Chapter 69: Dream
February 18th at 3:30pm
The monk stopped asking questions. He ran to the window, stuck his head out and looked left and right, up and down, as if trying to find a way for Xiaoping to jump over the river.
"Cunzhong, I think the building on this side is taller than that one. Maybe..."
"Master, there's no need to look for it. There's no iron rope that can allow a living person to slide over. There were at least twenty people in the backyard at the time. If she really wanted to use the zipline to get over there, she would definitely be seen."
"How strange! How could he disappear out of thin air? Or was he rescued by the Hat Monster? If he was rescued by the Hat Monster, it's possible that it was a trick, but how could he disappear out of thin air? And end up on the other side of the river? That's impossible."
The monk walked back, touching his bald head, and stared at Shen Kuo blankly, as if he suspected that Shen Kuo and Bao Zheng had teamed up to play a prank on him. Shen Kuo was a little scared, but the monk unexpectedly saw Shen Kuo's open wardrobe.
"Cunzhong, you see there are men's clothes at this prostitute's house? I guess she often stays with her lover."
"Yes, there are men's clothes. It is not easy for Mr. Bao to find these people. Now they are surrounded by soldiers on all sides. These scoundrels naturally dare not come when they see them from afar. Even Jin'er is nowhere to be found." Shen Kuo said lightly. He was a little dissatisfied with the monk's wording of Xiaoping, but there was no need to care about it at the moment.
"They are all coarse cloth clothes and black cloth clothes. It seems that this little whore has many friends and accepts all the peddlers and hawkers."
Shen Kuo was enlightened by his words and turned to the wardrobe.
"Is there a piece of men's clothing missing here?"
He was confident in his photographic memory and was sure that one piece was missing. Last night, when Xiao Ping talked about her lovers without hesitation, he felt a pang of pain, but he remembered the clothes. There were five sets of men's clothes in total, and now only four were left.
"Which one is missing?" the monk asked in confusion.
"It's a long, soap-colored gown."
Shen Kuo stood in the middle of the room, his mind churning rapidly, sorting out the whole thread: first, there was the sound of chains falling to the ground upstairs, and at the same time the candlelight went out. Soon, he and several policemen ran upstairs. Although it was not pitch black here, only moonlight shone in. He rushed to the zither first and saw the paper man trembling on the strings... Then he saw the opposite window open, and Xiao Ping appeared on the opposite side. At this time, several policemen in black clothes ran down like they had lost their souls, shouting, and reported to Bao Zheng that the witch was gone. At this time, the oil lamp was not lit, and the room was still dark. He only remembered the sound of footsteps on the ladder at that time, but he couldn't tell how many people went down?
He shook his head vigorously, thinking about the connection. He wondered what the chains on the ground were. These chains seemed thick, but they might not be difficult for her to open, because it was not the first time for her to open these locks. However, did she still need a key to open the locks?
He recalled the time when he tried to save Xiao Ping who was being tried by water, but he watched her being sent underwater by the locked wooden cage, but she miraculously escaped. Later she said that she had the key in advance, which was given by a lover. Xiao Ping lied like drinking water, and when he rescued her, he happened to meet the police who set up a checkpoint on the road to provoke him, and she also said that he was her husband and easily fooled them. So now thinking back, what lover or husband is, most of them are just her casual cover-up? So what is she hiding?
However, the chains were put on her by Xu Chong, and the key was given to Mr. Bao. Was there any chance that the key was given to her?
Shen Kuo thought about it and it seemed that there was no such opportunity. Unless she knew in advance what kind of lock Bao Xianggong brought when he left the Military Headquarters? Or there was her insider among the people around Bao Xianggong, but this was impossible. She saw the whole process of Xu Chong locking himself up, and no one else approached her.
There seems to be some clues, but the doubts cannot be resolved.
"Why!"
Shen Kuo sat down on the chair again.
"How is it? Still have no idea?" The monk said with a smile, as if he had let it go.
"Just now I seemed to have understood it a little bit, but now some parts are not clear. If it's not magic, it must be a trick. However, there must be tricks, and I can understand the techniques ."
"If you can't figure it out for the moment, just let it go for now. What else did that whore say to you?"
"She said that she would come to me if she had any problems. I guess it was just a lie to cover up the truth."
"Not necessarily. This doesn't seem like an attempt to cover up something, so you better be careful. Maybe she really came to strangle you in a dream. I think it's better to ask the Taoist priest across the street for a spell and stick it on your chest for protection. As far as I know, there is a spell to drive away nightmares called..."
