Chapter 16 Chapter 16
The warm sunlight poured down, giving the two of them a thin layer of golden light.
Gu Xuanyou also sat up and told Ling Suye everything he knew.
"The Death Gu is a secret within the palace, and I only learned about it by chance. It's a long story, starting from Emperor Wu's Western Expedition a hundred years ago—"
A hundred years ago, the Great Zhou Dynasty had not yet been unified. The nomadic tribes of Mobei, the Wu Gu Dynasty of the Hundred Thousand Mountains in western Hunan, the descendants of the East China Sea Dragon, and the Sun Chaser lineage in the South...
Emperor Wu was a military genius who pacified Mobei, Zhuri, and Donghai successively. Finally, he pointed his sword at the Wugu Dynasty in the Shiwan Mountains.
The Wugu Dynasty lasted for thousands of years. Although its military force was small, it was easy to defend but difficult to attack due to the dangerous terrain.
In addition, there were poisonous weeds, poisonous insects and miasma everywhere. Emperor Wu sent three generals to attack Xiangxi for three years, but no victory was reported.
In the fourth year, the 37-year-old Emperor Wu led his troops in person. This time, he led almost all the troops in the country - even if he used human wave tactics, he could still flatten hundreds of thousands of mountains.
On the first day of arriving at the Shiwan Mountains, Emperor Wu ordered his soldiers to start digging, determined to learn from Yugong and flatten the mountain.
The people of the Wu Gu Dynasty in western Hunan were extremely disdainful of this at first, but as time went on, three months later, the outermost mountains were indeed dug away. Now, the Wu Gu people could no longer sit still and began to send people to negotiate.
Emperor Wu was no longer interested in peace talks at this time. He ordered his men to kill the envoy and continue digging.
Since the Witchcraft Dynasty refused to surrender, he would make the witchcraft disappear forever.
On the night the messenger died, the soldiers dug up a strange blood-red coffin in the mountains. The strangest thing was that there were densely packed poisonous insects outside the coffin, and if you listened carefully, you could hear someone inside the coffin crying for help.
Judging from the voice, it must be a very young woman.
"Others found the scene too horrific and suggested burning the coffin and the poisonous insects. Emperor Wu, however, overruled the others and personally killed the poisonous insects. He then split open the coffin, and a girl so beautiful that everyone present lost their minds crawled out."
Gu Xuanyou said, "According to this woman, her surname is Sheng, her name is Sheng Tingdie, and she is the princess of the Wu Gu Dynasty."
What happened next was a typical love story.
Emperor Wu no longer insisted on leveling the Hundred Thousand Mountains, but instead took Sheng Tingdie as his concubine. At the same time, the Wu Gu Dynasty submitted to the Great Zhou. Emperor Wu returned to the capital.
The Death Gu was the secret of the Witchcraft Dynasty, and it was at this time that Sheng Tingdie brought it back to the palace.
After her death, the death poison began to spread gradually in the palace.
Ling Suye had only heard before that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty went on a western expedition and married a beautiful Miao woman to bring back to the palace - beauty and hero, this kind of love story was the most popular among the people.
I don't know the name of the Miao woman or the scene of their meeting.
He asked, "Is Sheng Tingdie related to the Sheng family in Beijing?"
Gu Xuanyou said, "Master, I don't know the specific relationship, but I suspect it is related."
After all, the surname Sheng is very rare in the Central Plains.
Furthermore, the Sheng family's collection of books records such detailed stories about Emperor Wu and Sheng Tingdie from Miao, so there must be a connection between them.
Gu Xuanyou hesitated for a moment before continuing, "Besides the fact that they both have the surname Sheng and a collection of books, there's another point: Sheng Tingdie and Emperor Wu were deeply in love, loving each other for decades, yet they had no children. It's written in the Sheng family's collection that witchcraft, a technique that first harms oneself and then others, will result in the extinction of one's lineage. Furthermore, the Sheng family's master also has no children."
Could it be that the master of the Sheng family is also extremely powerful in witchcraft?
Ling Suye, who had once worked at the Du'e Division, had some understanding of the Sheng family's financial situation.
He was a little surprised. "But the rumor is that the master of the Sheng family is a playboy, uneducated, and has no interest in the affairs of the court. Apart from his wealth and wealth, he has no other merits."
This is recorded in the Du'esi.
——Du'esi is not only the patron saint of the capital, but also the eyes of the supreme ruler.
"Over the years I've been in the Sheng family, my feelings about Master Sheng are consistent with the rumors." When Gu Xuanyou read the Sheng family classics at that time, he had the same doubts as Ling Suye. Later, he secretly observed Master Sheng for a long time and found that he was indeed the same as the rumors.
He shouldn't be some hidden master who is trying to hide his true strength.
"If he really wanted to hide something, it would be easiest to disguise it in front of a child."
Ling Suye still suspected that Mr. Sheng was hiding something.
After all, that fatal Gu is extremely difficult to raise. One must reach the highest level of cultivation before being able to feed and poison it.
Gu Xuanyou reacted quickly: "Master, the matter you are investigating is related to the Death Gu. Are you... going to the capital in the future?"
"Well, but I'll let you go then." Ling Suye lay down again, using a comfortable posture to make his tone more relaxed. "We agreed at the time that we wouldn't force you to do anything you didn't want to do."
Gu Xuanyou immediately jumped down from the haystack and stood aside at a loss. He opened his mouth several times but no words came out.
The capital...
And the name 'Sheng Li' represents everything he is very reluctant to face.
