Chapter 15 On the Eve of the Fourteenth Execution Day

On March 14, it was cloudy and rainy. In the south of the Yangtze River, it is already the late spring of March when the grass grows and the warblers fly, but here it is still damp and cold, and it can even penetrate into the blood and bone marrow of a person like the tip of a needle. Especially the rain, the rain is more worrying.Even if you have the world's first sharp knife, you can never cut off one of the thousands of raindrops that make you sad. In this kind of weather, the stove, the hot pot, the hot kang, the burning knives, the hot stewed noodles, everything can hook people's feet, in the house, and around their wives.

It was just dark, and there were few pedestrians on the road. The chaos outside the west city is like a poor ink painting. On this day, a stranger who came from other places died at the foot of the city, and was cut in half. The most strange thing is that the upper body of this person fell in front of a stone tablet at the root of the city, but the lower body was a foot away. The rain washed away the blood, and the mud covered the footprints. Now there is no clue left, and there is nothing on the deceased that can make people find out his identity. The murderer is undoubtedly an expert among them, and he kills really cleanly.

Even if someone could guess who he was, they would never utter a word. Of course, this kind of murder can never be solved. It was not until a long time later that someone revealed a little clue. This man is a rascal, who sometimes engages in prostitution, cheats and gambles, and sometimes steals chickens and dogs.He happened to be nearby when the murder happened. According to him: ——"My luck was really bad that night. I couldn't do anything well. There was a fat slut at home, waiting for me to bring wine back to sacrifice her to the temple of the five internal organs." ——"At that time, I heard that there was a group of grave robbers doing business outside the west city, so I got their idea and wanted to give them a black hole."

——"Just when I was brave enough to go over there, I suddenly saw a person running towards me like flying. As he was running, the person suddenly broke in two from the middle, and the upper body suddenly fell down. Two legs are still running forward." ——"Have you ever seen this kind of thing, you say evil door is not evil door?" Later he added a little more. "Although I was petrified at the time, I still seemed to see a shadow of a person seven or eight feet away, holding an oil-paper umbrella, standing there like a ghost. Scared of people." and after? ——"There is no later, almost the bottom is gone, I was so scared that I peed in my crotch, and ran back, only to realize that the urine in the crotch had turned into ice, and even the thing underneath was almost frozen. popsicle."

So this murder case is still a mystery, and no one knows who the murderer is. If someone knew who they were, this murder case would definitely cause a sensation in the martial arts world? After working in the Ministry of Punishment for so many years, the red officer did not know how many times he had taken over, but Jiang Duanxian still felt very anxious every time the eve of the execution day.He must wait for him to try the knife before his mood will stabilize. March 14th is no exception. It was cold and rainy, and the sky was gloomy. Jiang Duanxian was wearing a pair of high-toothed clogs with ancient Tang style, holding an oil-paper umbrella, and walked forward along the foot of the city. The snow had turned into mud, and the cold rain hit his face like a blade.

Where else could he go in such a cold, dark night?What are you going to do? In fact, he has no particular place to go at all, he is just looking for someone. Who is this guy?He didn't even know it until now. In such a severe cold and in such a cold night, he came out of the dry and warm house in the rain just to find someone who he didn't even know who he was. This kind of strange thing is probably only done by Jiang Duanxian, and every day before the execution, he has to do the same thing for decades, and it has never changed. The ground was muddy and the clogs were heavy, but when Jiang Duanxian walked, there was no sound at all, only the drizzle hitting the oil-paper umbrella, making a rustling sound, which sounded like the spring rain in the south of the Yangtze River hitting the lotus leaves.

But these two feelings are much different. Jiang Duanxian's mood was even more bleak, as if there had been a broken dream falling in the south of the Yangtze River. At this moment, he saw a figure leaping down from the city wall in front of him in a very strange posture. Jiang Duanxian's eyes sparkled immediately. He could see that this person was performing a unique light kung fu technique that very few people in the Jianghu could practice, and he also thought of who this person was. This man is undoubtedly the most successful solo thief in the past ten years, the "fifty-six" who has committed fifty-six crimes and never missed.

