"Is it a hallucination? Not a hallucination?"
Lu Sheng squinted his eyes, suppressing his thoughts.
"It's okay." He straightened up and replied calmly.
"My lord...Master Xu, they are such a good person, such a good official, how could they...?"
Xiaoqiao's teary eyes were full of tears, and she was about to start crying again.
Lu Sheng silently looked at the corpses all over the Xu family.
The corpses were all blue-gray, with a strangle mark on the neck.
The magistrate took a few glances and left in a hurry. He handed over the matter to the head of the Criminal Chamber who was in charge of the case.
There are also a few government officials in charge of investigating the case, who are also discussing the case with the chief arrester.
"My lord, the master wants you to go down here." A servant ran over and whispered to Lu Sheng.
While talking, he looked at the corpse of the Xu family on the ground with regret.
"I'll go right away." Lu Sheng glanced at the servant. "You are not afraid?"
"I'm afraid." The servant was only eighteen or nineteen years old, but his demeanor and expression showed a maturity that didn't match his age.
"It's just a small one, who escaped from the Jurong Kingdom in the east. There is a famine there, corpses are everywhere, and even many people have to change their sons for food. This kind of tragedy is seen a lot... .. well... ."
He sighed, and immediately realized that the other party was not a friend he used to chat with, so he quickly lowered his head.
"Have you seen it a lot? Are there many similar things in the Jurong Kingdom to the east?"
Lu Sheng asked casually.
The servant fell silent.
"A lot."
Lu Sheng's heart tightened.
He didn't stop on his feet, and quickly walked in front of his father Lu Fang in this life.
Lu Fang, whose name is Quan'an, and whose name is Jin Yuanweng.
Lu Quan'an's money is also well-known throughout Jiulian City. The news that the Lu family and the Xu family will soon be married has spread throughout the city, and even people from Zihua City near the west came to send congratulatory gifts.
Such an uproarious event has now become like this.
Lu Quan'an's face was very ugly at this time, and his eyes were full of exhaustion and worry.
"Hi, tell Catcher Zhao what happened yesterday."
He stepped aside to give a seat to a bearded man approaching from the side.
Lu Sheng's heart kept echoing what Xu Daoran said yesterday. He felt that the case of the water ghost must be related to the death of the Xu family.
Immediately, he told Xu Daoran one by one about the conversation he had with Xu Daoran yesterday.
There is nothing to hide.
Mr. Zhao frowned tightly, but he couldn't see any clues.
Lu Sheng saw that he had nothing to ask, so he also left.
Before leaving, the people in the yamen began to collect the corpse.
Lu Sheng stood by and watched for a while, and when he saw Xu Daoran being carried directly onto the shelf, he sighed, walked closer to find a policeman, and asked.
"Brother, is there any remaining members of the Xu family?"
He thought in his heart that if there were any survivors in the Xu family, he would take care of them, and maybe he could get something useful from the other party.
"It's gone... It's all over, and even the family of the foreign relatives has been implicated. Maybe there are some distant relatives in Zihua City."
The catcher shook his head and said in a low voice.
Lu Sheng quietly gave him a dime of broken silver, and he took Xiao Qiao and his family and got into the carriage together.
The carriages drove home one after another.
But the tragedy of the Xu family is still in everyone's mind.
As the head of the family, Lu Fang and Lu Quan'an called everyone to hold a family meeting, announcing that the engagement with Xu's family was over. Let the female relatives comfort and comfort Yiyi more, and then sadly went back to the room to rest.
The young people in the family went out one after another, either to the wine shop in the city, to the brothel, or to the music workshop. When they are frightened, they often anesthetize themselves in this way.
The female relatives went out to the nearby Honglian Temple to offer incense and worship Buddha, praying for safety and blessings.
It is best to ask for a magic talisman from the Taoist priest of the red lotus to protect the family from invasion by external evils.
The whole Lu family was in panic.
Lu Sheng didn't go out to fool around.
He took Ling Qiao all the way to the big study where the books were kept at home.
It was quiet in the study.
He pushed the door open, and inside there was a fat woman cleaning and wiping the bookshelves.
The vermilion bookshelves, furniture, and the dim light outside the window made this place a bit gloomy.
Lu Sheng entered the door, walked around the round wooden screen with pictures of flowers and birds blocking the door, and smelled the faint aroma of wood in the study.
"You guys go out first, I will read a book and have a rest."
he commanded.
"yes."
Xiao Qiao obediently responded, and then went out with the fat woman who was cleaning.
Lu Sheng stood alone in the study, looking at the rows of bookshelves in front of him, and sighed slightly.
He began to look on the bookshelves one by one.
Soon, records such as local county annals were found.
Then he moved out all these books, and he began to look through them one by one.
With the help of the dim light outside the window, he quickly flipped through a booklet.
"In the seventy-second year of the Great Song Dynasty, a man appeared in the suburbs of Jiulian City. While insane, he killed twelve people in a row with a knife, and was arrested and attacked by the yamen. '
"In the eighty-fifth year of the Song Dynasty, in the downtown area of Jiulian City, there was a person on the street whose head was suddenly detached. The cause of death is unknown. '
"In the ninety-first year of the Song Dynasty, tourists disappeared from the ruined temple outside the city. After the number reached 15, the case has not been solved yet. '
In the ninety-fifth year of the Song Dynasty, the owner of Jiuliancheng Lefang disappeared. The limbs were found in four different locations outside the city. Only four days after his death, his body had rotted into bones. '
In the 116th year of the Great Song Dynasty, there was a cry of children outside the city at night, and all those who went to investigate disappeared. The crying lasted for three days and then disappeared by itself. '
... ... ..
