After completing the formalities, the shopkeeper removed the tag and key from the wall and walked out of the counter.

"The guest comes with me."

The shopkeeper led the way in front, and Zhao Lin noticed that one of his legs was lame, walking very slowly, and he was slightly hunched over.

When he passed by Room No. 9, Zhao Lin saw a seal on the door, which was covered with dust.

The shopkeeper opened the door of room No. 10, handed the key to Zhao Lin, and said with a smile: "Guest officer, you take it, say hello if you have something." ”

When Zhao Lin took the key, he quickly glanced at it and found that there was a layer of pale yellow calluses at the base of the palm of the shopkeeper's hand.

This cocoon is too familiar to him!

Skin training needs to insert the palm into the iron sand, the skin continues to form calluses, molt, after the skin is successfully reinstated, the skin will be restored as new, but there will be a vertical line in the palm, and some calluses on the root of the finger will be left.

When Zhao Lin first entered the hall, he observed that there were no vertical lines in the palm of the shopkeeper's hand, and there were no blue and white bone joints on the back of his hand.

However, both of these things will gradually become shallower with age, and once a martial artist breaks through the qi realm, these appearances will also disappear.

But the calluses on the palms of the hands will always be there.

Is it a cocoon left by perennial labor, or has it been practiced martial arts?

Zhao Lin's heart tightened, his face remained silent, and he said, "Okay!" ”

Walk into the room and close the door with your backhand.

It's broad daylight and the sun is shining through the high windows.

The room is simply furnished, except for the earthen kang, there is only a table and a chair, and there is a wooden bucket by the door and a towel.

Zhao Lin turned around on the spot, his eyes swept over the deadbolt, window, ceiling and floor, and secretly wondered in his heart: "With such a room layout, how did the murderer escape after closing the doors and windows?" ”

Could it be that he is a martial arts master with some kind of special ability?

But no matter how strong the force is, it is impossible to violate the laws of physics and lock the door from the outside.

Sun Zhang has already checked the underground secret passages or hidden compartments, and there is no route to get out of Room Nine except for doors and windows, which should be credible.

Zhao Lin decided to stay first and observe for a while.

The yamen has already greeted him, and no one will disturb him.

I didn't sleep well last night, so Zhao Lin lay on the bed, half-closed his eyes, and turned on his abnormal hearing every once in a while to scan the movements coming from his surroundings.

Since the fight became a quick catch, the bandits did not send anyone to follow and monitor, but Zhao Lin still did not dare to relax his vigilance.

The inn is not as good as the county government, in case someone is blocked inside, it will be troublesome to catch turtles in an urn.

For this reason, he brought an axe from the house on Shuncheng Street, and in case of danger, he forcibly broke through the wall and escaped.

During the day, the inn is relatively deserted, and most of the guests go out, and it doesn't start to be lively until around dinner.

Before dark, the guy brought hot water, and after Zhao Lin washed up, he closed the doors and windows and sat down in the middle of the room.

"If the killer had been hiding in the inn, he or they would have behaved in some unusual way."

Thinking like this in his heart, Zhao Lin's Adam's apple vibrated at a high speed, and his hearing was fully opened, receiving sounds from all directions like radar.

People came and went in the hall from time to time, and the porters and workers in the lower room across the corridor were chatting and farting.

The guests on the second floor did not rest, some listened to music, some drank, and some called for special services, and the sound of "squeak" and "babble" resounded.

The more Zhao Lin didn't want to hear it, the more these sounds drilled into his ears.

Originally, this kind of all-round monitoring was a great load on the body and mind, and with these noise interference, Zhao Lin felt dizzy after listening to it for a while.

"No, listening to this will tire people to death."

Zhao Lin immediately changed his strategy and began to monitor intermittently, but he heard it late at night and did not get any useful information.

"There's no hurry, this kind of thing takes time, and it's strange if the murderer is found on the first day."

The next day, Zhao Lin continued to listen, but still did not hear any abnormal noise.

