Chapter 595: Bones Growing Green Fans

"Hidden so deep, yet still couldn't escape for two months." Zhu Gaoyang walked into the stone cave and looked up at the skeleton. "I imagine when your father took this task, he should have known that whether he succeeded or not, this would be his journey of no return."

He took out two hand gloves, put them on, stepped forward, and slowly peeled off the rotted clothes, fully exposing the skeleton.

Cultivators who have completed the Lingxuan body-refining are like this after death—a dim jade color. The Lingxuan in the flesh and blood dissipates over time, and then rots and digests, but the bones have become another substance. Even if the Lingxuan in them slowly dissipates, they can often be preserved completely for a long time.

The man took out ink and white paper and accurately and carefully traced the skeleton, without losing a single detail. From the perspective of an investigator, this was a very beautiful corpse. From the wounds, one could clearly and concisely restore the process of its death—broken knees, severed wrists, pierced shoulders, then a clash of swords, victory, severed arm, took the sword of the severed arm, and pierced the throat.

It was the gentleness of a senior Crane Inspector toward a junior.

Zhu Gaoyang couldn't help but sigh. Some chivalrous men kill people with great momentum and very sufficient posture. Every time they draw their swords, they cause onlookers to exclaim and young girls to cheer, but the corpses left behind are truly unsightly, with rough and casual wounds. It's like a graceful young nobleman equipped with a fake sword decorated with gold and jade. Outsiders are naturally envious, but insiders secretly sneer.

And some people kill people in an ordinary way, without any movement. Those who watch the fun definitely don't think he is powerful, nor do they think the person he killed is powerful. Only when the Feather Inspectors of the Immortal Platform come over and open the collar to look, do they suddenly feel awe in their hearts.

He himself was almost past the age of showing off. Next time he kills someone, he should try to kill "knowingly"...

Zhu Gaoyang thought in his heart, and his hands had already traced and recorded the whole skeleton. Then he started another sheet of white paper and carefully lifted the left wrist of the skeleton.

On the dark jade-like wrist bone, a small piece of different color like a ginkgo leaf was branded in it, presenting a small fan shape like a copper coin, as if it were symbiotic with the bone, but this pattern was too regular, definitely not a shape that the human body could naturally have.

"Pavilion He Wuzhu, do you recognize this pattern?" Zhu Gaoyang looked at it quietly for a while, lowered his head, and traced it.

"..."

"I imagine Pavilion He Wuzhu wouldn't be too unfamiliar. Neither am I." Zhu Gaoyang said calmly, "At first, I only had your father's name. I read his life many times. 'Master of the Chang'an Water System' is a very majestic title, but the word 'He' is nothing, and your father had no official position, especially in the Tang-Barbarian War, the waters at the feet of the Son of Heaven could not possibly be decided by him. On this point, Pavilion He Wuzhu should have realized it after taking charge of the Fengshui Dock."

He Zhangge was silent for a moment and nodded slowly.

"Heroes and heroes can do business on the water, build docks, make a name for themselves, recruit halls, helms, and gangs... as if they really controlled the entire water system, making the Eight Waters a vibrant and chaotic *jianghu* atmosphere. But in fact, for at least forty years, the Eight Waters have had their masters in the dark. The higher the water heroes go, the more they understand this point."

"'Rather die by the neck, do not violate the Green Wind Envoy.' I mixed in the Jing and Wei rivers for two months before hearing this secret vulgar saying." Zhu Gaoyang said slowly, "If you want to continue to make a living on the water system, or rather, just to survive, if the Green Wind letter is sent to your table, you had better take out twelve points of piety and do the explanation inside meticulously and without any difference. Some people don't believe it, and later they were forgotten—am I right, Pavilion He Wuzhu?"

"... Not bad."

"And the reason your father was able to sit in the position of Master of the Eight Waters is simply because he is already one of them." Zhu Gaoyang stopped his brush and looked at the fan shape he had traced. "'Eight Waters Green Wind Envoy, one Emerald Smoke City,' chasing those clues day and night, today I have finally seen the true face of one—Jing Water Wind Envoy, 【Four Waters Cultivator Snake】 He Wujian."

"My father... was one of them?" He Zhangge was stunned.

