Chapter 20 Rongjun Xiaohei, I'm going to take you for a walk
"Delicious!" Xu Xingxing praised.
Qin Feng: ???
"I'm talking about Xuanxuan's cooking," Xu Xingxing stuck out her tongue at Qi Danxuan standing beside her. "Excuse me, please continue."
"Although we discovered this cave last night, we didn't find any monsters." Fang Zhiming said while eating.
"Where is that female ghost? Did you interrogate her yesterday?" Xu Xingxing asked after swallowing the food in his mouth.
Qin Feng shook his head. "She harbors deep resentment, yet has forgotten everything that happened. We tried everything yesterday but couldn't find a solution. We went to the government office early this morning and found out that none of the missing families in the village were the family of four with a son and a daughter that you described yesterday."
"Is there a family of three with only one son?" Xiao Hei suddenly asked.
"have,"
Lin Yue said, "I've made a note that three families in that village disappeared, one of which consisted of two adults and a child. Does this have anything to do with the female ghost?"
"It's nothing."
"Then why do you ask this?" Xu Xingxing wondered.
"If my guess is correct, this family of three is the same family from last night," Xiao Hei looked at Xu Xingxing, "but this family should have nothing to do with that female ghost."
"How do you know?"
"The aura is different."
"Then according to you, why would the female ghost create such an illusion for no reason?" Qin Feng frowned.
"This female ghost had her tongue pulled out and her memory damaged. She must have suffered inhuman torture both before and after her death. However, her magical powers are low, so she should not have harmed anyone. If it is true as Xiao Hei said that she has no relationship with that family, then it must be this family that made her feel a sense of longing and familiarity." Fang Zhiming said.
"Most wronged souls have lost their humanity, so why is it that she doesn't harm anyone and instead hides in a deserted place?" Lin Yue asked puzzledly.
"The only way to know is to find out who this female ghost is."
Qi Danxuan said, "Early this morning, my brother sent a painter to draw a portrait of the female ghost. It has now been distributed to the independent cultivators in the mansion for examination."
"But it's snowing heavily outside, and most people must be staying indoors, so it's hard to find them." Xu Xingxing suddenly had an idea. "Xuanxuan, it's been snowing heavily in Qingzhou for so long, how can we solve the problem of people's survival?"
"The imperial court distributed relief grain, and my brother also led various merchants to open soup kitchens. This was how we appeased the people and prevented a major disturbance."
Xu Xingxing looked at everyone: "Isn't this easier to find?"
Over the next two days, the crowd dispersed and went around various porridge stalls, questioning the people with the portrait of the female ghost.
One day, Xu Xingxing was holding a portrait and asking people in the porridge stall, when he suddenly received a sound transmission note from Qin Feng, asking them to come back quickly.
She immediately returned to the mansion with Xiao Hei and entered the lobby. They saw Qi Rongli, Fang Zhiming, Lin Yue, Qin Feng and Zhang Long already waiting in the hall. Fang Zhiming's lips were pale and there were bloodstains on his body. He curled the corners of his lips weakly when he saw Xu Xingxing.
Lin Yue squatted beside him to treat him. She bit her lower lip tightly and there seemed to be tears in her eyes.
Xu Xingxing hurried forward and asked, "How did you get hurt?"
"Nothing serious, just a minor injury. Fortunately, we have a clue."
Fang Zhiming handed over the booklet on the table and continued, "Today we questioned someone, and his eyes avoided our questions. Lin Yue and I followed him after he got some porridge. When we arrived at his house, we saw him taking out this picture album and looking through it."
Xu Xingxing opened the album and saw that each page contained a portrait, with names and ages labeled below. Some also included their origins. The album contained over twenty people, both men and women.
"What's this?"
"A list of people being bought and sold."
"slave?"
“No.”
Qi Rongli said, "The slave trade is legal. Although the government records a large number of transactions, they are not as detailed as this. I'm afraid the people in this book are all from good families."
"Senior Qi is right."
Fang Zhiming coughed a few times and continued, "The people in this album include women kidnapped from the village, children abducted from the street, and even worse, noble ladies hidden in seclusion."
"It's her!" Xu Xingxing exclaimed when he turned to a certain page. He saw that the woman in the portrait on this page looked very similar to the female ghost, but she was much more quiet and gentle.
"Yes, that's her."
Fang Zhiming spoke out the words he had memorized in his mind, "Mrs. Chen Rong, 28 years old, daughter of the former Minister of Revenue."
"The former Minister of Revenue was demoted to a commoner two months ago for offending the Empress Dowager. I heard that he was so traumatized by this that he committed suicide."
Qi Rongli sighed, "His daughter was brutally treated like this after his death. If he knew about this, how could he rest in peace?"
"Then how did you get injured?" Xu Xingxing was silent for a moment and then asked.
"Lin Yue and I interrogated that person, and he said that this book belonged to his cousin, whose name was Zhang Li. He was in the business of human trafficking, reselling people with good looks. This batch of goods was just received by Zhang Li, and he had previously boasted that there were top-quality goods in this batch, which could be worth a thousand gold... cough cough..." Before he finished speaking, Fang Zhiming started coughing again.
Lin Yue's eyes were filled with heartache. She helped him calm down and continued, "About twenty days ago, Zhang Li found this person and handed him the album, telling him to keep it safe. If the album was there, Zhang Li could survive. If the album was gone, then Zhang Li would surely die. After giving these instructions, he left Qingzhou overnight and his whereabouts are now unknown."
