Chapter 17: The Mystery of the Post House

In the middle of the night, every house has closed its doors and turned off its lights, and even the barking of dogs has stopped.

In front of the gate of the East Post House in Mufeng City, the two guards were still in good spirits, standing tall on both sides of the gate, the big knives in their hands shining brightly in the moonlight.

The quiet night was boring, but the two of them did not gossip, carefully patrolling every corner of the surrounding area.

"Yo, why did Lord Xue Qing come back so late? and why did he dress like this today, so ...... Plain?" asked a guard to a ragged old man and a handsome young man approaching from a distance.

"Eh, I remember that Lord Xue Qing came back with Princess Eclipse Moon when the sun didn't go down, why did you come back dressed like this now? I didn't even see Xue Lao you go out. Another guard continued.

The old man laughed twice and said, "My princess doesn't like us to go out for a walk, and she doesn't like to show off. But little old man, I was hooked by gluttonous insects, so I went to Furong Building after dark to drink a few glasses of hibiscus drunk, and I didn't want to be too conspicuous, so I changed my outfit and went out for a walk, haha...... You kid, if I let you see clearly in and out, wouldn't I, the young master, be in vain? Wouldn't my princess already know about it?"

"That's, that's. It's not too early, tomorrow the thirty heroes will compete in Qifeng Garden, Xue Lao should go back early to rest and recuperate. But who is this young man next to you?" asked one of the guards.

"Oh, this is a young friend I haven't seen for many years, tonight, it's the two of us drinking in Furong House to catch up, it's only this time, haha...... Tonight, I want to bring him to my lodgings for a night's rest, why, the guard refuses to give face?" said the old man.

Then, the old man turned his head to the young man behind him and smiled: "Brother Yue, although I haven't lived in this inn for a long time, these two guards have taken care of me a lot, and the two of them have a very hard vigil every night, you have a lot of silver, help me send these two adults some money to buy wine tomorrow, hehe......"

The young man stepped forward, took out two ingots of silver from his sleeve, and handed one ingot to each of the two guards: "You two have worked hard, and I hope to take more care of my old friend who loves to drink and return late in the future." ”

"Shaoxia is polite, I just heard Xue Lao say that your surname is Yue?" The guard didn't take the silver he handed over, but asked with a kind face.

"Exactly, Yue Jialinsheng is my cousin, he was fortunate to enter the top 30 in this year's martial arts trial, and specially invited me to come to the city to celebrate. I didn't want to meet my old friend tonight in the Furong Building, and I was so happy that I forgot the time for a while, but how could I not be happy when I met my old friend? My old friend was afraid that the princess would blame me, so the two of us hurried back to the inn late at night, wanting to have two more drinks. The young man said with a smile.

"It turned out to be a distinguished guest from the Yue Mansion! Offended, please come in, two of you. One of the guards said.

The young man stuffed the silver into the hands of the two guards: "It's a little bit of a small matter, you two better keep it." ”

The two guards glanced at each other, finally took the silver, and thanked with a smile: "The distinguished guest of the Yue family is really arrogant. Then we're welcome. ”

The young man nodded and smiled at the two, and then slowly walked into the door of the post house with the old man surnamed Xue.

Not far from the gate, the young man looked back and saw that within the courtyard wall of the post house, there were many servants in green clothes patrolling back and forth near the courtyard wall.

The two of them gradually quickened their pace, and with a turn, they entered a courtyard to the west.

"The group of Tsing Yi people in the courtyard wall just now is the Tsing Yi slaves of Mufeng Villa?" the young man asked softly.

"Yes, although the Tsing Yi slave is average, but his eyesight and hearing are different from ordinary people, as long as there is a little change, they will find that they have recruited the master of the Mufeng Xia to guard the post house, so I tell you, even if you are good at martial arts and can break into the post house, it is difficult not to be discovered. The old man surnamed Xue replied, but the voice was indeed the soft voice of a young girl.

"However, you are also very smart, just now in front of the two guards, I called you Brother Yue, and I was worried that you didn't know how to answer. The old woman continued.

The young man suddenly smiled: "Haha...... Why have I been walking in the rivers and lakes for many years, and I still need you a little girl to worry about? The Yue family, who is looking for trouble for you during the day, is the richest man in the city, and there are also some forces in the city. And this year, Yue Linsheng, the son of the Yue family, also participated in the martial arts trial, although I don't know if it was his father who played up and down, but at least for now, the results are not bad. ”

"Yuan Xiaoyi, since there are Tsing Yi slaves in this post house, wouldn't it be very difficult for us to act for a while?" Hai Canglan asked the old woman with a voice.

"No, it won't. The owner of Mufeng Villa arranged these people to ensure that the bad guys would not make trouble during the conference, and now the people living in this post house are all famous big names in the martial arts, in order to show respect, as long as there is no accident, the Tsing Yi slave will only patrol the outer courtyard, and will not step into the courtyard where the guests rest. Yuan Xiaoyi said.

Then, Yuan Xiaoyi took Hai Canglan to a quiet courtyard in the west.

In the dead of night, in the moonlit courtyard, there was no sound except for the chirping of insects in the grass.

There are two rooms with vermilion doors and windows in the north of the courtyard, and the guests are already asleep, and the room is silent.

A wisp of green smoke blew in through the hole in the south window paper, and in a short time it filled the two rooms.

Hai Canglan walked to the door lightly, and was about to stretch out a long knife through the crack in the door and open the bolt, but his hand had just touched the door, but he was surprised: the door was hidden and not locked.

He turned his head to look at Yuan Xiaoyi in a little surprise, and then slowly pushed the door into the room.

