The small courtyard where Zhan Yuanzi lives is surrounded by four sides, and it is not often windy on weekdays.

But at this moment, the windows at the back of the house were open, and the front door was broken, but there was convection.

Hong Fanjing stepped into the courtyard.

The stone steps and green tiles are all pure white covered with snow.

So the only red color is particularly eye-catching.

Under the pillars, a man sat leaning back.

The head is lowered, and you can't see your face.

A sword pierced through his heart to the hilt and nailed into the wooden post, revealing a twisting metal section.

Hong Fan recognized the sword.

Narrow and sharp, it is Zhan Yuanzi's sword, named "Lingshu".

He did not act rashly, but stood on the spot, carefully observing the environment.

All of this indicates that the site has been inactive for some time.

No traces of danger were found.

So Hong Fan couldn't stop any longer.

He scattered his sand armor and strode forward, kneeling on one knee in front of the corpse, holding his breath and brushing away his hanging hair.

His eyes were closed.

The lip color is lighter than usual.

Isn't it Zhan Yuanzi or who?

The world was as quiet as if it were freezing at this moment.

Hong Fan opened his eyes like an electric shock and withdrew his hand.

His sideburns swayed stiffly.

The blood that flowed from Zhan Yuanzi's heart dried up on the ground, like a root tendril, deep into the white of the snow.

Hong Fan didn't dare to look at people anymore, so he had to look at the sword.

The sword body is horizontal, and near the handle is a clear sword inscription - Ning Zhen Dao Secret, moving Qing Lingshu.

Gold and iron pierce the heart, what is the pain?

Hong Fan instinctively wanted to draw his sword, but stopped for a moment before he grasped the hilt of the sword.

[No murder weapons.] 】

He thought bitterly, so he had to shake Zhan Yuanzi's hanging hand.

It's all about holding a piece of ice.

The heat is withdrawn and the flow of blood is slowed down.

The living and the dead seem to be united, dead and silent like a painting.

Poof, poof......

There was a faint sound of snow stomping behind Hong Fan

His eyes were cracked, and he turned his head sharply to see a mass of orange looking at him at the courtyard gate.

It was a raccoon slave left behind when Bai Jiaci moved away.

Its fur was still stained with blood.

"Come here......"

Hong Fan called softly.

The voice was hoarse, as if it had rust in it.

When the kitten heard this, she spread her legs and ran over, trembling and sticking to his legs.

After a few moments, a faint heat penetrates the pants and prints on the skin.

"Hoo ......"

Hong Fan finally exhaled the turbid breath that had been smothering in his chest for a long time.

He lifted the kitten up and held it tightly in his arms.

"Meow!"

The cat barked lowly, too.

Still frightened.

······

In the twenty-ninth year of Zhenghe, the Lantern Festival.

The sun was slowly setting in the west, about four o'clock in the afternoon.

The Hong family's left-behind people in Xijing saw their second young master coming in from outside the door with an orange cat.

It was the first time they had seen each other's unsmiling faces.

It's frighteningly cold from the inside out.

In a short time, the people rushed along the Sixth Hengjie to various places in Xijing.

On the day of the reunion, there was no one in the Zhangwu Courtyard except for the guards of key facilities.

It's not an easy night to look for.

The first to arrive were Wu Hongyan and Wu Ruyi.

When the Hong family found them, the mother and daughter were preparing to go out - this year's Lantern Festival was in Asahi Mansion, and it was already agreed.

The bad news came so suddenly that it was hard to believe.

When walking through the streets and alleys, Wu Ruyi's expression was grim, but there was still luck.

Until she saw Zhan Yuanzi's ice-carved corpse, her tears immediately fell.

Not long after the moonlight fell, Jian Siyuan and Lu Yunshi arrived on their front and back feet.

It was Wu Hongyan who came up to receive her.

The two first checked Zhan Yuanzi's body.

Jian Siyuan's face turned blue and sent someone to invite his superiors.

Lu Yunshi originally wanted to say a few words of comfort.

