A few minutes later, in the next courtyard, under an apricot tree covered with icicles, two women sat opposite each other.
A man wearing a red dress with a white lining underneath, he was tall, with a high ponytail tied up with a red rope, a Qingfeng sword on his back, black boots on his feet, and a heroic look between his brows.
It is Lian Nishang, who is now serving as the patrol captain of Qingshan County!
Opposite, Fang Qingzhu was dressed in white, with a beautiful appearance, eyes as bright as stars, and three flower marks between her eyebrows. Against the surrounding snow and ice, she exuded an elegant temperament.
At this time, next to the stone table under the tree, a woman wearing a blue scarf with white dots on her head, a gray jacket and skirt, and a washed-white apron around her waist bent over and took out some steaming hot tea and some dried wild fruits from the tray, put them on the table, and rubbed her apron embarrassedly.
"My place is simple, and my hospitality is a bit shabby. It's cold outside, and I have a fire in my room, if you don't mind."
Lian Nishang said softly at this time,
"Sister Hua, there is no need to restrain ourselves. We are practicing cultivation, so we are not afraid of such a cold wind. We are sorry for disturbing you."
The woman was somewhat flattered when Lian Nishang called her sister.
"Oh, no, I dare not act in front of you, my Lord."
Lian Nishang shook her head slightly, "When my brother was in Qingshan, he was your neighbor. I am nothing like you."
When Sister Hua heard this, her eyes were filled with tears. "Master Chen is a great benefactor of Qingshan County. I am marrying up. I am not afraid of being laughed at by you all. Sometimes I have strange thoughts and I don't know when Master will come back to visit."
As she said this, the woman wiped her eyes and was about to leave. "I'm sorry to have made you two laugh. You two continue chatting while I leave first."
"Sister Hua, wait a minute. Nichang has something to ask you!" Lian Nichang spoke at this time, her eyes moving, "Have you seen Mr. Wu come to your courtyard in the past two days?"
After hearing this, Sister Hua paused, "Are you talking about the old man who helps Master Chen look after the yard?"
"That's right!"
"I haven't seen him these past few days. It's strange. This old man hasn't come for two days, no, three days. I remember him coming every other day to clean Mr. Chen's yard. He even wanted to come every day, always before dawn."
"Could it be that the old man is sick? It's freezing cold, and the snow is strange. I heard people say that the world is going to change. This can't be good. We just got a little bit of peace and stability."
Sister Hua lived next to Chen Yuan's yard and knew that the old man often came to Chen Yuan before dawn. When asked by Lian Nishang, she found it strange and started talking.
"Relax and there's nothing wrong with Qingshan. Go back to the house first. It's cold this day."
Lian Nishang spoke softly, and in between words, two shadows were seen whizzing and suddenly rushed to the shoulders of Fang Qingzhu opposite. They were the little white fox and the little squirrel.
"Hey"
Sister Hua responded and prepared to go back to the house.
And then,
"squeak"
The little squirrel jumped from Fang Qingzhu's shoulder to the table, and then to the plate of dried wild fruits. It held one with its two little paws, and then stuffed it into its mouth, stuffing its cheeks with the fruit. Then it squeaked towards the inner room.
"Mom, I want to eat too!" a voice came.
Just at the doorstep, the chubby tiger boy, wearing a tiger hat, saw the little squirrel smacking its lips while eating dried fruits. He became envious and trotted over quickly.
Sister Hua walked back and quickly put her hand on her son's ear and pulled it, then dragged the shameful little bastard back into the house.
"Eat your mother's fart, you have no respect for your parents!"
Seeing his "friend" being humiliated, the little squirrel quickly grabbed two handfuls of dried fruits with his two paws, then his belly bulged and he rushed into the house.
The little fox followed closely behind.
Soon, Tiger Boy's happy voice was heard from the room.
At this time, a voice sounded, "I haven't seen you for a few months. I didn't expect Miss Lian to improve her martial arts so quickly and advance to the Heavenly Gate. Congratulations."
Fang Qingzhu spoke with some surprise. In order to break through the Heavenly Gate, she was trapped in the Night Sailing Ship and experienced many dangers before she was able to advance to the Heavenly Gate.
"It's just luck. My brother gave me a lot of flesh and blood from the demons in the Heavenly Gate before he took office. Miss Fang was there at the time. Nishang was just lucky. Relying on these things, she pushed herself into the Heavenly Gate. Her foundation is still unstable." Lian Nishang has now advanced to the Heavenly Gate, but her breath is a little unstable, and it is obvious that she has just made a breakthrough not long ago.