Entering the main entrance, there is the front hall, through the moonlight that penetrates into the house, it is clearly seen that there is a bed on the west wall, the curtain is folded, the bedding is neat, but there is no one. Facing the bed, on the east side is a tea table with a tea set.

The two of them swept the hall with their eyes, then passed through the inner door, entered the inner room, the inner room was elegantly arranged, a carved bookcase greeted the door, a Taishi chair, and then to the inside of a painting of eight screens with landscape drawings, the copper furnace on the low table in front of the screen was still smoking incense, and the smoke was swirling, which was even more quiet and weird.

Bypassing the screen, the brown curtains on the bed were hanging down, and there was not a pair of boots on the ground in front of the couch.

Hai Canglan seemed to notice something unusual, and he stopped his arm back, signaling Yuan Xiaoyi to slow down. When he came to the bed, he slowly lifted the curtain, but saw two men lying quietly on the bed in the tent.

Yuan Xiaoyi cautiously followed behind Hai Canglan, and when he saw two men lying on the bed, his face immediately changed incredibly: "Eh, I look at Song Xunfeng on weekdays as a serious head of a famous family, but I didn't expect to have a broken friendship with his apprentice, it's really unseemly." ”

As he spoke, Yuan Xiaoyi looked away with disgust.

Hai Canglan was silent, he leaned closer, stretched out his hand to test the two of them, and then said in a very calm tone: "These two people are dead. ”

Yuan Xiaoyi, who was behind him, immediately jumped, hurriedly grabbed Hai Canglan's arm and said, "Ah, you say, these two people are dead......?" I...... I really didn't hurt them, my incense is not poisonous at all, I have used it many times in the Netherworld Palace, although it works, but at most it will make people sleep for two or three days, and they won't die......"

She spoke in a hurry, and she was about to cry aggrieved.

"I know you didn't kill people. Go to the bookcase and get the candle. Hai Canglan didn't look back, looked at the two dead people on the bed, and said to Yuan Xiaoyi.

His voice was calm and peaceful, which relieved the frightened Yuan Xiaoyi a lot: "You believe me?"

"Of course. Hai Canglan replied.

Wait for the candle to be lit. Yuan Xiaoyi snuggled beside Hai Canglan, reaching out to gently wipe the tears swirling in her eyes.

The candle flame was bright, illuminating the face of the dead man on the bed.

"It turns out that the person you are talking about is Song Xunfeng, the head of the Songfeng Hall of Baihe Mountain. He was an upright and courageous man, and it was a pity that he died like this. ”

Hai Canglan said, reaching out to pull away the eyelids and lips of Song Xunfeng and his young and thin apprentice.

Then, with a sudge, he ripped open the plackets of the two of them, Song Xunfeng's chest didn't seem to be unusual, but the young apprentice's ribs were broken.

His hand lightly pressed on the chest and abdomen of the two of them a few times, only to feel that the inside was thin and the internal organs were broken.

After checking it, Hai Canglan tidied up the clothes of the two, got up and bypassed the screen, and walked towards the bookcase in front of the window.

Yuan Xiaoyi didn't dare to come out just now, but now that he saw Hai Canglan get up, he didn't leave an inch and followed him to the front of the case.

Hai Canglan glanced at her expression, and then said softly, "Are you afraid of the dead?"

Yuan Xiaoyi beside her lowered her head embarrassedly, at this moment she was pretending to be an old man Xue, but her expression was a weak girl, which made people look a little funny.

"The Eclipse Moon Sect has always given people the impression of being mysterious and ruthless, I really don't know how you got you into the sect like this?" Hai Canglan shook his head and chuckled.

Yuan Xiaoyi was no longer as lively as before, and asked timidly in a low voice, "How did these two people die?"

Hai Canglan looked at everything on the bookcase, and then stopped at a few drops of ink on the corner of the bookcase.

He turned his head and said slowly to Yuan Xiaoyi: "These two people were already dead before nightfall. ”

Yuan Xiaoyi's eyes widened incredulously, waiting for Hai Canglan's words.

"Nowadays, most of the heads of the various factions in the rivers and lakes are fond of killing and aggressive, and they only know how to practice and compete all day long, and there are very few talented people. This Song Xunfeng can be regarded as an outlier. Hai Canglan said.

"Song Xunfeng is not only a decent person, but also good at poetry, calligraphy and painting, and is a very affectionate person. In fact, in his hometown of Baiheshan, his poems and paintings made him have more admirers than his sword. ”

"Painting is not only about talent, but also about accumulation. This Song Xunfeng is a good painter, not only because of his talent, but also because he insists on painting every night no matter where he goes. ”

"You see, this picture of the autumn moon in Linjiang is his Mid-Autumn Festival night, living in Mufeng City, when admiring the moon on the bank of the Yupu River, these are the remaining few, Huayang Street Scene, Shepherd Boy's Late Return and this Post Road Autumn Chrysanthemum Picture were painted by him on the night of the 16th, 17th, and 18th in this post house. Hai Canglan unfolded several picture scrolls on the bookcase one by one to show Yuan Xiaoyi.

"Well," Yuan Xiaoyi flipped through the paper on the case again, and then suddenly looked up and said: "There are paintings every day, but there are no paintings tonight, so he was killed before he could paint." ”

Hai Canglan nodded: "I just checked the bodies of the two people, there are blood stains under the eyes, and there are also blood stains between the teeth, it seems that they have been severely injured, their internal organs are broken, and they should have been killed by a palm that cracked their hearts and lungs." ”

"Ah, who could it be?" Yuan Xiaoyi exclaimed.

"This person is someone Song Xunfeng is familiar with. Hai Canglan said quietly.