At dusk, more than twenty ships bearing the flags of various companies were moored in the port of Cangshahe Town. The disciples of Baihutang patrolled the pier and looked up at the center of the town from time to time.
The town was crowded. Hundreds of people holding umbrellas and wearing raincoats gathered in front of the White Tiger Tower. Looking at the arena outside the building, two young people, no more than fifteen or sixteen years old, were fighting fiercely with weapons in hand in the rain.
Ding ding~
Song Chi, the white Buddha in a brocade robe, changed his usual careless appearance and looked like a mature and solemn elder. He was sitting in front of the building, nodding slightly from time to time.
Sitting next to him was Guang Hanlin, the Sanjue Immortal who was known as the "social butterfly". He was also serving as a referee at this time and was watching the battle carefully.
After watching for a while, he saw one person in the ring was defeated, and the other person stopped suddenly when he was about to smash down the eyebrow stick, and then quickly stepped forward to pull the opponent up. The Sanjue Immortal couldn't help but nodded:
"I'm all red-eyed, but I still remember to point out my martial ethics. This Tiannan is really different from the outside."
When Song Chi heard this, he couldn't help but look proud:
"With the old gods sitting in charge, how can the young people in the world not know the virtues of martial arts and chivalry? How can it be like that ghost place in Liangzhou? Song has been walking in the Central Plains and south of the world for fifty years. He has seen no evil and no evil in Liangzhou."
There are so many in one inn..."
"Sigh, Liangzhou has always been like this, but the environment in the martial arts world is poor, which is not all bad. To put it bluntly, martial arts is a killing skill. People who have been licking blood from their swords since childhood, and walking on thin ice, as long as they can kill, they will be much more domineering than ordinary martial arts people.
For example, if the young master of your noble sect was born in Tiannan, he might not have the evil reputation he has now..."
"That's true..."
…
During the chat, two more young people came on stage. After bowing to the elders sitting outside the building, they began to discuss matters.
Although there are many people watching and countless young people lining up, this place is not a competition between Baihutang and other sects, but a martial arts draft.
Tiannan was the holy land of the Northern and Southern Dynasties because of the existence of Fengguancheng, the first person in the world, and because it was not controlled by the imperial court.
The purpose of all martial artists in the world coming here is to improve their martial arts, become famous, and one day be able to stand in front of Fengguan City.
But it is not possible for everyone to meet everyone in Fengguan City. There is a threshold for masters. For this reason, most young people who come to Tiannan have no chance. The purpose is more to become famous and find people to compete with. Over time, the birth of
A special arena mode.
As long as the young people from the Jianghu come to Tiannan, no matter what their origins, they can go to the gathering points in various towns to sign up to compete. If they fight in the town, they can go to the city, and if they fight in the city, they can go to Guancheng.
Because all young people under the Grand Master participate in this arena, this arena is not very famous in the world. Although it is also the Dragon Gate Arena in the end, it is not on the same level as the 'Long Gate Arena' that challenged Fengguan City. It is just very popular among young people.
Popular.
The arena set up outside the White Tiger Tower at this time was the arena in Cangshahe Town. Song Chi was the helmsman of this area, so he was naturally invited by the younger generation to be the referee.
This kind of competition can be found in every place in Tiannan. It usually starts when ten people are gathered together. It would be good to have one in three to five days.
But now, in Cangshahe Town, there are more than 400 young men and women gathered. The area around the ring is not even the audience, but people queuing up to go on stage to compete.
The reason for such a grand occasion is naturally because Ye Jingtang is the young master of Honghua Building, and Baihutang is the sub-ruler of Honghua Building. It is okay to say that this White Tiger Building is the territory of Ye Jingtang.
These young people who had just come out of the mountain or even the thatched cottage were not qualified to go to Guancheng to compete with the senior masters for the ring, but they also wanted to start the first battle in the world in a more powerful place. For this reason, they all came to Cangshahe Town.
The competition lasted from morning until almost dark, and the preliminary rounds had not yet been completed.
