The night was as dark as ink, and the water vapor on the canal carried the chill of autumn.
Lin Family The cabin of the treasure ship is brightly lit.
After sending away the last group of people seeking medical treatment, everyone was not tired at all, nor was they in a hurry to rest. Instead, they were busy and waiting with peace of mind.
Just when they thought nothing happened tonight, a turning point suddenly occurred.
"Coming!"
Li Yan sniffed and looked through the porthole.
On the pier, a group of swaying lanterns suddenly appeared in the distance.
Then, noisy footsteps and whispers came from far and near, stopping at the end of the trestle.
But the people who came were somewhat unexpected.
One of them wore Commandery Commandant Office armor, had a leopard head and ringed eyes, and was tall and thick. During the day, Li Yan had seen him in the imperial envoy team. It was Commandery Commandant Office who took over and had real power over thousands of households in Yangzhou.
The other person's eyes narrowed slightly.
This man was about fifty years old, with a stocky and muscular build. When he stood there, he looked like an iron stake, motionless.
Under a dark brocade robe, the knotted muscles are faintly revealed.
He has a Chinese character face, thick eyebrows furrowed, and a look of reluctance between his brows, giving him an extraordinary aura.
Sha LiFei quickly whispered, "Yangzhou Zhang family, Zhang Tiankui!"
Li Yan frowned upon hearing this.
When he inquired about local people in Yangzhou before, he knew that the local martial arts family was famous for its "Zhang Family Wu Jinshi Boxing" and the unparalleled "Seven Star Steps", and that several consecutive generations had champions in martial arts.
The current head of the family, Zhang Tiankui, is a master of Firm Strength.
Could it be that there is something wrong with this home...
As soon as the new Commandery Commandant Office Qianhu stepped onto the deck, he hurried forward, clasped his fists and saluted. "I've seen you Young Hero Li, you've been tired for a day, so I have to wait for you to disturb you late at night. It's really a last resort!"
Li Yan nodded slightly, "Chiliarch Zhou You're welcome, what's the matter?"
This Chiliarch Zhou turned sideways to give way to Zhang Tiankui, and said in a deep voice, "This is the head of the Zhang family in Yangzhou, I believe you already know. A distant relative of the Zhang family, something happened to Zhangjiawan not far from the outskirts of the city."
"Everyone in the clan... no matter old or young, women or children, all of them are packed in one night... no chickens or dogs left behind!"
By the end of the sentence, his voice was trembling.
After that, look at Zhang Tiankui.
Zhang Tiankui was obviously reluctant, and casually cupped his hands to Li Yan, "Zhang did not come to seek medical advice. But the scene of the tragedy was full of evil, and Commandery Commandant Office suspected... that it was the work of Japanese pirates or those monsters from before."
His tone was stiff and he closed his eyes after speaking.
Li Yan's eyes flickered across the two people's faces, thoughts were racing in his mind, and he had already made some guesses.
This Zhang Tiankui can be called Chief in the local martial arts world. He has been famous for a long time. However, he happened to not be present during the Yangzhou Rebellion three days ago. In addition, the disciples were caught off guard and became onlookers.
Li Yan solved the siege of Yangzhou, but it also highlighted their incompetence and naturally they were unwilling to come.
The matter of distant relatives of the Zhang family should be reported to the official normally, but now at this stall, Commandery Commandant Office is cautious and does not want to make any more mistakes, so naturally he has to drag the other party here.
It seems that these two people are not very suspicious.
But the distant relatives of the Zhang family were exterminated, just at the time when the Japanese pirates were fleeing...
Thinking of this, Li Yan said solemnly, "It is Li's unshirkable responsibility to deal with the Japanese pirates and evil spirits. Without further ado, I would like to ask Mr. Qianhu and Senior Zhang to lead the way. I will go with the ship to investigate soon!"
As soon as these words came out, a hint of surprise flashed in Zhang Tiankui's eyes, while the Qianhu household was overjoyed:
"Young Hero Li Gaoyi! The ship is ready and is at the dock!"
