"I will report this matter to His Majesty tomorrow when I go to court! I must clear Brother Qiao's name!"
Chapter 158: A Centenarian Visits a Young Woman at Night
The sky was dark and the night was cool as water.
There were no more pedestrians in the streets, and the lights in the houses and courtyards were gradually going out, and everything was silent.
"It's dry, be careful with fire." The night watchman was beating the gong and patrolling the streets, but he didn't notice a dark shadow flashing by.
A cool breeze blew. The plump young woman closed the wooden door, only to feel an inexplicable chill rising up. She subconsciously wrapped her clothes tightly around her.
The moment she turned around, her scalp suddenly felt cold, as if in the dark night, there was a pair of cold and ruthless eyes staring at her through the crack of the door.
The young woman's heart tightened. She went to the table and got out a pair of scissors. She walked carefully to the door again and looked out through the crack.
There was no one outside the door.
Just as he was staring intently, the window suddenly clanged and was blown open by the cold wind, which frightened her and made her feel a chill in her heart.
"Why is the window open for no reason..."
She shuddered, walked slowly to the window, stood on tiptoe and looked out, her heart pounding, but this time she still found nothing.
Just as she stretched out her hands to close the window, a cold wind suddenly blew in the room, blowing across her snow-white neck, making her feel cold and giving her goose bumps.
"The doors and windows are all closed, where does the wind come from?"
It was fine just now, but the more she thought about it now, the more she felt that it was not a draft at all, but rather like someone was lying behind her, blowing gently on the back of her neck.
This thought suddenly flashed through the young woman's mind, and she turned back in horror.
The room was empty except for a flickering, dim candlelight by the bed.
At this moment, the surroundings seemed to become especially quiet. The sound of the night watchman beating the gong outside gradually faded away, and finally became inaudible. The whole world seemed to be quiet.
The young woman's breathing became slightly heavier. She subconsciously walked to the bed with light steps. Only when she got close to the faint candlelight did she feel at ease for a moment.
“Did I get into bad luck today at Caishikou?” She closed her eyes and clasped her hands together, mumbling a prayer:
"Every wrong has its perpetrator, and I didn't kill the man. If I want to find someone, I have to look for the immortals."
It’s better not to close your eyes.
As soon as I closed my eyes, the scenes of the day appeared vividly in my mind.
From the old man who was slandered by her and angrily drew his sword across his neck, to the two rainbow lights rising into the sky, to the distress and raging whirlwind that filled the vegetable market, the corpses on the ground and the last scene, the old man who stood in front of her, his old body frozen into an ice sculpture and shattered into pieces.
"If everyone in this world could repay evil with kindness like that old man, and use it to block the knife in the end, I wouldn't have to worry about revenge..."
For an ordinary person, what happened during the day was too exciting. She could not forget it and her chest kept heaving.
But at this moment.
There was a soft whirring sound.
It sounds like the wind, and also like the sound of exhalation.
Although the young woman closed her eyes, she could feel that the warm candlelight on the bedside had gone out, and the surroundings were shrouded in darkness.
Her heart trembled, her eyes opened slightly, and then her whole body trembled.
She saw a blurry human-shaped shadow standing at the head of the bed, looking at him.
The young woman was so frightened that she immediately closed her eyes again and continued to pray with her eyes closed:
"Every wrong has its perpetrator, and this is not my fault."
"I was just blackmailing people, I wasn't the one who killed them."
She unconsciously curled up at the head of the bed and waited for a long time. When there was no movement around her, she quietly opened her eyes.
The dark shadow has disappeared.
Just when she was feeling relieved, a creaking sound came from under the bed.
She was startled and pretended to be brave enough to light the candle again. Holding the candle, she slowly bent down and looked under the bed.
There was still no one under the bed.
But she suddenly realized something, turned around abruptly and shone the candle behind her.
Just then she saw an old man in white with disheveled hair and a bloodstained face, shrouded in shadows. His eyes were as dark as the abyss and as sharp as a sword. A closer look at them seemed to tear her mind apart.
This appearance was almost exactly the same as the old man he met during the day.
And she
"Sir, you have a culprit for your wrongdoing. Your death is not my fault." The young woman lost her mind in an instant and almost collapsed.
