Aldrich turned over and dismounted, and walked up the stairs to the gallows, his eyes staring at the hemp rope fluttering in the night wind, and his eyelids fluttered with the neat stubble, and he was secretly surprised that this man's strength was not enough to be a violent bear.

Wandering around the gallows, with no more clues to use in the thin moonlight, Knight Tris returned to the surface and slowly paced to a place with a lot of fresh marks. The smell of blood was the strongest here, Aldrich stooped over and squatted, his fingers twisting a small handful of damp dirt, touching the tip of his nose and sniffing it, and sure enough, he smelled a strong smell of blood.

"What's the matter with all these imprints?" said Rufer West, who was beside him, pointing to the dense lines around him.

"It should be a scaly reptile! These tiny scales can only be cold-blooded poisonous snakes. Strange, how could such a large number be gathered, is there a snake nest near the execution ground?" Knight Tris felt that something was wrong, even when he was cultivating in the Whispering Forest before, he had never seen so many snakes gathered.

The boar stood far away on the periphery of the execution ground, not wanting to be called in the past, especially Aldrich, a 'newcomer' who had not been tested for a long time.

Don't think that taking some money out to buy people's hearts and teaching us breathing techniques that we don't know will make us obediently obey. West is a money-hungry softie, and this Tris can't be relied on. Each time we come in a hurry, stop for a while, and leave in a hurry when we have enough money or qualifications, and the Night Watchman will ultimately rely on us to hold up this stage for you to show your strength. ’

"Captain West, I found four strings of fresh footprints, belonging to three people. "After all, Knight Tris has been trained in the Whispering Forest, and he has a lot of experience in tracking down his prey with clues, and it didn't take long to find the key clues.

Captain Rufer West, the captain of the Night Watchman, followed the direction of his finger and squinted his eyes in the dim moonlight, "Sure enough. This is a unique wavy pattern of soft-soled boots sold on the market, which belongs to one person back and forth. The indentation on his left foot is a little deep, and it is obvious that his legs and feet are not very neat, maybe he is a cripple, at least unlike ordinary people. ”

Aldridge glanced at Captain West in surprise, he didn't expect him to see so many things, some of which coincided with his own, and some of which were beyond the scope of what was known, and it was clear that this Rufer West was not incompetent.

"Sure enough, he can become the captain-level leader of the supervising side, none of them are simple people, and with the experience and experience accumulated in the Night Patrol Knight, am I underestimating him a little?"

The knight of Triss reflected on himself, and no longer looked at Rufu West with a superior gaze from below, and the pillar of humility suddenly sprung up, only a little thin, 'Oh! it is I who has accumulated habits that are hard to change, and it is a dangerous tendency for things to be carried out smoothly lately, and some arrogance has turned into vanity. ’

"What's wrong with you, look like you're in a daze!" Captain West patted Aldridge on the shoulder, immediately 'waking' him up.

"It's nothing! I'm just wondering if I'm too self-assertive about my actions and not taking into account your feelings. After all, you're the captain of the Night Watchman, and it's up to you to survey the scene. ”

Rufu West's heart sank, and his perception of the Knight of Tris was refreshed again, and he felt that he really did not see the wrong person, this young man who was familiar with a variety of knightly skills, behaved very decently, knew how to measure and advance and retreat.

'I won't be willing to pull you to my side as soon as possible and become the deputy of the wings and assistants.' ’

He had already made up his mind, and immediately changed the subject: "And here, there are only shoe prints that enter, very rare leather boots, I remember that only night walkers will wear, including wanderers, thieves, assassins, but it is very strange that this shoe print has no source, it does not enter from outside the execution ground, but appears out of thin air." ”

Aldrich nodded, "Yes, it's weird indeed. He looked up and around, and there was no place for the nocturnal walkers who walked the cornices, except for the lonely knell tower.

