According to the plot routine, there are generally only two possibilities for the death of a key witness. The first is to commit suicide out of fear of crime, and the second is to be silenced.
But the facts were far beyond Lin Sui'an's expectation. Wang Hao was beaten to death by the jailers, and on the orders of Prefect Zhou.
When Lin Sui'an and Hua Yitang rushed to the prison, Ling Zhiyan had already arrived, staring at Wang Hao's body lying on the ground with a livid face. The body's face and body were covered with whip marks and burn marks, and it was in a very miserable state of death.
The jailer who was executing the execution knelt on the ground, trembling all over. Governor Zhou yelled at the side: "You didn't ask anything, and you killed someone! They're a bunch of wine and rice bags!"
"Prefect Zhou!" Ling Zhiyan said sternly, "This person is an important suspect and witness, and he has confessed. Why did you torture him so hard that he lost his life?!"
Prefect Zhou changed his previous submissive attitude and shouted at Ling Zhiyan with a dark face, "Ling Sizhi, I am the prefect of Yangdu. Why didn't you report such an important suspect in time when you captured such an important suspect? Now that you have missed something important, you can bear the consequences. ?"
"What happened?!" Hua Yitang asked.
"Hua Yitang! Take your life!" A person suddenly rushed out. He was originally standing in the corner, blending in with the shadow, but now he appeared, startling everyone.
Lin Sui'an reacted the fastest and kicked him away. Thanks to Ling Zhiyan's quick eyesight and quick hands, he was able to avoid the bad luck of being kicked away. Only then did Lin Sui'an see clearly that it was Feng Yuyi's grandfather, Feng Song.
The Feng Song in front of him seemed to have aged ten years overnight. His white hair was messy, his eyes were full of red threads, and his lips were peeling. He glared at Hua Yitang fiercely, and his whole body was shaking uncontrollably.
Hua Yitang's expression changed: "What happened?!"
Governor Zhou: "Feng Yuyi is missing!"
Hua Yitang: "What?!"
Ling Zhiyan: "When did it happen?!"
"Hua Yitang, you must have let the murderer go on purpose. You must have harmed my child?!" Feng Song bared his teeth and claws and pounced on Hua Yitang. Lin Sui'an grabbed him and threw him away. He sat on the ground with a cry. .
"Huashiro has been in the government office all night, how could he possibly harm Feng Yuyi." Ling Zhiyan said, "Mr. Feng, please quickly inform me of the details before and after your son's disappearance, and immediately arrange for manpower to search -"
Before he finished speaking, a government official hurried in and said, "Ling Sizhi, Hua Silang, and Pei Jiaqi Lang have something urgent to see."
Hua Yitang was surprised: "Pei Shijun? Why is he here?"
Official: "He said that a man named Chen Zhu has disappeared."
In the flower hall of the government office, the atmosphere was extremely solemn.
Feng Song finally calmed down a bit and sat on the east side with a livid face. Ling Zhiyan asked in a low voice the details about Feng Yuyi's disappearance. Governor Zhou was pouring tea and comforting him, which was quite attentive.
Soon, Lin Sui'an met Pei Shijun, the seventh son of the Pei family. When he saw Hua Yitang, he was like seeing the chicks of an old hen. He kept chattering, "Silang, Chen Zhu is missing! There is no one at home. He often goes there." We’ve searched all the bookstores and tea shops! You’re familiar with the people in Dali Temple, so hurry up and help find them.”
"Qi Lang, don't worry," Hua Yitang motioned for Pei Shijun to sit down first, "When was the last time you saw Chen Zhu?"
Pei Shijun: "That was the day you and Mrs. Lin found the headless corpse in Liuyue Tower. I heard that you were taken away by the bad guys from the government office, so I hurried to Huazhai to look for Mu Zhong. When I saw Chen Zhu on the road, I shouted He didn't seem to hear him at all and left in a hurry."
Hua Yitang: "When? Where?"
