Chapter 135

Obviously, in a life-and-death struggle, most people don't use their brains.

They use muscle memory and inertia.

Even the pain is largely blocked by the brain spontaneously, with only soaring adrenaline.

Only the thought of killing the other party remains in the mind.

Ouyang Rong is like this.

Liu Qi is also like this.

But it's a pity.

Although Ouyang Rong was naughty and jumpy since childhood in his previous life, and his fighting and fighting skills were much stronger than ordinary people.

But the slightly weak body inherited in this life is inferior to Liu Qi, who is five big and three thick, in terms of physical fitness.

Even the strength exploded in the life-and-death play is the same.

In the dirt pit.

Liu Qi roared.

Ouyang Rong was silent.

Because the narrow space is difficult to maneuver.

The one holding the sharp blade cannot pull away the distance to consume, and is entangled in close combat by the one with bare hands.

It is slightly disadvantageous to the former.

The skirt-knife in Ouyang Rong's hand that cuts iron like mud and the advantage of breaking the other party's half palm first are slowly disappearing.

All relying on the ruthless energy bursting out of his body to support him to death.

The death balance began to maintain at the equal position at both ends.

Only ten breaths passed.

But Ouyang Rong felt that they had been entangled for a long, long time.

Until...

Bang!

A solid muffled sound.

Ouyang Rong kicked the wall with his legs, flew up, and hit Liu Qi's full face with an elbow strike.

The latter's nosebleed sprayed, and the strength of his left hand, which was pressing Ouyang Rong's wrist holding the knife, loosened a little.

Ouyang Rong took the opportunity to withdraw his hand.

Holding the knife with both hands high, slashing obliquely toward Liu Qi!

In the space with narrow dirt walls on the left and right, this is the only posture suitable for accumulating strength.

But it inadvertently exposed his face.

In an instant, Liu Qi gave a headbutt.

Ouyang Rong leaned back and hit the wall.

Liu Qi pressed forward immediately, and the two stuck together.

Liu Qi's only remaining intact left hand grabbed Ouyang Rong's wrist holding the knife and pressed it down hard.

The blade of the skirt-knife in Ouyang Rong's hand was slowly being delivered to his own neck.

The original flexible entanglement turned into a physical wrestling.

Obviously, Liu Qi occupied more advantage.

Ouyang Rong's whole body tightened, his head leaned back, away from the origin of the blade.

But the blade on his right hand, which was pressed back, still approached his neck, trembling and shaking.

Liu Qi had two bloody knife marks on his face, and most of his face was stained red with blood.

Blood drops fell from his nose and dripped onto Ouyang Rong's face.

Liu Qi's expression was ferocious, and he squeezed out the words he hadn't finished speaking not long ago:

"You are Ouyang Lianghan!"

Ouyang Rong raised his head, looked down, and looked down at Liu Qi.

Liu Qi was furious, his sturdy arms like bull thighs, veins bulging, pressing Ouyang Rong's wrist that was resisting with all his strength.

The snow-white blade of Xie Lingjiang's skirt-knife gradually enlarged in Ouyang Rong's eyes.

His pupils shrank.

Didn't they say that villains die from talking too much?

Ouyang only now discovered that it didn't seem to be absolute.

However, this discovery was about to have the taste of a hellish cold joke.

The next instant.

Ouyang Rong, who was looking down at Liu Qi, suddenly changed his expression, looked behind Liu Qi, and showed a look of surprise.

"Tricking me again?"

Liu Qi laughed with anger and didn't look back.

"Ah!" He roared, wanting to use all his remaining strength to deliver the snow-white blade into Ouyang Rong's throat.

Just at this moment.

With a "bang" sound.

A heavy sound of iron tools hitting hard objects rang out in the dirt pit.

Blood started to flow from the back of his head, Liu Qi looked back in a daze, his eyes against the noon sun, and saw a thin, dark figure standing above the dirt pit.

This thin figure was holding the wooden-handled iron shovel that Liu Qi had just used to dig the pit with both hands. At this moment, seeing the ferocious man looking over, he retreated timidly.

Liu Qi was dizzy for a while, opened his mouth, as if to say something.

But the next second.

He suddenly felt his body empty, and the wrist he was holding also slipped away.

