I Have Unparalleled Comprehension

  Chapter 143 Assassination in the night begins to show signs (8000)

  Outside the door, there were hurried footsteps, flowing in one direction, just from the sound, I felt very flustered.

  When Xu Bai took Ye Zi out of the room, he saw several maids hurriedly walking towards the gate, and beside the maids were some servants, who still held medicine boxes in their hands.

   "Medicine box, is anyone injured?" Xu Bai rubbed his chin, thought for a while, and followed behind the group of maids.

   Not long after, they bypassed some luxurious buildings and finally came to the spacious front yard.

   In the middle of the front, there is a person lying down.

  This man is very young, with a handsome appearance. Between his eyes, there is always a sense of vanity, and the bags under his eyes are very deep, which adds a bit of kidney deficiency.

  Beside this young man, there is only an old man with gray hair standing. The old man is bent over, and his left hand is empty, which has disappeared.

  Of course Xu Bai knew these two people, and had communicated with them not long ago in Yinyi.

   Kong Xu, and Old Sun.

   When Xu Bai came closer, he realized that there was still blood on the corner of Kong Xu's mouth, and his hands were hanging limply by his sides. If his chest was not still heaving, he would have thought he was dead.

   "Patriarch Ye, what's the situation?" Xu Bai asked.

  Patriarch Ye was instructing the servants to administer medicine to Kong Xu. Kong Xu closed his eyes tightly and fell into a coma.

Hearing Xu Bai's voice, Patriarch Ye turned around in a panic, and said, "I don't know, it was like this when they came, it seems that they were ambushed on the road, but they must not die here, Otherwise, my Ye family will not be able to get away with it."

Early this morning, Patriarch Ye heard the servant girl running over in a hurry, saying that the second son of the Kong family was here. He thought it was a happy transaction, but unexpectedly, when he arrived at the front yard, he saw Here comes the scene.

Kong Xu was seriously injured. He was injured on the way to Ye's house. If she died here, she would not be able to explain it. Although there is no clear evidence that Ye's family did it, she will be hated in the end .

   At that time, I am afraid that it will be difficult to explain, but Patriarch Ye naturally understands the true meaning of it, so it took a lot of effort to stabilize Kong Xu's injury.

   "It only needs a period of recuperation, and it will get better." Patriarch Ye raised his hand, wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, and breathed a sigh of relief.

  Xu Bai turned his gaze to Elder Sun's position and asked, "Did you two offend anyone along the way?"

  Compared to Yinyi, this second-rank pinnacle master is already quite embarrassed. He lost a hand, and his unarmed kung fu, which he is particularly good at, has directly lost more than half of his power.

  Old Sun turned pale, and said: "We didn't offend anyone, the ones who stopped us were demons, there are countless demons, there are thousands of them, and the worst ones are in the fifth rank."

  You said that if you want a second-grade master, you may be able to beat hundreds or even thousands of players, but if you want to say thousands of players, he will encounter difficulties.

  Although he is the peak of the second rank, he also knows how capable he is, and his unarmed kung fu is not superior, and his combat effectiveness in Erping is only moderate.

  So when he encountered that situation at that time, he really tried his best to rescue Kong Xu, running for his life along the way, and finally escaped here.

   "Thousands of demons?" Xu Bai said: "How can such a number of demons gather for no reason? It is even more impossible to rob and kill you for no reason. It seems that they are really demon masters."

  The monster clan has been overwhelmed by the Great Chu Kingdom, and they all fled in all directions. It is impossible to say that such a situation where thousands of monsters gather suddenly.

  You can change your mind, what if it is a demon master?

  If there are hundreds of demon masters and each controls a few more demons, then this level can be reached.

"Master Xu reminded us that there is such a possibility, but we didn't provoke them." Elder Sun said speechlessly: "Although this trip is not top secret, we have not offended anyone. We have been very low-key along the way. How could we come here?" How about besieging us?"

   Speaking of this, Elder Sun suddenly closed his mouth, as if thinking of someone.

   They did not offend anyone. Seeing that they were crowded along the way, they were actually quite low-key, and they were on their way except to rest, but they did not offend anyone, which does not mean that no one wanted to get rid of them.

  Master!

  Old Sun guessed that if it was really against them, it could only be the young master of the Kong family.

