C122

"Yes." Zhao Qingyan grunted as her eyelids twitched. Then, with great effort, she opened her eyes and surveyed her surroundings.

The room was not luxurious, but it did not look like an inn's room. The burnt clothes on his body had been replaced by a clean set of white undergarments. The pain from the wounds was accompanied by a slight coolness. It was obvious that he had used medicine. When the people in the room saw that he had woken up, they immediately surrounded him and looked at him with concern.

Qi Wang, Zhuo Yi, Jiang Wuyan, Ran Hao, Zhao Baiyi and Bai Zhen.

Zhao Qingyan struggled to sit up with the bone-piercing pain and the strong urge to vomit. "Who treated my wound?"

Seeing that the first question he asked upon waking up was this, everyone couldn't help but be startled, unable to react for a moment.

Ran Hao poured a cup of warm water and passed it to Zhao Qingyan, saying in a low voice, "I helped young master apply the medicine, the medicine was concocted by young master himself, and the clothes were made in the house. And … The soup was concocted by a few of the teachers who were invited to come over. It's what all the burned people drink. "

"That's good." Zhao Qingyan pushed away his hand, composed himself and asked the second question: "How is Miss Mu?"

It was only at this moment that the few of them finally understood the meaning behind Zhao Qing's words — he was obsessed with cleanliness. They didn't know whether to laugh or cry when they heard the first words he said when he woke up.

As before, Ran Hao answered: "Miss Mu's left cheek was burned, and her body was also burned in many places. The doctor said that her heart was in turmoil and she had inhaled a lot of smoke. It would take her a few days to wake up. Although some of the wounds will heal a little bit slower and will definitely leave scars, she is not in any danger of death right now. "

"Left cheek." Zhao Qingyan knitted her brows as a pained look appeared on her face.

The burning pillar fell. Even though he did his best to rush over, he was still a step away. The wooden pillar that hit her back still hurt her. Because of her father's death, the exhausted Mu Qing Han fainted after being hit like this. It was unknown whether it was because of the thick smoke or because his body had reached its limit, but everything before his eyes had started to blur. After...

Perhaps, it was the face that was injured at that time?

Zhao Qingyan stretched out his hand to press against his forehead, forcefully stopping his reminiscing. He gritted his teeth and said, "Summon Han Yan for me …" No, forget it. "Hao, go take out my identity token and find the magistrate with Han Yan. Tell him to seal the city gates and then …"

King Qi said, "I've already ordered people to use your insignia to seal the city gates. The murderer is soon to be found."

"No, not a check." Zhao Qingyan coughed twice as memories flooded back into her like an uncontrollable tide.

"..."

"Is the belt broken?" Suddenly, his Qi was blocked. The sound of metal clanging against metal could be heard as his body fell to the ground uncontrollably. Even after quickly adjusting his posture, his body still couldn't help but heavily slam onto the ground, causing his shoulder to feel a dull pain.

A strange smell wafted into his nose, like... Corpse stench.

He took a deep sniff, and the smell mixed in with the burnt smell was indeed the stench of a corpse. There was something wrong with the smell! Where did this corpse come from?

After briefly dealing with the bracket on his leg, he stood up and looked around. The only thing he saw was the dead body that was buried in the fire three steps away from him. The corpse had already been burnt to pitch black.

After confirming that the stench was indeed there, a vague fear arose in his heart. He could no longer be bothered with the instinctual disgust towards dirty things, so he broke a sturdy tree branch and pulled out the corpse from within the raging fire. Then, he pulled out the hairpin and opened up the corpse's chest.

His internal organs were already more than half rotten, and a terrible stench was coming from his face. He had been holding his breath for a long time, and he was glad that he could only smell a little bit. He carefully avoided the rotten flesh that looked like he didn't want to touch it, and grabbed his arm and leg through the dead body's clothes. His joints were very soft, as if they were spreading apart.

"Viscera is festering, joints are soft …" He used the tree branch to prop himself up and prodded at the skin of the corpse. There was a hint of a smile in his voice. "He's really been dead for three or four days now, right?"