Before the terrified Liu Qi could react, a blood line slowly appeared on his neck.

Just like a bulging water bag, a gap was cut open.

Blood gushed out like water.

Liu Qi knelt on the ground, covering his neck with his hands, making a "he he" sound, staring at Ouyang Rong who was standing up silently in front of him.

Ouyang Rong lifted his foot, stepped on Liu Qi's head, pushed forward, and the latter, whose eyes were scattered, fell to the ground heavily, falling into the grave he dug himself.

Ouyang Rong's mouth was dry, he climbed out of the dirt pit, and sat paralyzed on the ground.

I saw Xiufa trembling, looking at the corpse in the dirt pit. The iron shovel in his hand fell to the ground with a "clatter." The little monk covered the two swollen bags on the back of his head with both hands, grinning in pain, looking as if he had been enduring the second fake death for a long time.

"Awesome, well done."

Ouyang Rong weakly gave a thumbs up, looked up at the sun, and praised in his mouth. It seems that this shiny little bald head is still quite useful. At least it is relatively resistant to knocking. Everyone in the temple has iron head skills, right?

After the adrenaline secretion decreased, the senses recovered, and fatigue swept over.

And the sweaty head and neck were blown by the cold wind from the forest, and he couldn't help but shiver, becoming much clearer.

In addition, Ouyang Rong reacted to a seemingly irrelevant matter.

He didn't lose merit for killing two people in the pit today.

It seems that this thing of killing karma also depends on the situation. It is not that killing everyone will deduct merit wildly. There may be a red-name mechanism, and even for some people with heavy sins, if he kills them, he might even increase merit...

Ouyang Rong panted, thinking wildly.

Xiufa's eyes were a bit confused and dazed. He didn't know why he suddenly woke up just now. When he woke up, he felt a strange breeze blowing on his face, and then he stood up and saw the Magistrate fighting with the gangster in the pit, so he helped.

"Magistrate, this... this... I..."

"You clean up here, go find the host first, don't enter the Beitian Jiyang Yuan yet!" Before Xiufa could finish speaking, Ouyang Rong immediately stood up, left a sentence, and then rushed out of the bamboo forest staggeringly.

Ouyang Rong rushed to the guest pavilion, picked up the red cloth and white sandalwood scabbard, wiped the skirt-knife again, put the knife into the scabbard, and wore it at his waist.

He didn't stop for a moment, rushed out of the bamboo forest, and first rushed to the main hall where his Xiao Shimei burned incense and drew lots before.

Master Venerable Shan Dao and Xiao Shimei were not there, so he grabbed an elderly guest monk and asked.

The latter looked at him with strange eyes.

"Two quarters of an hour ago, didn't that female Bodhisattva leave with you, Magistrate?"

Ouyang Rong's heart tightened, and he turned around to say goodbye.

He rushed to the gate of Donglin Temple without stopping.

Looking out, the figures of Beside Yan Liulang and other constables in the guest pavilion not far outside the gate had long disappeared, leaving only some ordinary pilgrims.

Sure enough.

Ouyang Rong took a deep breath, held the knife at his waist, and rushed down the mountain with his head buried.

He didn't dare to stop for a moment, as if he was going to catch up with something.

Ouyang Rong's expression was serious.

Facing the mountain wind blowing from all sides, he shivered and became much clearer. Certain things in his mind and the conspiracy behind them were like thin threads stringing beads, gradually becoming clear in his heart.

All of this should be Liu Ziwen and the others playing tricks!

The "Female Immortal" that those two Liu family thugs shouted about should have disguised herself as him through some strange arts!

This also explains why they mistook the real him for some "Female Immortal."

It's just that the only thing that makes Ouyang Rong a bit confused is.

According to the statements and reactions of these two Liu family thugs, there should be a powerful killer waiting for him in the Beitian Jiyang Yuan, and listening to them, it seems to be some kind of Chang'an swordsman.

If it's true, then why was he able to inspect the Beitian Jiyang Yuan safely?

Xiao Shimei happened not to be by his side. Ouyang Rong now feels that this is indeed the best time to make a move, and he didn't have much defense.

Ouyang Rong had to admire that the Liu family is indeed very good at finding the right time. This was still before the ribbon-cutting ceremony, when his vigilance was relatively most relaxed.

