Chapter 286: The New Staff of Yongwang Mansion (4)
"Brother Xiao, according to my judgment, the assassin followed the Japanese delegation all the way, but he was not walking on the road, but on the tall trees on both sides."
Xiao Xuangan raised his head and looked at the tall trees. There were indeed traces of being trampled on in some places. Many branches were broken, and there were faint traces of soil on the trunks.
"The assassin acted very quickly. Nine people were killed almost within ten breaths of each other. Of course, the hidden weapons used to kill them were all poisonous. Their function was to ensure that the bodies of the dead people stiffened quickly, so as to prevent them from falling off their horses and exposing their flaws."
"As far as I know, there are very few poisons that can have this kind of effect in the world. The most commonly used poison is Bi Feng Powder from Yaoshen Valley. The reason why Luoyang Prefecture did not detect this poison is because Bi Feng Powder only only
It is circulated in the world, and only a few people know about it. It's a pity, if people from Tiance Mansion come to do an autopsy, they will definitely find it."
Li Xin'an said: "We can't be sure whether Igarashi stopped first and then discovered their deaths, or whether he stopped after discovering the deaths of nine people. But what is certain is that after stopping, the five
Shilan Qifeng and others launched a large-scale search nearby. Although the blood stains were concentrated in this open space, it seemed that they all died in one place, but in fact, these blood stains were infiltrated from the surroundings to the center."
"After the assassin finished killing the people, he threw the bodies in the center."
Xiao Xuangan asked in confusion: "Why would he go to such unnecessary lengths?"
Li Xin'an's face was heavy: "Because his killing methods and processes are the standards of the Blood Clothes Hall!"
"This is a method often used by the assassins of the Xueyitang team when hunting down large groups of people. They first assassinate a few people to create panic, then break them one by one, and finally kill the enemy leader."
"The reason why he went to great lengths to forge the scene is because he didn't want others to find out that it was someone from the Blood Clothes Hall who did it."
"Tachibana Qingyuan...it's him, that's right."
Xiao Xuangan noticed something was wrong and asked:
"Is he afraid that others will find out? Only the people in Xueyitang know about the things in Xueyitang."
When Li Xin'an heard this, he also reacted and murmured to himself:
"Yes... He is not afraid that others will find out, but he is afraid that I will find out. No! He is afraid that I will not find out. He deliberately let me find out!"
"Qingyuan Tachibanasu had the motive to kill people like Igarashi Shifeng, but there was no reason to fake the scene. The murderer was not him, there was someone else!"
Xiao Xuangan asked: "Could it be that the other branches accepted the task of assassinating the Japanese mission?"
"No." Li Xin'an shook his head and objected, "I have given an order that the branch of the Blood Clothes Hall cannot accept the task of assassinating court officials. If there are people who must be killed, they must get my consent. They dare not disobey.
"
"The leaders of all branch halls know the importance of the Japanese mission and will not take any risks."
"Could it be that they were deceived? After all, the night was dark and windy, and the assassin couldn't tell whether the person he wanted to kill was a Tang Dynasty or a Japanese."
"That's impossible. You didn't recognize him when you shot him, and you didn't recognize him when you targeted him?" Li Xin'an frowned and said, "Moreover, from the evidence we have learned, there is only one murderer."
"After Igarashi Qifeng and the others stopped, the assassins started attacking on the tallest tree." Li Xin'an pointed in the direction and said:
"Most of the wounds of the dead Japanese people were on their necks. They were killed by one blow, and they were neatly dressed when they died, indicating that they were assassinated by assassins at close range. But some people's fatal wounds were in the back of the heart, for example, Miyahara
Kazuya."
"He was probably the first person to be killed by the assassin. Miyahara Kazuya was unprepared when he attacked behind the scenes. As for Igarashi Chifaze, he had many sword wounds on his body and his meridians were broken, indicating that he had gone through a fierce battle."
Xiao Xuangan nodded: "Well, this is also in line with the assassination process of the Blood Clothes Hall assassin you mentioned."
"There must be more or less traces of blood and dragging nearby, but that's not important. It just confirms my guess and
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The identity of the assassin."
Li Xin'an frowned: "What's more, what I don't understand is, why is the booklet I gave to Igarashi Qifeng missing?"
"Did the assassin take it away?" Xiao Xuangan asked.
"Why?"
"Because it belongs to Xueyitang, it might expose Xueyitang. He recognized it and took it away."
Li Xin'an said: "It's not because of this. The other party may not be from the Blood Clothes Hall, but he must know the Blood Clothes Hall extremely well. The assassin forged the scene and took away the book with only one purpose -"
"He's sending me a message!"
Xiao Xuangan asked in confusion: "Why do you think so?"
"The other party knew that I would definitely come, so he went to great lengths to do this." Li Xin'an said in a deep voice, "He must know me."
But soon, Li Xin'an's face was once again shrouded in doubt:
"It has something to do with Blood Clothes Hall, and he knows me, who could he be?"
Xiao Xuangan suddenly thought of someone and said:
"That Wu Xiang."
"Who?" Li Xin'an was a little distracted and didn't hear clearly.
"The little book boy before you betrayed the Blood Clothes Hall and turned against An Lushan in Wu Xiang."
"He used to be a member of the Blood Clothes Hall, so he naturally understands the things of the Blood Clothes Hall. Moreover, isn't An Lushan colluding with the Kato family in Japan? After Kato Takei died, the connection between An Lushan and Japan was severed.
Everyone from the Kato family who came to Chang'an this time has also been purged. As the enemies of the Kato family, Igarashi Zefeng and the others, it is natural for An Qingio to avenge Kato Takei."
