Cao Xuan only then knew that it was the theft of the imperial wine, and his body trembled in shock, and he stared at a pair of bull's eyes and asked, "You said that the imperial wine was lost?" ”

The two Cao family martial artists who were in charge of guarding the Lingquan Court nodded with a bitter face, and said in unison: "Yes, it's all lost, and there is not a single jar left." ”

"Wow, you bunch of waste, so many people can't even look at the wine cellar!" Cao Xuan was so angry that he couldn't wait to shoot the two wastes in front of him to death.

"The head of the family is angry, we are incompetent." The two Cao family warriors apologized again and again.

"Stop talking nonsense, come with me to the cellar." Cao Xuan couldn't believe it, how could those imperial wines that were well stored be easily stolen.

Cao Xuan ran into the wine cellar with people in a hurry, and went straight to the secret room in the depths, and now the door of this secret room is wide open, and you don't even need to press the mechanism, you can enter directly, and the situation in the secret room can be seen at a glance. Cao Xuan was stunned after just one glance, the imperial wine inside was really gone, not even a jar was left, only the imprint of some wine jars was still there.

In addition, in the corner of the secret room, there is also a square pit out of thin air, and there is a cover covered with floating soil on the side of the pit, this pit is not dug by the Cao family idlely.

The two Cao family warriors explained the theft on the side, claiming that there were two groups of thieves, one group of thieves started earlier, and they moved the imperial wine about two days ago, and the other group of thieves had only one person, who just came tonight, but because the imperial wine was stolen by others, they came in vain.

If there was only one gang of thieves, things would be relatively simple, but now that two gangs of thieves have emerged, I don't know if there is a relationship between the two. Complicating the case. These two Cao family warriors did not dare to make assertions.

"What? There are two gangs of thieves? Do they regard our Cao family's wine cellar as a tourist attraction? It came as it was said. Let's go! Cao Xuan was so angry for the first time in his life, and the top of his head was almost on fire.

"I couldn't find these two thieves in advance." The two Cao family warriors were afraid of the power of the head of the family, and they echoed it on the side, not daring to make the head of the family angry again.

"You're incompetent, I've only been gone for one night, and you've lost the wine! I don't have time to punish you now, until I catch the thieves. After you get the wine back, see how I clean you up!" Cao Xuan sprinkled all the evil fire on the two of them, then walked to the edge of the square pit and jumped down, wanting to check the situation inside with his own eyes.

The wine cellar is the Cao family's important place, even if the imperial wine is lost, the family can't be allowed to come in casually, so the tunnel is still empty, not even half a person, and it is pitch black. There is no light source.

Cao Xuan took two steps and picked up the wine in his stomach. It is fused into the dantian, burns off the nutrients of the wine, and turns it into the essence of internal force. He shook his palm again, and the internal force mixed with the wine ran down the meridians to the palm, and under the high temperature, a flame ignited, blazing.

The flames pierced through the darkness, and the leaping light illuminated the path ahead.

Cao Xuan continued to run forward, incredibly fast, the flames on his palms were blown by the strong wind, extending backwards along the direction of the wind, and a little spark fell from the tail of the flame. The other two Cao family martial artists, one guarded above, and the other followed, responsible for briefing Cao Xuan on the situation.

Although the tunnel was more than two hundred meters long, it was only a short distance for Cao Xuan, and he soon came to the end of the collapse.

"Where does the other side lead?" Cao Xuanyu asked.

"I don't know, we haven't had time to dig yet." The Cao family martial artist shook his head in a cold sweat.

"You know the something!" Cao Xuan scolded bitterly, turned around and raised his palms at the collapse. His other palm also ignited a flame, and with a wave of his palms, he slashed at the collapsing stone on the opposite side, and the fleshy palm wrapped in the flame collided with the stone, causing a violent explosion. There was a tremor comparable to an earthquake from the place of the explosion, and the entire tunnel shook three times, and a cloud of dust fell above the tunnel.

