The gloomy sky made it look particularly cold today, and there was a thick white air between breaths.

Zhao Bufan gently rubbed his cool hands, strolling outside the deserted Blood Knife Gate compound, the stumps and fallen leaves that were trampled all over the ground "clicked" while walking, and the accompanying Zhiyuezhi, Hu Sanniang, and Yang Yizhong led the war horses and followed him closely.

In addition, there is also a young man with a resolute face walking on the right side of Zhao Bufan, his name is Li Ruopu, the current Dali Temple Duancheng, this time he is also as Xue Renfu's deputy to assist in the investigation of the case. Although he is not very old, he is as experienced as Xue Renfu, thoughtful, and has good martial arts, and he is a young man carefully cultivated by the imperial court.

Soon, Zhao Bufan walked along the courtyard wall of the Blood Knife Gate and returned to the main gate again.

"Ruopu, have you ever been to this Blood Knife Gate?"

Li Ruopu was very respectful of him, bowed slightly and said with a smile: "My lord is really discerning, his subordinates have indeed come to investigate secretly, because Cai Xue's death was done by a master, so after we came to Puyang, we immediately investigated all the surrounding forces, although this blood knife gate is a bronze business, but they gather many people who practice martial arts, they are the forces of the rivers and lakes, and they are naturally the key targets of investigation!"

"Then what have you found?" Zhao Bufan asked.

Li Ruopu smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Don't hide it from my lord, my subordinates found out through the remaining traces of the scene that the core personnel of the Blood Knife Gate were dead, and their bodies were also thrown into the furnace of copper smelting and turned into ashes, and since then, the subordinates have also arrested the people on their periphery, but they are all ordinary people, just doing things for the Blood Knife Gate, except for business matters, they don't know anything else, so this clue is close to being broken!"

"Dead?"

Zhao Bufan's eyes condensed slightly.

"Then why didn't Xue Renfu tell me?"

Li Ruopu replied: "Renfu hasn't been able to talk about it yet, since the adult came to Puyang last night, he has been following the line he investigated, he should be afraid that the adult will be disturbed by a large number of clues in a short period of time, so he wants to come step by step, and I am responsible for the line of the Blood Knife Gate, and his understanding of the actual situation is not as good as mine, so I want to wait for me to report to the adult in person, and he asked me to follow the adult over is also the same meaning!"

"Are you investigating separately?" Zhao Bufan asked.

"Hmm!" Li Ruopu nodded. "We had just arrived in Puyang, and before we had made our identities public, we conducted an unannounced visit to confirm that Lu Deng was loyal and upright, and that he was very prestigious among the army and the people, and everyone loved him very much. At that time, Rensuke felt that Lu Deng might have been framed, and Lu Deng had been shouting that he was wronged, so Renfu acted separately from me, he was in the light, and I was in the dark!

Two days later, we investigated the Blood Knife Gate and found that the Blood Knife Gate was also slaughtered, and I felt that the two cases were significantly related, so I secretly investigated the Blood Knife Gate, and he led everyone to investigate Cai Xue's side to attract attention, but unfortunately Lu Deng refused to tell us more information earlier, and insisted on meeting the Lord or Cai Taishi first, otherwise there should have been a greater harvest now, and now it has dragged on for so long, and the best opportunity to investigate the case has been missed, I am afraid it will be difficult to find out on the side of the Blood Knife Gate!"

Hearing his words, Zhi Yuezhi, who was following behind him, immediately couldn't hold back, and asked curiously: "Listen to what you mean, it seems that you are secretly visiting the Blood Knife Gate alone?"

"It's true that I'm alone, investigating the case is different from other things, sometimes the more secretive the better, Mingli doesn't pay attention to the bloody knife door tragedy, just to make the murderer careless, after all, the less mistakes the murderer makes, the more difficult it is for us to arrest people!"

"The murderer is a rare master, aren't you afraid?" Zhi Yuezhi asked with wide eyes in confusion.

As soon as he heard this, the smile on Li Ruopu's face disappeared in an instant, and his young face was full of too much helplessness.

"I'm afraid, of course I'm afraid! I'm not afraid of your jokes, every time I come here alone, my feet are shaking, and I am hiding and hiding between the journeys, and I have repeatedly observed and confirmed, who is not afraid of death? But since I have chosen to eat this bowl of rice, I must be worthy of my conscience, although we are humble and can't manage too many things, but as long as the matter is in our hands, we will do our best, but we are all good at hiding and hiding, as long as we are careful when we come alone, it is not so terrible!"

Zhao Bufan's heart was a little touched, and he involuntarily turned his head to look at Li Ruopu's resolute and youthful face.

"If you need help in the future, you can always come to me!"

Li Ruopu smiled, obviously taking these words as polite, and said with a polite smile: "Then the subordinates will thank the adults first! But now it's better to hurry into the Blood Knife Gate to check, this place is not safe for a long time, if something happens to the adults, the subordinates will really die!"

