Chapter 469: Xie Chuantang

The Divine Capital was not her Divine Capital. This was the feeling Xie Chuantang had when she first stepped onto Vermilion Bird Street when she was half a head shorter than she was now. At that time, she wore broken straw sandals and wide cloth clothes, with a pair of distant and vigilant eyes.

Now that she had lived here for nine years, this feeling still lingered. Sometimes experiencing its prosperity and rot, witnessing those grand and romantic things, her heart was just like a bystander, and it was difficult to have any deep empathy.

She was neither born here nor did she want to come here. She was sold here.

She was transported by a cargo horse with a curtain for an unknown amount of time, and entered the city from some dark line in the middle of the night. But on the third day of entering the city, the noise, sword light, and torches broke the darkness of the dungeon. In the light of the sword and fire, the man who killed at the front had blood flowing on his face, wearing majestic clothes, with a bright iron waist token, wiping the blood on the blade on his boots, and returning to the scabbard.

Later, she knew they were the fast catchers of Chang'an County.

The companions who were rescued were all sent back. Some families came to pick them up crying excitedly, only she looked at them in a daze, not knowing where she should go.

It was not that she didn't remember where she lived. The name and appearance of that place were very clear, and she also remembered that small courtyard and the man and woman.

But she didn't have the option of "going home," because she was sold by them.

Twenty taels of silver settled the relationship. Xie Chuantang felt a layer of film separating herself from the world the moment she saw the silver being sent into their hands.

When the man came over to ask, she told him these things, not saying where she was going, because she didn't know either.

She watched the man who was murderous that day tighten his eyebrows, and looked at her with a worried, kind face.

"How about I follow you to handle cases? I'm very strong to repay your life-saving grace." She said.

The man widened his eyes and looked up: "I've been a bachelor for a lifetime, and you can still rely on me?!"

But in the end, he really didn't think of a way. He still gave her a room in his small courtyard, saying it was one hundred copper coins a month. As for later discovering that she had the talent for cultivation and using his savings to open her meridians, that was an unclear grace.

So Xie Chuantang gradually felt that she had a connection with the world again, and even later grew into a cold-faced, warm-hearted, biting, and hating-evil character, all of which were the result of being influenced by the man.

And then a year or two later, it was a turning point in some things. The man always went home with a dark face, and some people in the fast catcher class resigned one after another. She never heard the man say which case to handle next.

The man gradually became indifferent to everything from being injured and going home, and finally stopped going out for field missions two years later.

When Xie Chuantang asked, he poured wine and shook his head, "I'm old, it's time to retire and live a life."

The man had no cultivation, and his body was indeed declining, but Xie Chuantang heard more of his cold heart. Later, she knew after being a catcher for a long time that it was because the superior, the Chang'an County Magistrate, had changed, and the reason why the Chang'an County Magistrate changed was because the superior's superior, the Jingzhao Prefecture, had changed the Governor.

Only a Divine Capital catcher like her who lived on the front line had this feeling—that was when the Taiping Cao Gang began to rise, and the entire Jingzhao Prefecture's security system was shuffling and changing.

Later, she grew up and was selected as a Jingzhao Prefecture catcher, so the man let her go out to live by herself. Xie Chuantang rented half a small courtyard in Chongye Ward and came back from time to time. The man took out his treasured wine set to drink, and still taught her things in the officialdom as usual.

But unlike the past, the man no longer taught her those exquisite and unique case-solving techniques, but began to constantly persuade her to protect herself. Every time she said she had handled another case alone, he would be annoyed and angry and lecture her.

Xie Chuantang didn't want to listen, so she went less and less.

She knew what kind of yearning she had when she put on this majestic clothes at the beginning. Seeing it was like a new life, at least she didn't want to dirty it herself.

She met that girl in the midsummer of this year.

