Lao Tao and Tao Mo drove to the river.
Hao Guozi and Sang Xiaotu were walking along the river dejectedly. When they saw the carriage, they were startled at first, and then rushed over with cheers.
Old Tao stopped the carriage.
Tao Mo waited for them to approach, and said apologetically, "You have been waiting for a long time."
Hao Guozi said impatiently: "Master! Where did you and Gu She go? Let us find it easier, and I thought something happened to you!"
Sang Xiaotu followed behind him, although he didn't say anything, but his face was full of worry.
Lao Tao waved his hand and said, "Something happened, let's talk about it when we go back."
Hao Guozi saw Tao Mo and Lao Tao's uneasy expressions, so he didn't dare to ask any more questions, so he pulled Sang Xiaotu into the carriage.
With Hao Guozi and Sang Xiaotu driving the car, Tao Mo and Lao Tao naturally returned to the car.
On the way here, Tao Mo had already told Lao Tao exactly what happened to him when he was attacked, but he was in a hurry and didn't have time to think about it, so now Lao Tao had time to think about it. "How does the assassin dress?"
Tao Mo thought for a while and said, "Wearing ordinary clothes, with a cloth covering his face."
Old Tao said: "He who is in the blue sky and daytime, even if he thinks about it, he won't wear night clothes."
Tao Mo said: "Ah, I still don't know who the knight who was killed halfway is, how is it now?"
Old Tao's eyes flickered, and he said after a long while, "That person may be my subordinate."
Tao Mo looked at him blankly. Lao Tao's appearance has not changed, but since he came to the neighboring county, he feels that he is getting more and more unfamiliar. Whether it's the martial arts that smashed the bowl, or the subordinates in his mouth.
Seeing his expression, Lao Tao sighed quietly and said, "To tell you the truth, in fact, the boss I mentioned before is the Mingzun of the Demon Cult."
"Demon Cult?" Tao Mo was startled. Although he knew little about Jianghu affairs, he was no stranger to the word "devil religion". Now that the Devil's Cult is in full swing, where are the storytellers in teahouses and restaurants not mentioned? Whether it was praise or criticism, whether it was true or false, he couldn't agree on what to say, he never took it to heart, and didn't want Lao Tao, who had been with him for two years, to turn out to be a member of the Demon Cult. "Then, what about Muchun?"
Old Tao said: "His original surname is Duanmu, and his first name is Huichun. He is the elder of the new generation of the Demon Cult."
Tao Mo's breath was a little anxious, obviously unable to accept it for a while. "then you… "
Old Tao said: "My original name is Lu Qiyuan, and I am the elder of the Demon Cult. If it wasn't for me later..." He paused. For him, that period was an unbearable past. Even though Mingzun is pregnant and no longer cares about it, what he has done has severely damaged the vitality of the Demon Sect and injured countless disciples. It's a pity that it's useless for him to complain about himself, and he can only do his best to serve the Demon Sect. It's just that after careful calculation now, after he returned to the Devil's Sect, he had never done anything for the Devil's Sect, but he had been using the Devil's Sect's children to do things for him.
Tao Mo saw that Lao Tao's expression was dull and depressed, knowing that he didn't want to recall the past, he hurriedly interrupted, "I wonder if your subordinates have caught the assassin?"
Lao Tao came back to his senses, shook his head and said, "I haven't had time to contact you yet. Let's talk about it when we get back to the inn."
When Tao Mo heard him mention the inn, he couldn't help but think of Gu She, and his heart fluttered like fifteen buckets, wishing he could hit a pair of wings and fly back.
Old Tao said: "That's right. Regarding my origin from the Devil's Cult, don't mention it to the second person."
"Anyone?" Tao Mo hesitated. Gu She might ask about that knight, if he can't explain, I'm afraid he will make random guesses and take many wrong paths.
Old Tao said: "Hao Guozi and Gu She don't want to talk about it."
The two have been talking in a low voice since they came in, and they are not afraid of hearing it from outside.
Tao Mo was stunned. He thought he was going to hide it from Gu She, but he didn't expect to hide it from Hao Guozi too.
Old Tao said: "The situation in the court is obscure and unclear, and the situation of the Devil's Cult is mysterious. The less people know about my identity, the better."
Tao Mo thought of the many rumors about the Devil's Cult, and nodded seriously.
"There is one thing I want to tell you, but you can only hide it in your heart, and you must not reveal it, let alone ask Gu She." Old Tao solemnly urged.
Seeing that he spoke formally, Tao Mo didn't dare to be careless, so he hurriedly asked, "Is it related to Gu She?"
"It's related to Gu She's father." Old Tao saw him bewildered, and suddenly remembered that Tao Mo didn't know about Gu She's family background, so he dropped his throat again, "His father seems to be an old acquaintance with Huang Guangde. friendship."
Tao Mo's face turned pale.