Lin Family The treasure ship was slightly damaged that night and was being repaired, so we could only take the official ship.
Li Yan winked, and everyone immediately put away their valuable luggage and got off the boat.
Soon, a court speedboat carrying everyone and Commandery Commandant Office elites quietly left Dongguan Pier, sailing against the tributary of the canal towards Zhangjiawan in the southwest direction.
The night wind was strong, making people's clothes rustle.
Along the way, the new Chiliarch Zhou always stayed close to Li Yan to fawn over him.
This guy is a fritter, and he obviously knows that Li Yan has energy in the capital.
As for Zhang Tiankui, he only took two disciples with him and stood at the bow of the boat, silent.
About half an hour later, a waterfront village appeared at the turning point of the river ahead.
At this time, the village was completely silent, covered by the darkness of night.
As soon as the clipper approached the dock, the smell of blood like rust filled the air.
It's thick and pungent, and a chilly feeling that goes deep into the bone marrow hits your face.
"It's the big one in front..."
Commandery Commandant Office Chiliarch Zhou endured the discomfort, pointed to the outline of a wall in the darkness, and said again, "Everyone in the village is a family. It was only two days after the accident that the salesman discovered it. I specifically asked not to touch the scene."
Li Yan nodded and led everyone ashore.
He first went to the nearest farmer's house to check, but saw a stench, darkness, and blood inside.
The others were all bloody, but the strong male protagonist had only a few scars on his body. He held a hatchet and inserted it into his neck, leaving only bloody holes in his eyes.
"He was possessed by evil spirits. He hacked his family to death and then committed suicide."
Everyone was experienced and could see what was going on right away.
After that, several families almost always killed each other.
When they arrived at the center of the village, Zhang Tiankui said nothing, and his figure floated out like a ghost. With a little tip of his toes, his figure brought up seven faint afterimages, and landed directly at the main entrance of the big mansion.
The mysterious footwork is exactly the famous "Seven Star Step".
Li Yan followed closely with a calm expression, using Shrink to the Ground without slowing down at all.
Zhang Tiankui narrowed his eyes slightly and glanced at him. Then he came to the heavy red lacquer door of the mansion, pressed his palm, Gang Qi vomited slightly, and the door axis made a heart-breaking "click" sound.
Boom!
The door collapsed, and the stronger smell of blood and corpses surged out like a wave.
"Well..." A Zhang family disciple couldn't help but retched.
There are so many people in this mansion that it has become a Shura field.
Before Li Yan and the others could check, a trace of anger flashed in Zhang Tiankui's eyes. He jumped out and looked at the corpse a few times. Then he looked surprised, "It's 'Snakehead Sores'?!"
Li Yan noticed his gaze, squatted down, and looked at a male corpse in front of him.
This person must have been a servant here. His death was particularly brutal. While bleeding from all his orifices, his upper body was all purple, especially his fingertips, which looked even weirder.
Li Yan frowned and looked at the other corpses.
Sure enough, the fingertips of all the corpses' hands showed strange ulcers.
It was different from cuts or corrosion marks caused by sharp objects. It seemed as if it had exploded from the depths of the skin and at the end of the finger bones. The skin and flesh were rolled, the knuckles were twisted and deformed, and black blood and rotten tissue remained.
Li Yan asked the person accompanying Commandery Commandant Office to borrow a silver needle and gently opened the carrion. An indescribable fishy stench mixed with earthy smell and turbidity of death hit his face, which was even weirder than the ordinary corpse odor.
The silver needle did not change color.
"It's not a weapon, it's not a poison..."
Li Yan stood up slowly, with sharp eyes, "It's a curse! A very sinister curse!"
"Curse?"
Chiliarch Zhou swallowed after hearing this and looked around, "W-what curse is so vicious?"
