Chapter 9 The Ninth Chapter

Chu Liuxiang couldn't help being astonished, and searched around, but couldn't find any strange traces. It was obvious that the man was not only extremely skilled in martial arts, but also had clean hands and feet that were rare in the world. Looking at Tian Yingzi's body, Chu Liuxiang sighed sadly: "Although I didn't kill you, you died because of me, because if that person didn't know that I was coming to look for you, he might not have killed you. It's a pity that you Although you held the key to the secret during your lifetime, you yourself didn’t know it.” So far, the only thing Zuo Youzheng, Ximen Qian, Lingjiuzi, and Zamuhe have in common is that the four of them must have received a letter before leaving the house, and those four letters, obviously It must have been done by the same person, this is the only clue Chu Liuxiang knows at this moment.

To reveal this secret, he must know: Who is the person who wrote the letter? What exactly was written in that letter? At noon, the sun shone brightly on the bluestone streets. Chu Liuxiang was walking on the road, although she was smiling on her face, she was almost desperate in her heart. Now, Zuo Youzheng, Ximen Qian, Lingjiuzi and others have all received letters missing, and they have the closest relationship with them. Song Gang, Yang Song, and Tianyingzi, who may know the secret of their whereabouts, have been killed. Killed, the only thing left is that there may be clues to be found at Jamuhe.

But when Jamuka went out, did he leave the letter behind? Even if he left the letter, who would he give it to? Even if Chu Liuxiang already knew who that person was, would he be able to find his trace in the boundless Gobi with thousands of miles of yellow sand? Chu Liuxiang sighed, and simply walked to the restaurant facing the street, and had a full meal. After the stomach is filled with delicious food, one's mood will be much more cheerful. After two dishes of exquisite side dishes and three cups of warm wine, the world has indeed become much more beautiful. Even a dead tree on the street seems to have come back to life.

Chu Liuxiang looked out of the window, watching the bustling crowd on the street with interesting eyes, suddenly saw several big men with horses, hugging a young woman in purple shirt, coming from the side of the long street. Naturally, these big men couldn't interest Chu Liuxiang, but this young woman made his eyes light up - she was Shen Shangu. She had a sullen face, frowning, looking like she wanted to trouble someone, but those big men were listless and dejected. The majestic and powerful "Tianxing Gang" in this area of ​​southern Anhui is now about to be kicked out of Jinan City. This is really a shameful thing.

Several people walked under the dead tree on the street, and seemed to discuss for a while, the big man rode his horse and headed east out of the city, but Shen Shangu walked west alone. Chu Liuxiang changed his mind, threw down the ingots of silver as wine money, and hurriedly chased him out. Turning around the street, he saw the alluring body wrapped in light purple clothes. Although her body is plump, her waist is very thin. When she walks, her waist swings very special, with a charm that can make most men's hearts beat. Chu Liuxiang followed far behind, appreciating with satisfaction, the charming girl's walking posture always made him feel pleasing to the eye and very happy.

Shen Shangu didn't pay attention to him at all - even if she saw him, she wouldn't recognize him, because Chu Liuxiang was no longer "Zhang Xiaolin". She kept asking people in the shops on both sides, as if she was asking for someone. The road she walked was getting narrower and dirtier, and she had reached the lowest corner of the city. Chu Liuxiang felt strange and couldn't figure out who she was looking for. People like Shen Shangu, walking in this kind of place, naturally attracted more attention. Some rogues were already pointing and commenting. But she acted like no one else was there, and she didn't care. When others glanced at her, she also stared at them with those big eyes, and asked people for directions from time to time.

The people she asked seemed to have lived here for a long time, many of them.Everyone pointed and told her that the direction they pointed was a small hillside. There are also two rows of houses built on this hillside, but they are all made of wooden boards, crumbling here and there. It is obvious that they are already slums in Jinan City. Chu Liuxiang didn't realize it was even more strange: "How can there be someone she is looking for in this kind of place?" This time Chu Liuxiang vaguely heard her asking: "Sun Xuepu lives on it, is that Sun Xiucai who paints?" The woman shook her head, expressing that she didn't know, but a half-old child beside her said: "Mom, she said that Sun Xiucai is old man Sun!"

