Chapter 5: Hiding
Chapter 5: Hiding
Seven miles outside the city, the mountain temple
Yan Xiaoguo led a team of patrol officers to the mountain god temple and looked at the charred and ruined temple and the hunting dogs that were hesitating to move forward.
He glanced again at the swordsman's body outside the temple, which had turned into an ice sculpture.
The patrol captain Jin Er looked as ugly as if he had eaten a fly, and he hurriedly directed his patrolmen to carry out the two charred bodies in the temple.
Jin Er looked at the three corpses and asked Yan Xiaoguo in a flattering manner: "General Yan, what do you think we should do next?"
Yan Xiaoguo glanced at him and walked forward to check the body without saying a word.
Wang Da's front face had been turned into a pile of rotten flesh by the violent explosion, with tiny charred residues evenly spread over the rotten flesh.
Yan Xiaoguo picked up a little black residue with his fingers and put it to his nose and sniffed it. The pungent smell of the fully burned wood powder made him frown.
"Come and take a look too." Yan Xiaoguo waved his hand, asking this newly-promoted Beiyang celebrity to come over and take a look.
"It smells like burnt sawdust, and a light scent of pine resin." Jin Er sniffed hard despite the pungent smell and replied uncertainly.
Yan Xiaoguo nodded without comment and walked to Wang Da's head.
Then he held his chin and the back of his head with his hands and twisted them, pressed the cervical vertebrae and larynx, thought for a while, touched his heart and sternum, and waved for Jin Er to come over for an inspection.
"The sternum is shattered and the cervical vertebrae are broken. It looks like he was killed by the explosion." Jin Er touched the bones and came to this conclusion.
At this time, Yan Xiaoguo had already walked to another body that had been blown to pieces.
The back of the corpse was rotten into a heap. In addition to the shattered spine, the sternum on the front was fractured in a diffuse manner.
"To be able to beat a skinny guy like this, with his sternum broken but his internal organs intact, it seems he must be at least a master of Ming Jin."
Jin Er also followed and came to a conclusion after examining the body.
“You see a lot, but it’s not enough.”
Yan Xiaoguo pointed at the body that was frozen into an ice sculpture and continued, “Wang Da was hit in the jaw by a blow, causing a fractured cervical vertebra.
One of the Li brothers had his sternum fractured by the blow, and the other was hit on the forehead by a stick and died on the spot. "
"The murderer must be a martial artist who is good at using spears and sticks, and has at least practiced the Ming Jin martial arts." Jin Er added hurriedly.
"There are already arrangements in this mountain temple, with hidden explosives and traps."
Yan Xiaoguo listened to Jin Er's well-reasoned analysis, but he knew that things were far from simple.
Using broken and rare treasures as bait to fish was originally an unintentional move by Eunuch Li, but now it seems that someone had already known about it and took advantage of the situation.
The case was so complicated that even an experienced criminal like him found it difficult to deal with it.
Yan Xiaoguo didn't believe that the barbarians from the West had such means, so he could only look at Jin Er in front of him with a grim look.
He walked slowly towards the fire in front of the temple gate that had been extinguished by the snow.
"Bring in the small dog to sniff and see if the thief has left any loopholes."
Fortunately, Qin Huai was careful and took advantage of Li Bingwu's unconsciousness to put the blood clot left on the snow into the fire and burn it completely. Otherwise, the hunting dogs would have caught the flaw at this time.
The dog sniffed the fire, then sniffed the clothes on the corpse, ran around the entrance of the mountain temple twice, and then stopped moving.
Jin Er couldn't help but lament in his heart, wondering why he was so unlucky.
He was originally eating hotpot and drinking good wine in the police station, but suddenly he was caught by this black-faced devil and taken to the cold and snowy field to investigate a case, which was a cold case with no clues at all.
"Let's go back. I don't think we can find anything today. Let's go see which store in the capital has sold a batch of pine oil recently."
Yan Xiaoguo did not waste any time. He ordered the patrolmen to collect the bodies and then returned to the city.
-
Beiyang, Governor's Office
"Where did Yan Xiaoguo take you today?" The Marshal stared at Jin Er, picked up the fragrant tea and took a sip and asked leisurely.
