Paper Maker: This is the end of the Ming Dynasty in Liaozhai

Chapter 141
"Master, what should I do next?"

Zhao Xiaoer said with a serious expression: "Master has taken Governor Xue's money, if you don't give him an explanation, I'm afraid Governor Xue will not let it go."

"Let's try to see if the tracking technique has any effect."

Hearing this, Su Hao calmly said: "If it doesn't work, then we can only investigate slowly. As for Governor Xue, if he still can't find out after trying his best, then he can't blame me."

Although he accepted Xue Zhen's banknote, he didn't care much about Xue Zhen making trouble for him. He and Xue Zhen had never had any professional contacts, and even if the court checked, they couldn't find him.

As soon as he walked out of the governor's office, a fortune-telling booth on the corner caught Su Hao's attention. The stall was a strange-looking old blind man with only white eyes, and he was still lifeless. But what caught Su Hao's attention was the fortune-telling banner, the banner. "Can know people's affairs" is written on the box.

When he was at Mengjin Ferry, he stayed with Zhenxuan for three months, and he also had some understanding of fortune-telling. Zhenxuan, as a master of Taoism who is very good at fortune-telling, did not dare to speak so loudly Well, fortune and misfortune are easy to calculate, some clues can be seen from the face, but the heart is not so easy to see through.

Su Hao looked back at the governor's yamen, then at the hexagram booth, and then said with a smile, "Go and have a look."

"Master, most of these people are street scammers, why waste time?"

Hearing Su Hao's words, Zhao Xiaoer wondered, although she learned from the inheritance of the White Lotus Sect, she also knew that fortune-telling mostly relies on tricks, and not many have real skills.

"It's okay to be idle anyway."

Su Hao waved his hands indifferently, walked to the hexagram booth, and casually put down a small silver grain.

"Old man, what do you know?"

The old blind man didn't speak, just picked up the bamboo stick in his hand and nodded his flag.

Seeing this, Su Hao smiled and said, "Then old man, why don't you figure out why I came here?"

I saw the old blind man squeezed twice with one hand, and spread the other hand directly, and a note appeared in his hand, with two words written on it:

"silver."

Seeing this scene, Su Hao shook his head and said with a smile: "The old man is a bit bluffing, who is alive, who doesn't run around for a few pieces of silver."

Hearing Su Hao's words, the old blind man didn't say anything, but silently pushed Xiao Yinjiao back in front of Su Hao.

"The silver is fine."

Su Hao smiled and said, "Mister, why don't you figure out what I'm thinking about."

Hearing Su Hao's question, the old blind man pinched his fingers again. The next moment he opened his hand, he saw two pieces of paper on his palm. One was written with the word "pen" and the other with the word "soldier". .

At this moment, not only Su Hao was stunned, even the old blind man was stunned. He taught himself fortune-telling, and he had never calculated such a strange situation. One person actually had two completely different fates!

The old blind man clenched his hands again, and then spread them out, but this time, two blank notes appeared.

"The fate of the guest is really mysterious. The old man can't earn this money."

After closing his palms, the old blind man said calmly.

"Just take the money."

Su Hao said indifferently: "There is no reason to take back the money that this officer took out."

After finishing speaking, Su Hao turned around and left. Zhao Xiaoer and Ding Zimo quickly followed after seeing this.

...

In Fucheng, Su Hao brought Zhao Xiaoer and Ding Zimo to eat while shopping, just like a young master who is doing nothing.

"Master, instead of going after the whereabouts of tax money, we hang around here, is that really okay?"

Looking at Su Hao who was walking around with cakes wrapped in oiled paper in his hand, Ding Zimo, who was carrying several oiled paper wrapped in his hand, couldn't help but smile wryly. He didn't expect that Su Hao, who is usually quite serious, would have Such a side.

"What's the hurry, take it easy, it's not a big deal."

Hearing this, Su Hao smiled, still looking around, saw a tea house not far away, so he said with a smile, "Go and have a cup of tea first."

