Chapter 397 Which Is More Difficult?

After Duan Rong came out of the charity cemetery, he rushed to the dilapidated temple on the outskirts of Tongbai County that night and met with Ximen Kankan and Liu Shushan.

Liu Shushan had already heard Ximen Kankan talk about Duan Rong's plan in the dilapidated temple, but Ximen Kankan also had many things he didn't understand about the plan. However, he had a good memory and repeated it to Liu Shushan without missing anything.

Liu Shushan was naturally confused.

But Shen Yanliu had been rescued, which was an indisputable fact.

And now, the person who was searching and investigating in Ruyang Prefecture was Tang Wanhong, which was also an indisputable fact.

Although it was unknown how Duan Rong did it, there was no doubt that he had accomplished something that was almost impossible to accomplish, and led Chen Xun, the old fox, into a maze he had set up.

Although this dilapidated temple was in the wilderness where few people went, they did not light a fire at night in order to hide, and only Ximen Kankan and Liu Shushan took turns to keep watch.

Liu Shushan sat at the door of the ruined temple, keeping watch and thinking about things. From time to time, the night wind blew gently in the wilderness outside, making a series of rustling sounds.

Under the dim starlight, a black shadow suddenly flashed in.

Liu Shushan's heart jumped and he was about to take action, but he heard a familiar voice, saying, "Shushan, it's me."

Liu Shushan felt relieved. It was Duan Rong's voice.

In the dark, he looked at the vague outline at the door. After a few days, he found that Duan Rong had completely captured him.

In the past few months, although Duan Rong has repeatedly solved strange cases, he was fighting against the tricky people in the market. But this time, in the case of Shen Yanliu, Duan Rong set up such a big trap for him under the nose of the owner of the mansion, Chen Xun.

Chen Xun himself is the number one old fox, and he also has a group of hangers-on under his hands, and no one can see through it.

It's really thinking about the unthinkable and doing it with the unthinkable method!

Shen Yanliu's original prison uniform had been burned by Ximen Kankan, and he was replaced with a linen shirt. With his haggard face and messy hair, he really looked like an old farmer with a serious illness.

Duan Rong, Ximen Kankan, Liu Shushan and others waited in the dilapidated temple for only one more day. After Shen Mizhi and Xiao Yu buried the two coffins in the charity cemetery, they rushed over.

Duan Rong used his spiritual sense to carefully investigate and found that there were no spies following Xiao Yu and Shen Mizhi.

It seems that after Shen Yanliu was killed, Chen Xun has given up tracking Shen Mizhi. After all, there are still many things that make him anxious. In his eyes, Shen Mizhi now is probably not worth tracking.

The few people did not stay in the dilapidated temple for too long.

After discussing, they decided to let Ximen Kankan and Liu Shushan send Shen Yanliu to the Ximen family's other courtyard in Yuanyang Mansion to recuperate.

Although Shen Yanliu was once the magistrate of Xiangu County, he had hardly ever shown up in Yuanyang Prefecture, and he was recuperating behind closed doors. Besides, he was actually a dead man in the official documents. Unless someone personally escorted him to Chen Xun, the matter would not be exposed.

Duan Rong, Xiao Yu and Shen Mizhi stood side by side on the official road, watching the carriage go farther and farther.

Shen Mizhi was naturally reluctant, but the case of Shen Yanliu had just happened not long ago, and her identity was still somewhat sensitive, so it was inconvenient for her to accompany him. She could only wait until the storm was over before rushing to Yuanyang Prefecture to serve and fulfill her filial piety.

"Let's go!"

Seeing that the carriage had become a black dot, Duan Rong said lightly.

Shen Mizhi nodded, and the three of them reined in their horses and turned, heading in another direction along the official road at the intersection.

Having been delayed here for more than half a month, they should have gone to the contact point to report on the errands assigned by the sect.

Riding a horse on the official road, the lush forests in the wild retreated from both sides to the back. Duan Rong felt happy in his heart, and he silently recalled the origin of this plan in his mind.

That was after exploring the dungeon in the city. That night, he was lying alone on the bed, half asleep and half awake, and something burst out like lightning.

It was just an inspiration, or just an initial idea, and then Duan Rong started to deduce it.

Looking back now, that idea and the subsequent deduction were not groundless.

In his previous life, he read a mystery novel that impressed him deeply.

That was Keigo Higashino's "The Devotion of Suspect X". He had to admit that his initial idea and inspiration came from this novel.

The protagonist of the novel, Ishigami, is a mathematician. He set up a trap and used a nearly perfect plan to lead the police investigating the case into a fog.

If you want to solve a problem, you must first be able to see the problem.

If you have never seen a problem, how can you solve it?

There is a dialogue in the novel where Ishigami asks his friend Yukawa, a physicist. "You asked me a question before: Which is harder, to formulate an unsolvable problem or to solve it? Do you remember?"

