hotmtlnovel Page 28
Page 28
"This time he appeared, and along the way he has killed more and more people, but I estimate that he still needs those special children to truly become stronger."
"It took him a long time to find all those children. I guess they must have been born on a specific date."
Xia Yuelan's eyes widened: "Children born on a specific date? How can there be such strange techniques, like witchcraft in books?" Fu Hai said: "Even if someone really knows witchcraft, it's not that strange, is it?"
As a time traveler, he felt that it was normal for this world to have martial arts and witchcraft.
However, people in this world have seen plenty of martial arts, but few things involving gods and ghosts, so naturally many don't believe in them. That being said...
If a person from this world were to travel back to their previous world, they would see flying contraptions, metal boxes running on the ground, the Earth being round, and people being able to travel to "outside the pass".
They might think it's normal for that world to have witchcraft, gods, demons, and monsters, right? They might think that all those high-tech things were created by gods and demons.
"This must be made known to Miss Butterfly and the Six Doors immediately, so that they can be on the lookout for any missing children recently."
Fu Hai pondered for a moment, "I guess that guy secretly collected the children he needed last time, but because it took too long, Miss Xiao Ye came knocking on his door."
"This time he went all the way to Anjun to seek help from his descendants. He has already made contact with the Fei Hong Gang, and with their secret assistance, they are gathering..."
The children he needed were much simpler to find.
Xia Yuelan whispered, "But how should I tell Sister Die?"
“Just tell her that there’s a mysterious guy hiding in Anjun. He’s the ancestor of the Zheng family of the Feihong Gang. They need a group of kids who don’t know anything special about them.”
"Will she believe us? What if she asks us how we knew?"
Fu Haitou thought for a moment and said, "Actually, it's quite simple." Xia Yuelan tilted her head and said, "Simple?"
“That’s right!” Fu Hai said matter-of-factly. “Don’t we run an inn?”
Xia Yuelan exclaimed, "Ah! That's right!"
Murong Die wore a newly crafted willow-leaf knife around her waist and a pleated fairy skirt that made it easy for martial arts practitioners to use their lightness skills and leap across walls.
Her flowing fairy dress was peach-pink, and walking in the flames, she looked like a fluttering colorful butterfly. "Sister Butterfly!" Suddenly, someone approached her from afar.
"Oh, little cabinet, what brings you to town today?" Murong Die's mood instantly improved when she saw the boy walking towards her. The showers at the first two checkpoints had washed the entire area clean.
The sky was clear and blue, and the dust on the streets had been washed away.
Seeing that it shouldn't rain for many more days, some families have already put out their lanterns.
Many places on the streets were already brightly lit and bustling with activity. However, for her, the sky above Anjun was still filled with an unseen shadow.
Murong Die was secretly filled with worry, not knowing what would happen next.
At this moment, I saw a young man walking towards me in the sunlight. Although he was dressed in a simple scholar's blue robe, he was handsome and dashing, with a slender figure like bamboo and eyes like bright stars.
This brought a much-needed boost to her mood, as if the rising sun had broken through the mountains in the east. "Sister Butterfly, I've come to find you!"
Fu Hai walked up to Meng Rongdie. "If I can't find you, I might have to go to the Six Doors. Although I think it would be better to come directly to you." Seeing his serious expression, Meng Rongdie knew it was something important: "What is it?"
Fu Hai looked around, pulled her into the alley, and was about to whisper about important matters.
When Murong Die saw him suddenly pull her into an empty alley, she immediately understood.
Fu Hai's younger brother was young and pretended to be virtuous; he clearly wanted it but was too embarrassed to say so. Actually, she wanted it just as much, so she immediately pressed him against the wall and touched him.
Before Fu Hai could even get down to business, he was already itching to get down to business with Die'er, and he was itching with desire. But since this was a serious matter, he grabbed Die'er's hand as she reached down, suppressing the burning desire within him.
He said, "Sister Die, a guest arrived at our inn before dawn today. She is the White Bone Demoness you are looking for." Murong Die's delicate body trembled, and she stopped, waiting for him to continue.
Chapter 50 Should we strike first?
Fu Hai quickly recited the prepared speech he had prepared with Lingyue, Yuelan, and Sister Qiuying. Murong Die's expression was solemn as she took his hand and said, "Come with me."
He hurriedly left the deserted alley and made his way to the yamen (government office). He then asked a junior constable inside to help him notify the chief constable and the other officials of the Six Doors (a government agency) to demand his release. Murong Die explained that the situation was extremely serious.