"Fifty Six" was certainly not his real name, nor even his nickname. People in the Jianghu called him "Fifty-six" just because he happened to have committed fifty-six extremely sensational cases, just like when he committed thirty-seven cases, others called him "Thirty-seven". Because every time he committed a crime, he would leave a number on the scene, as if he was afraid that others would forget the number of times he committed a crime. His plan was "ninety-nine." If he hadn't met Jiang Duanxian, he really hoped that he could do it. Every time "Fifty Six" commits a crime, he checks himself thoroughly, and completely removes everything that may be able to trace his true identity.

So even in the worst case, no one else could find out who he was. Like most prudent people, he was always planning for the worst. Because when he was not working on a crime, he was definitely a very respected person, and he had decent friends, and his family was happy and happy, his children were smart and filial, and his reputation was unquestionable. So he absolutely didn't want anyone to associate "fifty-six" with such a good man. This he actually did. His name and identity remained a secret for many years after his death. No one in the rivers and lakes has ever been able to discover the past of "Thieves Fifty-Six". His friends have never doubted his character, and his children will always maintain respect, love and nostalgia.

Because no matter how you look at it, Mr. "Fifty Six" cannot be regarded as a very bad person. He is not afraid that others will see his very unique lightness kung fu, because it is absolutely impossible to trace his origin from this aspect. More importantly, he always has an unexplainable preference for this kind of light work.He has no name and no name, and never does things to show off himself. Only this kind of light work can satisfy the sense of vanity that he can't help but keep a little for himself in his heart. This feeling is like a little girl puts on new clothes and locks herself in the room to take a picture in front of the mirror alone. She hopes that others can see it, but also hopes not to be seen by others. Even though she knows that others cannot see it, she still feels very happy in her heart. .