Yukawa replied: "I remember. My answer is that it is harder to formulate a problem. I always think that the solver should respect the questioner."

In Ruyang Mansion, he did almost the same thing as Ishigami, that is, not letting Chen Xun see the problem at all.

If what you see is a pseudo-problem, a maze designed by others, then you have already lost at the beginning, and there is no chance of turning the tables, because you have never sat at the gambling table! No matter how good the gambling skills are, no matter how much money you gamble, it is all in vain.

After they reported back to the sect, they received another mission from the sect, and went to different places to carry out the mission.

It was the end of the year in a blink of an eye.

This year, Zhu Xiaoqi bought a lot of New Year's goods at home, but when the New Year came, Ximen Kankan came and pestered Duan Rong and Xiao Yu to go to Yuanyang Mansion to celebrate the New Year.

The two of them couldn't pester him, so they had to agree.

Zhu Xiaoqi had to buy gifts for them with a sad look in his eyes.

This night was New Year's Eve, and the sound of firecrackers was rumbling outside. Duan Rong and his wife and Ximen's family sat around a large round table and ate a sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner.

Duan Rong ate the authentic eight-treasure gourd duck again. He picked up two pieces for Xiao Yu, who praised it after eating.

The two families were in a happy mood, toasting each other and sending each other New Year's blessings...

Shen Yanliu and Shen Mizhi, father and daughter, actually lived in a rather remote courtyard of Ximen Mansion at this time, but they did not come to the lively New Year's Eve dinner.

It was not that they were rude. After all, Shen Yanliu was a criminal, so it was inconvenient for him to show up in such a lively occasion.

Shen Mizhi usually ran around on sect missions, and only came to take care of her father occasionally when she had free time.

However, Shen Yanliu's injuries had almost healed. Xiao Yu had visited him several times in the past six months.

Usually, he lived alone in the courtyard and did not interact with outsiders. His daily food and clothing were sent here.

After the New Year's Eve dinner, Duan Rong and Xiao Yu returned to their rooms.

Xiao Yu sat on the dressing table and began to remove her makeup.

Duan Rong suddenly picked up the long wooden box he had placed on the bed and said, "I'll go over there to see Mr. Shen and come back in a while."

Xiao Yu looked at Duan Rong's shadow in the bronze mirror and said, "Go, bring good things for me."

Duan Rong had discussed with her before coming that he wanted to give the thing in his hand to Shen Yanliu, and she agreed.

Besides, she also thought that it would be better for Duan Rong to go alone.

If both of them went, the couple would be so arrogant, as if they were afraid that the other party would not accept your kindness.

When Duan Rong took the long wooden box and walked into the rather remote courtyard, he saw that the father and daughter had already eaten the New Year's Eve dinner. Shen Mizhi was cleaning up the dishes and removing the plates, while Shen Yanliu was standing alone in the yard, looking at a clump of bamboo in the corner of the yard.

The moonlight sifted through, casting a mottled shadow on the ground.

Duan Rong walked into the courtyard, and Shen Yanliu's eyes moved slightly.

Xiao Yu had come several times in the past six months, but Duan Rong had never been here.

Shen Yanliu was wearing loose clothes, with her hair tied up lightly with a band, her face was calm and her eyes were gentle.

Duan Rong was slightly impressed in his heart. After a life and death experience, this person seemed to have let go of a lot.

Duan Rong smiled and said, "Mr. Shen, how are you!"

"Mr. Duan!" Shen Yanliu clasped his fists and smiled faintly, "People who have been punished are just lingering on."

The two then walked into the house. Shen Mizhi served each of them a cup of tea and then left. She was very respectful and had long lost her previous arrogance.

The biggest change for people is the separation of life and death, four words.

Any experience will lead to transformation.

Duan Rong took a sip of tea and asked, "Mr. Shen, are you still used to living in this villa?"

No mistakes, one post, one content, one content, one 6, one book, one bar, one look!

Shen Yanliu said, "It's very quiet here."

Duan Rong smiled and said, "I think you are in good condition. After this incident, you seem to be ten years younger."

Shen Yanliu smiled and said, "Your Excellency has a sharp eye. Shen is now free from official duties and has nothing to do!"

Duan Rong also smiled and pushed the long wooden box on the table to Shen Yanliu, saying, "This is what you left with me when I went to Shen Garden last time. Now, it is returned to its original owner."

"Shen Garden?" Shen Yanliu's eyes jumped. "Ni Yunlin's "Fishing Village Autumn Clearing"?"

Duan Rong took a sip of tea and said, "It is this thing!"

To be honest, Shen Yanliu lived in the other courtyard of Ximen Mansion. After all, she was living under someone else's roof, which was not a long-term solution. Moreover, the limelight of the big case had passed, and they were considering finding a place to move out.