  Leaving the capital, this is a great opportunity, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

  Even though Patriarch Kong has explained that he will not let Kong Xu compete with his elder brother, for his elder brother, a dead person is the safest.

  The more he thought about it, the more Elder Sun felt that it was possible, and he couldn't help but shudder.

   "It's not him, he doesn't have that ability." At this time, Kong Xu, who had been almost treated, finally recovered from his coma. After understanding his situation, he still seemed very weak when he uttered the first sentence.

"Thousands of monsters, if he really has this ability, His Majesty would have already eliminated him, and His Majesty will not let these problems appear under his nose." Kong Xu wanted to get up weakly: "Kong Xu has met Mr. Xu. "

  Xu Bai: "..."

…

   "No need to salute." Xu Bai shook his head and said, "Since you have saved your life, let's heal your wounds."

"Master Xu, I know who I am with this injury." Kong Xu persisted, trying to stand up, but only halfway up, he fell down weakly, his eyes were looking at the sky, and the color of pain was all over his cheeks .

  Xu Bai looked around and said, "Let's talk in a secluded place."

  There are too many people here, and it is not suitable to talk about these things. It is better to find a more stable environment and see what is in Kongxu's stomach.

  Patriarch Ye was a little tangled, thinking about whether to get involved.

  To be honest, he really didn't want to get involved. This matter is not a trivial matter at first glance. If he gets involved rashly, he doesn't know what the consequences will be.

"Patriarch Ye, when a person is stuck in a quagmire, it is difficult to struggle out." Xu Bai pointedly said: "Although you only stepped in with one foot, it may not be easy to get out of the whole body. thing."

   In the matter of pulling people onto the boat, Xu Bai was quite proficient. Just a few words made the Patriarch of the Ye family make up his mind.

   After all, it is a big family and a helper. He himself feels sorry for not being on board.

  Patriarch Ye gritted his teeth, his eyes showed a tangled look, and finally the tangled look disappeared, sighed, and waved to the surrounding servants: "Take Master Kong Er to the side hall."

  As Xu Bai said just now, she is already in it, so don't try to be alone.

  At least for now, it seems that it is almost impossible for her to stay out of this matter. If so, then simply jump into this quagmire, at least there is Xu Bai in the quagmire.

  When the servants heard the order, they hurriedly carried Kong Xu to a secluded side hall.

   Xu Bai and Ye Zi also followed behind.

  The side hall is very quiet, there is no one around, it looks a bit empty, but it happens to be a good place to talk about things.

   "I specially asked a master Jiqiao to make this place. No one came close. If it was an outsider, the Jiqiao would have been triggered." Ye Jia said.

  Xu Bai nodded, and turned his eyes to Kong Xu: "It's safe here, just say what you know."

"Master Xu, these monster clans are all against you." Kong Xu looked extremely weak and said: "It's just because I have communicated with you before, and even communicated very harmoniously, they thought I would give you more helpers , so prepare to rob and kill me on the way.”

  After saying this sentence, Kong Xu gasped violently. After all, the injury was only stabilized, not completely improved, and he was in pain when he spoke.

  Xu Bai frowned, carefully recalling what Kong Xu said just now, before saying after a while: "How can you be so sure?"

   If there are other circumstances, there is still this possibility, but what Kong Xu said just now told him directly that these thousands of monsters have something to do with him, and they originally assassinated him.

  But... this cannot be confirmed.

   After all, this is just a possibility.

   "Master Xu, look at this." Kong Xu took out something from his arms and handed it to Xu Bai.

  Xu Bai took a look and frowned tightly.

   This is a piece of paper, on which is Xu Bai's portrait, which is vividly drawn, and his demeanor is drawn out.

   "How did you get it?" Xu Bai asked.

  The appearance of this thing really aroused his curiosity.

Kong Xu explained: "I am a person of dual cultivation. Both the scholar and the hexagram teacher have reached the fifth rank. I did a hexagram for Mr. Xu before, but I was backlashed. After being attacked, I did another one while running for my life Hexagrams, all the hexagrams are condensed, and the appearance of Mr. Xu is condensed."

  While speaking, Kong Xu coughed violently, coughing up a mouthful of blood, obviously the injury has not fully recovered.

  Even if it is Ye Jia's medicine, it will take a while to work, and it is impossible to see immediate results.

