Chapter 20 The Murderer

Jiang Ling choked, and immediately pulled back his tongue to swallow the words that were about to come out of his lips.

Ming Huazhang had already walked out, and Princess Taiping hurriedly followed behind. Jiang Ling looked at the back of the person in front of him, feeling a little confused.

Is it because he is too smart and lonely, or is it because he doesn't understand pigs?

Cold stars in the night.

Xie Jichuan hid behind the rockery and looked ahead carefully. He once again lamented that he had made bad friends. He was always the one doing such dangerous and unlucky things.

Ming Huazhang's description of this man was surprisingly accurate. The man was wearing blue coarse cloth, was born in the military, was fierce, cruel and alert, like a hunting wolf, and had a terrifying sensitivity to the surrounding environment. Xie Jichuan was almost exposed several times, and he did not dare to get close, so he could only follow from a distance.

The man looked back cautiously, then plunged into a forest. Xie Jichuan looked at the dark forest in front of him, his brows furrowed tightly.

There would be no one in the forest at this hour, so why did he go into the forest? There are two possibilities. One is that Xie Jichuan was discovered, and the blue-clothed man deliberately lured Xie Jichuan in and then took the opportunity to ambush him; the other is that he was going to the murder scene to clean up the aftermath or to reminisce.

The scene of the third murder has not been found yet. If we can follow him to the scene, it will undoubtedly confirm his murder. But if we guess wrong, Xie Jichuan will fall into danger...

Xie Jichuan pondered for a long time and finally decided to take a gamble and bet that his judgment was correct. He left a signal for Ming Huazhang on the roadside and prayed again, hoping that Ming Huazhang would come faster.

If you don't come soon, Xie Jichuan's life will be in danger.

Xie Jichuan walked into the bushes carefully, stepping on the existing footprints with every step, unwilling to leave any traces. He relied on the tree trunks for cover and slowly caught up with the murderer's footprints. Xie Jichuan quietly poked his head out and saw a strong man in blue standing with his back to him, doing something with an intoxicated look on his face.

Xie Jichuan couldn't understand what was so exciting about the death scene, but it didn't stop him from continuing to observe. Zhuang Han finally vented enough, packed up his clothes, and began to cover the blood on the ground.

In order to place the body in Ming Huashang's yard before they returned in the evening, he did not have time to clean up the scene after the murder, and only hurriedly sprinkled a layer of soil on it and left. Now he wanted to erase all traces and bury the blood-stained soil deeper, so that no one would know that a person had died here.

The strong man's movements were very quick and efficient. It was obvious that he was an experienced hand and he would finish it quickly.

This time it was Xie Jichuan's turn to be anxious. The deeper into the forest, the fewer footprints there were. In order to hide his body, Xie Jichuan had no choice but to leave footprints on the empty snow. As long as Zhuanghan saw the extra footprints on the snow when he returned, he would guess that he was being followed.

With the strong man's physique and ferocity, Xie Jichuan might not be able to defeat him alone... No need to say "maybe", he will definitely not be able to beat him.

Xie Jichuan once again called out to Ming Huazhang in his heart. Just as he finished his silent howl, he suddenly heard the sound of a branch being broken in the forest. Xie Jichuan was startled, and before he could react, Zhuang Han had already realized that he was being followed, and turned around like a clever jackal and plunged into the forest.

The direction he chose was exactly the direction of Xie Jichuan.

Xie Jichuan cursed inwardly, and turned around and ran out without caring whether he would be exposed or not. However, to make matters worse, the people behind him were eager to make a contribution, and they started shouting and swarmed forward before they surrounded him, completely exposing their position.

Zhuang Han was such a cunning man that he quickly found a gap and forced his way out of the woods.

We have already followed him here, if we let him escape, wouldn't it be a failure? But Xie Jichuan looked at the strength of Zhuang Han's attack and chose to protect himself.

After Ming Huazhang reported to Princess Taiping, he immediately brought reinforcements to support Xie Jichuan. He followed the signs all the way to the forest, and Ming Huazhang asked Princess Taiping's men to spread out and surround the forest from all sides.

This villain is very fierce, so you can't attack him by force, you have to be careful to ambush him and kill him in one go. The most important thing in an ambush is to keep your composure. He clearly told them to keep their composure and wait until they are surrounded before taking action, and not to rush in for the sake of success, but he still messed up the plan.

Ming Huazhang quickly chased in the direction where Zhuanghan was fleeing, but he was still a step too late and let Zhuanghan escape.

Xie Jichuan saw him and called him: "Jingzhan, stop chasing him. This is Princess Taiping's estate. He can escape on the first day but not the fifteenth. We can catch him slowly."

Xie Jichuan felt that he had found the murderer, and that the next step was just physical labor, and there was nothing to worry about. Ming Huazhang, however, had a completely different mood. He frowned and said, "If we can't kill this vicious and evil man in one blow, it will be even harder to catch him in the future. The villa is so big, and he is familiar with the terrain. If he just hides in a corner, where can we find him?"

"This is what Princess Taiping should think about." Xie Jichuan came over, patted Ming Huazhang on the shoulder, and said, "Don't make things difficult for yourself. We have done what we should do. The rest is the business of the bigwigs. With Princess Taiping's financial resources, are you still worried that she can't catch a small runaway slave?"

Ming Huazhang certainly wasn't worried about Princess Taiping. He said with a sullen look, "But I'm worried that if he gets pushed into a corner, he'll continue to commit crimes and drag more people down with him."

