Volume 1: The Jianghu is the main thing, who is the guest? Chapter 8: Murder
The next day.
With a groan, Li Muchan in the wooden dormitory slowly woke up from his creaking old bed.
It is late autumn outside the window , and the grass and trees are withered.
"If you don't wake up, I'll eat all by myself."
Just as I was coming to my senses, a slovenly old man suddenly flashed out from the door. He was wearing cloth clothes and straw sandals, with a few lonely big yellow teeth showing in his smile. He had a wine gourd tied around his waist and walked in limping.
The old man was a hunchback with a limp, a tuft of sparse white hair on his forehead, and he was extremely skinny.
He was holding two greasy roast chickens in his hands. As he walked in, he raised his chin towards the two new graves in the cemetery, jumped and laughed, "Hehe, the dead this time are two famous swordsmen, and there are many sacrifices. I have been guarding for a long time, but the old birds in the forest have not been able to take a bite."
The old man has no name, just called "Old Cripple". He is a corpse collector in Luoyang city. He specializes in collecting ownerless corpses, especially those of the gangsters who thought they would become famous overnight but died suddenly.
Two roast chickens did not count, but the old cripple fumbled around his body for a while, and soon, like a magic trick, the empty wooden table was filled with all kinds of food, and a pot of aged wine.
This man is not only greedy for food and drink, but also lustful and extremely fond of women.
They got to know each other because when Li Muchan was spending lavishly in the brothels, he invited this person to have fun in the "Cuifang Tower" for seven days and seven nights.
He thought the two would never meet again, but when he was desperate and penniless, the old cripple brought him here for temporary shelter.
Li Muchan slowed down, then stood up unsteadily, and looked at the furnishings in the house. It seemed as if someone had cleaned it; the roof had been repaired, the rat hole in the corner had been blocked, and the books in the room were neatly arranged.
When the old cripple saw Li Muchan looking at him, his mouth was already full of food and wine, so he hurriedly said incoherently: "Don't look at me. This place was drastically different when I came here this morning. So where did you go to have fun last night? Hehehe, you smelled really strongly of powder and makeup."
As the old cripple spoke, he took out a pork elbow wrapped in lotus leaf from his crotch, handed it to him and shouted, "Try it."
Li Muchan rolled her eyes and said unhappily, "Mother Liu came to see me last night."
"Puff... cough cough cough..." The old cripple shuddered, as if he had thought of something, and suddenly felt a chill, "I thought I had accepted everyone who came, but I didn't expect you to be more capable than me, and you can even eat that kind of stuff. You are really a rare talent, and you will become a great man in the future."
Li Muchan grabbed the wine jug and took a sip of wine. The spicy taste went down his throat and he immediately sobered up. He turned around and walked out.
The old cripple was stunned: "You don't want to eat?"
Li Muchan spat and walked away, her voice coming back: "Keep it for yourself, I have to go out for a while."
The old cripple was very disappointed and muttered, "Tsk, I'm really not lucky enough to have this feast. I'll enjoy all these delicacies by myself."
Li Muchan's face gradually became gloomy as he walked out of the cemetery. He seemed to have a layer of cold sweat on his back. When the cool breeze in the forest blew, he couldn't help but shiver, and even his steps became a little stiff.
Because he had seen the old cripple a few days ago. He thought that because he had been with corpses for many years and was old, he had been infected with corpse poison and was only half alive. He exuded a dead air of old age.
And that person was definitely not the old cripple.
He resisted the urge to look back.
It seems that the Azure Dragon Society and the Demon Cult are about to take action.
As for the two new graves, when he passed by them just now, he saw that there was not much soil piled next to the grave mounds, and the grave pits must not be deep. He was afraid that the people buried inside were not dead.
Living person?
ambush.
A few words quickly flashed through Li Muchan's mind. Thinking of the scene last night, his brows suddenly frowned.
With the Qinglong Society being so well-connected, they must have figured out that he and Shangguan Xiaoxian already knew each other.
Are they trying to use him as bait?
Li Muchan couldn't help but sigh in his heart, the situation was really getting more and more pressing, the real old cripple was probably already dead.
So who is this old cripple now?
Lobby master?
※※※
It was almost noon. Li Muchan first wandered around Luoyang City for a few laps, then walked into a casino and won three taels of silver with his few copper coins. Then he went out, turned left, ate seven more buns, and finally went to the best clinic in the city, "Huichuntang", and asked the doctor inside to take his pulse carefully.
Only after finding no hidden dangers such as poison, did they leave with peace of mind.
The long street was bustling with people coming and going. In the inns along the street, many people from the underworld were drinking and chatting, talking about the major events that had happened in the underworld recently.
The "Weapon List" in which
besides,
Fu Hongxue.
Li Manqing.
Xue Qingbi.
Excalibur Villa.
Seven Star Pond.
…
One after another, the names of those who were revered as chivalrous saints and sword masters by the people in the martial arts world echoed among the displaced crowd.
Li Muchan suddenly stopped, then closed his eyes and took a deep breath. For no reason, a surge of blood seemed to surge in his chest and abdomen. His ears were filled with the names of the most brilliant and talented people in the world, as if he was an old monk in meditation.
This world...
"Damn it, how dare you, an idiot, block my way? Get out of here!"
An impatient curse suddenly rang out, and Li Muchan opened his eyes instantly. Looking at the burly man in front of him with a ferocious look, he quickly ran away in embarrassment while apologizing, causing a burst of laughter.
It was not until dusk fell and the sun set that Li Muchan walked out of an inn.
Then head straight to the old temple outside the city.
He was not wandering aimlessly during the past half day, but was testing the people who were following him, as well as the spies and secret agents of the two forces in the city. It seemed that the two groups had been fighting openly or covertly.
Because he had seen some faces many times, but some faces he had only seen once.
These people were dressed differently. There were innkeepers, storytellers, hawkers, pimps , peddlers, and all kinds of people in the market.
As expected, he has great connections.
It seems like I won’t be able to wait until the day when I become the third place in the imperial examination.
Li Muchan was still thinking about satisfying his desire to get a place on the imperial examination, but judging by the current situation, the two sides were incompatible. Now it was just soldiers versus soldiers, but it would not be long before it would be generals versus generals, or kings versus kings.
He couldn't just sit there and wait for death. His only hope now was the "Luofu Secret Records" left behind by Dao Twelve. Since the other party had deliberately given away his identity, he would most likely have considered this situation and might have left behind some means of saving his life.
Li Muchan has never been so eager to live as he is now. As long as he can survive this disaster, the world before his eyes will become different.
It was already dusk, and as the footsteps got closer, Li Muchan was seen rushing out from a small path between the withered pines and strange hills. Looking at the old temple hidden in the shadows, he couldn't help but take a few quick breaths, and his heart and lungs seemed to be swelling.
But thinking that someone must be following him, he suppressed the strange feeling in his blood, staggered with heavy steps, and ran in quickly, saying in panic: "There's a ghost!"
In the dim temple, looking at the vague outline of the statue, Li Muchan walked up to it, knelt down without hesitation, and kowtowed three times and nine times to the statue.
The sound of the forehead hitting the ground was extremely dull.
But in fact, before the nine knocks touched the ground, Li Muchan felt a piece of land in front of him collapsed.
He seemed to have guessed the result long ago. He picked up the thing, then hurriedly stuffed it into his arms and covered the shallow hole again.
It was dark outside the temple , desolate and quiet, but there was a faint smell of blood, as well as sounds of sobbing and heavy objects falling.
Still fighting...
