81. The ghost lingers
The dark Tongji Street.
Normally, Tongji Street would be extremely busy at this time.
Merchants would invite opera troupes to their homes to entertain guests. Long lines of carriages and horses would form in front of their doors, and the drivers from each family would squat in the corners gambling and bragging.
But today Tongji Street was quiet. Many merchants left overnight, fearing that they would be caught by the Secret Service and used as spies of Jing Dynasty to steal credit.
In the abandoned house, seven men in black wearing conical hats stood solemnly around the body of Manager Yuan, like seven sculptures.
While Chen Ji was thinking, no one else dared to say a word, for fear of disturbing his thoughts.
What just happened in the Yingke Restaurant was still vivid in their minds. With their new boss who had great insight, the spies didn't even dare to breathe, as if a huge rock was pressing down on their heads.
Chen Ji looked at the unmoved corpse of Shopkeeper Yuan on the ground and suddenly asked, "Every strike hits a vital point, the same method used by the killer at the Yingke Restaurant, indicating that both crimes were committed by the same person. Are there any thieves in the Jing Dynasty who are skilled in using daggers? Not many killers use daggers as their primary weapon."
Xifeng quickly said, "There's a man who's incredibly skilled with a short knife. Our colleagues in Jinling once tried to apprehend him, but he killed over a dozen people and then escaped by jumping into the Qinhuai River. We suspect he's the culprit, but he hasn't demonstrated his skill with a short knife before, which makes us a little unsure."
Chen Ji asked: "How long ago did the Jinling incident happen?"
Xifeng replied: "It seems like three years ago."
Chen Ji nodded. "Three years is a long time. Perhaps this man has mastered some unique skills during these three years. For now, I'll label him the prime suspect and issue an arrest warrant."
Anyway, Gui is going back to Jing Dynasty, so it should be no problem for him to help bear the hatred of the Secret Service.
Xifeng said with embarrassment, "No, he's very cautious. During the last fight, he was wearing a green mask with fangs, so no one could see his appearance clearly. This arrest warrant can't be issued. But Lord Jinzhu has already led his men out of the city to block all the main roads. They can't escape."
Chen Ji's heart sank. It turned out that Jin Zhu had gone out of the city to set up a checkpoint himself.
He asked casually: "Are you sure that the Jingchao thief has escaped from Luocheng?"
Xifeng thought for a moment and said, "I can't be sure, but the biggest goal of the Jing Dynasty thieves is to steal our firearms. Now that they have succeeded, the most urgent thing must be to return the firearms to Jing Dynasty. There is no benefit in keeping them here."
Chen Ji was unaware that after he had used three firearms in quick succession last night, the matter was being urgently sent to the capital and the border troops over 800 miles, and was being treated as a top priority. All land and water routes leading to the north were being blocked and set up, and the Jing Dynasty thieves must not be allowed to bring the firearms back to Jing Dynasty.
Jing Dynasty did not actually get the firearms, but everyone thought they had, and the Secret Service was blocking all routes to the north with the highest standards.
Fortunately, Gui did not choose to go directly north, otherwise he would have fallen into the trap by now.
Chen Ji squatted down beside Manager Yuan's body, thinking about what he should do next.
First of all, he definitely couldn't track down Gui and Wu Hongbiao. If he really caught these two people, he would be in trouble.
Secondly, he must capture a group of Jingchao spies, otherwise Jinzhu will not let him go.
But who to arrest?
Wait, he thought about who he should catch.
Chen Ji asked calmly: "Xifeng, was he already naked when you found the body?
Is there any clue to prove his identity?
Xifeng squatted beside Chen Ji and whispered, "This man is an official from Kujue Temple of Jing Dynasty. He should be a Jing Dynasty spy. His other identities are still under investigation... There are no other clues for the time being."
Chen Ji frowned: "Are there no other clues? What did you do today?"
The spies suddenly felt the pressure double. Xifeng hurriedly said, "We asked all the residents of Tongji Street to come and identify him today, but no one on the entire street has seen him. This mansion belongs to a Huizhou merchant and has been abandoned for over a year... We also called in nearby brokers and village heads to identify him. We've been searching for a whole day and have checked everything we can."
"This body seemed to appear out of nowhere. No one within a few miles knew who this person was."
"It's not that the spies didn't work hard, it's just that we have no clues left."
Chen Ji said calmly, "It was freezing cold. It's impossible for this man to have walked out of the house naked. The killer must have stripped him of his clothes after killing him. The reason they stripped him of his clothes must be that his clothes were recognizable enough that someone could use them to identify him."
Xifeng asked: "Sir, have you thought of a way to track him down?"
"How many people does the Secret Service still have in Los Angeles?"
"Lord Jinzhu has left forty-two men to guard Luocheng."
"Send them all here and seal off the East Market," Chen Ji stood up and said slowly, "Since reasoning isn't working, let's use the simpler process of elimination. This person must have lived in Luo City; his disappearance wouldn't have left no trace. Summon the headmen and agents of the East Market and investigate all missing persons throughout the entire East Market. Whoever has disappeared inexplicably must be the deceased."
