novelcrest Chapter 468 Nearly Fallen into the Trap
Chapter 468 Nearly Fallen into the Trap
The three characters "Qin Wanzhuang" on the red invitation were made shiny by the water. The red ink seeping from the edges of the characters crawled out along the paper's texture. As soon as it touched the black water, it stretched out into thin lines, with the ends of the lines all heading towards Mo Chengyue's hanging right sleeve.
Qin Wanzhuang's sword was already drawn, and the blazing sun sword intent spread out from the blade, causing white smoke to immediately rise from the edge of the wet cloth.
Mo Chengyue blocked her sword with his left hand, the old wound on his tiger's mouth was shaken open, and blood stained the hilt of the Yuhua sword, but he looked at the post first.
"Don't cut it."
Qin Wanzhuang's sword stopped above the red invitation, the firelight making her brow bone shine, and the hot air blowing her wet hair that clung to her ears.
"It has my name on it."
"I saw it."
"Then why are you stopping me?"
"With this one strike of your sword, your name will be splattered into the water."
Qin Wanzhuang looked at him, her hand still gripping the sword, but she pulled back a bit of the fire line on the blade.
Explain yourself.
Mo Chengyue stared at the line of wet black characters on the back of the letter, and pressed the Yuhua sword down with his left hand, so that the spine of the sword separated the few lines of water between the blood letter and the red letter.
"This is a copy of a model calligraphy."
Qin Wanzhuang asked, "Copying?"
"Using the handwriting in the case file, the tone of the supplementary pages from the Foreign Affairs Office, and the blood-written note here as a pretext, a fake kinship name was pieced together."
"Can you even collect money for fake posts?"
"I cannot charge you the full amount."
"What does it want to collect?"
"First, secure a path that can hold you back."
Shopkeeper Hu came over from behind the stove, carrying the Soul-Sealing Box. The white paper lantern was blocked by her sleeve, so the light did not illuminate the shadow at Mo Chengyue's feet.
"If this thing is fake, then why is it bleeding?"
Mo Chengyue glanced at her, then looked at the letter.
"The blood is real."
Shopkeeper Hu tapped the lid of the box with his fingertips, and Ah Sui responded by gently touching it from inside. She then pulled the lampshade closer to her chest.
"Whose blood?"
"It's mostly old blood from the water account, and it might also be mixed with talisman blood sent from the Foreign Affairs Hall."
Qin Wanzhuang asked, "My blood isn't in there?"
"no."
Are you sure?
"If it had gotten my blood, it wouldn't have written such a stupid sentence."
Qin Wanzhuang slightly raised the tip of her sword, the firelight darting along the edge of the red invitation, but it did not touch the three characters "Qin Wanzhuang".
"Which sentence is stupid?"
"The name has been submitted."
After Mo Chengyue finished speaking, the blood-stained patch in his right sleeve turned dark red again, and the lines under the fabric shifted along the base of his palm, causing several lines of water to immediately veer in that direction.
Qin Wanzhuang's gaze fell on his right sleeve. She swallowed back the question she was about to ask and simply moved the sword away.
"continue."
Mo Chengyue used the tip of his Rain Flower Sword to touch the lower corner of the wet paper, and the Thunderfire Ash burned a grayish-white mark along the edge of the paper.
"A genuine wedding invitation must include the name of a relative, an old title, a witness, and a response from the water's edge. This invitation only contains the sect's identity and title."
Manager Hu replied, "The files contain information about the second disciple of Qingquan Peak, but they don't mention how her family addresses her."
"right."
Qin Wanzhuang looked at Mo Chengyue, the mist on her eyelashes dried by the sword fire, and she did not blink.
How do you know my old name isn't in the file?
Mo Chengyue shifted the position of his fingers on the hilt of the sword, smearing the blood into the thunderfire ash.
"The sect's records don't have time to keep track of this kind of thing."
Qin Wanzhuang took half a step forward, and the scabbard struck her waist with a crisp sound.
"You'd better just deduce it from the case file regulations."
"Senior sister, the red invitations are still being distributed."
"I'm looking at it."
"It's listening too."
Qin Wanzhuang turned her gaze back to the wet paper, the sword flame circling along the edge of the paper.
"Go outside and ask again."
Mo Chengyue nodded.
"it is good."
Shopkeeper Hu glanced at him sideways, and her fingertips pressed a new crease into the edge of the lampshade.
"Your 'hello' sounds unclean."
Mo Chengyue didn't look at her.
"Manager Hu, don't sabotage me."
"I'm helping you survive until you get out of here."
Qin Wanzhuang suddenly spoke: "A message from the fish belly."