"Okay, let's go take a look first!"

Zhao Bufan replied with a smile and strode into the courtyard gate, and everyone followed suit.

At this time, the blood knife door was already covered with dust and fallen branches and leaves, and the houses and pavilions everywhere were empty and extremely cold, a cold wind blew, and the ears were full of sounds, and sometimes the "creaking" sound of the door being blown was heard, which really made people panic.

Li Ruopu took everyone to inspect the entire compound, and finally came to the furnace room in the workshop area, pointed to the huge furnace that was already cold, and said: "Lord Zhao, it has been too long since the time of the crime, and many traces are gone, but when the subordinates first came to check, there were blood stains in the cracks around the furnace that could not be washed away, plus a large number of ashes, so it was inferred that the core personnel of the Blood Knife Gate should be dead." After that, his subordinates also deduced from the traces of the fight on the side of the West Courtyard that there were quite a few people who slaughtered the Blood Knife Sect, and one of them had very high martial arts, and it was possible that he was the same as the murderer who killed Cai Xue!"

"What about the families and relatives of these core personnel, have you ever visited?" asked Zhao Bufan.

Li Ruopu shook his head: "According to the information provided by the peripheral personnel of the Blood Knife Gate, the rules of the Blood Knife Gate are very strict, and there are thirty-eight core personnel, all of whom are young and strong men who have left their hometowns, and they have been able to settle down by doing things for the Blood Knife Gate, and they have no relatives in Puyang, and they have become families, and their families also live with them in this huge courtyard, and the more dignified area in the west is where they settle down, and all the core personnel have their own independent small courtyards, and the living conditions are very good." ”

Zhao Bufan frowned when he heard this: "Then did these core personnel marry Puyang people? None of their wives, relatives, and friends were from Puyang?"

Li Ruopu replied: "Of course there is, Xue Renfu had visited them one by one earlier, but those people didn't know much, they only knew that these people were working in the Blood Knife Gate, they were relatively wealthy, they had a lot of status in Puyang, and they had a lot of contacts in life, but they didn't know the slightest secret of the Blood Knife Gate!"

Zhao Bufan asked again: "What about the peripheral personnel of the Blood Knife Gate? Since the Blood Knife Gate is engaged in the bronze business, it must require a lot of labor, and the contact with the outside world should be very frequent." ”

Li Ruopu said: "The east area where we are now is the workshop, and there is also a dormitory for the peripheral personnel to rest, each room is a shop, and ten people can lie side by side, the conditions are poor, these peripheral personnel are generally the people of the surrounding villages and towns, only know about work and business, and have never been to the western area, so they don't know anything, and before the accident at the Blood Knife Gate, the owner of the door had notified the peripheral personnel to temporarily suspend work, but did not say when the construction started, but only explained that they would be notified one by one after the start of construction. ”

Zhao Bufan felt a little incomprehensible.

"The workshop suddenly stopped, and there was no movement in the blood knife door?

"Yes, when the peripheral personnel were cleared and went home, the owner of the Blood Knife Gate searched everyone and seemed to be looking for something, but he didn't find it, so he urgently announced the suspension of work and dismissed all the peripheral personnel to go home!"

As he spoke, Li Ruopu raised his head and looked at Zhao Bufan's eyes, and said softly: "Then contact the information that Lu Deng said to the adults last night, it is almost certain that he is looking for the box, maybe because the box was suddenly stolen by Lu Deng, who came from the secret visit, so the Blood Knife Sect Master panicked and searched everyone!"

Knowing so much information, Zhao Bufan's thoughts gradually straightened out, and his eyes gradually brightened.

"How long is the time between the disbanding of the Bloody Knife Gate and the death of Cai Xue?"

Li Ruopu seemed to be familiar with these for a long time, and replied without thinking about it: "The search of the peripheral personnel of the Blood Knife Gate is the afternoon of the fifth day of the lunar month, and the time of dispersal is the evening unitary hour, and according to the results of the autopsy, the first to be killed in Cai Xue's outer house were the two gatekeepers, and the time of death was the seventh day of the first month, so from the fifth day of the first month to the seventh day of the first month, there was an interval of about twenty-six hours, that is, two days and four hours!"

Zhao Bufan showed a strange smile on his face: "If what Lu Deng said last night is true, then this matter is really a bit evil, he first came to the Blood Knife Gate to steal the box, and then a few days before Cai Xue died, the treasure knife was lost, that is to say, his treasure knife was stolen before the Blood Knife Gate found that the box was lost, then you try to re-open this matter!"

"Was Lu Deng's knife thrown before the Blood Knife Gate found out that the box was stolen?" Li Ruopu's eyes instantly froze.

