Peach Blossom Dyeing Jinge

Ren Lan and An Qiming's eyes met, they looked at each other in astonishment, and neither of them spoke for a while.

On the contrary, Lu Dongqing's tone was still calm and flat. He raised the wooden carving pendant in his hand and said, "The knife marks on this wooden carving are very new, so it must have been carved not long ago."

Ren Lan moved closer, observed while saying: "The edges and corners are indeed clearly discernible, and there is no dust in the notch, so it must not have been left for a long time."

Lu Dongqing nodded and said: "The people in Wutong Town gave it to me, saying that it was an amulet bought from a foreign merchant, but Baiyu told me last night that the Xuanniao is the auspicious beast worshiped by the Yushan tribe. Why? Will the auspicious beasts of the Yushan tribe appear on the stalls of foreign merchants?"

An Qiming looked at him and kept shaking his head: "Holly, you must have misunderstood, this is just an ordinary wood carving, even if a foreigner likes the same shape, it is not uncommon."

"The matter of the wood carving may be a coincidence," Lu Dongqing replied word by word, "but I immediately thought that I saw you in Wutong Town yesterday, in the tavern in the town."

An Qiming frowned and said, "What nonsense are you talking about?"

"It's you who is talking nonsense," Lu Dongqing insisted, "You said that you accidentally caught sparks while forging the sword, and you burned half of your hair into the shape in front of you, but in fact, you burned your own hair, It's just to make me ignore your appearance. You met me in Wutong Town, and you recognized me as the person crossing the river earlier, just in case, you deliberately burned off half of your hair before you came to see me."

Ren Lan stared blankly at her fellow disciple beside her, as if she was looking at a stranger.

The An Qiming she knew was always extravagant and casual, and was often punished by his master for being lazy, but he had never shown such a cautious mind.

But the An Qiming she knew was also humorous and easy-going. He was much more proficient in dealing with people than herself, and was especially liked by children. He had never done anything to harm his tribe.

For some reason, her heart was in a panic, as if something she had believed in for a long time suddenly collapsed.

She stared blankly at the other party, and asked, "Is Dongqing's words true?"

An Qiming avoided her sight.

Lu Dongqing was aware of Ren Lan's contradiction, and felt very uncomfortable, but he continued: "Of course, the only person who can prove your whereabouts is the boatman on the Ganyi River. After all, his boat is the only way out of the valley. I think you must I told him to keep it a secret for you, but the matter is very important right now, if the patriarch personally asks, I think he will tell the truth, if you refuse to admit it, we might as well ask about it."

"I..." An Qiming's eyes flickered, "I just ran out secretly for a moment of fun."

"That's not the case." Lu Dongqing denied.

As if to prove his words, he took out the second piece of evidence that he had been waiting for for a long time.

A strand of long, yellowish-brown hair with some green spots on the edge, if you look carefully, it is covered with moss that is common in rock crevices.

Even Ren Lan was shocked this time. She and An Qiming were old acquaintances when they were young, so of course they were familiar with his appearance. I can't find another person with such hair.

At this moment, the remaining hair on An Qiming's head was shorter than bean sprouts, but the hair in Lu Dongqing's hand was longer than the entire palm of his hand.

Lu Dongqing said word by word: "I took this from the cliff behind the altar."

Ren Lan turned to him, and asked cautiously: "Holly, why did you go there? Could it be that you too...you too..."

Lu Dongqing didn't answer immediately, but stood up and bowed deeply in front of her.

Ren Lan was so shocked by his sudden action that he was speechless.

He bowed his waist, lowered his head, and said solemnly: "The kindness between the uncle and the senior sister is always in Dongqing's heart, and there is no joke. I beg the senior sister to listen to me."

Ren Lan took a few steps back, supported the table with her hands, raised her head after being silent for a while, and answered him, "Go ahead."

Lu Dongqing kept bowing until she got the senior sister's permission, then she stood up straight again, and said slowly: "Senior sister, I confess to you that Master Zhengqiu and I have lied to you. What happened today, It was my idea. I picked up Senior Brother An’s key, and found the location where the medicinal herbs were stored. I planned to climb up the rock wall from the valley, sneak into the warehouse to get some life-saving Tianxiang leaves, and then quietly leave Lingquan Valley. Unexpectedly, I and When Master arrived at the warehouse, the lock had already been opened, and the warehouse was in a mess. And just before we stepped through the door, someone rang the Changning Bell."

Ren Lan asked in a daze, "Then Master Zhengqiu said... Goshawk... and his accomplices...?"

Lu Zhengqiu showed a painful expression, bowed his head and said: "It's all just a temporary excuse. I am the master's accomplice. In order to protect me, the master took the criminal evidence alone, so that I have time to find out the truth."

Ren Lan was so shocked that she couldn't speak, she looked down at the hair on Dongqing's hand, and then slowly turned her gaze to An Qiming.

Lu Dongqing also turned to the latter, and said: "You have been to Wutong Town, so you naturally know our plan. You are worried that the matter will be exposed, so you set up a plan to shift the responsibility of stealing the warehouse to us, right?"

Ren Lan asked in a trembling voice: "Qiming, is Dongqing's words true?"

Her gaze was like a flame, burning An Qiming's cheeks hot, and she continued: "Qiming, why did you lie to me, we have known each other since we were young, you do like to joke and play tricks, but you have never lied to me when it comes to major matters. "

An Qiming took a deep breath and said, "It's true that I've been to the warehouse, but Dongqing's deduction just now is only half right."

"Which half?"

"It's true that I stole Tianxiang leaves, but only a little bit. My purpose of stealing is the same as that of Dongqing. I just intend to take it to Wutong Town to relieve the urgent needs of the local people."

"What?" Lu Dongqing was shocked, "But you deliberately left the key in the hospital last night, so it's not for the purpose of framing you?"

"Stay in the hospital?" An Qiming was startled for a moment, then smiled wryly and shook his head, "I didn't leave it for you on purpose, I really forgot to take it away. In fact, I don't remember how I lost the key at all. If it weren't for you Ask me, I always thought the key was stolen by Master Zhengqiu," he said before turning to Ren Landao, "Alan, I have always been careless, even if I tell a lie, I will be exposed quickly, but you must believe me , I never destroyed the warehouse into such a miserable state, and I never meant to harm Master Zhengqiu."

Lu Dongqing looked at him blankly: "Aren't you the one who robbed the warehouse?"

"It's definitely not me."

"Then why did you go to Wutong Town privately?"

An Qiming said: "Now that the matter is up to now, I won't cover up any more. Everything I say next is the truth." He paused for a moment before saying, "I secretly went to Wutong Town three months ago. Yes. The reason why I went out was to inquire about an important news, which was related to the safety of the Yushan tribe. I stole medicinal herbs and sold amulets, all in order to make friends with the local residents and obtain more information. "

His tone suddenly became serious and sincere, and his shoulders, which were always slumped in the past, straightened.

He seemed to be a different person, no longer lazy, no longer sloppy, even half of his funny messy hair could not conceal his solemn posture at this moment.

Lu Dongqing was also stunned.

He thought that he would be able to reveal the truth about the warehouse theft by breaking An Qiming's whereabouts, but he didn't expect that the conclusion he deduced was completely wrong.

He couldn't help asking: "What is the news that is so important?"

An Qiming looked at him, and said word by word: "The demon sect in Jianghu has already set its sights on Yushan."