"Gu She shouldn't know about this matter." Lao Tao thought for a while and decided to excuse Gu She, "But Gu She's father is not an idle person, you have to be careful when dealing with Gu She."
Tao Mo settled down and said, "Who is his father?"
"You and Gu She don't know each other lightly, so why bother talking about it? If you know who his father is, you'll be at a loss when you meet him in the future. It's better not to know."
Although Lao Tao didn't say who it was, his tone clearly implied that Gu She's father had a very important background. When Tao Mo thought about Gu She's daily food, clothing, words and deeds, his heart turned cold.
When the carriage returned to the inn, Master Jin was waiting in the hall, and he couldn't help but heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that they had returned safely.
Old Tao said, "Where's Gu She?"
Master Jin said: "Go back to his room and sleep. I don't know how his injury is." He looked at Tao Mo, who was absent-minded.
When Sang Xiaotu heard that Gu She was injured, his face turned pale with fright, and he hurried upstairs to take care of him.
"Forget it, we're all tired, why don't we all rest. Let's talk about things tomorrow." Old Tao said.
Master Jin waited for Tao Mo to come back and originally wanted to solve the mystery, but he couldn't help but feel a little reluctant when he heard Tao Mo say so, but he had no choice but to put aside his full of doubts for the time being and go back to the room with them to rest.
Hao Guozi originally wanted to ask Tao Mo for something, but when he came back to the room, he fell on the bed sullenly, not daring to ask any more.
I was speechless all night.
In the early morning, Master Jin and others went downstairs one after another.
Tao Mo and Hao Guozi were the last batch again.
Tao Mo went downstairs and saw Gu She sitting here, he couldn't help but startled. Even though I thought about Lao Tao's words several times in my heart last night, and secretly made up my mind to draw a clear line with Gu She, when I saw him, those promises and determinations were instantly broken, and my legs moved to his involuntarily. In front of him, he opened his mouth self-consciously and said, "How is your injury? Does it hurt?"
Gu She shook his head lightly.
How can it not hurt? Apart from the heartache of his mother's death, this time was the most painful for him since he was a child. But pain is a feeling, it hurts whether you say it or not, so why should he say it
Although he didn't say anything, Tao Mo could probably guess from his pale face which was different from before. "You, you should eat lightly." He didn't know where to start to comfort him.
Master Jin listened to him talking lingeringly, but he didn't get to the point for a long time. He couldn't help but get a little angry, and said: "I don't know why this bastard is so bold! Why don't we report to the police to arrest him?"
Old Tao said: "I'm afraid I won't be able to hold it." As he spoke, he glanced at Tao Mo.
Tao Mo understood. Lao Tao was implying that he didn't catch him.
Master Jin sighed and said, "That's right. The county magistrate here is already thankful for not being arrested, how can anyone else be arrested."
Tao Mo sat down on the empty seat next to Gu She, and spontaneously helped him with the dishes with both hands, but looked at Master Jin, and asked, "Didn't you say you were going to see Master Hou yesterday? How about it?"
Master Jin said: "I said that I was sent by my boss to inquire about the case. Although he was a little unhappy, he never became suspicious."
Old Tao said: "That's good. Did he reveal any news?"
"But the wind is very tight." Master Jin took a sip of porridge slowly, and then continued, "But it doesn't matter how tight the mouth is. As long as there is wind, I can hear the smell. He told me not to worry about the case, saying There is no doubt that there is no doubt about the up and down, and it will definitely be determined."
Hao Guozi sneered and said, "Fart. Is this called no doubt?"
"What does this mean?" Master Jin blinked at him.
Lao Tao answered: "There is no doubt that it is false, up and down is the truth."
"What do you mean?" Sang Xiaotu quietly asked Hao Guozi.
Master Jin said: "It's all done up and down."
Lao Tao frowned and said, "Could it be that even the Ministry of Punishment has been taken care of?"
Mr. Jin said: "Why do you need to deal with the criminal department? As long as you manage the relationship with the criminal department, it will be taken care of from top to bottom. Besides, the woodcutter pleaded guilty voluntarily. If the case is clear and clear, even if you don't deal with it, the criminal department has more If one thing is worse than one thing less, I'm afraid I will turn a blind eye to it."
Tao Mo lowered his face and said, "This is a human life! How can you turn a blind eye and close one eye if you don't have anything more than one more thing?"
Mr. Jin said: "The boss is a new official, and he has seen few cases. Where is the Criminal Department? Every day, he hears and sees all big cases, and they have a lot of murder cases in their hands. One life is compared to hundreds of lives in a family." so what?"
Tao Mo retorted subconsciously: "You can't say that. A life is precious." After he finished speaking, he felt powerless to refute.
"Everyone has only one life." Gu She said suddenly.
Tao Mo's eyes lit up, and he nodded desperately.
Master Jin sighed, "Unfortunately, there are too few officials in the world who think so."
