After the three of them walked into the inn, they put down their burdens and swords, Li Haotian told them, and then went out first and said that they wanted to inquire about the news of the flower thief, and let Xu Fan and Nian Shuiyin wait at the inn.

The two have no objection to this.

In terms of skill, Li Haotian far surpasses the two of them. In terms of communication, Li Haotian is a typical cold-faced and hot-hearted, and it is enough to surpass his peers and mingle with other disciples.

After Li Haotian left, Xu Fan thought for a while, took out a thing from his arms, showed a smile on his face, pushed open the door and walked towards Nian Shuiyin's room.

Knock Knock Knock –

"Who?"

As there was a knock on the door, there was a crisp sound of Nian Shui from inside.

At this time, Xu Fan's heart was up and down, like a drum, and he was a little apprehensive, and he didn't realize that his voice was a little trembling.

"Senior sister, it's me, Xu Fan."

The door creaked open, and a slender figure of Nian Shuiyin appeared inside.

"Little junior brother, why are you here, is there something wrong? Don't stand, come in. ”

For so many years, when there were only Xu Fan and Nian Shuiyin, they would subconsciously remove their surnames and call each other senior sister or junior brother.

This is a little secret that the two of them have secreted. After all, in the entire sect, everyone can see that Xu Fan and Nian Shuiyin have a good relationship.

The corners of Xu Fan's mouth twitched: "I, I won't go in." Senior sister, here you go. ”

As he spoke, he took out the thing wrapped in oiled paper from behind him.

Nian Shuiyin was puzzled, took the things in Xu Fan's hand, and after opening the oil paper bag, a string of red rock sugar gourds lay quietly on it.

The red one is like someone's heart, hot and intense.

Nian Shuiyin happily took a bite, feeling the sweet but not greasy, sour but not astringent feeling between his teeth, and said, "That's the taste." Senior Brother Xu, when did you go to buy it? ”

Looking at the satisfied look on Nian Shuiyin's face, Xu Fan's heart fluttered slightly, and he said a little shyly: "On the way here, you said that you like to eat rock sugar gourds, and I ran to buy it while you were watching juggling." ”

After listening to Xu Fan's words, Nian Shuiyin was stunned and was silent for a long time.

still holding the action of holding the rock sugar gourd, his mind is ethereal, a little distracted, and he doesn't know what he is thinking.

Xu Fan thought she wasn't very happy, and said hurriedly: "Senior Sister Nian, what's wrong with you?" ”

Nian Shuiyin came back to his senses at this time, looked at him steadily, his expression was unprecedentedly solemn, and even said with a hint of expectation: "It's okay, I just suddenly feel that Xu Fan is so good, why are you so good to me?" ”

Looking at Nian Shuiyin's aggressive appearance, Xu Fan almost wanted to blurt out the words I like you.

But when the words came to his lips, he remembered that he was terminally ill and died soon, he suppressed his feelings, smiled unnaturally, and said: "Senior Sister Nian, you think about it too much, we are senior sisters and brothers, and we grew up together since childhood, you take care of me a lot, and I am good to you, which is natural." ”

Nian Shuiyin looked at him and asked further, "Xu Fan, are we just senior sisters and brothers?" ”

Looking at Nian Shui's eyes that were like water, and the expectation contained in them, Xu Fan's hand in the sleeve robe clenched into a fist.

He coughed and stammered a little, "Naturally, naturally it is the senior sister and brother." ”

After hearing this answer, Nian Shuiyin glanced at him deeply, and suddenly his face was calm, and he said, "Senior Brother Xu, is there anything else, if it's okay, I want to rest for a while, I'm tired." ”

Without giving Xu Fan a chance to answer, she stretched out her hands and slammed the two doors shut.

Leaving Xu Fan alone awkwardly standing at the door, his voice was hoarse and bitter, and he said in a low voice: "It's okay, it's okay." ”

When Li Haotian came back, he saw Xu Fan sitting in the room, opening the window, and looking down from the second floor.

It's just that his eyes are blank and listless, indicating that his attention is not on the traffic below.

Seeing his good brother come back, Xu Fan turned around, stood up and poured him a cup of tea, and asked, "But did you hear anything?" ”

Seeing that he took the initiative to bring up the topic, obviously not wanting to say why he was depressed, Li Haotian didn't ask much, took a sip of tea and said, "Don't say it, it really made me hear some clues." ”

Xu Fan suddenly came to his senses and asked, "What did you hear, tell me quickly." ”

"After I got out of the inn, I walked all the way to the east entrance of the alley, where there were all kinds of people. As soon as I opened my mouth, someone took the initiative to take over the conversation, and I heard them say that a month ago, there was suddenly a flower thief in the city, specifically targeting young and beautiful women, and three women have been victimized since then, and this flower thief is also interesting, and every time he finishes his life, he will leave hundreds of taels of silver in the woman's house. ”

Hearing this, Xu Fan couldn't cry or laugh, didn't he say that the flower thieves were heinous, what was the purpose of leaving the silver after this incident.

