Starting with a blind date with a female constable, you acquire the Nine Swords of Dugu.

Chapter 77 Capturing Zhao Ziqi

Gu Guanqi and Lin Yourong immediately followed Lin Yuanhu from a distance. Both of them were martial arts masters, so following someone without internal energy was naturally easy for them.

Soon, Lin Yuanhu was seen running to the outside of a small courtyard and actually climbing over the wall to get inside.

Gu Guanqi and Lin Yourong exchanged a glance, understanding each other without saying a word. They immediately used their lightness skills to leap onto the roof of the west wing and spied on it from the side of the ridge.

yard.

Lin Yuanhu looked left and right, finally fixing his gaze on the corner of the wall. He quickly walked over, picked up a wooden stick, weighed it in his hand, and stormed to the door of the main room, kicking it open.

"Bang-

—

The door suddenly swung open, slamming against the wall with a thud, and he rushed inside.

"Lin Yuanhu? Are you crazy?"

A woman's voice came from inside the house, tinged with surprise and anger.

"You're the one who's crazy! Where is he? Where is he?"

Immediately, a quarrel broke out inside the house, growing louder and sharper. However, due to the distance and the fact that the other party was deliberately lowering their voice, Gu Guanqi and Lin Yourong could not hear the specific content clearly, only vaguely hearing words like "you're behind my back" and "shameless."

A moment later, the argument stopped abruptly.

Lin Yuanhu's screams could be heard.

Lin Yourong was worried that something had happened to Lin Yuanhu, so she went in and saw Lin Yuanhu being beaten out of the room by a woman.

The woman was none other than Lin Yourong's second aunt, Liu Su.

Lin Yuanhu stood in the courtyard, lowered his voice, and cursed, "Liu Su, you shrew, you cheated on me with another man, and you still dare to hit me!"

"So what if I hit you!"

Liu Su threw the wooden stick in front of Lin Yuanhu, and it landed on the ground with a thud.

"Come on, Lin Yuanhu, if you're a man, come and kill me!" Liu Su's voice wasn't loud, but every word was clear, carrying a cruel sarcasm. "Are you a man? Are you?"

Lin Yuanhu was so angry that his face turned red and his lips trembled, but he couldn't utter a single word.

Liu Su took a step forward, looking down at him with an even stronger sneer: "Go ahead and hit me, why aren't you moving? Weren't you so capable? Kicking down doors, wielding sticks, you made quite a show of strength, but why did you go soft when it came to actually fighting?"

Are you even able to get an erection? Should I call your lover over here to give you a little scare?

Lin Yuanhu's fists clenched so tightly they cracked, veins bulging on his forehead. His lips trembled for a long time before he finally managed to squeeze out a sentence: "You—you—you—you—bitch, you shameless wretch!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Su not only wasn't angry, but laughed instead, pointing at Lin Yuanhu and saying, "Look at you, you don't even dare to yell at me, afraid others will hear. What man is as spineless as you!"

"You—you are unfaithful to your wife, you—"

Liu Su sneered, "I might want to be a virtuous woman, but do you have the ability? Lin Yuanhu, I am a normal woman, I have needs."

She walked towards Lin Yuanhu and said, "I have a man, but I can only look at him, not touch him. I can't quench my thirst. Do you know how much I'm going crazy? Do you know how uncomfortable I am? I think about a man all the time!"

"You're shameless!"

"I am shameless, but isn't this all thanks to you?" Liu Su walked up to Lin Yuanhu and said, "I married you when I was twenty-one, and it's been twenty-five years now. I was so beautiful back then, but after marrying you, I can't even be a woman anymore. You've wronged me!"

Lin Yuanhu looked at Liu Su and kept backing away. When he finally reached the back, he seemed completely drained of his soul, and whispered, "Liu Su, I won't bring up the past. Can you wait for me? I've found a way, really, I'm not lying to you. I'll be able to have sex again soon, you have to believe me!"

Liu Su sneered, her eyes filled with disgust: "Get lost!"

Lin Yuanhu took a deep breath, looked at Liu Su for a while, and then turned and left.