He didn't go to the prison with him last night, he only heard Xue Renfu relay some of it this morning, but he didn't know the details that Lu Deng said last night, his expression changed continuously for a long time at this moment, and he thought: "Then the beginning of the whole thing is that Lu Deng stole the box from the Blood Knife Gate, and then Lu Deng's treasure knife and shoes were stolen, and then the Blood Knife Gate found out that the box was stolen, and then twenty-six hours later, in the middle of the night on the seventh day of the first month, the massacre of Cai Xue's outer house began, until the morning of the eighth day of the first month, the master went to Cai Xue's outer house to find Lu Deng's back." ”

Zhao Bufan thought for a while, then took over and said: "Let me add one more thing, assuming that everything Lu Deng said is true, then before the massacre of Cai Xue's outer house began, Lu Deng had already sent a letter to the Blood Knife Gate on Cai Xu's order, at that time, the Blood Knife Gate had been slaughtered, and the scene had been cleaned up, Lu Deng came late at night and didn't find anything abnormal, and then went back to Cai Xue's outer house and bumped into the murderer of Cai Xu!"

There were more and more doubts on Li Ruopu's face, and he suddenly said urgently: "My lord, this matter is getting more and more strange, people can't figure it out, and they must go to Lu Deng again!"

"Okay! Go back to the government now!"

Zhao Bufan turned around and left, but as soon as he took a step, Yang Yizhong's eager shout came from his ears: "Come and see, my lord, the courtyard in the west is on fire!"

"What?" Li Ruopu was shocked, and rushed out of the furnace room in a few big steps and came to the courtyard outside.

Zhao Bufan also ran out, and when he saw the black smoke in the distance to the west, his eyes instantly showed a cold light.

"Ruopu, Yizhong, and Hu Xiaomei, go over and see the situation!"

The three of them didn't have time to hesitate, they each showed their light skills, and disappeared in a few blinks, except Zhi Yuezhi who stayed by Zhao Bufan's side and accompanied him to walk slowly over there.

"Brother Fan, there is no one here now, how can there be a fire? Could it be that someone is following us? What is he going to burn?"

"I don't know!" Zhao Bufan shook his head slightly.

Suddenly, there was a faint "click" sound in my ears.

"Who?"

Zheyuezhi instantly raised her eyebrows, and her figure rushed towards the room where the sound came from as fast as lightning, and the Xuanbing True Qi of the Extreme Ice Layer surged wildly.

"Bold thief, you are looking for death!"

Suddenly, a man in black came out of the dilapidated firewood room, holding a scimitar shaped like a full moon in his hand, and when he saw Zhiyuezhi killing, he flew away.

The current situation is obvious, those black-clothed people obviously deliberately lit the fire, trying to lure everyone away, so as to attack Zhao Bufan, whose martial arts have been abolished, seeing that Zhiyuezhi impulsively followed the person who used the full moon scimitar and ran away, and soon disappeared, he couldn't help but look around, chuckling and shaking his head: "If you want to kill me, you can't come out?"

In an instant, two black shadows jumped up from the roof in front of them, rushed to the edge of the eaves and leaped hard, each with a short sword and stabbed at it.

Zhao Bufan smiled calmly, and was about to make a move, but he didn't expect a roar to come out on the roof behind the left.

"Bold!!"

With the sound, Shang Kunyang stepped on the tiles of the roof and flew down, and his palms continued to swing, directly using the double dragon with eighteen palms to play in the water.

The two black-clothed killers didn't expect to hide someone, and when they felt Shang Kunyang's fierce palm, they hurriedly turned around to dodge.

Shang Kunyang was willing to give up, roared angrily, and chased the two of them with his eighteen palms of the dragon descending, since he followed Zhao Bufan's side, he has always been concentrating on martial arts, coupled with his excellent talent, the progress of martial arts is naturally very fast, and at the moment, these two black-clothed killers are not his opponents.

However, these two people are obviously very good at the technique of joint attacks, Zhao Bufan saw that they took more than a dozen moves, knowing that Shang Kunyang would be difficult to win in a short period of time, and he was worried that he would miss the opportunity to subdue the man in black, so he snorted coldly at the moment, and ran the Nine Turns Jinyang Divine Skill "whoosh" into the three of them, and hit two palms in a row.

In an instant, the fierce and incomparable Eighteen Palms of the Dragon Descending actually made a dragon roar, and the two black-clothed killers were caught off guard, and hurriedly crossed their swords to resist the powerful palm power.

"Poof!"

The two black-clothed killers instantly dilated their pupils, spurted blood from their mouths, and flew upside down several feet away, and the iron swords in their hands were also twisted and deformed, flying off their hands.

Shang Kunyang was stunned.

"Brother Fanfan, your martial arts are not invalid?"

"Don't talk nonsense, I'll say that you killed you later!"

While Zhao Bufan was talking, the people had already quickly rushed to the two black-clothed people, stretched out their hands before they committed suicide, prevented them from committing suicide, squatted down and asked sharply: "Say, did you steal Lu Deng's knife and shoes? You are all understanding people, either die happily, or life is better than death, choose for yourself!"