This time he was in the same mood. It was cold and dark at night, and he never thought that when he jumped off the city wall, there was already someone waiting for him below. A tall and thin man, holding a half-worn oil-paper umbrella, stood in the wind and rain like a ghost. Except for the wind blowing the corner of his clothes, his whole body was motionless, and he even stopped breathing completely. "Fifty-six" stopped breathing immediately, trying to slow down his falling speed, and there was still a buffer gap before reaching the ground. He had already discovered that what he met this time was an extremely terrifying opponent. Only a real master can be so stable and quiet, and will never move unless necessary. —Sometimes not moving is scarier than moving. This is no nonsense. It's not funny either. Although the mud on the ground was deep, if "Fifty Six" breathed out, he would still stand lightly. But now he had both feet buried in the mud, and he had to stand firm when he fell.Because when he fell, his energy was almost exhausted, he could neither attack nor retreat. He can only guard, stand firm and guard. He couldn't see the other person's face, but Jiang Duanxian was staring at him under the umbrella, his pupils had shrunk. "I know you don't recognize me, but I recognize you." Jiang Duanxian said, "Now you are probably not fifty-seven, or fifty-six." "Probably so," Fifty-Six said. Although he already felt the murderous intent of the other party, he didn't show any panic or fear. He was by no means the type to be easily intimidated. "I haven't done the fifty-seventh case yet, so I don't have a penny on me now," he said. "So I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint you tonight." "You're wrong." Jiang Duanxian said flatly, "You've been wrong from the beginning." "Oh?" "You shouldn't come here, nor should you reveal your lightness kung fu, let alone let me see it," Jiang Duanxian said, "Especially not tonight." "why?" "Because I must find someone to test my knife tonight." Jiang Duanxian said, "Now I have chosen you." "We have a grudge?" "No." "Why did you choose me?" "Because you're damned." Jiang Duanxian slowly opened the oil-paper umbrella, revealing a pair of cold eyes like a knife's edge: "I always only choose damned people to test my knife, Mr. Peng's knife only has the blood of wicked people." "Fifty Six"'s pupils suddenly contracted and then expanded, "Peng Shisandou?" "Yes, I am." "But Peng Shisandou never tried his sword when killing people." Fifty-six said: "Wandering around the rivers and lakes, killing people on narrow roads, even in a hurry, you can't try your sword." He stared at the opponent's hand: "People who can use a third party to test their knives before killing people are usually not in the Jianghu." "Where is it not in Jianghu?" "In the Criminal Department." Fifty-Six said: "It is said that on the eve of every execution of Jiang Duanxian, the chief deacon of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, there will be another lonely soul in the city who died violently." Jiang Duanxian's eyes turned greener, as if they had turned into two emeralds, almost transparent. Fifty-Six did not avoid his gaze, but felt a cruel pleasure in his heart, a kind of self-liberation. ——Now he already knows that Jiang Duanxian is Peng Shisandou, but no one will ever know his secret. At this moment, Jiang Duanxian's knife was out of its sheath, and the cold light on the blade was like his eyes. At this time, his knife seemed to have completely melted into his body, blood and soul. Jiang Duanxian's knife is made of refined steel, and it is made by a method that no one has been able to detect the secret of. The sharpness and hardness of this knife may be considered unparalleled in the world, but when its blade cuts across a person's waist, the feeling is extremely gentle, as gentle as a rough hand holding a young girl's delicate body. breast. When the blade entered his waist, Jiang Duanxian's pupils expanded, and every part of his body softened and relaxed at this moment. His purpose has been achieved. The hot water in the wooden barrel has been prepared long ago, and the temperature of the water is often kept a little higher than that of the human body. After soaking in hot water of this temperature for a quarter of an hour, it will always make people feel peaceful and radiant. This kind of wooden barrel is called "Furo" in Fusang. It is a kind of bath tool and the greatest enjoyment for most men there. It is even more addictive than sake and geisha. Less than three months after Jiang Duanxian went to Dongying to be with the Edo man, he was already addicted. That's why he specially transported such a wooden barrel back to the Central Plains. Jiang Duanxian no longer remembers fifty-six's broken waist, running legs, falling down, blood spattering, legs falling, and death. Now he has forgotten everything in the world. Because now he has completely immersed himself in the bath, and the temperature of the water can satisfy him very much. This feeling is like a man putting himself in the body of his most beloved woman. There is still some time before dawn, and he hopes that he can still sleep, so that after tomorrow's execution, he will still have the energy to drink a cup of tea, eat some