Liu Su stood in the courtyard watching Lin Yuanhu leave, spat, and cursed, "Disgusting!"

Then she turned and went inside.

The courtyard returned to silence.

On the rooftop, Gu Guanqi and Lin Yourong exchanged a glance. Gu Guanqi whispered, "Hmm... should we take another look?"

Lin Yourong rolled her eyes, grabbed Gu Guanqi, and leaped off the roof, landing silently in the alley outside.

Lin Yourong sighed and said, "It seems what you said that day was true. My second uncle really is impotent, and my second aunt—alas!"

Gu Guanqi sighed and said, "In this situation, they are both suffering quite a bit!"

Lin Yourong glanced at Gu Guanqi's lower body subconsciously, her cheeks flushed instantly, and she quickly turned her head and strode away.

The next day, just as dawn was breaking.

Gu Guanqi had just sat down in the inn's lobby and hadn't even eaten a few bites of breakfast when Yan Wangchuan strode in from outside—

Come.

"Prefect Yan?" Gu Guanqi put down his chopsticks, somewhat surprised. "You came all this way so early in the morning, is there something important?"

Yan Wangchuan rolled his eyes and said, "It's one thing to jokingly call someone 'Tongzhi' occasionally, but you've become addicted to teasing me? You're so young and don't even know how to respect elders. No wonder the Poison Immortal always says you're impolite!"

Gu Guanqi smiled slightly, cupped his hands in greeting, and said, "Alright, alright, from now on I'll call you Elder Yan. Is that more respectful to an elder?"

"That's more like it," Yan Wangchuan sat down opposite him, and without any ceremony, picked up the teapot on the table, poured himself a cup of tea, drank it all in one gulp, and then said, "We've found Zhao Ziqi."

Gu Guanqi asked in surprise, "So fast?"

Yan Wangchuan rolled his eyes and said, "In your eyes, how useless is the Six Doors? They had already locked onto the target, and it took them all night to find it. You call that fast?"

Gu Guanqi chuckled and said, "Then why aren't you arresting people? What are you doing here?"

Yan Wangchuan put down his teacup, his expression grave, and said, "I've come to ask for your help. That guy has hidden in Jinsha Street, which is the most prosperous area in Tianping City. It's full of gambling dens, brothels, restaurants, teahouses, and all sorts of people. It's a very crowded place."

Zhao Ziqi was a master of poisons. What made him most troublesome wasn't his martial arts skills, but his unpredictable and deadly poisons. In a place like Jinsha Street, with its many people and eyes, if they were alerted, he might indiscriminately use poison in a desperate act, leading to countless deaths and injuries.

Yan Wangchuan paused, looked at Gu Guanqi, and said, "The Poison Immortal isn't here, so we'll have to ask you for help. If he has poisoned us, you'll have to take immediate control of the situation!"

"No problem." Upon hearing this, Gu Guanqi stood up immediately, hung the Autumn Water Sword at his waist, and cupped his hands, saying, "Shall we leave now?"

Yan Wangchuan nodded and cupped his hands in thanks, saying, "Then I'll have to trouble you!"

After taking only two steps, Gu Guanqi suddenly turned back to the waiter and said, "Waiter, if anyone comes looking for me later, please tell them that I have left with Magistrate Yan and will be back soon."

"Yes, Young Master Gu," the waiter replied quickly.

Yan Wangchuan grinned and said, "Oh, is it because you're worried about the young lady from the Lin family?"

Gu Guanqi smiled slightly.

Yan Wangchuan clicked his tongue twice and said, "I say, young man, you really are a womanizer. You flirt with girls wherever you go. You're just taking advantage of your good looks and high martial arts skills to act lawlessly, aren't you? Be careful, you'll have too many romantic debts to repay!"

Gu Guanqi pursed his lips and said, "Your words are rather biased. I was just on a normal blind date. I genuinely want to get married. I didn't do anything reckless!"

Yan Wangchuan thought for a moment and said, "It seems so. Xue Fuling from our Six Doors, well, you two were quite close back then, but you weren't meant to be. That girl went back to Medicine King Valley to get treatment. The Poison Immortal introduced you to Yan Sihai's daughter, but Yan Sihai got into that mess again."