However, Song Chi has no complaints about this. After all, young people like to come out from home to make a name for themselves, which shows that the sect's brand is strong enough, just like swordsmen like to go to Junshan Terrace. This is also a way to measure the status of the world.
As for the Sanjue Immortal, his hometown is in Wuzhou. Although he has some business in Tiannan, he has nothing to do with Song Chi. He came here to be a judge this time. It is purely because he is experienced and well-versed, and he knows something from his apprentice Yang Guan.
information.
However, Yang Guan only knew that the boss of the Pei family had left the capital and did not know where he was going. For this reason, the Sanjue Immortal came to the Baihu Hall to block the situation and see if he could get some words out of him.
After the two of them watched the battle for a while, the Sanjue Immortal spoke again:
"I remember last year at Shuiyun Jiantan, Ye Shaoxia became famous in one battle. His graceful appearance really left me fresh in my memory. At that time, I also wondered whether Ye Shaoxia would come to Tiannan to become famous. I never thought that more than a year later, he would just
Now that I have become the 'No. 2 in the world', my next stop is directly to compete in the Dragon Gate Tournament. I wonder if Hall Master Song knows anything about this?"
Song Chi received the news from the capital and knew that Ye Jingtang would come, and he would probably go to Longmen to see what it meant to be number one in the world.
But no matter how confident he is, he is not so confident that Ye Jingtang can definitely win against Fengguan City, and he doesn't know if Ye Jingtang means this. Therefore, Song Chi will definitely not talk nonsense before Ye Jingtang arrives.
He shook his head and said:
"The young master of Guancheng must go, but it's still too early now. I think it will be ten years before the young master is confident of going to Yangshan."
Sanjue Immortal shook his head and said: "Young Master Ye and Zhou Chiyang had a 'ten-year agreement'. I really believed it at that time, but what happened? It has only been one year, and Zhou Chiyang has almost retired to the world, and no one can find him.
After ten years, I guess Mr. Feng won’t need to be beaten anymore. Don’t worry, Mr. Guang has always been strict with his words and will not tell outsiders..."
"Well, Song has been staying in Tiannan during this period and has never even been to the capital. How could he know the young master's arrangements..."
While the two were fighting like this, Song Chi's son suddenly walked out of the building and whispered softly in Song Chi's ear:
"father……"
Song Chi listened intently and was stunned for a moment, then quickly stood up. However, remembering that the Sanjue Immortal was beside him, he immediately lowered his expression and said with a smile:
"Mr. Guang, help me keep an eye on it. There is something trivial at home. Song will go back and take a look. He will come over right away."
"Really, Hall Master Song, go ahead. I can still control this small scene."
"hehe……"
Sanjue Immortal touched his beard and watched Song Chi enter the building with a smile. After his back disappeared, his eyes became curious. He turned to look in the direction of the pier, and then looked around at the pedestrians on the street...
——
On the other side, outside an inn in the southwest corner of the town.
Ye Jingtang was dressed in black and wearing a bamboo hat. He followed Zhang Henggu to the outside of the inn and looked up at the old inn. It can be seen that the two-story inn is not small in size. There is an old signboard of 'Ping An Inn' hanging on the door.
There were people walking around on the second floor and in the lobby, but there was a room that was boarded up and located above a side alley.
Dongfang Liren pretended to be a chivalrous girl, with her arms folded around her chest and waist, and a knife hanging on her side. She looked more expert than the Night Terror Hall. At this time, she was also raising her eyes to observe, but for the first time here, what she was thinking in her mind was - this is the sky.
Nanjianghu looks no different from other places...
Zhe Yunli himself is from Tiannan. He has been to Cangsha River before, and when he saw his own inn, he was naturally a little confused:
"Grandpa Zhang, what are we doing here?"
Zhang Henggu held a long wooden box in his hand. Because he didn't want Yunli to know the sad things that happened back then, he just said calmly:
"There used to be an incense master in the sect. Something happened here. He came over and asked the Night Protector to help him take a look."
