What do you mean by saying that the corpses I sew are all ominous creatures?

Grandpa Hei's eyes were filled with fear and grievance:

"Master, think about it! In this southern border region, even if I had ten times the courage, I wouldn't dare to touch Lan Jiabao's goods!"

"If it weren't for someone inside the Lan family giving me instructions, and using these truckloads of goods as bait, how could I dare to get involved in this mess!"

Upon hearing this, I suddenly realized what was going on.

No wonder.

No wonder Old Jin was so anxious back at Tingyuxuan, saying that the Lan family had searched Luohua Town for several days but hadn't found even a single wheel.

How can you possibly find out if the thief is crying "stop thief"?

"What does that Lan family member look like? What's their name?" I continued to ask.

"I...I don't know."

Grandpa Hei shook his head.

"He was wearing a straw hat, his face was covered with a black cloth, and he had a very special scent of incense on him."

He only showed me the token, explained the situation, and left without telling me his name.

I carefully examined his mental fluctuations through the sensations of bone needles and a cool aura.

He did not lie when faced with the prospect of death.

It seems that this is indeed all the information he knows.

"Understood."

I slowly stood up and removed the scalpel from his neck.

Seeing this, the old man thought I was going to spare his life, and his face showed the wild joy of surviving a disaster:

"Thank you so much, Master, for sparing my life! I'll take all the wealth in this place and leave Falling Flower Town immediately, never to appear before you again!"

I looked down at him and raised an eyebrow.

"I don't recall ever saying I was going to let you go."

Grandpa Hei's smile froze on his face, and his pupils dilated suddenly.

"Those of you in this line of work know in your hearts how many innocent lives you've taken."

Since you dared to take on this life-risking job, you should be prepared to have your life taken.

Before I could finish speaking, the scalpel in my hand drew a cold, silver arc through the air.

"Pfft."

The blade precisely sliced ​​open Grandpa Hei's throat, and warm blood splattered onto the sawdust-covered floor.

Grandpa Hei covered his neck, staring intently at me, making a hissing sound as he breathed out.

His body twitched a few times on the ground before falling completely silent.

I casually flicked the blood off the blade and put the willow-leaf knife back into my sleeve.

After confirming that Grandpa Hei was completely dead, I dispersed the jade-colored evil aura emanating from my body.

The suffocating oppression in the hall finally dissipated, leaving only the incessant sound of rain outside the window.

I didn't leave immediately, but instead used the cool air I could sense to quickly search the three-story stilted house.

Apart from finding a few bank cards and some rare poisonous herbs from southern Xinjiang in a hidden compartment on the second floor, no substantial evidence was found left behind by the so-called "Lan family".

It seems that the mastermind behind this was very cautious and left no evidence.

I shook my head, picked up my scalpel, stepped over the wood chips and the corpse of Grandpa Hei, and walked out of the stilted house filled with the stench of blood.

The rain outside has lessened a bit.

Although it was the height of summer, the night rain in the mountains still carried a chill that seemed to seep into your bones.

I walked back along the muddy mountain path, the cool air circulating smoothly in my mind as I repeatedly considered the information I had just received.

The more I thought about it, the deeper my doubts became.

Why did the Lan family instruct Grandpa Hei to rob this shipment?

If it's for the sake of making money, this simply doesn't make sense.

Although Lao Jin's batch of goods is worth tens of millions, these goods originally came from the Lan family.

The Lan family, having been a powerful local force in southern Xinjiang for over a century, possesses a profound and established reputation.

Tens of millions are just a drop in the ocean for them, and their costs will only be lower.

A powerful local force in southern Xinjiang would never stoop to such a despicable act of killing the goose that lays the golden eggs and destroying its own reputation for such petty gains.

Was it for the sake of people? Was it to target Lao Jin?

That doesn't make sense either.

Although Lao Jin had some minor grudges with the Lan family before, after we visited the Lan family together, those grudges have long been forgotten.

Moreover, the Lan family was the one who took the initiative to propose this cooperation in the black market business.

If the Lan family really changes their mind and doesn't want to do business with Lao Jin anymore, they can simply cut off the supply channels.

No matter how capable Lao Jin is in Jiangcheng, he can't make any waves in this part of southern Xinjiang.

Why would the Lan family go to such lengths to find a mysterious person wearing a bamboo hat and use their own token to order around a lowly, unaffiliated cultivator like Grandpa Hei to rob their goods using such underhanded methods?

This is completely illogical.

unless……

I stopped and looked up at the dark night sky.

Unless, of course, the Lan family is not a monolithic entity.

The mysterious person who instructed Grandpa Hei was merely using the Lan family's name to secretly carry out some kind of nefarious plan.

Old Jin and this batch of goods are likely just innocent pawns caught up in this scheme.

Could there be something hidden in this shipment that even Lao Jin and that mysterious person don't know about?

It seems the water is deeper than I imagined.

After Ma San safely transports this batch of goods away, we must find a safe place with Lao Jin to discuss this matter in detail.

Twenty minutes later, I returned to the abandoned air-raid shelter.

Jin Wanliang was holding the murderous willow-leaf knife, standing guard beside the iron cage like a dutiful doorman.

Hearing footsteps coming from the entrance, he immediately turned around alertly.

Only when he saw that it was me did a relieved expression appear on his slightly chubby face, and he quickly came to greet me.

"Brother, you're finally back. Are you alright?"

He looked me up and down and saw that apart from my clothes being soaked, I didn't have any obvious injuries, which put his mind at ease.

"I'm fine."

I shook my head and casually took off my coat and wrung it out.

"Grandpa Black is dead, and I've cleaned up his lair."

However, I obtained some unpleasant news before he died.

Upon hearing this, Jin Wanliang's expression immediately turned serious.

He is an extremely intelligent man, and he knows that any news that I would speak in this tone must be extraordinary.

"What did that old man say? Who is the mastermind behind this?"

I walked over to the back of a truck and leaned against it, then took out a cigarette from my pocket that wasn't wet from the rain and lit it.

After taking a deep breath, I slowly exhaled a smoke ring.

"It's the Lan family."

"What?!"

Jin Wanliang's eyes widened, and he exclaimed in surprise.

His hand holding the scalpel trembled slightly, and he looked at me with disbelief.

"Brother, did you hear that right? Or is that old guy deliberately trying to frame us before he dies? The Lan family... how could the Lan family possibly touch their own goods?"