Li Yan glanced at the Shura field-like courtyard and said in a deep voice, "The resentment is lingering, the evil comes from the self, directly invades the bone marrow, and the bad people are vital to the vitality and blood. The victim will suffer the pain of heart-breaking evisceration until the blood vessels in the whole body are frozen and the mind is crazy... This is by no means an ordinary method."
"Senior Zhang, it seems you know this curse?"
"Hmm."
Zhang Tiankui couldn't care less about showing off his temper at this time, and nodded with a solemn expression. "The water network in Wu is densely covered, and there are many snakes. Many ancestors worshiped snakes, and worshiping snakes has become a common practice, especially domestic snakes are called 'Manjia', Attendant in order to seek peace."
"Don't talk about ordinary people, even City God Temple everywhere, they also want Attendant snake gods."
"People have many taboos about snakes, such as calling snakes by their names and calling them "Manjia". When talking about snakes with others, avoid using gestures to indicate the length of the snake. Do not kill domestic snakes, which will bring disaster. It is good to find domestic snakes on rice hoards and beds, and bad luck when found on eaves and beams. It is good to see a snake hanging early, and it is death to see a snake hanging late..."
He mentioned many taboos in one breath, and then looked at the corpse on the ground, "These rules have been taught to adults since childhood. One of them is to avoid pointing at snakes with your fingers, otherwise 'Snakehead Sores' will appear on your fingertips."
"To be honest, I have never seen it. I thought it was just the words of a foolish village woman."
"Tsk tsk..."
Sha LiFei shook his head and said, "But it's rare. It's true that every place has its own custom. But from what you said, 'Snakehead Sores' is just a small problem. It's a bit wrong to kill so many people at once, isn't it?"
Zhang Tiankui was silent, "I have never heard of such a thing."
This is what several elite Commandery Commandant Office investigators came forward to report:
"Sir, we have searched all over the village and found no trace of outsiders."
Li Yan thought thoughtfully, "Senior Zhang, what other customs does Wu have to worship snakes?"
Zhang Tiankui replied, "Ordinary people will either build a small niche at the foot of the stove or next to the rice store, or use bricks and stones to build a very inconspicuous small room to set up a 'Snake King Shrine'. Many people will dig cellars and build a 'Snake God Temple'. It is not open except for major sacrifices during the year. On weekdays, the owner of the house will personally take care of it and burn incense."
"Cellar?"
Without saying anything, Li Yan immediately pinched Yang Seal and turned on Divine Ability.
In an instant, the senses are infinitely amplified.
All the scents in the air rush into the nose like a torrent:
The rich blood that has not yet dissipated in the front yard, the quiet grass and trees in the backyard, the moist soil, the slightly fishy smell of dripping water... and the smell of aged incense and ashes can be heard underground in the backyard.
There is also a faint snake smell!
"Follow me!"
Li Yan immediately stepped forward, followed closely by everyone.
Go around the corridor, pass through a moon cave door, and step into the quiet backyard.
This place is a little far away from the killing field in the front yard, and the smell of blood is much lighter, but it is more gloomy.
After pushing aside a few clumps of ivy with water droplets that were almost hanging to the ground, an extremely low blue brick passage leading to the ground, which could only accommodate one person bending down to enter, suddenly appeared in front of him.
After breaking open the stone door, there is indeed a small temple below.
The small temple is completely embedded under a small artificial rockery. The temple door is made of two rough polished bluestone slabs. There is no plaque on the lintel, only a few vaguely carved and snake-like lines.
The almost substantial cold air is continuously overflowing from the gaps in the stone door.
The door was pitch black, like the mouth of an abyss that preys on people.
A Commandery Commandant Office man dropped his torch and immediately saw clearly what was going on inside the temple:
There is a relief carved on the stone wall opposite the temple gate.
The lines of the relief are simple and rough. The upper part is a male face with a vague face and disheveled beard and hair, with a majestic and strange expression. The lower body is a snake body with twists and turns. The snake's tail penetrates deep into the end of the underground relief, as if it is rooted in the Nine Netherworld.
