5

Shen Tianpeng and the others left Phoenix Town more than 20 days later.

Phoenix Town.

To the west of the town, not far from the downtown area, there are guests from afar.

Six horses, six men in black trench coats, five men and one woman. There was also an old man among them.

The old man was about fifty years old, born with a leopard's head and ape arms, a bearded face and crane hair, a swallow jaw and a tiger beard, a straight nose and a powerful cheek, burly and wonderful, and his demeanor, words and deeds, intentionally or unintentionally revealed his superiority and dignity.

Although the woman was also wearing a black trench coat, she was about 20 years old, with a slender and well-proportioned figure, a melon seed face, white skin, like snow and frost, a straight nose and beautiful eyebrows, and she was a natural beauty at first glance. In addition, she combed her hair, in front of her left and right ears, and naturally hung a small lock of hair from the bun, with long hair with a shawl, she only felt beautiful but not charming, clear but not cold, like a fairy descending to earth.

"You follow me into the town, and the four of them stay here to guard. The old man commanded the female attendant. He was clearly a powerful man who could dictate to anyone around him.

The two came to the door of the "Mountain Moon Listening to the Wind" inn.

"This is the inn that my Deputy Envoy Yang mentioned?!" the old man said secretly.

It turned out that this person was the famous "King of Yunnan" and the leader of the "Red Bat" who dominated the southwestern provinces, and Xu Zhiming, the governor of the Qing Dynasty.

"You go and call the shopkeeper in the backyard for questioning. Xu Zhiming said to the female entourage.

The three of them came to the backyard of the inn. The courtyard is no longer the wolf left behind by the fight. Although the ground had been swept and scrubbed, blood was still faintly visible.

"What do you command?" the shopkeeper asked cautiously, accompanying the two of them.

"About half a month ago, did you receive a few guests from the capital? They claimed to be officials of the Criminal Department, and they handled cases in this backyard, right?" Xu Zhiming asked.

The shopkeeper of the "......" was a clever man, and he immediately realized that when the transaction came to the door, there was money to be made.

Xu Zhiming was an understanding person, and he glanced at the female entourage. The female attendant took out 10 taels of silver and handed it to the shopkeeper.

"Thank you......, Officer! More than 20 days ago, seven or eight people came to the small inn, and they claimed to be officials of the Criminal Department to handle the case, so that the little ones were not allowed to come close and disturb. More than two hours later, the little subordinate ran to the hall to report that there were people in the courtyard who were tearing and fighting, and we were so afraid that we didn't dare to approach and ask. After more than an hour, the little one was called here by an official headed by a leader to ask ......" said the shopkeeper.

"What did you see when you came in!What did the official in charge ask you?" Xu Zhiming asked urgently.

"The official who was the leader said to the little one, no matter what you see or hear, you must not say it to anyone, otherwise, the small life and the small inn will not be guaranteed, so please don't be embarrassed by the little one. The shopkeeper said with a look of wanting to say and worrying about other things.

The female attendant took out another 10 taels of silver and handed it to the shopkeeper.

"This ...... The life of a small family with a small relationship...... The little ones really don't dare to say. The shopkeeper saw at a glance that these two people were either rich or expensive, and seeing that they were very attentive to what they inquired about, he estimated that he wanted to raise the price and take the opportunity to make more money. At this moment, the shopkeeper was tempted by the ingot, like a fish devouring the bait of a fisherman in the water, blinded by greed and desire, and he could not see the Grim Reaper following the ingot, which was approaching him step by step.

The female attendant took out another 10 taels of silver ingots......

The shopkeeper finally spoke. He looked around the courtyard and whispered in a mysterious voice, "The events of that day are so terrible that I haven't mentioned them to anyone. After I was called into the courtyard by the official who was headed, it was here, I saw more than a dozen corpses of black-clothed people lying on the ground, two women guarding the door, and two other officials were actually taking off the clothes of those black-clothed people, searching for something on them, and then moving the corpses to the firewood room outside the wall. I was so scared that I pretended I didn't see anything. That official called me in to buy my firewood room to burn those dead people, do I dare not sell it?" The shopkeeper repeated what Shen Tianpeng had said to him, and finally said: "The firewood room was a fire they set before leaving, and the dead and the firewood room inside were burned to ashes. After they left, I went to dig a big hole in a ravine outside the town, and buried the bones in a cloth bag...... Also, when I went in, I heard them whispering that they were going to arrest a fugitive named Yan and that they wanted to recover some booklet, and when they saw me approaching, they didn't say anything. The two guest officers must keep it a secret for me, and don't tell outsiders that I told you, I'm afraid they will come back to trouble me!"

"Then you must know where they went after they left the inn, right?" Xu Zhiming asked casually. In fact, he had already guessed the whereabouts of Shen Tianpeng and the others in his heart, and he just wanted to verify it.

"All of them, dressed in black clothes and masks that had been ripped from the dead man's body, galloped away in the direction of the Loushan Pass in the north of the town......," the shopkeeper affirmed.

"Deputy Envoy Yang really didn't tell a lie, which made me a little comforted. I finally understood why Shen Tianpeng, Li Yulong and the others disappeared without a trace. It's no wonder that the heavily guarded Loushan checkpoint didn't stop them!" Xu Zhiming said with some annoyance. "A wise man has a thousand thoughts, there must be a mistake, it seems that I am really old, I didn't expect him Shen Tianpeng to use his identity and the waist card of the criminal department, but to use my 'red bat' killer to mix up one level after another. The old man miscalculated!"

"Adults don't have to blame themselves! It shouldn't be too late to make amends in time. The female attendant comforted.

"According to the calculation of time, Shen Tianpeng, Li Yulong and the others have either arrived in Shaanxi or Hubei, do you know what to do? How to track and trace them to find them, you don't need me to teach you!?" Xu Zhiming said with a murderous face.

"The subordinates know how to do it, and they don't have to worry about it. ”

"You take the 'Smiling Tiger' and the 'Ghost Sorrow' and find them, not only to take down their heads, but more importantly, to get back the account book! If you can't do it, you don't have to come back!" Xu Zhiming said viciously. He can't afford to lose.

"The subordinates know. The subordinates will not let the adults down!" the female attendant said with sincere fear.