Walking into the teahouse, there were not many customers in the teahouse at this time, so he found a secluded corner, ordered a pot of tea, and Su Hao ordered a few local specialty snacks. Seeing that Zhao Xiaoer and Zhao Xiaoer were still standing, Greet the two to sit down.

"Master, are you trying to lure a snake out of its hole?"

After pouring a cup of tea for Su Hao, Zhao Xiaoer suddenly asked.

Hearing Zhao Xiaoer's words, Su Hao was not too surprised. He just looked at Ding Zimo with a smile and said, "Zimo, your wife is still smart. You have to learn more from your wife, otherwise how will you be able to take charge of yourself in the future."

"Master, Xiaoer has been smart since he was a child."

Hearing this, Ding Zimo could only smile awkwardly.

"Master, do you think those thieves who robbed tax money will stare at the governor's office?"

Seeing this, Zhao Xiaoer opened his mouth to relieve Ding Zimo.

"It's just a possibility."

Su Hao said calmly: "Du Hui said that the tax money that was robbed should still be at Liziguan. In this case, the other party must be worried whether Xue Zhen, the governor of Huguang, will find some powerful people to take action, or Mobilize the army to search the mountain."

"After all, with Xue Zhen's identity, it is not impossible to invite a few strong men from the Heavenly Master's Mansion to take action. Longhu Mountain is not far from here. As long as the other party stays there for a day, he has to worry about one day. The few of us suddenly appear In the governor's office, if the other party keeps someone to monitor the governor's office, they will definitely be curious about our identities, and maybe they will follow us."

Zhao Xiaoer asked curiously, "Did Master find out?"

"not yet."

Su Hao shook his head. Although he felt that the other party might follow, he still couldn't find it after wandering around for a long time. Either no one was following him, or the other party's strength was much stronger than him, but the latter one might not be too big. He was not only alone, but his sleeves With Uncle Fu watching for him, he can't let him find out that the opponent's strength must be a martial arts master.

After finishing speaking, Su Hao took out a small paper figurine from his sleeve, took a wisp of his own breath and blended it into the paper figurine, then recited the magic spell in his mouth, and formed a magic seal with his hands.

I saw the little paper man floating up slowly, and then the little paper man pointed at Su Hao himself. Seeing this, Su Hao's hand seal changed. The next moment, the little paper man turned around in a circle, pointed to the north, and immediately Then it pointed to the west, and then it kept changing in these two directions.

"Looks like a fish took the bait."

Seeing this scene, Su Hao chuckled and put away the little paper figurine.

"Master, is it the fortune teller who has a problem?"

Hearing Su Hao's words, Zhao Xiaoer was the first to react. After following Su Hao for so long, she also had some understanding of Su Hao's paper figurine tracking technique. Su Hao used his own breath as a lure, so he must be on the other side. He left aura on his body as something to track, and before that Su Hao gave money to the fortune teller.

"Not necessarily, but the opponent's position has indeed changed."

Su Hao shook his head and said, "If he's a blind man, he shouldn't be walking around casually."

The reason why he deliberately went to the divination booth to tell his fortune was mainly because he thought that the location of the divination booth was too coincidental. He could just see the gate of the governor's office without attracting the attention of others, and most importantly, the fortune teller was still blind. A normal person would suspect no one as much as a blind man.

"Then do you want to take down that fortune teller first?"

Ding Zimo said.

"Don't startle him just yet."

Su Hao waved his hand and said, "It's not sure yet, we'll talk about it when it's confirmed. Anyway, he probably won't leave until he finds out anything wrong. As long as he doesn't use up the silver, he can be arrested at any time."

Hearing this, Ding Zimo didn't continue to say anything, but added tea for Su Hao from time to time.

.........

On the other side, Du Hui and Tang Xiangjin rode fast horses for a long day and finally arrived at the desolate temple where the tax money was robbed.

Du Hui said: "Tang Baihu, this is the deserted temple where we rested."