"At that time, I thought, there are only two situations. The first is that Mr. Xu wants to kill me, and the second is those who want to kill Mr. Xu." It took a while for Kong Xu to calm down, and said: "I believe that only the first Two possibilities."

  Xu Bai couldn't kill him, he was like a **** in front of Xu Bai, how could he do anything to him?

  So in the end Kong Xu came to another conclusion.

  Xu Bai fell into deep thought.

  If what Kong Xu said is true, then this so-called demon master is here to deal with him.

  Now there is a prototype, after all, it is considered to know who the enemy is.

   "You recuperate here first." Xu Bai said.

"Master Xu, I have one more thing to say." Kong Xu didn't keep silent, and continued: "Besides that, I also made a calculation, which is a hexagram of great evil. It may be very difficult to go to the Fengling Mansion this time, but amidst the great disaster, there is great luck hidden, so Master Xu must be careful."

  Xu Bai touched his chin and said, "You are very useful."

  He said this off-topic sentence, but it was from the heart.

  A hexagram master is indeed useful in this situation.

   "Is there a way to go deeper?" Xu Bai said.

  Kong Xu was overjoyed when he heard the words, and even felt that the wounds on his body didn't hurt anymore.

   He is useful!

  What do these four words mean? He is very clear, which means that he will have an intersection with Xu Bai next.

  Kong Xu himself came to Fengling Mansion for this matter, and now he has the opportunity, which is great news for him.

  Thinking of what Xu Bai said just now, Kong Xu thought carefully for a moment, nodded, and shook his head again.

   "Master Xu, if you want to calculate more deeply, maybe you can try it, but you have to wait for me to recuperate for a few days, because I have no way to calculate now."

  He has been seriously injured, if not for the quick treatment, he would have died long ago, so he has to wait until the injury is healed, and there is no way to calculate it now.

   "It's okay, you just need to rest, and then calculate it for me after the rest is over." Xu Bai said.

   Kong Xu nodded.

   "Several, you can stay in my Ye family." Ye Jia said.

   Today is really a frightening day. If something happens to them again, she will not be able to get rid of the responsibility.

  Kong Xu nodded and said: "Then there will be Patriarch Lao Ye."

   Next, nothing else happened. Master Ye Jia arranged for Kong Xu to rest in a place, while Xu Bai returned to the room.

  After returning to the room, Xu Bai took the tea that Ye Zi handed over, took a sip, and put it aside, frowning tightly, as if thinking about something.

   "My lord, I know what you're thinking." Ye Zi said softly, "Maybe they intercepted the second son of the Kong family not because of his combat power, but because of his fortune-telling ability."

  Actually, Ye Zi is not stupid, but rather smart.

   Not only is the auxiliary ability good, but sometimes it can also open up new ideas for Xu Bai.

  Xu Bai nodded, and said calmly: "That's true. This fortune-telling ability can help me solve many problems, so they tried their best to intercept and kill them."

"My lord, it seems that tonight is destined to be a sleepless night." Ye Zi walked to Xu Bai's side, peeled the fruit on the table, and handed it to Xu Bai: "We must always pay attention to the fruit of the Kong family. The situation on the son's side."

  Xu Bai smiled and said: "Not only tonight, but you must pay attention to it in the next few days. The other party will definitely come. You and I want to go together."

  The divining ability is still fifth rank, so it must be helpful to Xu Bai, and the other party is also afraid of this ability, so they do everything possible to kill Kong Xu.

   Didn't kill him, and let Kong Xu escape to Ye's house, then he will definitely attack again, otherwise Xu Bai will be taken advantage of for nothing.

  Since the opponent might want to attack, this is Xu Bai's breakthrough point.

   "You are useful again." Xu Bai touched Ye Zi's head and said.

  Ye Zi hummed.

  Behind him, the fourth-rank puppet left quietly, found a hidden corner outside Kong Xu's residence, and waited.

  …

   Time gradually passed, nothing happened during the day, everything seemed quiet and peaceful.

  The sorcerers didn't make any more moves, as if all the sorcerers disappeared overnight, and the water in Fengling Mansion also calmed down.

   In the blink of an eye, it was late at night.

  It is cold at night.

   Now that the weather is approaching the Chinese New Year, it is getting colder and colder, especially at night. If you don’t add a quilt, you will feel cold.

