Sword drawn from the constellations, poison as its edge.

Chapter 263 The Tragedy of Little Mirror Lake

After some discussion, the group realized they had nowhere else to go, so they decided to go find Duan Zhengchun first.

After all, the maritime trade business that Jiang Mingzhe mentioned earlier, although it was to make it easier for Duan Yu to visit Xiao Feng, could change the fate of Dali Kingdom if it were to be successful. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a national policy. The sooner Duan Zhengchun found out, the sooner Dali Kingdom could prepare.

Azi disagreed, pouting, "Our troublesome father, who is both the wife of the deputy leader of the Beggars' Sect and the mother of Wang Yuyan, is probably hiding somewhere having fun right now. Where are we going to find him? I think we should go find my mother first. Although she is not a good mother, Azhu is married now, so we should let her know."

When Azi was a child, she asked Ding Chunqiu about her origins. Ding Chunqiu did not hide anything and said that she was from Zhongzhou. Her parents did not want her and she was adopted by him. He also said that if she wanted to find her parents after she completed her apprenticeship, she could search around Tongbai City.

Later, when she recognized Duan Zhengchun, she asked him about this matter. Duan Zhengchun naturally did not hide it from her and told her that her mother was the daughter of the Ruan family in Zhongzhou and lived in seclusion at Xiaojing Lake outside Tongbai City.

After Duan Yu was captured by Kumārajīva, Duan Zhengchun brought her to Jiangnan. They had originally planned to take her to see her mother, Ruan Xingzhu, after Duan Yu was rescued. However, when they met Kang Min, Duan Zhengchun became infatuated and immediately put the plan on hold.

Jiang Mingzhe thought it was only natural for a child to look for its mother, and that Lao Duan might be there too, so he immediately agreed. He went down the mountain to find out and found out that Tongbai County was due south, about three or four hundred miles away.

So the group headed to Tongbai County. The weather was already hot. Azi and the others were fine, but Wang Yuyan couldn't stand the heat. Fortunately, they weren't in a hurry, so they decided to set off before dawn and stop for a meal when the sun was high to avoid the heat.

They traveled at such a leisurely pace for nearly ten days before finally arriving in Tongbai.

Upon entering the county town, after making some inquiries, we learned that Xiaojing Lake was located in the northwest of the county town, more than 38 li away.

So they mounted their horses again and set off out of the city. They first traveled seven and a half li west, where they saw sixteen large willow trees. They then turned north and traveled another nine and a half li. A stream blocked their path, with a stone bridge and a wooden bridge spanning it, leading to two separate paths. The wooden bridge led to a smaller path. The group crossed the bridge and followed the path, turning and turning, for twenty-one and a half li. Sure enough, they saw a lake, its waters as green as jade and as calm as a purple flower. A-Zi exclaimed with delight, "There's no mistake, this must be Little Mirror Lake!"

The group followed the lake and soon arrived at the west side of the lake, where they saw a large bamboo forest. What was strange was that the bamboo here was different from other places; each bamboo stalk grew into a square shape.

There was a path in the bamboo forest. Just as the group was about to enter, a breeze blew by, and Jiang Mingzhe's expression changed instantly. He looked at Azi, whose face turned pale in an instant, and she whispered, "The smell of rotting corpses!"

Jiang Mingzhe nodded with a stern face and said in a low voice, "Third brother, you..."

Duan Yu quickly replied, "I'll look after everyone. Second Brother, you go and investigate first!"

Azi said nervously, "I'll go too."

The two men spurred their horses and galloped off, passing through the path one after the other, until they arrived at a clearing of about two or three acres in the middle of the bamboo forest. Several rather exquisite bamboo houses stood in the middle, and three corpses lay across the doorway. The corpses were covered with flies, which were startled by the horses' hooves and flew up with a loud bang, as if a dark cloud had risen from the ground.

Azi casually slapped out with her palm, and a gray-white cold air shot out for about ten feet. The flies were hit before they could even scatter, and they were frozen on the spot, falling to the ground with a thud.

Jiang Mingzhe dismounted, held his breath, and stepped forward. The three corpses were badly decomposed, their faces disfigured. As he pondered, Duan Yu and the others arrived. Wang Yuyan gagged softly, turned her head, and vomited into the bamboo forest. The others also covered their noses.

