It is not yet noon, and the sun is not as fierce as midsummer. The streets in the west of the city are busy with traffic, and there are men and women hanging out everywhere.
Xuanji, the real person, opened a small umbrella to cover the head of the Queen Mother. Because of their appearance, they looked very much like a scholarly lady accompanying the lady in charge when she went shopping.
Ye Jingtang, who followed behind, although well-dressed and well-dressed, was carrying large and small boxes in both hands and had a knife hanging on his waist. It can be said that he showed his identity as a personal guard very well.
The three of them set off from Prince Jing's Mansion to the Royal Boxing Gym. Since the case had been happening for several days and it was not urgent, they left in no hurry.
The Queen Mother rarely leaves the palace, and she probably only experiences this kind of unfettered shopping time a few times a year. Even if she tries her best to restrain herself and do business first, her mind is still attracted by the dazzling array of objects on the street.
However, Xuanji was very considerate of the Queen Mother. She didn't even need to ask the Queen Mother to ask, but she would go here to buy a hairpin or a box of rouge. In the end, the whole thing was left in the hands of Ye Jingtang.
Through the observation of the Queen Mother, Ye Jingtang can determine that the things he bought will most likely be left in the palace to eat dust. It is not easy to remember them, let alone use them.
But shopping is about experiencing the process of shopping. When Ye Jingtang saw that the Queen Mother was enjoying it, she did not show any urge to do so. Occasionally, she even helped the Queen Mother and gave some suggestions.
After walking like this for a long time, the three of them gradually arrived at the Yuquan Gym in the west of the city.
The Royal Boxing Hall is equivalent to the "Guozijian" of martial arts. The teachers in it are all six-door, black yamen, masters who have retired from the military camp. There are also many specially hired masters from famous families. They do not only teach boxing, but also swords, guns, swords and halberds.
, the art of war, strategy, intelligence, assassination, etc. are all taught. Students who can successfully graduate will at least start as military attachés.
As the saying goes, "the rich in literature and martial arts are poor", those who can learn arts here generally have good family backgrounds, half of them are the children of generals, and some are young people in the military and yamen who deserve to be vigorously cultivated.
Literati only need a table to study, while practicing martial arts requires venues, equipment and other facilities. The martial arts students who come to study cannot perform in the dormitories arranged by the court. Therefore, the neighborhoods around the Yuquan Gym are all courtyards rented out.
When you walk nearby, you can hear various hitting sounds of "Pap, Pap, Pah, Pah, Pah, Pah, Pah, Pah, Pah, Pah, Pah, Pah, Pah, Pah, Pah, Pah, Pah, Pah, Pah, Pah, Pah, Pah, Pah, Pah.
After arriving at the destination, Ye Jingtang walked in front. He first asked passers-by about the location where the murder occurred, and then took the two women and turned into the alley from Zheng Street. While walking, Ye Jingtang also asked:
"You don't need to be an apprentice to learn martial arts in the Royal Boxing Hall?"
Master Xuanji shook his head: "Studying art here is the same as the Imperial College, and you are considered a 'disciple of the Emperor'. The teacher's kindness must be remembered by the Holy Master.
"Although there are many famous teachers in the Royal Boxing Gym, you don't have to think about stealing from them. You can just teach the instructors there, and they can't teach you."
Ye Jingtang smiled and said: "When three people are together, there must be one teacher from me. The quality of kung fu only depends on whose hands it is. The kung fu I don't know is good kung fu. There is no saying that it cannot be taught."
The Queen Mother was walking beside her. Since she couldn't say anything, she looked at the surrounding houses with a dignified manner. After turning a corner, she found a simple shed set up in the middle of the alley, with several policemen standing underneath, and then she said:
"Is it there?"
"should be."
Ye Jingtang led the two of them to the middle of the alley. After a brief observation, it was seen that the place where the murder occurred was in front of a courtyard. There was no obvious damage to the walls, tiles, and doors. The body had also been moved away, and only scratches were left on the same spot.
