Chapter 85: The Eighth Fifth Chapter of the Qingyun Inn (7)

  Inside the Wang family's large courtyard, in the house where Zhang Siye lived, a room was tightly locked, with seven or eight hook-handed soldiers standing guard outside, their eyes fixed and alert. Three leopards had also appeared, pacing back and forth in the courtyard, constantly raising their massive heads to observe.

  Inside the house, on a table made by joining two tables together, lay the corpse of a giant grey flea. Zhang Siye and two hook-handed soldiers stood beside it, holding candlesticks to illuminate the flea's body. Zhang Siye was intently watching Mr. Zhou, who was carefully pressing and feeling the flea's back.

  Mr. Zhou's hand stopped, and he reached out to touch the waist of the gray-haired louse, bending down to examine it closely. On the louse's spine, there was a tiny blood stain. Mr. Zhou said in a low voice, "I've got it!"

  "Is this a bloodstain?" Zhang Siye hastily leaned in and asked, looking at the spot where Mr. Zhou was pointing.

  Mr. Zhou said: "It's like a very fine needle piercing into the body and staying there."

  "Exactly! Judging from this bloodstain, it should be a very deep stab wound. Looking at the location, it's precisely between the vertebrae of the spine. With one more needle, it could have pierced into the spinal cord and poisoned him."

  Mr. Zhou nodded and said: "Zhang Siye, do you still remember what Hei Sanbian said when we caught him in Fengtian?"

  Zhang Siye pondered and said: "You're saying that Hei Sanbian claimed to have been hit by Huo Jia's Huoyao needle, which made him suffer greatly every time he had an episode?"

  Mr. Zhou said, "Right! Unfortunately, we didn't have time to see where the Huo family's Wednesday needle was before leaving the city to chase after the thieves. Otherwise, we would have been able to determine whether it was the Huo family who killed the gray louse, and the relationship between the Wang family and the Huo family would be clear!"

  "Even if it was someone from the Huo family who killed Hui Mao, how did they do it?" Zhang Siye asked doubtfully. "There wasn't anyone else near Hui Mao."

  Mr. Zhou said: "I'm afraid there is a secret passage mechanism in this courtyard where we live."

  Zhang Siye said: "Isn't Wang Xing afraid that we will find out?"?

  Mr. Zhou said, "I'm afraid this Wang's Fort is a huge den of thieves! We don't have any evidence now, and even if we tell Wang Xing about it, he won't admit it, but instead will bring us deadly trouble!"

  "Damn it, Wangjia Fort, Wangjia Mansion, damn thief! You've bullied me to my head! I'll overthrow them!"

  Mr. Zhou said, "It's not going to end, this is Shanxi, not Fengtian. Moreover, we are in the light, they are in the dark, we can only continue to pretend to be foolish and secretly figure out what is happening here! As long as we can find out where Yan Jing Tian is, we will leave immediately! We absolutely cannot stay here for long!"

  "Think back to the old days in the Qing dynasty, our Wind God Captors could roam freely across the land! When did we need to pretend to be foolish and hide from others? Alas, never mind! Let's not mention it!"

  Mr. Zhou said, "Now it's called the Republic, but in fact it's a world of heroes carving up territory, and the more chaotic the times, the more bandits thrive. From the end of the Qing dynasty to now, just a few decades have passed, and how many famous big thieves have emerged! Even Zhang Zuolin, General Zhang, are all full of thieving spirit!"

  Zhang Siye said with a gloomy expression: "Thieves of the people, thieves of the world! Heaven and earth are the thieves of all things. All things are the thieves of man. Man is the thief of all things. When the three thieves are at peace, the three talents will be calm."

  Mr. Zhou nodded and bent down to take a closer look at the body of the grey flea, but just then he heard the leopard dog in the yard let out an earth-shattering bark!

  Zhang Siye and Mr. Zhou were taken aback, and Zhang Siye cursed: "It seems that the thief has come to our doorstep!"

  Zhang Siye and Mr. Zhou quickly went out the door, only to see the leopard dog going crazy, grabbing onto the wall and trying to jump up. The hook-handed soldier held his weapon at the ready, positioning himself to strike.

  "Zhang Siye rushed out of the house, a hook soldier came forward to report: "Zhang Siye, just now there was a thief on the roof! Let the leopard dog find it, it's outside the courtyard wall, do we chase or not?"

  "Zhang Siye said: 'This is someone else's house, we can't take action! What did you see clearly?'"

  Hooker soldier replied: "That person's movements are extremely fast, jumping from the rooftop, vaguely recognizable, is a bald monk wearing kasaya."

  "Monk?" Mr. Zhou exclaimed in surprise.

  Zhang Siye walked a few steps forward and shouted: "You bastards, stop yelling! Come here!"

  The dogs were very obedient and stopped barking, still growling angrily as they walked to Zhang Siye's side.

  "Old Fourth Zhang shouted out, 'You scoundrels from which region, come out and let's have a look!'"

  "Amitabha! What a fierce beast!" A Buddhist chant came, and suddenly a person stood up on the wall, wearing a worn-out gray monk's robe, with an unclear face, standing straight on the wall like a wooden stick, swaying slightly from side to side, as if it could be blown away by the wind.

  The leopard dog was about to rush over again, and Zhang Siye growled: "Don't move!"

  The leopard dog stood still, unwilling to give up, no longer rushing forward, propping itself up with its front paws, and constantly growling.

  "Who are you?" Zhang Siye shouted from the wall, "Report your name and title!"

  The monk said: "My Buddhist name is Kǔ Dēng. Zhang Siye, the Wind Chaser, has long admired your great reputation."

  "Zhang Siye said: 'What are you doing here? Are monks also thieves now? What kind of logic is this?!'"

  "Amida Buddha, can't a monk be a thief? What's the logic behind that? I just came here to take a look, nothing else! But seeing all of you, I suddenly understood something. Thank you everyone! Farewell!" As soon as Kudeng Monk finished speaking, his body swayed and he jumped off the wall, disappearing without a trace.

  Ku Deng and the monk had just left when they heard the sound of gongs shaking the sky from within the Wang family's large courtyard. The guards and escorts from all directions were shouting: "Thieves! Thieves! Catch the thieves!" Instantly, the Wang family's courtyard was thrown into chaos.

  "Zhang Siye snorted in anger: 'You're just now realizing there's a thief? It's too late!'"

  Mr. Zhou said slowly: "What a fierce thief and monk, if the monk is a thief, I'm afraid the world has really fallen into darkness..."