Zhe Yunli thought for a moment, and asked after not hearing what the master had said:
"When did it happen?"
"You were still young at that time, more than ten years ago..."
"oh……"
During the conversation, Ye Jingtang entered the inn. The innkeeper was a disciple of the Pingtian Sect. Seeing this, he hurriedly greeted him:
"Protector Zhang, what are you doing..."
Seeing that there were still guests in the hall, Zhang Henggu raised his hand slightly to signal to be quiet. After a few words of explanation, he led Ye Jingtang and others upstairs to the door of the darkly lit room.
Zhang Henggu discovered that his apprentice and his wife were in danger, but did not find the real culprit. The room was well protected, and the outside was sealed with wooden boards and hung with a copper lock.
Wow~
As the copper lock was removed and the door opened, a dark room appeared in front of several people.
Dongfang Liren's posture was more solid than Xue Baijin's, but inside she was actually not much different from Hua Qingzhi. They were both scholarly beauties. Seeing that the room was pitch black and that it was a crime scene, she subconsciously leaned closer to the back of Ye Jingtang and crossed over.
Look carefully over your shoulder.
The room was an ordinary guest room in an inn, with beds, cabinets and other furniture inside. The tables and benches in the middle were all broken and dusty over time. The position of the body was also drawn on the ground with charcoal, but it was no longer very clear.
When Zhang Henggu saw the scene in the room, he could not help but be moved by the scene and think of sad things, and sighed softly:
"All the objects have been preserved, and nothing that can be moved has been moved. However, I only arrived the day after the incident, and the location may not be accurate. Eunuch Cao and the leader of the church have both checked, and they did not find many clues."
Ye Jingtang looked attentive. He took out the fire seal from his waist, lit it and entered the house. He squatted on the ground to check carefully and looked around; Zhe Yunli followed beside him.
But Dongfang Liren was very self-aware and did not go in to cause trouble, but just looked carefully at the door.
Ye Jingtang looked at the sealed window. It could be seen that the window was not damaged, but there was a crack on the edge of the window sill. There were also slight cracks on the floor left by strong stamping, but they were not obvious after a long time.
After Zhe Yunli observed for a moment, he turned back and asked:
"Did the murderer open this room, or was it the deceased?"
"They are the deceased couple. If they are the murderers, it would be easy to investigate."
Zhe Yunli nodded slightly: "Then this shouldn't be done by strangers, and they came uninvited."
Dongfang Liren was analyzing secretly, but he hadn't figured out the reason yet, so when he saw this, he asked:
"Why?"
Zhe Yunli gestured to the location of the corpse on the ground:
"This is a room opened by a couple. Guests usually avoid suspicion. They will not sleep in the room, let alone sit so close. Even if they are distinguished guests, they should find a private room in the pub outside. Only the murderer suddenly came outside the door.
And the two parties are relatively familiar with each other, so they will invite them into the house to entertain guests."
Dongfang Liren thought about it, nodded and said:
"Then an acquaintance committed the crime. This should be easy to investigate."
Zhang Henggu shook his head:
"The leader of the sect has also said this before. But at that time, only the two deceased people were traveling in Tiannan, and it was impossible for other people in the sect to take action. This place is not far away. I will go back to Nanxiao Mountain every few days, but I haven't heard of it.
There are familiar friends in the world around me..."
Dongfang Liren didn't know how to investigate cases, so he couldn't answer questions randomly. Seeing that Ye Jingtang hadn't spoken a word, he turned his eyes to the omnipotent Lord Tangtang:
"Night Terror Hall, what do you think?"
Ye Jingtang has been checking the traces, thought for a while and said:
"Would you like Protector Zhang to ask Hall Master Song to come over? He has roots here and must be familiar with the experts."
Seeing this, Zhang Henggu handed the long wooden box to Ye Jingtang, turned around and walked downstairs.
After Ye Jingtang glanced around the room for a few times, he opened the wooden box and saw that there were two swords inside, one black and one green, both of which were old.