The line marks the position of the body, but at first glance there is nothing worth noting.
A cloth tent was erected in the alley to prevent the sudden rain from erasing the few remaining traces. Several agents from the six gates and the black office stood inside and whispered to each other:
"There is nothing missing in the house, and the two deceased people did not lose anything. I guess someone hired a highly skilled killer to kill him..."
"The one who died was the old coach Zhang Lie from the Royal Boxing Gym, and the other was a good young man sent by the Zhennan Army. Both of them came from clean backgrounds, so it is unlikely that they have enemies..."
…
Ye Jingtang listened to the conversation and observed the traces on the ground. Before he could reach them, the policemen in the alley turned around, and then one of the policemen said in surprise and joy:
"Master Yuwen, Master Ye from Heiya is here..."
The few policemen gathered around naturally knew that something happened to the sword leader in Heiya. When they heard this, they immediately showed fear and hurriedly stepped forward to salute and greet him.
Ye Jingtang signaled that there was no need to mobilize troops like this. He turned to look at the yard next to him and saw that Yuwen Chengde, whom he had met before in Zhuji Lane, ran out of it. He held his hands in the air and said:
"Master Ye is here with great dignity, and I am waiting for you from afar..."
"You don't have to be so polite. I heard something happened here, so I came here to see what happened."
The last time Yuwen Chengde investigated the murder of a minor official in the Ministry of Industry, he saw Ye Jingtang's inhuman insight and deduction ability. At this time, he felt like seeing a savior and wiped the sweat from his forehead:
"Alas, there was a murder case. It was not a serious matter, but the consequences were quite serious. The murdered instructor, Mr. Zhang, had taught stick skills in the Yuquan Hall for nearly thirty years. He had been taught by many military attachés and generals serving in the capital.
, as soon as this matter came out, it was directly reported to Taiji Palace. The lower official is in charge of detecting thefts, if something like this happens, if it doesn’t happen, Tiannan will have to be released..."
Ye Jingtang could see that Yuwen Chengde was anxious and said calmly:
"I know the seriousness, let's talk about the case first."
Yuwen Chengde nodded quickly, turned around and came under the cloth shed, pointing to a few footprints and scratches on the ground:
"According to the Yuquan Gym, Mr. Zhang went out to patrol in the middle of the night according to the commandments. He didn't return for half an hour. Other instructors came to look for them and found the bodies of two people here. Because there are many people practicing martial arts in the surrounding area at night, there are several people who live nearby.
He was a student and didn't notice any special movement. The murderer was quite sophisticated and had erased all the traces. Even Mr. Hua, his subordinates and the subordinates didn't notice anything..."
Ye Jingtang squatted down and carefully inspected the ground. It could be seen that several footprints made during the fight had been smoothed out with shoes in a hurry. The posture and direction of the effort could no longer be determined, and he could only determine the approximate position.
There are slight cracks on the walls on both sides of the alley, which may have been caused by a collision, but there are no other clues.
Master Xuanji and the Queen Mother were afraid that people in the government would recognize them, so they both wore face scarves. Master Xuanji looked at her slightly:
"Zhang Lie is an old martial arts master. He used to teach spear and stick kung fu in the Forbidden Army and served as a guard of honor for the late emperor. His kung fu is not very advanced despite his age, but his alertness and reaction to the enemy are definitely not bad. He can silence the surrounding students without alerting the surrounding students. The murderer's martial arts skills
Not to be underestimated.”
After Ye Jingtang carefully observed it for a while, he came to a conclusion that was almost the same as that of Xuanji, so he stood up and said:
"Is the body still there?"
Yuwen Chengde said: "It's right in the courtyard. The last time someone entered the morgue, I had a bad memory. I slept with the corpse for the past two days because I was afraid that someone would destroy the corpse and wipe out traces..."
Ye Jingtang turned around and entered the courtyard, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Queen Mother standing timidly at the back, seemingly not daring to go in and see the dead.