The dead person I saw during the day appeared at the bedside. If this isn’t a ghost demanding his life, what could it be
"I'm wronged... I can't breathe smoothly..." The old man's figure became blurry and distant, and then near, and disappeared in front of the young woman. His voice also came and went, echoing in the whole room.
"I can die, but my reputation cannot be ruined..."
"Come, come, come, follow me to see the King of Hell and tell him all the twists and turns of my life..."
"Master, please spare my life... I was blinded by greed, but I didn't want to kill you... And this was not my idea alone. I am just a butcher's knife. It was not me who wanted to frame you, but Master Wan Ronghua and Miss Fang Fangfang."
The young woman was frightened and told the whole story.
But Qiumu laughed secretly in his heart.
Although he said before that he was committing suicide not to repay evil with kindness, and did not care about the admiration or slander of others... but this does not mean that Qiao Mu really wants to forgive those who threw dirty water on him.
After all, if the person involved in this incident was not Qiao Mu but someone else, he would most likely end up in disgrace.
He dressed up as a ghost to scare people, but it was actually just a casual act, a small revenge, and a chance to try out the "eye sword technique" that he had not yet mastered.
The Eye Sword Technique is a method of witnessing mastered by the third-grade spiritual warrior Sword Ghost. It can only be mastered by spiritual warriors.
But when Qiao Mu thought of this, a memory popped up in his mind. It was the memory of him practicing the "Eye Sword Technique" day and night for the past ten years. Although he did not succeed because he did not enter the stage of soul refining, he did not gain nothing.
"In the past ten years, my 'spirit' has grown stronger, and even my memory of practicing seems to have become clearer."
Qiao Mu's sword skills have not been mastered, but they are more than enough to intimidate an ordinary person.
However, the information he got from the young woman left him a little confused.
"The mastermind behind this is indeed Wan Ronghua, but who is this Fang Fang? When did I offend this person?"
Qiao Mu thought of this and asked a follow-up question. Who knew that what the young woman said next would surprise him.
"This Fang Fang was originally the daughter of the antique dealer Fang family. Later, she married into the Wan family and became Wan Ronghua's concubine." The young woman replied:
"When I was in the Fang family, I was actually a personal maid of Miss Fang. After the Fang family fell into decline, I naturally left."
"But one day Miss Fang found me, taught me these tricks to blackmail people, and asked me to work for her."
Judging from the young woman's words, she has done this more than once or twice...
"Fang Fang? The sister that Fang Yuan is worried about?" Qiao Mu frowned and asked again:
"Why didn't Fang Yuan, the young master of the Fang family, know about this? He just thought Fang Fang had a strange disease and ran away from home?"
Chapter 159 The Qiao Family is Connected by Blood
The young woman was so frightened that she was at a loss as to what to do.
After being questioned by Qiao Mu, he spilled the beans and told the truth in detail.
"The young lady also wanted to have a good reputation. She knew that marrying into the Wan family and becoming Wan Ronghua's concubine was not a respectable thing, so she changed her name and abandoned her own family name..."
"Master Fang Yuan doesn't know, I guess Miss is deliberately hiding this matter..."
Qiao Mu nodded secretly, this was actually a pleasant surprise.
Fang Yuan has been looking for his sister, and now he has found Fang Fang's information first...
He added: "Every wrong has its perpetrator and every debt has its creditor. I have lived a life of integrity. Even after death, I would rather die than take a wronged soul to see the King of Hell."
"Besides framing me, what else have you done? Tell me now."
"As for whether to take you or Wan Ronghua to the underworld, it depends on you."
As he spoke, Qiao Mu's eyes were like swords, and he had already activated the eye sword technique that he had not yet mastered, accompanied by murderous intimidation.
The young woman nodded in a daze, unconsciously recounting her past crimes. She claimed that she would surrender herself to the authorities after dawn and kneel down to beg for mercy.
After getting everything he wanted to know, Qiao Mu disappeared into the hut like a ghost.
The young woman has already said that she will report it to the authorities, so let the authorities judge her. As for if she regrets it tomorrow, it doesn't matter.
