Knife splashing

Chapter 554 Fog
"Investigating the case?"

Li Yan was a little surprised. "With the connections in Chengdu Prefecture, it would be faster for you to find out the truth than for outsiders like us, right?"

"That's a bad word."

Ming Shanzi shook his head and said, "It is because I have some reputation that it is more troublesome. The other party was able to find such a secret place as the Dark Hall. I am afraid that I have fallen into their sight as soon as I entered Chengdu Prefecture."

"Besides, those people are hiding in the dark. If we make too much noise, it will inevitably alert them."

"makes sense."

Li Yan nodded in agreement, "Senior, where do you want me to start?"

Ming Shanzi seemed to have been prepared. He took out a thin book from his arms and said, "This is all the information I have collected. Young Master Li will know after reading it."

"Also, I will be stationed in the palace from now on. There is no need to worry about the safety here. Young Master Li can investigate secretly."

"I'm afraid this force is from a big source."

"Remember, be careful."

"Thank you, senior, for reminding me."

After saying this, Li Yan took the book and left the front hall, while Mingshanzi and the Fifth Prince Xiao Jinghong went to the backyard, obviously having something to discuss in private.

After returning to the bamboo forest cottage, Li Yan first handed the box to Wang Daoxuan, "Master, the plan has changed. The Five Divine Secrets have been obtained in advance."

Then he recounted the situation.

Upon hearing this, Sharifei quickly said, "How about I go and ask around to see what the rumors are?"

"Need not."

Li Yan shook his head and said, "They are the Cheng family. They must know more than us about what is going on in the martial arts world. We can only investigate this matter secretly."

"The greater our reputation, the stronger the enemies we will face. San'er's injury has not healed yet, the Taoist priest needs to practice new techniques, and Lao Sha, you also need to concentrate as soon as possible. I just built a building, so I need some time to calm down, which is a good time to investigate the case."

"With Mingshanzi in charge, the palace will be safe for a while. You can take this opportunity to rest up."

Then he joked, "Miss Long is still in the Xiling Snow Mountain. There is also a paradise there. If you can concentrate successfully, we can go up the mountain and build a building."

Sharifei smiled awkwardly, "Why do you keep bringing this up?"

After chatting and laughing for a while, Li Yan returned to the room, opened the book given by Mingshanzi, and looked at it carefully.

As soon as he opened the first page, Li Yan was a little surprised and shook his head, saying, "It turns out that old ginger is still spicy."

After saying that, he looked through other information.

Gradually, his brows knitted tightly, and a hint of murderous intent flashed in his eyes, "No wonder you asked me to investigate, it turns out that it is related to them..."

The information Ming Shanzi provided was very detailed.

The various forces in Chengdu Prefecture and the forces behind them...

Information about several princes in Shu Palace...

On-site investigation of the gold and silver shop...

It was obvious that the power of the Cheng family had been mobilized.

This piece of information alone is worth a fortune.

In less than half an hour, Li Yan finally finished reading all the information. He stood up, packed up all the magic weapons, put on a bag, and deliberately left through the main gate of the palace.

"Mr. Li is going out?"

"Well, please tell the prince."

"Shall I call you a carriage?"

"No, thank you."

After exchanging a few words with the steward, Li Yan strode out of the palace, looked around, and headed southeast.

That's where the City God Temple is located.

The Chengdu City God Temple is managed by the Huangling Sect. Although the relationship is good, he has no plans to go there to make a list just in case.

The area where the palace is located is quiet and clean.

After leaving the streets, the noise immediately hit us.

Li Yan wore a conical hat and deliberately covered his face with a black cloth. He carried a bag on his back and looked around as he walked.

The streets are crowded with people.

As the year draws to a close, heavy snow blocks the roads, and villagers living in nearby mountains stay at home early to prepare for the New Year and no longer travel far.

But the people of Chengdu Prefecture were not affected.

Some clean their homes, while others go out to buy New Year’s goods.

The streets are filled with the festive atmosphere, and many shops have hung red lanterns.

Inside the open gatehouse, there is a wide variety of New Year goods on display.

Li Yan walked along the crowd and immediately spotted many people from the underworld.

He had discovered this situation when he first entered Chengdu Prefecture. It seemed a little strange at the time, but now he knew the reason.

This is the work of the Prince of Shu's Palace again.

In recent years, the Shu Palace has been the most famous in the world.

The reason was simple. They held several martial arts competitions in succession, competing with hidden weapons, fists, kicks, and blades.

Every time, it is considered a grand event in the martial arts world.

People from all walks of life gathered here, not only for the generous rewards from the Prince of Shu's Mansion, but also to become famous.

Once you become famous, you can gain both fame and fortune.

Many of the top winners were recruited by the Palace of the King of Shu, and the rest of the outstanding ones were hired by the Salt Gang with large salaries.

Therefore, the strength of the Shu Palace has grown rapidly in recent years.

Originally, many high-ranking officials also made friends with people in the underworld, but they always did it secretly.