However, when she noticed that he was looking over, the Queen Mother still acted calmly and walked behind Master Xuanji.
Ye Jingtang signaled the Queen Mother to stand at the door, and then came to the courtyard.
The courtyard is for students to live alone. There are stone locks, sandbags, guns and sticks and other objects on the wall. It is a little scattered. You must have heard some noise while exercising and went out to check what happened.
Under the eaves of the main room, there were two stretchers, the bodies were covered with white cloth, and two people's weapons were placed next to them; the students were holding eyebrow sticks, and the instructor was holding a whip pole used as a pointer.
Master Xuanji squatted down, picked up the tendon wooden whip pole and looked at it. There were no scars on the top of it from being hit by an iron weapon, but there were cracks in the middle, which seemed to have been broken by internal force.
The Night Terror Hall opened the white cloth, revealing a corpse with white hair, bloodstains on the mouth and nose, and bruises on both arms. The fatal injury was on the chest, and circular black scars could be seen.
Yuwen Chengde gestured to the chest of the corpse:
"Nothing can be seen in other places. As for this fatal wound, I think it was caused by a stick through the heart. Master Hua guessed that it was a hidden weapon inside the iron egg, but there are no traces of the hidden weapon hitting the ground around..."
After Ye Jingtang looked at the corpse next to him again, he stood up and frowned in thought, then looked at Shuishui next to him:
"What do you think?"
Master Xuanji stood up and said: "This person is very skilled in martial arts, and he is very careful and deliberately hides his whereabouts. It is difficult to infer the origin of the murderer based on these."
Ye Jingtang nodded, picked up a wooden stick from the yard and used it as a whip pole, and threw it to Master Xuanji:
"Practice brings true knowledge. Practice it and see if I can deduce the murderer's movements. Come out and stand here."
Seeing this, Yuwen Chengde became more energetic and quickly asked the policemen surrounding the alley to retreat further.
Master Xuanji understood what the Night Terror Hall was trying to do, so she took the whip stick and pretended to be the victim, pretending to be a stern instructor, and walked to the middle of the alley.
After Ye Jingtang looked at a few scratches on the ground, in order to make the Queen Mother feel a little more involved, he raised his hand and made a tick:
"Come, stand here."
"Um?"
The Queen Mother was looking curiously, and when she saw that she was also interested, she walked over obediently and stood at the gate of the courtyard. After looking around, Ye Jingtang came to the corner of the side path.
The autumn alley was quiet at this moment, with three figures standing in various places in the alley.
Master Xuanji held a pointer with his hands behind his back and stood facing the courtyard, pretending to be secretly observing the students practicing martial arts in the courtyard without making any sound.
Ye Jingtang pretended to be a wandering passerby and walked out of the alley silently. He found the real Xuanji standing in the middle of the alley, his figure stunned.
Master Xuanji suddenly noticed someone emerging. It was too dark to see who it was, so he swung the whip stick in front of him and struck his palms.
Pa~
This action seems to be showing a stern teacher attitude, but in fact it is preparing to meet the enemy.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Ye Jingtang quickly raised his hand and made a gesture of shooting at the real Xuanji.
Master Xuanji stopped abruptly before speaking, and turned to dodge.
Bang——
Ye Jingtang made a move and used both legs at the same time. In an instant, he crossed a distance of three feet and rushed in front of the real person Xuanji. He fired out a black tiger strike with his left hand.
Master Xuanji raised the whip pole with both hands to block, but the broken stick was not very strong and had no blocking effect at all. It broke as soon as it was touched. Ye Jingtang directly slapped Master Xuanji's perfectly curved chest!
Click——
Ye Jingtang concentrated on analyzing the movements, and found that the wooden stick was accidentally broken. Black Tiger suddenly stopped in front of his clothes with his heart out.
This time, the stop was perfect. There was no force at all on Xuanji's body. Even the extremely soft skirt of the clothes was not pressed down. It can be said that the stop was perfect. Any martial arts master who saw it would probably have to applaud and praise him.
