When Sun Jinyong and the other officials and Shi Cheng returned to Yunqiu City, the sky was already dark.

At this time, before the time for the officials to respond, Zhao Ping said goodbye to Sun Jinyong, and took a few guards to hold the Qincha token, and went straight to Gao Yan's mansion.

Sun Jinyong rode a tall horse and walked in the front, Shi Cheng's mount was slightly behind Sun Jinyong, and Tie Mian and Wu Neng followed behind Shi Cheng.

"I made such a big mess in the city last night, and the charges on my body haven't been cleared yet, I don't know what the adults plan to do with the three of us?" Shi Cheng asked suddenly.

Sun Jinyong's face was very serious, and he said to Shi Cheng seriously: "Shi Cheng, I thought a lot on the way back. I'm giving you a chance, and it's for myself. Before I took up the post of minister, I made a military order in front of the king and the princes of the court, and now the deadline is approaching. In you, it is no exaggeration to say that I see a way to survive my death. ”

"I will order a temporary blackout of news, so that the people of the city will not know that you were the one who escaped from prison last night. In addition, in the name of the minister, I will announce that there are clues that you have nothing to do with the deaths of the people in the free clinic. However, the anger of the people in the city is difficult to quell, and it will take time to calm down the anger of the people in the city, so during this time, it is best for the three of you not to show your face in the city, and act as low-key as possible. You still live at the Shunlai Inn, and when Hou Yu comes back, I will send him to the inn to accompany you, and if you have any needs, just tell him. ”

"Shi Cheng understands, but Shi Cheng has two requests, I hope Lord Sun can grant it."

"Oh? Let's hear it. ”

"First, Shi Cheng hopes that Lord Sun can focus his attention on the free clinic poisoning case in the city, follow the vine, and arrest all the murderers." Speaking of this, a trace of anger flashed in Shi Cheng's eyes, "This is not due to Shi's selfish desires, in Shi's opinion, many things are interrelated to each other, even if it is a coincidence, there are inevitable factors for coincidences to occur." The murderers of the poisoning case are obviously coming towards me, and they must have a connection with the black hand of the Xieyang Dao case, which will be a major breakthrough in the case. ”

"From the information I have, it is very likely that the murderer poisoned him during the curfew. Who else can poison the city on a large scale at the time of curfew but the city guards who patrol the city during the curfew? Sun Jinyong sneered, "Don't worry, I will give you an explanation for this matter and the people in the city." What's your second request? ”

"Shi accidentally heard during the free clinic that the first witness to the death of the ghost village seems to be a businessman, who lives in this city, I wonder if Lord Sun can allow him to meet him in Xia?"

Sun Jinyong turned his head, looked at Shi Cheng, and suddenly laughed, "Shi Cheng, I said why did you rush to the free clinic not long after you entered the city, before I thought that you wanted to take the opportunity to connect with someone, but now it seems that you actually want to use the free clinic to find out the news in the city." ”

Shi Cheng also smiled, "I'm here to track down the Lu Clan, if you go to a place and don't know anything about the local area, wouldn't it be the same as a headless fly?" ”

Sun Jinyong said lightly: "That being said, you are a Chita after all, and in your common saying, you should understand the truth that melon fields are not acceptable." You should be glad that you met me, if you dare to say such things in front of my internal guards or the Great Wei Ti Cavalry, you will wait to be arrested and put in the heavenly prison as a fine work, even if you are the Dan Master of the Pharmacist Chamber of Commerce, I am afraid that you will not be able to save you. ”

Shi Cheng was a little helpless, but he couldn't say anything about it.

Sun Jinyong continued: "That person, I know, I also went to see the merchant and his relatives when I first came to Yunqiu City, but unfortunately, he has been completely frightened crazy, and his relatives can't provide valuable clues. I'll arrange for you to meet him, and you'll wait for news at the inn. ”

"I see, so the three of us should go back to the inn now?"

"No, you go with me to the Qincha Mansion first, so many things have happened, you, an important witness, have to follow me to see the details."

……

Zhao Ping stood in the front hall of the Gao Mansion, and his heart became more and more impatient. After a while, a maidservant girl walked into the hall and said to a noble lady sitting in front of Zhao Ping: "Madam, the master doesn't seem to be in the study, and the maidservant thinks that the master may still be discussing with the guests in the warm pavilion on the other side of the small building." ”

"What?" Mrs. Gao put down the teacup in her hand, frowned and said, "What's the matter?" It is not for nothing that the lord used to talk to the guests until late at night, but he has not heard of anything that needs to be talked about in the morning. ”

"Mrs. Gao." Zhao Ping spoke, his tone was a little stiff, "Lord Qincha is in a hurry to see the city lord, and I want to make it convenient for you to take me to meet the city lord in person, so I can hurry up and get on the road." ”

"Lord Zhao, you're just here to be in charge of delivering a message, but you want to go into the inner courtyard of my house to find someone, isn't this unruly?" Mrs. Gao said contemptuously. She grew up in a scholarly family, and her mother was still from a family of lawyers, so she has always scoffed at martial artists who dance knives and guns.

