The next morning, after Xu Anping left Anlu Mansion for a long time, someone saw the bloody handprints on the door of the house, and then the government received a report. After Nie Wuchang, the head of the Anlu Mansion Express Class, took a few quick officials to check, he found that the case was much more serious than he imagined. After he explained a few steps to guard the scene of the crime, he hurriedly went to inform Lord Zhou.

"Master Qian, is Lord Zhou here? The little one has something important to report, please let Master Qian report it. Nie Wuchang bent over in front of Master Qian, regardless of the sweat on his head, he forced out a smile.

"Oh? It turned out to be Nie Catcher! The old man is interested in painting in the study, but he can't be disturbed casually. It's the same with you to tell me something. When the master finishes painting, I will tell you on my behalf. Master Qian tilted his head, nostrils to the sky, and didn't look at Nie Wuchang, rubbing the jade wrench on the thumb of his right hand with his left hand, and said in a casual tone. But he thought in his heart: "This Nie Wuchang is really not on the Tao, and he usually doesn't give some filial piety during the New Year." If I don't pinch him and let him know that something is powerful, he won't look down on me. ”

Nie Wuchang wiped his sweat and said: "Master Qian, someone came to report the case this morning, and his subordinates went down to check and found that the case in Tongluo Lane in the north of the city was a tragic case, and all 17 members of the victim's family were killed. ”

When Master Qian heard this, his voice became sharp with fright, "What! Murder? Knowing that he could not specialize in this matter, and that the slightest delay could cause a catastrophe, he staggered towards the study, and almost tripped over the front of his robe.

In a moment, Nie Wuchang was called to the study. He stood aside respectfully with his head bowed, and heard the prefect Lord Zhou ask calmly: "Nie Zhutou, I heard that there was a tragedy in Tongluo Lane. What the hell is going on? You elaborate. ”

Nie Wuchang sorted out his thoughts for a moment and replied in a deep voice: "Lord Hui, this morning someone reported that there were blood stains on the door of a household in Causeway Lane. When I learned about it, I took a few quick servants to check on the situation, and when I arrived at the scene of the crime, I found that the whole family of 17 had been killed last night. Because he knew that the situation was serious, his subordinates didn't dare to stay for a long time, so they hurriedly came over to tell the adults. ”

"Well, well done! You look into it and try to find clues. I'll be there later. "The prefect Zhou Wudao did not dare to slack off, if there was such a big and important case under his rule but it could not be solved, there would definitely be a judgment of "not as good or not careful" in the evaluation of him by the officials next year, and he could only be promoted or demoted. He knows that there are many people who are eyeing the position of the prefect of Anlu, such as Huang Bingwen, a fellow acquaintance who is not tied to him everywhere and stumbles. Thinking of this, he hurriedly changed into his official uniform and took a sedan chair to the scene of the crime.

When the prefect Zhou Wudao arrived at the scene of the crime, Nie Wuchang had already finished his investigation and was talking to several experienced servants and officials. When he saw the prefect come in, he hurriedly hurried Hula and led a group of people over to pay a visit. Zhou Wudao didn't have the heart to care about these etiquettes now, and asked directly: "Nie Zhutou, how are you investigating?" Are there any clues? ”

Nie Wuchang bent down and led the prefect with his hand, "My lord, go this way." He walked in front of him, explaining. My lord, this courtyard originally belonged to Liu Laoshi, but the people who died in the courtyard had nothing to do with Liu Laoshi. According to Li Zheng, Liu Laoshi sold the yard to a group of outsiders five years ago, and although he saw a lot of people coming and going, he did not deal with those people. Moreover, although these people were indifferent, they did not feel sorry for their neighbors, so he usually ignored them. As he spoke, Nie Wuchang had already led the prefect to a corpse, he squatted down and lifted the sackcloth, and said, "Your Excellency, please look at the wounds of the deceased." ”

Zhou Wudao was listening attentively, and when he heard the words, he looked at the corpse, only to see that the corpse's face was blue, his eyes were round, his throat was cut, and the blood that flowed out had dried up, and it looked very terrifying, so he couldn't help but turn his head and take a step back. I suddenly scolded in my heart that this Nie Wuchang really didn't know anything.