Mo Chengyue paused for a moment, the tip of the Rain Flower Sword almost touching the Qin character on the post, he immediately deflected it with the blade.
"Senior sister, there's a boat, a tent, and a water spell here."
"Next time, wash the letter clean before stuffing it into the fish's belly."
Manager Hu, who had been staring at the red invitation, slowly shifted his gaze to Mo Chengyue's face upon hearing this.
"fish maw?"
Mo Chengyue looked at the edge of the red invitation.
"Method of communication".
Qin Wanzhuang said, "Dirty."
Mo Chengyue coughed, his voice hoarse from the smoke.
"efficient."
Qin Wanzhuang's sword tip fell next to the red invitation, and the blazing sun baked a water droplet into white steam.
"Dirty but effective."
Shopkeeper Hu hugged the small box tightly to her chest, her lips about to turn upwards, but she covered them with the lampshade.
"Master Mo, is your Hehuan Sect so particular about sending messages?"
"It depends on the person."
Qin Wanzhuang looked at him.
"Who else have you divided up?"
"Senior sister, the edge of the fence has been opened."
Qin Wanzhuang didn't pursue it any further. The sword fire circled around the outer edge of the red invitation, the flames only burning the paper edges and water droplets, without touching the name on the invitation.
The wet paper was forced to curl up by the heat, and the red blood next to the three characters "Qin Wanzhuang" first gushed out, but was then baked back into the depths of the paper by the blazing sun sword intent, and the small characters on the back of the paper faded away little by little.
Shopkeeper Hu asked in a low voice, "Did they refund the money?"
Mo Chengyue said, "Fake characters are afraid of fire."
Qin Wanzhuang asked, "Where is the real thing?"
Mo Chengyue pressed the tip of the Rain Flower Sword against the corner of the post. The Thunderfire Ash crawled inward along the paper's texture, but stopped before it reached the name.
"Paste along the edge."
Qin Wanzhuang glanced sideways.
"You can't touch the name, but you can bake it if it's just on the edge?"
"It will use your name as a facade, but the real nails can only be hidden in the seams of the facade."
"Where is the seam?"
"The watermark in the bottom right corner looks thin."
Qin Wanzhuang flicked her wrist, and the sword fire swept across the lower right corner of the red invitation. The fire did not cut the paper, but only baked the wet red part until it turned white.
The red invitation suddenly trembled, and the three characters "Qin Wanzhuang" on the paper bulged outwards. Several blood lines emerged from the strokes and turned to wrap around Qin Wanzhuang's sword.
Mo Chengyue immediately warned, "Don't let it wrap around the spine of the sword."
Qin Wanzhuang replied, "I saw it."
She didn't slash the bloodline with her sword; instead, she tilted the blade downwards, letting the blazing sun fire flow back along the edge. The bloodline receded as soon as it touched the firelight.
Shopkeeper Hu placed the silver hairpin horizontally under the lamp, the old silver light at the tip of the hairpin blocking a red thread that was stealing towards the white paper lamp.
"It also tried to touch the light."
Mo Chengyue said, "A fake post needs the True Soul Lamp as proof; don't give it to it."
Ah Sui gently tapped the box twice, and the flame of the white paper lamp shifted towards Shopkeeper Hu's palm.
Shopkeeper Hu pressed the box lid tightly shut, using the corner of his sleeve to block the lamplight.
"Ah Sui said it stinks."
Mo Chengyue glanced at the small box.
"Her judgment is better than the accountant's now."
Manager Hu said, "I'll remember that for her."
Qin Wanzhuang's sword fire continued to heat the edge of the red paper, and a faint white watermark gradually emerged in the lower right corner of the paper. The creases were fine, and the outline was a paper crane with outstretched wings.
Xiao Liu called out from the direction of the Earth God Temple, "Master Mo, is something glowing on that scroll?"
Old Zhou yelled back, "Don't stick your head out, or you'll knock on your basin!"
The fat shopkeeper's pot-cooking noises were interspersed in the middle, and his voice drifted over as well.
"I didn't peek out; I just have ears that grow frequently."
Qin Wanzhuang didn't turn around, only asking, "Paper crane?"
Mo Chengyue said, "The loop marks on the back wall of the old salt warehouse."
Manager Hu looked at him.
"Where did Accountant Chen write just now?"
"Um."
Qin Wanzhuang asked, "Did it use my name as a cover and hide the old salt warehouse inside?"
"It wants you to cut your name. Once your name is destroyed, the paper crane watermark will stick to you along with the sword fire."
"and then?"
"You'll be the next one to send a replacement page."