Bai Qiuchi came to Steward Mo's residence, and the little servant guarding at the door said that he hadn't come back all night.

There was no way, Bai Qiuchi had to go back to find the brocade first. Jin Xu was helping to take care of the wounded, and when he saw Bai Qiuchi coming, he greeted him.

"Master, you're here."

"Jinxu, how are they?"

"The wounds are all bandaged, and they are all eaten." Jin Fu replied.

"Thank you for your hard work."

Jin Fu smiled and shook his head.

The injured people were very happy when they saw Bai Qiuchi coming, and wanted to sit up and say thanks, but Bai Qiuchi stopped them.

"Everybody have a good rest, you don't have to get up."

"Thank you, Daoist Bai!"

"Yes, if it weren't for Bai Dao Chang, we would have lost our lives."

……

"You're welcome, it's just that I'm too late, otherwise I'll ......" Bai Qiuchi blamed himself very much.

"Bai Dao Chief, don't say that. I only hope that the murderer will be caught soon, the monster will be eliminated, and the brothers will be avenged! The soldier was the least injured, he sat up, and said to Bai Qiuchi sadly, "This time, I heard that the situation here is complicated, and the county commander is the most capable general, and now there are only three of us left." ”

"How did you suddenly disappear that night?" Bai Qiuchi asked.

"That night, all five of us brothers were arranged in a large room, and we were all talking about the family. At this moment, we saw a figure flash in front of the window. Xiao Lin, the boldest and youngest of the five of us, was sitting on a stool at the time, and immediately stood up and chased after him, and we quickly got up from the bed and put on our shoes and chased after him, who knew that it was a few seconds late, and we said goodbye to him......" The eldest Lao Xie said this, and tears flowed out. Ah Bing and Bao Zai, who was lying on the bed, also wiped their tears.

"We chased it out, but the man was gone, and only this one fell to the ground." Lao Xie took out a cloth bag from his arms.

Bai Qiuchi took a look, and it turned out to be a blood jade golden hairpin that had disappeared for a long time. He looked up at Jin Fu and said, "But it's not there." Jinxu, please go to my room and bring that jewelry box. ”

"Good!" Jin Fu ran out.

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"Bai Daochang, is there anything strange about this hairpin?" Bing asked.

"The eldest lady who died before has a jewelry box that needs to be opened with this hairpin, and there may be some clues in it, but the hairpin is missing, and we thought that this hairpin was on the third lady at that time, but it didn't appear until she also died."

"I see." Lao Xie thought for a while and said, "Who could have left it there and taken Xiaolin away again?" ”

"It must be that Steward Mo!" Bing said.

"But how can he be so fast, and he can't arrange it later, right?" The old association asked.

"That's right." Ah Bing was also full of doubts.

"Wait, just now you said goodbye to Xiao Lin, how did you know that Xiao Lin has passed away?" Bai Qiuchi was very puzzled, they disappeared together that night, and they should have been locked up in the dark room of the Ice Pavilion all the time, how could they know this bad news?

"That's what Steward Mo said."

"Butler Mo?"

"Yes, we were just about to chase out that night when we saw Steward Mo who suddenly appeared in the yard."

"Out of nowhere?"

"Yes, we didn't think too much about it at the time, so we told him that Xiao Lin was gone, and he said in a trembling voice that he saw the deceased Third Lady and took him away, and knew where he would be held. So we followed him. Bing said.

"But the guards said they didn't see you out." Bai Qiuchi said.

"That's right, he said that he couldn't startle the snake, and took us through the dark passage in the yard. Now that I think about it, he must have planned it a long time ago to deliberately arrange for us to live in that house with a secret passage. Bing explained.

"When we came out, we chased to the lotus pond and saw one of Xiaolin's shoes. Steward Mo said that he must have been caught by the water demon into the water, and he said that he had diving equipment, so let's hurry up with him to get the rescue. He took us to the warehouse near the Ice Pavilion and saw that there was indeed a lot of diving gear. So he asked us to take a pill, saying that it could be waterproof, and he was in a hurry to save people at that time, so he swallowed it without thinking. Lao Xie looked regretful and said, "After that, we will be unconscious, and we will wake up in that broken cell." Steward Mo said that Xiao Lin had been killed by a monster. ”

"Were there any guards on the Ice Pavilion at that time?"

"Nope." Bao Zai, who has a good memory, said, "At that time, we were all in a hurry, and we didn't think about it that much. ”

It must have been taken away by Steward Mo, so no one knew the whereabouts of these officials.

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"Were the others there when you went in?" Bai Qiuchi looked at a few other subordinates and asked a few officials.

"Some were already in prison before, and some were arrested later."

"Brothers," Bai Qiuchi asked the other subordinates of the Hu Mansion, "Were you also taken to that cell by Steward Mo?" ”

"That's right. We all talked to each other in it for different reasons, but we all ended up bringing it there. "Said vigorously.

"Have you been working as a helper in Hu Mansion before?"

"No, we come from all over the neighborhood, and we all applied for the job when we saw the recruitment of the big family Hu Fu and the salary was a lot." Ah Qian spoke in a local accent.

In this way, you can also let Fanluo investigate from the homes of the recruited workers to see if there will be any findings.

"Then you didn't hear that there was a water demon here when you came before?"

"Didn't pay attention. People in our village who went to Hufu to work as helpers would come back with letters, saying that Hufu was treated very well. So a lot of people want to go. Qian replied.

"Yes, those brothers in our town have also sent letters back, and we all think they are safe." Dali also said regretfully, "If I knew this, I wouldn't have come." ”

Others agreed.

"Are they all literate?" Bai Qiuchi asked carefully.

