"Two adults, please come in. ”

The door of the ancestral shrine opened, and a deep sound came from inside the door, along with a faint firelight.

The source of the fire was an oil lamp, and it was through this oil lamp that Zhang Song and the others were able to understand the situation inside the ancestral hall.

The ancestral shrine of Mengjia Village is not big, except for a row of spiritual seats placed in the main hall, and then there is a bronze statue holding a sword at a height of a zhang. This bronze statue with a sword in one hand and a trick in the other hand was cast by later generations to pay tribute to the ancestors of the Meng family, and has a history of nearly 100 years. His legend is familiar to all the residents of the village.

Legend has it that the ancestor of the Meng family was a chivalrous man with amazing swordsmanship, and one day he was seriously injured by the enemy's plot and was rescued by a woman, and the two made a private agreement for life, and then came to this remote place and built today's Mengjia Village.

Legend has it that the ancestor left two huge treasures before his death, one is a famous sword weapon, and the other is the inheritance of the swordsmanship he learned.

Famous swords and secret tomes are all top things in the rivers and lakes, but after all, they are from legends and have not been confirmed so far.

The Southern Tang Dynasty people re-sacrificed and paid more attention to their ancestors. Zhang Song didn't know the history of Mengjia Village, but he also knew the importance of this bronze statue to the people of the Meng clan, and after taking a look, he looked away so as not to desecrate the ancestors. However, Wang Ergou casually glanced at it twice, as if he saw something.

"Strange, the proportions of this sword seem to be slightly longer......"

Just as Wang Ergou was savoring the strange feeling brought to him by the bronze statue, the previous voice came again.

"The two adults can enter the side hall, and the corpse is here. ”

The two looked for prestige, and sure enough, they found a narrow side door on the right wall, the side door opened, and under the looming light and shadow, they happened to be able to see Li Botao's figure.

At this time, Li Baitao was sitting on the ground without any image.

Zhang Song waved his hand and motioned for Wang Ergou to follow, and the two walked to the side hall and stood in front of Li Botao.

For Wang Ergou, this was a rare opportunity to see a first-class martial artist, but after the baptism of the black-robed man, he lost this interest. What caught his attention even more at this time was the corpse lying flat on the floor.

After a night and a day, and a lot of time soaked in the river, Meng Huaiyang's corpse had already begun to decompose, and a foul smell came from this hateful corpse, lingering in the side hall, making the air in this side hall extremely turbid.

Symbolically waving his hand to dispel the disgusting air, Wang Ergou looked at Li Botao again, his eyes had become different.

As the top group of martial artists in the town of relying on water, how could Wang Ergou, who has always loved to inquire about the news of martial artists, not know Li Botao? It is rumored that this Li Botao is an old antique who acts extremely stereotypically, as long as it is what he believes, he will go to the dark on a road, and even if he has installed a wall, he will not easily turn back, because of this, this person also has a toughness far beyond ordinary people, and his endurance is not comparable to ordinary people.

Being able to sit quietly in the stench, and sitting for a day, this Li Botao seems to be more stereotypical than the rumors.

Zhang Song has been handling cases all year round and has long been accustomed to the harsh environment, and he has no feeling for Li Botao's performance, but he and Li Botao have known each other for a long time, and they have long known this person's character.

"Brother Li, don't come unharmed, little brother, I have missed you very much in the past few years!" Although Zhang Song didn't want to see Li Botao in this situation, he still took the initiative to say hello. Recently, a lot of major events have happened in the town of relying on water, and all forces have signs of imminent action, among which the battle for the rights of the water martial arts hall is the most sensational, although Li Botao failed to challenge the owner of the hall, so that the fame and status accumulated for several years before were lost, but after all, he is still a first-class martial artist who refines the body and six forgings, and he should be respected.

Above the rivers and lakes, strength is respected, whoever has a hard fist, who speaks is more effective, after the baptism of the battle into the village, Zhang Song really understood the meaning of the words "self-knowledge". If you can't beat it, you will bow your head, after all, your skills are not as good as others, and there is nothing to be ashamed of even if you say it.

Li Botao didn't expect that an arrogant Zhang Song would take the initiative to greet him, and after being taken aback, the posture of the senior elder could no longer be put on.

What kind of person Zhang Song is, no one knows better than Li Botao, before entering the Shuiwu Pavilion, he had worked as a substitute official in the Shuifu Ya for a period of time, and his partner was Zhang Song, who had been promoted to head catcher at this time. Zhang Song is proud of his talents, and when he first cooperated, he didn't take him, a big brother who was ten years older, in his eyes, and later broke through to a first-class martial artist, and his neighbors came to congratulate him, and even Lord Ling Shou, who was in charge of the water town, came to congratulate, but Zhang Song, who had always looked down on him, didn't even send a congratulatory message.

