In the dead of night and under the curfew in Yunzhou City, there are indeed not many people who can still regard darkness as a scenery.
The carriages painted with the logos of each company are a symbol, and the people who rely on shadows to hide themselves are also a symbol.
Six or seven people with their faces covered squatted at the entrance of the alley, waiting for the patrolling state soldiers to pass by. They exchanged a few words in low voices.
Two people were left standing guard at the entrance of the alley, while the others climbed over the courtyard wall quickly and briskly.
This family was one they had picked up a long time ago. They were not rich and powerful, just a small wealthy family.
This kind of goal is the best, with extra money and no background, so the trouble is minimal.
After they entered, they broke open the door of the house as quickly as possible, and then tied up the whole family.
After rummaging through the boxes, I took away everything of value.
One of the thieves had evil intentions when he saw the beauty of the girl in this family. The leader scolded him a few times and told him not to interfere, so he gave up.
After jumping out of the courtyard wall, the six or seven people quickly left. They still did not dare to walk on the main road and only dared to shuttle in the alleys.
Their den is not far from the water gate in the east of the city, and they usually hide in this place where the poor live.
A few people saw that they were almost home, pulled off the cloth covering their faces, and said with a smile that the harvest was not bad and they would be happy for a few more days.
Then they came face to face with several people carrying packages.
These thieves are really used to this kind of scene.
Those country folk who want to go to the city to make a living, but cannot legally enter through the city gate, most of the time, sneak in through the water gate in the middle of the night.
There are people specializing in this kind of business in the black market in the city. They cut a two-foot-square gap under the water gate, smuggle people in at night, and calculate the money based on the number of people.
The few thieves immediately laughed when they saw the bumpkins carrying packages.
One of them said that he was so lucky today that business actually came to him.
They have done this before, robbing the people who sneaked in again, but those guys didn't dare to report it to the official anyway.
Opposite, the strangers stood motionless, seemingly frightened.
Several thieves immediately stepped forward, and the leader lowered his voice and said, "Hand over the money you have, and I will spare your lives."
The moonlight was still bright, and even from a close distance, one could still tell that these outsiders definitely came from poor backgrounds.
The clothes were shabby, and patches of all sizes could be seen even on the luggage he was carrying.
The foreigner standing at the front put his backpack on the ground and squatted there to open it.
Several thieves stepped forward and gestured with the stone daggers they had polished.
"No one - his - mother, please don't move around. Just be honest, otherwise we will all die."
After the stranger opened his backpack, he took out a money bag and shook it, making a clattering sound.
This surprised the few thieves. They didn't expect these country bumpkins to have so much money in their hands.
The stranger threw the money bag to the leader of the thief. The thief caught it and opened it eagerly.
Still in surprise, when he looked up, he saw the foreigner grinning widely, showing his white teeth.
For a moment, the little thief felt inexplicably panicked.
In the next breath, the stranger grabbed the thief's face and pinched the mandibular joint with his fingers, as if he could crush the bones.
The thief opened his mouth wide, but no sound came out, and then he felt a chill on his neck.
The short knife in the stranger's hand was thrust upward from his chin, and the tip of the knife penetrated directly from the top of his head.
At the same time, several other outsiders raised their hands silently, and they actually had exquisite one-handed crossbows in their hands.
As the trigger was pulled, the crossbow arrow accurately penetrated the neck of each thief.
After several outsiders committed the murder, they still moved the bodies away silently and threw them into the ditch casually, seemingly without any worry about being discovered.
The leader put away his dagger, put his bag on his back, and signaled to continue on his way.
From beginning to end, none of these foreigners, who looked like they were dressed in shabby clothes, spoke.
In the early morning, Lin Ye was the first to arrive at the martial arts gym. He came to meet his master and his wife. He was going back to Qi Barracks today and had not had time to stay in the martial arts gym for a while in the past three days.
The door of the martial arts hall was open when Lin Ye arrived. When he entered, he saw Mo Wutong coming out yawning.
"Didn't you open the door?"
Lin Ye asked him.
Mo Wutong said: "Elder brother went out early in the morning, saying he was building a house for someone else."
Lin Ye had seen Lei Hongliu and Yan Xiniu. He didn't stay long and rushed back to Qi Barracks.
On the way, I passed by Fengzhong Martial Arts Hall and saw senior brother Jiang Qiuse greeting some craftsmen, pushing a wheelbarrow, and cleaning the collapsed house.
Lin Ye went over to greet him, and Jiang Qiuse couldn't help but admire him when he saw him wearing the military uniform of a military commander.
"Spiritual, still wearing such clothes."
Jiang Qiuse said: "Now that you have such an identity, you should perform well and make more meritorious service, so that you can become a bigger official in the future."
Lin Ye nodded: "Thank you, senior brother."
Jiang Qiuse said: "Thank me for what I did. You go quickly. Don't waste the time and break the rules of the military camp. It's not easy for people like us to get ahead. Don't waste the opportunity."
Lin Ye thanked him again, then turned and left.
He took a few steps and looked back. The senior brother was bending down to work. It seemed that he was really used to this hard work, and his movements were not unfamiliar at all.
Some people who got up early couldn't help laughing when they saw this scene.
I don’t know whether the senior brother of the Yan Family Martial Arts School is very powerful or not. He can be said to be very powerful. He can destroy other people’s houses and come over to repair them. If he is not very powerful, he can also destroy other people’s houses.
Jiang Qiuse worked silently, not afraid of getting dirty. She picked up the collapsed masonry and loaded it into the truck. Her hands and clothes were covered with mud.
Lin Ye looked back again, thinking that the thick calluses on the senior brother's hands were like this?