  Ye Yu's room.

  At this moment, Ye Yu was staring at the oil lamp in front of her in a daze, not knowing what to think.

   Today, Kong Xu came, and Ye Yu also took a look among the crowd.

  To be honest, it is in line with her idea to change it to normal times. After all, Patriarch Kong is also an official in the capital. In terms of status, he is equivalent to a state order.

  But everything has to be compared.

  If she saw Kong Xu before Xu Bai appeared, she would naturally be willing.

  But after Xu Bai appeared, the taste of all this changed and became a little uncomfortable.

  Kong Xu and Xu Bai, in Ye Yu's view, there is no comparison between these two people.

  Just this morning, Kong Xu's respectful attitude in front of Xu Bai made Ye Yu feel disgusted.

  If she goes, it will be forever, a head lower than Ye Zi.

  This feeling is uncomfortable, Ye Yu doesn't want to feel it.

  Ye Yu looked at the flames of the oil lamp in front of him, clenched his hands into fists, and blue blood vessels appeared on the smooth back of his hands.

   "Is this my last life?"

  The sad feeling in my heart is getting deeper and deeper.

   At this moment, a voice sounded around.

   "Of course it's not your fate, your fate can be completely changed."

  The voice is low and hoarse, it is a man's voice.

  Hearing this voice, Ye Yu suddenly turned his head and looked behind him.

  The man in black appeared again, with a black and white snake wrapped around his waist, looking a bit scary.

"You demon masters attacked Master Kong Er during the day, and you dare to come to see me at night. You are really courageous." Ye Yu tried her best to stabilize her emotions and calm her tone, but her tone at the moment carried There was a trembling that couldn't be suppressed.

   "Why don't we dare, even Xu Bai, we dare to move, what do you think we have to be afraid of?" The man in black said indifferently, as if explaining a very ordinary matter.

  The scene fell into silence, Ye Yu didn't know how to answer, because she couldn't answer these words.

The man in black came to Ye Yu, reached into his arms, took out a box, handed it to Ye Yu, and said, "Take it, then go to Kong Xu's room, open this box, and your goal will be achieved. As long as Kong Xu is dead, you don't have to go there, and you don't have to feel inferior."

  Ye Yu stared blankly at the box in her hand. The box was only the size of a palm and looked very ordinary.

  When the box was in her hands, she could feel an obvious vibration, and there was a living thing inside.

   "Are you kidding? If I do it, will I be able to escape?" Ye Yu was about to throw the box away.

  The next moment, the man in black grabbed her wrist and stopped her.

   "Only you can get close. After all, you are going to the Kong family. It is justifiable. As for whether you can escape, don't worry, I will help you later."

  Ye Yu stopped talking.

  She lowered her head, as if thinking about what the man in black said.

"I know what you are struggling with." The man in black said slowly: "Killing Kong Xu is only the first step, and then we have to kill Xu Bai. At that time, you will be able to relieve your anger, and at that time , we can even make you the master of the Ye family, are you satisfied?"

  When the man in black was speaking, the snake around his waist made a faint sound.

  Ye Yu was still thinking at first, but after hearing the slightest voice, her head sank into chaos. She didn't know why, so she agreed inexplicably.

"good."

  She took the box in her hand, went straight out the door, and walked towards Kong Xu's position.

   After Ye Yu left, the man in black turned into smoke and disappeared without a trace.

  …

   Along the way, Ye Yu kept thinking about what the man in black said in his mind, and before he knew it, he held the wooden box and came to the door of Kong Xu.

  She looked at the closed door, finally gritted her teeth, raised her hand and knocked on the door.

  The sound of knocking on the door echoed in the corridor, and after a while, Elder Sun's voice came.

"who!"

  Old Sun's voice was alert.

  Ye Yu said: "It's me, Ye Yu."

  Before Kong Xu came over, he naturally knew who he was looking for, so after hearing the name, Mr. Sun opened the door from the inside.

   "Second young master is seriously injured, it is inconvenient to receive the girl, I hope the girl will forgive me." Old Sun said politely.

Ye Yu clenched the box in her hand, made her tone normal, raised her head and said, "That's right, I know that Second Young Master Kong was seriously injured, so I tried my best to find a medicine that might be able to save Second Young Master Kong. Can I meet him?"

