庭院里，真好似身临奇异的雪之宫殿。 只是，这样的宫殿却是太过静谧了，没有一丝的生机。呼啸而过的北风更不时卷起片片雪雾，给它平添了几分鬼气。 远远地，有隐约的争吵声传来。云寄桑停下脚步，向那边望去。一座小小的亭子里，两个人正激烈地说着些什么。 他正想看清时，一阵风刮下了树上的积雪，险些迷了他的双眼。 再睁眼时，亭内却只剩下了一个人，正微笑着向他打招呼：“云少侠，你怎么来这里了？”竟然是王延思，只是那人却是谁？云寄桑抬眼望去，却只见远远的，一个身形一闪，颇为高大。 “原来是王捕头，我是想去鱼真人那里，问些事情。”他坦然道。 “哦？倒是巧了，我也有些事情想问鱼真人，不如我们同去如何？”王延思目光一闪道。 “再好不过。” 鱼辰机的住处是魏府内的一处小道观，麻雀虽小，却五脏俱全，甚至有一个静室，专供鱼辰机修行。 两人在这座小小的静室内见到了这美丽的女羽士。 “二位居士请。”将两盏香茶在二人面前摆好，鱼辰机做了个请的姿势。王延思端起茶盏，小心翼翼地啜了一口，然后一饮而尽，赞道：“好茶，清冽至极。” 鱼辰机婉然一笑：“王捕头说得正是，这茶用的乃是溪里之冰所煮的水。田艺蘅有云：冰，坚水也，穷谷阴气所聚。不泄则结，而为伏阴也。在地英明者唯水，而冰则精而且冷，是固清寒之极也。只是这茶固然清冽了，在雪天里饮得多了却伤身，所以贫道也只略备了些。” “如此佳茗，饮得一次，已经是三生有幸，何敢再做奢求？”云寄桑随口道，心中却寻思着如何开口。 鱼辰机为两人添好茶，问道：“二位前来，可是有事么？” The two looked at each other. “还是请王捕头先说吧。”云寄桑道。 “哦，是这样，我想鱼真人是峨嵋雨成真人的高徒，想必内功定然不弱，既然子时你正在打坐，当时是否听到什么动静？”王延思问。 鱼辰机皱起秀眉想了想，终于还是缓缓摇头：“我这里离朱居士的住所太远了，什么都听不到。倒是……” “倒是什么？”王延思忙问。 “亥时三刻我遇到魏夫人时，她拎着一个白色的口袋，里面鼓鼓囊囊的不知装了些什么。”“哦？魏夫人不是说当时去取药材吗？” “煮什么药会用得了那许多的药材？”鱼辰机轻轻哼了一声。显然，她对容貌比自己更胜三分的谢清芳没有什么好感。 “那其他呢？”王延思又问。”“其他便没有什么了……对了，前天夜里我好像听到有铃声……”鱼辰机回忆道。 王延思不豫道：“鱼真人玩笑了，这魏府里到处是铃铛，听到铃声有什么奇怪？” 鱼辰机摇头道：“不对，那铃声分明在移动，似乎有人摇着铃铛在走……”王延思顿时色变，云寄桑也想起初来平安镇时所见的尸体。 “原来如此，多谢鱼真人了。”王延思道。 鱼辰机又优雅地向云寄桑微笑道：“不知云公子想知道些什么？” 云寄桑微微一笑，整理了一下思路，问道：“在下想知道，鱼真人可认识我老师的独子魏继儒么？” 鱼辰机的微笑顿时凝固在脸上，好久才缓缓道：“倒是有过一面之交。怎么？”“继儒兄身体一向强健，当年不知得了什么急病竟然短短几日就去了，鱼真人在他去世前见过他，可有什么急病的征兆么？”云寄桑试探着问，双眼紧盯着鱼辰机的面庞。鱼辰机静静地坐着，玉容沉敛如水，只是眼神中带着少许的迷茫，似乎在回忆当年的情形。 “魏居士当年风华正茂，言谈举止一切如常，没什么得病的征兆。”她终于开口道。“如此多谢真人了，在下告辞。”云寄桑起身抱拳道。 “贫道身子不适，不送了。” 离开小观，王延思向云寄桑告辞道：“云少侠，此案扑朔迷离，只怕一时难有结果，王某已问过魏府所有下人，却无丝毫线索。现在王某想回去等仵作的消息。唉，只怕和那日的尸体一样，查不出什么。” “正好我也想出去逛逛，顺便送送王兄好了。”云寄桑忙道。 两人一路谈笑，甚是相得。王延思谈起他过去办过的一些案子，有些案子在云寄桑看来也颇为棘手，他却明察秋毫，都办得十分利落，让云寄桑颇为佩服。 “这鬼缠铃一案已经是多年陈案，为何王捕头不早些出手？”云寄桑忍不住问道。 “鄙人虽然是义丰县捕头，但手下兼管一县七镇，手下的案子多如牛毛，哪能件件兼顾。何况在下是两年前上任的，那时一则鬼缠铃一案已是陈案，这两年便再没有死人，直至昨日；再则此案颇多乱力怪神之处，王某心中也难免有所顾忌。” “原来如此。”云寄桑点头道。 望着王延思精干的身影渐渐远去，云寄桑心中的阴影也消除了不少。这个王捕头甚是能干，这次的案子有他相助，想必也不会太难。只是，那亭里和他争吵的不知是谁？ “云少爷？”身后传来苍老的声音。云寄桑回头一看，不禁露出笑意：“是老掌柜啊。”原来他和王延思不知不觉中竟然走到了那个小酒铺的旁边。“云少爷，进去坐坐？”老掌柜殷勤地道。 “不了，我还有事。”云寄桑琢磨着再找唐磐问当年魏继儒的死因。 “云少爷，府里是不是出了什么祸事？”老掌柜低声问。 云寄桑诧然道：“您怎么知道？” “一大早就有公差上门，还能有什么好事？”老掌柜摇头道。 “说得也是，府里的确出了事，只是老师大寿在即，希望您老不要张扬才好。”“小老儿晓得，我不是多嘴的人，云少爷但管放心便是。” 云寄桑点了点头便想离开，又突然停住脚步：“昨夜里您老可曾遇到什么古怪的事或者听到什么古怪的声音？” “古怪的声音倒是没有听到，这古怪的事么……”老掌柜犹豫了一下，“倒是有一件事，小老儿也不知算不算得上古怪。” “哦？是什么事？”云寄桑忙问。 “有一个老主顾，这两年每年都时不时地来我这里喝酒，只是小老儿觉得他的心思并不在我这里的酒上，倒是对对面的魏府格外在意。昨日夜里他也来这里喝酒了，神色颇有些古怪，隔三差五地就向魏府张望一阵，直到亥时才离开。” “昨夜……”云寄桑猛然想起了自己昨晚离开时遇到的那披着斗篷的人。“您老可还记得那人的长相么？”云寄桑忙问。 老掌柜显得有些好笑：“云少爷，这您可是问对人了，您刚刚不是还和他在一起么？” “是王延思！”云寄桑心中剧震，难怪自己觉得那人的背影有些面熟。突然间，他想起了什么，忙从怀里掏出那枚铃铛，举在面前，那枚小铃铛迎着风发出微微的低吟，正好似伤心的少女在低声呜咽。