Pei Shijun thought for a while: "I was at Furong Tower when I heard the news. It was about Wei Zheng. I drove past the Zhongsan Bridge and Guangji Bridge. Yes, I met him on the bridge climbing. It was about Wei Zheng. He looked towards Going west, we should go to the tea shop in Juan Yufang."
"We haven't seen each other since?"
"There has been a lot of chaos in Yangdu these days. My grandpa asked me not to go out. Today he promised that the painting date for Mr. Li's painting would be coming soon. I went to his house to urge him, and then I found out that he was not at home. I heard from the neighbors that these two I have never seen anyone before."
"Is there anything strange in his family?"
"Same as usual."
Hua Yitang's face darkened and he glanced at Lin Sui'an.
Lin Sui'an knew what he meant. Two people were missing now, Feng Yuyi and Chen Zhu, and the burnt corpse might be one of them.
It's just that the body was damaged, and DNA couldn't be tested here, so the identity couldn't be confirmed at all.
The only sure clue is--her golden finger... eh?
Lin Sui'an: "Who is Chen Zhu?"
Pei Shijun: "Ms. Lin, you met him at Furong Tower, have you forgotten?"
Lin Sui'an thought about it for a while, but he really had no impression.
"Half of the five hundred leaflets were written by him."
In this way, there were indeed a few young men in white behind Pei Shijun, holding large stacks of leaflets, but Lin Sui'an couldn't remember the exact number of them or their specific appearance. They were all probably average-looking.
"Is he also a playboy?" Lin Sui'an asked.
Pei Shijun: "Oh, what kind of playboy is he? His mother died early and his father passed away the year before last. But Silang saw that he could write well and draw well, so he asked me to help him introduce some custom calligraphy and painting business to him."
Lin Sui'an glanced at Hua Yitang in surprise. He didn't expect this dude to do charity for poverty alleviation?
But Hua Yitang suddenly closed his eyes, tightened the corners of his mouth, and his lips were pale.
"What, what's wrong?" Pei Shijun asked, "Silang, is there something wrong?"
"What?! Another corpse was discovered last night?!" Feng Song jumped to his feet and shouted, "Take me there quickly!!"
Pei Shijun suddenly looked at Hua Yitang.
Hua Yitang slowly opened his eyes, his pupils dark. "Let's go to the Corpse Collection Hall."
When Wu Zuo untied the shroud and revealed the true appearance of the charred corpse, Feng Song collapsed and collapsed to the ground. He couldn't even utter a word, only audible sounds of unknown meaning.
Even though Lin Sui'an didn't have a good impression of him, he couldn't bear to look at him anymore and looked away.
Pei Shijun's condition was a little better, but his face was green and his legs were a little weak. He was supported by Hua Yitang and could barely keep standing.
"Oh my god, Feng Sanlang, how did you become like this! Ling Zhiyan! It was all because of your inability to solve the case, neglect of duty, and let the suspect go! Now that Feng Sanlang is killed, you are the culprit! I, Mr. Zhou I must read your book carefully!" Zhou Taishou cried as if his own father had died.
Feng Song glared at Ling Zhiyan fiercely, his eyes looking like they were stained with blood. "The Ling family is indeed one of the five surnames and seven sects, and they are indeed colluding with the Hua family!"
Ling Zhiyan's expression did not change, "This person is not Feng Yuyi."
"Sanlang disappeared last night. This body was found last night. Who is it if it's not Sanlang?" Zhou Changping shouted, "Ling Zhiyan, you have caused a big disaster, don't even think about denying it!"
"Feng Gong said that the time when Feng Yuyi returned to his room to rest after dinner was at Youzheng. According to Wang Hao's account, the time when he met Dong Chao was at Haizheng. There was only an hour between them, and a body would be burned like this. The charred corpse will take at least half an hour, plus the time for abducting, killing, and transporting the corpse. There is no time at all." Ling Zhiyan motioned to his wife to send it to the autopsy grid, and while turning over it, he said, "Although the corpse is charred, However, the internal organs were relatively well preserved and the stomach was empty with no food residue, indicating that the person had not eaten for more than an hour before his death, which is inconsistent with Feng Yuyi’s meal time.”
