Duan Canghai and others were chasing Qi Ning on horseback on the ground. It was already dusk, and people were walking in a hurry in the streets and alleys of the capital. At first, no one noticed the hot air balloon floating in the sky. Finally, someone saw it, was shocked, and shouted After making a sound, people saw the hot air balloon floating in the sky and were extremely horrified.
They had never seen such a scene before. The timid ones even hid in the house, while the bold ones looked up and talked about it.
Qi Ning also knew that hot air balloons floating over the capital were not very good after all. When there was still fuel left, he operated the flamethrower to weaken the fire and let the hot air balloon gradually descend. Duan Canghai The others rode horses through the streets and alleys, closely following the hot air balloon. Fortunately, Qining did not stay in the sky for too long. When he landed, Duan Canghai and others were already waiting on the ground.
Qining specially found a relatively open place to land the hot air balloon. After landing, Xiaoyao seemed to be still immersed in the excitement just now and could not recover for a while.
When Qi Ning left the rest of the matter to Duan Canghai and others, and led Xiao Yao back to Longchi Academy on horseback, everyone was talking freely. When they saw Qi Ning coming back, everyone had a look of admiration on their faces. At this time, again The way he looked at Qining was even different from before.
Jiang Suiyun looked ugly, and Qining walked up to him, with his hands behind his back without saying a word. He just glanced down at his boots with a smile, but his meaning was already very clear.
A large group of people gathered around, talking in low voices, and many people had sarcasm on their faces. Obviously, in the eyes of many people, Jiang Suiyun made a bet with the young Marquis, which was simply unreasonable. Disgrace yourself by doing what you can.
Jiang Suiyun took a deep breath and hesitated for a moment. He knew that Qining would not let him go today. He gritted his teeth and finally squatted down and tore off a piece of cloth from the hem of his clothes. His hands were trembling, but he still buried his head in it. Qining wiped his boots.
Qi Ning put his hands behind his back and looked down from a high position. He glanced around and saw Su Zixuan in the crowd. When Su Zixuan met Qi Ning's gaze, her body trembled and she immediately lowered her head.
Naturally, she had not forgotten that she had participated in the bet made that day. If she had followed the agreement, she would have knelt at Qining's feet to clean Qining's boots with Jiang Suiyun.
The dignified eldest daughter of the Marquis of Wuxiang was cleaning someone's boots in front of everyone. Just thinking about it made people extremely embarrassed and angry, let alone actually going forward and kneeling down to clean the boots.
When she saw Qin Ning looking at her, her heart suddenly trembled, she was frightened, and she couldn't help but shrink back.
Fortunately, she didn't hear Qi Ning's call. She glanced at Qi Ning secretly. Qi Ning had looked away and was no longer looking towards her. Su Zixuan felt slightly relaxed.
Jiang Suiyun took the hem of his clothes and wiped both Qining's boots clean. Then he raised his head and asked, "I wonder if the Marquis is satisfied?"
Qi Ning raised his feet and looked at them one after another, and said with a smile: "Yes, Mr. Jiang's boot polishing skills are indeed extraordinary. With this skill, no matter what happens in the future, you don't have to worry about not having enough to eat."
There was a look of resentment in Jiang Suiyun's eyes, but Qi Ning just pretended not to see it, stretched out his hand and said: "Mr. Jiang, are you ready with the money?"
Jiang Suiyun stood up, his face was pale, but he still tried his best to calm down and said: "Don't worry, Mr. Hou. Since Jiang made a bet with Mr. Hou, he is willing to admit defeat. He doesn't have any money with him now, so tonight I'll send someone to deliver it to your house, and it won't be a penny less."
"Okay!" Qi Ning nodded with a smile and said, "I'm willing to admit defeat. Mr. Jiang can be considered a loyal man. Before midnight tonight, I would like to ask Mr. Jiang to send the money in full." He looked around and said loudly: "Everyone, please bear witness. My collection of money is not for corruption or bribery, but for making a bet. If someone slanders you in the future, you must bear witness to me."
As soon as this was said, everyone burst into laughter.
This laughter stabbed into Jiang Suiyun's heart like a knife. Jiang Suiyun could hardly breathe for a moment. He looked at Qi Ning with eyes like daggers, wishing to cut Qi Ning into pieces immediately. .
Although the four rounds of competition have ended, the book club has not ended there.
The ultimate goal of scholars from all over the world is to take advantage of this rare opportunity to enter the eight major academies. Although Qionglu Academy and Yunshan Academy have withdrawn, the remaining six academies still have to issue questions and give admission to everyone. Opportunity.
However, disciples from major academies can leave first after the four rounds of competition. Qionglin Academy is a women's academy, so it will naturally not admit men, so it also leaves early.
It's getting late, so the girls from Qionglin Academy don't have to go back to the academy. They can just go home. Moreover, according to the rules of the academy, after the book party is over, the girls will be given two days of vacation, so in the next two days, There is no need to go to the academy.
