In the City Lord's Mansion, Kong Ji was sitting paralyzed in the study, gulping water and panting. Last night's fright had completely exhausted his confidence as a superior person, and now he just wanted to take a good breath surrounded by all the guards.

"Stop the search and open the city gates!" was the first sentence Kong Ji uttered today. When the soldier who entered the palace found his bedside and whispered a few times, Kong Ji, who was covered with foul smell, suddenly jumped up, grabbed the soldier's collar fiercely, shouted this order, and then locked himself in the study, not allowing anyone to approach.

Kong Houhu stood outside the study and had been waiting for more than an hour. But he couldn't get Kong Ji's order, he couldn't go, he didn't stay, and he was very irritable.

The tragic situation that happened in the city lord's mansion not only shocked Kong Ji, the fat man, but even Kong Houhu, the deputy commander of the defenders who had been killed for a long time, was also frightened. He received the news when he was in Yin, and the soldiers who went to rotate on time discovered the abnormality in the mansion and reported it to Kong Houhu as soon as possible.

By the time Kong Houhu jumped up from the bed and rushed to the city lord's mansion, the sky was already slightly white, and if it weren't for a little light, he wouldn't dare to rush into the bloody mansion compound.

The scene in the city lord's mansion was the same as the day before, all the guards were killed on the ground, and unlike last time, the wounds left by the assailants this time were not uniform, although most of them were cut throats with a knife, but there were also corpses that were pierced by heavy weapons or strangled by chains.

Kong Houhu finally saw it this time, this was not from the same person, but an organization that was committing the crime. As for the organization that committed the crime, he also had some speculation in his heart.

Generally speaking, people in the army rarely inquire about the affairs of the rivers and lakes, after all, the imperial court and martial arts are two completely different concepts, in the face of a country's force, the little martial arts warrior is not afraid at all, even if the other party has the combat power of a great grandmaster.

The Great Grandmaster is indeed very strong, but at most it is the level of "100 enemies", and any army with an establishment in Sheng Xin Country is more than 1,000 people, so Kong Houhu really doesn't care much about the affairs of the rivers and lakes, because their levels are different.

It wasn't until the young grandmaster who protected the county lord of the Xiao family appeared that in order to grasp the details of the other party, he took the initiative to send spies to collect some recent movements in the rivers and lakes. It wasn't much when he didn't ask, but when he asked, his head began to grow bigger.

Qin Sixteen's strength was really exposed to the public because of the battle between him and Yu Huaiyin, the leader of the horse gang, and it was precisely because of this battle that his portrait and strength were rumored, and the Qin family took out 100,000 taels of gold and invited Qi Cheng to take action.

Kong Houhu also learned some information about Qin Sixteen through this battle, although he didn't know Qin Sixteen's name and origin until now, but he indirectly inquired about two unexpected news.

This first news is related to Yu Huaiyin, the leader of the Ma Gang, who is all over Shengxin, and there have always been rumors on the rivers and lakes that he is the person of King Li. Although most of the rumors in the rivers and lakes are not credible, combined with the recent series of changes in China, I am afraid that the claim that Yu Huaiyin has a relationship with King Li is not groundless.

The second news is the existence of the Dark Key Pavilion. Kong Houhu, who was born in the army, really didn't know that there was a killer organization called the Dark Key Pavilion before this, and it would exist in the world so openly, for Kong Houhu, who has always prided himself on being frank and open, many of the things in this river and lake are beyond his cognition.

When Qi Cheng was in charge of the Dark Key Pavilion, he was still relatively principled in his work, and when it came to the tasks of the eunuchs and nobles, he would not touch anything. At that time, the Dark Key Pavilion was mainly responsible for dealing with some conflicts in the Shengxin martial arts, such as vendettas between gangs, or disputes between merchants, wealthy families.

The financial resources of the martial arts gangs and folk tycoons should not be underestimated, otherwise how could Qi Cheng accumulate such a rich net worth?

The reason why Kong Houhu noticed the Dark Key Pavilion was mainly because there was another rumor in the rivers and lakes, that is, this legendary Dark Key Pavilion had been dormant in this Tongzhou City for a long time.

It is not for nothing that the location of the Dark Key Pavilion will be guessed, because every time a large amount of tasks is involved, Qi Ling and his left and right Dharma protectors will ask their employers to transport the money to several cities near Tongzhou, or to villages and towns near Tongzhou.

The time is close to noon, and if Kong Ji doesn't come out again, Kong Houhu doesn't plan to stay for long. He already had a lot of affairs at hand, there were too many soldiers killed last night, and the people below were disheartened, and they were still waiting for him to put things in order; the reopening of the city gate was not a trivial matter, and a certain amount of troops needed to be deployed to maintain the order of the merchants and travelers.

Just when Kong Houhu lost his patience and was about to leave, one of his personal soldiers ran over quickly, gave a military salute and whispered: "General, there is movement in the Dark Key Pavilion, they have changed to a new pavilion master!"

"What?" Kong Houhu was shocked, he just ordered the people below to pay attention to the recent events in the rivers and lakes, focusing on the Dark Key Pavilion and the horse gang, but in fact, he didn't report anything.

After being in a trance for a while, Kong Houhu regained his demeanor and asked hurriedly, "Say it quickly!"

The people who were surprised were not just Kong Houhu, as time went by, with Tongzhou City as the center, it spread around, and almost all the people in the rivers and lakes knew a news, an official news released by the underground organization of the Dark Key Pavilion, that is, they had changed their masters!

Different from the closure of Tiansheng, Tiansheng City, as the residence of Emperor Shengxin, is naturally extremely tight, and there are Janissaries patrolling inside and outside the city wall every day, so it is naturally impossible to have a tunnel dug out of the corner.

After the emperor ordered the city to be sealed, the Praetorian Guards in the city even guarded the sky on all sides, and as long as a bird approached the city wall, they would all be shot, which was the real blockade.

But a small city like Tongzhou City is different, although the city lord has ordered the closure of the city, but in fact, there are still many internal and external news, which can be transmitted through various channels.

After listening to the report of his subordinates in detail, Kong Houhu didn't care about any etiquette, and pushed open the door of the study and broke in.

The sudden movement almost didn't scare Kong Ji, and now he was too fragile to withstand any stimulation. Seeing that the person who came was Kong Houhu under his command, Kong Ji calmed down, and was about to angrily ask why the other party forced his way into the study, but Kong Houhu took the first step to open his mouth.

"My lord, the murderer of the palace guards has been identified as an organization called the Dark Key Pavilion. Kong Houhu bowed and said in a deep voice.

Hearing the word "assassination", Kong Ji's fat body shook again, and he immediately asked, "Are you sure to send troops to exterminate it?"

Kong Ji, the name of the Dark Key Pavilion, naturally hadn't heard of it, but since the generals under his command had said that they had found out, he definitely wanted to eradicate the other party directly.

Kong Houhu's face was solemn, and he said in a condensed voice: "My lord, not only must we open the city gate, but also withdraw all the defenders. In the next few days, no matter what happens in the city, we must not interfere anymore!"

"Huh?" Kong Ji's eyes widened, his face in disbelief, such a ridiculous statement could come from the mouth of his deputy commander of the garrison.