Li Xin'an's eyes gradually glowed: "Brother Xiao, it would be a pity if you don't become a policeman!"
"You are right. An Qingxu has every reason to kill Igarashi Qifeng and the others, and Wu Xiang is fully capable of doing this."
"However, he went to great lengths to bury the evidence and leave traces behind. What was his purpose?"
Xiao Xuangan looked at Li Xin'an who was confused again, sighed and said:
"Why are you thinking so much? Isn't everything clear after catching that person?"
"The top priority now is to quickly kill that Zheng Yang and then return to Chang'an."
"If there is any news about Xuanyuan Youpeng during the days when you are out, you will feel uncomfortable."
Li Xin'an smiled: "Okay, let's kill Zheng Yang tonight, and we'll return to Chang'an early tomorrow morning."
…
Chang'an under dusk welcomed its last wave of guests.
A dusty and unkempt old Taoist walked at the end of the procession entering the city. There was also a strange smell permeating his body, which made everyone around him cover their noses.
When the interrogating soldiers saw him, they felt sick and could not bring themselves to search him, so they hurriedly waved to let him go.
The old Taoist walked on the streets of Chang'an, looked up into the distance, looked at the rich and prosperous city of Chang'an, and sighed deeply:
"After half a year, I finally came here."
He untied the baggage on his back and took out a small compass from it. The compass seemed to be old, with some complicated runes engraved on it, and some places were rubbed so hard that they could not be seen clearly.
The old Taoist faced north, frowning, and stared at the compass in his hand.
Slowly, the compass needle rotated slightly and gradually deviated from true north.
The old man looked up and saw that the place was far, far away from him.
"As expected of Chang'an City, a mixed bag of fish and dragons. Even the Huntian Disk cannot be accurately checked."
The old Taoist sighed: "There is no way to continue like this. The thing that my senior brother predicted before his death is about to come. There is not much time. I alone cannot find the master of life."
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"That kid Jingfeng didn't come to Chang'an City in the first place. Humph! If you had come for a visit, I wouldn't have such a headache."
"However, that time was not today. The fate of the Lord is uncertain. He has just arrived in Chang'an not long ago. I don't blame him."
The old Taoist said to himself, and the people passing by him cast a look of disgust, thinking that he was an old lunatic.
"Let's go visit an old friend first. That guy hasn't returned to Luoyang yet."
The old Taoist put away the Huntianpan, picked up a stick from the roadside, and walked deep into the city with it.
…
When Li Xin'an said goodbye to the governor of Luoyang, he was having dinner and was very surprised.
The Prefect of Luoyang curiously asked Li Xin'an why he came and left in the same day, but Li Xin'an just prevaricated and confused him. Even though the Prefect of Luoyang had thousands of questions in his heart, since the other party had the warrant from the emperor's grandson Li Chu, he
I had no choice but to let him go quickly.
After leaving the Luoyang Yamen, Li Xin'an signaled Xiao Xuangan to return to the inn first, and then asked the Yamen servant on the side where the county captain Zheng Yang lived, threw a couple of pieces of silver to him, and then went to find Zheng Yang's home as the Yamen servant said.
.
Zheng Yang was thirty-seven years old. His first wife Liu died early, but he never had a second marriage and had no heirs. There was no one at home, so Li Xin'an easily sneaked into Zheng Yang's home.
Zheng Yang's residence is not big, surrounded by private houses. There are very few furnitures in the house, and they are old and poorly laid out. There are more than a dozen patches of various sizes sewn on a quilt. It seems that Zheng Yang looks like an upright official.
group.
But Li Xin'an, who had evidence in hand, knew how much money Zheng County Lieutenant, who looked clean on the surface, had secretly embezzled and how many lives he had killed.
Li Xin'an moved Zheng Yang's bed and found a well-hidden secret compartment underneath. He pried along the gap and opened the secret compartment. What he saw was countless white silver!
"Oh my god, this must be at least...three thousand taels."
Li Xin'an smiled bitterly: "A small Luoyang County captain will never be able to get this kind of money in ten lifetimes."
"It's broken. I shouldn't have let Brother Xiao go back first. If I had known there was so much money, with him here, we could have made more."
Li Xin'an pouted, closed the secret compartment again, moved the bed back, and cleaned it, making it look like it had not been touched.
These pieces of silver are evidence of Zheng Yang's crime, and none of them can be touched.
It wasn't until dark that the sound of unlocking was heard outside the courtyard.
Li Xin'an couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief. This Zheng Yang actually came back so late!
Killing a person who doesn't know martial arts naturally wouldn't put much pressure on Li Xin'an. He just leaned against the door quietly, waiting for Zheng Yang to open the door and meet his death.
Zheng Yang's voice penetrated the door and reached Li Xin'an's ears. He was probably chatting with his neighbor. After talking for a while, Zheng Yang closed the courtyard door and walked to the house door.
The door was pushed open by him, and Zheng Yang walked into the room without missing a beat. Just as he was about to turn around and close the door, a pair of hands came out from behind him and held down his head.
"Click".
The last thing Zheng Yang saw was that the whole room was spinning. He fell to the ground with a "thud" and saw a young man with a silent expression. He squatted down and held his eyes tightly.
"Huh? What is this?"
As soon as Li Xin'an closed Zheng Yang's eyes, she saw a corner of a letter in Zheng Yang's arms.
"There is someone in Wudang who is heading south to Chang'an. This news must be spread and everyone should be informed. Remember it."
Li Xin'an blinked: "Wudang? I haven't heard this name for a long time."
He looked at Zheng Yang's body suspiciously: "Does this Zheng Yang have another identity?"
"Hiss... Wudang, who is this big shot who went to Chang'an? In troubled times, don't let one wave rise after another."