The place where the body had been placed happened to be the place where a wooden house had burned down, and on top of the piece of wood were the pillars and beams. It was the perfect place to burn the body.

Along the way, corpses could be seen everywhere, all of them with the side of the neck cut off, one fatal blow at a time. That...

When he came back to his senses, his fingers had already touched the corpse's neck, but there were no wounds.

One after another, after another … He tried a few times, but the result was as if nothing had happened. Some of them could feel the wounds on the neck, while others could not. The corpse, which had been dead for a long time, with wounds on its neck that were either missing or not fatal, was pressed under the fire.

The bodies that he saw so easily along the way were practically all hacked at the throat.

Experts, massacres, schemes, flaws.

Right! At least there was a flaw!

"Yun Mo!" Yun Mo! " Jiang Wuyan's voice pulled Zhao Qingyan back to reality. Zhao Qingyan was a little stunned. He murmured, "Corpse."

The Qi King frowned, "What corpse? Are you upset? Shouldn't you rest for a while? "

Only then did Zhao Qingyan see the worried and frightened gazes that were directed at him. He raised his hand to wipe the cold sweat off his forehead. He could imagine how pale his face must be right now.

"I'm fine." Zhao Qingyan calmed herself down, and her expression turned slightly better, "Go ask the county magistrate if there have been any bodies missing recently." "Also, get him to find a way to get me a list of aides and aides from the Mansion of the Trojan Horse. If he can't get it, then use other methods. I want to see it within five days."

Everyone in the room was stunned. "What?"

Zhao Qingyan coughed again, and with the support of Ran Hao, she sat back down, her eyes looking a little sad. After drinking a few mouthfuls of water and mustering up his spirit, he recounted the scene he saw in the manor.

Everyone was used to seeing dead people, but after hearing Zhao Qingyan's words, they could not help but feel nauseous and surprised.

Zhao Qingyan did not notice their reactions and continued, "Only when the Mansion of the Trojan Horse is short of people will we need to replace the missing corpse with a dead person. I think these corpses were either taken from the yamen or from outside the city. "At this time, it's also an important day for choosing a champion and for the Marquis Mansion of the Trojan Horse, so I think that there aren't many caravans that can bring things in openly."

Bai Jian said, "How can it not be many? "Not at all." He added: "Ten days ago the city gates banned all caravans from entering. Even my family's caravan was stopped outside. If it's ten days, the corpse should have already rotted, right? "

Everyone nodded and fell into deep thought. Bai Zhen's words were not an exaggeration. If even the Bai Clan's caravan couldn't pass through, then there really wouldn't be anyone who could enter.

Jiang Wuyan stroked her chin, looking deep in thought as she said, "Those people you brought with you, their betrothal gifts will not be investigated."

Unlike Yu Ren, Zhao Qingyan seemed to have thought of it as well. After a moment of silence, he gently nodded his head, "That should be the only way."

Jiang Wuyan tilted her head. "Yun Mo, can I ask you two questions?"

Zhao Qingyan was stunned and nodded, "Of course."

Jiang Wuyan asked, "How did you think of it when you were in the middle of a sea of fire and had the leisure to cut open the corpse to see if it was fresh or not?"

Everyone originally thought that Jiang Wuyan wanted to ask something important, but when they heard him ask something so important, they couldn't help but laugh and not know whether to laugh or cry. Zhao Qingyan was already in such pain. How could he have the heart to ask such a trivial thing?

Zhao Qingyan did not show any curiosity and just said, "It's just a coincidence that I found out about it." And I wanted to try to find something that would burn out in a single fire. "

Jiang Wuyan asked, "So when you woke up, you said all these thoughts. Was it also what you thought when you were in the fire?"

"More or less." Zhao Qingyan frowned. "But I still feel like I've forgotten something."

Jiang Wuyan said, "Then it'll be easy. I can tell you directly now."

Zhao Qingyan seemed to have a headache. She raised her hand to support her head and said, "Speak." His weak voice became even softer, but it was clear that he did not intend to end the discussion here.