However, it was not for nothing, he knew how many guys, bookkeepers, errands, cooks, and small workers in the inn were clear.

On the third day, Zhao Lin had been listening to the middle of the night.

Bang Bang ......

There were two sounds of beating on the street.

"It's the second watch."

Zhao Lin sighed, thinking that he would get nothing today, when a vague whisper suddenly came from his ears.

"What sound?"

Zhao Lin was alert.

The sound is very small, intermittent, and the source of the sound is not far from itself, but it seems to be separated by a very thick wall.

Zhao Lin secretly felt strange, the inn room was a wooden structure, and the sound insulation was very ordinary, as long as there was a sound coming out, he could use his extraordinary hearing to amplify it.

But this time the whispering voice was so faint that even if it was amplified, it was similar to a mosquito calling.

Zhao Lin walked back and forth in the house, trying to find a place with a strong "signal".

doorways, on tables, under windows, corners...... I didn't find the right place after two turns.

Zhao Lin thought for a while, looked at the floor under his feet, leaned down, and put his ear to the floor.

The sound suddenly got a lot louder!

There seemed to be two people talking under the floor, and words like "worried" and "two months" could be heard sporadically.

There are hidden tunnels underground!

Zhao Lin moved his body against the floor, and the volume of his voice also changed.

When his head reached the earthen kang, his voice became clearer.

At this time, he could already hear the conversation clearly, and only heard a deep and mellow voice say: "The wind is tight these days, don't come out." ”

Zhao Lin breathed a little, and the voice ...... It's the innkeeper!

Then, a rough voice said, "Got it, you go back quickly......

A deep and mellow voice added, "Okay, you can bear with it for a few days." ”

"Got it......"

The hoarse voice muttered a few words, and the voice became lower and lower, after which the two stopped talking, only the dull footsteps faded away.

Zhao Lin glanced outside the door, walked out quickly, and walked through the corridor to the hall.

There were not many people in the hall, only a few guests drinking and chatting, and the guy on duty had one hand on his chin, looking like he hadn't woken up.

"Guest, what do you want?"

Zhao Lin casually found a place to sit down, and the guy walked over with a yawn and asked.

"A pot of tea."

"Wait a minute."

Zhao Lin let go of his hearing and heard the sound of slight footsteps in the room behind the counter, followed by the sound of taking off his shoes and going to bed.

"Guest, tea is here." The guy came over with tea.

"Good work."

Zhao Lin paid for the tea, gave a few rewards, and asked casually, "Man, where are you resting at night?" ”

The guy took the money and pointed in the direction of the counter, "Go back to the guest officer, the little one will sleep in the back outhouse." ”

"Where's your shopkeeper?"

"Sleeping in the ......"

Zhao Lin glanced at it, and it was the direction from which the voice came from just now.

He drank half a pot of tea, returned to his room, and went directly to the earthen kang.

Gently remove all the futon mattresses on top, revealing the clay kang countertop below.

The clay kang is made of bricks and stones, and a layer of fine cement is smeared on it, and a two-foot square mud in the middle is newly plastered, and the color is different from other places.

"I see."

Zhao Lin sighed lightly, vaguely guessing the outline of the matter.

There was a murder in a closed room in Room 9, and everyone's search focus was on Room 9, but they didn't expect the murderer to come from Room 10.

Judging from the file, room 10 was not occupied that day.

It is very likely that the murderer entered room 9 through the partition wall of room 10, returned to room 10 after the killing, and escaped through the secret passage.

Thinking of this, Zhao Lin walked quickly to the partition wall of the two rooms.

The partition wall is made of long wooden planks that are spliced together and are very strong.

Zhao Lin gently patted the wall, listening to the sound while carefully inspecting each plank from top to bottom with his naked eye.

It was found that all the planks were the same color as the old and new, and there were no unusual sounds.

"Shouldn't it?"

Zhao Lin pondered for a while, and finally fixed his gaze on the beam.