Qionglin Academy won the championship, and Qining received an autographed inscription from the little emperor from Yuan Ning'an. It was written with the four characters "Wen Yi Zhe Dao" and was stamped with a jade seal. This is extremely honorable for any academy. matter.
Qi Ning took the imperial calligraphy treasure and thought it would be better to give it to Zhuo Qingyang.
Zhuo Qingyang has worked hard to maintain Qionglin Academy for many years, but Qionglin Academy has always been on the fringes of the literary world and has never been able to admit that winning the Book Club title this time will not immediately change the status of the Women's Academy in this era, but it will still do so in the end. Make people look up to you.
Zhuo Qingyang had been looking forward to this day for a long time. Sending him the reward for winning the championship would always make the old man happy.
Besides that, what Qi Ning is most concerned about right now is Zhuo Qingyang's condition.
Zhuo Qingyang left early before the book meeting was over. He looked restless and full of worries. Qining kept wondering in his heart what happened to make Zhuo Qingyang act out of character.
He rode straight to Qionglin Academy. It was already dark. Qining dismounted and walked directly to the cabin outside the main entrance of the academy. When he looked over, he only saw Uncle Ren, who was in charge of the door, leaning on the chair in the cabin. He was already asleep, and there was a smell of alcohol coming out of the cabin. The old guy had obviously drank too much.
Today, all the students in the academy went to attend a book club, and the next two days were still holidays, so the entire academy was completely silent. It was no wonder that Renbo would take some time to drink.
Qining didn't bother him, tied up the horse and went straight into the academy.
There was silence in the academy, with no one in sight. Qin Ning sighed in his heart, thinking that usually once the students went home, the academy would be deserted. It was rare for Zhuo Qingyang to live here alone in such a deserted environment.
The night was dark, and there were no lights on anywhere in the academy, making it dark. Fortunately, Qining had excellent eyesight and was quite familiar with the roads. He followed the path to the bamboo hut where Zhuo Qingyang was.
In front of the bamboo house, the bamboo forest around it swayed in the night wind, like a ghost in the night. There were no lights in the bamboo house. Qining frowned, wondering if Zhuo Qingyang had left the book club. Didn't return to Qionglin Academy? Otherwise, why are there no lights in the house
Although it was getting late, it was not yet Haishi. According to Zhuo Qingyang's age, it was impossible to take a rest so early.
He frowned slightly, but still walked to the door of the bamboo house and said softly: "Mr. Zhuo, I am Qining, have you rested?"
There was no sound in the house. Qining couldn't help but reach out and push the door open. With just a little force, the bamboo door creaked open. It was extremely quiet everywhere. The sound when the door was opened sounded really permeable.
Qining waited until the bamboo door opened and then shouted into the house again. There was still no movement, only the bamboo forest behind the house made a rustling sound when the wind blew it.
Qi Ning was confused, but a wave of cold air came towards him. His heart skipped a beat, and a sense of uneasiness suddenly came over him. He stretched out his hand and already felt the cold blade in his hand, feeling full of vigilance.
His sense of smell, like that of a lone wolf, made him aware that something was wrong.
He walked lightly into the room, taking advantage of the dim light and shadow, just glanced at it, and his heart sank.
The inkstone that should have been placed on the desk fell to the ground at this time. The ink in the inkstone was splashed on the ground, and a chair fell sideways on the ground. Although the scene in the room did not look too messy, These two points alone showed that something was abnormal.
Zhuo Qingyang's house has always been simple and clean. If there is no accident, there is no way that inkstones will be spilled on the floor, or even chairs will fall on the floor.
He clenched the cold blade in his hand, looked around, listened in all directions, and slowly approached the table. When he got to the table, he found a piece of paper spread out on the table, pressed down with an ink block. It seemed to be a painting. He walked around the back of the case, his vision was dim, and he vaguely realized that it was a painting, but he couldn't see clearly what it was.
At this moment, a gust of cold wind blew by, and Qining immediately smelled a strange smell. He straightened his nose and sniffed, and soon smelled the smell of blood.
Qining was startled and turned around to look, only to realize that a window on the side was open, cold wind was blowing in from the window, and the smell of blood was blowing in with the wind.
His eyes turned cold, and he stepped closer. When he got to the window, he saw a wet patch on the edge of the bed. He stretched out his fingers to explore, and brought his fingers to the tip of his nose to smell it. Sure enough, it smelled of blood. His heart sank, and he didn't know. Hesitating, he turned over and jumped out of the window. When he landed outside the window, he saw what seemed to be a person lying on the ground not far away.
Qi Ning immediately approached, but he was still cautious and shouted in a low voice: "Sir...!" He stopped two steps away and took a closer look, only to find that the man was lying on the ground, motionless, but the clothes on his body were not The long robe Zhuo Qingyang wore before was instead a short-sleeved suit.
Qi Ning was startled, and stepped closer. The smell of blood became stronger and stronger. Looking at the ground carefully, he found that there was a line of blood extending from under the window to where the man was lying on the ground. It seemed that the blood was flowing out from this man.