That family had just moved into the rented courtyard opposite her. The gentle mother brought her daughter to send homemade pastries to the new neighbor. The mother was delicate and polite, and the girl was as bright as the summer flowers in full bloom, constantly pointing to her which one she made herself, and asking her to report the taste after tasting it.

That was truly an extremely beautiful smile, and that happiness infected her. That night, she sat in the courtyard for a long time alone, took this box of pastries, and went to visit the man.

Besides having such an extra neighbor, she still didn't have much contact with the surroundings. She was on duty and off duty alone, handling some cases in the Thief Catching Division that no one wanted to handle. Except occasionally when she was off duty, she could see the mother taking her daughter to clumsily hit locust flowers or dates with a pole in the alley.

The two were sweating on their foreheads and complaining to each other, but they couldn't hide the smile in the corners of their mouths.

Xie Chuantang liked to see this scene, as if it were a picture in a dream... Later she thought, the devil-like carriage might also be attracted by this smell.

It was a dim sunset afternoon. When Xie Chuantang came back from duty, she saw the deep and beautiful carriage parked at the entrance of the alley, which was somewhat out of place with this ordinary life.

Xie Chuantang had never seen such a carriage wall. It seemed to be South Sea sinking sandalwood worth thousands of gold per piece, carved with an exquisite and colorless Buddha picture. Xie Chuantang didn't know why the horseshoe also had to be carved with fine pictures. In short, that deep, noble look could be seen at a glance.

The beautiful girl raised her head and tried hard to hit the dates. It was parked quietly two zhang away on the opposite street. The carriage window was not lifted, but it seemed that a gaze was looking out.

This scene made Xie Chuantang feel inexplicably tight in her heart, but it drove away just as she passed by. She was inexplicably uneasy, and for the first time, she took the initiative to ask the girl what this carriage was doing.

The girl was also confused, only saying that it just stopped there suddenly, and then seemed to be watching herself hit the dates, but when she signaled to share with it, no one responded.

However, the girl soon ignored this matter and smiled and handed her a handful of red dates.

That was indeed what a fourteen-year-old girl should look like—innocent, lively, and carefree... making Xie Chuantang couldn't help but entrust her own age to her.

Then this matter seemed to have passed, but a few days later, the scholar father's affairs seemed to have suddenly had some annoying accidents, so the family had to withdraw from the rented courtyard and leave the capital to return home.

Xie Chuantang felt a pity, but life was full of separations everywhere. Before leaving, the girl shyly gave her a piece of needlework, saying that she had just started learning and it was still very ugly.

A simple encounter passed like this. Xie Chuantang continued her lonely life, thinking she would never see them again.

She originally wouldn't see them again if it weren't for the heavy rain that leaked the Longshou Canal a month ago.

On the morning of the 22nd of the 9th month, she returned to the city after handing over official business in the neighboring county. By the grass by the Yinma River, she saw half a severed pale arm.

She remembered the buzzing of her brain when she cleared out that face, remembered the traces of being hurt and violated, and remembered the first cold anger in her life.

She remembered grabbing Lu Dingwu's collar and asking him to establish a case, and also remembered her loss of control in front of the Governor's desk: "Fuck! She's only fourteen!!"

But later, it all turned cold.

She tried her best to find the four beasts who did it, but she could never find the Buddha-painted carriage of that day.

That one thought made the carriage owner who offered the girl to the Taiping Cao Gang disappear from her world as if it had disappeared.

The Jingzhao Prefecture closed the case and refused to investigate further, so Xie Chuantang took off her catcher's uniform and entered the government prison alone in the middle of the night.

She forced the two living people to confirm that it was not "coveting wealth," but the order given by the "Second Master" himself. She spent three days confirming the movements of the "Second Master," and on the fourth day, when he boarded the carriage, she used a short dagger to force his throat, and heard the two words 【Huan Pavilion】 from his mouth, as well as the Xunfang Garden gathering two days later.

Xie Chuantang had only vaguely heard the name "Huan Pavilion." She didn't know who held it, nor did she know where it was, but she knew Xunfang Garden.