wine, and go back to Huier's mutton shop to get some three-point fat The mutton is eaten with fire, and four taels of knives are used as morning wine to keep out the cold. It's a pity he didn't fall asleep. After "testing the knife", Jiang Duanxian would always fall asleep soon. Although he didn't have much time to sleep, it was better to sleep for an hour than not sleep at all. ——During the trial of the knife, life and death were a shot, and after the trial of the knife, I completely relaxed myself. Under such circumstances, usually he would fall asleep as soon as he closed his eyes, but this time he opened them as soon as he closed them, because he suddenly had a strange feeling in his heart. This feeling is like the sixth sense of a beast. Whenever his safety is threatened or his privacy is violated, he will have this feeling in his heart, and this time is no exception. When he opened his eyes, she was already standing in front of him.Dressed in snow-white clothes, her incomparable beauty also carries a kind of creepy mystery, making her look like a fairy and a ghost. In order to make himself feel completely isolated from the world, Jiang Duanxian installed the bath in a completely independent hut in the backyard, and every time he took a bath, he would lock the door from the inside. Today should be no exception. But now a woman clearly appeared in the room, standing beside the small bed where he used to store his clothes, and was looking at him with gentle and cold eyes. Although the temperature of the water was the same as before, the muscles on Jiang Duanxian's body that had been completely relaxed tensed up. He is completely naked. Although she couldn't see it, he knew it himself. Facing a beautiful and proud strange woman completely naked, Jiang Duanxian suddenly felt an indescribable humiliation and inferiority complex in his heart. The woman's sharp cat-like eyes seemed to have penetrated the barrel and saw the ugliest thing on him. Even his scars and birthmarks are clearly visible. This feeling made him extremely angry, but he was still calm after all. So he just looked back at her coldly, neither moving nor opening his mouth. He must first find out why she came, and then he can decide what he should do. Of course this woman didn't come to see him take a bath, of course he couldn't just jump out of the tub naked and kill someone. —It seems that very few people can kill with a knife when they are completely naked. The ghostly woman suddenly had a dreamy smile in her eyes, and then said to Jiang Duanxian in a very elegant voice: "Mr. Jiang, after trying the knife in the wind and rain, can you come back and take a hot bath? What a treat." She said, "I shouldn't have bothered you." Jiang Duanxian looked at him coldly, waiting for her to continue. "But I want to come to you. There is no better time than now." She said, "Because now must be the time when your heart is the softest." Jiang Duanxian couldn't help admitting that this woman's observation was keen and her thinking was correct. No matter who was sitting naked in the bathtub after killing someone, their heart would become weaker. "I came when your heart was softest, of course because I have something to ask of you." Jiang Duanxian finally spoke: "What's the matter?" "Today is already fifteen, and I know you are going to kill someone at noon today." She said, "I beg you not to kill him." "You also know who I'm going to kill?" "I know." "Is he your relative?" "Not relatives, but enemies." "Since he is an enemy, why do you want to save him instead?" The eyes of the woman in white, which sometimes look like a dream, and sometimes look like a cat, are suddenly filled with terrifying bloodshot strands, each of which was forged with countless resentment and hatred, each They are deeply buried in her bone marrow and soul. "I want to save him, just because I don't want him to die so early." Jiang Duanxian never thought that the hatred in a person's heart could be so deep, until he saw her eyes. After seeing these eyes, Jiang Duanxian suddenly understood many things. "You are Mrs. Yinmeng?" "Yes, I am." "Do you know that it is Ding Ning that I want to kill?" "Yes," Yin Meng sneered, "Wei Haoke and Murong Qiushui are just two pigs, so they want to deceive me?" Her voice was also full of spite: "I'll make them regret it, I'll make them swallow their own words back into their stomachs with their tongues and things like that." Such a beautiful and elegant woman would be surprised to say such a thing, no matter who heard it. Jiang Duanxian stared at her for a long time before regaining his composure. "You have to know that I am just an executioner, just a tool for killing people. If others want me to kill people, I must kill them." "I know." "Since you know, you should understand that I can't do anything for you at all." "What I beg you to do for me is, of course, something you can do." "what can I do for you?" Yinmeng's eyes and voice have returned to softness. "Mr. Jiang, I've heard people talk about your knife skills. The knife seems to be alive in your hands, and it has eyes and feelings. So if you want to use it to cut off two eyelashes of others, it will Never cut off three, and never just one." She added: "If you want to use it to kill someone, of course that person