Jiang Wuyan continued to stroke her smooth chin and asked about something else, "The manor only has a few weapons, what did you use to cut open the corpse?"

"How many weapons? "What do you mean?" Zhao Qingyan didn't understand his question, but she caught the gist of it.

Jiang Wuyan said, "Then let me put it another way." When the fire broke out, it was the first night since the betrothal gift had arrived at the house of the Marquis. In order to show respect to you, young prince, all the swords and weapons of the servants in the manor have been removed and placed in a special room in the backyard. I figured you'd be interested in it, right after the fire went out — and when no one but you and Hao had ever been in that room before. In the end, the weapons inside were all neatly placed. Not a single one was missing. There were some cracks in the walls of the room, but it was impossible to reach in with one hand. There's this lock on the door, I've helped you unload it. He took out a fist-sized lock from his bosom and tossed it to Zhao Qingyan.

Zhao Qingyan waited for the item on his leg to stop before he picked it up. After he sized it up, he pinched it a few times before opening it, "What's wrong with this lock?"

Jiang Wuyan asked, "Can't you tell?"

Zhao Qingyan frowned, "My brain is burnt out. If you have something to say, just say it."

Listening to their conversation, Yu Ren couldn't laugh anymore. Zhao Qingyan had to use all of his strength to keep himself from fainting. Naturally, he listened to Jiang Wuyan's words with great effort. However, that didn't mean that others didn't understand.

Jiang Wuyan threw up her hands, "Such a simple lock, could it be that out of the more than one hundred people in the Ma Family, none of them can open it? The room was very sturdy, and the cracks on the outside were clearly caused by the people outside. Why? They needed weapons, but they couldn't get in. Simply put, it could be said that it was to help confirm your guess — this time, the Tu Clan was planning to slaughter their people, and it was an undisguised massacre. This lock is definitely not the same one that was used when you went into the water. "

Jiang Wuyan's gaze darkened, "Yun Mo, listen carefully, I'll help you go through it once. When you went in, it was when the fire was at its highest. The corpses of the dead had already been replaced, indicating that the massacre was over and that the people had already left. When Mu Qinghan was alive, it was either because someone intentionally kept her alive, or because she appeared in a place you could see after those people had left. Therefore, right now, only the two of you have the opportunity to directly meet the murderer of the Tu Clan. Forget about Mu Qinghan, let me ask you two questions. The first one is that when you met Mu Qing Han, she had already fainted but still remained conscious, do you have the ability to move? "

Zhao Qingyan said, "She is still conscious but has been pointed out. She is on the boat by the lake and can easily be seen." He could not think straight, but he could understand what Jiang Wuyan meant. That was enough.

Jiang Wuyan nodded her head, "That is, if Mu Qing Han sees who was the one that sent her there, she will know why she is still alive. Continue. Next question. When you went in, how long had it been since those fresh dead people died? How did they die? Have you seen that lock? "

Fresh corpses, place them. Jiang Wuyan's words were both strange and sharp, hitting the nail right on the head.

Compared to when he had just woken up, Zhao Qingyan's condition was much better. After a moment of thought, he answered, "Two hours. At most two hours. The cause of death, throat cutting, the technique is quite clean. "I've paid attention to their positions. They're all over the fire, so there's nothing special about them."

"Two hours, it's a massacre that started after the fire started?" Jiang Wuyan narrowed her eyes, "According to you, it looks like not only the corpses that haven't been burned down, even the corpses whose faces are covered in fire are cut open." "Then …"

Was it a crime, or was it a force capable of mobilizing so many assassins?

Seeing that Zhao Qingyan was lost in thought, Jiang Wuyan continued, "Then let's not talk about this for now. Do you still remember anything about this lock?"

Zhao Qingyan clenched his fists to suppress the discomfort and tried his best to answer clearly, "I did not go through that lock, but I went there during the day. I remember that the neighborhood was more spacious and there were no trees in the houses. If one's martial arts is good and knows the array formations well, they should be able to pass it before the fire is extinguished. "

When everyone heard this, they looked at Bai Zhen. He was the person most familiar with the Marquis Mansion.