amaotonovel Chapter 279 Fighting the Su Shen Tianying
Chapter 279 Fighting the Su Shen Tianying
Chapter 279 Fighting the Su Shen Tianying
In Chong'an County.
The eaves of the tall buildings pierced obliquely into the night, as if it was a withered hand trying desperately to grab the stars, but the bamboo clumps growing nearby added many sword shapes out of thin air, making this withered hand look more like a strange and weird animal claw, lurking around the road with ill intentions.
Now, in the narrow road left for Hong Wendi to live, there happened to be such a strange-looking shadow blocking the way. Even though he could see the shadow's true appearance by looking up, he still chose to stick to the alley to avoid the claw shadow.
It was already late at night, and Hong Wendi was walking alone in the quiet government office. The weeds and rocks on the ground were blowing in the wind, making strange noises. However, these low thatched trees could not block his view. He could still see the traces of many buildings in the abandoned government office between the strange trees that had not been trimmed for many years.
According to information obtained by Chong'an County Magistrate Guan Shengjun, the long-abandoned Chong'an government office has a tall and solid outer wall to prevent siege by refugees. It covers the surroundings tightly like a fortress, and is connected to an ear tower on each of the four sides. Together with the gate of the government office, it is built in the shape of a lotus.
As long as Hong Wending could walk straight into the central axis, he would be able to see the main hall with five rooms, the second hall with five rooms, and the third hall with five rooms, which are respectively the Jianfang, Pavilions, Xuancang, Lishe, Ancestral Hall, Forbidden Prison and other buildings. The criminal files that the magistrate of Chong'an wanted most should be in the "Jia Ge Ku" where the files were stored by the clerks of the yamen after the judgment of the case that year.
However, after walking in, Hong Wendi discovered that the main room had collapsed due to age and had become a hump-like shape. Two beams and pillars were inserted obliquely into the walls on both sides. If one was not careful, it might collapse again, and it was no longer possible to pass through.
It is not convenient to perform light skills in the wild grass. If you are lucky enough to jump, the foothold under your feet may break and you may fall into the grass of unknown depth.
"If we go any further, there will probably be ruins. It is better to go along the outer wall."
After Hong Wendi muttered to himself, he had an idea in mind. He picked up a stone and threw it into the grass beside him. He determined that there was a stone path underneath, so he stood up and walked towards the narrow alley beside the house. He quickly passed a few dark houses and barely entered the row of houses in the second hall.
After walking here, Hong Wendi was secretly glad that his choice was correct, because between the main hall and the second hall, there was a pool of turbid dark green sewage. In the dark, it looked like a bluestone floor. Only when looking at it from an angle could one detect the irregular reflections on the green duckweed. If one was not careful, one might fall into it, not to mention that there was pool water and mud underneath.
After all, it has not been repaired for nearly a hundred years, and this government office is now in a state of disrepair. It looks like the corpse of a prince buried in a golden jade robe. Even though its majesty is still there, it will eventually rot into a pool of ashes.
Not far away there was a black plaque hanging, on which the three characters "Rui Lian Tang" could be vaguely seen, proving that he had arrived at the center of the government office. Going further forward he would be close to the location of the Jiage Warehouse.
Hong Wendi walked slowly along the corridor along the outer wall, listening attentively to the sounds coming from everything around him. He could only faintly hear the noisy chirping of insects and the cry of frightened birds, all of which were hiding in the overgrown weeds and unwilling to show up.
Hong Wendi had always felt that something was wrong, but only now did he suddenly understand his doubts. It seemed that there was a clear difference in the degree of decay of the central axis of the government office and the alleys. Even if the influence of the trees in the courtyard and the blue bricks on the floor were excluded, the disparity should not be so great.
However, this was the only remaining road that provided Hong Wendi with many conveniences. As his footsteps suddenly stopped, he had arrived at the door of the warehouse which was heavily locked.
"This is the right place."
Hong Wendi didn't know why he suddenly started talking to himself tonight. Perhaps it was because the silence here was too heavy, causing his thoughts to become chaotic and muddy.
It was like the heaviness that only comes from being in a deep drunken dream, and it was necessary to speak out in order to delay the drowsiness of the brain falling into sleep.
The heavy lock's chain was rusty, and even the original key might not be able to open it, so Hong Wendi chose the quickest way. He clenched his palms on the rotten and loose window frame, and suddenly exerted force with his arms in the opposite direction, instantly pulling the window frame down, letting dust and wood chips fall from the top of his head, revealing a dark room.
The stale air had a hint of sourness, not only from the peculiar smell of books that had not been exposed to the sun for many years, but also from the many rats that had gnawed through the books and made their own cozy nests, causing the foul-smelling rat urine in them to drift in the wind.
Hong Wendi quietly fell to the ground, took out a fire starter from his arms and blew it up. With the faint light, he searched line by line, starting from the Jingtai period and moving forward, gradually approaching the classics of the Jiajing period.
"February of the 45th year of Jiajing's reign...it should be here..."
In the dark room, Hong Wendi was flipping through the books one by one, searching quickly for the documents, trying to find the crucial criminal volume mentioned by the Chong'an County Magistrate. However, just as he held his breath to prevent himself from inhaling the foul stench, a figure seemed to rush past the window that had just been opened?
Hong Wending turned around in horror. The weak light from the fire stick also flickered. The speed at which the black shadow passed by was not very fast, but from where he was, it was impossible to get a full picture. He couldn't tell whether it was a wild fox or a night owl.
But his intuition told him that this warehouse was no longer safe.
