82. Silencing

"The owner of Li's Clothing Store, did you see some gangsters running out of Red Clothes Alley last night?"

"Yes, sir. Those four Jianghu people looked hurried and quite suspicious."

The snow in Los Angeles has not melted yet.

The cold wind whistled past the ground, and the swaying torches flickered, illuminating the spies' hands that suddenly tightened their grip on the hilts of their swords, as well as the white mist exhaled from under their hats, like hungry beasts finding new prey.

The spies subconsciously looked at Chen Ji, waiting for his decision.

Chen Ji covered his face with a gray cloth and lowered his head in thought.

As the saying goes, three killing blows can break up the brotherhood of the underworld, and every sentence in the three pages of confession is about brotherhood.

These chivalrous men in the martial arts world are not tough guys. If the Secret Service catches them, the Crown Prince and Bai Li will definitely be implicated.

But if he deliberately did nothing, Xifeng was not a fool.

In the flickering flames, the oilcloth burned by the torch melted, and drops of flames fell on the bluestone road.

Suddenly, the wind died down and the flames stopped flickering.

Chen Ji looked up at the spy who had brought the news and said calmly, "Bring the owner of Li's Clothing Shop here for questioning."

After a while, a middle-aged man dressed as a clerk came forward with a flattering smile and said, "Everyone is well, I am Li Bing."

Chen Ji looked at the other person and asked calmly, "Where did you see those chivalrous men? Tell me in detail."

Li Bing quickly replied, "My Lords, when Red Clothes Lane was sealed off, they were fleeing from its back alley. One of them was so frightened that he dropped his knife, ran a few steps, and then turned back to pick it up."

Chen Ji frowned and said in disappointment: "Such cowardice is not like the behavior of a thief from Jing Dynasty."

Xifeng was also a little disappointed: "Although the thieves in Jing Dynasty are hateful, they are all well-trained and definitely not these kind of villains."

Li Bing suddenly added, "Oh, right? There seemed to be someone in the back alley calling for help to climb over the wall. One of them went to help, but before he could help the other person out, he ran back out and told his companions, 'Hurry up, there's no way to save them. They're surrounded by six people.' They were talking as they passed by me, so I heard it all clearly."

Xifeng's expression changed, and he looked at Chen Ji: "Sir, those who surrounded them must be our colleagues. The killer attacked to protect the people in the backyard. Although we don't know who the surrounded people are, they must be very important."

Chen Ji took a deep breath silently.

The shopkeeper had listened so carefully that he couldn't hide it even if he wanted to: "Shopkeeper Li, where did you see them run to?"

"They went west along Luoyi Street, but I don't know where they ended up!"

Chen Ji breathed a sigh of relief again. It was not easy to find four people in such a big city like Luo City, but at least he could delay some time.

However, at this moment, Li Bing spoke with heavy breathing: "But I know where they live."

Chen Ji: “Hmm?”

Li Bing quickly said, "These four jianghu people arrived in Luocheng half a month ago. I remember them because they were obviously dressed in ordinary and shabby clothes, but they were very generous. Upon arriving in Luocheng, these four people each had two sets of clothes custom-made in my shop. They were both stand-up collars and large plackets, which are commonly worn in autumn, and they also chose the exquisite mud-gold claw mouse pattern."

Li Bing continued, “After the four of them took the measurements, they left and told me to make the clothes and send them to the Fulai Inn in the west.

”

The so-called mud gold claw mouse pattern is a kind of embroidery pattern on the edge of sleeves and collars. It has a complex embroidery process and is loved by officials and nobles, and is very expensive.

The more Li Bing spoke, the heavier Chen Ji's mood became.

He had met these four people before.

Among the twelve people who met Liu Xingshou in the Embroidery Tower in Baiyi Lane that day, apart from Chen Ji, the prince, Bai Li, She Dengke, Liu Quxing, Liang Gou'er and Liang Mao'er, there were these four people.

At that time, the four men were wearing clothes with stand-up collars and large lapels, and the cuffs were embroidered with mud-gold claw mouse patterns.

Moreover, the time when the other party came to Luocheng also matched. These four people originally lived in poverty, and their lives became better only after they met the prince.

But even though the prince was so good to them, they still abandoned him and Bai Li when they were in danger.

Xifeng looked at Chen Ji's profile and asked, "Sir, what should we do?"

Chen Ji's voice was calm and composed: "Surround the Fulai Inn and arrest them."

The only thing he could hope for now was that these four people were not so stupid as to return to the inn after escaping from Red Lane.

Outside the Fulai Inn, dozens of spies carried knives on their waists. In just a dozen breaths, they surrounded the Fulai Inn with light steps.

The backyard, the left and right sides, the stables, no place was left out.

If those four martial arts masters in the acquired realm were in the inn, they would not be able to escape even if they had wings.