Nie Wuchang saw the appearance of the prefect and realized that he had done something stupid, re-covered the sackcloth, and said softly: "My lord, according to the detailed investigation of his subordinates, sixteen of these seventeen people were killed by cutting their throats with daggers, and the other was killed by twisting their necks, and the deceased was a little girl about eleven years old. ”

Zhou Wudao also eased his mood at this time, his eyes deliberately avoided the corpse and scolded: "The murderer is really crazy!" What clues are there about the murderer? ”

According to the footprints left in the yard by his subordinates, the murderer was only one person. He first threw two meat buns and poisoned the dog, then climbed into the yard through the wall next to the back door, then killed the two men guarding the back door, and finally escaped to the front door. ”

Zhou Wudao was very shocked when he heard this, and directly exclaimed. "What? There is only one murderer! Nie Zhutou, you were transferred to Six Doors last year to assist the Criminal Department in solving the case, did you know that there were such violent criminals? ”

"This... Hmm......" Nie Wuchang didn't say it directly, but just looked at Zhou Wudao's back with his eyes wandering.

"Everyone else retreated to ten feet away, keeping their guard, and someone approached to take it on the spot." Zhou Wudao commanded the servant who followed behind.

"My lord, I once heard an old catcher in the Six Gates say that there is an assassin organization in the rivers and lakes called the Blood Hand Alliance, and there are a large number of master assassins in it, who specialize in collecting money for assassination. I think today's case may be ......" Nie Wuchang hesitated for a moment, and then said: "My lord, forgive the villain for talking too much, the family that was destroyed last night is not simple. Except for a little girl, the seventeen men were all men of prime age, and not only did each of them have weapons beside him, but they were dressed as neither masters nor slaves. Even the eleven-year-old girl had a delicate dagger half a foot long left next to her corpse. According to the daring guesses of his subordinates, this should be an internal vendetta of the Blood Hand Alliance. Adults may not have noticed that there was a bloody handprint on the door of this house, and this mark was unique to the Bloody Hand Alliance. ”

Zhou Wudao was stunned after hearing this, and his mind was blank. It has been more than 21 years since he became a jinshi in the third year of Jianping, and he has never heard such sensational news. He had always thought that this so-called assassin organization only existed in the Romance of Martial Arts, and he never thought that he would encounter it himself. If it weren't for the fact that the case happened vividly in front of him, and the news that the head catcher heard from the six doors, he would definitely think that the other party had lost his mind. He muttered, "How is this good?" How good is that? Next year will be the year of external inspection! ”

Nie Wuchang continued: "My lord, if the assassin did such a vicious thing, I am afraid that he would have fled long ago; Even if he doesn't escape, it will be difficult to arrest him with the power of the government. ”

Zhou Wudao came back to his senses and said softly: "I don't know why Nie Zhutou taught me?" ”

Nie Wuchang's expression struggled, and his mouth opened and closed. He remembered Daddy's conscience before he died, but he had been a head catcher for more than 20 years, and he had worked hard to solve countless big and small cases, but he was never allowed to make an inch. So, he gritted his teeth and said: "My lord, this case should have been done by a river thief who came to this mansion, and his subordinates suggested going to the sea to catch the document and ask the Linfu and the counties under his jurisdiction to help him arrest him. ”

Zhou Wudao nodded, and said with a relaxed expression: "This idea is very good!" But where to find the image of the Jiangyang thief? ”

The more Nie Wuchang spoke, the more smooth he became, "My lord, Jiang Yang's thief happened to be seen by a vendor who got up early to do business when he was escaping after committing the crime. ”

Zhou Wudao looked at Nie Wuchang approvingly, and then said: "Nie Zhutou, Mr. Zhang's head catcher has been in poor health and cannot perform his duties. I hope that you will be able to carry up the burden in the future and maintain the law and order of Anlu Mansion. ”

Nie Wuchang clenched his fists and nodded excitedly. He knew he had made the right bet.