must die. In other words, if you want to spare his life, that person will certainly not die." Jiang Duanxian's answer was as sharp as a nail: "When a person goes to the execution ground, there is no life left." "I also know that after a person arrives at the execution ground, there is no life left." Yinmeng said, "I just want you to keep his life alive, and you don't have to worry about other things." "One breath?" "As long as he still has one breath, I can let him live." Yin Meng's voice was more gentle: "Of course I also know that the price of this breath must be very high." She looked at Jiang Duanxian softly: "But I will definitely be able to pay it, and I will definitely pay you." Jiang Duanxian suddenly laughed. "I believe in you, you can get a lot of money at any time, and you can take off your clothes and jump into my bathtub at any time." He said, "Who can refuse a woman like you?" He himself answered the non-questionable question. "I can." Jiang Duanxian said: "Even if all the men in the world cannot refuse you, I am an exception." Yinmeng also smiled, very flatteringly. "You can really reject me, I don't believe it." She said: "With your sword skills, with your skill, maybe you will really treat money as dung, but what about me?" She is really a very beautiful woman, not only breathtakingly beautiful, but also bizarrely beautiful. Because her beauty is like a diamond, which can be divided into many sides. In a way, she is a very fragile woman, so beautiful and slender, like a piece of fine porcelain, she can't even be touched, and it will shatter when touched. Her hands, her feet, her ankles, the softness of her neck, all felt that way. On the other hand, she is very sensible, although she is beautiful, she is wise, principled, and strong and decisive. Once she makes up her mind, no one or anything can change. It can be seen from her pair of clear and bright eyes, from the outline of her mouth. But her eyes changed so much, so fast!Makes it impossible to fathom. By the time she's completely naked, she's a completely different woman again. A woman full of wildness and desire, every minute and every inch of her body seems to be burning with the flames of hell, capable of burning a man alive at any moment. Her legs, her waist, the elasticity of her body, her firm and full chest can all prove it. Now she has proved this to Jiang Duanxian. Seeing her naked body, even Jiang Duanxian could feel his heart beating faster. The uninterrupted cold water baths throughout the year, the fresh air in the mountains, the jumping of galloping horses, and the internal viewing and breathing adjustment while sitting quietly made every inch of her skin and muscles full of elasticity and vitality. Under her slender and slender appearance, there is a volcano that can be destroyed at any time. Jiang Duanxian sighed. "After seeing you, I realized what a stunner means." He couldn't help telling her, "You are a natural stunner. Compared with you, other women are like stunted children." Because of Meng Yanran. "So now you already want me to jump in your tub?" "In no mood." "You still don't want to?" "I can't help it." Jiang Duanxian said, "I'm a eunuch." This is a man's scandal, and most men will not tell it when they die, but Jiang Duanxian said it very easily. He even explained: "Tianxiong means that this man is a eunuch from birth." Because Meng's eyes changed again, the voice of sighing was very gentle. "Mr. Jiang, you are so pitiful. Now I know what a pitiful person you are." She sighed and said, "For a poor person like you, it's better to die." Jiang Duanxian also sighed: "It's a pity that I can't always die." Whether it's Jiang Duanxian or Peng Shisandou, they are all people who will die at any time, and I don't know how many people in this world want his head. But until now, his head is still there. A person who may die at any time is not dead, there is always a reason. The posture of Jiang Duanxian lying in the bathtub seemed more comfortable than before, and the water in the bucket seemed to be hotter than before. "Every morning when I wake up, I think, will someone come to kill me today? If someone comes to kill me, who will it be? What method will he use? Is his method of killing a special method?" "You thought about it this morning too?" Yinmeng asked. "I have to think about it every day, and I have to think about every detail thoroughly." Jiang Duanxian said: "I always think about it, if someone wants to kill me while I'm in the shower, what will they do?" Way?" He said: "Poisoning the water is a very good way. I first poisoned the water while I was away. As soon as I entered the barrel, the poison seeped through my pores. Before I knew it, the poison would seep into the water." Killed me." He asked Yinmeng: "Do you think this method is good?" "not good." "Not good? Which is not good?" "You are Jiang Duanxian, not an idiot. If you didn't check whether the water is poisonous before taking a bath, you would have rotted to death in the bathtub by now." Yinmeng sighed: "Actually, I've thought about it a long time ago, such methods are useless to you at all." Jiang Duanxian immediately asked her: "What kind of method do you think will be useful?" Yinmeng smiled, as an answer. Jiang Duanxian didn't hope that she would answer, and