Zhe Yunli had already seen that the deceased were a couple. He saw two pairs of swords and sighed:
"What a pity."
Dongfang Liren did not know the identity of the deceased, so he sighed when he saw this:
"There are quite a lot of clues. It's not difficult to find the murderer. Just don't let the murderer go unpunished."
When Ye Jingtang knew that this was Yunli's father's and mother's sword, he could not help but feel a little sad in his heart, but he didn't say anything.
The three of them waited for only a moment before the sound of rapid footsteps sounded below the inn.
Then Uncle Song, who was dressed in bright clothes, ran up the stairs and said excitedly when he saw him:
"Jingtang, why didn't you come to the door when you came? I miss you so much..."
Ye Jingtang was very happy to see the like-minded Uncle Song, but this occasion was obviously inappropriate. He quickly raised his hand to stop him and turned his head to signal to the room:
"The deceased is the most important. Let's talk about what happened back then."
Song Chi was entrusted by the Pingtian Sect and had visited him many times after the accident. He said:
"I've also checked this matter. Just across from Nanxiao Mountain is Cangshahe Town. There are so many experts coming and going. It's hard to tell the identity without revealing anything. There are really no clues."
Night Terror Hall knew that it would be difficult to identify the murderer just by looking at these traces and simple inferences, so he was not surprised by this, so he just said:
"Yunli, stand outside the door first."
"Um?"
Zhe Yunli was a little confused when he saw this, but he still followed the instructions and came to the door.
Dongfang Liren was extremely confident in his lover. At this time, he, Zhang Henggu, Song Chi and others were waiting to see what Ye Jingtang wanted to do.
Unexpectedly, Ye Jingtang hit them with a magical backhand!
Ye Jingtang had been studying it for a long time, and now he was standing alone in the room, slightly raising his hands, and assuming a stupid posture like flying a bird in the air.
Phew~
The next moment, the dust in the room was blown up by the breeze, but it did not float randomly, but gathered together and slowly condensed into the vague outlines of tables, chairs, and figures.
"?!"
"this……"
Dongfang Liren's eyes were full of disbelief, as was Song Chi and Zhang Henggu. Only Yunli, who had seen the grand scene in Yanjing, was not surprised by this.
Ye Jingtang spread his hands flat and looked at the three blurry figures condensed from the dust:
"The three of them were just sitting in the room like this. If the murderer was disguised as Zhao Hongnu, he would have been twenty-seven years old at the time, and his height had already been determined. Judging from the stride length and the position of the attack, he was that tall and would not be even half a point off.
"If the murderer is not a skeletal freak, the body shape can be inferred based on the arm span, stride length, and height. There may be slight deviations in fatness and thinness, but the bones will not be wrong..."
Dongfang Liren looked at the blurry shadows gathered by the dust in the room. He was so shocked that he forgot to listen to what Ye Jingtang was saying.
As for Zhang Henggu and Song Chi, even if they were well-informed elders in the world, when they saw such magical skills, their reactions were no different from those of Dongfang Liren. They both had surprised and suspicious eyes, as if they were looking at gods.
"Knowing the general shape of the murderer, the wounds on the deceased, and the layout of the room, we can deduce the situation at that time. It was the murderer who made a sneak attack first..."
While Ye Jingtang was speaking, the dusty shadow with its back to the door slightly raised its right hand from under the table, and a thin line shot into the abdomen of the figure opposite.
The figure opposite him immediately raised his right hand to draw his sword, but the murderer grabbed his elbow, and then the murderer drew his sword and stabbed the figure on the side.
The figure whose right hand was restrained immediately retreated. When he found his companion lying on the ground, he stabbed forward with his sword and broke the table.
The murderer flew towards the window, and when he was about to crash out, he stepped on the crack in the window, turned around and swiped his sword across the neck of the pursuer...
Although there was no sound at all, the figure made of dust looked like a living person, with clean and neat movements, almost done in the blink of an eye.
The position where the two corpses were lying was slightly different from what was painted on the ground.