If this journey of thousands of miles goes down like this, it will be really hard for Senior Brother.
Cui Xiangli came from the backyard carrying a bird cage. After taking a look, he snorted from his nose.
Jiang Qiuse cupped her fists to say hello, but Cui Xiangli didn't respond and walked away carrying the bird cage.
When it was time to eat at noon, the people from the Cui Family Martial Arts School squatted there with their rice bowls and watched the excitement. Their bowls contained rapeseed and meat, and they were all in high spirits, as if they should be so proud.
Jiang Qiuse found a place to wash her hands, and went out to buy a lot of steamed buns and pickles.
Sitting on the ground and eating with the craftsmen, chatting from time to time, they were very satisfied with just steamed buns and pickles.
This scene made everyone in the Cui Family Martial Arts School laugh even more, not to mention how proud they were.
These craftsmen are quick in their work, not sloppy in their work, and do their work in a down-to-earth manner, and no one is playing tricks.
In just one day, the collapsed front hall was cleared, and the next step was to rebuild it.
Jiang Qiuse came in covered in dust and asked if she could borrow the water from the martial arts school. After all, building a house is inseparable from the mud.
Cui Xiangli was not happy, and he disliked Jiang Qiuse's dirty look, so he didn't want to talk to him.
He asked a disciple to show him the location of the well, and was annoyed that Jiang Qiuse left muddy footprints where he walked.
After the disciples of the Cui Family Martial Arts School took Jiang Qiuse to see it, they urged Jiang Qiuse to leave quickly. Jiang Qiuse looked around and said with emotion that it was indeed a wealthy family.
This made the disciples of the Cui Family Martial Arts School look down on him even more, and glanced at the bumpkin with contempt.
At the same time, in the east of the city, where poor people live.
Chief Inspector Tang Jiu covered his mouth and nose with a handkerchief and squatted by the ditch, watching his men salvage the bodies.
Murder cases often occur in this slum, which is common for Tang Jiu, but it is really rare for six or seven people to die at one time.
"Let's eat black when we are black."
Deputy Chief Xing Chaoyun muttered to himself.
This is a person who was promoted from a lower county in Yunzhou. Even if he is the deputy chief, the policemen actually look down on him.
But Tang Jiu was very polite to him, because Tang Jiu understood that a person transferred from the county must have connections behind him.
"Maybe."
Tang Jiu stood up and walked to a salvaged corpse. He lowered his head and looked at it. The bloody hole on the neck of the corpse was shocking.
Xing Chaoyun said: "It looks like it was shot with a crossbow."
Tang Jiu curled his lips: "How could there be a crossbow in a place like this? It was probably made of iron bars at most, but the attack was really dark and ruthless."
Xing Chaoyun squatted down and opened the wound with his hands to look at it: "My lord, there is no extra incision, it is just a round hole, so it is not a crossbow arrow."
"Old Xing."
Tang Jiu said: "Go there yourself and ask the state soldiers to send more people to patrol at night."
Xing Chaoyun responded: "My subordinate will go now."
When he was about to leave, he looked at the body again and shook his head: "It's so cruel."
It's late at night again.
Seven or eight people wearing rustic, shabby clothes and carrying patched bags appeared outside Fengzhong Martial Arts Hall.
The leader took off a mask from his belt and put it on, then took out his short knife from his bag.
The sun rose again, a morning that Tang Jiu didn't like.
He stood at the door of Fengzhong Martial Arts School, his expression uglier than when he ate half a nail in his bun during breakfast.
He took out his handkerchief and covered his mouth and nose again. When he walked in, he saw the first body.
The fatal wound was on the neck, a round hole with no extra incision.
He continued to walk forward, and every few steps he saw a corpse. The appearance of death was roughly the same.
When I walked to the backyard, I saw no dead people in the yard, but there were them in every room in the backyard.
Many martial arts disciples were killed in their sleep, just under the covers, all with one blow.
The martial arts hall was completely looted, leaving no money or human life behind.
Cui Xiangli also died.
The difference is that Cui Xiangli's body was hung from the beam in the main hall of the backyard.
There was blood on the ground under the body. Before death, he was disemboweled.
The entrails were still piled on the floor, emitting a disgusting odor.
Tang Jiu couldn't help but want to vomit, and he didn't want to take another look, but he was still attracted by the strange thing about Cui Xiangli.
Cui Xiangli drew a pattern with blood on his heart, a circle with a six-pointed star inside.
In the middle of the six-pointed star is inserted something similar to a chopstick, but it is made of iron and seems to have a strange texture.
He turned around and saw a thick stack of paper on the table not far away.
Tang Jiu stepped over, picked up the papers and looked at them. His expression suddenly changed again.
Each stroke on this paper records the evil deeds of the Cui family in many prefectures and counties in Yunzhou.
Cui Xiangli sent his disciples to disguise themselves as water bandits and committed murders on several large rivers in Yunzhou.
Also, Cui Xiangli's escort agency repeatedly deliberately created the illusion that the escort was being robbed and killed the customers who followed the escort, using cruel methods.
Also, Cui Xiangli's business collected silk in Yangyun County, bribed the county magistrate and others, and bought high-quality goods at the price of inferior goods. Anyone who dared to question was arrested and tortured by the county government, and was sentenced to blackmail. sin.
Looking at this, Tang Jiu couldn't help but let out a heavy breath.
He asked: "Where is the person who reported the crime?"
The subordinate replied: "I'm talking to Deputy Chief Xing outside. It's the senior brother who just returned from the Yan Family Martial Arts School. His name seems to be Jiang Qiuse."