At this time, Manager Yuan was no longer in Bailu Pavilion, and this was the only clue pointing to Bailu Pavilion.
As long as he confirmed that Manager Yuan was missing, he would have a reason to search Bailu Pavilion, arrest and interrogate people, and finally get an explanation about Jin Zhu. There was no reason to make mistakes when copying the test paper according to the answers.
Chen Ji knew that Gui took away Manager Yuan's clothes because he didn't want the Secret Service to find out about Bailu Pavilion and ruin the financial resources of the Military Intelligence Department.
But what does this have to do with Chen Ji? Bailu Pavilion hides so many ginsengs, which are exactly what he needs.
………
Late at night, the village head was dragged out of his home by the secret agent. He followed the secret agent tremblingly, fearing that he would be eaten alive by the group of living devils around him if they got upset.
Xifeng held a torch in his hand and led the secret agents to knock on the doors of the shops one by one and search them carefully.
There were cries of fear coming from the originally quiet shop. The shopkeeper and his employees who were sleeping had no time to put on their cotton-padded jackets before they were mercilessly dragged to the street by the spies, shivering with cold.
Xifeng and the others had grim expressions on their faces. Only after the village head confirmed that there was no shortage of staff in the store did the spies let the shopkeepers and clerks go back to sleep.
Chen Ji followed the spy silently. His mind was not on these irrelevant shops. He just wanted to check each one of them and get closer and closer to Bailu Pavilion.
In order to prevent the Jingchao villains in Bailu Pavilion from counterattacking and fighting to the death, he always hid at the back.
However, just as he was about to find Bailu Pavilion, Chen Ji felt something was wrong... it was too quiet.
Bailu Pavilion seemed to be unaware of what was happening in the outside world. No one tried to escape. It was like an ordinary shop.
The next moment, Xifeng stepped forward
, knocking on the main door of Bailu Pavilion.
Inside the door, someone pulled out the bolt.
With a creak, the door was opened from the inside. A young man, half-drowsy, was dazzled by the light of the torch. He squinted his eyes and covered his eyes with his palms: "Who is it? What's going on in the middle of the night?"
Xifeng didn't say anything, but the village head came forward holding the household register and asked with a smile: "A murder occurred on Tongji Street, but the identity of the deceased cannot be confirmed. We are checking every house to see if anyone is missing. Young man, please call everyone in the store out. We will leave after we have verified it.
"Oh..." The young man turned and shouted into the house, "Boss! The head of the village has brought some people to see if there are any missing people in our store."
Chen Ji's muscles tensed up, ready to kill or retreat at any moment.
However, he was suddenly stunned.
A fat figure led five waiters to the door and said with a smile: "Master, these are all the people in Bailuge store. They are all here."
Shopkeeper Yuan!
Chen Ji almost thought he was seeing things, but he confirmed again and again that the fat figure in front of him was wearing a red satin robe and a golden crown on his head. Who else could it be but Shopkeeper Yuan?
At one point, he even felt a little dazed.
In Bailu Pavilion, Si Caogui cut the neck of a shopkeeper named Yuan. In Tongji Street, Chen Ji also cut the neck of a shopkeeper named Yuan with his own hands. But now, another shopkeeper named Yuan has appeared in Bailu Pavilion!
It seemed as if the other party could not be killed, like a ghost that could not be driven away.
He wanted to grab the other person's collar and ask, are you a human or a ghost?
Chen Ji stared intently at Manager Yuan's fair face. He knew it was a new human skin mask. After the Jing Dynasty Military Intelligence Department discovered the death of Secretary Xin, they must have found a new replacement, even preparing the human skin mask long ago.
Do you want to expose the other person's mask now?
But after the truth is revealed, how should I explain to Xifeng? How do I know that the person wearing the mask is a human skin? Xifeng is not a fool. By then, the person might even realize that I came to Bailu Pavilion tonight!
At the gate of Bailu Pavilion, the village head said to Xifeng: "Sir, Bailu Pavilion is an old merchant in our East Market. They have always been using these people. There is no mistake."
Xifeng looked at Shopkeeper Yuan and said, "Luocheng has been quite unstable these days. If you find anything unusual, please report it to us immediately."
Shopkeeper Yuan smiled and said, "Of course, of course. We are all law-abiding citizens of Luo City. Helping you catch the criminals is our duty."
Xifeng nodded, and after a simple instruction of "Close the doors and windows", he went to the next shop.
Chen Ji did not speak out in the end. He turned around and followed Xifeng away, leaving Manager Yuan and his staff standing calmly at the threshold of Bailu Pavilion, with calm expressions showing no emotion.
At this moment, a secret agent suddenly rushed over from a distance. When he ran closer, the spy said to Xifeng, "Sir, when we were investigating Li's Clothing Shop with our agents, we got an important clue. The owner of the shop said that last night he saw us blocking off Hongyi Lane. Four people with swords and knives sneaked out from behind Hongyi Lane. These people might be the thieves from Jing Dynasty!"
Chen Ji's heart sank. Could it be that the four people who abandoned the prince and Bai Li...
End of this chapter.
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