"That girl from the Fang family, you two also have some potential, but Fang Shiyang has secured a future for his daughter. That girl carries the karma of the Xiao family's massacre; it would be a disservice to the Xiao family if she didn't go to the Hanyue Sect. It seems like you're all destined to be apart!"

Gu Guanqi nodded and said, "That's right!"

Yan Wangchuan asked, "So there won't be any problems this time, right? Yesterday I saw that the eldest daughter of the Lin family practically clinging to you; she must be extremely satisfied with you."

Gu Guanqi thought for a moment and said, "There shouldn't be any problem, right? But when it comes to fate, nobody can predict it."

Yan Wangchuan chuckled, "If this goes wrong again, I'll start to wonder if you're cursed with something. I'll probably have to take you to have your fortune told. I happen to know a fortune teller who's an absolute master!"

Gu Guanqi: "————"

Before long, Yan Wangchuan brought Gu Guanqi to Jinsha Street, where several Six Doors experts, dressed in plain clothes, had been waiting for a long time.

The streets gradually filled with the sounds of people and the clamor of vehicles.

As far as the eye could see, restaurants and teahouses lined both sides of the street, with strings of red lanterns hanging from the eaves, swaying gently in the wind. The aroma of rouge and powder, the rich scent of wine and meat, and the shouts rising and falling from the gambling dens mingled together, wafting towards you.

Yan Wangchuan slowed his pace and lowered his voice, saying, "Take that alley ahead, and you'll find the brothel where Zhao Ziqi is hiding. My men have been keeping an eye on it."

Gu Guanqi nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping over his surroundings.

The streets were bustling with people, shoulder to shoulder, a mix of all sorts of people.

Yan Wangchuan gave a wink to the constables behind him, and they dispersed, blending into the crowd and approaching the brothel discreetly.

Yan Wangchuan and Gu Guanqi walked side by side, their pace neither too fast nor too slow.

Before long, the two arrived at the entrance of the brothel.

Several heavily made-up women stood at the entrance, holding round fans and smilingly beckoning to passersby.

Yan Wangchuan strode across the threshold without looking to the side.

Gu Guanqi followed him into the building.

The hall was filled with the sounds of traditional Chinese string and wind instruments. Several round tables were occupied by guests, who clinked glasses and chatted noisily. In the center was a high platform where several dancers were gracefully dancing to the music, their skirts fluttering, drawing cheers from the audience.

Yan Wangchuan gave Gu Guanqi a wink.

Gu Guanqi looked over and saw a middle-aged man sitting there.

The man, dressed in a gray robe, with a thin face and a long beard, was embracing a heavily made-up woman in purple. He was drinking and watching the dance on stage, looking relaxed and showing no sign of anything amiss.

It was Zhao Ziqi.

Yan Wangchuan winked at the constables scattered in the crowd.

The crowd silently surrounded Zhao Ziqi.

However, just as they were about seven or eight steps away from Zhao Ziqi, he suddenly slammed his wine glass on the table with a loud "bang!"

A crisp sound.

"Clang—"

""

At the same time, the sound of swords being drawn rang out.

The dozen or so guests who were originally sitting scattered throughout the hall suddenly stood up at the same moment, drew gleaming weapons from under the tables, from the sides of the chairs, and from their sleeves, and pounced on the nearest ordinary people in groups of three or five.

Ah 39

Screams, cries, the sound of tables and chairs overturning, and the sound of dishes shattering all blended together instantly.

The brothel women and their patrons were terrified, their faces ashen, and they fled in panic. But the men wielding knives moved with lightning speed, and in the blink of an eye, they had seized more than a dozen hostages, holding blades to their necks and blocking the door.

At that moment, Zhao Ziqi pushed the woman in purple in his arms in front of him as a shield. At the same time, he grabbed another woman from the side, immobilized them with pressure points, and blocked them in front of him. Then he shouted, "Gu Guanqi, put away your hidden weapons! There are over a hundred people in this brothel, and I've poisoned them all. If you dare to kill me, they will all die with me!"

"Well----"

Gu Guanqi was speechless when he saw Zhao Ziqi squatting behind the two women, not daring to even show his head.