Li Haotian continued: "I inquired, this flower thief commits a crime every five days, without any warning in advance, and no one knows who his next target will be. ”

Xu Fan frowned: "In this case, Qingshan City is so big, I can estimate the time, but where to go to intercept him." ”

After a deep groan, Li Haotian took out a map from his arms, and after spreading it out, Xu Fan realized that this map turned out to be Qingshan City.

He stretched out his hand, pointed to the map and analyzed: "I asked, the three women who have been victimized are in the western suburbs of the city, the eastern suburbs of the city, and the northern suburbs of the city. ”

With each name, his finger pointed to a spot on the map.

When he had finished speaking, he stopped talking.

Xu Fan's eyes suddenly lit up, met Li Haotian's eyes, and guessed: "What do you mean is that the next victim should be here." ”

As he spoke, Xu Fan's finger also pointed on the map: Southern suburbs!

Li Haotian chuckled lightly and said: "I think so too, I inquired just now, and you said that it was a coincidence or not, the Tongfu Inn where we live is in the center of the southern suburbs." And when I came back, I paid special attention to it, the southern suburbs can be regarded as the old town of Qingshan City, this place has roads in all directions, and there is almost no place to hide. ”

Xu Fan continued his words and said, "You mean, look at the time, we secretly hide at various intersections, and then wait and see what happens, and wait for the rabbit?" ”

The two have lived since they were children, and just by looking at each other or making a move, they can guess what the other party is going to do next and what their plans are.

"Today happens to be the first day of the new year, which is very in line with the time of the flower thief."

Li Haotian inquired that the three victim women were victimized on the first, tenth, and twentieth days of the previous month. So according to his modus operandi, the next victim is today, and it is not surprising that it is near here.

Therefore, it is better to be clever than to be in a hurry.

So, Xu Fan and Li Haotian did not inform Nian Shuiyin, and the two continued to study on the map to find the best place to ambush each other.

As for why he didn't tell Nian Shuiyin, the reason was very simple, the young young woman who was specifically targeted by the flower thief, Nian Shuiyin just met his appetite.

Secondly, Nian Shuiyin's martial arts are too poor, and if he can't intercept the bandits, he will be robbed, and when the time comes, whether the other party will threaten them hostage or simply take them captive to spoil them, it will not be the ending that the two of them want.

Xu Fan's thoughts about Nian Shuiyin, Li Haotian has always known.

It's just that this is his personal private matter, and as a brother, it's hard to speak, so he can only pay attention silently to the sidelines.

Before he finished speaking, he heard a knock on the door, and Li Haotian hurriedly put away the map.

Glancing at it suspiciously, Xu Fan's face was not very natural, but he sat there without moving.

In the past, Xu Fan was always the most proactive about the arrival of Nian Shuiyin, and immediately thought of something that must have happened to the two of them in the time he went out just now.

The reason why Xu Fan was absent-minded when he came back just now is probably because of this.

He shook his head, then opened the door, and stood outside the door with the sound of water.

At this time, she changed into a plain robe and took off the clothes of the sect disciples, making her look even more delicate and dignified.

Li Haotian turned sideways and let her in and closed the door casually.

I only heard Nian Shui Yin open his mouth and asked, "Senior Brother Li, have you heard any news?" ”

Xu Fan's eyes drifted in the direction of Nian Shuiyin, and he saw that her face was as usual, and she didn't have the aggressive posture just now.

He lowered his head slightly in frustration, his hands crossed together, his joints slightly white.

Li Haotian saw everything in his eyes and sighed lightly in his heart.

"I went out for a walk and made a round of inquiries, but the flower thieves were here to commit crimes, but I didn't get a trace of useful clues."

Hearing this news, Nian Shuiyin was not surprised, after all, she would not be naïve to think that the young ranger would immediately meet the little bandit as soon as he came down the mountain, and then staged a drama of slashing the thief with a sword.

Glancing at Xu Fan, seeing that he lowered his head and didn't know what he was thinking, Nian Shuiyin shifted his gaze to Li Haotian again, and comforted: "Senior Brother Li doesn't have to be discouraged, punishing evil and eliminating traitors is not an overnight effort, let's go and investigate again in the afternoon, I believe there will definitely be useful clues." ”

Li Haotian followed her words and said casually: "What Senior Sister said is very true. ”

glanced at Xu Fan again, and just found that Xu Fan raised his head and was secretly looking at himself, Nian Shuiyin was secretly annoyed.

When he found Nian Shuiyin's gaze, Xu Fan's old face turned red, and he lowered his head again and remained silent.

There was silence in the room, and the three of them stood or sat without speaking for a while.

In the end, Nian Shuiyin interrupted the silence, lightly opened his lips, and said: "Since there is no news for the time being, then I will go back first, wait for us to tidy up a little, and then go out to continue to inquire after lunch." ”

After speaking, regardless of whether the two agreed or not, he pulled the door and walked out.

Seeing her figure leave the room, and after hearing the sound of the door closing next door, Xu Fan breathed a sigh of relief, but his face was still a little bitter.