Captain West then traced the last deep footprint, which stretched from the gallows to the apartment building to the east, and further on, the footprints were erased, "Apparently a great connoisseur, who was careful to hide himself and leave no clues to follow." ”

"Is the corpse thief he was talking about? Carrying a corpse, it is no wonder that such footprints are left, but its depth is somewhat suspicious, and it should not be so shallow. "The Knight of Tris tested the softness of the soil with his feet, and with a little exertion he left a clear shoe print.

Rufu West nodded his head approvingly, "You're right, it's a little strange. However, considering that the hanged man was a member of the Shattered Mask, it is likely that the person who stole the body was from the same organization. ”

"You may not know that the secret societies of the dark world, especially those with unique origins, will not allow the corpses of their members to be taken by outsiders, because rivals or allies are likely to use anatomy and alchemy to decipher the methods of extracting those sources, and even restore most of the true appearance that can be hidden. ”

"For example, the legendary Broken Mask, who was defeated by the High Lords of the Lords, has an unknown number of secret forces to secretly remove the remains of rebels and mission losers, fearing that the shadow power they claim to have obtained from the Lord of Shadows will be revealed to those outside the Order. ”

Captain West shook his head, "This matter is not something that our Night Watchmen can handle, hand it over to the Dark Police Department as soon as possible, and those Night Knights will deal with them." The Broken Mask has just been resurrected and has lost a member, and although it is mixed with the intrigues of the Merchants' Federation, once the blood is shed, things often get very tricky. ”

Aldrich, who had unconsciously learned another lesson, was silent and did not speak, the intricacies of the case made him a little overwhelmed by the intricacies of the manor lord and the country knight not long ago, Tris was good at hunting the battle between beasts and knights, and as a lord, he was only familiar with the art of domination and deceit.

Otherwise, he would not have been almost bankrupt by the merchants, and even the territory would have to change hands. He'd only been in Eastwood for a few days, but he had experienced more than a year in the countryside.

I'm going to continue to learn, even from scratch, how to adapt to this era of gloom and gloom over the sky and people's hearts. ’

Aldrich's thoughts did not continue, because the abnormal changes in the execution ground had already attracted the night knights who came from time to time to enter in advance, and they did not know how to contact their companions, and one after another, twelve aces of the Dark Police Department in scale armor and gray robes came, and they were silently scattered around, like a net to collect any valuable clues.

The leader turned out to be an acquaintance, and handed over the suspect Musk to the veteran Night Knight Titus of the Dark Police Department, and unlike last time, he came to Captain Rufu West, the Night Patrol Knight, with a cold face, and asked him why he didn't do his best to protect the scene.

"Lord Titus, even though we are not professionals, everything on site has remained as it is, and there has not been the slightest bit of damage. "Captain Vester pushed back without falling into the slightest.

"I hear your assurances, very good, worthy of His Excellency Ruff West. Titus, who looked much better, softened his tone a lot, "You Night Watchmen were the first to arrive, what did you find?"

"I'm very sorry, Lord Titus, we were on our regular patrol through Coral Boulevard, and when we heard a movement in the direction of the execution ground, we immediately came in to check on it, and you were there. Before you could discover anything, the Dark Police Department took over the situation, and you are as fast as ever, which is really admirable. ”

On the gallows of the execution ground, there was only a broken noose, whether it was a corpse robber or an accomplice of the tortured, it meant the negligence of the Secret Police Department, after all, this place was under their jurisdiction.

The cunning beast succeeded in taking advantage of the time difference, and the hunter was empty-handed, and the trap he had set up was nothing, and he lost the sweet bait. Although it is a bit faceless, this responsibility must not be shouldered by the Secret Police Department alone, otherwise it will become an excuse for the business councilors of the City Hall to take advantage of the issue. Since the Night Watchman is a well-bred hound dug out of the corner of the city guard in the city hall, you must be dragged into the water. At least it will make some people obediently shut their mouths, after all, the call for the Gui Legislators to abolish this department has always been high, and the two sides are fighting back and forth. Our sovereign, the Earl of Eastwood, will be able to act as an impartial arbiter to quietly erase the aftermath of this incident, and I will not leave a stain on my resume for rivals to exploit. ’

Titus, a veteran Night Knight who had turned his mind for an unknown number of turns, tried to squeeze out a smile, hoping to use his previous friendly contacts to try to let Ruif West share part of the responsibility, but the captain of the Night Patrol Knight, who had also been trained, was not interested at all, even if the other party proposed a large bounty, it did not move his heart as greedy for money.