Hao Guozi said: "It's not that there is no lack. It would be great if there is my young master."
Master Jin suddenly smiled and said: "I suddenly hope that one day my master will be able to worship the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, or the Minister of Dali Temple."
Tao Mo waved his hands again and again, "I, I'm not good enough to be a county magistrate, how dare I expect so much?"
Master Jin laughed. He was just saying something casually, but he didn't really mean it. Tao Mo was illiterate, and being a county magistrate was barely enough, and it was indeed whimsical to think of reaching the three princes and nine ministers.
Gu She looked at the profile of Tao Mo helping him peel the eggshell, his eyes softened. "There are so many restrictions on Beijing officials, it's not as happy as local officials to benefit the people of one side."
Tao Mo raised his head when he heard the words, and seeing his gentle eyes, he was infatuated for a moment.
"Cough." Old Tao coughed dryly, "Master Jin and the others don't know what happened yesterday, so why don't you talk about it, young master."
Tao Mo hurriedly came back to his senses, blushing blushing on his face, he hesitated for a long time before he came to his senses, and told what happened yesterday one by one.
His eloquence was not brilliant, but when Hao Guozi and Sang Xiaotu saw Gu She's bandaged wound, it seemed as if yesterday's thrilling scene appeared in front of them, and they were all shocked.
Tao Mo was talking, thinking of Gu She's expression of pushing him away yesterday, belatedly broke out in a cold sweat.
If Gu She didn't find the arrow at that time, or if he found it but didn't push it away in time, then he wouldn't be able to sit here today.
Old Tao heard Tao Mo talking about this incident yesterday, he just listened to it as a matter of fact, and he never had any special feelings, but now he listened to it again, and saw the changing expressions of others, only to realize that Gu She actually sacrificed his life to save Tao Mo. After all, no matter how smart Gu She was, he was still just a literati with no strength to restrain him. Under such circumstances, it was absolutely impossible for him to dismiss the opponent with a single mouth. Pushing him away should be an instinctive reaction from Gu She.
In other words, Gu She's subconscious was protecting Tao Mo
Lao Tao quickly overturned this idea. Maybe it's just Gu She's instinct to save people.
Seeing that everyone was silent, Tao Mo knew that they were all frightened by what happened yesterday, so he comforted him, "It's all over. That person might be a nearby robber."
Gu She said: "It's not a robber."
All eyes were on him.
"Why does a bandit with such skills have to sit and wait in the wilderness?" Gu She said.
Old Tao said: "Then according to your opinion?"
Gu She said calmly, "It's a killer."
Both Hao Guozi and Sang Xiaotu felt a chill on the back of their necks.
Master Jin couldn't help holding up the porridge bowl and covering it with both hands.
Old Tao said: "You mean, that person went after you and the young master?"
Gu She said with deep meaning: "Compared to the assassin, I am more curious about who the other person who came out to stop him is."
Old Tao looked away uncomfortably.
The corner of Gu She's mouth twitched slightly, a half-smile.
Hao Guozi blurted out, "Who wants to kill the young master? Could it be Huang Guangde?"
Old Tao frowned.
Hao Guozi knew he had made a mistake, and immediately bowed his head to repent.
Master Jin said: "The Huang Guangde you are talking about is the prefect of Los Angeles?"
Ever since the name Huang Guangde appeared, Tao Mo's complexion was not very good-looking, and it was even more difficult to see the extreme when he heard the words "Prefect of Los Angeles City".
Seeing his expression, Master Jin knew that there was something else hidden in it, but he wisely didn't pursue it further.
Gu She suddenly said: "It may also be the murderer who killed Wan Feng."
Master Jin said: "It's possible. That person can bribe the county magistrate and unblock the top and bottom, which shows that he has great powers! His eyeliner must be everywhere around him. Maybe we have already been targeted."
In broad daylight, it became dark because of his words.
Seeing Hao Guozi and Sang Xiaotu keep looking around, Lao Tao sighed and said, "Let's go back to Tanyang County first, and then we'll make a fuss."
This statement was immediately unanimously approved by Master Jin and others. After all, Tanyang County is his territory.
Several people immediately went back to pack their luggage.
Gu She frowned slightly when he thought of Gu Xiaojia going back to Tanyang alone to ask for a lawyer.
"What are you worried about?" Tao Mo, who had been paying attention to him, asked.
Gu She said: "The wound hurts."
Tao Mo said nervously, "Do you want me to take you to see a doctor?"
Gu She shook his head and said, "It's good to have a rest."
Originally, Tao Mo wanted to personally send Gu She back to the room, but his eyes swept away to Sang Xiaotu and Lao Tao, and they took back the steps they had originally taken.
"Follow me." Without giving him any chance to refuse, Gu She left the words to Tao Mo and walked upstairs.
Tao Mo didn't dare to look at Lao Tao's face, and followed him up.