The woman smiled and said, "Oh! If you want to find Old Man Sun, he lives in the seventh room above. The one with the Eight Diagrams curtain is hung at the door. It's very easy to find." Who is this Sun Xiucai?Why did Shen Shangu want to find him?Could it be that the slums in Jinan City are some kind of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon? Chu Liuxiang walked around to the seventh room and looked in through a hole in a small window, and saw a hunched old man with white hair sitting beside a dilapidated table in the dimly lit room. , his expression seemed to be indescribably lonely and desolate, as if he had completely lost interest in life. He was sitting here at this moment, just waiting for death to come.

Such an old man like a candle in the wind, could there be something that could arouse Shen Shangu's interest?Chu Liuxiang really couldn't think of it. Just as he was wondering, Shen Shangu had opened the curtain and walked in, looked around, frowned again, and said, "You are Sun Xuepu and Sun Xiucai?" The white-haired old man didn't have any expression on his face, he said dumbly: "Yes, I am Sun Xuepu, I ask for two cents of money, and give orders for one cent." Shen Shangu frowned even tighter, and said, "I'm looking for the painter Sun Xiucai, not a fortune teller."

Sun Xuepu said indifferently: "I am painter Sun Xiucai, but I changed my career twenty years ago. If a girl wants a portrait, I'm afraid it's twenty years late." Aunt Shen Shan finally let go of her frown, and said, "It doesn't matter if you change your career or not, as long as you are really Sun Xuepu, who was doing portraits for people twenty years ago, I'm looking for you." As she spoke, she took out a roll of paintings from her long sleeves, spread them out on the table in front of Sun Xuepu, stared at Sun Xuepu, and said in a deep voice: "I ask you, did you draw this painting?" ? Who is the person in the painting?"