"We were just about to bring this person back when we were suddenly attacked. Dozens of men in black attacked us at the same time, and one of them had a higher level of cultivation than the two of us."
Lin Yue's eyes were filled with tears. "If Senior Brother Fang hadn't come to save me, we could have escaped unscathed. Fortunately, Qin Feng came and we were able to return safely."
“Then this tension is the key.”
Qin Feng frowned, "But he has already left Qingzhou. The world is so big, how can we find him?"
"Immortal Lord,"
Zhang Long, who had been standing silently at the side, suddenly spoke up, "This man... I know where he is."
"Where?" Qin Feng asked.
"I met him at a dinner party. He wanted to make friends with me. I saw that he was generous and open-minded, so I started to socialize with him from time to time."
Zhang Long glanced at Qi Rongli cautiously. "Half a month ago, he came to me, saying that Zhou Wuxia wanted to kill him and asked me to protect him... He also presented me with a generous gift as a thank you. I thought it was a simple favor, so I took him in..."
"Oh,"
Qi Rongli leaned slightly to the side, his expression unchanged. However, his gentle, harmless demeanor, like jade, suddenly transformed into the powerful majesty of a king. He spoke calmly, "Zhang Long, how could I not know you were so kind?"
"Master, atone for your sins!"
Zhang Long immediately knelt on the ground, "I didn't know he was doing such a dirty thing. If I had known, I would definitely not have gotten to know him!"
Qi Rongli looked at him for a long time, sighed, and said to Xu Xingxing, "Zhang Long has been working with my father since he was young. He is loyal to our Qi family. Today, he failed to judge his character. Immortal Lord, you are welcome to punish him."
"Mr. Zhang didn't mean it, so there's no need to punish him," Xu Xingxing advised. "Besides, if Mr. Zhang hadn't taken him in, we wouldn't know how to find him. We'd better bring Zhang Li here quickly." "Thank you, Immortal Lord, for speaking for me," Zhang Long glanced at Qi Rongli again, "Master, then I..."
"Go quickly."
*
At this time, Fang Zhiming was exhausted and fell asleep, so Lin Yue went to take care of him.
Qi Rong politely waited for everyone to take a seat and looked at Zhang Li who was kneeling in front of the hall.
Zhang Long, standing aside, angrily shouted, "Zhang Li, your evil deeds have been exposed. Will you confess the truth today, or will I use my magic to dig out your memory?"
"I'll tell you what I'll tell you,"
Zhang Li begged for mercy repeatedly, "The person you are asking about is called Shen Rongjun. Her father was the former Minister of Revenue of the imperial court. After he committed suicide, this woman also considered committing suicide. I saw her beautiful face, so when she was about to commit suicide, I knocked her unconscious and abducted her to this place. I originally wanted to make her my wife. After all, who wouldn't be envious of such a beauty?"
Zhang Long kicked him to the ground, "You rascal! Are you worthy? Stop making jokes and tell me how you brutally murdered her!"
"Killed? I didn't! It must be Zhou Wuxia! Immortal Lord, please judge for sure!" Zhang Li kowtowed to everyone quickly, and soon, blood began to seep from his forehead.
"Why are you sure it's him?" Qin Feng asked.
"He was the one who bought Rong Jun. After looking at the portrait, he actually offered a high price of ten thousand taels of gold, so I sold it to him."
"Then why did you run away?"
"Your Majesty, you may not know that I am not the only one who can do this human trafficking. I have two brothers. One is responsible for finding buyers, and the other is responsible for delivering the goods. I am only responsible for arresting people."
He looked terrified. "My two brothers didn't return on the day they delivered the goods. I became alarmed and quickly spread the word that I had left the city. I also relied on Brother Zhang's protection, which is why I'm still alive today."
"Who is Zhou Wuxia?" Xu Xingxing asked.
At Qi Rongli's prompting, Zhang Long began to speak, "The Zhou family is an aristocratic family in Qingzhou. Zhou Wuxia is the cousin of the current Minister of Personnel. The Minister of Personnel's mother was personally bestowed with an imperial decree by the current Empress Dowager. Zhou Wuxia calls her aunt. His father died young, and his aunt doted on this nephew the most. Even the current governor of Qingzhou obeys his orders."
"The people who attacked Immortal Lord Fang today were probably sent by the Zhou Mansion. There are only two cultivators above the Nascent Soul stage in Qingzhou City. One is me, and the other is Zhou Qing from the Zhou Mansion."
Zhang Long frowned, "This man specializes in practicing evil ways, not an upright cultivator. I should have known this the moment I saw the female ghost. I always thought we were on different paths and shouldn't be on the same page. How could I have known he was so cruel and ruthless, with such a vicious heart!"
Everyone fell silent for a long time, and Xu Xingxing was the first to break the silence: "Mr. Zhang, please send him to Rongjun's room. I believe Rongjun has been waiting for him to apologize."
"Rong Jun?"
Zhang Li showed a horrified expression, "Didn't you say she was dead?"
"Give him a tranquilizer pill,"
Qi Rongli said calmly, "He will be of some use later, so don't scare him silly."
Zhang Long took the order and took the man away.
"It's getting dark," Qi Rongli stood up and looked at Xu Xingxing, "What are your plans, Immortal Lord?"
"The snow is beautiful tonight,"
Xu Xingxing raised her eyebrows and smiled: "Of course we can't let such a beautiful scene go to waste. Come on, Xiao Hei, I'll take you for a walk."
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