However, the money became a problem.

Shen Yanliu's family had been confiscated, and naturally all the wealth he had accumulated was gone.

Although Shen Mizhi was an outer sect disciple, she handled cases in various places and lived in inns with all meals and lodging included. However, the rewards given by the sect for handling cases were all merit points and pills, and there was definitely no silver.

Because, in Changliu Mountain, silver bills were not circulated at all.

Moreover, most outer sect disciples were children of aristocratic families, and they were not short of silver, but Shen Mizhi's situation was special. Her family suddenly fell into poverty and she had no silver, and she never knew how to get silver.

Shen Yanliu was having a headache about this matter, and Duan Rong's painting was a timely help. Moreover, Duan Rong said that the property would be returned to the original owner, which also took care of his face.

Shen Yanliu's hand gently stroked the surface of the wooden box, looked at Duan Rong, and sighed: "My lord is thoughtful!"

The two chatted some more, and Duan Rong got up and said goodbye.

Duan Rong was walking on the road, thinking back to the conversation he had just had with Shen Yanliu. He did not expect that the two of them had quite a good chat.

As the old saying goes: In the vast sea of ​​sin, it is better to turn back and find the shore; put down the butcher knife and become a Buddha right away.

However, it is easy to put down the knife in the hand, but it is difficult to put down the knife in the heart.

After this great change, Shen Yanliu was somewhat relieved.

After Duan Rong left, Shen Yanliu took the tea on the table, opened the wooden box, and carefully took out the old yellowed scroll inside.

Shen Yanliu spread the scroll on the table, and the familiar brushstrokes and artistic conception appeared in front of him again.

When Shen Yanliu was young, he was quite fond of calligraphy and painting, and he also studied it for several years. If it weren't for this experience, he wouldn't have known Tang Wanhong.

Seeing the sparse bamboos painted by Ni Yunlin, noble and clear, Shen Yanliu burst into tears and murmured: "I didn't expect that I would see this painting again in my life. The bamboo in this painting is much cleaner than me. I wasted half my life, but it was just an illusion."

When Shen Yanliu looked at this painting again at this time, his mood was very different from that of previous years.

The painting has not changed, but the person who looks at the painting is no longer the same person as before.

When Duan Rong returned to the room, Xiao Yu was already asleep. In the past few days near the end of the year, she was busy with welcoming and sending off guests and buying gifts.

Duan Rong sat by the bed, watching Xiao Yu sleeping soundly, and his heart was very calm. He blew out the candle and sat cross-legged on the bed.

The vitality of heaven and earth was thin, and it was impossible to break through the vitality realm. In the past year, Duan Rong's cultivation had stagnated and he had always been in the realm of great perfection in the true qi realm.

He also distributed the pills and other things rewarded by the sect to Xiao Yu, Ximen Kankan and others.

However, he no longer focused on cultivation. In this year, he figured out another thing, that is, the problem of dealing with the original blood light of the dirty blood magic in his spiritual sea of ​​consciousness.

After nearly a year of exploration, he finally found a way to completely eradicate this scourge.

Since he decided to develop in Taiyi Sect for a long time, this scourge must be eliminated, because the more he entered the core of the sect, the greater the chance of this scourge being exposed.

Moreover, the blood light has always been a big worry for Duan Rong.

Duan Rong skillfully hit a certain point between his breaths, and instantly felt dizzy before his eyes, and then he entered the spiritual sea of ​​consciousness.

He looked up in the center of the black earth, and saw a shadow sitting cross-legged above the sky, with eyebrows and eyes that were no different from his own.

Eleven stars were slowly rotating around the shadow as the center.

The moment Duan Rong appeared in the center of the black earth, the shadow was connected with his mind.

The shadow above the sky was slightly different from when he was in Changliu Mountain.

There was a faint red light in the shadow's dantian.

Yes, Duan Rong manipulated the shadow and swallowed the original blood light of the dirty blood magic into his dantian.

And Duan Rong found that after the shadow swallowed the original blood light, he activated the Taizang Sutra, and the Taizang Sutra's skills actually digested the original blood light bit by bit.

Although it is very slow, it is indeed effective.

Since he discovered this method, Duan Rong has been diligent every day, because this thing is also a slow and hard work, and it is not possible without diligence.

He must completely refine the blood light before the three-year outer disciple period expires and he advances to the inner disciple.

This time he will enter Changliu Mountain again, he must be an inner disciple.

He has been an outer disciple for only one year, and he heard a saying among the outer disciples: Inner disciples are the real people of the sect, and outer disciples are just dogs raised by the sect.

Inner disciples will begin to get involved in the real core affairs of the sect, and before that, Duan Rong can only feel at ease if he completely deals with the original blood light.