Feng Song struggled to stand up, "He, he really isn't Saburo?"
"no."
"Where is Saburo?!"
"Please cooperate with Mr. Feng. Ling needs to search Feng Yuyi's house carefully and ask for the confessions of everyone in the Feng family."
Feng Song's eyes widened, "You mean Saburo is still alive and you can find him?"
Ling Zhiyan frowned: "I can't guarantee it."
Feng Song's expression seemed like he wanted to eat Ling Zhiyan.
Governor Zhou immediately expressed his loyalty: "Don't worry, Mr. Feng, I will turn over the entire Yang capital to find Saburo!"
"Then what are you waiting for?!" Feng Song roared, turned around and went out, followed closely by Prefect Zhou.
Ling Zhiyan sighed heavily and still chased after him.
From beginning to end, Hua Yitang didn't say a word, just looked at the charred corpse on the corpse table quietly. His figure was thin, his clothes were white, and his back was like delicate petals, which could be blown by the wind. Ran.
Pei Shijun stepped forward hesitantly, "Silang, if this isn't Feng Yuyi, could it be... Chen Zhu?"
"Chen Zhuding was always with us, so he was mistaken for a playboy and was killed." Hua Yitang's Adam's apple moved, "It's my fault."
A few hours later, Ling Zhiyan brought back the news. Feng Yuyi's disappearance was the same as Jiang Hongwen's before. There were no signs of fighting in the house, and there were no witnesses. In addition, Feng's house had been in chaos before, destroying the scene. Even Jin Ruo also Feng Yuyi's whereabouts cannot be traced.
"We previously speculated that the person who took Jiang Hongwen away was a member of the government. Now it seems that the direction of the reasoning is wrong." Lin Sui'an said, "If Dong Chao's skills were followed, he could have directly kidnapped people without leaving any trace."
"Although Dong Chao's sword skills are superb, his sneaking and leaping skills are average. Ling Si took me to the courtyard wall and roof of Feng's house to look at it. There was no trace of Dong Chao's appearance." Jin Ruodao.
Lin Sui'an: "Are you saying that Dong Chao's Qinggong has not yet reached the level of walking on snow without leaving a trace?"
Jin Ruo was disgusted, "You have read too much in the book, how can there be such skill in the world? As long as it is a human being, there will be traces when walking, unless he is a ghost."
Great, at least the world is still under Newton's control. Lin Sui'an thought.
"Then the most likely scenario is that both Jiang Hongwen and Feng Yuyi sneaked out on their own." Ling Zhiyan spread out the map of Yangdu Square and looked around the sixty-four squares in Luocheng, "Why did you go out? When did you go out? Go there. Where did he go? No one knows."
"Do you think Feng Yuyi is still alive?" Pei Shijun asked.
Ling Zhiyan: "There is hope before seeing the body."
Jin Ruo collapsed on the table, "Jingyunfang only checked less than one-fifth, and not a single one was found. The people were evacuated, it's over."
Lin Sui'an was startled: "Why didn't Jingyunfang investigate?"
Jin Ruo: "The city guards, bad guys, and government officials have all been transferred away by that old guy Zhou Changping to find Feng Yuyi!"
"Isn't it better to check Jingyunfang to find Feng Yuyi?"
"Prefect Zhou said that before Wang Hao died, he said that the news about Dong Chao's shop in Jingyunfang was just nonsense, just to keep himself alive." Ling Zhiyan frowned.
Looking at Ling Zhiyan's expression, Lin Sui'an knew that Governor Zhou might not only have said this sentence, but probably also had many unpleasant words.
