Chapter 87
Gu Ran did not notice anything unusual about Pei Liu, and walked away with He Qinghuan. Behind him, Jialiu and Yiwu, who had just come out of Zuiyue Tower, glanced at the three women who passed by Zuiyue Tower and then walked to a corner of the street opposite. They did not notice anything unusual, looked at each other, and then walked to the end of the street opposite at the same time, and soon arrived at Changlai Inn.
After entering the room, he booked a private room with one of the shopkeepers, and then followed the waiter upstairs.
When they reached the second floor and saw the sealed room, their eyes dimmed and they pretended to pass by as if nothing had happened.
Ever since the assassin's death, the business of the inn has been quite quiet during the period of strict investigation by the county government. But after the martial law was lifted, the incident in the second-floor room became a hot topic in the city.
After all, the First Bandit Organization was a notorious assassin organization. When people heard that their killer had died, many people thought that they deserved the death. It was a matter of great concern among the common people. Later, many people came to see the rumored burial place of the terrifying assassin. As a result, the murder scene became the place that most people who frequented the inn wanted to visit.
There are such strange people in the world. They live and work in peace and contentment, and have never encountered any major events. But when they see a place where people died, they want to seek excitement and hunt for novelty to broaden their horizons. Then, when they go back, they can brag to others that they have seen the place where the assassin was killed. This is also something that people admire.
The shopkeeper saw a business opportunity: someone had died in that room, and many people were unwilling to stay there. Yet, so many people were willing to come to his inn just to take a look.
So he simply kept the room sealed, without removing the official seal, but cut a gap so that people could push the door open and go in. After coming out, he would seal it again with rice paste. After that, anyone who wanted to go in and see the scene where the assassin was killed had to pay money before going.
That's right, now this room has become the most famous tourist spot for those who often come to the inn. The owner has also arranged for an interpreter, who is the waiter who appeared at the scene when the crime happened, to be responsible for telling the visiting customers what happened that day.
The waiter lived up to everyone's expectations and described the situation at that time in a very exaggerated way. The visitors listened with great interest, so those who often came to the inn gradually regained their vitality by relying on this method.
Xiaoguan, who was leading the two assassins to their respective rooms, asked cheerfully, "Speaking of which, my two guests may not have heard, but two assassins, the most renowned thieves in the world, died in this inn. See, those sealed rooms? That's where they died. These thieves were completely devoid of conscience and committed all sorts of immoral acts. Are you interested in seeing how they died?"
A6 and B5's eyebrows twitched.
They rushed to the Changlai Inn because of this matter. They thought they would have to spend some time to secretly find someone to inquire, but they didn't expect that the people in the Changlai Inn were careless and didn't take the dead seriously.
Then Jia Liu asked, "How do you see it?"
"It's easy. You just need to pay twenty coins and you can go into the wing and see him."
Xiao Guan enthusiastically tried to sell his inn. "We left everything in that room intact, preserving it as it was after the authorities took the body. To fully recreate the assassin's murder, our owner even consulted with witnesses and the staff. According to them, we've even replaced the murder weapon that was taken by the authorities."
Jialiu and Yiwu looked at each other and said, "Well, it's a rare opportunity to come here, so let's go and have a look and broaden our horizons."
As they spoke, they each took out twenty coins and gave them to him.
"Okay, sir, please go to your room and get settled. I'll go get the key from the shopkeeper right away."
Xiao Guan went downstairs excitedly and handed the shopkeeper forty coins in exchange for the key. He then went upstairs again excitedly and saw the two men standing at the door. He smiled and raised the key in his hand to them, then tore off the broken side of the official seal and opened the door to the wing room. "What are your names, gentlemen?"
"Master Jia."
"Mr. Liu."
"Master Jia, Master Liu, please look, this is the scene where the two assassins died."
Xiaoguan waved his hand and invited them into the murder scene.
The room was dimly lit and visibility was unclear when they first entered. They glanced at the ground and saw two dark shadows. Their hearts skipped a beat. After they adjusted to the light, they opened their eyes wide and looked, and were immediately speechless.
In order to so-called recreate the scene, the inn even dragged two scarecrows to pretend to be the victims, and also added a shovel and a kitchen knife, which were inserted into the two scarecrows.
What kind of murder scene is this?
How could a top-ranked assassin, a thief, stab each other with a shovel and a kitchen knife? How could that be?
It seems that the people in this inn arranged it casually.
Master Jia suppressed his anger and humbly asked Xiao Guan, "Are you saying that many people in the inn witnessed the tragic deaths of the two assassins?"
"Yes, I was there that day too." Xiao Guan patted his chest, walked over to the scarecrow and said, "It was really scary back then. The two assassins were lying in our room. Look, the dark stuff around their bodies is blood!"