"Don't be impatient, if you use so much force to slap here, it will easily cause a collapse, and then this place will be buried deeper and more difficult to excavate." The Cao family martial artist waved his hand to drive away the smoke and dust in front of him, and hurriedly dissuaded.

Cao Xuan withdrew his palms, his body wrapped in thick dust and scurrying fire. He thought about the words of the people in the family, and felt that there was some reason, this collapse spanned a considerable distance, and if it was destroyed by brute force, it was likely to backfire and cause an even greater collapse.

"Don't stand stupid, dig with me and see where the other side leads." Cao Xuan ordered angrily, and once again waved his palms towards the collapse, but this time he didn't slap it, but inserted his hand into it. His palms were wrapped in internal force and flames, and he was not afraid of those ordinary mountain rocks at all, and easily penetrated into them, like inserting a piece of tofu.

The Cao family martial artist in the back responded, and also stepped forward to help, he is also a four-fold heavenly martial artist, and he can also infuse internal force into his palms, even if he is bare-handed, he can dig.

These two dignified warriors, like two groundhogs, were now digging tunnels with their bare hands, and the dirt and gravel were quickly cut apart by the two of them, falling behind, piling up into a small dirt mountain.

It wasn't long before the two of them dug up the collapse and unearthed fragments of the detonating tool, but it was of little practical value. Opposite the collapse, there is still an endless tunnel.

Cao Xuan drilled through the hole dug through, cut all his clothes, and reached the opposite side of the collapse. He walked some distance with a single palm burning on fire, only to encounter another collapse, it seems that this gang of thieves is really bad enough, and after succeeding, the tunnel is blown up in sections.

Cao Xuan suddenly remembered that he seemed to have heard someone mention it once yesterday, saying that there were several small earthquakes at night. At the time, he didn't take it seriously, but now that he thinks about it, it should not be an earthquake, but a thief detonating gunpowder.

Cao Jiawu chased after him out of breath, and when he saw that the front had collapsed again, he asked with a bitter face: "Why is this also collapsing, family master, what should we do?" ”

"What else can I do? Dig me out! "Cao Xuan's internal strength is strong. The excavation just now. It didn't consume much of his internal strength.

The two worked side by side. With a wave of his palms, he continued to excavate and dug through the second collapse.

Then, there was a third, fourth, or even fifth collapse in front, and the two of them excavated all the way, and the Cao family warrior gradually couldn't support it, and after obtaining Cao Xuan's consent, he returned to it. Replaced another Quadruple Heavenly Martial Artist. Although Cao Xuan is a master, he is also a little unbearable, tired and sweaty, and most of his internal strength is consumed.

When the fifth collapse was excavated, Cao Xuan found that this collapse was very deep, and it had not been dug for a long time, and the soil behind it was very wet, and it felt that it had not been excavated, and it was all new soil. This collapse is probably the end of the tunnel, and there is no road around.

Cao Xuan retreated. Begin to look at the top of your head, through careful observation. A small gap was found, which led upwards, and seemed to be the beginning of the tunnel. He cleared the large rocks around the collapse, and when he lost these supports, all the dirt on them fell at once, revealing a wellhead that led to the top, through which it seemed that the thieves had carried the sake away.

Cao Xuan jumped up in a vertical leap, relying on the buoyancy that filled the whole body, and rushed directly to the exit, he slammed it with a palm, smashing the wooden board blocking the exit, and then the whole person fell outside, standing firm.

The exit of the tunnel itself is a place shaped like a well, but there is not a drop of water in it, surrounded by half-human-high weeds, and a dilapidated courtyard wall, and there is an old house behind it that has collapsed slightly, which turned out to be an abandoned courtyard, and it seems that no one has lived in it for a long time.

Cao Xuan's ears moved, relying on his sensitive hearing to capture the movements around him, in this courtyard was quiet, there was no living thing, otherwise he would have been able to hear. His brows twisted into twists, and he searched the yard, and he saw horseshoe prints and chariot wheel prints in the grass of the yard, and the traces were very new. It can be inferred from this that after the thieves stole the imperial wine, they must have transported it directly to another place by horse-drawn cart, and more than seventy jars of imperial wine had to be pulled by at least three horse-drawn carts.