Tang Xiangjin looked up and down the deserted temple. The deserted temple is a common mountain temple. It should have been built in a nearby village a hundred years ago. It was only after the number of worshipers gradually decreased that it became abandoned.

After checking, Tang Xiangjin and the others found no clues, so they walked out of the deserted temple.

At this time, Tian Ming suddenly asked: "Du Tongzhi, you said that the trip was delayed because of the heavy rain. I don't know how heavy the rain was at that time?"

"It's very big, and even the road is full of mud. Fortunately, it's an official road, which has been repaired all year round, otherwise I wouldn't even be able to walk."

Although he didn't know what Tian Ming meant by asking this question, Du Hui said it honestly.

Tian Ming asked again: "Then when you arrived at this deserted temple, was it raining so heavily?"

Du Hui nodded and replied, "Yes."

At this time, Tang Xiangjin and the others also discovered the problem. They went to the small road in front of the temple and squatted down to check the ruts on the small road.

"Several hundred households, what's the matter?"

Seeing the actions of several people, Du Hui couldn't help but wonder.

"The ruts are too shallow."

Tang Xiangjin shook his head and said: "If it is true as you said, the rain is so heavy that it is almost impossible to drive the car, and the weight of the car transporting tax money is more than 2000 catties, and the rut left behind will never be so shallow. According to the situation of the rut , what you encountered at the time was light rain at most, which just wet the ground."

Although Jin Yiwei also has to participate in counter-insurgency from time to time, their real duty is to investigate various major cases. Although this kind of clue is inconspicuous, it is still obvious to them who have been investigating various cases all year round.

"Baihu means that we have already fallen into the illusion."

Hearing Tang Xiangjin's words, Du Hui was taken aback for a moment, and then quickly said, "Isn't this impossible? We still have a few first-class warriors accompanying us, so how could it be so easy to be recruited?"

"It is possible, but although there is no trace of illusion, it is not an easy task to confuse more than 1000 of you at the same time. Those thieves who robbed tax money may have planted internal agents among you. Neiying secretly used some kind of medicine combined with illusion, and when the opponent activates illusion, it will be easier for you to be recruited."

Tang Xiangjin shook his head and said, although the illusion mainly works on the primordial spirit, the six senses of first-rate warriors are very sensitive, and it is not that simple to make a first-rate warrior fall for it. It may not be impossible to make people relax their vigilance, as long as it is not highly poisonous or has a particularly strange smell, even the five senses of a first-class warrior may not be able to detect it.

"But there are more than a thousand of us, and it may be difficult to find out the internal response. Besides, it is unknown whether there is an internal response."

Hearing this, Du Hui sighed. Although Tian Ming found a clue, he couldn't solve the current problem at all. It would take ten days and a half months to find an internal response from more than 1000 people who didn't know whether it existed. It can be done, and the internal response may not know where the tax money is hidden.

It is less than two months before the Chinese New Year, and Xue Zhen has little time to procrastinate. Once the robbed tax money cannot be found before the Chinese New Year and escorted to Beijing, the imperial court will definitely send people to investigate. By then, Xue Zhen When chastity is over, so is he.

After a pause, Du Hui continued: "And now I have distributed them to the official roads here to set up checkpoints, and let them patrol around. If they are called back, it is very likely that the thieves will take the opportunity to escape."

Hearing this, Tang Xiangjin and the others were also silent. In this situation, it is really impossible to find an internal response that does not know whether it exists or not.

After being silent for a while, Tang Xiangjin said: "Du Tongzhi, are you sure that the robbed tax money is still around Liziguan? If you are sure, then it is necessary to continue the investigation. If the tax money has been transported away, then It will be a waste of time for us to continue to investigate."

"I'm sure the tax money is definitely still here."

Du Hui nodded and said: "After I found out that the tax bank was robbed, I asked other people to block the road near Liziguan. There is only one official road in Liziguan, which leads from Wuchang Mansion to Nanzhili. The others are small roads. , and only to nearby villages."