"Master said it was funny, but I can't laugh."
"Hey... who said it wasn't true? There are still masters in the Maitreya Sect. I am willing to admit defeat to the monk."
"By the way, Master, I heard Xiao Ping mention last night that she used fox magic. I suspect she is the Saint Hu Yong'er, one of the four masters of the Maitreya Sect."
"Perhaps you and I are obsessed with appearances and lack insight. We think that everything in the world can be reasoned out with emotion and understood with principles, and we don't even believe that there are fox spirits in the world." The monk sighed.
"Master, you said so too?"
"But what else can we do? Even if we don't investigate how she escaped from the house and how she got to the other side, this matter needs to be done carefully and must be connected to the outside world . How could she do it alone?"
"It is impossible for her to contact the outside world. When Xu Jieji and I arrived yesterday, she was packing her clothes to leave. We probably arrived too fast, which was beyond her expectations. Later, she was trapped here, and even if there were remnants of her accomplices outside, she dared not get close. Even if there were her accomplices in the opposite Huixianju, how could they pass on the message?"
"It may not be impossible..." The monk suddenly hesitated, "You just said that she stuck the person on the strings of the zither?"
"Yes, she said this is called the shadow of the clone, the flick of a finger and disappearance."
"Perhaps, she and her accomplices communicate through paper figures?"
"What do you mean?"
The monk did not answer, but sat on the stool where Xiaoping sat yesterday, and inserted the paper figures into the strings one by one. Shen Kuo stood by and instructed him to insert them into the positions that Xiaoping had inserted yesterday.
“Why put it on the side?”
"Will it not hinder her from playing the piano?" Shen Kuo said.
"That may not be the case." The monk said as he suddenly stood up.
"Master, teach me?"
"I have no solution to this problem for now, I will keep it in mind. I can't help you if I stay here now, so I'd better leave first. You just tell Mr. Bao that I, a monk, came here but was powerless. It's not because I'm lazy, I'm just stupid." The monk suddenly wanted to leave in a hurry. They had no clues just now and could have encouraged each other later, but now he suddenly changed his mind and wanted to leave. I don't know what he thought of.
"Master, you are joking. I will naturally not say such nonsense in front of Mr. Bao. Master, please do as you please. I will stay and think about it."
"Okay, think about it for a while."
The monk said goodbye and left. Of course, Xu Chong downstairs also arranged a sedan chair to carry him back.
Shen Kuo stared at the zither and the eight paper figures on it for the whole afternoon without coming up with any further clues. Just then, a messenger came to take over the shift, and Xu Chong asked him to go back to Laoya Lane to rest so that he could recharge his energy for various new challenges.
So he could only return in disappointment, thinking about the past few days that had been like a dream. For him, confirming that the Saint Lady was dead and guessing that there was internal strife in Maitreya Sect were indeed the highlights of his life. However, looking back, it was only a temporary victory, and he was faced with a huge dilemma in the blink of an eye. First, Xiao Ping turned out to be a member of the Maitreya Sect's rebellion, and second, he was trapped in a bigger mystery and couldn't extricate himself. These two things made him feel frustrated.
However, putting aside these setbacks, there is one good thing, which is that the Maitreya Sect has not used any big moves for a long time.
The crossbow on the Baifan Building and Xiaoping's escape seemed to be unexpected complications, but the ninth sentence of the prophecy that everyone had predicted would soon come true - if he recovered, Wang Yan would be glorious in the sky - dragged on for a long time but never came true. What had they done wrong?
To some extent, the rhythm of the Maitreya sect seemed to be disrupted by the chaotic punches from their side. Although they played many exquisite tricks in addition to parrying, they were still unable to advance their original ultimate killer move and complete the final blow to the legitimacy of the Song Dynasty. What exactly happened in the Maitreya sect?
When he returned to his residence, there were few people in the yard. Originally, there were only about twenty spies and policemen here, and they had to be divided into several groups to go to Baifan Building and Xiaoping's hiding place. Lao Bao intuitively believed that it was very likely that the Maitreya Sect would return to Baifan Building or Xiaoping's home.
