"This one must be Mr. Fang, the young man who is a new flower explorer. My official, Song Xiang, lives in Lin'an Prefecture and serves as a punishment officer. Mr. Fang is very polite." The official came forward and bowed his hands.

"It turns out it's Mr. Song. I've admired you for a long time. I'm so polite to you." Fang Zian returned the courtesy.

Song Xiang nodded, looked at Fang Zian and said: "Master Fang came just in time, I was planning to go to the Fangyu Army Yamen. Now that Master Fang is here, I don't need to go. We can talk about some things here.

"

Fang Zian said in a deep voice: "Sir Song, I came here to check after hearing about Mr.

Among the victims was Mr. Xia, the commander-in-chief of our Fangyu Army. I cannot believe this, so I came here hoping to know the truth. Mr. Song, is this true?"

Song Xiang glanced at Fang Zian and said in a deep voice: "Please come with me."

Song Xiang turned around and walked towards the edge of the forest where the corpses were placed. Fang Zian frowned and thought for a moment, then followed. When he came to the place where the corpses were placed, the charred corpses were burnt black.

Some of these corpses were convulsed and twisted, some had their bodies burned through, and some had their limbs burned away, leaving only a lump of black charcoal. Fang Zian covered his eyes with his hands and did not dare to look further, his brows furrowed into a knot.

Song Xiang looked at Fang Zian's appearance and said in a deep voice: "I'm sorry, Mr. Fang, I shouldn't have let you see such a tragic situation. I'm afraid Mr. Fang will have nightmares in the next few days. It's my fault that I didn't think well. I

Officials are used to seeing dead bodies, but they have forgotten how Master Fang feels."

Fang Zian waved his hands and said: "It's okay, it's okay. It's too tragic to burn so many people to death. These corpses must be restrained and taught to be buried in peace."

Song Xiang nodded and said: "Of course, but the body has not been clearly identified. Currently, except for the shopkeeper and the waiters of the restaurant, most of the people who can be identified cannot be identified, so they cannot be buried in the ground for the time being. However,

This matter will be started soon. In addition, the examination of the body is not over yet. It still needs to be investigated clearly. Mr. Fang, look, this is the body that is suspected to be Mr. Xia. Although according to this

The official's judgment is that it is nine out of ten that it is Master Xia's corpse, but for the sake of caution, it is better to confirm it. After all, the basis of the judgment is Master Xia's sword. The corpse was too badly burned."

Fang Zian squinted at the corpse that Song Xiang pointed to. Under the fire, the black corpse was so twisted and deformed that its hands and feet had been burned away, leaving only bare arms and calves. The body's

The main parts and head were still there, but the face was charred, making it completely unrecognizable. The dark eye sockets and black nostrils looked extremely terrifying. Even so, Fang Zian knew in his heart that this was Xia Liangdong. That meant no

A clear premonition.

"Master Fang, you and Master Xia are colleagues. We are both officials, so you should be very familiar with each other. Maybe you can identify for me whether this is Xia Liangdong." Song Xiang looked at Fang Zian's face with bright eyes.

Said in a low voice.

Fang Zian shook his head slightly and said: "Mr. Song, I'm sorry for my incompetence. I've only been in office for a month, and I'm not familiar with Mr. Xia. The identification of the body should be left to Mr. Xia's family or other conclusive evidence. I'm sorry.

Officials cannot make random guesses."

Song Xiang nodded slightly and said: "That's right. Mr. Fang has been in office for a short time, so it may be difficult to identify him. That's all I'm saying.

Already."

Fang Zian looked at the fire scene around him and frowned as he watched the embers rising from the smoke. Song Xiang said: "Master Fang, you are from the Fangyu Military Yamen. I would like to ask you what kind of fire can destroy so many people."

People don’t even have a chance to escape? This seems a bit incredible."

Fang Zian felt relieved, turned around and said, "Master Song, do you think there is something fishy here?"

Song Xiang said: "You need to ask? I'm afraid normal people would find it strange. As far as I know, the business of a place like Zhang's Restaurant is not so good. Twenty or thirty people dine there in one night. These people are actually in the same place."

We gathered here in the evening, and more than one person was carrying a weapon. We found more than a dozen weapons in the fire scene. Isn't this strange?"

Fang Zian thought for a moment and thought: "It's indeed a bit strange. But...if it's really Mr. Xia, it's not really strange."

"How do you say this?" Song Xiang asked.

Fang Zian said: "Master Song, our Fangyu Army is actually the imperial army, and the soldiers of the Fangyu Army are allowed to carry weapons. Master Xia is usually a bold man, and there is always a group of soldiers following him. If this corpse

If it is really Mr. Xia, it means that Mr. Xia was drinking here, so it is very likely that he was accompanied by brothers and soldiers of our Fangyu Army. If the other people who were burned to death were all soldiers of our Fangyu Army, then naturally

All the weapons you carry will be scattered here, so it makes sense. Of course, the premise is that it is indeed Mr. Xia and the others."

Song Xiang muttered: "That makes sense."