"The other party will definitely not be able to drive away overnight. In half a day, no matter how powerful the other party is, running twenty or thirty miles is beyond imagination. However, several first-class warriors accompanying the team chased for more than a hundred miles along the official road but did not find any clues. , so the other party must be hiding in the mountains and forests with a radius of tens of miles, but unfortunately we searched all over, but still did not find any traces."

"In that case, let's look for it."

Tang Xiangjin said in a deep voice, since Su Hao asked them to come here, they have to put on a show to make things easier.

.........

Two days later, Tang Xiangjin and Du Hui returned to Wuchang Mansion.

"How's the situation?"

Looking at the few people, Su Hao said indifferently.

"Back to Qianhu, I have thoroughly searched the vicinity of Liziguan, but I can't find any trace."

Tang Xiangjin shook his head and said, "It's been too long, and it's raining over there recently, and all traces have been washed away."

"Has the tax money been shipped away?"

After thinking for a while, Su Hao continued to ask, although he has an advantage in magic, but when it comes to investigating cases, he is still not as good as veterans like Tang Xiangjin and the others.

"Probably not yet."

Tang Xiangjin said solemnly: "The official road of Liziguan leads to Nanzhili, and the merchants here go to Nanzhili by water, so this official road is not the main road for business. There are no more than 200 carriages on this road, and according to the guards at Liziguan, this number is no different from usual.”

Su Hao continued to ask: "Then is it possible for them to leave by the Yangtze River?"

"Probably not. Du Tongzhi had asked someone to set up a checkpoint. We also asked along the road. For more than a month, the villagers near the official road said that there was no large convoy passing by, and the coolies at the ferry said that they had not moved too much. Heavy boxes, and the copper coins are not boxed, but just packed in sacks, it is too easy to be found by water."

"And we also checked along the riverside next to the official road, and found no traces of boats berthed or a large number of footprints, basically we can rule out the possibility that the other party did not take the ferry."

"Is that so?"

After listening to Tang Xiangjin's words, Su Hao lightly tapped on the armrest. He still believed Tang Xiangjin's deduction. Since Tang Xiangjin said so, the other party must still be hiding near Liziguan.

"Tang Baihu, go to the nearby counties and secretly find a few more immortal-looking people, let them pretend to be the masters of the Tianshi Mansion, and bring them to the governor's office in four days."

After thinking about it for a while, Su Hao decided to start a surprise attack. In the past two days, he had already figured out where the old blind man lived. Although he didn't find anything suspicious about the other party, his intuition told him that the old blind man must be something serious.

"Yes!"

Although he didn't know the intention of Su Hao's arrangement, Tang Xiangjin still agreed.

After ordering Tang Xiangjin, Su Hao took Zhao Xiaoer and the two out of the city.

"Master, what are we going to do?"

Seeing Su Hao walking all the way north after leaving Fucheng, Ding Zimo was puzzled.

"Arrange some means of surveillance."

In Su Hao's hand appeared a stack of colorful paper figurines. Although he felt that there was something wrong with the old blind man, he would not pin all his hopes on the old blind man.

Since the other party is still at Liziguan, there is a high probability that they will send someone to monitor the governor's office. Although there are magic spells in this world, there is no spell that can transmit sound for thousands of miles. Manpower, put paper figurines along the official road to monitor, then there is a chance to catch the opponent's tail.

Although there is only a small probability, it is better than no clues at all. Du Hui and Xue Zhen have used ordinary means, and they have used them. Since they can't find them, it means that the other party's hiding ability is extremely strong, at least ordinary means. The tracking technique is definitely ineffective, so it's better to startle the snake, anyway, the other party will definitely not be able to escape with so much tax money.

It took a full two days for Su Hao to place thousands of little paper men along the official road for surveillance. Afterwards, Su Hao brought Zhao Xiaoer and the two back to Fucheng. Now everything is ready, just wait for the snake to show up on its own initiative. up.

(End of this chapter)