He knew his swordsmanship was famous in the martial arts world, but he didn't know that his hidden weapon skills were also so formidable.

However, he was indeed preparing to use his finger-flicking technique.

At this moment, Yan Wangchuan raised his hand, signaling the constables behind him not to make any rash moves.

"Zhao Ziqi," his voice was neither loud nor soft, but steady and powerful, "you can't escape now. Surrender honestly, and I may try to get you lenient treatment."

Zhao Ziqi chuckled and said, "Yan Wangchuan, I know you. You're the commander of the Six Doors in Qingyang County. You've been quite active lately. As expected, you're probably going to get promoted. Congratulations!"

"However, it's not that I don't trust you; I still trust your reputation, Yan Wangchuan. I believe you when you say you'll try to get leniency for me. But I know what I've done. Once you enter the Six Doors, there's only one path: death. So, please don't even think about trying to persuade me!"

Yan Wangchuan's pupils contracted slightly, and he immediately realized that Zhao Ziqi's case involved more than just poisoning the Lin family.

Of course, he had already guessed it, after all, a normal person wouldn't keep so many desperados as his henchmen.

He immediately asked, "Then tell me, what are you going to do with so many hostages?"

Zhao Ziqi said, "Of course it's to save my life. After things were exposed yesterday, I knew I couldn't hide for long and that you would find me sooner or later. So, I didn't intend to run away. I've been waiting for you here for quite a while, just waiting for you to come and negotiate with you."

"What do you want?" Yan Wangchuan asked. Zhao Ziqi said, "First, prepare a boat immediately. I need to leave Tianping City by water. Don't try to fool me; I can tell at a glance if there's anything wrong with the boat."

Secondly, I will take some hostages with us, and once we reach a safe place, I will release them.

Third, you cannot track me. Otherwise, if I find out, I will kill people. Since I am going to die anyway, it would be good to take as many people with me.

"As long as I leave alive, I will tell the hostages how to cure the poison. Otherwise, all one hundred-plus people in this brothel will die. I know my poison very well; these people will take effect in at most an hour. Once they do, even I won't be able to cure them. Yan Wangchuan, can you agree to these three conditions?"

Yan Wangchuan was silent for a moment, then slowly nodded: "Okay, I can agree to that. But you can't kill anyone."

Zhao Ziqi laughed heartily: "Don't worry, what I want is to live. Yan Wangchuan, our goals aren't actually conflicting right now. You're at a crucial time for your promotion, and if solving cases that lead to many deaths will have a significant impact on you. I don't want to kill anyone either; after all, I won't survive if I kill too many people!"

Yan Wangchuan immediately turned around and ordered a constable behind him, "Prepare the boat, and be quick."

The constable clasped his hands in acceptance of the order, turned around, and quickly left.

A brief silence fell over the lobby.

At this moment, Yan Wangchuan looked at Gu Guanqi.

Gu Guanqi was taking the pulse of a person in a brothel, and then he examined the person's tongue, pupils, and so on.

"Gu Guanqi," Zhao Ziqi chuckled, "I know you cured the poison of those people in the Lin family. Your medical skills are superb, but today's poison is my masterpiece, and no one can cure it."

"You're wasting your time. If this poison were easy to cure, I wouldn't dare use it as a weapon, openly threatening Lord Yan!"

Yan Wangchuan and Gu Guanqi exchanged a glance.

Gu Guanqi shook his head slightly and said, "This poison is very strange; it's difficult to figure out its way out in a short time."

Yan Wangchuan sighed, his voice filled with helplessness.

However, at that moment, Yan Wangchuan suddenly saw Gu Guanqi raise an eyebrow.

The next moment, Gu Guanqi moved.

His hands rose almost simultaneously, and his ten fingers flicked in quick succession.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh one"

Countless steel balls shot out from his fingertips, their sharp, piercing sound cutting through the air, yet so fast that even their afterimages were barely visible.

The Finger Flicking Divine Power.

More than ten steel balls seemed to have eyes, drawing more than ten streaks in the air, passing through the gaps in the crowd, accurately avoiding the hostages, and shooting towards the vital points of the hostage-takers.