Azi said in a panic, "My father said that my mother's residence is in the bamboo grove by Little Mirror Lake, and that's where the big ginger is... you tell me, you tell me..."

Jiang Mingzhe returned to her side, took her hand and comforted her, "Don't worry, these three dead people were all men, your mother will be alright."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Duan Yu cried out, "Uncle Chu, it's Uncle Chu!" Jiang Mingzhe turned around abruptly and saw Duan Yu kneeling before a rotting corpse, picking up a broken iron rod from the ground, and crying as he turned back, "Second Brother, look, this is my Uncle Chu's weapon!"

Jiang Mingzhe was taken aback. He stepped forward, took the rod, and examined it closely. Sure enough, it was the iron fishing rod that Chu Wanli, one of the four guards of the Prince of Zhennan's mansion, was used by.

The fishing rod had been broken and thrown on the ground. The ground was covered with weeds, and the fishing rod was thin, so Jiang Mingzhe hadn't noticed it closely.

He didn't care about the dirt and stench anymore, and quickly parted the grass to search carefully. After a short while, he found a short axe, picked it up and said, "Third brother, look, isn't this the weapon of the ancient guard?"

Gu Ducheng, one of the four bodyguards, wielded a pair of broadswords.

Duan Yu's face grew even more sorrowful, but upon closer inspection of the axe, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief and shook his head, saying, "No, Uncle Gu's axe is a broad axe, not as exquisite as this one..."

Before the words were even finished, Abi suddenly rushed over, snatched the axe from Jiang Mingzhe, and said tearfully, "This is Uncle Feng's axe!"

"Feng Asan?" Jiang Mingzhe was shocked. He thought that it was understandable that Chu Wanli died here, but he must have encountered some powerful enemy while accompanying Duan Zhengchun to find Ruan Xingzhu.

After all, this Guard Chu's birth chart was probably incompatible with this place. In the original story, he was thrown a fishing rod by A Zi and then caught and humiliated by A Zi with a fishing net, which made him resentful. He fought to the death against Duan Yanqing who was chasing him and was killed on the spot by Duan Yanqing.

The plot has been completely changed, and it's unexpected that Chu Wanli still died here. That's fine, but why did the Eight Friends of Hangu come here? It's completely baffling.

The group dispersed and searched again, finding another judge's pen in the bamboo forest. The pen, made of fine steel, was bent, clearly having been thrown away by someone with a heavy blow.

Of the four guards in the Prince's mansion, Zhu Danchen's weapon was the Judge's Pen. Duan Yu was his best friend, and he was so shocked that he almost fell. Abi supported him, but she herself was also trembling and crying, "This is Uncle Wu's weapon!"

Jiang Mingzhe nodded and carefully examined the corpses. Sure enough, one of the corpses had some paint stains on its clothes, but they were covered in blood and were difficult to spot without close inspection.

He sighed, knowing that this was Wu Lingjun, one of the Eight Friends of Hangu Pass, who was skilled in painting.

Suddenly, Azi clapped her hands and shouted, "Ah, I know! It must be that my dad came here to see my mom, and Wang Pangpang's mom got jealous and called her mom to kill my mom."

Wang Yuyan, who had just vomited and was pale, refused to go near the stench and stood far upwind. Hearing this, she was very surprised and immediately said, "What nonsense are you talking about? My mother is not that kind of person."

Mu Wanqing sneered, "Your mother sent people to hunt me down from afar back then, how come she wasn't that kind of person?"

Azi said, "That's right, but your mother didn't expect that although my father was a womanizer and had many women, the first person he loved was still my mother, and the second person he loved was Duan Xiaoyu's mother. As for Wang Pangpang's mother, she was ranked below the wooden man and the stupid girl's mother. When she saw that Wang Pangpang's mother's mother was going to harm my mother, she naturally protected my mother. Then, when the Eight Friends of Hangu wanted to help their junior grandmaster, the four guards naturally wouldn't sit idly by. They fought back and killed those three people here, and the rest were sent elsewhere."

Her words made some sense, and Duan Yu and Abi's eyes immediately filled with pain as they stared blankly at each other, remembering how their loved ones had been killed by the other's loved ones, and they were at a loss for what to do.

(End of this chapter)