  Old Sun fell into silence, not knowing how to answer.

   At this moment, Kong Xu spoke out.

   "It's Miss Ye Yu, let her in."

   Kong Xu's voice sounded in the room, still sounding weak.

  Since Kong Xu had already spoken, Elder Sun didn't hesitate any longer, made way and let Ye Yu in.

  Ye Yu followed into the room and saw Kong Xu sitting on the bed with a weak face.

  Compared to the morning, his complexion is much better. It is estimated that the injury on his body will be completely healed in a few days.

   "Miss Ye Yu, I'm really sorry, I can't get up to greet you." Kong Xu said politely.

  Seeing Kong Xu's appearance, Ye Yu hesitated.

  Actually, from the time she entered the door until now, Kong Xu has behaved quite well, and it can even be said that his advances and retreats are well-founded.

  But thinking about Ye Zi, Ye Yu became ruthless again.

  Especially when she thought of these things, the hissing sound of the snake just now flashed in her mind, which strengthened her feeling again.

"Master Kong Er." Ye Yu took a few steps forward, slowly raised the wooden box in his hand, and was about to open it: "This is the medicine I begged for you, it can heal your injury, can you see if it works? "

  Kong Xu leaned over with a little curiosity.

  At this time, Ye Yu opened a gap in the palm-sized box, and then, the sound of vibrating wings came from inside.

  A black shadow flashed past, heading straight towards Kong Xu.

  Look carefully, this is a centipede with wings.

   "Not good!" Sun Lao reacted instantly, and chased after the centipede in a few steps.

   But before he could run far, the box vibrated again, and another centipede with wings flew out of it, and rushed straight at Elder Sun.

   This scene happened so fast that neither of them could react.

   To be precise, they never expected that they would encounter such an assassination in the Ye family.

  They thought that they might be assassinated, but they didn't expect it to be someone from the Ye family, let alone Ye Yu.

   This is falling into a quagmire of thinking.

  Ye Family, people from Ye Family, Ye Yu.

  Let them strengthen their sense of security step by step, and in this sense of security is a cold killing intent.

   Winged centipedes are fast.

  Old Sun lost an arm, which is his strength in unarmed kung fu. Because of the loss of his arm, he has already folded in half.

   Due to its long wings, this centipede is very flexible in mid-air, and it can't break through for a while.

  Kong Xu feels uncomfortable.

  Kong Xu was seriously injured, so he couldn't react at all at this moment, watching the centipede getting closer and closer.

   Right at this moment, a more swift footstep sounded, and then, a knife suddenly exploded, turning into fragments and blocking the center.

  The fourth-grade puppet is wrapped in a black coat, performing the five moves of Yi Dao.

  Although there is only the rudimentary form of Xu Bai's sword technique, it is already very strong. Combined with Xu Bai's ingenious knife specially made for it, it can stop the centipede dangerously and dangerously.

  But since the centipede with wings can be used for assassination, it must be more than that. It can only block it for a moment, then breaks through the encirclement and continues to chase towards Kong Xu.

   "Crack!"

   The centipede bit hard in front of it, but the next moment, it felt a hard touch.

  The fourth-grade puppet stood in the center, a hole was bitten out of his chest, but he didn't notice it.

   "My poison has failed?" the winged centipede said in human language.

  It definitely couldn't think of it, how could a puppet be poisoned?

   "Demon?"

  At this time, another voice came from outside the door, Xu Bai stepped into the room, brandishing the black knife in his hand.

  Being able to speak human language must be a demon.

  The black knife shattered into pieces in an instant, rolling the centipedes that surrounded Sun Lao into ashes all over the sky.

  Yi Dao five styles, seventh-level sword technique, sword intent, third-grade Sanren...

  When these things are combined, it would be strange if one move couldn't kill in seconds.

   On the other side, some fragments separated, sweeping another centipede with wings. The next moment, the wings and densely packed feet were cut off, and the centipede fell to the ground, writhing in pain.

   "Crack!"

  Xu Bai didn't stop, and broke Ye Yu's limbs very quickly.

  This crisp voice, mixed with Ye Yu's screams, made people shudder.

  Ye Yu let out a scream, then rolled his eyes, and passed out on the ground, unconscious.