Pei Shijun: "This old guy Zhou Changping is quite good. He used to pretend to be sick to hide in his spare time. Now when he saw something happened to Mr. Feng, he immediately performed his duties. But based on his ability, Mr. Feng should just ask for his blessings."
Ling Zhiyan sighed: "It is too inefficient to rely solely on the people who clean the door. Huashiro, can you ask people from the Hua family to help?"
"Yangdu is so big, even if all the people of the Hua family are released, it will only be a drop in the bucket." Hua Yitang leaned on the table and half-squinted his eyes, "Instead of looking for a needle in a haystack, it is better to lure the snake out of its hole."
Ling Zhiyan was puzzled: "What lures the snake out of its hole?"
Hua Yitang took something out of his sleeve and handed it to Ling Zhiyan. It turned out to be the bamboo slips about the "Ten Tortures" that Qi Yuansheng had pulled out.
Lin Sui'an was very surprised: When did he bring it with him? Didn’t you sneer at the above records before?
Ling Zhiyan glanced at the bamboo slips and her expression changed drastically, "Huashiro, this thing——"
"Dong Chao's treatment of the corpses is exactly the same as the record above. I suspect that he planned to kill people in this order and method from the beginning." Hua Yitang seemed tired and slowly closed his eyes, "He has killed four people now. There are still six people left, and he said last time that I will be next. According to his plan, the punishment for me should be to have my spine broken."
Ling Zhiyan: "Ridiculous! Who found this thing? Where did you find it?!"
"Report to Ling Sizhi, it's me." A voice came out from the corner, startling everyone.
Only then did everyone remember that there was a clerk of the Justice Cao in the room.
Qi Yuansheng sat in the shadows, like an earthbound spirit, and said in a serious tone, "The bamboo slips were found from the ancient case files sealed by the judicial officer after being reminded by Madam Lin."
Ling Zhiyan was surprised: "How did Madam Lin know about these ten tortures?"
It’s over! Lin Sui An felt bad, she couldn't be said to have a golden finger, could she? This is too unscientific.
How about saying that when she was fighting with Dong Chao, Dong Chao let the news slip? No, there were so many people present at the time, all watching eagerly, they would definitely not be able to get through.
"Wait a minute, I've seen the words above!" Jin Ruo's eyes almost touched the bamboo slip, "'After the ten cools, there are the ten pure ones.' This sentence is also found in the remaining scrolls of the sword manual of the Jingmen sect!"
Hua Yitang suddenly opened his eyes.
"Ah. Yes," Lin Sui'an said immediately, "I heard my grandpa mention the ten tortures before, but I forgot about it when I was young. I only remembered it later when I saw the horror of these corpses."
"You said before that Wang Hao taught you all your kung fu?" Hua Yitang asked Jin Ruo.
Jin Ruo: "Yes."
"Then who was the person who saved the fragments of the sword manual before?"
"Of course it's Wang Hao."
Everyone was silent.
"This makes sense," Hua Yitang stood up and straightened his clothes, "It seems that Dong Chao got the inspiration for killing from Wang Hao's sword manual."
Pei Shijun: "Silang, where are you going?"
"Dong Chao said that Yang Du has been a dandy for a long time, and he wants to do justice for heaven. In this case," Hua Yitang walked towards the door and stood against the light. At this time, dusk had arrived, and a beam of daylight fell on him, condensing. Guang Ruzhu said, "I, Hua Yitang, the number one dandy in Yangdu, am just waiting for him to kill me!"
Everyone's expressions changed in surprise, and Ling Zhiyan's eyes widened.
Only Lin Sui'an raised the corner of his mouth. She could see clearly that Hua Yitang's fingers were tightly clenching the handle of the fan, his knuckles were green and white, and he was still trembling faintly.
She says she's beautiful, but her body is honest. He was so brave as a little rabbit, so he said a harsh word, scaring himself half to death first.
"Okay." Lin Sui'an stepped forward and patted Hua Yitang's shoulder, "I'll accompany you.":,,