Such blatant behavior caused dissatisfaction among some senior officials in the court. In addition, some things that the King of Shu had done in recent years attracted the censor.

No one knows why the King of Shu did this.

If you want to rebel, the noise will be too loud.

Many people also think that the King of Shu is old and confused.

But people in the underworld naturally don’t care about that. Since someone has set up the stage, there will be plenty of people willing to cooperate and perform.

Especially this year.

The Shu Palace has spread the word that not only will there be a martial arts competition, but there will also be no more restrictions and those who practice martial arts will also be able to take part.

The rewards are staggering.

The winner can enter the treasury of the Prince of Shu's Palace and choose three items at will.

The King of Shu is the younger brother of the current emperor. He followed the emperor in his conquests of the northern border and the suppression of Nanyue. I wonder how many treasures he has hidden.

Therefore, it also attracted many people from the Xuanmen.

Li Yan seemed to be strolling around, but he was actually paying close attention to any abnormalities around him.

Finally, he noticed that he was being watched, and with a curve of his lips, he pretended to be strolling around, then turned and walked into a nearby alley.

The layout of Chengdu Prefecture is that there are mostly shops on the streets and residential houses in the alleys, which is relatively secluded.

Not long after Li Yan entered the alley, a peddler passed by carrying a load on his shoulder and pretended to look inside casually.

Seeing that there was no one in the alley, the peddler became anxious and hurriedly walked in with his load on his shoulder, calling out in a pretentious manner: "Needles, thread, perfume, powder, and pancreas, if you pass by, don't miss them!"

After taking a few steps, I heard the sound of wind behind me.

The peddler was startled and immediately bent his knees and threw the two boxes of goods upwards. Then he rolled over and stood up to run away.

The peddler's reaction was quite quick.

However, just as he took a step, he felt his whole body stiffen, his vision went dark, and the sounds around him quickly faded away.

But Li Yan had already taken action.

The soul-catching lightning rope directly suppressed his soul, and then carried the peddler by the neck, as if carrying a chicken, and quickly shuttled through the alleys and returned to the Prince's Mansion.

When we arrived at the Prince's Mansion, the door was already wide open.

Cao Yuanhuai was guarding outside with two of his fellow apprentices, looking at Li Yan who brought the person in with a complicated look in his eyes.

Li Yan was too lazy to pay attention and asked in a deep voice: "Did you catch him?"

"Caught."

This time, Cao Yuanhuai didn't say anything nonsense. He stepped forward personally, and together with his fellow apprentices, he took over the peddler and searched him carefully.

After all, he is a member of the Xuanmen, and many of his methods cannot be concealed.

He removed the poisonous fangs from his mouth, took out the blade from his hair, and even pulled out two long needles from the flesh of his forearm.

"It's a dead soldier!"

Cao Yuanhuai's face turned serious. He had been guarding people for many years, so he naturally knew what this was.

Li Yan nodded, not surprised, and asked as he walked in, "Who is it?"

"It's Lanzhu."

"Oh?"

Li Yan was a little surprised to hear Cao Yuanhuai's answer.

The first page of the intelligence Ming Shanzi gave said that he suspected there was a traitor in the palace, and asked him to cooperate in a play to lure the person out.

Ever since he left the palace, the entire palace has been under surveillance.

This time, Cao Yuanhuai and other Dumen disciples were kept in the dark, which meant that Xiao Jinghong still did not trust them, and therefore felt bad.

But the identity of the traitor surprised Li Yan.

"Lan Zhu" was the maid who came into the mansion that day and served them tea. She was deeply trusted by Xiao Jinghong and was considered the leader of the maids.

He has a gentle temperament and knows no martial arts or magic.

How could he become a ghost?
Li Yan was confused and strode to the front hall.

But outside the front hall, several Dumen disciples were guarding it. Mingshanzi was drinking tea leisurely, while Xiao Jinghong's face was livid.

Sharifei and others were also watching the fun.

The woman named "Lanzhu" was kneeling on the ground.

"Young Master Li, thank you for your hard work."

Seeing Li Yan coming in, Ming Shanzi smiled and nodded.

"Great idea, senior."

Li Yan complimented her, then looked at the maid Lan Zhu who was kneeling on the ground and asked casually, "Did you find out which family it is?"

Ming Shanzi shook his head and said, "He refused to say."

The Fifth Prince Xiao Jinghong, who was sitting above, also looked down and said in a cold voice: "Lan Zhu, you have been with me for many years. You must have your reasons for this. Tell me. Although you can no longer stay in the palace, I can spare your life."

After hearing this, Li Yan was a little surprised.

Although these people in the underworld claim to keep their word, very few can actually do so. Most of them are lying, and anyone who tells the truth will be killed.

But Xiao Jinghong is different.

People from Shenzhou have a characteristic.

The higher the position, the more picky people are about their character.

This has resulted in many people being thieves and prostitutes in private, but appearing to be righteous and not to speak carelessly on the surface.

With so many people watching, if he made his statement in public and then regretted it later, even if it was a trick, his subordinates would remember it.