Young Master Liu looked around the room, then walked to the window, pushed it open, stuck his head out, looked around, and then retracted it.
"We thought something had happened because the two guests hadn't gotten up yet, and they'd only paid for one night's room. So we knocked on the door, but no one answered. Experienced people like us knew something was wrong, so we immediately sent someone to break down the door. That's when I was called up. After they broke down the door, we rushed in and saw what was happening. Wow, it was horrible!" Xiao Guan shook his head. "Some people were terrified, shouting 'someone's dead, someone's dead!' The timid ones ran away, but some who were brave enough and had a bit of camaraderie rushed in to see what was going on, hoping to help!"
"Then how do you know that the dead are assassins?"
"Hey, we didn't know at first, but we often come to the inn, and there are many guests coming and going. Some of them are more knowledgeable and saw the tokens that fell from their bodies and recognized them as the killers of the number one thief." Xiao Guan said, "Then the county magistrate, when he heard that the deceased was the one who killed the number one thief, immediately took it seriously. He even searched our inn for several days and even imposed martial law in the county for ten to eighteen months to thoroughly investigate whether any of the number one thief had sneaked into our city."
Mr. Jia and Mr. Liu remained silent.
"Hey, I say, you two, are you the number one thief here to stay?" Xiao Guan asked jokingly.
"Of course not."
"If you hadn't told us, we wouldn't have known that the person who died in this room was a famous assassin!"
Both of them denied it.
"I was just joking." Xiao Guan scratched his head and laughed, "Because later on, many people who came to the inn or behaved suspiciously in the city would be tracked down by the government, so we had to question them as usual!"
"clear."
"Since the authorities have been investigating for such a long time, more than two months, right? Have they found anything?"
"Hey, the county magistrate has taken over this case. How can ordinary people like us know about the investigation?" Xiao Guan shook his head.
"Based on what you saw at the time, how did this assassin die?"
"It looks like he died in an internal conflict due to uneven distribution of the spoils."
Internal strife?
Mr. Jia and Mr. Liu looked at each other silently.
Xiao Guan continued, recounting in detail how he realized something was amiss and rushed in. He then pointed at the two scarecrows and said, "Those two killers were lying in a pool of blood like this. Then one of them had his hand around his throat, and with the other, he had a knife stuck into his chest. Then, with his hand, he also had his throat around his throat, and with the other, he had a dagger stuck into his abdomen. Think about it, doesn't it sound like a fight between the two of them, killing each other?"
Mr. Jia and Mr. Liu were silent as they stomped around the scarecrow, while the other one stroked his chin.
"Also, look, the tables, chairs, and shelves in the room have all been knocked over. There's no one else in the room. If this isn't an internal conflict, what is it?"
"When they broke into the wing, was the door locked?"
"Of course. Didn't I tell you to come up and break down the door before you opened it?"
"And the window? Is it locked too?"
"Of course..." Xiao Guan was about to say it was locked, but scratched his head, unable to remember, "Then we didn't pay attention. We were so scared by the dead body at the time that we rushed to report it to the police."
Master Jia and Master Liu questioned Xiao Guan a few more times before finally asking, "What about the other guests who stayed in the rooms around here that day?"
"Who are these people? Were they still there when the crime happened?"
"Let me think." Xiao Guan thought for a moment and shook his head. "It's been so long, I can't remember clearly. But it was quite late, almost noon. Usually, guests who stay overnight get up early the next day. Otherwise, we wouldn't have noticed something was wrong if they took so long to get up."
"Is there a list of the guests staying at the hotel that day?"
"Yes, yes, do you want to see it?" Xiao Guan looked at the two of them in surprise.
"Why, you won't show it to me?"
Xiao Guan immediately smiled and said, "Yes, of course I will. But if you want to see it, you have to pay extra. After all, the list has been collected by the government as evidence."
"Do you still have the booklet?"
"Yes, we, the innkeeper, have to keep accounts and pay taxes, right? We can't do without the inn's guest register, so we went to the county government office to ask the county magistrate for it, and he copied a copy for us."
"So the original is still in the hands of the government?"
"Of course, but don't worry, even if the list was copied, we copied it word for word."
However, for those who came to investigate the cause of death of their colleagues, it was far from enough.
In the end, Mr. Jia gave Xiao Guan ten cents and asked him to help bring up the list. He looked at the list of people staying in the hotel on the day of the crime, and especially remembered the names of the guests staying in the rooms on the left and right sides of the crime scene.
One of them is called Zhu Si Niang.
On one side is Uncle Chen and his entourage.
"Those are the two people who lived on either side of the crime scene?" Master Jia pointed at Zhu Si Niang and Master Chen's names and said in a surprised tone, "How could such a big thing happen overnight? They fought so hard that even chairs and frames were overturned, and you didn't notice anything?"