After the Night Terror Hall demonstration, he continued:
"After the incident, the body was found in the inn. It should have been checked, but the body was not in its original location. Based on various information, it can be inferred that the process was correct. Does Uncle Song have any impression of this person?"
Song Chi and Zhang Henggu were already dumbfounded, Dongfang Liren was also filled with worry, unable to recover from the miraculous reenactment of the scene just now, and even Zhe Yunli was filled with surprise.
Swish, swish, swish~
As soon as Ye Jingtang loosened his hands, the dust naturally fell to the ground, and asked again:
"Uncle Song?"
"oh……"
Only then did Song Chi and Zhang Henggu react. After moving their lips, they wanted to praise the gods, but then they remembered that they were talking about business, so they frowned and recalled.
Being able to see the height, body posture, and moves with one's own eyes would make an impression on any normal martial artist who has seen them.
But Ye Jingtang is after all inferring based on various information. His appearance cannot be reproduced, and his body shape is not completely accurate. It is still a bit difficult to recognize him.
Song Chi clasped his hands behind his back and thought for a long time before saying:
"I feel like the figure is familiar. I should have seen it before."
Zhang Henggu also nodded: "If the reproduction is correct, this body shape is indeed somewhat familiar..."
Seeing this, Ye Jingtang felt calm and said:
"This body shape is also similar to the records of Zhao Hongnu in the court. It should be that Zhao Hongnu was hiding in Tiannan, hiding his name and changing his identity.
"Zhao Hongnu is over forty years old. As the two of them, they both feel familiar, which shows that he has a certain status in the world and should be a master in martial arts.
"In order not to be discovered by the court, Zhao Hongnu should live in seclusion and act in a low-key manner.
"The deceased and Zhao Hongnu were in the same room, and he was not alert at all, which shows that he had a good character in the eyes of the deceased, which should be the same to the outside world. He may even be from a well-known and decent family."
"It shouldn't be difficult to find such a person. Do Uncle Song and Protector Zhang have any impressions of him?"
After listening to the analysis, Dongfang Liren turned his head to look at Song Chi and Zhang Henggu with admiration in his eyes.
The information provided by the Night Terror Hall is already very accurate. If it were in other states and counties, the characteristics and background would be so obvious that any passerby on the street could ask.
But it is a pity that this place is Tiannan.
There are very few local warriors in Tiannan, and 80% of them are migrants from the north and south. Not to mention the large number, there are many masters. Even Lu Taiqing and the monk Shenchen are hiding incognito. Grandmasters in their forties are too common.
Because people who are very low-key and humble in Fengguan City are very low-key and have a bad reputation. Who dares to go to Guancheng to embarrass themselves?
Song Chi thought carefully and said:
"Although Tiannan is full of experts, there should not be many such people. How about I go back and sort out the list and filter them one by one to see who best fits the characteristics?"
Ye Jingtang could only infer so much, and nodded:
"Both of them know each other, and the scope is not large. After screening out the suspects, I will just ask them one by one."
Zhang Henggu didn't say much when he saw this. He immediately went down with Song Chi and began to work together to sort out the list and select the qualified masters.
Dongfang Liren stood at the door with eyes full of admiration. After Song Chi and others left, he was just about to praise him when he saw Xiao Yunli hugging Ye Jingtang's arm:
"Brother Jing, you are so powerful. I didn't expect the shadow to move."
Dongfang Liren was about to say this, but he couldn't speak because he was preempted, so he pretended to be calm and asked:
"How do you know so clearly?"
Ye Jingtang saw the adoring eyes of the two girls and smiled:
"This is no different from handling cases in the capital before. It's just that at that time I could only demonstrate it myself, but now I can just reproduce it. Once you learn the Nine Phoenix Chaoyang Kung Fu and your skills are strong enough, it won't be difficult to do it this way."
Dongfang Liren didn't think it was difficult, and wanted to reward Ye Jingtang, but Yunli held her arms and she couldn't get in, so she could only say:
"Find a place to stay first, and you can give me a good explanation."