Handicraft street, fireworks shop.

The little clock, who was working, suddenly sneezed.

"What's wrong, you're cold?"

Old Zhong put down the pile of saltpeter in his hand and looked at Xiao Zhong with concern.

"It's okay, Master, maybe I haven't had a good rest lately."

Xiao Zhong rubbed his nose, looked at the small round ball that had just been made in his hand, and looked at the brush on his other hand that was stained with black powder, etc., and thought to himself, this black ignition is indeed pungent.

Without thinking about it, he brushed the small ball with black ignite, and in a few moments, a small ball of fireworks took shape.

It was carefully placed on a metal plate beside it, which was now filled with hundreds of the same small black balls.

"Master, why do you say that these little black balls emit such beautiful fireworks when they are ignited?"

The master and apprentice repeat the monotonous work day after day, always boring, so they always use small talk to relieve the boredom.

"Hehe, don't underestimate this little black ball, the ancient alchemists also spent a lot of effort, and finally developed the black powder by chance."

"But what we do is fireworks, which is different from black powder."

"It was the black powder first, and then there were fireworks, your master and my ancestor, was once a monk, according to the genealogy records, the ancestor and several other monks worked together to refine the elixir, there was a violent explosion on the way, and by chance, instead of practicing the elixir, but practiced into black powder, and then the ancestor felt that the black powder hurt people, and improved it into the current fireworks, for people to enjoy."

Xiao Zhong was listening with relish, but was interrupted by a shout outside the door

"Is the old clock there?"

As soon as the old bell heard the voice, he stood up

"Geng'er is here."

Xiao Zhong also stood up and followed the old Zhong out.

Outside the door, a middle-aged man who looked like a farmer pushed a wooden cart, sweating profusely, and showed a simple smile when he saw Lao Zhong.

Old Zhong looked at the peasant's wooden cart, where there were two sacks of burlap and half a cart of firewood, and frowned

"Geng'er, I haven't been here for a few days, why are there so few of them this time?"

The middle-aged farmer named Geng'er had a bitter face and said

"Hey, you don't want to come, you don't know what's going on in the city in the last few days, so you won't let me in."

Xiao Zhong thought about it, a few days ago, the people in the city were panicked, and there was a big chaos, but today, it is calm again, and those officers and soldiers have disappeared cleanly, as if nothing has happened, which is really a bit unbelievable.

Geng'er said again

"Uncle Zhong, don't be too little, recently our village has been robbed, and I don't know which one killed a thousand knives, these things are all stolen, this is already made up by the big guys in our village."

After speaking, he slapped the burlap bag angrily.

Lao Zhong waved his hand helplessly, motioning for Xiao Zhong to throw him a string of money

"That's it, carry me in, how many are there."

Geng'er borrowed money, nodded happily, and then said bitterly

"Uncle, you don't know, this city is in chaos, our village is not having a good time, and we were ......robbed a few days ago."

Lao Zhong didn't bother to listen to his complaints, so he walked into the shop by himself.

Xiao Zhong suddenly looked to the side, but found that the sisters who liked to stand in front of the shop and chat in the past didn't see it today.

He scratched the back of his head, didn't think too much about it, thinking that they were all busy with their own affairs, so he also walked to the shop.

But then he paused again, and somehow remembered Chang Sheng

"I don't know if Uncle Lu and they opened the door today."

The day before yesterday, he couldn't buy Lu's xiaolongbao for Chang Sheng, which made him angry

"Yes, I'll take a look later, if the door is opened, let Aunt Lu leave me a drawer of xiaolongbao tomorrow, Chang Sheng is afraid that he will think about it very much."

Helping Geng'er unload the goods, Xiao Zhong said goodbye to Lao Zhong and ran out of the shop.

"Come back early!"

"Got it!"

Xiao Zhong thought that he could see Chang Sheng again tomorrow, so his pace sped up a little more.

"Oops!"

Suddenly, he seemed to have tripped over something, stumbled, and fell on his heels.

He cried out in pain, turned around, but saw a small gap on the smooth road in the past, and the gap was not big, Xu Xiaozhong himself was careless, and he tripped on his toes.

Xiao Zhong took a closer look at the gap and said strangely

"I don't see a gap here on weekdays."

But he didn't pay much attention to it, and got up and continued to run forward.

However, it didn't take long for him to almost trip again.

"What's going on?"

He was a little annoyed, and found that there was a small gap in the ground not far away, and then he walked forward, only to find that every other way, there seemed to be a gap in the ground that had not existed before.

Finally, he became angry and stomped on the ground with his foot, only to find that the stone slab near the gap on the ground was a little loose, and he became even more angry and scolded in a low voice

"Whoever lacks virtue has nothing to do to dig a road here."

With that, he simply bypassed the middle road and walked along the shop on the side.

After a stick of incense, Xiao Zhong came to the refreshment street.

He was about to continue walking, but suddenly he was pulled into the alley next to him.

"Hmm!"

Suddenly, he was about to shout, but someone covered his mouth.