"Puff puff puff—"

—"

Almost simultaneously, Zhao Ziqi's men, who were holding hostages with knives, were all shot, one in the forehead, one in the throat, and one in the temple, all of them dying instantly.

In an instant, blood splattered everywhere.

Before the dozen or so people could even let out a scream, their bodies stiffened, their weapons fell to the ground, and they collapsed limply onto the hostages, splattering blood everywhere.

At the same instant, Gu Guanqi's figure rose from the ground.

Jin Yan Gong.

He soared into the air like a wild goose, and as he floated in the air, he saw Zhao Ziqi crouching behind the hostages.

Immediately, the person was in mid-air when steel balls were launched in quick succession.

Two steel balls shot through the air, one after the other.

Zhao Ziqi's pupils contracted sharply, and he instinctively tried to dodge, but the two steel balls came too fast. He didn't even have time to tilt his head. "Pfft! Pfft—"

Two muffled thuds sounded almost simultaneously.

The first steel ball accurately pierced his right wrist, and the second followed closely behind, piercing his left wrist.

Blood splattered.

Zhao Ziqi screamed in agony as his hands instantly lost all strength.

Almost at the same instant, Yan Wangchuan also moved.

His figure flashed out like a ghost, quickly pulling the two women who had been taken hostage by Zhao Ziqi apart, and at the same time releasing their pressure points.

One of the women screamed in panic, while the other, a woman in purple, ran frantically into the chaotic crowd.

At the same time, Yan Wangchuan reached out with his left hand, his five fingers like iron clamps, and grabbed Zhao Ziqi's throat.

"Don't move."

Yan Wangchuan's voice wasn't loud, but it was like a bucket of cold water poured over Zhao Ziqi's head.

Zhao Ziqi froze, no longer daring to move.

From the moment Gu Guanqi made his move to the moment Zhao Ziqi was subdued, only two breaths had passed.

The lobby was deathly silent.

The hostages stood there dumbfounded. Some hadn't even realized what was happening, some were trembling all over, and some collapsed to the ground with their legs giving way.

The people hiding in the corner looked at each other in bewilderment. The crying, shouting, and screaming gradually subsided, leaving only heavy breathing and occasional sobs.

Gu Guanqi fell from the sky.

Blood gushed from Zhao Ziqi's wrists, his face was deathly pale, and cold sweat poured down his forehead. He raised his head, staring intently at Gu Guanqi, his lips trembling, his voice hoarse and shaking: "Gu Guanqi—you—you really aren't afraid—that all one hundred-plus hostages—will be poisoned to death?"

Gu Guanqi looked down at him, her tone calm: "The poison you used is composed of seven intertwined toxins: Cold Vine, Nine-Leaf Intestine-Severing Mushroom, Cotton Heart Flower, Burning Flame Mushroom, Corroding Tendon Grass, Locking Heart Flower, and Cold-Withered Root. You only need to use silver needles to puncture the Guanyuan, Qihai, and Zusanli acupoints, infuse internal energy to force out the poison, and you can temporarily neutralize it. Then, you can treat the symptoms accordingly, and it will be completely eliminated in three days at most."

The difficulty with this poison lies in the inability to determine exactly which poisons are intertwined. Once the specific poisons are identified, the antidote becomes very easy.

Zhao Ziqi's face turned ashen. He said, "Impressive. I never imagined your medical skills were so superb. This poison is called the Seven Deadly Poisons of Entangling Silk. It is the culmination of my years of effort. I used many methods and spent a great deal of time to successfully mix the seven poisons together and neutralize their toxicity. I was even complacent, thinking that no one in the world could see through its mysteries. I never expected—"

At this moment, Yan Wangchuan looked at Zhao Ziqi, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper.

Zhao Ziqi's hands were chained, and he spoke with his head down, his face ashen, seemingly resigned to his fate. But Yan Wangchuan, looking at that face, felt that something was amiss.

He immediately reached out and touched Zhao Ziqi's chin for a moment.

Then, he pulled hard, and "rip!"

""

A human skin mask was torn off.

Beneath the mask lies a completely different face.