Before long, Chief Constable Hu Tao, Senior Constable Zhao Jie, and several important constables from the Six Doors of the county all arrived. Murong Die then had Fu Hai recount the story of the "White Bone Demoness" arriving at his inn.
The six vermilion doors of the yamen were tightly shut. Inside the main hall, everyone's expressions were solemn.
Fu Hai made up a story, saying that someone knocked on the inn door before dawn.
He opened the door and saw a petite girl wearing a large, oversized dress.
"At that time, I had a bad feeling," Fu Hai said in a low voice, "but our inn is a business, whether it's good or bad, right or wrong."
It's all evil, but in short, it welcomes all comers.
"So I opened the door and invited her into the lobby, asking her if she wanted to stay overnight or have a meal."
"She didn't want anything. After entering the lobby, since it was still quite dark, Sister Qiu Ying from our inn came over with a lantern."
“At that moment, I really saw it clearly: there was a skull inside her hat... She must be the Bone Demoness you're looking for. For a moment, I thought we were all going to die.”
The constables exchanged glances.
Old Constable Zhao Jie had applied a lot of wound medicine to his body and had bandages wrapped around his head, but they were mostly superficial wounds.
He said, "We just withdrew completely yesterday and stopped searching the mountain, yet she came down the mountain early this morning?" Hu Tao looked at Fu Hai: "What did she say?"
Fu Hai said, "It's probably because Miss Die stayed there a few days ago, and she saw it. She immediately asked if a female knight-errant named Murong Die was staying there tonight."
Murong Die explained, "During that time, the Fei Hong Gang wanted to replace them and occupy their Xiaodiancang Mountain. So I stayed there to keep the Fei Hong Gang from coming." Fu Hai continued, "I told her that Miss Die wasn't staying at an inn outside the city tonight, and if she wanted revenge, she would have to go into the city."
She shook her head, saying that Miss Butterfly and the Six Doors in the city had been used, and that she had no intention of seeking revenge. ... Upon hearing this, everyone exchanged glances and breathed a sigh of relief.
That demoness was eerie and terrifying, and her strength surpassed theirs; she escaped the encirclement and attack that night. She's still able to come down the mountain to discuss matters, but it's hard to say how serious her injuries are.
If she truly seeks revenge, they will be caught completely off guard, and the entire An County will never have a peaceful day again. Hu Tao looked at Fu Hai: "Did she really say that?"
Fu Hai nodded seriously: "Officer Hu, I'm just a businessman, I wouldn't dare make up something like this." Hu Tao said: "I know! I just need to confirm what else she said?"
Fu Hai said, "I told her that the city gates would be opening soon. If she wanted to find Miss Butterfly, she could rest at the inn first, and I would go into the city to find Miss Butterfly and have her come to see her."
A constable standing nearby said, "How does she know that after you inform Miss Die, a whole bunch of people from the city won't rush over? You can't be too careful; she definitely won't allow that."
Fu Hai said, "That's right. She said all she needed was for me to pass on a message." Everyone else fell silent, watching him intently.
Fu Hai took a deep breath and continued, "She said that she was not the murderer who caused the Ganhu serial case, but rather she came to our An County to hunt down the murderer who sucked people's blood to survive."
She also said that the assailant's surname was Zheng, and his given name was Wei. He was a survivor of the Black Forest incident in Duanyun Mountain ninety years ago. Sixty years later, she killed the assailant.
Chapter 51 Men are in love, women are interested
Hu Tao shook his head and said, "The Flying Flood Gang must be destroyed, but we can't just act rashly."
"The Fei Hong Gang is, after all, a powerful local gang, and it has secretly trained a number of assassins."
"To destroy the Flying Flood Gang will inevitably cause a lot of bloodshed. Too many deaths inside and outside the city will be detrimental to the holding of the Lantern Festival." Murong Die said, "But if we just drag this out, I'm afraid the Flying Flood Gang will secretly search for the children that the villains want."
“At that time, not only will many children die, but the villain will also become stronger after the blood sacrifice, which will be like raising a tiger to cause trouble, and even more people will die.” Hu Tao said, “It’s not that we won’t take action, but that we can’t take action casually.”
"Once we take action, we must eradicate the Flying Flood Gang completely overnight, leaving no future troubles. This is not something that can be accomplished by the Six Doors and the local heroes like Butterfly Girl alone."
Old Constable Zhao said, "Unless we can persuade the Prefect and the Commandant to mobilize the General's Office, we can only succeed overnight! But mobilizing local officials and soldiers will inevitably be a very serious matter, and we will need to report to the court immediately afterwards. This is a matter of great importance."