"Shh

In front of him, a man dressed as an official official made a silent gesture to him, Xiao Zhong frowned, he thought at first it was the officers and soldiers who closed the street a few days ago, but after a closer look, it was the government soldiers of Taiyang Mansion.

Xiao Zhong nodded, and then, the Nafu soldier slowly let go of his hand and said to him

"Boy, I know you."

Xiao Zhong was full of doubts and bowed

"My lord, is there anything I need a villain to do for you?"

The Nafu soldier patted him on the shoulder and said

"My surname is Wang, just call me Brother Wang."

Brother Wang pointed to the opposite side, and Xiao Zhong looked in the direction that Brother Wang pointed, where it happened to be Lu's steamed bun shop.

"Brother Wang, what's wrong."

Brother Wang said

"I've been staring at this street for days, and I know you know that couple well."

Xiao Zhong nodded blankly

"yes, what's wrong?"

At the same time, he also found that the door of Lu's steamed bun shop is still closed today.

"Do you know where this old couple has gone?"

Brother Wang asked.

Xiao Zhong shook his head

"I haven't seen them in days."

Brother Wang pondered for a moment, and slapped Xiao Zhong on the shoulder.

"Smack!"

"Well, Taiyang Mansion has a task to teach you now."

He looked at Xiao Zhong with a smile on his face, but in Xiao Zhong's opinion, the smile was a little infiltrating.

"Taiyang Mansion suspects that there has been a homicide in that shop, but no one has reported it, and Taiyang Mansion can't break into people's homes at will, and now I need your help."

Xiao Zhong exclaimed

"Homicide! Then Uncle Lu and Aunt Lu ......?"

Brother Wang lowered his head and sighed

"Alas, most of that old couple is also very lucky."

When Xiao Zhong heard the news, his whole brain was buzzing, and after a long time, he came back to his senses and nodded firmly

"Okay, I'll go!"

Brother Wang patted him on the shoulder again

"Okay, the cooperation between the government and the people can solve every case, go ahead."

Xiao Zhong was apprehensive, and cautiously walked towards Lu's steamed bun shop.

In the alley, another government soldier walked up to Brother Wang's side, looking at Xiao Zhong's back, his eyes were full of banter

"Brother Wang is really poisonous, he deceived this kid into sending him to death in a few words."

Brother Wang sneered

"Public-private cooperation, hahahaha."

There are many outsiders on the refreshment street, which brings together delicacies from all over the world, and outsiders who come to the capital always like to come here to find some taste of their hometown.

Of course, the most popular is the local food in Beijing, and Lu's Steamed Bun Shop is the most famous and best steamed bun shop on this refreshment street.

The old couple of the bun shop are authentic Beijing people, and the number of times the store has been closed in the past few decades, and it has never been closed for several days in a row like this.

Xiao Zhong stood in front of the bun shop and looked around for a long time, not knowing how to get in, and he didn't dare to come to the door and look inside through the crack in the door, for fear that passers-by would look at him as a thief.

Suddenly, his head seemed to have been hit by something, and when he looked back, it was a ball of paper, and he looked around, opened it, but saw that the paper ball said: Go around to the back door.

He thought that it should be a hint from Brother Wang.

After walking a few steps forward and walking past the tofu stall next to the steamed bun shop, there is a narrow alley, and Xiao Zhong followed the narrow alley to the back door of the bun shop.

As soon as I wanted to knock on the door, I remembered what Brother Wang said.

If there is a murder, what if the murderer is alarmed?

Thinking so, Xiao Zhong withdrew his hand again.

He took two steps back and looked closely, the back door should be a backyard, and the fence in the backyard was not very high, so he simply climbed over the wall and went in.

It didn't take long for him to climb over the wall and enter the yard, which was not very big, but he found that the ground was covered with dust, and it seemed that no one had cleaned it for a while.

Even the bamboo steamer that was drying in the corner of the yard was covered with a thin layer of ash.

Walk through the courtyard to enter the bun shop, the door is just hidden at the moment, as long as the bell gently pushes in.

The little bell took off his shoes and crept closer to the door, not wanting to make any noise.

He just walked to the door, but he noticed a burst of heating rushing towards him, and he suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, someone!

Even if Xiao Zhong couldn't say anything, when the heat came out of the crack in the door, he felt a completely different atmosphere from the depressed courtyard outside the house, and the first feeling of a house inhabited by people and a house that was uninhabited was always different.

The bell slowly pressed his ear to the wall, trying to hear if there was any sound inside.

But after a moment's pause, he couldn't hear anything, so he had to be bold enough to get to the crack in the door, and look carefully inside.

It was pitch black inside, and it was only a few feet as far as the eye could see, and just as Xiao Zhong left the crack in the door in disappointment, he suddenly heard the sound of breathing!

Suddenly, Xiao Zhong broke out in a cold sweat!

He unconsciously held his breath and didn't dare to move.

"Whew!"

With another sound, Xiao Zhong's hairs stood on end, and the whole person couldn't stop trembling.

There really are people!

Xiao Zhong secretly said in his heart: Isn't it that the murderer hasn't left yet?