I heard that those nobles would turn into the Huan Pavilion after the Xunfang Garden gathering ended. Xie Chuantang used all means and luck to sneak in, holding a dagger and lurking under a carriage that looked extraordinary for two hours.

Then someone really boarded the carriage, and this carriage really started to drive. It was a completely strange street and courtyard wall. Xie Chuantang had never seen this kind of place in the Divine Capital, so she deeply realized that she had arrived in some forbidden area.

She tried her best to hide her breathing, but unfortunately, when the carriage just stopped, her whole body suddenly stiffened and could not move, and she fell down powerlessly.

At that moment, she thought she was going to die like that, but at the same time, she also realized that she had arrived at the "Huan Pavilion."

This was the surveillance of the Huan Pavilion.

But she was too late to see anything, and couldn't recognize this place. She only saw a Buddha-painted, quiet and beautiful carriage driving in from the corner of her eye before losing consciousness.

In the days in prison, the last thing Xie Chuantang regretted was telling the man about this.

She subconsciously sought the man's help when she encountered difficulties, but after the four people were brought to justice, the man firmly demanded that she stop there. For this reason, they had a red-faced and ear-red quarrel, and Xie Chuantang snatched the door and left.

Then on the seventh day of her imprisonment, she learned of his death.

The time passed in a daze. Her connection with the world was originally so weak, and now she couldn't hope for anyone to save her. Those hatreds could only be buried there. But sometimes she also felt that dying in pain and anger made her feel that she was really alive.

Then it was the young man who came and went overnight. The fire and sword light made her dazed for a long time. Until tonight, the pain in her abdomen made her unable to close her eyes again, and then a group of public servants walked in without any warning and pushed open her prison door.

"Xie Chuantang?"

"..." She raised her head with disheveled hair.

"Sign the release document."

"..."

Half an hour later, she knelt in this courtyard. The official document had been handled, the shackles were removed, and Xie Chuantang rubbed her wrists.

After more than ten days, the climate was different. The long-lost true Qi was slowly gestating from the Dantian, but her body was still weak and cold. When Xie Chuantang stood up stiffly, the scarlet-robed official who had just passed by with a heavy face was walking out of the hall.

"Vice Minister Guan, take care of yourself." He left a sentence at the door of the hall. Only two light coughs came from inside, and then he stepped over the threshold with a blank face, glancing coldly at her when he passed by.

Xie Chuantang's body stiffened and cold in an instant, and her heart and lungs suddenly beat like drums, as if they were about to explode.

It was not the threat from this glance, but the lock from the person behind him.

Silent and cold face, sword without a scabbard around his waist... Xie Chuantang recognized this person, or rather, she had heard his name.

【Ruthless Wood】 Linghu Qu.

This name could be found in the 234th place on the Crane List. He was a soul-chasing man of the Ministry of Justice for ten years. Having been a catcher in the Divine Capital for a long time, this title entered the ears like a legend.

And this kind of lock, Xie Chuantang knew very well... that was the Qi machine before killing.

"Congratulations on your freedom." The scarlet-robed man said coldly, "It's a pity that there is only half a street's life."

Xie Chuantang's body was cold, but under this heavy pressure, she still slowly turned her head, looked at the man coldly, and walked straight towards the outside of the government office.

Late at night, the fire candles in front of the Ministry of Justice illuminated two stone beasts. Xie Chuantang walked out alone, dragging her steps, and the cold wind filled her clothes.

She gradually guessed what had happened. Someone had transferred her out for some purpose, mostly because of this case on her, and this angered the scarlet-robed official and the things he represented behind him.

He couldn't stop it, so he simply didn't stop it.

—Killing a small fry like her was really too easy.

No traces would be left, and others could not intervene. Even if it was known that her death was abnormal, what could you do? Even this case was still handled by the Ministry of Justice itself.