"Those marked with this green fan are Green Wind Envoys. This is something I have already confirmed. The *jianghu* rumors say they move mysteriously and can appear in any unimaginable place. People who are targeted cannot sleep or eat in peace. According to my tracing, the time these strange names appeared was in the few years after the Qilin Blood Calamity." Zhu Gaoyang said slowly, "Eighteen years ago, 123 people of the Xuhu Villa were slaughtered in a storm overnight. Because it was in a secluded place, it was discovered seven days later; thirteen years ago, the *Water Fox Treasure Chapter* of the Xuanpu Pavilion was stolen, and the master of the contemporary Pavilion Master was slit in the throat at the guard position; seven years ago, on the wedding night of the young master of the Fenghua Pavilion, the bride assassinated him, and the hereditary magic tool 【Fisherman's Net】 disappeared together... The Immortal Platform spent some time organizing it, and gradually got some of their dark faces."

"These mysteriously acting Green Wind Envoys are said to come from a place called 'Mirage City', but no one in the *jianghu* knows where that is." Zhu Gaoyang said, "Before going to Yangjiadu to see Pavilion He Wuzhu, I tried to conduct an in-depth investigation into it and found that it didn't seem to appear suddenly, but had some origins and predecessors."

"What?"

Zhu Gaoyang shook his head: "The journey is not half over, but I have just seen some faces, and I still have to trouble Pavilion He Wuzhu to run with me for a few more days."

Then he bent over the desk in the stone cave, carefully summarized and wrote down the news up to this point, and put it into a letter tube.

He stood up and said: "I hope there will be some good news on the other side."

When the sky was bright, Pei Ye walked out of the side hall. He didn't see the figure of that Highness. He washed his hands and face with the furnishings of this palace, which he was not very familiar with. When he stepped out of the hall door, he stopped. He saw a red little padded jacket holding a tree trunk in front of the tree, looking at the hall door. When he saw him walking over, he immediately smiled happily.

It was the little girl he had just parted with at dusk yesterday. Seeing him walking over, she ran up and held his lapel, but didn't speak, only looking up at him somewhat shyly.

"Eh? What are you doing here?" Pei Ye laughed deliberately, "Do you want to treat me to dinner? How did you know I hadn't eaten breakfast yet?"

Li Wuyan was somewhat blank. She hadn't eaten either. She ran over impatiently to find this big brother to take her fishing, but if people hadn't eaten... She thought for a while, lowered her head and dug in her pocket for a long time, grabbed three candies, then hesitated for a while, took one back, and handed two to him.

It was truly a fatal bribe. Pei Ye smiled, took it, and held her little hand: "Okay, then let's go fishing, but we have to make a fishing rod first."

The teenager led her to stroll in the garden for a long time, and finally selected two suitable bamboos. This green plant with a proud bone didn't bend or break even in the cold winter, but unfortunately, it had to lie down obediently in front of 【Jade Tiger】.

Pei Ye cleared away the messy branches and leaves and got two green rods. However, when the bamboo stood, it looked straight, but when it was cut down, there were always some bends. At this time, fortunately, the black cat was there. The flame born in its belly could be sprayed without Lingxuan. While burning and bending, it gradually turned the bamboo rod into the desired shape.

"If you want to straighten the rod into a good-looking arc, you have to burn it on the fire." Although the young child probably couldn't understand, Pei Ye explained every step with a smile. Li Wuyan leaned on the table and watched. It was the most common expression of a child trying hard to understand, occasionally asking some strange details.

"This is the so-called 'wood is straight in the middle of the rope, and it is bent into a wheel'—have you ever studied *Mencius*?"

Li Wuyan was truly blank this time, looking at him, first nodding hesitantly, then shaking her head with a frown.

"You can read it when you go back, this article is very classic." Pei Ye said.

But none of this mattered. It didn't take too long. Pei Ye tidied up two rods, only one foot taller than the girl's head, then took silk thread and tied it to the rod, took two small stools, and led the girl to the Zhu Pool.

This was the noon sun. Pei Ye asked the palace people for some fish food, took Li Wuyan to the lake, knocked open an ice hole, and then the two sat side by side, each hanging their fishing rods in.

Li Wuyan was both novel and impatient, occasionally running to the ice hole to look, and occasionally climbing up to ask Pei Ye when she could catch a fish. Pei Ye's rod was placed on his knees, but he didn't look at the fishing rod much, holding a pen and a small booklet, enduring the disturbance of the little girl, and smiled: "Don't touch my rod, let me test you, how many big pools are there in the Great Ming Palace, and what are they called?"

Li Wuyan answered obediently: "Taiye, Jing Pool, Xia Pool, Jing Pool, Zhu Pool, Zi Pool, Bei Pool, Nan Pool."

"Not bad, it is exactly these eight." Pei Ye lowered his eyes and drew, unfolding the map of the Great Ming Palace he had seen before in his mind, and then redrawing the relative positions of the eight pools.