Looking at the records of major and minor cases.
The more Lu Sheng looked at it, the more frightened he became, and the more he looked, the more restless he felt.
In such a world, such a world that can be called a crisis every step of the way, it is really not easy for people here to live well without collapsing and going crazy.
He opened another booklet.
This booklet is more exaggerated than the previous one.
"In the 119th year of the Song Dynasty, there was a blizzard in Jiulian, and it was said that the Dragon Lord appeared in a certain place, and the heavy snow stopped within three days. Three days later, the blizzard that lasted for dozens of days came to a sudden stop. '
'In the 128th year of the Song Dynasty, fog appeared on the road leading to Zihua City, and the entrants lost their direction and would inexplicably appear on the shore of the white ice ocean dozens of miles away. Ten days later, the fog disappeared. '
When Lu Sheng saw this, he could almost confirm that this world was not as simple as he thought. There might be ghosts and ghosts.
At least with his current class, he can't see that there is a way to sound the weather in this world anyway.
He moved the chair, picked up the flint and lit the candlestick on the table.
The bright yellow candlelight reflected his face in a cloudy and uncertain way.
"If this world is really as dangerous as I guessed, then what do I need to protect myself? What can I use to protect myself?"
he asked himself.
Think for a while at the table.
Lu Sheng got up slowly, blew out the candlesticks, and returned all the books on the table to their original places.
Then push the door out.
"Young master, have you finished reading?"
Xiao Qiao was dozing off by the door, and was taken aback by Lu Sheng's sudden exit, but she still reacted quickly.
"Well, where is Uncle Zhao now? Do you know?"
Lu Sheng asked casually.
There are many older people with the surname Zhao in the Lu Mansion, but there is only one person who can really be called Uncle Zhao.
That is Zhao Dahu, the number one master of the Lu family and the most powerful martial artist Lu Fang called Uncle Zhao.
"Eh... Uncle Zhao usually spends this time in the martial arts field training his muscles and training servants." Xiaoqiao has a good relationship with other handymen, and the news is fairly well-informed.
"Let's go find him."
Lu Sheng thought about it for a long time, and knew that Uncle Zhao should be the most accessible to him, and might be the key to gaining the power to protect himself.
Following the path of the mansion, Lu Sheng quickly passed through two bedrooms and came to the rear of the mansion.
On a large school field, an old man with gray hair was leading a dozen servants to practice boxing and kicking.
The early morning sun shone down, gradually diluting the tragic things heard in the morning.
Martial artist Zhao Dahu was dressed in a short suit, a black jacket and gray trousers, and he carried a thick-backed broadsword on his back that never left his body.
Lu Sheng waited and watched.
Over there, Zhao Dahu trained the servants for a while, and then asked them to practice in pairs by themselves.
He himself walked towards Lu Sheng. He had also seen Lu Sheng a long time ago.
"Eldest son, why are you free to come to the school grounds today? Do you need the old man's help?"
Zhao Dahu's status in the mansion is similar to that of the master.
There are a few other martial artists, all of whom are not low in status. Compared with them, young masters and young ladies, they mostly communicate on an equal footing.
Lu Sheng looked at the servants not far away who were still practicing their fists and kicks.
"Uncle Zhao, I want to practice martial arts."
When he said these words, the smile on Zhao Dahu's face stopped.
"Brother Sheng, didn't you come to joke with the old man?"
"I'm not joking." Lu Sheng shook his head.
He thought for a long time, and now the only way to learn the power of self-defense most easily is to practice martial arts with his own family's martial arts master first.
The family's martial artist, Zhao Dahu, Zhao Bo, has only a few people in Jiulian City who can overwhelm him with his sword skills.
Zhao Dahu looked at Lu Sheng seriously and shook his head.
"If Brother Sheng really wants to learn martial arts, it's not that the old man can't pass on this skill to you. It's just that...you are too old now, your bones are stereotyped, and you can't practice many movements in place.
If the movements of this skill are not well practiced, the power will be greatly reduced...."
"It's okay. Uncle Zhao just teach me."
Lu Sheng not only wanted to find some strength to protect himself, but also wanted to confirm one thing in the experiment.
Zhao Dahu pondered for a while.
He also readily agreed.
"Well, I don't have any heirs, and I've stayed in the Lu family for so many years, and I've been very nourished. The old man has treated us very well. According to the rules, if you learn from me, you have to pay homage to a teacher.
But with the relationship between me and the Lu family, it's fine to be a teacher. As long as you don't spread it, it's fine. "
Zhao Dahu waved his hand.
As the eldest son, Lu Sheng will take over all the business properties of the Lu Mansion sooner or later.
He also had the idea of getting closer to him.
"However, Brother Sheng, there is something I have to tell you first."
"Tell me." Lu Sheng said seriously.
Zhao Dahu touched the beard on his chin and said in a deep voice.
"I know that you were stimulated by the tragedy of the Xu family in the morning, and wanted to learn martial arts to protect yourself.
But let me tell you clearly that even the strongest quack masters can't deal with those weird and weird things. "
"... ... I see... ."
Lu Sheng nodded.
"I just don't feel at ease in my heart, just do what I can do."
"Brother Sheng just needs to understand." Zhao Dahu thought for a while, and took out a booklet from his arms, which was wrapped in layers of yellow cloth.
He carefully and slowly opened it, revealing the innermost booklet.
There are several large characters written on the surface of the booklet.
'Black Tiger Sword Technique'.