Just as she said, she was able to advance to the Heavenly Gate quickly in a short period of time because of the demon flesh and blood that Chen Yuan had given her before, and the fact that Qingshan County had been very peaceful in the past few months, allowing her to stay in the mountains and practice with peace of mind, which enabled her to make such progress in martial arts.
"Brother Chen is a generous and heroic man, now famous in Shu. Who would have thought that a few months ago, the three of us were still in that courtyard. It's hard not to feel dazed to revisit the old place. By the way, why did Miss Lian come here at this time? Brother Chen's courtyard is empty and blocked by prohibitions."
"Something happened!" Lian Nishang frowned, showing a bit of worry.
Hearing this, Fang Qingzhu's eyes flashed with a trace of thought, "The old man Miss Lian just asked about, could it be that the old man surnamed Wu who was with Brother Chen at the time, is related to him?"
Lian Nishang said "hmm", and then her beautiful eyes flashed with cold stars.
"The old man is missing!"
"I came to see if there was any trace of him in this courtyard. Brother's courtyard is usually guarded by an old man."
"It's just that I can't get in, so I can only ask from the side."
"Even you can't get in?" Fang Qingzhu was a little surprised.
She thought that Lian Nishang and Chen Yuan were colleagues, and since Lian Nishang had taken over as the patrol captain of Qingshan County, the two should have a close relationship.
She had also seen the old man before. He was ordinary, without any martial arts aura, and gave people the feeling of an old servant beside Chen Yuan.
But Lian Nishang could not enter the yard left by Chen Yuan.
Lian Nishang seemed to see her confusion. "The old man has been serving my brother for a long time. In the past, Qingshan County relied on the mutual support of the two. Their friendship is incomparable to that of Nishang. Before my brother left, he also told me to take good care of him."
"Now that the old man is missing, I cannot escape the blame. I must find him safely!"
"Even if we dig three feet into the ground in Qingshan County!"
Lian Nishang's eyes were sharp. She raised her head and looked at Fang Qingzhu opposite her.
"As far as I know, Miss Fang is not from Shu. When she left Qingshan County, she followed her brother to Tianxiong Pass and said she wanted to go back."
"Why are you here suddenly?"
Fang Qingzhu was silent for a moment after hearing this.
"It's a long story."
"Miss Lian, do you still remember that ship? I escaped from it and got to know Brother Chen and the others."
Lian Nishang nodded. She was not present on the night of the night boat incident, but she witnessed the horrific scene of the entire Qingshan County people sleeping afterwards. In addition, the human-demon was causing chaos at that time, so she quickly mobilized people from the neighboring county to Qingshan County to resist the human-demon.
She still remembers this incident clearly
At this time, Fang Qingzhu also spoke, "The matter of the ship was known to the ancestor of my Fang family. He seemed to have sensed the secret of the ship. It happened that the fortune of Shu was revived and the sky was changing. The ancestor brought my family to Qingshan County and planned to seize the ship, so I appeared here."
Lian Nishang frowned when she heard this. "I came here in a hurry. I just heard from the county yamen runners that some important person came to the county early in the morning and startled the people. So that's it."
"Miss Fang, let's stop reminiscing about the past today. Nichang still has things to do, and I hope Miss Fang can lend a hand and help find the old man's whereabouts. Nichang will be very grateful." This woman has always acted decisively and efficiently. As she spoke, she stood up and clasped her hands.
Unexpectedly, a hand grabbed her hand.
"Wait 1"
"I'm afraid there is one more matter that Miss Lian needs to investigate, and it concerns the lives of the people in Qingshan County!"
Fang Qingzhu leaned forward, his almond-shaped eyes revealing a solemn look.
Lian Nishang was shocked!
Soon after, the main street of Qingshan County,
"tap"
"tap"
"tap"
The hurried hooves of horses galloped on the street. There was thick snow on both sides of the road. The hoof prints on the rustling snowy road stirred up puddles of dirty water.
A bright red color ran through the streets and alleys, and arrived in front of the Qingshan Inn. Then it stepped towards the closed door with a sign on it that said "Closed to Visitors". With a push of both hands, the red-dressed figure stepped directly in.
"Snapped"
The door is closed.
"Lian Nishang, the patrol captain of Qingshan County, has come to ask to see the ancestor of the Fang family!"
A cold voice spiraled upward along the stairs and reached the upper floors.
Then, there was the sound of the wooden door of the room opening, followed by whispers.
"Humph, who do I think I am? A small local patrol captain is worthy of meeting the ancestor!"
"Oh, I didn't expect she's pretty."