   "What a decisive move." Although Old Sun only had one arm left, he couldn't help but shiver when he saw Xu Bai's quick movements.

  Xu Bai at this moment is the Xu Bai rumored in the world, not an ordinary young man.

  —Cruel, moody.

  In a short period of time, the deadlock was broken.

  The faint murderous intent surrounded Xu Bai, causing everyone present to shudder, not daring to look directly into Xu Bai's eyes.

  Especially when Xu Bai broke Ye Yu's limbs just now, he didn't hesitate at all.

   This situation, in the eyes of everyone, feels that the rumors in the world are still relatively simple.

   "If you want to go further, you have to be more cautious in the future." Xu Bai looked at Kong Xu and said flatly: "Compared with your peers, you are still a little bit worse."

  If it had been changed to catkins without flowers, such a thing would not have happened today.

  If it was Yun Zihai, he could even fight back.

  Even Qingxue can see the clues.

   As for Chu Yu.

  Chu Yu forget it...

   It can only be said that Kong Xu's ideas are in place, including coming to him, but some details are still lacking.

  Kong Xu nodded sluggishly and mechanically.

   I don't know why, Xu Bai's age is similar to him, but when he heard Xu Bai's words, he couldn't help but regard Xu Bai as a senior.

   "I see, Master Xu." Kong Xu said with difficulty.

   "Ye Zi, let's start." Xu Bai didn't care about Kong Xu any more, and turned to Ye Zi.

  Ye Zi nodded lightly, and kept dancing her fingers.

   A glowing silk thread appeared in mid-air, and following Ye Zi's fluctuations, one sound after another was constantly looping.

  The centipede lying on the ground was screaming, but after hearing the music here, the screaming gradually faded.

   This is Xu Bai's idea.

  It would be too simple for someone else to dodge the move. Of course, he had to follow the move made by the other party to find out some clues.

   "Where are the people behind your scenes?" Xu Bai asked.

  The centipede lying on the ground stopped rolling and screaming, and made an unpleasant sound after hearing Xu Bai's question.

"I have no idea I have no idea…"

  Xu Bai frowned.

  Of course he knew it was impossible to ask so easily, but he didn't expect that the other party didn't know.

   "Do you have any clues to tell me?"

  Thinking of this, Xu Bai changed another way of saying it.

   This time, Centipede finally gave a detailed answer.

   "Three days later, at the Fenglingfu Water Festival, the largest cruise ships... gather."

   It was another simple sentence, but it explained a location.

"My lord, the Leshui Festival is an annual festival in Fengling Mansion. It is mainly held on the Xunle River. Every time this festival, there are countless cruise ships. On the cruise ships, all kinds of talents and beauties exchange music." Xu Bai explained.

  Xu Bai touched his chin and said, "Is there any more?"

  The centipede lying on the ground stopped talking, and obviously had nothing else to say.

  Xu Bai thought for a while, and his heart moved.

  The fourth-rank puppet swung its long knife and killed the centipede.

  Since there is nothing to say, it has no value, it is best to kill it.

   After finishing all this, Xu Bai looked at Ye Yu on the ground.

  Because the limbs were broken by Xu Bai, the pain suddenly hit, and Ye Yu had passed out.

   And their fight naturally attracted attention. Patriarch Ye rushed to see the scene in front of him.

   "This..." Patriarch Ye was stunned.

  She thought that something might happen, but she didn't expect this to be the case. Now she only needs to take a look at the situation to know what it is.

  But Ye Zi still explained it properly, so as to avoid any misunderstanding by Patriarch Ye?

  Patriarch Ye gritted his teeth when he heard the words, and said, "I will give you an explanation."

  She can't afford to offend these two, and she must have an explanation.

  Xu Bai shook his head and said: "This woman, I don't want to see her alive again, I have to explain, but not now, I still have something to ask her."

  Although there is not much news about Centipede, the woman named Ye Yu in front of her is still alive. Since she has been involved in this matter, she will know something more or less.

  Patriarch Ye nodded: "Master Xu can act on his own."

   "Slap your mouth." Xu Bai said.

  The fourth-grade puppet stepped forward and hit Ye Yu's face with two slaps.

   Gradually, Ye Yu woke up from the coma, seeing the scene in front of her with a confused expression.

  But soon, her confusion disappeared, replaced by fear and fear.

  (end of this chapter)