Chu Liuxiang also wanted to look at this painting, but the light in the room was too dark, and Shen Shangu's shadow was on the painting, so he couldn't see it clearly. He could only see Sun Xuepu's face, which was still empty, without any expression or emotion, like a portrait of an idiot drawn by the worst painter, his whole body seemed to have only one pair of eyes left. The body has long since lost its soul. He didn't glance at the painting at all, but just stared blankly ahead, and said word by word in his empty and monotonous voice: "I don't know who painted this painting, and I don't know who painted it. Who's up there." Shen Shangu grabbed his skirt and said angrily: "How could you not know? This painting clearly has your signature." Sun Xuepu said coldly: "Let go of your hand, are you the same as me, can't see that I'm blind?" Shen Shangu seemed to have been slapped on the face suddenly, she let go of her hand immediately, and said in a low voice, "You...you can't see anything?" Sun Xuepu said: "If there is still a glimmer of light in my eyes, how can I put down my paintbrush. Painting is my life, and I have lost my life long ago. What is sitting here now is just a living dead body." Shen Shangu stood there in a daze for a while, and slowly rolled up the painting, but she let it go halfway, and a gleam of hope flashed in her eyes, and she said loudly: "Although you can no longer see the person in the painting, You should also remember her, she is a beauty, do you remember that you once painted a beauty?" Sun Xuepu said: "Now, although I am a poor and old blind man, but twenty years ago... twenty years ago, I, Sun Xuepu, was a famous person." His empty and gloomy face suddenly miraculously shone with a radiance, and this proud radiance seemed to revive his whole body.He continued excitedly: "Twenty years ago, people compared me to Cao Buxing and Wu Daozi. In the whole world, which lady from a famous family would not ask me to take a portrait of her? I don't know how much." Shen Shangu hissed: "But this one is different... You must believe me, no matter how many beauties you have painted, you will never forget her, and no matter who has seen her face, they will never forget her again." forget." Sun Xuepu was stunned, and suddenly said: "The painting you are talking about is two feet wide and three feet long. The person in the painting is wearing a blue dress with blue borders, and there is a black civet cat under his feet..." For some unknown reason, his voice suddenly trembled. Shen Shangu was overjoyed and said: "That's right, it's this painting, I know you will remember it, of course you will also remember who is the beauty in the painting?" Now, Sun Xuepu's whole body was trembling, his empty face seemed to be terrified at the moment, and he hissed: "You are asking her...you are asking her...I... ...I don't remember who she is, I don't know her at all ... I haven't met her at all." He supported the table with trembling hands, and when the table made a rattling sound, he staggered to his feet, and staggered to rush out the door. Aunt Shen Shan pulled him back, pushed him back on the chair, and said sharply: "You have seen her before, haven't you? You also remember her, don't you?" Sun Xuepu said in a trembling voice: "Girl, please, let me go, I... I'm just a poor, blind, useless old man, waiting here to die quietly, why do you still have to force me?" Shen Shangu pulled out the dagger in a "choke", pressed it against his throat, and said sharply: "If you don't say anything, I will kill you!" Sun Xuepu kept trembling, and finally said loudly: "Okay, let me say, she...she is not a person, but a witch." Seeing this, Chu Liuxiang couldn't help being filled with curiosity. Who is the woman in the painting?What's the relationship with Shen Shangu?She came here to inquire about her senior brother Zuo Youzheng, but why did she take the trouble to find the old painter and ask about the origin of the woman in the painting?Could it be that this woman also has some kind of secret relationship with Zuo Youzheng's disappearance? And after twenty years of portraits for this woman, the old painter dared not reveal her background, why was he so afraid of her?Is she really a witch? Shen Shangu sneered and said, "Witch? Such a beautiful woman, how could she be a witch?" Sun Xuepu said: "Yes, she is indeed beautiful. Although I have seen many beauties in my life, there is no one who can match her. The beauty of others can dazzle you most, but her beauty can make you feel ashamed." You are so mad that you would sacrifice everything, even your life, just to get her to smile at you." Although he was describing her beauty, his voice was full of fear, as if he had seen many men die just to make her laugh. Chu Liuxiang sighed secretly: "If it is too beautiful, sometimes it will become scary, but why can't I always meet a woman who is so beautiful that I can be scared?" Sun Xuepu continued: "When I saw her, I couldn't help but be amazed by her beauty. At that time, I was not as old and ugly as I am now, and I could be said to be a handsome man. There were also many women who stood up for me. Acacia, I have never even looked at her, but she... in front of her, I suddenly became her slave, wishing to take out everything I have and dedicate it all to her feet." Shen Shangu raised her eyebrows and said, "Is there really such a beautiful woman in the world?" Sun Xuepu sighed: "People who have never seen her, it is really hard to believe. I am confident that I can draw this painting well, but how can I draw her intoxicating look and conversation... I can't draw her beautiful. Just in case." Aunt Shen Shan said: "She came to you just to ask for a portrait?" Sun Xuepu said: "Yes, after she met me, she asked me to draw four portraits of her. I spent three months of hard work, exhausted all my wisdom and painstaking efforts, and finally completed it." A smile suddenly appeared on the corner of his mouth, and he slowly continued: "In the past three months, I have faced her every day... These three months are really the happiest moment in my life, but after three months, she... she……" Speaking of this, the smile on