That's why he was so happy when his master changed his appearance and asked him to change his name.
·
When Ling Suye asked Gu Xuanyou to check what he had found on that person, the men in black... no, now they should be called the Black-clothed Iron Guards also discovered the tragically dead 'master'.
The Black Iron Guards have strict disciplines, and those with higher ranks have the power of life and death over their subordinates.
Now that their leader was dead, all the Iron Guards dared not act rashly and could only send an emergency contact signal to their superiors as quickly as possible.
At the same time, the iron guards who had been hiding in the dark came forward and blocked the entire five-mile radius of the City God Temple with an iron fist. No one, including the prefect Zhao Qisheng and all the "Mr. Shi" who participated in the competition the night before, was allowed to move around freely.
Prefect Zhao Qisheng, having already known of their existence, had organized the gambling stone competition under the manipulation of these people. He wasn't surprised, but simply inquired, "Where's your Excellency? What happened? Is there some misunderstanding?"
The only answer he got was the sharp tip of a knife: "Ask any more questions, and I'll kill you!"
The prefect was so frightened that he took a big step back and his official hat fell to the ground.
'Mr. Shi' and his servants, who were restricted in their movements outside, were crying and wailing at first, but then, under the pressure of life and death, they fell silent in just a few breaths.
That night, a team of iron-hoofed soldiers came galloping with a murderous aura.
The City God Temple is brightly lit.
A man in black stepped forward, knelt on one knee, and reported, "Sir, when the demon domain was breached, all the 'Misters of Stone' survived, except for the ones we assigned to retrieve the Suppressing Stone. Therefore, the master ordered one team to explore the interior of the City God Temple; the rest of the team, accompanied by spirit dogs, went after Ling Wuming and his servant, who had absconded with the Spirit Jade. When we returned, the master was gone."
The dusty-looking man, wearing a black iron mask, jumped off his horse and walked straight past the man in black who was reporting the situation.
He strode to the deceased's carriage, raised his hand and pulled down the curtain, and saw that the interior of the carriage, which had a simple appearance, was magnificent, with coffee tables, teacups, and even cloaks hanging neatly on the walls.
"Dai Er walked out on his own," a voice came from behind the black iron mask. "He even changed his clothes to avoid alerting others."
The man in black who was about to report the matter looked tense. He had also discovered this matter, but he originally wanted to tell this matter to the new lord as a token of his allegiance. Unexpectedly, the new lord guessed it almost exactly after just one look at the situation in the carriage.
"Go and see where Dai Er is buried." he ordered.
The man in black immediately stepped forward to lead the way.
When they reached the spot where Ling Suye had buried the spirit stone, the man in black didn't keep the secret this time. He pointed at the pit and said, "There's blood nearby. I'm afraid the master and the murderer fought here. Then they fell into the tunnel. This place is only twelve feet away from where the master's body was found."
After saying that, he jumped down the pit and continued to lead the way.
The adult wearing a black iron mask followed closely behind.
Many black-robed iron guards had come here in the afternoon, so their footsteps were scattered and complicated, making them no longer valuable for reconnaissance.
Only Dai Er's body remained in the same place, without moving.
The man wearing the black iron mask stepped forward and pried open his eyelids. He could clearly see that in addition to the dilated pupil, there was a distinct red line in the center of the eyeball.
This is the fatal symptom of the "death poison" attack.
This gentleman dismissed all other outsiders and only kept one trusted confidant by his side.
"Dai Er died because of the outbreak of the Death Gu, and he was not killed by anyone."
His confidant was smaller in stature. Upon hearing this, he immediately took out a jade bottle from his sleeve and gently tapped it against the dead man's ear. At the same time, a subtle insect-like sound came from his mouth. Then a crimson insect crawled out from the dead man's ear and drilled into the jade bottle.
"Dai Er is very experienced. He even took the initiative to ask for the Death Gu to enter his body. He must have known that the only reason for the Death Gu to attack was to reveal the owner's identity to others." This thin confidant said, "In fact, there are many ways to avoid the Death Gu attack, such as avoiding the issue, telling others a false identity, or even insisting that you don't know anything. All of these can avoid the Death Gu attack."
The man wearing the black iron mask also squatted down: "But he chose to reveal the master's identity."
He exchanged a glance with his confidant and said, "Dai Er is not stupid. He knows that if he chooses to speak out, there will be no way to survive. Therefore, that person must be very skilled."
The confidant agreed, a hint of worry in his tone: "Three years ago, we suffered heavy losses in the incident with the Ling family in Mobei. The master has already instructed everyone to keep a low profile and not show up in public unless necessary. How could we have attracted a powerful enemy hiding in the dark?"
The man wearing the black iron mask said nonchalantly, "Powerful?"
The confidant said, "Dai Er is very experienced and his strength is even not inferior to yours. He was able to die tragically in a short period of time. How could his opponent not be powerful?"
The gentleman said, "No matter how powerful he is, he is just a rat hiding underground and dares not show up. When I catch him, I will tear him into pieces in front of Dai Er's tomb."
The confidant put away the jade bottle and examined Dai Er's body. His expression became more serious. "The wound on Dai Er's palm shows signs of poisoning. At the same time, his cultivation has been completely lost. The murderer is not only skilled in tactics, but also a master of poison."
The lord stood up, called over a black-robed iron guard, and ordered, "Reduce the number of people chasing Ling Wuming and his servant Gu Xuanyou by half, and the rest of you search this tunnel for other exits. Don't miss any clues."
"Yes, sir!"
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