Apart from a few traces, there were no more useful clues in the yard. He then broke down the door and entered the old house, where he searched it. The house was covered with dust, the corners of the walls were covered with cobwebs, and there were messy footprints on the ground, footprints of various sizes, a total of five sizes, and it seemed that the thieves were a gang of five. The project of that tunnel is very large, it is difficult for one person to complete it, and only such a gang can do it.

At this time, another Cao family martial artist also climbed up, he helped Cao Xuan to search together, the two searched for a long time, only found some traces of little use, and nothing else was found. It seems that the group of thieves is very careful, they should be a group of experienced old thieves, and only old thieves dare to steal the emperor's wine.

"It seems that nothing useful can be found in this yard anymore. You hurry home now, bring a group of people over, seal this place, and from now on prohibit the entry of idle people and others. In addition, send some people to inform Wang Zhixian and ask him to send some people to help investigate. First of all, I mainly checked the neighbors around and asked them who the owner of this yard was and who had lived here. Then check the craftsmen and shops in the town, and ask if anyone has recently bought explosive materials such as saltpeter and sulfur. It is necessary to investigate the whereabouts of the three carriages, the thieves all committed crimes at night, and the ordinary people were asleep at that time, but the watchmen and beggars may still be wandering the streets, mainly to ask these two types of people if they have seen any traces of the carriages. No matter who you are, as long as you can provide useful clues, you will be rewarded. Cao Xuan commanded, waved his hand and said, "Okay, that's all, you go and spread the word." ”

"Yes!" The martial artist of the Cao family hugged his fist and turned around to leave.

"Wait!" Cao Xuan suddenly called out to the man.

"What else does the head of the house command?" The martial artists of the Cao family hurriedly stopped.

"Remember to keep your mouth shut, don't say that the imperial wine was stolen, just say that the ordinary Jiujiu spring wine was stolen. If we let outsiders know that our Cao family has lost the imperial wine that the emperor drank, our family will be in big trouble, and we must find all the imperial wine without the knowledge of outsiders. Cao Xuan lowered his voice and admonished.

The Cao family's martial arts face changed when they heard this, if the news of the loss of the imperial wine spread, the consequences would indeed be unimaginable. This crime of dereliction of duty can be light or serious, and it may even lead to annihilation!

"Go and spread the word. I'm going to chase the thief who came tonight, and though there's little hope of catching him, I'll have to give it a try. Cao Xuan waved his hand again.

"Yes." The martial artists of the Cao family left in response. Disappeared into the night.

Cao Xuan stood in the courtyard for a while. His gaze stretched out along the wheel prints on the ground. The streets of the town are all stone paved, and when you get outside, the wheel prints disappear and you can't find them anymore. He gasped for breath in frustration and jumped out of the yard and, according to his guess, went to find the unknown thief.

……

Early the next morning, the rooster downstairs at the inn came out early to crow. The crisp sound woke up the people in their sleep, and Zhao Zheng was one of them.

After he experienced a lot of things, his thoughts became much more enlightened, although he failed yesterday and didn't catch anything, but he didn't pay too much attention to it, and soon fell asleep after coming back, and this night he slept more soundly than usual, and was not affected in the slightest.

He washed himself up and stimulated himself with cold water. The whole person was lifted and became energetic. After that. He went downstairs for breakfast and sat down to listen to the diners.

Sure enough, the theft of the Cao family has spread far and wide, and it has been hyped up to the point that everyone knows about it. This matter is already big news in this small town.

From the comments of these diners, Zhao Zheng got a small amount of useful information.

The Cao family did not tell the truth to the outside world, falsely claiming that it was the theft of ordinary Jiuzhuo spring wine, and launched a search throughout the town, focusing on the neighbors around the tunnel exit, as well as the movement of several horse-drawn carriages used to transport wine.