"Brother Pei, just now my rod seemed to move! But I didn't, I didn't catch it!"

"It didn't move at all, don't keep pretending that you have a fish on the hook."

"I should change the bait!"

"You shouldn't."

"Ah... Brother Pei, when can we catch a fish."

"Don't touch my rod—come, little Wuyan, let me ask you, you know the arrangement of the eight pools, but who is connected to whom?" Pei Ye lowered his head and drew.

"Zhu Pool and Taiye are connected."

"Not bad, what else?"

"..."

"You don't know either." Pei Ye laughed, "Then after we catch a fish here, let's walk around the palace and go to every pool to fish, okay?"

A five or six-year-old child wouldn't refuse at all, and nodded blankly.

Sure enough, as long as you hold the child down so she doesn't make trouble, the water waves were quiet for a while, and Pei Ye lifted the rod, picking up a half-foot-long flower koi. Although it wasn't the red one Li Wuyan asked for, it was enough to make her excited.

Pei Ye put away the rod, put the fish into the bucket, held her hand, and went to another pool.

On the way, he looked at the winding streams that had been guided into the garden and drew them all on paper. Beside him, the child jumped: "Brother Pei, are we going to Jing Pool?"

"No, let's go to Bei Pool first." Pei Ye answered casually, then turned his head to look at her, and said earnestly, "Don't keep thinking about going to Jing Pool. The trees there grow messily, and the heavy snow will bury you."

For a child of this age, areas that no one approaches all year round are full of dangers.

"No, I've been there twice." Li Wuyan said childishly.

Pei Ye was slightly surprised: "You've been there twice? Who took you—don't go again, that's a place you're not allowed to go. If you're caught, you'll be punished."

"No punishment."

"How can there be no punishment? Didn't you see Sister Meng'er yesterday? When she ran in secretly as a child, she was punished."

"She is a servant and dares to run around, so she will have her legs broken."

"..."

"I have Qilin Blood, no one can punish me." Li Wuyan said coquettishly.

"... Who taught you this?"

"..." Li Wuyan was somewhat blank.

"Hm?"

"... That's just it." Because the teenager kept looking at her, she thought seriously for a while, "Well, maybe the instructor taught me."

Pei Ye nodded and said earnestly: "Sister Meng'er shouldn't have had her legs broken either. Regardless of whether there is Qilin Blood or not, everyone is the same."

Li Wuyan frowned and didn't understand. She seemed to want to refute, but was afraid that the teenager wouldn't take her fishing anymore, so she closed her mouth.

They ran to three pools all day, namely Taiye, Bei Pool, and Zhu Pool. Pei Ye drew all the tributaries involved. When the sky was about to dusk, he sent the little girl back to the dormitory, and the fish caught were handed over to her together.

Actually, they caught a beautiful red koi today, but after Li Wuyan was happy, she said that what she wanted wasn't this kind, but another kind of "more beautiful, more beautiful" red carp, and they agreed that they must catch it in the future.

When returning to Zhu Jing Palace, Pei Ye asked for good night in front of the main hall according to etiquette. A calm "Pei Young Hero, peace" came from inside. Just when Pei Ye returned to the side hall and patted his forehead, remembering that he had forgotten to report to the Imperial Kitchen again, he pushed open the door and saw a plate of hot food on the table, three dishes and one soup, and there were even fruits in this season.

He was silent for a while, sat down, and ate wolfishly.

Before nightfall, the soul bird of the Immortal Platform was delivered to the palace, carrying the chill from the deep mountain ancient pool. It was a letter detailing the skeleton and life of He Wujian. Pei Ye quickly saw the drawing of the wrist bone from several documents and frowned and looked at it carefully under the oil lamp.

"... So the so-called 'flesh growing green fan' looks like this." He bit the juicy apple and muttered a sentence.

It was indeed consistent with the brief description left by Grandpa Yue.

"At the end of the Jing River, there is a mountain of unknown location. Follow the stream, and finally find a water pool. Dive down more than two miles.

Found a stone cave, this is the hiding place of He Wujian, I killed him here.

A green fan shape grows on his left wrist, which is flexible to the touch, bottomless when dissected, and goes straight into the bone.

People have flesh and fat, blood vessels, tendons and bones, and nerves. This thing grows through them, entangled in a bundle, and must be a key place.

Dissecting his body and observing it, the bones, flesh, and muscles all have tiny changes, which are more smooth and balanced than humans; dissecting his chest and observing it, the lungs have membranes, like whales."

When Pei Ye saw this passage, the first thing he thought of was Chen Renzhong at Yangjiadu in the early morning. ===== CHAPTER 596 =====