"How would we know what happened to this guest?" Xiao Guan laughed. "Some guests were exhausted from traveling and might have been so soundly asleep that they didn't know anything. And some guests clearly heard the fighting but pretended not to hear it. When you're away from home, it's better to mind your own business!"
Master Jia remained silent, his gaze falling on Master Chen's name, "Did the government question them?"
"Hey, at that time, it seemed that the rooms on both sides were empty. I guess they left. As for whether the government could find them and question them, how would a commoner like me know?" Xiao Guan said, "Well, you two, have you taken a look? If you have, I have to put it away."
Master Jia glanced at Master Liu, who nodded slightly. Master Jia then said to Xiao Guan, "Look, take it back now!"
"Okay!" Xiao Guan carefully put away the registration book and smiled at the two of them again. "If there's anything else you want to know in the future, come find me again. I'll tell you everything I know!"
After Xiaoguan left, Master Liu, who was sitting in the wing room reserved by Master Jia, said, "It can't be an internal conflict. Bingyi and Bingsi have already wiped out the Zhou family. The rest are returning to the branch hall. There's no disagreement that would require them to kill each other."
"That's right, the Zhou family is in Geyan County, but this is Yongchang County. Normally, they should have returned to Jianzhou and taken the ferry back to the Puzhou branch, but they chose to change course and come here further south," Master Jia said. "After completing their mission, they must have encountered something or discovered something that forced them to come to this city. They were murdered while checking into the inn."
"Perhaps, when he was killing the Zhou family, he revealed a flaw and was targeted?" Young Master Liu nodded. "This person, or these people, are able to deal with two of our number one thieves at once. It's not easy."
"That's right. If Lord Du hadn't been impeached and imprisoned in the court, we wouldn't have known that Bingyi and Bingsi's mission had gone awry." Master Jia also felt the situation was troubling. "And Maosan, the hidden chess piece, hasn't returned to the branch hall yet."
"Perhaps he saw something happen to Bing 1 and Bing 4, and took the opportunity to escape."
"Impossible! Mao San's brother is one of our top-ranked masters. He couldn't possibly have escaped," Master Jia said. "Jia San was worried about Mao San, but he had a mission to complete. Before I set out, he sent me a letter asking me to help find him."
"Tsk!" Young Master Liu said impatiently, "Or perhaps, the internal strife between Bingyi and Bingsi was all the work of Maosan."
"It's also possible that the person who killed Bingyi and Bingsi is powerful, and Maosan is hiding to save his life?"
Only then did Master Liu remain silent.
"Do you remember the name of the person who stayed at the hotel just now?"
"I remember."
"Among them, there might be Mao San." After the mission was over, Mingqi and Anqi knew each other's identities. Under normal circumstances, they would return to the branch hall or headquarters together. Since Bingyi and Bingsi appeared in Yongchang County, Mao San was most likely traveling with his accomplices.
"It's a pity that the list was copied, so we can't see the different handwritings of each person. Otherwise, we might have found some clues on it." Young Master Liu sighed and glanced at Master Jia. "Do you want to visit the county government office at night?"
"No." Master Jia shook his head. "Didn't you hear the waiter just now say that the county government has been under martial law for over half a month because of this incident? The officers and soldiers here are on high alert against us. If you try to steal the list now, wouldn't that just prove that one of our people has sneaked into the city? It would only alert the enemy. Even if you want to investigate, you have to wait until we have investigated first, and then we can do anything later."
"We have no details about the murders of C1 and C4, nor do we know why they came here. How can we investigate without any clues?"
"Let's start by investigating how they left Geyan County, passed through Jianzhou, and arrived in Yongchang County. But before that, we've asked every innkeeper what information they had on the night of the murder and the day of the incident," said Master Jia. "Since they died in Yongchang County, it must be related to Yongchang County. The people who stayed at the Changlai Inn that day are particularly suspicious. Contact the branch hall and the secret agents in Minzhou to investigate their whereabouts first."
Young Master Liu nodded: "Everything is up to you."
On the other hand, Pei Liu, who had already guessed that the assassins he had killed before might have attracted the number one thief to come and investigate the truth, was silent for a long time as he drove the donkey cart back to Xiaxi Village with Gu Ran.
If they really wanted to investigate, they would probably check the guests who frequently stayed at the inn that day.
He had disguised himself and used a pseudonym when he checked into the inn. In order to increase the difficulty of the assassin's investigation and confuse the spies, he wandered around outside for more than a month. It would not be easy for them to find out about him.
That is, don't be afraid of ten thousand, just be prepared for one.
Now that everyone is here, how can he not keep a closer eye on them?
What's more, he still didn't know how the dark chess player recognized him at that time?