the corner of his mouth disappeared again, the look of horror appeared on his face again, and his body trembled again. Shen Shangu couldn't help but asked, "How about in three months?" Sun Xuepu said: "Three... three months later, on the night I finished the four paintings, she prepared an exquisite banquet, came to pour wine for me in person, and drank with me. I was so fascinated that I was drunk. , I didn't know until I woke up that she...she..." His Adam's apple moved up and down, and the voice spit out word by word from his throat: "She actually gouged out my eyes." Hearing this, Shen Shangu in the room and Chu Liuxiang outside the window couldn't help being startled. After a long time, Shen Shangu let out a long breath and said, "Why is she doing this?" Sun Xuepu smiled bitterly: "It's just because after I painted her portrait, she doesn't want me to paint other women's portraits again." Although Shen Shangu was usually a murderous woman, when she heard this woman's cruelty and viciousness, she felt cold sweat on her palms, and she murmured: "Witch... This is really a witch." Sun Xuepu said: "I have already said that she is a witch. No matter who possesses her, it will only be unfortunate. Miss...why do you ask her? How did this painting fall into your hands?" Shen Shangu said: "This painting is by my elder brother Zuo Youzheng." Chu Liuxiang's eyes lit up, and she said to herself, "I guessed right, this woman really has something to do with Zuo Youzheng." Sun Xuepu said: "Since that's the case, why don't you ask your senior brother about her origin?" Shen Shangu said: "My elder brother has disappeared." Sun Xuepu was moved and said: "Missing... what happened before you disappeared?" Shen Shangu said quietly: "Of course I asked before, but he refused to tell." Sun Xuepu said: "Since he refuses to tell, why do you have to ask?" Shen Shangu said bitterly: "My senior brother never marries for the rest of his life because of this woman. It can be said that the happiness of my senior brother's life is buried in the hands of this woman. I have been thinking about her day and night, fascinated, for decades. It has never changed, but she is obviously indifferent to my senior brother, she gave my senior brother only pain." Sun Xuepu said: "You want to find her just to avenge your brother?" Shen Shangu gritted her teeth and said, "That's right, I hate her...I hate her." Sun Xuepu said: "You hate her, but because you like your senior brother very much? If it weren't for her, maybe you would have already become your senior senior brother's wife, right?" This man without eyes can actually see through other people's thoughts. Shen Shangu seemed to be stabbed by a needle, she fell down on the ground, stood up again and said softly: "I hate her, and there is another reason." Sun Xuepu said: "What is the reason?" Aunt Shen Shan said: "The night before my eldest brother went out this time, he wrote a letter, and then sat in front of this portrait, and sat there all night." Sun Xuepu said: "Then he didn't come back after he went out?" Aunt Shen Shan said: "That's right, so, I think the disappearance of my senior brother must be related to her. Maybe she was responsible for that letter. If I can find her, maybe I can find my senior brother." Sun Xuepu was silent for a long time, then slowly said: "I only know her name is Qiu Lingsu." The three words "Qiu Lingsu" said that Shen Shangu in the room was not doing well, but Chu Liuxiang's shock outside the window was really no small matter. He suddenly remembered the short note he saw in Tian Yingzi's bag: "Return the jewel of the king, thank you for the ruler." Isn't the name under the short note exactly "Lingsu". Could it be that this unfeeling note was not addressed to Tianyingzi, but to Lingjiuzi. After Lingjiuzi "disappeared", Tianyingzi had the same suspicion as Shen Shangu, for the purpose of Find this woman. Thinking of this, Chu Liuxiang no longer hesitated, and flew into the window. Shen Shangu felt her eyes blurred, and there was someone more in front of her. She backed away abruptly, pressed against the wall, and said sharply, "Who are you?" Chu Liuxiang looked at her with a slight smile, and said: "Miss, don't be surprised. The purpose of coming down here is the same as your purpose. I also came to visit Mrs. Qiu, Qiu Lingsu." His smile did have a calming power, especially a woman's. Sure enough, Shen Shangu calmed down and said, "Why are you looking for her?" After she glanced at Chu Liuxiang, she even relaxed the last bit of vigilance on her body, but her eyes were still wide open. But Chu Liuxiang also knew that she was staring, but it was just to show the beauty of her eyes in front of him, and there was no vicious intention. So he also faltered and said: "Because I and Qiu Lingsu also..." Having said that, he saw the paintings on the table clearly. His voice suddenly stopped, and the whole person was stunned. The woman in this painting has the same eyebrows and eyes, is lifelike, she is indeed a beauty in the world, the woman in this painting is actually the same person as the one he saw in Ximen Qianwu. The four walls in Ximen Qianwu are desolate, only this painting shows that he must never forget this woman. He is still single up to now, presumably because of her. But Lingjiuzi became a monk for her. So far, Chu Liuxiang has known that at least three men are fascinated by her, namely Ximen Qian, Zuo Youzheng and Lingjiuzi. If she wrote a letter asking these three people to die for her, these three people must have gone without hesitation. And at this moment, all three of them were dead. Shen Shangu stared at Chu Liuxiang and said, "Do you recognize her?" Chu Liuxiang sighed, and smiled wryly, "I don't know her, luckily I don't know her." Sun Xuepu said: "No matter who you are, you all came to inquire about her whereabouts. Now that I have told you, you can go too." Aunt Shen Shan said, "Where is she now?" Sun Xuepu said sadly: "Since that night, I haven't seen her again... Maybe I should say, since that night, I haven't heard her voice again." Shen Shangu stomped her feet and said, "You just told me her name, what's the use of that?"