'Damn, West, the money-hungry old dragon, when did he open his mind, and he actually saw the doorway inside, and pulled himself out with all his might. Could it be that he suffered a loss last time, and he woke him up. ‘

Unfortunately, I don't like to deal with smart people who have their own opinions, don't follow the baton of others, and are hard to convince in person. ’

Since the temptation to profit is unsuccessful, then directly use power to crush it. No, it doesn't. Rufu West is the captain of the Night Watchman, one level above me, and even if the status of the Dark Police Department is relatively high, the Count, who values the order of the noble clan, will not support this. ’

Besides, grabbing Vest's arm and pressing him on his back to force him to complete the deal would only make this hard-won friendship instantly ruined, which would be too detrimental to future plans, unless the Night Watchman changed the captain, it was better not to do this kind of thing. ’

Just as Titus pondered how to salvage the situation, Raul Blank, his longtime deputy, ran over and whispered in his ear.

Aldrich's face tightened, "I was negligent, it was really dark under the lamp, I was so careless that I forgot to survey the most important gallows." ’

Titus's eyebrows fluttered, he deliberately straightened his waist, "What? What did you say? Can you not be so quiet, louder, okay?"

Raul Blanc understood and immediately reported in a loud voice: "After investigation, it was found that there was a fresh corpse under the gallows, the body was still warm, the blood had not coagulated, and according to the calculation, the time of death would not exceed five minutes. ”

Captain West's right eyelid jumped: "And this thing, we didn't see it at all." Of course, we have just entered the execution ground, where do we have time to investigate the scene, since it has been discovered by your secret police department, there is no need to hand it over. ”

Titus was a little annoyed that he couldn't splash any dirty water on it, and scolded Rufer West in his heart, but as long as he couldn't help him, he had to continue to squeeze out a smile.

"If you don't mind, please come with us and take a look, after all, the identity of that corpse is likely to be an accomplice of the criminal who was tortured by the ring, and it is not known if any clues can be found. You said yes, Captain West. ”

Titus, the veteran Night Knight, reached out and put his hand on Rufu West's shoulder, regardless of his feelings, as if coerced, 'walking side by side', allowing the Night Watchman's unwilling feet to drag their feet to the ground in varying lengths.

Aldrich Triss was blind and, in the name of justice, stood up and said no to coercive behavior. He stepped forward quickly, standing with the two fingers of his left hand like a sword, and pressed a little harder on the back of Titus's right hand.

The pain like a red-hot steel needle suddenly piercing made the veteran night knight can't help but withdraw his right hand, and when he found that there was nothing unusual, he glared at Aldrich fiercely, only to find that the opponent's dark eyes were as deep as a well, and the spiritual attack secretly sent out was fruitless.

Regaining his freedom, Rufer West did not back down, standing between the two knights, Titus and Tris, so that the tension did not turn to conflict.

"Aldrich Tris, my lieutenant and heir to the Knights of Military Merit, possesses far greater strength than ordinary knights. Three days ago, His Excellency Quincy Rodney, Grand Master of the Cold Mountain Knights under the Earl of Eastwood, personally signed a recruitment order, and on his first day as a Night Patrol Knight, he personally captured the murderers who had injured the high-ranking members of the Merchants' Federation in a dark alley, and sent this veteran thief shadow player in the dark world to the gallows......"

He suddenly turned his head to look at Knight Tris, "I'm not wrong, am I?"

Aldridge saw that the veteran Night Knight's face was a little ugly, so he couldn't help but smile and nodded slightly, "Captain West, what you said is not wrong at all. ”