A 'good job'.
But in the eyes of Master Xuanji, this just-right emergency stop changed from "accidentally slapped her by mistake" to "easily took the opportunity to gently rub her"!
?!
Feeling the extremely gentle heat on the skirt of her clothes, Xuanji's peach blossom eyes widened a bit, and the meaning in her eyes was obviously - you did it on purpose, right? Why don't you stop earlier if you can?
However, despite being annoyed, Xuanji did not make any mistakes in her cooperation. She still took two steps back as if she had been hit hard and hit the wall.
Bang~
Ye Jingtang was a little confused. He pulled back the weapon and kicked it out again, pretending to hit Xuanji's heart. Then he pulled back and threw the air weapon backwards, pointing at the Queen Mother who was looking curiously.
A set of movements is very fast, but the exercise is completed in an instant.
The landing point of Ye Jingtang's footsteps and the position where Xuanji received the force were exactly the same as the scene of the crime.
Master Xuanji should have been knocked down now, but she did not slide down the wall to play the role of a corpse. Instead, she patted her chest with her sleeves covering her face and looked at the Night Terror Hall with a dangerous look in her eyes.
Ye Jingtang felt that there was still a soft and greasy warmth on his hands, and felt quite embarrassed in his heart. He first raised his hands to apologize, then turned around and analyzed:
"If nothing else happened, Coach Zhang should have been patrolling the alley in the middle of the night and standing here watching the students practicing martial arts in the courtyard. Because he didn't want the students to find out, he didn't make any noise.
"The murderer's footsteps were also silent. When they turned out of the alley, the two of them encountered each other unexpectedly. Then the murderer suddenly took action and killed Coach Zhang almost in the blink of an eye.
"The martial arts students inside heard the noise and ran out to check. Before they could turn around, they were hit in the temple..."
Someone reenacted the scene and explained it, and many of the detectives naturally explained it at a glance, and they all nodded.
However, Yuwen Chengde was still confused and said:
"Master Ye, when the murderer struck, he was still more than three feet away from the target. Even Ma Shan couldn't stab him that far..."
"It's a soft weapon."
Ye Jingtang explained: "The point of force is here. If it is a hidden weapon, a corpse, or a weapon, there will definitely be traces on the wall. Since it cannot be found, the murderer must have taken the weapon back after missing the blow. It can be thrown away.
The only weapons that can be retracted three feet away are rope darts, chain hammers, etc. The corpse has blunt force injuries, and a chain hammer is more likely."
"Oh." Yuwen Chengde suddenly realized.
Ye Jingtang thought for a moment and then said:
"In addition, those who dare to use soft darts and chain hammers must be accurate and fast in the basic skills of three consecutive throws, and will not get close easily. This person should also be good at fists and kicks. In order to kill quickly and safely, he missed the target with one blow.
Change tactics.
"Soft weapons test the control of inner strength, but that palm is as strong as a broken bow and extremely strong. As expected, the murderer is a master of both internal and external skills, and is a comprehensive master of both distance and near..."
Many detectives listened carefully, gradually turning from thoughtful to confused.
Even if Yuwen Chengde had seen it once, he still couldn't understand it at this time, and Weiwei spread his hands:
"Master Ye, how did you see so many things from just a few erased footprints?"
Ye Jingtang explained: "In fact, it's not difficult. Everyone has two hands and two feet, and the space is so big. Think about all the positions and movements that may cause these marks, and then react based on the effect of the blow.
Just look at the strength of the force and the murderer’s train of thought to find the most reasonable result..."
"..."
Yuwen Chengde thought the principle was quite simple, but his pig brain might not be able to learn it, so he was still confused.
Ye Jingtang talked for a while, and seeing that many of the arrests seemed to be listening to heavenly scriptures, he did not waste any more words and turned to:
"That's all I can see. The footprints have been erased. It's hard to guess the height, body shape, style, etc. If you want to catch the murderer, you can only search for similar masters in the world, and the chances are slim."