If Zhao Zheng intervenes in this matter, he can only start from these aspects. He still has a lot of things to do, he can't delay too long in Gujing Town, and from the date, he can probably only stay for about three days, and if the three days of investigation can't produce any useful results, then he can only leave this matter alone.

He listened for a while, and felt that he could no longer hear any useful news, so he left the inn and went to the tunnel exit, intending to see what was going on there before making plans.

Now the exit of the tunnel has been guarded by the people of the Cao family and the government, the gate is closed, and there are several warriors standing at the door, and no one is allowed to enter.

Zhao Zheng stood in the distance and observed for a while, then jumped onto a courtyard wall and looked into the courtyard. There is nothing worth seeing in it except for weeds and people, and it is estimated that even if there are any clues, they have been taken away by the people of the Cao family, and it is not his turn to intervene.

In fact, he didn't expect to get anything from this place at all, just came to have a look, and after reading it, he began to walk around the streets of Gujing Town, looking for traces of local beggars, and wanted to inquire about the beggars.

In this world, you must not underestimate beggars, the beggar gang composed of beggars is a fairly large force, with a sphere of influence all over the entire Great Yan Country, and it is very well-informed.

Zhao Zheng walked three streets and came across a beggar under the eaves of a corner house.

This beggar was dressed in rags, not afraid of the cold at all, and looked like a practitioner. The beggar carried two patched bags on his back, which is one of the most striking features of the beggars. Each member of the beggar gang will carry a bag, and use it as a rank marker, the lowest level carries a bag, and so on, the more bags they carry, the higher the status in the beggar gang, eight bags are elders, and nine bags are the gang leaders above 10,000 people.

The beggar held this wine jar in his arms, sat on the ground and poured himself a drink, although there was no food to drink, but he also drank very comfortably.

Zhao Zheng squatted down next to the beggar, took out a large ingot of official silver from his sleeve, put it next to the beggar, and said with a smile: "How can you do it without wine and food, this little money will be given to you to go down to the restaurant to buy wine and food." ”

The beggar put down the wine jar, looked at Zhao Zheng a few times, and did not rush to reach out for the money, but asked lightly: "Do you want to inquire about the theft of the Cao family's wine?" ”

"How did you know I was going to inquire about this?" Zhao Zheng said.

"Guess what. The whole city is discussing this today, and if you count you, I'm the third person to ask me about it. And you won't be the last one, and there will definitely be more people to ask about this in the future. Hehe, the more people who come, the better, and if there are a few more people, my spring wine and food will be paid. The beggar said and stretched out his hand to the silver ingot, "Declare in advance, I may not be able to answer all of your questions, and may not even be able to answer any of them, but whether I can answer them or not, this money will not be returned to you." If it's too late for you to regret now, I won't give you back the money after you finish asking. ”

"It's okay, you can keep this money. Even if you can't answer anything, it doesn't matter, it's just to make friends. ”

"Hehe, then I'll be disrespectful." The beggar smiled and picked up the silver ingot, and with a shake of his hand, the silver ingot disappeared from his hand, and he didn't know whether it was hidden in his sleeve or in his arms, "Okay, you ask." I promise to answer everything. ”

Zhao Zheng then opened the conversation box and asked the questions he wanted to know. He mainly asked three questions, one is whether there are any well-known thieves in Gujing Town recently, the second is whether anyone saw the carriage stealing wine on the night of the incident, and the third is whether there is a traitor within the Cao family, whether the Cao family's own people recruited the thief, he feels that these are three questions A good starting point.

The beggars replied one by one, there have been no well-known thieves in Gujing Town recently, and several thieves are just petty thieves, and they are not capable of committing such a big case. There are some clues in the carriage, someone saw three carriages driving north on the night of the crime, and the government and the Cao family have sent a large number of people to the north to investigate, and there is no progress so far. As for the internal affairs of the Cao family, no one knows about it at all, and the Cao family has blocked the news and has not announced anything to the outside world.

Zhao Zheng finished asking what he wanted to ask, said goodbye to the beggar, and headed towards the north of the town, trying his luck to see if he could find out the whereabouts of the three carriages. (To be continued.) )