Chapter 24: Water and Fire Merge (2)

  Mr. Zhou obviously understood what it meant, his face turned gloomy, and he hastily made a bow with his fists, saying: "Everyone! Everyone! Something major has happened in the mansion! Please wait for a moment! Liu, the housekeeper!"

  Liu Guan's family hurriedly squeezed out of the crowd and shouted: "Here! Here!"

  Mr. Zhou said, "Please ask the guests to go to Zhenbaotang to drink tea and rest! Take good care of them! Don't let the guests be disturbed!" Mr. Zhou's words were clearly understood by Liu Guan, meaning that he should take Yitian, Ning Shen, Zheng Fuguan and others to stay in Zhenbaotang, under strict surveillance, not allowing them to wander around.

  Liu Guan hastily agreed and went forward to invite Vice Zheng and several others.

  Mr. Zhou made another fist and glanced at a blue-clothed martial artist beside him, but didn't say anything, then immediately rushed off like Zhang Siye.

  The executioner was just about to behead Huo Xiaoyao, but seeing the officials suddenly leave, he couldn't bring himself to do it and stood there in a daze. A blue-clad martial artist walked up beside Mr. Zhou and said, "Leave him tied up here under heavy guard! You can go now!" The executioners all responded with a "yes" and two or three of them came forward to put clothes on Huo Xiaoyao before tightly binding him to the wooden stake.

  Huo Xiao Yi barely escaped with his life from the Ghost Gate Pass!

  Zhang Siye rushed all the way to the backyard, where everything was in a mess. Someone saw Zhang Siye coming and stepped forward to report: "Master Zhang! The heavenly locks and earthly seals have no signs of being opened, but the mirror is gone!"

  Zhang Siye's face sank, and he didn't respond. He rushed straight forward until he reached a stone house with only a door but no windows. Seven or eight people were lying by the door, each foaming at the mouth and unconscious. Many people were trying to revive them with smelling salts, but there was no response. When they saw Zhang Siye arrive, they quickly stood up and opened the door for him.

  Zhang Siye entered the room, went downstairs, and walked for half a day through twists and turns, passing through countless checkpoints before finally arriving at an inner chamber.

  All that was seen in this inner chamber was a round stone pedestal, but it was empty. Zhang Siye looked at the pedestal and his body suddenly stiffened, he was stunned like a wooden chicken, almost falling to the ground, and was hastily supported by Wu Shi. Zhang Siye covered his forehead and exclaimed: "It's gone! It's gone!"

  Zhang Siye read the incantation for half a day, suddenly stood up straight, pushed away the martial artist who was supporting him, and shouted loudly: "How did I lose it! What's going on! Who is it!"

  The martial artists around him didn't dare to speak, Zhang Siye's eyes were red, like a fierce wolf, pinching the neck of a martial artist, shouting: "Is it you?!" The martial artist was pinched by Zhang Siye and couldn't speak, desperately shaking his head!

  Zhang Siye released the man and grabbed another martial artist, shouting: "Is it you?!" The martial artist didn't dare to dodge, letting Zhang Siye choke him, unable to breathe, only shaking his head. Zhang Siye kicked this person away and shouted loudly: "Who stole it?! Return my mirror!!!" At this point, Zhang Siye's expression was no different from a madman, with saliva flowing from his mouth, his eyes dazed, and his body bent like an arrow as he pounced on another martial artist. He grabbed the man's neck with one hand and twisted his wrist, hearing a cracking sound, and actually killed the person with a single blow. The crowd of martial artists had never seen Zhang Siye in such a state, and they were frightened into chaos, scattering in all directions. Zhang Siye didn't care about this, wildly swinging his hands, as long as he caught someone, either breaking their bones or taking their life.

  "Old Zhang! Things have come to this point! Please calm down!"

  Zhang Siye turned around like a ferocious wolf, his five fingers spread apart, and with a flash of his body, he pounced over and grabbed the speaker's neck. It was as swift as lightning. And the one speaking was none other than Mr. Zhou himself.

  Mr. Zhou rushed here and saw that Zhang Siye was like a madman, killing anyone he saw. The martial artists were all pale-faced and hiding in the corner, not daring to escape. Mr. Zhou couldn't help but shout loudly at this scene. Unexpectedly, Zhang Siye had gone mad to the point of not recognizing himself, and even choked his own neck. Mr. Zhou knew that Zhang Siye's skills were fierce, but he still shouted with all his might: "Don't you recognize me anymore?"

  Zhang Siye heard this voice and was slightly stunned.

  He blinked, his breathing gradually calmed down, and he finally regained some of his composure. Mr. Zhou struggled to pry open Zhang Siye's hand, coughed, and said: "Zhang Siye, calm down! Calm down!"