At this point, Ming Huazhang was stunned, and suddenly widened his eyes: "Not good, Second Mother!"

·

After Ming Huashang packed up, she turned off the lights and went to bed. But she was worried and couldn't fall asleep as soon as she touched the pillow like before. She was half asleep and half awake when she heard someone shouting outside.

Ming Huashang opened her eyes, listened carefully for a while, turned around and pushed Ren Yao: "Sister Ren, something seems to have happened outside."

Ren Yao also slept restlessly, and Ming Huashang woke her up after calling her twice. They quickly changed their clothes, and Ming Huashang opened the door to find that Zhaocai and the others were also awake. They gathered around her and said in panic, "Madam, there are people patrolling outside with torches, and they seem to be catching the murderer."

"Murderer?" Ming Huashang murmured, "It seems that they went to look for Princess Taiping. Are my second brother and the others there?"

Zhaocai hurried to the opposite corridor and knocked on the door. After a while, he came back in a panic: "Madam, there is no movement in the second master's room. Could something have happened to the master?"

Ming Huashang understood what was going on and said, "They should have gone out. Zhaocai, gather everyone together and send two people to patrol along the wall. The princess will mobilize her own people to catch the murderer, and I think there will be results soon. We just need to hold on through this most chaotic period and don't let anyone take advantage of us."

Zhaocai found that the ladies looked unambitious and amiable, but they were very capable when faced with a problem. Even Ren Yao was infected by her calmness and shouted, "Bring me my gun. Don't worry, with me here, those little thieves won't be able to cause any trouble."

Ming Huashang went to the upper room and knocked on the door again, only to find that Jiang Ling was not there either. Well, now there were only a group of women in the yard. Fortunately, Ming Huazhang had left his servants and guards behind. With the addition of Bao Nu, who raised Bao Bao, and Ren Yao, who was good at shooting, they could protect themselves.

Everyone gathered in the main hall. Ming Huashang saw Gao Gui walking with his baby in a cat-like manner. Her eyes lit up and she said hurriedly, "Baby, come here!"

Unfortunately Jiang Ling was not there, Bao Bao was very noble and cold, and it was impossible to please her. Ming Huashang tried her best but made no progress. She suddenly had an idea and remembered that she had brought some dried meat from Luoyang, which was a new product of Jin Yu Man Tang.

Ming Huashang said, "Zhaocai, go get some dried venison."

Zhaocai glanced at the beast that could bite people to death and said hesitantly, "Madam, this is a wild animal after all. I'm afraid it will hurt people."

"No." Ming Huashang said, "Animals are much cleaner than humans. As long as we don't hurt them, they won't attack us. Besides, we still have Leopard Slave."

The nobles loved hunting, and leopards and lynxes came from the Western Regions. They were rare, precious, and could be taken out for hunting, which was very prestigious, so they were very popular pets in the two capitals. However, the nobles only wanted to play with the novelty and were not willing to really raise these animals, so leopard slaves were born.

Bao Nu is a slave from the Western Regions, specializing in raising and training wild animals for the nobles. Jiang Ling always brings Bao Nu with him when he comes to the villa, which shows how rich he is. Lynxes like Bao Bao are trained from a young age and are very affectionate and protective of their masters. Ming Huashang is not worried about being bitten by Bao Bao.

Zhaocai could not resist Ming Huashang, so he had to obey her order and leave. She came back soon. Ming Huashang was quite patient. She took the meat and placed it in front of the baby from a distance. The baby sniffed it, carefully took it and ate it. Ming Huashang immediately put another piece and quietly moved closer.

Ming Huashang saw that Ren Yao had been watching her movements, and understood what she meant. She stuffed a piece of meat into Ren Yao's hand and said, "Sister Ren, come too. Maybe the baby will be more willing to get close to you."

Ren Yao was holding the slice of meat in her hand, feeling a little shy. However, she didn't expect that after the baby ate a few pieces of venison, his appetite was aroused. He actually came forward and snatched the dried meat from her hand.

Ren Yao was stunned. Ming Huashang took the opportunity to touch Bao Bao and said with satisfaction, "Sure enough, Bao Bao also likes Sister Ren."

The baby was busy eating the dried venison, allowing the woman to do whatever she wanted to him. Ming Huachang ran her fingers through the baby's fur, thinking that it was indeed very comfortable to touch. No wonder Jiang Ling liked to raise lynxes and leopards, which could serve as both pets and guards. If she had money, she would also like to raise them.

Ming Huashang sighed with regret, and her movements became even more rude.

After all, Ren Yao was still a 17-year-old girl, and she was quickly attracted by the big cat. The two of them were admiring the lynx and completely forgot about the outside world. Suddenly, there was a hurried knock on the courtyard door: "Mrs. Ming, the murderer has escaped. Erlang Jun is worried about you, so he asked me to take you to a safe place."

Zhaocai and Ruyi were horrified when they heard this: "What? The murderer hasn't been caught yet?"

Ren Yao frowned and said, "That villain deliberately placed a dead body in our yard, which shows that he has bad intentions. I'm afraid he will come looking for us. I don't care, but Ming Erniang, you are powerless, so hurry up and hide somewhere else."

Zhaocai and Ruyi also responded in unison. Zhaocai was about to pack his things when Ming Huashang suddenly stopped him, "Wait."

Ming Huashang looked at the closed door and asked, "It was Jishi who was with my second brother today, why didn't Jishi come to deliver the message?"