The dignified soul-chasing man of the Ministry of Justice actually assassinated in the street, and the intensity of the situation had climbed to another level.

And Xie Chuantang had no choice. She lowered her head and moved forward, as if a sword was placed on the back of her neck, but she only ignored it.

Walking forward step by step, the street outside the Ministry of Justice was empty in the middle of the night, and the lamps and candles of the government office were gradually left behind. She knew that when the fire was completely invisible, it meant she had left the scope of the Ministry of Justice. She wouldn't be allowed to walk another step, only immediate death.

The fire candles were getting dimmer. Xie Chuantang suddenly stiffened, turned her head, and the figure of the sword without a scabbard had already followed silently behind.

In her many thrilling experiences, there was no such moment of facing the mysterious gate of the Crane List. Even if there was a mysterious Qi restriction, the mysterious gate was after all the mysterious gate. She could not fight such an enemy.

In the desperate situation where she could not resist, Xie Chuantang would choose to die more calmly. The weak body and the fear of walking towards death made her shiver. She looked back at this executioner and held her breath to take the last few steps forward.

The fire candles of the Ministry of Justice were completely gone.

The street was empty in the cold middle of the night. Xie Chuantang's heart and lungs clenched at this moment, waiting for the moment her head flew up.

But suddenly she was stunned.

No coldness crossed her throat. Xie Chuantang took this last step, but what she faced was not a completely dark and cold empty street.

As if continuing the fire candles of the Ministry of Justice, a swaying candle stood on the table of a noodle stall in front, and the faint candlelight illuminated a space. A middle-aged man in his thirties or forties was sitting alone on a bench eating a bowl of hot noodle soup.

He wore cloth clothes, his cloth shoes were covered with dust, his two long eyebrows were almost connected at the center of his eyebrows, and his beard lacked trimming. It was an appearance that was easily overlooked, looking worried and discouraged, like someone who would stand in the corner out of place at a gathering.

But now on this street, he seemed too abrupt.

"Come and eat a bowl of hot noodles." The middle-aged man raised his eyebrows and greeted her, his voice low.

Xie Chuantang walked forward in a daze. The temperature of the hot noodles seemed to have warmed her body, and her muscles and bones felt warm and smooth... It wasn't until she sat on this long bench that she suddenly remembered to look back.

【Ruthless Wood】 Linghu Qu stood there motionless.

He put his hand on the hilt of his sword, and apart from that, there was no other movement, as if he had turned into a stiff wax figure.

But Xie Chuantang could see the tendons on his arm and his trembling body.

And the man in front just lowered his head to eat noodles. Xie Chuantang was stunned for a while, and suddenly saw a sword placed by the table when she lowered her head.

It had been drawn halfway, and the blade was exposed. Xie Chuantang had never seen such a divine sword. The sword was slender, as if composed of pitch black and brightness. They were half and half, but not regular at all, as if two armies were competing, or as if one side was being consumed.

Xie Chuantang ate this bowl of hot noodles in a daze. When she finished the soup and raised her head, Linghu Qu was still standing behind her motionless.

"Even in the Divine Capital, there are two sets of rules. The imperial court has the rules of the imperial court, and the Jianghu has the rules of the Jianghu." The man in front said in a low voice, but this appearance didn't look like he was pronouncing the rules, but rather like he was worried that this winter was too cold.

"Choosing to walk into the Jianghu, you have to face the Jianghu."

The man finished the noodles and gently returned the blade to the scabbard. Xie Chuantang saw the bright part increase a little in an instant.

And behind her, the stiff Linghu Qu aged rapidly and turned into a dry corpse and fell down.

"Go after eating. Someone is waiting for you at the end of the street."

"Is that it?" Pei Ye looked at the woman who was wolfing down the food with his hands on his chin, frowning and thinking.

"That's it." Xie Chuantang really didn't want to talk about it anymore.

"But you don't look like you've eaten a bowl of noodles."

"Too hungry." ===== CHAPTER 470 =====