quickly continued: "If there is a very attractive woman who stands in front of me and takes off her clothes to attract my attention, and there are two or three top-notch killers in ambush behind her, Use the sharpest weapon to assassinate." He said: "At this time, I am naked and unarmed, and what I see in my eyes is a beauty who is so lively that even the eunuchs can't help but look twice." Jiang Duanxian stared at Yinmeng's eyes. "In this situation, how can I block their fatal blow." He asked Yinmeng again: "Do you think this method will work for me?" "It's useful, of course it's useful." Yinmeng said lightly, "It's just that I don't know how to use it either." "why?" "Because it's the wrong place here." This narrow cabin has only one small door, and there are no windows on all sides. Except for this big bath, the remaining space is very limited, and it is impossible for anyone to invade or ambushe. Yinmeng said: "I don't use this method, because it doesn't work at all." Jiang Duanxian sighed: "Then I can't figure it out, what method did you use?" Because the dream did not answer, there is no need to answer. The answer to Yinmeng's question was a "poof", and six spears had pierced through the wall. Three spears were pierced from outside the wall on the left, three spears were pierced from outside the wall on the right, and six spears pierced through the wooden wall with only a "pop" sound, which shows that they pierced in at the same instant. Almost at the same instant, there were two more sounds of "Puff, puff". This situation is not difficult to imagine. ——The spear pierced from the left wall pierced from the left side of the barrel; The left and right sides of the wooden barrel are crossed, and the person who sits in the wooden barrel and takes a bath, how can there be a life? The second "poof", of course, was made when the spear pierced the man's body. The situation should have been like this, Jiang Duanxian should have been assassinated in the barrel at this very moment. But the situation is not like this. The spear pierced from outside the wall, and when it was about to pierce the barrel, Jiang Duanxian's knife was already in his hand. He backhanded the knife. With the blade facing outwards, it turned around in a very strange posture in the barrel. The water splashed, the spearheads were all broken, and fell into the water. The second "poof" was the sound he made when he swung his knife to cut off the spearheads. He chopped off six spears with one knife, but there was only a sound of "poof". What a quick cut. The water splashed, and the man with Jiang Duxian also jumped out of the wooden barrel. In the bead-like water splash, he turned his body in the air from left to right. The knife in his right hand had already cut into the wooden wall on the left from top to bottom. The spear pierced the wooden wall. The blade sliced ​​across the wooden wall, and three screams sounded immediately outside the wooden house, and the three screams sounded like one. Jiang Duanxian hangs his sword sideways, kicks on the left wall with his right foot, and flies to the right sideways, the long knife cuts into the right wall where the spear is pierced. The blade slashed across, and the screams outside the house immediately mixed with the screams just now. His sword is fast, and his screams are long, so the six sounds can be mixed into one.The screams continued, the water curtain fell, and his men sat back in the barrel. There is still water in the barrel. Although the spear pierced the barrel with six holes, the shaft of the spear was still embedded in the hole, just like six plugs, plugging the six holes on the barrel to prevent the water from flowing out. Because the dream also seemed to be blocked by a stopper, the breath and blood had been blocked by the stopper, and one could not move. Jiang Duanxian looked very comfortable again. This wooden barrel imitating the style of "furo" is very large and has a huge capacity.Although some water was splashed and some water was exposed, the water in the bucket was still full and hot enough. Jiang Duanxian squinted his eyes, as if he was about to fall asleep again. He knew that when he opened his eyes again this time, he would never see anyone standing in front of him again. He only heard Yinmeng say: "I know that there used to be a very famous woman in Jianghu who even took a weapon with her when she took a bath." Jiang Duanxian heard himself say again: "I know her, her name is Feng Siniang." "I heard that she is Xiao Shishilang's mistress." Yinmeng deliberately asked in a sour voice, "What about you? What's your relationship with her?" "How could I have anything to do with her?" "Because you are like her, you even take your knife with you when you take a shower." Jiang Duanxian didn't mean to kill Yinmeng, in fact, he had already started to like this woman a little bit. An infatuated woman is not only usually respected by men, so this incident is over.There were only six severed spears left, and twelve hands that fell outside the wooden house, clutching the handles of the spears, and were cut off by Jiang Duanxian. At this time, it was actually the early morning of March 15th.It was very close to Ding Ning's death. At this time, the companion is still with the ghost. Nothing seems to change.