  Mr. Zhang's ferocious expression gradually subsided, replaced by a look of utter despair, his voice choked with sobs as he grasped Mr. Zhou's arm and exclaimed: "Mr. Zhou, that Linglong mirror is my lifeblood! Losing the mirror is no different from losing my own life!" As he spoke, he burst into loud wails like a child, clinging to Mr. Zhou's shoulder.

  Mr. Zhou patted Zhang Siye's back and whispered in his ear, "Disciple, the mirror can be found even if it's lost! As long as we know who stole it, we'll definitely get it back!"

  Zhang Siye was taken aback, and tears gushed out again. He said in a low voice: "Master, it's been almost twenty years since you last called me your disciple. Alas... Master! Do you have to see me lose the mirror before acknowledging me as your disciple?"

  Mr. Zhou's expression turned gloomy, and he said softly, "Disciple, don't mention it again! There are many people here, let's just address each other as master and servant." Zhang Siye nodded in agreement.

  Mr. Zhou shouted to the people around him: "Quickly bring a stool for Zhang Siye!"

  The crowd of martial artists saw Zhang Siye finally subdued, and seven or eight people brought over two stools to support him in sitting down. Mr. Zhou did not sit, but instead narrowed his eyes and looked around the hall before turning to face Zhang Siye and saying: "Zhang Siye, someone with such skills is probably only found among the five great families of the world."

  Zhang Siye's spirit had slowly calmed down, and upon hearing Mr. Zhou speak, he also said in a low voice: "But we have no grudges against the Five Great Families, and we've never even met them, so why would they steal this mirror from me?"

  Mr. Zhou said, "Those five big families' people behave strangely, sometimes it's not that we offended them, but because our anti-theft techniques are too good and spread too widely, they hear about it and come uninvited, intentionally trying to break our anti-theft methods and show off their skills."

  Zhang Siye was shocked and said: "Then they are not after my Linglong Mirror? They just want to come and challenge my mechanism, can I still return the mirror?"

  Mr. Zhou said: "I'm afraid it's very difficult, unless you can find the person who stole the mirror and have a good talk with them, then there might be a possibility."

  "Mr. Zhou, who do you think is behind this? That Yan Jingtian, didn't you suspect that they were from the Huo family? Now that they've appeared here, could it be their doing?" Zhang Siye said.

  Mr. Zhou said, "If they were from the Huo family, it's highly possible, but I've heard that the Huo family values posture and technique. Although our Tian Suo Di Jue may not seem impressive to them, it's still unlikely that they could leave no trace at all. I think it's more likely that someone from the Shui family did this!"

  "Zhang Siye said: 'The Water Family?'"

  Mr. Zhou said, "Yes! I'm coming over. The thief who stole the mirror must have a thorough understanding of our heavenly lock and earthly bolt, having lain dormant in this mansion for a long time. When Hei Sanbian was making a big commotion outside, he took advantage of it to poison the caretaker guarding the cellar, then used the fake key to get in."

  Zhang Siye furrowed his brow, seemingly deep in thought, and said: "But the Heavenly Footsteps mechanism on the ground, how did this thief manage to walk?"

  Mr. Zhou pointed at a brick on the ground and said to Zhang Siye, "Look, isn't there a layer of stone powder on your brick?"

  Zhang Siye stood up, walked over, squatted down and touched it with his hand, saying: "Indeed! There is a layer of stone powder."

  Mr. Zhou said: "Just now, I saw the soles of the shoes of the big steward who was knocked down at the door, and there is also this stone powder... Hehe! This thief must know that when Black Three Whip makes trouble, we will lock up the sky and earth, and the big steward must first walk through the heavenly steps to set up a defense in front of the mirror. This thief anticipated early on and let the big steward step on the stone powder to come in, as long as this thief follows the big steward's footsteps in and out, he won't trigger the mechanism!"

  Zhang Siye pondered and said: "This thief is familiar with us as if he has a grasp of our situation!"

  Mr. Zhou said: "Exactly! This kind of intelligence gathering and grasping the timing is probably unique to the Su family!"

  Zhang Siye said: "Hei Sanbian seems to be instructed by the Water family, deliberately stealing our house!"

  Mr. Zhou said: "This is also hard to say! Before I came in just now, I had already sent someone to thoroughly investigate all the people in the house to see who was not in the house!"

  "Alright! Mr. Zhou! What's our next move?" said Zhang Siye.

  Mr. Zhou said: "Pursue! We will search all over the world and must find the thief who stole the mirror!"

  Zhang Siye's expression regained a hint of arrogance as he said, "We can't let the thieves get away! Catching thieves is our specialty!"