He Hongsheng was a cigarette dealer in the capital, and he handled about 200,000 taels of silver. This person has long been targeted by Shuntianfu, but since we haven't found the source of his goods, we haven't closed the net.

A month ago, I received news that He Hongsheng was going to receive the goods in Xishan, just outside the city, a few days later.

I was very excited to learn about this, because if I could follow He Hongsheng's line to find out the cigarette dealers upstream of him, it would be a big gain. Because the amount of Fushou paste handled by He Hongsheng has been extremely huge, then the amount of money in his hands of the person who took the goods is even more immeasurable, if he can catch it all, wouldn't it be a great thing to inspire the people.

So on that day, I ambushed my men at the foot of the West Mountain early with my men, because if you want to go up the mountain, this is the only way to go.

Sure enough, in the evening, I saw He Hongsheng coming over with his people, and his minions were still carrying a large box, which should contain silver. I was very excited, but I waited patiently, because the big man upstream had not yet appeared, and I had to wait for him, because he was the key to this case, pulling out the radish and bringing out the mud, and catching him, maybe I could wipe out the entire North China tobacco dealer.

But that night, my people and I waited for a long time, and we didn't see anyone go up the mountain again, and He Hongsheng's people didn't come down.

It wasn't until dawn that I realized that something might have happened on the mountain that I didn't expect, so I hurried up the mountain with someone.

To my surprise, we didn't find He Hongsheng at the top of the mountain, nor did we see any of his followers. But there was only one way up and down the mountain, how could he disappear out of thin air?

On that day, we searched the mountain for a long time, and we almost turned the whole mountain over, but we found it from dawn until it was dark, and we did not find those people. They disappeared as if out of thin air, leaving no trace.

Later, I found another subordinate of He Hongsheng, who didn't go to Xishan that day, so he was lucky enough to pick up a life.

According to what he said, He Hongsheng did go to Xishan to receive the goods that day, and the other party was indeed the "upstream" he had been cooperating with for a long time. But this person, several of them have never seen each other, because every time the delivery is made, He Hongsheng asks them to stay in the distance and go to meet with the "upstream" by himself. He Hongsheng said that the person's identity was mysterious and he didn't want to be seen by others. This is also reasonable, because the business they do is not a serious business, and it will inevitably cause more trouble if too many people know their identity.

However, he did provide the only useful clue, saying that He Hongsheng had said after a drink that the mysterious upstream lived in Lucheng, a small city rich in kites.

Regarding He Hongsheng's death, he also said the reason: He Hongsheng had found that he was being targeted by the government, so many goods were stranded in his hands and did not dare to sell, so he lacked silver for turnover. However, he and that man had a fixed deadline for delivery, so on that day, although the cash on hand was not enough, he had no choice but to go to Xishan.

He guessed that it was precisely because the silver was not given enough that He Hongsheng had an accident. Although he is only missing now, he feels that He Hongsheng must have been killed by that "upstream". It's just that he couldn't understand why that person was so murderous and wanted to kill so many people. He still couldn't figure out how that man managed to make so many people disappear without even a single hair.

"He wanted to extinguish his mouth, because the instrument he used to transport the ointment of longevity was a wooden harrier, and how could he be seen. As for the human skin, it must have been cleaned by him. Mu Xiaowu muttered to himself, and then continued, "Childe, you have been in Lucheng for so long, and you haven't found a single clue related to that 'upstream'?" ”

Zhao Zimai shook his head slowly, "No, the people from Cao County Order and I have been looking for that person, but we have no clue at all until you appear." Originally, Cao Xianling did not link the two cases, but when I heard him talk about the wooden harrier, I suddenly had a thought: the reason why the person upstream came and went without a trace may be because he came by the wooden harrier. This idea seemed absurd even to me at the time, but when we found human skin, I was even more convinced that the wooden harrier was not only the murderer of Yuan Wei, but also the culprit of He Hongsheng and his men. ”

"But even if it's now confirmed that the wood harrier is the murderer, Childe still doesn't know anything about the person behind it, right?" Mu Xiaowu's big eyes flickered, as if they had been injected with silver moonlight.

Zhao Zimai's voice suddenly became low, "Yes, the real mastermind behind the scenes has not appeared until now. ”

"But the two of them always have to meet, don't they?"

"What do you mean?"

Mu Xiaowu raised his head and smiled, "I think I might know where its nest is." After speaking, seeing Zhao Zimai looking at him with happy eyes, he rushed to the door of the house with his chin raised, "Don't thank me, thank you to the old man lying on the bed, he reminded me." ”

***

Cao Min sat behind the bookcase, staring at a candle on the table with godless eyes, and did not take his eyes off it for a long time.

He still remembers the touch of his fingers when he touched the human skin, which was not smooth at all, on the contrary, it was a little rough, and he could even touch the raised pores on the skin.

At the thought of this, his heart shrank violently and clenched. On the one hand, because he was really sad, these people were not only his subordinates, but also brothers, and he had been with them for many years and had a very strong relationship. But today, they have gone from flesh and blood to shriveled human skins, which makes him account for how to explain to their families.

On the other hand, Cao Min felt scared again. He had seen the Harrier for the first time today, and it was far more terrifying than he had imagined. It was huge, its wings spread out nearly ten feet, a pair of bright yellow hanging eyes like two candles, and its pupils were so red that they seemed to be bleeding. The rest of its body is black, except for the two flower-shaped characters "Shou" hidden under the wings, like blooming chrysanthemums, stretching out with teeth and claws.

Cao Min shuddered, he has been in Lucheng for more than ten years, what kind of kite has not been seen, the wooden harrier paper harrier has also seen a lot, the patterns on these kites have flowers, birds, beasts, and various patterns and textures, but it is the first time to see the word "longevity".

And it is such a single "longevity" word, without any pattern decoration.

Could it be that this wooden harrier is to be buried with the dead?

Cao Min was startled by the thought that popped into his mind.