Playing such an off-board trick, Liu Ziwen is ruthless enough, his name can be considered to be fed to the dogs.

Ouyang Rong frowned and was speechless.

But the result now is that not long ago, he walked out of the Beitian Jiyang Yuan safe and sound, without even discovering anything suspicious.

This point even exceeded the expectations of those two Liu family thugs, otherwise there wouldn't be the subsequent things of him breaking the conspiracy, killing the two scholars, and chasing people down the mountain.

Ouyang Rong couldn't figure it out.

Did that Chang'an swordsman regret halfway and didn't come, or was there some irresistible force that stopped him.

He suddenly had a flash of inspiration and thought:

"Wasn't there a blessing worth three thousand merits that had never been redeemed before? Could it be that this is really a blessing used to save his life? Like right now?"

Ouyang Rong shook his head to drive away distractions.

He didn't dwell on this matter for the time being, and turned his attention to what was about to happen.

Liu Ziwen sent someone to intercept and kill him, stealing the beam and changing the pillar, letting a guy called "Female Immortal" disguise himself as him and take people down the mountain.

What exactly is he trying to do?

Just want to kill him?

Then what is the point of secretly transporting oil to prepare to blow up the gate, isn't that also killing him?

Isn't that redundant?

Or is it that transporting oil to blow up the gate is just the tip of the iceberg of the conspiracy, a smokescreen to confuse him.

On the surface, the Liu family is on the first floor, Ouyang Rong is on the second floor, but in fact, the Liu family is on the third floor?

Liu Ziwen actually knows that he already knows about the oil transportation and gate blowing, and even knows that he has preparations for the ribbon-cutting ceremony and wants to attack the Liu family.

So he used a plan within a plan, first using the exposure of oil transportation and gate blowing to make him relax his vigilance.

And the killing game at Donglin Temple right now is to get rid of him, and then let the guy called "Female Immortal" disguise himself as his appearance, steal the beam and change the pillar down the mountain, and pick up the Jiangzhou superiors to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

After sorting out and summarizing the clues, Ouyang Rong couldn't help but ask another question in his heart.

Is the Liu family making such a big circle just to kill people simply?

Ouyang Rong suddenly shook his head.

No.

He didn't know about the others in the Liu family, but for Liu Ziwen's personality, Ouyang Rong had some unique understanding.

From the first time he saw the plain-looking Liu Ziwen at Yuanming Tower, Ouyang Rong knew he had met the same kind of person in some aspects.

Liu Ziwen, like him, once he makes a move, will never be satisfied with just killing people.

What is the skill of killing people?

Punishing the heart is the top-tier operation.

So how to punish the heart?

On the mountain road, Ouyang Rong, who was trying to bring in Liu Ziwen's perspective, fell silent for a while.

The existing information and conclusions flowed, spliced, and finally, like a puzzle, he could vaguely see a full picture.

He raised his eyes and sighed, muttering:

"I don't know how many strategies Liu Ziwen has, but I can have three strategies..."

First strategy.

Let that "Female Immortal" disguise himself as his appearance, blow up the gate in public at the Di Gong Zha ribbon-cutting ceremony, and take the blame.

Second strategy.

Still let that "Female Immortal" disguise himself as his appearance to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony, but this time, the Liu family will publicly reveal "Ouyang Lianghan's" gate-blowing conspiracy and throw all the human and material evidence at "Ouyang Lianghan's" face.

As for how the human and material evidence came, with a "Female Immortal" who can disguise himself as his appearance, it is not difficult to prepare human and material evidence in advance. Using the fake "Ouyang Rong Lianghan," any dirty water can be splashed on him.

Third strategy.

Ouyang Rong felt it was the simplest and crudest.

Didn't the Jiangzhou superiors happen to come? Remember this was still the "small request" Liu Ziwen made at the apology banquet back then.

As long as the Ouyang Lianghan disguised by the "Female Immortal" assassinates the Jiangzhou superiors in full view, or kills them all, or kills one of the important imperial officials.

Then even if Ouyang Rong is a local parent official, even if he is a world-famous upright gentleman, he will be finished. This basin of dirty water is enough to bury his future.

These three strategies can punish the heart and stain the name.