Fang Zian thought for a while and said: "This restaurant looks like it is all made of wood. Once this kind of structure catches fire, it will be difficult to escape after the fire seals the stairs. If Mr. Xia and the others were drinking on the second floor at that time, they would be so drunk that they would be dizzy.

Under such circumstances, it may be difficult to escape the fire.”

Song Xiang said: "Oh? So powerful? You didn't even have a chance to escape after discovering the fire? This is a bit bizarre."

Fang Zian said: "Master Song, we are a yamen specializing in fire fighting. Some things are not as simple as outsiders think. Master Song, do you know that many people who were burned to death by fire did not actually die from the fire, but were killed before the fire burned them.

The suffocation from the smoke makes it impossible to escape. If there is a fire downstairs, the smoke will drift to the second floor. Inhaling the smoke will cause suffocation, and the smoke will also block the line of sight, making it impossible to find a way to escape. Just imagine, when they found out

When the building is full of smoke, it will be so panicky and hectic. After inhaling a few puffs of smoke, you will cough violently and lose the ability to move. Once you are suffocated and unconscious, you will no longer have the chance to live."

Song Xiang twisted his beard and thought for a moment, then nodded and said: "Master Fang really opened my eyes to this. It turns out that this is the case. I was a little puzzled by some signs. According to my understanding, if a person is burned to death,

There will be black soot in the throat area. I did not find any smoke in the throats of several unburned corpses, which makes me suspect that they were dead before the fire broke out and that someone set the corpses on fire. You

Saying this makes me feel that it may not be what I thought. It is also possible that they inhaled the smoke and suffocated to death before the fire burned them."

Fang Zian felt a tremble in his heart and thought to himself: What a danger. He had completely forgotten the difference between a person who was burned to death and a body that was burned after death. Although the fire was fierce, it would not burn these huge people to ashes. They

The mouth and throat are still intact. In a prison like Song Xiang,

The eyes can make a lot of investigations and judgments. Song Xiang had already had huge doubts, but his previous explanation failed to explain this phenomenon.

"However... this does not rule out the possibility that this was the scene of a large-scale massacre. The murderer killed people and then set fire to silence them. After all, so many people were buried here, which is a bit unbelievable. The people upstairs

The difficulty in escaping can explain why the shopkeeper of this restaurant was also burned to death. Didn't they have a better chance of escaping? Did they fall asleep while doing business? Or did they all run to the second floor? This is somewhat unexplainable. Like

It’s so terrible that they were all killed and set on fire.” Song Xiang muttered.

Fang Zian smacked his lips and said, "What Mr. Song said is that it is difficult to rule out this possibility. However... if it is really a murder, it would be incredible. To kill all these twenty or thirty people in the building, among them

There are also more than a dozen people carrying weapons, and they are probably Mr. Xia who has martial arts skills and a group of soldiers from our Fangyu Army. How many people are needed to do this? There must be at least dozens of fully equipped soldiers.

Armed people. With so many people fighting here, they should leave some traces. For example, leaving traces of a large group of people trampling in the woods or on the road, or a large number of people moving to alert other witnesses.

Or these. Did Mr. Song find any clues and traces?"

Fang Zian seemed to be following Song Xiang's words, but in fact his purpose was to explore Song Xiang's tone. After all, it was already the second watch when the murder was committed last night, so it was difficult to ensure that no clues such as blood stains and traces of a fight were left behind.

.In fact, as long as you find a trace of blood left during a murder, you can immediately conclude that this was not an accidental fire.

"My men have searched nearby, and there are no traces. Otherwise, do I still need to guess here? Although there are footprints in the forest, they are just sporadic footprints, which is not enough. Unless the murderer is

Masters, only two or three martial arts masters can kill Master Xia and the others." Song Xiang frowned.

Fang Zian smiled bitterly and said: "Does Mr. Song really believe that there are such people in the world? Two or three people can kill twenty or thirty people? And they are soldiers carrying weapons? I don't believe it anyway. These things are all lies and scaremongering.

It's just for the common people. How can there be so many masters in the world."

Song Xiang smiled and said: "Master Fang, there are still people like this. Don't completely disbelieve it. There are people outside the world, and anything can happen. But, what's the motive? Is Xia Liangdong in a relationship with these people? We made an appointment here.

What important things were we talking about? After we couldn't agree, we started fighting. After the murder, we set fire to destroy the corpses to eliminate traces? To fake the fire scene? Since we need to destroy the corpses and eliminate traces, it is possible that the murderer feels that there is a possibility of being exposed. If he is a master of martial arts, kill him

People can be killed, but there is no need to destroy the body and eliminate traces. If the murderer wants to cover it up, it means..."

When Song Xiang muttered these words, Fang Zian's back felt a little chilly. Song Xiang was so shrewd. His analysis and thinking process was as if he had witnessed the whole process with his own eyes. He actually said that the agreement was here.

Discuss things and talk about whether there will be a fight. This is exactly the process of committing a crime.

When Fang Zian was silent, Song Xiang suddenly asked in Fang Zian's ear: "Master Fang, why didn't Master Xia invite you to the banquet? How is your relationship with Master Xia?"
Chapter completed!