"You shouldn't be surprised how this person knows our Fang family and even our ancestor?" ",,,,,,,,
Among these voices, some were sarcastic, some were frivolous, and some even felt strange.
But surprisingly,
But I heard someone say from above,
"Patrol Captain, huh? Come up, my ancestor wants to see you!"
This message immediately caused confusion and surprise among the family members upstairs.
"With the status of an old ancestor, how could you meet such an unknown person?"
Downstairs, Lian Nishang heard bursts of whispers, but she seemed to be deaf to them and walked up the stairs.
When he reached the second floor, he saw a thirty-year-old man in black clothes standing at the entrance of the stairs, waiting there.
The other party continued to walk up the stairs, and Lian Nishang followed.
While going upstairs, Lian Nishang felt a stream of scrutinizing and playful gazes.
Each of them has a powerful aura and carries a great pressure from heaven, which shows that the Fang family is extraordinary.
Lian Nishang's expression remained unchanged as she followed the burly man in black clothes all the way to the top floor, where she was then led to a room.
The strong man in tight clothes came to the door and said respectfully, "Grandpa, I have brought the person here!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the door of the room opened without wind.
The big man moved aside, revealing the figure of Lian Nishang behind him.
At this moment, Lian Nishang looked at the cold and empty room and felt a heart-pounding pressure.
It was as if there was a terrifying presence lurking in this room.
She suppressed the palpitations in her heart, frowned, raised her foot and stepped in.
"boom"
The door closed, as if separating two worlds.
It was empty and silent inside, and it felt as if one was in a huge abyss.
"I am Lian Nishang, the patrol captain of Qingshan County. Nice to meet you, senior!"
Lian Nishang bowed and clasped her hands, and the scabbard behind her trembled slightly.
In front of the floor that was glowing with cold light, there stood a landscape screen, against which stood a thin figure sitting cross-legged.
There was a cough.
"Patrol Captain, why did you come to see me?"
A light sound came from behind the screen, as if walking on cotton, feeling weak.
Lian Nichang's beautiful eyes flickered quickly, and her voice clanged.
"I came here to verify it. I heard from my seniors that the water source in Qingshan County has been poisoned by a demon!"
The sound echoed in this small room.
The ancestor of the Fang family was silent for a moment behind the screen, his tone still light and airy.
"Qingzhu told you?"
The ancestor of the Fang family seemed to know something.
"That's right!" Lian Nishang agreed generously.
"Haha." A bellows-like laugh sounded from behind the screen. "You are just a junior. How can I prove it to you? Don't use the people of Qingshan County to convince me."
"I am a junior working in Qingshan County. I can help you find some clues about that ship. Tens of thousands of people in Qingshan City were sucked into the souls by that ship. When they escaped, I often heard that some people dreamed about that ship. Maybe I can find it with this help."
"Did Qingzhu teach you this?" The laughter behind the screen gradually stopped, and the voice seemed to become more serious.
"No, Miss Fang and I are old acquaintances. She only told me about the magic poison. As for the rest, it was not something I made up. You can send someone to Qingshan County to inquire."
"Although I am only a small patrol captain, I am doing business here and maybe I can be of some help." Lian Nishang lowered her head slightly, her tone calm.
At this moment, she felt a compelling gaze falling on her, as if trying to see through her.
But she looked calm, because what she said was not made up.
There is indeed such a rumor circulating.
But these are all hearsay. Plus, the entire county was sucked into the ship and fell asleep, just like a nightmare. It is not surprising to have dreams afterwards.
So, even though Lian Nishang heard about this matter at the beginning, she didn't care about it.
Today, after listening to Fang Qingzhu, he tried this rumor. Anyway, the rumor did exist and she did not lie. As for whether it would work, she didn't know.
She just wanted to take this opportunity to verify the matter of the magic poison.
After a while, there was a laugh from behind the screen.
"If you want to know whether the entire Qingshan County has been poisoned, you can go to any water source in the city and then come to me, and you will know then."
"I brought it!"
Lian Nishang just raised her sleeves and a stream of water flew out, condensing into a ball of water as big as a basketball in the void.
This was taken from a well in Jiazi Lane.
She chose that yard on purpose after Fang Qingzhu explained it to her.
After a cup of tea,
The door of Qingshan Inn opened.
Lian Nishang walked out quickly, her pretty face frosty but filled with anger.
"drive!"
She mounted the horse, turned the horse's head, and left the Qingshan Inn at a galloping speed.
What she didn't know was that at this moment, there was a sight above her head, watching all this with cold eyes. (End of this chapter)