If the information revealed by those two Liu family thugs not long ago is correct.

Then he, who was beheaded at Donglin Temple, will be disguised as a suicide out of fear of crime after the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

All three strategies can use him, this "dead man."

And once these three strategies are successfully implemented, after Ouyang Rong is splashed with dirty water and "commits suicide," all the disaster relief and water conservancy projects during his lifetime can be overturned by the opportunity.

The Liu family's porridge shed and nursery can be reopened, business will be prosperous; the big business of Di Gong Zha can also continue, and they can make a fortune from the flood every year!

Ouyang Rong thought carefully for a moment, nodded lightly, and shook his head.

Among these three strategies, the first strategy is the lower strategy, with the least possibility.

Because if Ouyang Rong didn't guess wrong before, the Di Gong Zha, which collapses every four years, should be the core interest of the Liu family.

With better strategies, there is no need to spend a lot of money to build another Di Gong Zha for an Ouyang Lianghan who has already been beheaded in advance.

As for the second and third strategies.

Ouyang Rong felt that they were above the first strategy, but the effect was not much different.

The only difference is that the former is more literary, and the latter is more martial.

And both don't need to blow up the gate, which can save costs.

Isn't it beautiful to leave the Di Gong Zha to be blown up when the time is right in the future?

As for whether it is one of these three strategies, and which one Liu Ziwen will choose...

If you believe that the name was not taken wrong, then it is the literary one, which is the second strategy.

But is Liu Ziwen really literary?

Ouyang Rong pursed his lips.

He rushed down the mountain all the way, and only stopped for a moment by a mountain spring somewhere, drinking a large mouthful of cold mountain spring water with his dry lips...

Finally, Ouyang Rong rushed to the foot of the mountain panting.

However, at the foot of the mountain, looking left and right, the carriages that were originally parked had all disappeared.

He didn't catch the tail after all.

Or rather, his original fluke was also shattered—the fake "Ouyang Lianghan" didn't linger at all, and took Xiao Shimei and Beside Yan Liulang straight down the mountain to leave, to pick up the Jiangzhou superiors.

Ouyang Rong frowned deeply. He only has a pair of legs now, can he chase on foot?

However, according to today's schedule, after the fake "Ouyang Lianghan" and his party pick up the people and take the boat, they will go straight to the ferry at Butterfly Creek, take a fast boat downwind to the Yue Nu Gorge camp to pick up the dust, and then hold the ribbon-cutting ceremony immediately.

"How can this be caught up!"

Not to mention whether he can get a horse immediately, even if he whips the horse to chase, it is already at least two quarters of an hour late.

Even if Ouyang Rong rushed to the ferry at the county town, they would have already boarded the boat and set off.

Even if he hired a boat to chase, on the water, the speed of most boats in this era is almost equal, and he still can't see their backs.

Ouyang Rong is still two quarters of an hour to half an hour behind!

By the time he slowly rushed to the Di Gong Zha, the ribbon-cutting ceremony would probably be almost over, one step slow, every step slow!

What to do?

Ouyang Rong took a deep breath, tried to keep his face calm, and looked around with frowned brows.

Longcheng County is located to the west of Mount Dagu, to the south of Mount Dagu is the direction of Yunmeng Swamp, which is where Yue Nu Gorge is located, and to the north is the Yangtze River.

Ouyang Rong looked at the direction of the county town to the west where the fake "Ouyang Lianghan" and his party might be going to pick up people and take a boat.

And looked south to the direction of Di Gong Zha.

They will definitely go to Yue Nu Gorge to attend the Di Gong Zha ribbon-cutting ceremony, how to chase...

Just at this moment, a picture suddenly flashed in Ouyang Rong's mind, which was the complex waterway of Butterfly Creek that he briefly stopped to look at when he was drinking spring water on the mountainside just now.

In the next second, Ouyang Rong turned his steps, and his body flew out like an arrow from the string.

It's just that what makes people feel strange is.

He is not running west to try to catch up with the fake "Ouyang Lianghan" and his party.

Nor is he running south, rushing straight to Yue Nu Gorge.

Ouyang Rong ran north desperately.

That is the direction of the Yangtze River.

But there is... the starting point of a certain new canal.

Songlin Ferry.

(End of this chapter)