He first boiled a bucket of water downstairs and took a good bath. He wanted to go upstairs to have a good sleep, but then he remembered that he hadn't seen the old donkey for a few days. Now everyone was busy here, maybe no one would feed it? So he went to the backyard. The old donkey's trough had been empty for a long time, and it was now sticking its head into the trough of the horse next door to grab grass. So Shen Kuo added water and hay to it, and the old donkey shouted loudly twice in joy. Shen Kuo saw that the bell on its chest was loose, probably torn off in a fight with the horse, so he helped it tighten it. As the old donkey shook its neck, the bell made a crisp sound, and he returned upstairs.
When he got to his room, he poured himself a cup of cold tea, blew out the oil lamp, and lay down on the bed.
However, he couldn't fall asleep. As soon as he closed his eyes, all kinds of strange things would appear before his eyes, and his mind couldn't calm down. He opened his eyes and felt a little sleepy again. He remembered the monk jokingly saying in the morning, "Be careful that Xiao Ping will come to you in your dream and strangle you to death." He found it funny again. If Xiao Ping could come to him in his dream, it would be a good thing. He must tell her all his questions and ask her carefully. He always felt that she was not just a member of the Maitreya Sect.
First ask her how she cast the spell? Then ask her what was going on with the paper figures dancing on the zither?
Thinking of this, I felt that it was not just a trick, but must have some purpose. If Xiao Ping didn't come to me in my dream, why not go to a piano shop and ask her tomorrow?
After thinking about it for a while, he felt his eyelids getting heavy and soon he fell asleep.
He didn't know what time it was, he just felt an itch in his ears, as if someone was blowing air on his face.
He opened his heavy eyelids, and the oil lamp was still on. He slowly recalled that he had blown out the lamp. He wanted to get up and check, but he felt his body was floating. He couldn't help but suspect that he was still in a dream. While he was hesitating, he heard the sound of turning pages. He turned his head and saw a blurry figure sitting by the window and turning pages.
Shen Kuo was not sure if he was really awake. Wasn't that figure Xu Chong? The rest of the people in the yard would not come to his second-floor room. He thought hard that Xu Chong should still be waiting at Xiao Ping's house, because Lao Bao thought that the Maitreya sect might be stupid enough to return and maybe wait for the one called Jin'er.
"Who are you?"
No one responded to him. Was he really coming in a dream?
He just felt a sweet and warm breath blowing towards him, and he fell drowsy again.
After an unknown amount of time, Shen Kuo finally woke up. He got up and found that the oil lamp was not lit. He sat on the bed and took a few deep breaths, trying to recall what had just happened and whether it was really a dream. No one seemed to be talking. What kind of dream was this?
It seemed as if someone was really sitting here, the lights were on, and the windows were open. Now there was no one in the room. But something seemed wrong.
He stood up and walked to the window. The window was open, but there was an open book on the window sill. It was the book that taught the evil medicine: "The Holy Teachings and Talismans". He would never leave the book he had just finished reading on the window sill, because it would get wet if it rained, so he would definitely put it back to its original place.
He checked the front door lock, it was still locked. Did he come in from the backyard window? But the old donkey downstairs was very alert, and would cry even if a stranger walked by, let alone climb up the barn. Unless... it was not a stranger?
He raised his head and took a deep breath, and there was indeed a faint scent of camellia. That was Xiao Ping's scent. So this old donkey didn't bray?
He walked to the back window and leaned out to look down, only to see that the door of the barn was open and there were only a few horses eating grass, but the old donkey was gone.
He stood there in a daze for a long while.
But he heard the sound of a bell coming from afar. It was the sound of the bell on the neck of his old donkey.
"Xiao Ping has been here. Has she not gone far?"
He didn't have time to get dressed, so he rushed downstairs in just a white sweatshirt and a pair of hemp shoes. He saw that the front door was closed, but the wooden door on the back wall, which was never opened, was half-leaning, making a rustling sound when the wind blew. He ran out of the wooden door, but it was already midnight, and there was no one on the street. There was even a thin mist in the distance, which made it look even more eerie.
He looked around, but there was no one around. But he heard a faint ringing in the distance, so he hurried to chase after it. It was late February, and it was very cold even with only a single layer of clothing, but he didn't care. He only wanted to see Xiao Ping again, and didn't want to rush to ask her how she escaped. He just wanted to tell her one thing, that he was happy that she survived.
I chased to the end of the street, but I didn't see anyone. But I heard the bell ringing again at the corner, so I ran over there again. After walking a hundred steps and looking around, I saw a man and a donkey on a small bridge in front of me.