“If that’s the case, I suggest that the Fei Hong Gang operate in the shadows, since they’ve always been involved in human trafficking.” The others looked at each other, puzzled.
Isn't this downplaying the crimes of the Flying Flood Gang? The prefect would probably be even less likely to agree. Hu Tao suddenly realized, "Old Zhao, you're right, this matter must be stopped."
He looked around and said, "After this matter is released, no one is allowed to reveal it, especially not the Prefect." A man beside him explained, "Boss! Why is that?"
Old Constable Zhao sat down beside him and chuckled, "You guys think about it."
"If the Prefect knew, the Flying Flood Gang might have used their existing channels to secretly obtain the children the villains needed from other places, and no one would have noticed afterward."
"Why is the prefect so nervous? What he wants is local achievements. Children kidnapped or smuggled from other places are not registered in the local household registration and do not even affect the number of crimes committed in the local area, so he will definitely suppress them first."
"Although that villain might become even stronger and more troublesome after the secret blood sacrifice, that's our problem. In any case, he'll wait until after the Lantern Festival to do anything; at most, he'll pressure us to solve the case after that."
He paused for a moment, then continued, "On the contrary, we simply tell the Prefect that the villain needs many children with special birth dates, or women, noblewomen, etc., as sacrifices for his strange witchcraft upgrade."
"Then, let me give you a hint: during the Lantern Festival, there will inevitably be many wealthy young ladies and gentlemen from various prefectures and other places coming to visit. The villain is very likely to target these young ladies and gentlemen."
"Do you think we'll be more nervous, or will the Prefect be more nervous?"
Everyone suddenly realized. Old ginger is indeed spicier!
Old Zhao looked at the chief constable: "Chief! You'd better not bring up the matter of the Zhechong Prefecture sending troops. Let the prefect bring it up himself."
"I refuse to believe that, under these circumstances, the adults would still hold back from sending troops." Then he told him to go and talk to the Commandant of the Vanguard.
Hu Tao nodded, but his expression turned serious: "But there is an even more important issue. If we cannot resolve this, even if the Prefect and the Commandant agree to send troops, we will be unable to take action."
Murong Die sighed softly, "Before we take action, we must find the location of the real culprit in the mummified corpse serial murder case. Otherwise, even if we wipe out the Flying Flood Gang, what if he escapes and alerts us?"
Hu Tao pondered for a moment: "I will talk to the prefect. But we can't take action unless we can pinpoint the culprit's location."
"In addition, I will openly appease the Fei Hong Gang, creating the illusion that we will absolutely not cause them any trouble before the Lantern Festival, while secretly trying to coerce and entice some of their internal members to defect."
Old Constable Zhao said, "Since that Miss Ye Liuxiang... it's alright for me to call her 'Miss,' right? I can't call her some kind of vixen, can I?"
Murong Die said, "Old Zhao, are you saying that since she killed Zheng once before, she is now able to chase after him all the way to An County?"
"Is there any way to track down Zheng Wei's location?"
Hu Tao said, "That's one way, but I'm afraid she might not be willing to contact us again."
He looked at Fu Hai: "If she comes to Dragon Claw Inn again, please contact the Six Doors immediately. Also, no one is allowed to reveal what was just said here beforehand."
He looked around, but apart from the young manager of the Dragon Claw Inn who brought Ye Liuxiang's information, everyone else present was trustworthy and readily agreed.
Fu Hai thought to himself, "In that case, we still need Miss Xiao Ye's help."
"The Flying Flood Gang may escape, but the real culprit must not be allowed to get away." Having delivered the message, he rose to take his leave.
Murong Die said, "It wasn't easy for you to come all the way to the city to inform us about this. I have nothing else to do, so I'll see you off!" The two then left together.
Old Zhao sat there and glanced at the backs of the two people as they walked out through the open vermilion gate.
He laughed and said, "Unbelievable! So many people have gone to great lengths to pursue Butterfly, but she has been snatched away by this young manager of the Dragon Claw Inn outside the city."
The two young constables beside him immediately objected: "Old Zhao, don't talk nonsense. Miss Die was just seeing him off. People of the martial world don't care about formalities. How could Miss Die possibly like him?"
“That’s right! Who is Miss Butterfly? There are countless suitors in this city, but which one would she even look at? I won’t allow you to make such wild guesses.” Old Zhao rolled his eyes.
Your revered heroines, whom you treat like goddesses, are probably already in a relationship of riding and being ridden with others. It's just that you young people are too inexperienced to see this.