"Mrs. Gao, there are some things I shouldn't have said to you." Zhao Ping looked at Madam Gao indifferently, "But do you know why Lord Qincha sent me to summon City Lord Gao to the Qincha Mansion so early?" The latest clues show that the city lord Gao was guilty of serious dereliction of duty in the process of investigating the Xieyang Dao case! The city lord of Xia Jinggao is a bachelor, and he has only been waiting here for so long, if he changes to other adults, he may come in directly to get people. ”

Mrs. Gao slapped it on the table angrily, her eyes sharpened, "Lord Zhao, don't you want to use these words to pressure me, I'm not an uninformed country girl!" Although my lord is only a city lord now, the city lord of a big city like Yunqiu City is an official worshipping the sixth grade, although he is not a big official, but he is not a minister without merit who can pinch and rub the round. ”

Zhao Ping's face turned pale, and he restrained his clenched fists, "Since that's the case, then don't blame Zhao Ping for being rude!" In the future, if the city lord of Gao wants to play the bullet seal, Zhao Ping will bear it. But today, for the sake of the case, Zhao Ping can only offend. ”

Zhao Ping took out a short sword from behind him, let go of his whole body, and shouted: "This is the sword given by the king, and those who see this sword are like seeing the king's order!" ”

"You ......" Mrs. Gao originally wanted to say something, but the momentum on Zhao Ping's body was pressed over, making her feel out of breath, and a strong sense of fear surged in her heart for a moment.

In the end, Mrs. Gao relented in front of the tough Zhao Ping, and under the guidance of a maidservant, everyone walked to the door of a warm pavilion.

Mrs. Gao walked to the door, knocked lightly on the heavy wooden door, and said softly: "Master, are you inside, someone has come from the Qincha Mansion, and he is in a hurry, so I want you to go to the Qincha now." ”

But there was no response from inside the door.

"Sir? Master? Mrs. Gao's brows furrowed, and she turned to the maid beside her and asked, "Yulian, are you sure the master is here?" ”

"Madam, we have already searched for the places where the lord of the mansion frequents, but we have not seen any trace of the lord, so I think it should be here." Yulian replied respectfully.

"Master, master, I'm Ah Qin, are you in there, master?" Mrs. Gao put her head close to the wooden door, and the voice was louder, and the hand that knocked on the door used some force, but there was still no response in the room.

At this moment, through the crack of the wooden door, Mrs. Gao suddenly smelled a fishy smell that seemed to come from rust, she quickly covered her nose, frowned, and said softly: "What kind of smell is this?" ”

"Madam, I'll call the door." As he spoke, Zhao Ping walked to the door, knocked on the door, and said loudly: "Lord Gao, Zhao Ping, the captain of the Lower Qincha Guard, in the name of Lord Qincha, there is an urgent matter that needs to be asked to go to the Qincha Mansion to talk about it." ”

There was still no response in the room, as if there was no one in the warm pavilion in the first place.

Zhao Ping was a little impatient, and walked into the door a little more. Just as he was about to push the door open directly, the strange smell that Mrs. Gao smelled also entered his nose.

The moment he smelled that strange smell, Zhao Ping's heart was alarmed, he had been an errand boy in the yamen since he was twenty years old, and now he has been working in the Criminal Procuratorate for four years, so he is no stranger to this strange smell.

Suddenly, Zhao Ping tightened his grip on the handle of the knife and kicked open the wooden door with his foot on the spot.

A strong smell of blood and a warm breeze swept across the face, and the elegantly laid ground was now discordantly covered in a viscous dark red. In the middle of the warm pavilion lay two headless corpses on the blood-soaked rosewood table, and in the soft candlelight, two dead human heads lay quietly in a corner.

"Ah!!h A terrible scream came from behind Zhao Ping, and Mrs. Gao's eyes rolled and she fainted under the violent impact of the scene in front of her.

"Dead man, dead man!" Where had the maidservants around Mrs. Gao seen such a scene, they fled like panicked lambs, and they didn't even bother to help their housewife.

Zhao Ping quickly reacted, pulled over a frightened maid, and yelled: "What's the panic, hurry up and report to the person in charge of your house, and ask him to gather all the family members and subordinates in the family for me, and wait for the summons!" ”

The maid was shocked by Zhao Ping's roar, nodded, and hurriedly ran out to report the news.

Zhao Ping glanced at Mrs. Gao who fell to the ground, sighed, and said to the subordinates behind him: "Ah Hu, you help Mrs. Gao down and hand it over to the people of the Gao Mansion." Ah Fu, you immediately go back to the Qincha Mansion and report the matter here to the adults, me and Lao Qi are staring here, act immediately! ”

"Yes!" The two men who received the order hurriedly left.

……

Shi Cheng was standing in a study in the Qincha Mansion at this time, looking at a map on the table with Wu Neng, on which there were three circles drawn in red charcoal, which were very conspicuous on the parchment. Tie Mian and Sun Jinyong each stood on one side of the table, quietly looking at the map on the table.

"Old Shi, Iron Mask, except for the one in the northeast of the city, another place where there has been an uninhabited village case is quite close to Green Pond Village."

"Moreover, the three villages are under the jurisdiction of Cloud Hill City." Shi Cheng raised his head and looked at Sun Jinyong's side, "Lord Sun, didn't you think this matter was strange before?" ”

"What's the use of thinking it's strange, who would have thought that those villagers who look so normal on the outside can turn into monsters overnight." Sun Jinyong sighed, "I really didn't expect it, it seems that those villagers have already been secretly controlled by means, so the officials who went to investigate didn't find anything unusual." ”

"These bastards!" Wu Neng was extremely angry in his heart, but when he thought of the four half-corpse demons who participated in the siege of him that day, he felt a little uneasy in his heart, "Could there be that kind of demon beast hidden in the other two villages, Lord Sun, if you plan to lead troops to suppress them, you have to be careful of those demon beasts, they are much more difficult than the villagers." ”