"Where can we, coarse people, know how to read?" The dark-skinned Ah Qian said honestly, "The letters are all read with the help of learned gentlemen in the village, of course, there must be some people who can write, right?" ”

"The letter I received at home didn't have to be written by me." Bai Qiuchi said sharply.

"There is an explanation in this letter, saying that it was written by someone else, and it is a report to the family that they are safe."

"Did you say who wrote it?"

"No, I didn't pay attention, it's good to have a letter, where will we think about it?"

In this way, this person who regularly sends letters back, constantly recruits workers with heavy money, and attracts uneducated ordinary people is likely to be Steward Mo. Of course, the possibility of someone else directing it cannot be completely ruled out.

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"You don't usually notice that there are always people decreasing?"

"Yes, sometimes Steward Mo comes and says that there is extra work to process money, and everyone is vying to go. But then none of these people came back. Lying on the bed, Ah Kun seemed to be very touched, "People who sometimes came back before said that they really got money, and everyone believed it." Later, when he didn't come back, Steward Mo said that he had gone to help other masters, and he had earned enough money to go home, or his wife had given birth, the old man was sick, etc., in short, there were many reasons. Those of us who are subordinates usually do things and don't think about it deeply. ”

"Doesn't anyone want to go?" Bing asked them.

"Of course, there are many reasons for Steward Mo, such as the time to sign has not arrived, and he will lose money if he leaves. Or to tempt and reward for working for a long time, coercion and temptation. "Said vigorously.

"This Steward Mo is really not a thing!" Lao Xie scolded.

"It turns out that he looks like a decent gentleman, phew!" Ah Qian also chimed in.

"Before, you said that after Steward Mo pressed the switch, the wall cracked, and the water demon only grabbed one brother at a time from inside?" Bai Qiuchi hurriedly got back to the point.

"It's a random brother every time."

"Do you see what kind of water demon it is?"

Bai Qiuchi had contact with this water demon several times, but he had never seen her true face.

"No, it's just rattan-like stuff sticking in, and it's so fast." Ah Qian said.

"Where do we dare to take a serious look, we can't hide." Dali said embarrassedly.

"That thing looks a lot like the rhizome of a lotus flower." Bao Tsai said.

The rhizome of the lotus? Bai Qiuchi remembered that when he dived into the water, he didn't see that the lotus flowers had roots, and there was a big lake under the pool, and these blood-colored lotus flowers were floating directly on the water, without relying on the mud.

Since it is underwater, the water demon can come in person and use the rhizome of the lotus flower, is this water demon a lotus demon?

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"Master, I'll get it back." Jin Xu ran all the way and took the jewelry box of the eldest lady who was well hidden in Bai Qiuchi.

Bai Qiuchi picked up the hairpin, looked carefully at the light, and found that there was an extremely small crack in the middle, and gently twisted the hairpin, which was really loose. One with a hairpin head and the other with a hairpin tail were put into the two keyholes respectively, and it turned smoothly.

With Bai Qiuchi's movements, everyone held their breath, stretched their necks, and stared closely at this finely carved and gorgeously decorated jewelry box.

"Huh?"

"Isn't it?"

It's ...... inside. Nothing.

"How so?" Bai Qiuchi was also very surprised.

"Could it be some kind of dark compartment, mezzanine?" Ah Bing picked up the jewelry box and looked left and right.

"No, it won't. I asked Cen Li, but the design of the lock is a little special, and there is only one layer inside. Jin Xu said.

"Maybe what's inside has been taken." Lao Xie said.

"Bai Dao Chief, are you going to find Steward Mo in front of you?" Bao Zai asked.

"Yes, but I didn't find it."

"If there's anything next, I'm here to help." Bing said.

"Me too." Lao Xie said.

"You're all injured, take a break." Bai Qiuchi persuaded.

"My injuries are relatively minor, it's okay. You can be active tomorrow. Ah Bing patted his chest and said, "Brother Xie's brother and Bao Zai will stay here to rest and take care of the others." ”

Lao Xie nodded, these people are important witnesses, and they really need to be protected.

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Bai Qiuchi and Jinxu settled down with them, found a remote corner, and got in touch with Fanluo.

"Fanluo, how are you doing over there? Isn't it lazy to have no news for so long? Jin Su asked.

"How so? I have been investigating very hard, and in the past few days, I finally have to go to Lao Zhixian's room to check his file, he has a room full, I searched for a long time, and finally found the case file and his diary from that time period. ”

"How's it going?" Jin Su asked eagerly.

"That...... There are some things I don't understand very well. Fanluo smiled sheepishly.

"It's terrible to be uneducated!" Brocade support.

"Fanluo, it's okay, just bring the file back." Bai Qiuchi hurriedly comforted Fanluo, "Do you think there's anything strange?" ”

"I'll look at it again, and there are a few pages in the middle that I don't know why they've been torn off." Fan Luo flipped through it and said.

"Maybe those pages are the key." Bai Qiuchi thought for a while and said, "The current situation is that the second lady is preparing to take the third young master and twin sisters, who are actually her own sons, and escape with Steward Mo. Cui'er took me to the Ice Pavilion and found that there was a dark room below, and both the Third Young Master and Steward Mo could enter through different doors. Last night, I rescued the servants and subordinates who had been imprisoned by Steward Mo from the cell in the dark room. ”

"Oh my God, so much happened when I wasn't there!"

"Next, please visit a few nearby villages and towns, the homes of those workers who have been recruited into Hufu, and see if there will be any clues. If there are letters sent home, try to get a few, and if not, count the content and time. You can ask the mayor of the town and the village to help, and it should go a little better. Bai Qiuchi said.

"Okay! No problem! ”

"Be careful alone!" Bai Qiuchi instructed.

"I will! So do you. ”

"If you have any clues, tell us right away!" Jin Fu added.

"Feel free to get in touch."