Because Qiao Mu had learned from her own account about her previous experiences of "fraud and false accusations", there were actually more than one victim like Qiao Mu.
If she changes her mind and does not turn herself in tomorrow, then Qiumu will just find someone to report her. It won't be a big problem.
"This story tells us how feudal superstition harms people..."
"The identity of a ghost is more useful than that of a living person... After all, evil ghosts will drag people to hell, while living people... especially good living people, will only be pointed at with guns."
Qiao Mu left the cabin and walked through the streets and alleys like a ghost.
He had dealt with one of the people who framed him that day, but there were still a few to come.
Especially Wan Ronghua, the mastermind behind the scenes, Qiao Mu had to pay a proper visit to all these people.
The old house of the Fang family.
It was already the second half of the night, but Fang Yuan was still not asleep.
Qiao Shuanglin's death made him feel guilty. Hai Wuya had some initial clues and suspected that the incident might be related to the wealthy Wan Ronghua, but he lacked evidence.
Fang Yuan felt that Qiao Shuanglin's death might have his own reasons. His mind was in a mess, so he got up in the middle of the night and sat in the courtyard of the old house.
"Tomorrow morning, Lord Hai will go to court to restore Senior Qiao's reputation... This night is really long."
It was late at night, the moon was high in the sky, and a cool breeze blew gently, making the leaves of the two jujube trees in the courtyard rustle.
The moonlight cast a silvery glow on the ground and also illuminated the walls. The shadows of the trees on the walls were mixed and disordered, swaying with the breeze, just as he had seen when he was a teenager while cooling off in the courtyard.
But now he is alone again. Qiao Zhong and Qiao Shuanglin, father and son, gave him hope, but the hope was shattered in an instant, and instead the life of an outsider who stepped forward was involved.
"How can I rely on others to take revenge? From the beginning, I should have been self-reliant and not taken the help of others for granted..."
Fang Yuan sat alone in the courtyard in the middle of the night, his mind gradually calmed down, and he began to meditate silently... Hai Wuya's "Sumeru Mountain King Sutra" was also taught to him, and at this moment he was determined in his heart, so he would no longer have the fluke mentality of hoping for help from a noble person.
But not long after, he suddenly heard a meow.
When I opened my eyes, I saw the little calico cat that Qiao Shuanglin raised.
The tabby cat was still very young. Qiao Shuanglin went out frequently during this period, so he left the cat in the old house and took care of it on his behalf.
"Do you remember your master?" Fang Yuan sighed in his heart and reached out to pet the cat, but he didn't expect the cat to suddenly leap up and land on the top of the courtyard wall, with a pair of cat eyes looking somewhere outside the wall.
"Someone is coming?" Fang Yuan was secretly alert.
But the cat suddenly tilted its body and fell straight from the wall to the ground.
Fang Yuan was startled and stepped forward to take a closer look, only to find that the cat showed no signs of injury. Instead, its limbs were twitching slightly, its pupils were dilated and its tongue was hanging out of its mouth, looking like a pervert.
"The little guy finally found it." An old voice suddenly sounded.
Fang Yuan was shocked. He didn't know when an old man appeared where the cat was lying.
The old man was quite old, with wrinkles all over his face, to the point that Fang Yuan had difficulty judging his age. His appearance and temperament were vaguely similar to Qiao Shuanglin, except that he was a bit older.
"Fang Yuan, right? Shuang Lin mentioned you to me." The old man turned sideways to face Fang Yuan, smiled slightly, and explained:
"My name is Qiao Senlin, and Qiao Shuanglin is my cousin from the Qiao family."
"The Qiao family is related by blood. This demon cat named Wuchang is raised by the Qiao family and can smell the scent of the Qiao family..."
The little cat at my feet blinked, its dilated pupils condensed slightly, and then dilated again, as if it had given up on treatment.
Whatever you say is what it is. I don't understand it either, because I am just a little cat.jpg
Fang Yuan had a lot to say, but when the words came to his lips, he just sighed: "Senior Qiao Senlin, you came so quickly."
Qiao Mu explained:
"My Qiao family is connected by blood, and we can sense each other, especially at the moment of death... I was originally in the imperial capital, and I rushed here after I noticed that my cousin had died."