In silence, Chen Ji was the first to step over the threshold of the inn.

I saw that the first floor of the inn was a simple tavern.

It was closing time, and the wooden chairs had been wiped clean and turned upside down on the tables.

Behind the counter, a young clerk was sleeping soundly on an abacus with an oil lamp lit beside him.

Chen Ji came to the counter and patted the clerk's shoulder gently.

The waiter raised his head sleepily and muttered, "Would you like to stay at the hotel, gentlemen? The first-class room is 140 wen a night, the second-class room is 45 wen a night, and the stable is 12 wen a night."

As he was talking, the guy saw the masked Chen Ji and several spies with knives behind him, and he suddenly came to his senses.

He trembled and said, "My Lords, I, I have never done anything wrong."

Chen Ji asked, "Don't be afraid, I just want to ask you one question."

"Excuse me, sir."

"Do you have four sword-carrying people living here?"

The clerk quickly replied, "Yes."

"Are they still in the inn?"

The waiter answered in detail, "Yes, they left yesterday saying they were going to have fun in Red Lane, but they returned before midnight, looking very hurried. After that, the four of them ordered food and drinks directly to their rooms and never came out again."

This is the answer Chen Ji least wants to hear.

He was silent for a moment: "Which guest room are they staying in?"

The waiter pointed at the stairs and said, "Go up the stairs and it's the third room on the right. It's the number one room. There's a sign in front of the door that says 'Chun Shui'."

Before Chen Ji gave the order, Xifeng gave the spies a wink, and several of them immediately drew their swords, bent down carefully and went up the stairs.

Chen Ji wanted to follow, but Xifeng pressed his shoulder and said, "Sir, Master Jinzhu said that you have no martial arts skills and specifically instructed us to protect you. We are the only ones who can do this kind of dangerous thing. You must not take risks yourself."

.”

Chen Ji studied the other person's expression beneath his bamboo hat, earnestly and sincerely, his eyes unwavering. "He's not doubting me. It was Jin Zhu who told him to do so."

He sighed in his heart and stood by the counter without moving: "Be careful."

The spy suddenly kicked open the door of Chunshuijian and rushed in with long knives in his hands, full of murderous intent.

But the next moment, someone suddenly shouted, "Sir, come and see."

Chen Ji rushed forward first, carrying the oil lamp on the counter.

He pushed aside the spies in the corridor and came to the door. He looked up at the beams and his breath suddenly stopped.

On the beams, they saw the four gangsters they were looking for, their necks tied with four white silks, hanging neatly on the roof.

Not only that, the skin on the faces of the four people was completely cut off, leaving only the bloody facial muscles exposed in the air, which was extremely horrifying.

The spies looked indifferent, as if they had seen this kind of thing many times.

But Chen Ji suddenly felt a chill in his heart. These four people were killed in advance.

He suppressed his discomfort and went to examine the body.

The body was cold and stiff, and the stiffness spread throughout the body. It seemed that he had been dead for at least two hours.

Chen Ji came to the door and found that the latch was not damaged.

He went to the window again, but found that the copper piece used to close the window had been cut off by a sharp weapon, and the murderer had entered through the window.

"Take them off, take off all the clothes."

Chen Ji said coldly.

The spies took the human body and took off the four bodies and placed them on the bed.

When the four men were stripped of their clothes, everyone saw in the moonlight outside the window that each corpse had a copper nail nailed into its chest.

The copper nail pierced the wound cleanly and neatly, without drawing a single drop of blood.

The deceased did not cry for help. The person who killed them must be an expert among experts, and did not even give them a chance to react.

Chen Ji pried open the mouths of the four people again, and saw that each of them had a short copper nail nailed on their tongue.

"This is not silencing, it's a trial."

“Someone is punishing them.”

Xifeng's face was solemn. They had just found a new clue and had no time to be happy when the clue was broken again.

Chen Ji looked at Xifeng: "Have you ever heard of this kind of trial method?"

Xifeng pondered, "There seem to be two cases in the martial arts world, but we'd have to go to the Inner Prison's archives to find out the details. My lord, there's something fishy about this. The people they left behind must have been very important, so they killed them to silence them forever. Furthermore, the killers even cut off their faces to prevent us from finding any witnesses who knew them. Who do you think could have done this?"

"Who did it? It's simple. Whoever benefits the most is the one who did it."

Chen Ji stood in the dim room, still holding the oil lamp in his left hand.

He recalled the prince's bold and cheerful smile, and found it hard to believe that he had such a deep and vicious mind behind him.

Moreover, if the prince had such an expert by his side to deal with the aftermath, why would it have been my turn to rescue him last night?

But if this wasn't done by the prince, who else could it be?

The brilliant impression of the prince in Chen Ji's memory suddenly became blurred, as if a layer of haze gradually enveloped the prince's face.

End of this chapter.