After checking the criminal files of the 45th year of the Jiajing reign, only the last small half of the record book was left. The rest was empty white paper that had not been copied in time. Hong Wendi immediately tore off the remaining half, stuffed it into his arms, and was about to leave.
The main door of the Kejia storehouse was locked, and thick fireproof walls were erected around it. Only the window that was opened earlier was left for passage. Hong Wendi narrowed his eyes slightly in the dim light, trying to judge whether it was safe outside the window, and his footsteps gradually moved towards the window.
His footsteps were extremely light, but the empty corner was still filled with the crisp sound of his footsteps landing, with each step sounding even more lingering. Hong Wendi frowned, and his feet slid along the ground instead, but the same sound of footsteps landing still lingered in his ears.
As Hong Wendi's vision was shaking, he vaguely saw a black shadow flash past the bookshelf not far from him, and then hid in a blind spot in an instant. His steps were hurried, and the other party's steps were also fast. When he stopped, the other party's steps also stopped, and he kept wandering around the bookshelf, as if he was going to go behind Hong Wendi in a sinister way!
Hong Wendi slapped the shelf with his palm, and the sound of books collapsing was endless. However, the heavy books that fell did not crush any unknown objects. Only two frightened mice fled hurriedly from the ground.
But the next second, the same low and dark footsteps sounded again!
"No, this sound is not coming from inside the house, but from outside the corridor!"
An idea flashed through his mind, and Hong Wendi realized that outside the house, at this moment, there was a person maintaining the same posture as him, moving along the outer wall, listening, trying to judge every move inside the house!
At this time, the sounds of crows and insects all disappeared, and the world seemed as empty as the beginning of the universe. Hong Wendi held his breath and pressed against the window, unable to guess what was approaching outside the house.
Suddenly, he remembered a story Fu Ningdie had told him. There was a legend in their hometown that if someone pointed at the full moon, the moon would secretly cut off his ears in the middle of the night.
Hong Wendi scoffed at this story, but he vaguely understood why Fu Ningdie always went to bed so early and was particularly unwilling to see the sight of the full moon hanging high in the sky.
Once, he dreamed that he woke up in the middle of the night. Fu Ningdie and Xiao Shitou were still sleeping soundly in the house, but the window covered with new paper was frighteningly bright. So Hong Wendi curiously opened the window and saw a terrifyingly large full moon right outside the window. The dim edge was covered with sharp mist, looking at them with ill intentions as they tried to squeeze into the house...
Hong Wendi took a deep breath, stood up suddenly and looked out the window, but the sky outside was still empty and desolate with overgrown weeds. Only a few cold stars were shivering and huddled on one side of the sky, secretly looking at the situation here.
Seeing this, Hong Wendi felt a little relieved and put the strange rumors in his mind behind him.
His intuition told him that it would be irrational to make too much noise, so he tried his best to avoid disturbing the silence here. Then he supported himself on the window frame and jumped out, preparing to leave the county government office the same way he came.
But the next second, he suddenly sensed a strange aura approaching from behind, and his Heavenly Silkworm Power was floating out in a disorderly manner, and every pore was reminding him that something was wrong!
Hong Wendi did not hesitate any longer. He stepped on the window frame and climbed up the corridor pillars with his hands. He climbed to the unmanned high place under the eaves like a nimble monkey. At the same time, he heard clearly again the strange and rhythmic thudding sounds all around him.
In the dark and narrow alley, a vague figure walked slowly from the corridor, seemingly wandering aimlessly among the ruins.
It sniffed cautiously and alertly to see if there was any scent of outsiders. Its clothes were ragged and worn, and the rags almost dragged to the ground, but it seemed to be holding something rare in its hands and would not let go, knocking on it with every step it took.
Hong Wendi held his breath again. The extremely abnormal reaction of his internal strength was intensified because of the approach of this thing. It seemed that wherever it appeared, an ominous and foul smell was spreading.
As the ragged figure got closer, Hong Wendi finally saw more details about it.
Under the tattered and worn clothes, there was only a skinny thigh, and every step he took was based on the rise and fall of this leg; the darkness was not the moonlight tonight, but the appearance of the thing itself, which was a terrifying color as dark as ink from head to toe; in his hand he held a night patrol board of the same color, and in his mouth he recited crazy and chaotic scriptures, which vaguely sounded like the "Jizo Sutra" that Hong Wendi heard that night!
As the scriptures were chanted, the entire Chong'an government office seemed to have awakened to a mysterious call. Wisps of cold wind swirled around the empty houses, searching insidiously for traces of the intruders, while the sounds of knives, axes, and cauldrons clashing could be heard from the empty houses around.
Before long, these strange phenomena became more frequent. Sometimes a man with his head exposed could be seen walking in and out of the abandoned government office, sometimes a woman could be seen peeking at someone against the wall and laughing, or an empty sedan chair could be seen driving around the hall. Hong Wendi even saw a headless corpse staggering around a tree beside the pond in the courtyard of the county government office, as if chasing a fugitive.
Hong Wendi was not panicking at all in the courtyard where demons were dancing wildly. He was trying to find a way to get out of it. However, he heard singing again, coming from an old and dilapidated high-rise building.
"So there's a building here..."
Hong Wendi thought so, because even among the abandoned pool and broken walls, this deserted building seemed too hidden, so that only by hiding in such a high place could its true identity be distinguished from the bells on the eaves.
"Flowers are blooming, walking in the garden, I would rather die than hear of my resurrection. Oil-painted carriage, cold green candles, pines and cypresses of Xiling are tied together with one heart..."
(End of this chapter)