Otherwise, this Xiao Jinghong is not worth training.

Or, he is just a nostalgic person.

Lan Zhu, the maidservant below, shuddered when she heard this, then bent down and kowtowed several times, saying in a trembling voice: "Your Majesty, I will repay you in my next life."

After these words came out, Xiao Jinghong's face became even uglier.

Cao Yuanhuai winked and took the peddler to the front hall, kicked him to the ground, and said coldly: "If you don't tell me, there are people who will tell me."

After saying that, he drew out his sword and pressed it against the peddler's neck.

But the peddler was not afraid at all. Instead, he showed a crazy smile, suddenly stretched his neck and was about to commit suicide.

Cao Yuanhuai was startled and quickly drew his sword.

Fortunately, he reacted quickly, otherwise the peddler would have been in danger of his life.

Li Yan pondered for a moment, turned his head to look at Lu San, and said, "San'er, let Chuqi try."

Lu San nodded and then whistled.

Swish!
The little white fox Chuqi who was following behind him immediately jumped out, turned around twice, and came to the side of the maid.

A pair of bright fox eyes stared at each other.

The maid Lan Zhu looked up and found the fox's eyes so attractive. Not only that, the big tail behind it was also swinging rhythmically.

In just a moment, Lan Zhu felt her mind a little confused, and her eyes gradually became blurred.

When Li Yan saw it, he secretly praised it.

This little white fox Chuqi is not as simple as he looks. He contains ancient blood and was entrusted to him by the leader of a group of monsters in the mountains outside Shangjin City.

As he gets older, he can now help a lot.

For example, when Lu San's magical power was broken before, the little white fox Chuqi became his other eye and led Sha Lifei and others to break through the siege.

But its even more powerful technique is the spell of bewitching.

Foxes seem to be naturally good at this skill.

Although he couldn't deal with sorcerers, it was still easy to bewitch ordinary people and make them speak the truth.

Seeing that the other party was confused, Li Yan asked:
"what's your name?"

"Lanzhu."

"how old are you?"

"Twenty-three..."

"Where to stay?"

"Five County Princes' Mansion..."

Hearing Li Yan's question, Ming Shanzi and Xiao Jinghong were both a little surprised. Why was he asking about things that they already knew.

What they didn't know was that Li Yan had gained this from experience in his previous life, and used small things as a breakthrough point to make the other party let down their guard.

If you ask directly, and the other party is determined to resist, he might wake up and break the spell.

At no time should we underestimate the perseverance of ordinary people.

Finally, after asking a bunch of nonsense, Li Yan suddenly asked, "What is your other identity?"

Lan Zhu was silent for a moment. Although her face was full of confusion, her eyes showed some struggle. However, she still couldn't resist the spell of bewitching and said, "Worship the Dragon Sect, the Incense-Bearing Girl."

Dragon Worship?!
Li Yan seemed to be thinking about something, and then asked, "When did you join the Dragon Worship Sect, and who instructed you to do so?"

It seemed that because her psychological defenses had been broken, Lan Zhu did not resist this time. She said blankly, "Ten years ago."

"My parents lived in Xibei Village. With the permission of the royal palace, I returned to visit my parents. At that time, there was a flood in the village. A Taoist priest appeared and asked us to worship the God of the River. The flood receded immediately and I joined the religion since then..."

"This time, I was ordered by the church to be the insider..."

"Who ordered this?"

"I don't know. I just received the order yesterday."

"Wasn't the Dragon Worship Cult responsible for the gold and silver shop yesterday?"

"It has nothing to do with us..."

After some questioning, everyone looked at each other.

"Push it down first!"

Xiao Jinghong ordered the people to be taken away, and then he asked in confusion: "I have heard about the Dragon Worship Cult, and I have no grudges against them, why is this happening?"

"Of course someone ordered it."

Li Yan said in a deep voice: "It seems that there are more than one family that are targeting the prince. We should be careful."

As he said that, he turned his head and looked at Mingshanzi.

Mingshanzi's previous secret letter mentioned the possibility that the Dragon Worshiping Cult was responsible. Because Li Yan had fought with them before, the matter was handed over to him.

Li Yan was looking for the reincarnation of Lord Jiangshen, so he naturally agreed.

It now appears that there was someone else involved in the murder in the gold and silver shop.

Ming Shanzi also stroked his beard and pondered for a moment, "In that case, please ask Young Master Li to continue the investigation. I will be responsible for finding the person behind the Dragon Worship Cult."

"Alright."

Li Yan didn't waste any words. After explaining something to everyone, he strode out of the palace again.

This time, we are truly investigating the case.

He directly activated the "Dragon Snake Card" to conceal the energy in his body, put on a beard, and even changed into a black cloak, disguising himself as an ordinary swordsman. He merged into the crowd and disappeared.

Leaving the south of the city, Li Yan came to the east of the city.

This place is more lively and is also where all kinds of people gather.

Ming Shanzi mentioned a clue, it's right here...

(End of this chapter)