Human head and snake body!
Li Yan was inexplicably interested after seeing it.
The human head and snake body come from those ancient beliefs.
Nüwa, Fuxi, and many ancestors Ancestor God all have similar characteristics.
There is no incense burner in front of the statue, but there is a dark red altar cloth that has faded and its edge has been soaked black by the damp breath all year round. There are still many burned out incense candles and strange unburned grass stems on it.
There were several dull, dull fragments of large snake sloughs scattered on the ground.
In the corner, there are a few copper coins with dull stains scattered around, like those used by Witch Doctor.
The whole small temple exuded an indescribable air of dilapidation.
Long Yan'er followed Li Yan into the small temple, and his eyes were instantly attracted to the statue and altar.
She frowned tightly and quickly approached the altar. Regardless of the filth on the ground, she picked up a handful of dark green powder remaining on the altar cloth with her fingertips, and her expression suddenly changed:
"These Attendant are not ordinary snake gods!"
"What is that?" Sha LiFei asked curiously.
Long Yan'er looked at everyone. "It's the secret technique of the 'Snake Cult'!"
"Snake Cult?"
Li Yan was a little surprised when he heard this, "Snake Cult also spread to Wu?"
The Snake Sect is also a famous sect, but its organization is loose and mostly located in Ganzhou, western Hunan.
In his previous travels in the world, he also fought against several Snake Cult warlocks.
Long Yan'er explained, "This is the forbidden secret technique of the Snake Cult First Gate. I have only heard from my elder brother that they use Gu Raising the method of raising ghosts to raise snake demons. It is more effective and very dangerous."
"Even in the Snake Cult, it is listed as a forbidden technique and cannot be practiced at will."
Everyone looked at each other in shock.
"In this case, this branch of the clan committed suicide on its own and has nothing to do with the clues about the Japanese pirates..."
Chiliarch Zhou wiped cold sweat, his face full of regret.
I thought that by following the clues and looking for traces of the Japanese pirate demons, and with the help of Twelve Yuan Chen and Zhang Tiankui, as long as I succeeded, I would be able to get promoted and make a fortune.
Unexpectedly, Lineage was the one to blame.
Li Yan was also a little disappointed, but the matter had come to this, and he couldn't ignore it, so he looked at Long Yan'er, "Long Jie, maybe we found that evil beast, so vicious, it will be a disaster after all."
"Okay."
Long Yan'er raised his wrist slightly, and Lute Worm the Gu jumped out of his sleeve and ran outside the house.
Suddenly, the melodious sound of the piano sounded in the night sky.
Everyone immediately followed and arrived at the back mountain before they knew it.
"Stop!"
Suddenly, Li Yan raised his hand to signal everyone to lower their bodies.
Without Lu San, he became the main force of exploration and was relatively weak.
But even so, you can still see a faint light on the mountainside in the distance.
"Young Hero Li, it's..."
Commandery Commandant Office Chiliarch Zhou As soon as he saw it, his eyes suddenly became excited.
"No rush."
Li Yan turned his head and whispered, "You guys wait for me here."
The distance was too far and only the light of fire could be seen, and the falcons of Commandery Commandant Office were mortal objects, unlike Lu San which could only see at night, so he had to go and investigate in person.
"Nogao! Tianzhen Taisu, the essence of Rengui. The inner part should be stored in the kidney, and the upper part should be the mercury..."
As the <North Emperor Black Water Escape> mantra was chanted, Li Yan's figure immediately became blurred, wrapped in water vapor, and completely disappeared into the night.
Others were fine, but Zhang Tiankui was completely convinced.
On the way here, he had seen Li Yan's skills, which were no less impressive than his own.
Unexpectedly, even this escape technique was better than many warlocks he had seen.
Regardless of what Zhang Tiankui was thinking, Li Yan used his escape technique. When he was approaching the hill, he suddenly stopped and touched his arms in surprise.
Gouji, is slowly heating up...