But Hong Fan Muran stood under the corridor, like a lone tree growing out of the forest, and his face was so cold that it was difficult to get close.

As for Wu Ruyi, he sat on the stone steps with his knees hugged, silently wiping away his tears.

Lu Yunshi had no choice but to shut up.

After another hour or so, the torches were lit in a circle in the courtyard, and the shadows of the people shrank to their feet.

When the sky is as dark as ink, the people who can reach it are finally complete.

The six squads of Ti Cavalry made up eleven people.

The first team is all locals, and they come the most; Most of the rest have not yet returned to Xijing.

The latest and highest-ranking is the "commander" Gu Taining.

There are four main business lines of the state-owned Zhangwu Academy, which are "Palm, Learn, Division, and Inspection", and the four commanders below the commander are responsible for each of them.

Among them, "Zhang" is intelligence, "Xue" is the study of martial arts and pills, "Division" is law enforcement, and "Cha" is the management of sects.

Jian Siyuan, as the "General Department of Tiqi", is responsible for the Tiqi of a state.

And Gu Taining, who is the fourth product, as Jian Siyuan's direct superior, is in charge of all the armed forces in the whole state, including the Huran Realm Ti Cavalry, the Penetrating Realm Force, and the Detective Ranger.

As soon as he arrived, he naturally took over the command.

First, several horsemen other than the second team were sent out to take control of several households around Asahi Prefecture.

Then, accompanied by Jian Siyuan and Wu Hongyan, Gu Taining carefully inspected the scene and went back and forth indoors and outdoors several times.

It's a pity that they don't have a specialization in the art industry, and they can't see much of it.

During the interval, Hong Fan, who had been silent for a long time, finally reacted.

He walked out from the shadows, crossed Jian Siyuan, and went straight to Gu Taining.

"Commander, may I ask about today's events, does the Admiral know?"

Hong Fan bowed and asked.

"Admiral Xu already knows."

Gu Taining replied.

"Won't the Admiral come?"

Hong Fan asked again.

"Maybe you're busy."

Gu tongue knotted, first perfunctory.

When Hong Fan heard this, he took another half step closer.

"What's going on to be busy during the Lantern Festival?"

He kept his voice lower, but he didn't compromise.

This kind of questioning is always arrogant.

But the commander looked at the sad and angry look on his subordinates' faces, and he couldn't deal with him.

"Before I came, I went to see the Admiral."

Gu Taining hesitated, glanced around, and waited for Jian Siyuan to take two steps away before replying in a whispered voice.

"The Admiral, when he heard that Youti had died, was taken aback, and asked me first if it was you."

"When I said no, although he breathed a sigh of relief, he was still thoughtful."

"Sitting in that position, you will inevitably worry more about things outside of things......"

Hong Fan was silent.

"Thank you, sir."

He finally had nothing to say.

"Hong Fan, I know your feelings."

Seeing this, Gu Taining persuaded him warmly.

"This incident is in the New Year's Festival, and it is in Xijing City, which can be described as appalling. This official can guarantee that the state ministry will investigate to the end and will not tolerate it! ”

"Otherwise, how can I stand in charge of the Martial Academy?"

In these two sentences, he deliberately raised his voice so that everyone present could hear them.

Gu Taining's resoluteness is not a lie.

So Hong Fan could only nod.

Just after 9 o'clock in the evening, the Xijing City Judgment with the first wave of arrests is about to arrive.

They cordoned off the side garden and the courtyard where the incident occurred, and arranged for the guards to be guarded, but they did not rush to search the site in too much detail except for the victim's body.

After all, the night is dark and there is snow outside, so it is likely that something will go wrong overnight.

In the Asahi Mansion, the voices of the people were silent and gloomy.

Outside the Asahi Mansion, it does not change the Lantern Festival.

Around the time of the child, fireworks were set off in Xijing City, and large flowers bloomed in the sky.

Colorful light.

Reflected the night of the Yao River.

It also reflected the light snow that Zhan Yuanzi was wearing.

(End of chapter)