Today's Zhang Song, because of his repeated solving of strange cases over the years, has been promoted to the head catcher of the town by the water, and is a red and purple figure around Ling Shou, with an unlimited future, even if Li Botao can stabilize his head in martial arts, but he is also a white dress without an official, and as he grows older, he has been newly defeated, and now he has faded away from the previous desire to win, if the two of them can respect each other like guests, for him, it is the best ending.

Li Botao stood up, stretched out his hand to Zhang Song and hugged his fists, and performed a greeting etiquette that only appears between martial artists, and said with emotion: "Recalling the past, I am embarrassed, and I am full of emotion when I see the virtuous brother today!"

Zhang Song said guiltily: "The younger brother was young in the past, and he was arrogant, if he was offended, he hoped that Brother Li would have a lot of Haihan." ”

"Don't talk about the past. Li Botao waved his hand and said, "Don't hide it from Brother Xian, in fact, this time I asked Lord Lingshou to ask you to come." ”

Zhang Song said: "I have heard adults say this matter when I came, brother, you personally named me, I guess you encountered some difficulties." ”

"It's really a difficulty!" Li Botao sighed, and then stretched out his hand to direct Zhang Song's gaze to the corpse on the floor. "Come and see, this is the dead that we found today. ”

Zhang Song and the others approached and looked at the corpse, which had already become cold, and when they saw the knife wound that pierced the chest, their faces sank.

There are only two knife wounds on the deceased's body, except for the one in the back, the knife in the chest is a fatal knife, such a decisive knife technique, even Zhang Song, a person from a knife family, can't help but shout hello when he sees it.

"The edge of the knife is smooth, it can be seen that it is fatal, such a knife wound, non-martial artists can't do it, are there many martial artists in Mengjia Village? Such sword attainments are rare in ordinary villages. Zhang Song stretched out two fingers and slowly brushed them over the wounds of the corpse, this is his habit and his habit, and only when he is in close contact with the case can he devote himself to it.

Li Botao shook his head and said: "There are not many warriors in Mengjia Village, except for the old village chief who went to Jieshui City, there is only one local fish king, oh, that is, Menghou Fangcai said Mengjiangxi." However, when I look at the traces of this human form, it doesn't look like he has practiced a knife. ”

Zhang Song waved his fingers, "Without years of knife skills, I can't swing such a sharp knife." ”

Li Botao smiled bitterly: "Yes, even if it's me, it's just this level." ”

Although Li Botao is a first-class martial artist, his usual weapon is a long sword, and swordsmanship and the like are rarely involved.

Zhang Song got up suddenly, looked at Li Botao and said, "That's why you came to me." ”

Li Botao smiled bitterly: "Brother Xian, you are from a family of sword arts, relying on the area of Water Town, if you talk about sword skills, there are few comparable to you, I came to you just to see if we rely on Water Town, who can use such sword skills." ”

Zhang Song said: "As far as I know, there are many people who can use such knife techniques, but these people have clear deeds, and they can't be the perpetrators." ”

Wang Ergou said: "Is it possible to have a vendetta? I heard that this Meng Huaiyang is a domineering person, and he has offended many people in the past few years when he moved to Lishui Town. ”

Li Botao looked at Wang Ergou and said curiously: "Who is this little brother?"

Wang Ergou hurriedly saluted, "Little Wang Ergou has seen Senior Li." ”

"Wang Ergou?" Li Botao pondered these three words carefully, and said suspiciously: "Why haven't you heard it before?

Zhang Song explained: "Wang Ergou is my little brother next door, who is good at investigating news, and I specially brought him on this trip. ”

Wang Ergou said: "There are a total of thirteen good swordsmen in the area of Shui Town, except for Lieyang, Wang An and Zhang Jiao, the remaining ten people were in the city yesterday. ”

Li Botao looked at Zhang Song and asked, "Are these three people suspicious?"

Zhang Song shook his head and said: "Lieyang's Fuwei knife is domineering and mighty, Wang An's willow wind seeking knife is elegant and light, Zhang Jiao's backhand knife is tricky and ruthless, the knife skills of these three people are all traceable, look at this wound, it is definitely not the three of them." ”

Li Botao frowned and said, "Aren't they? Then who else can this murderer be? Could it be a passing martial artist?"

His words reminded Zhang Song and the two, and the two glanced at each other, and they both saw the shock in each other's eyes.

It shouldn't be possible!