"Well, it's better to have a general direction of the investigation than not knowing anything just now. I will go to the case library to search for experts who match the characteristics of the murderer. If there are new clues, I will report it to you as soon as possible..."
The Night Terror Hall couldn't give much advice, so he didn't stay long and prepared to leave.
The Queen Mother was still standing obediently at the door. She had just seen Ye Jingtang and Xuanji Zhenren fighting back and forth, and thought she was going to have a fight with her. She was secretly nervous about how to respond without making a fool of herself.
When she found that Night Terror Hall was about to leave, she was a little confused and said:
"Night Terror Hall, you want me to stand here without even asking a single question?"
Master Xuanji held up a small umbrella, covered the Queen Mother's head, and responded:
"You are acting like a corpse. If you stand still, you are acting well."
"Um?"
The Queen Mother looked back to make sure no one was paying attention, then she looked towards the Night Terror Hall, feeling very dissatisfied:
"You want me to play the role of a corpse?"
Ye Jingtang picked up the big and small bags from the ground, shook his head and said:
"How could it be possible? It was just the situation at the time of the exercise. The Queen Mother was a martial arts apprentice. She heard the noise and went out to check, and then she disappeared."
"?"
That’s not even acting as a corpse!
The Queen Mother blinked her eyes and was very unhappy about this:
"Night Terror Hall, I also know how to practice martial arts. You can ask me to practice with you with a wooden stick. If I show my face and die without even raising my hand, do you think you are disgusted by my low martial arts skills?"
"How could it be? It's just that there are too many people in the alley, and they don't know how to fight. I'm afraid of offending the Queen Mother."
Master Xuanji was offended just now, and now she narrowed her eyes slightly:
"Aren't you worried about offending me? Or do you think it's okay to just touch me?"
The Queen Mother is not stupid. She felt that these words meant that a woman was acting coquettishly and had a bad temper, so she frowned and reminded:
"You are the elder. What if the younger generation accidentally offends you during the competition? If you are really taken advantage of, it is because you, the elder, are not good at learning, how can you blame others?"
(→_→)!
Ye Jingtang's expression remained calm, but in his heart he really wanted to give the Queen Mother a thumbs up.
Xuanji, the real person, was speechless by the Queen Mother, so she didn't say anything more, pulled the Queen Mother and walked in front...
——
On the other side, in an inn two miles away from the Yuquan Gym.
A murder occurred in the Royal Boxing Hall. In the past few days, police officers patrolling the streets can be seen everywhere. Inns and other places are the focus of the Yamen's investigation.
In the private room on the second floor of the inn, a middle-aged man dressed as a businessman nodded and sent away the official who was conducting routine inspections, and then closed the door.
In the room, there sat a man of medium height, dressed as a master, doing calculations with an abacus in front of the table.
Except for a few boxes of groceries imported from Beiliang, there were no other suspicious objects in the house.
The middle-aged businessman listened attentively at the door. After confirming that the official had gone downstairs and gone far away, he turned around and regained his martial arts attitude. He took out a copper telescope from the full box and looked at the Yuquan Hall in the distance from the window:
"I've been patrolling door to door for three days, and I definitely haven't found any useful clues. I think this matter will be over in two days."
The master sitting at the table pushed the abacus aside with a rather dissatisfied look on his face:
"You can just make up excuses to cover up things in the past, but you insist on killing people. Do you think that no one will care about the murder case in the capital like Liangzhou?"
The middle-aged businessman sighed: "If I could get through it, I wouldn't take the risk. Are you a master? You can tell by looking at each other that the old instructor is not simple. If I don't take action directly, he will yell out. The master of the Yuquan Gym
They’re all here…”
"Hmph! There was such a big commotion. If it had been like before, no one could do anything to me except Babu Ksitigarbha and the gods in the palace. But I heard that Prince Jing returned to Beijing last night. Master Xuanji had a night terror.
Tangdu will follow. The two Wu Kuichu are in the capital, and even the leader of Pingtian may not dare to come. If you exposed your whereabouts in advance, how can we do anything in the future?"