After the Pei family massacre in Zhengzhou, he clearly claimed that the two hired assassins were killed by the Pei family guards according to his forged confession of Pei Liuniang.
Because this case was the biggest case in Zhengzhou at that time and involved the government, it attracted everyone's attention. Just like the martial law in Yongchang County after the incident, the Zhengzhou government was also searching for the assassin of the No. 1 Thief in the city. Therefore, the No. 1 Thief did not dare to send people to investigate the case at that time to avoid arousing public anger again.
He once thought that they might send someone to approach the surviving Pei Liuniang and chase her to Minzhou to investigate.
However, he did not expect that after so much time had passed, the number one thief in the world had not made any move.
Yes, assassins like them are just pawns. Half of the deposit they pay when accepting the mission belongs to the organization, and their hiring fee will be deducted from the other half received after the mission is completed.
Only two assassins died.
There are still so many killers being trained in the organization. If they die, there will always be other reserves to replace them. Therefore, they have to work for them while they are alive, and die if they die.
Just a money-making tool.
Therefore, he finally settled down in Qinghuai Village and then moved to Xiaxi Village.
I originally thought I could stay away from this number one thief, but...
Pei Liu watched the small house approaching, drove the donkey cart behind the house, and jumped off.
He had clearly just gone out to look for someone, but ended up provoking the number one thief in the world.
But this time, he appeared in front of the two assassins as Pei Liuniang, but they did not recognize him.
So, how did that hidden chess piece recognize me last time?
He believed that he had no markings on his body and no other conspicuous features. Why was he recognized by the killer last time even though he was in disguise, but now that he is not disguised, the killer this time cannot recognize him?
Could it be that the hidden chess piece actually happens to know me?
If only we hadn't killed him so easily back then, at least, no matter how severely he was tortured, we should have been asked how he could have identified it.
But now, it’s too late to regret.
It's too late to make up for the loss.
Pei Liu thought to himself.
When he unloaded the cart frame and led the donkey into the bamboo shed, he heard Gu Er Niang, who had gotten off the donkey cart to move food from the cart, call out "Village Chief Wu". Turning around, he saw Village Chief Wu coming.
"Village Chief Wu, what do you want to talk to me about?"
"I came to tell you that the date for renting the plow horse you rented has been set."
"Really? When?"
"In two days, you must first clear away the rocks, weeds, and other useless things on your wasteland. Also, you have three acres of wasteland. Did you buy it from the miasma forest?"
"That's right."
"You'll also have to clean up the trees, rocks, and other things in the miasma forest."
“Yes, it has to be cut down.”
"Hey!" Village Chief Wu nodded. "Four days, about three acres a day. Can you handle clearing the wasteland?"
"I can't do it!" Gu Ran thought for a moment and shook his head. "Village chief, can you help me hire some uncles and brothers in the village to help me clean up the wasteland first?"
Now that the busy farming season of planting the second crop of rice or harvesting winter crops is over, the families in the village should be able to take a break.
"The few plots of land outside the miasma forest are fine, but inside the miasma forest..." Village Chief Wu shook his head at Gu Ran.
"Okay, then let's use the seven acres of wasteland outside the miasma forest." Gu Ran thought about it and felt that he couldn't make things difficult for someone who didn't want to enter the miasma forest.
The miasma forest is dangerous. If the people she hired really go into the forest and something happens to them, she cannot bear the consequences.
"Six-Niang and I will go into the miasma forest and open up the land by ourselves."
"Sixth Mother? She has to open up the land in Qinghuai Village too, right?"
"Hey?" Gu Ran just remembered this. "Village Chief, has Liu Niang also rented a plow horse?"
"I've rented one, two days after you called," said Village Chief Wu. "Village Chief Weng also told me to tell her! There are so few plow horses, so renting one is difficult. If she misses this opportunity, it might be difficult to rent one next time. Tell her to go back to the village and check."
When Village Chief Wu said this, Pei Liu had just settled the donkey and walked out to hear it, and his heart moved.
He just used this excuse to go back to Qinghuai Village first and ask the Liu family to help him open up the wasteland. He took the opportunity to go back to the county town to keep an eye on the two men.
So, after packing up the rations he brought back from the county town and moving them to the warehouse one by one, while helping Gu Er Niang prepare dinner, he told her that he was going back to the village.
Gu Ran expressed his understanding.
She had been waiting for a long time to rent a plow horse herself. Pei Liuniang also had to complete the task of reclaiming ten acres of wasteland this year, so she could understand her difficulties.
That is, since Pei Liuniang is not here, it seems that I have to open up the three acres of wasteland in Dayu Forest myself.
"So, when can you come back?"
Pei Liu's heart softened. He looked at Gu Erniang and said softly, "I will do it as soon as possible."
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