After less than two hours, Sun Tu returned to Changxingfang again. Although the fire that raged all night has been extinguished, the entire prosperous market has also been destroyed, and thousands of homes and hundreds of shops have been reduced to ruins. Only a few houses in the northern corner of the main square have survived, but they are particularly desolate standing on the edge of the ruins.

At this time, in addition to the soldiers and horses in the city who were still patrolling around the workshop to prevent a resurgence, there were also many people who were crying and rummaging in their homes. The homes of these people, who had lived all their lives, were suddenly destroyed by fire, and they were naturally sad and frightened, and now all they could do was find something to recover the damage.

Sun Tu, who saw this scene, was also in a heavy mood, but he could only sigh, after all, his ability was limited, and only the government had the ability to help them with such natural disasters. The group continued to move forward, and soon saw Zhong Yu, who was still standing here, his eyes were bloodshot, and he was really responsible.

This Zhong Yunai is a deputy director of the Tokyo City Street Division, and he is the one who is in charge of fire prevention, so when the fire breaks out here, the burden on his body becomes extremely heavy, and he does not dare to slack off in the slightest.

The Street Division is an institution set up by the imperial court to control the chores of Bianjing City, maintain local cleanliness and safety, and its responsibilities are somewhat similar to those of the urban management department in later generations, but the power is greater, and their people can be seen in every square and street, and even the fire shop soldiers are under its jurisdiction. Moreover, in addition to the superficial duties, this neighborhood division also hides another identity, they are a force under the imperial city division.

Seeing Sun Tu bring someone over, Zhong Yu, who was full of fatigue and nervousness, finally brought a smile on his face: "Sun Dutou, why don't you go to rest and come here again?" Sun Tu helped him a lot last night, and his impression of this young man was naturally quite good.

"Xiaguan has seen Zhong Sizheng, and I came this time to investigate the cause of this fire on the order of Xue Tongju of Kaifeng Mansion." Sun Tu hurriedly explained. Seeing that the other party was a little puzzled, he briefly said everything about his official position and errands: "So there is such a catastrophe here in Dongcheng this time, and the lower officials are even more responsible." ”

"I see." Only then did Zhong Yu know why Sun Tu was so dedicated last night, so he nodded and said, "Then you can take people around, but be careful, it is likely that there are still embers in some corners that have not been extinguished, and it will be dangerous if it catches fire again." ”

"Xia Guan understands." Sun Tu nodded in response, and after getting the permission of the other party, he asked his subordinates to scatter around to find relevant clues, and find those people who survived and escaped to inquire about the inside story. As for himself, he took Cui Luoshang straight to the west and went towards the location of Maojia Lane in his memory.

The damage here was worse than elsewhere, almost all the buildings were reduced to charcoal, including a middle-aged man kneeling on the ground in front of a shop on the side of the street, crying bitterly: "It's over, it's all over...... This time, I spent 50,000 yuan to transport the brocade from Shu and burned it down, and there was still ...... previous inventory" Obviously, his net worth is all in this shop, and now it has come to naught, and his cry is really sad, but everyone else around him also cares about his miserable experience, and no one comes forward to comfort him.

Sun Tu saw it, and after a little hesitation, he stepped forward and patted the other party's shoulder: "Brother, if the money is gone, you can still think of making more money, talent is the most important thing." ”

This one was stunned, but he still cried sadly, and there were words in his mouth: "It's over, I knew that I should have sold the goods earlier that day......"

Sun Tu didn't say anything anymore, turned around and walked forward again, but Cui Liushang, who was following him, had a slightly strange look on his face after sniffing vigorously a few times. But he didn't rush to say anything, he just followed Sun Tu and continued to move forward, turning a corner and coming to Maojia Alley, which was also completely burned down and turned black.

Sun Tu's eyes scanned inside and outside Maojia Alley before he raised his legs and walked into it, and at the same time asked Cui Luoshang: "Old Cui, can you tell from experience whether this fire originated from this alley?" "After all, he hadn't done criminal investigation work before the crossing, so it's not easy to make judgments at will.

Cui Liushang immediately narrowed his eyes when he heard this, carefully observed the surrounding situation, and said after a while: "When you say this, this place does look like a fire." ”

"Oh? Are you sure? Sun Tu asked again, worried that the other party said this in order to meet him.

Cui Liushang nodded: "The small other skills are mediocre, but after more than 20 years, these tricks and nose are quite acceptable, and any clues at the general murder scene can't escape my investigation." Speaking of the back, there was a little pride in his expression.

When Sun Tu heard this, he was immediately overjoyed, if it was really as he said, he really had a good helper. immediately said: "Then take a closer look, which one started the fire in this alley." ”

Cui Liushang agreed, and then walked cautiously inside, his eyes constantly scanning between the high and low ruins, looking for clues. These things don't make much difference in the eyes of Sun Tu or others, but in their eyes, they all have subtle differences.

After walking forward so slowly for a while, Cui Liushang's footsteps suddenly paused, then turned around, walked a few steps to the side, stopped in front of a ruin, and said after a moment of silence: "If the small one looks good, this is the source of the fire." ”

"Oh? What are the credentials? Sun Tu's expression was solemn, and he hurriedly asked.

Cui Luoshang pointed to the wall on his side and said: "Please look here, the color of the earthen wall in this section is obviously much darker than that on the left and right, which proves that the fire here is the most ferocious and burns for the longest time." ”

Sun Tu carefully observed for a while before he noticed the subtle differences, and couldn't help but glance at the other party in surprise: "Lao Cui, you really have good eyesight, you can see the clues." ”

"It's all praised, and the little one has this ability to eat." Cui Luoshang smiled, but then he couldn't laugh anymore, because Sun Tu said again: "Then do you think this place is actually quite familiar?" ”

"Huh?" After this reminder, Cui Luoshang also reacted suddenly: "This is ......" Just now he was only looking for clues, and he didn't carefully distinguish the location at all, and now he realized that he had really come to this position not long ago: "This is the fourth family of Zhang Lao who made trouble with Huang Qi and a few of them that day?" ”

"Yes, this is it." Although the walls of the surrounding houses are no longer in shape, with a sense of direction, Sun Tu still judged where he was at this time, which made his expression more and more serious: "I didn't expect that in just a few days, this place has become a scorched earth." But don't you think it's strange, why did his house suddenly catch fire? Is it really a coincidence? ”

At this point, Cui Luoshang still didn't understand, his whole face became a little pale: "Dutou, are you suspecting that this fire was deliberately done?" And the one who started the fire was ......" and he was too frightened to speak, because it was too big.

A fire not only burned many people, but also burned the entire Changxingfang into ruins, this is the city of Tokyo at the feet of the Son of Heaven, they really dare to do such a sinful and deserving death?

Sun Tu's gaze kept sweeping back and forth over the surrounding ruins, and only after a while did he say, "I also hope that I guessed wrong, but do you think this chapter of the fourth family will be so careless?" And it was still late at night, when the whole family should be asleep, and the fire was coming from the courtyard, does that make sense? ”

After a pause, he said again: "It's hard to say whether this fire is a natural disaster or a man-made disaster, but since there are clues and doubts, this official should go down to investigate, otherwise how can he be worthy of the people who died?" ”

Cui Luoshang was so frightened by this sudden discovery that he was stunned on the spot, and even his previous discovery was forgotten by him, and there was only one thought left in his heart: "Is this fire a natural disaster or a man-made disaster?" ”