"I was taken to the mountain temple outside the city this morning to help Officer Yan to perform an autopsy, but nothing was found."
Jin Er replied respectfully, "General, to be honest, this case is also strange.
Wang Da and the Li brothers were also well-known ruthless people in the city, but last night they were beaten to the point of breaking bones and tendons, and then they were secretly plotted against and blown up, dying tragically outside the city."
"Oh? Killed by explosion? Did those foreigners do it?" The Marshal also became interested and asked curiously.
“The Marshal guessed, but Commander Yan didn’t say it, but there was no smell of gunpowder at the scene.
I feel that only those foreigners have the means to create such a bizarre explosion.
But Li Er looked like he was beaten to death with a gun or a stick." Jin Er complimented.
"Speaking of which, the Laba Banquet at Prince Gong's Mansion last night was quite spectacular." The Marshal laughed. "I wonder if those foreigners could sleep well last night?"
"Hehe, speaking of spears and sticks, Marshal, don't we know a spear and stick coach who is the best in the world? He's invincible with his spear." Jin Er said with a smile.
"Why, do you think he would be interested in such junky stuff that even the palace doesn't want?"
The Marshal snorted and knocked it lightly.
"You are joking, Marshal. Master Li is of such a lowly status that he would never do such a mean thing."
Jin Er wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and replied with difficulty.
"This city is like a stagnant pool of water now. There is nothing interesting to see. You should pack up and go to Tianjin after the New Year."
The Marshal suddenly thought of something and said with regret.
"Yes, I will go back and clean it up right away."
Jin Er suppressed his throbbing heart and retreated respectfully.
-
Medical Room of the Russian Mansion
“This power, this feeling!”
Romanov woke up on the medical table covered in blood. Looking at his increasingly strong body in the mirror, he felt the surging power and boundless energy in his body. He couldn't help but want to roar to the sky.
Suddenly, a sharp pain came from his heart, and Romanov spat out a mouthful of black blood with a "puff".
He trembled as he touched the bedside, took out the blood ginseng from the box with trembling hands, bit it open and swallowed it, and his pale face finally regained color.
"I can't wait any longer. If I don't go back, my body will be worn out."
Romanov was anxious and stood up reluctantly.
"Paul, are you okay?"
Bishop Antoine heard the noise and rushed into the medical room.
"Antoine, I'm fine, but I have to leave as soon as possible. I may not last a few days here."
Romanov replied in a voice like a broken bellows.
"Paul, your eyes..."
Antoine shouted to Romanov as if he had discovered a new world.
Romanov took the mirror handed over by Antoine and looked at himself in the mirror. His blue eyes, as deep as Lake Baikal, had disappeared.
Instead, there was a pair of terrifying vertical pupils as long and thin as a dragon's.
Looking at myself in the mirror being stared at by those slender dragon pupils, even if I am the owner of these eyes,
Romanov couldn't help but feel a panic in his heart, and a shiver went from his spine to the back of his head.
"You succeeded, Paul!" Antoine couldn't help but exclaimed in delight, "The legend of the God-given knight really exists!"
Romanov couldn't help but feel happy, but he felt a sharp pain in his internal organs and fainted again.
Prince Gong's Mansion Study
"So you suspect that it was done by the Beiyang or foreigners?"
After listening to Yan Xiaoguo's report, Prince Gong turned to ask Eunuch Li.
“In recent years, foreigners have become more powerful, and they never hide their desire for rare treasures.
It was easy for them to recruit a few martial artists and mobilize some explosives.
What’s more, the desire they showed for rare treasures in the palace last night was truly terrifying.”
"Then send someone to keep an eye on them, and chop off their claws if they dare to raise their claws again."
Prince Gong still said with a smile.
Both of them tacitly avoided mentioning Beiyang. The years were difficult and the empire could no longer withstand the turmoil.
Qin Huai's caution and Li Bingwu's experience in the underworld successfully complemented each other and covered their tracks.
The vicious dogs from Sijiu City wandered helplessly in front of the mountain temple. At this point, the crisis facing them was temporarily resolved.
(End of this chapter)