The middle-aged businessman put down his telescope and sat down across the table:
"We are not here to kill Wu Kui. As long as we keep a low profile in the future and don't reveal our whereabouts, these two Wu Kui will not come to us out of thin air. Let's talk about business first.
"Liu Qiansheng has been on the run for twenty years and only showed his face in the capital last month. Hei Ya arrested someone without making any publicity. He must have recruited him secretly. Since he was recruited, he should teach boxing. I have been in the Yuquan Gym so much
God, I didn’t see any trace of Liu Qiansheng inside..."
The man dressed as a master put down his teacup:
"I've told you that the Yuquan Gym does not teach boxing. The word 'boxing' means kung fu. And the most powerful instructor there is only the grandmaster. Liu Qiansheng is an old martial arts master, so the instructors may not necessarily teach anything.
If you understand, why would you stay here to teach disciples..."
"Then besides this place, where else can we go to find Liu Qiansheng? We can't go to Prince Jing's Mansion to find him. Master Xuanji and the Night Terror Hall may be somewhere. It's best for us not to get close within a three-mile radius."
"Since I teach boxing, there is always some rumors in the martial arts practice. Just take your time and inquire about it. Check out another matter first."
When the master said this, he tapped his fingers on the table, thought for a while and said:
"The gang leader on this trip specifically told me that we must find the Beiliang pharmacist and find out the formula of Tianlang Pearl. I guess the pharmacist was escorted back with the ship yesterday..."
The middle-aged businessman was a little confused about this: "What exactly is the Tianlang Pearl? The leader of the gang, such an unparalleled hero, actually put aside his hatred and looked for this thing first?"
"When the gang leader was young, his martial arts skills were disabled by Liu Qiansheng. He went to Beiliang to look for Snow Lake Flowers. Finally, he found them in a small tribe and learned some secrets. It is said that the Tianlang Pearl was given by God to the Lord of Ten Thousand Tribes.
Whoever has the divine bead is the one chosen by God, well... it’s almost the same as our Wei Dynasty’s ‘divine right of kings’.”
The master took a sip of tea and continued:
"Our Hongshan Gang has been transporting salt and iron to various tribes in the West Sea all year round. We have good relations with the major tribes. The people there also admire the gang leader's unparalleled martial arts. As long as we get the Tianlang Pearl, we may be able to rebuild the Tianlang Iron Cavalry.
Pull it up, when the time comes..."
The middle-aged businessman shook his head and interrupted: "People from Jianghu are Jianghu people, don't be so big-hearted. Leader Pingtian is so powerful that he doesn't dare to publicly mention the restoration of Dayan. I'm afraid we will rebel..."
"The Pingtian Sect has no possibility of gaining momentum in Tiannan; Liangzhou is different. The folk customs are strong and war horses are produced. There are endless retreat routes in the north. It has been a den of rebels since ancient times... By the way, listen.
The one who talks about the new swordsman and the chief who is shocked at night is us Liangzhou people. People in the world often say that "the poor are rich in literature and rich in martial arts". Even if Liangzhou is so poor, it can produce two military chiefs. Fortune tellers in the world say that it is the Purple Hui star that descends to the earth. Today's "great luck"
We have already landed in Liangzhou, and our gang leader is the overlord of Liangzhou. If we gain momentum, wouldn’t it just happen at the right time..."
The middle-aged businessman thought it made sense, but after thinking about it he frowned and said:
"Ye Jing Tang belongs to Liangzhou, and he is also Wu Kui. What if this 'Purple Huixing Star descends to the earth' person with great luck is Ye Jing Tang?"
"??, if you don't know how to speak, just shut up!"
"Hi……"
…
————
Thanks to the leader of [I want to be Zhao Gao step by step] for the reward!
Thanks to the boss [I can cross the sea and open the mountains] for the huge reward!
Thank you all for your rewards, monthly tickets, recommendation tickets or2!