The world of film and television begins with Hikaru no Go

They traveled forty li at a brisk pace, arriving at Ghost Town just after 9 am.

It was a dusty, gray mass, lying at the foot of the low hill.

A section of the plaster had peeled off, revealing the adobe bricks underneath, made of rammed yellow earth, which had turned white from the sun.

There were two shops at the entrance of the town. One door panel had been removed, and the other was leaning against the wall, blocking half of the alley entrance.

The wind blew in from the end of the town, carrying a damp smell and the scent of firewood ash.

Zhang Rui floated at the very front of the group, faster than the horse.

When I came last night, there were still people patrolling and keeping watch. The stone slabs over the well in the backyard of the ancestral hall were pressed down tightly, but now they are all empty.

News of the complete annihilation at the mine has probably spread by now. In addition, all 117 of the spies in the city have been captured. Those of Jin Mulan's men who could move had already fled, and those who were left were the ones who couldn't.

The shops in town were ajar, there was no fire in the stoves, and a thin layer of ash had accumulated on the doorsteps.

There was a half-broken straw sandal left at the door by someone; the straw was rotten, and only the hemp rope sole remained.

Di Renjie dismounted and stood at the entrance of the town, glancing at the empty alleyway: "To the ancestral hall."

Yuanfang led the way, followed closely by twenty elite soldiers, their footsteps echoing muffledly in the empty alley.

One of the ancestral hall doors was missing and was leaning against the wall.

A dark red stain on the threshold, dried and seeping into the cracks in the wood.

Zhang Rui went straight through the wall into the backyard. The yard was not big, just an open space like a threshing ground. In the corner, a stone slab was still pressing down on the well, and on the stone slab was half a broken millstone, covered with a thin layer of moss.

"There's a secret passage in the well in the backyard, under the stone slab."

Di Renjie nodded and walked towards the backyard.

Hu Jinghui followed half a step behind, his face expressionless, his back ramrod straight.

When they reached the well, Di Renjie glanced at him.

Hu Jinghui went over, pushed aside the millstone, and picked up the stone slab, setting it aside with swift movements.

The wellhead was dark, and a cool breeze rose from below, carrying the smell of earth and dampness.

Zhang Rui floated down directly. After a while, Di Gong and Yuan Fang came down from the well. The soles of their boots stepped on the well wall with muffled, steady thuds.

The passageway was wider than the well opening, and a row of shallow grooves were carved into the side walls, with oil lamps placed in the grooves.

Some were still lit, their flames shrunk to the size of soybeans; others had gone out, leaving only half a cup of cold oil in the lamps.

The torchlight shone from behind, illuminating the section at the entrance of the passageway.

Yuanfang walked ahead, his figure swaying in the firelight, his shadow cast on the stone wall, sometimes long and sometimes short.

The passageway was quite long; after walking for about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, it led to an even larger stone gate.

The door wasn't closed properly, leaving a crack about an inch wide. Light leaked through the crack, glaringly bright at the end of the dark passageway.

Yuanfang squeezed in sideways, his knife probing through the crack in the door first.

Behind the door was a large stone chamber with a high dome. Torches were burning brightly on the iron frames on the four walls, illuminating the entire chamber.

There was a heavy, oppressive smell in the air, a mixture of lamp oil and rust, pressing down on my nose.

In the center of the stone chamber was a long table with several scrolls of silk scattered on it. The edges were curled and the paper was yellowed. One scroll was open and weighed down by a copper paperweight.

Next to the long table were wooden shelves, row upon row, stacked with boxes.

Yuanfang walked over and lifted the lid of a box.

silver.

Each ingot weighs fifty taels and is neatly stacked. The surface is slightly blackened, but when illuminated by firelight, the luster underneath can still be seen.

One box contains twenty ingots, worth one thousand taels.

I counted them; there were three boxes in total.

The next box contained Shu brocade.

Wrapped in oilcloth, roll by roll, the colors were still bright when unrolled; the base was blue with dark embroidery along the edges, and the stitches were very dense.

At the other end of the stone chamber was a side room with its door open, filled with miscellaneous items: iron ingots, unfinished weapons, several bundles of hemp rope, and several buckets of tung oil...

There were several bundles stacked in the corner. Yuanfang squatted down and opened one of them. Inside were blood-stained clothes.

"My lord, the delegation's luggage."

Di Renjie walked over, looked at the bundles, then at the boxes of silver and Shu brocade, and said nothing.

The passageway continues to extend behind the stone chamber, becoming narrower and narrower as you walk, with the stone walls on both sides almost brushing against your shoulders.

At the end, in the deepest part, is a stone chamber with a closed stone door, through which a sliver of light leaks out.

A woman sat gracefully on a stone couch, dressed in a brocade robe of the finest quality, so perfectly groomed that not a single wrinkle was visible.

Her hair was neatly tied up, and the jade hairpin was made of the finest mutton fat white, which complemented the perfectly styled hair.

Her hands were folded and rested on her knees, her nails neatly trimmed.

He sat very upright, like a host entertaining guests in the main hall.

Beside the stone bed sat an empty, coarse porcelain bowl, not a drop of water in it.

Zhang Rui glanced at it only once before floating back into the passageway to greet Di Renjie.

"Jin Mulan is in the innermost stone chamber, oh no, I should say Princess Li Qingxia."

Di Renjie paused for a moment, just a moment.

"lead the way."

They arrived at the entrance to the stone chamber. The door was locked from the outside, with a thick iron padlock hanging on the latch.

Di Renjie turned his head and glanced at Li Yuanfang.

Li Yuanfang stepped forward, drew his sword, and with a swift motion, the iron chains clattered to the ground.

The torchlight streamed in through the doorway, illuminating the stone chamber, and Li Qingxia's profile emerged from the shadows.

She slowly raised her head, the firelight reflecting on her face, her expression calm.

His eyes flickered the moment he saw Di Renjie.

It wasn't fear, it wasn't surprise, it was something very complex.

She stood up and straightened her cuffs: "Who are you people?"

Li Yuanfang stepped forward: "Stop."

Li Qingxia raised her eyes, her gaze passing over Yuan Fang: "Take the torch away."

"Yuanfang, let her come here." Di Renjie stopped at the door. "Who are you?"

"This is the question I asked you."

"I am Di Renjie."

Upon hearing this, Li Qingxia paused for a moment, as if surprised, but the pause was perfectly timed—any more or less would be too much or too little.

Judge Di played along, saying, "Why do you look so familiar?"

"Uncle, please accept my bow."

"You...you are..."

"Li Qingxia, daughter of Prince Chang Le."

"Ah, no wonder you looked so familiar, it's Princess Yiyang." Di Renjie was silent for a moment, a look of disbelief on his face. He took half a step forward, then stopped. "You...you weren't assassinated, were you?"

It's a long story.

"What exactly happened?"

"Last month, I was ordered to move from the capital to the capital. When I reached the main street, I was attacked." Li Qingxia spoke slowly and deliberately, as if she had rehearsed the conversation countless times in her mind. "The Imperial Guards and the maids were all killed. I was the only one who was tied up and put into a sedan chair. The next day, they shoved another person in. For the next ten days or so, I was in a daze in the sedan chair. When I got out of the sedan chair, I was in this cave."

After listening, Judge Di did not respond immediately. After a moment, he slowly nodded and said, "Oh, it seems that these villains are using you as their talisman."

"Even now, I still don't understand what happened."

"Let's leave here first, and when we get back—" Di Gong deliberately drew out the last few words, "we'll talk about it slowly then."