Cao Thief

Chapter 293 The Dark Arrival
In the morning, it rained.

The light rain and the gloomy sky made people feel extremely depressed.It doesn't rain for a whole summer, but when it gets up, it's endless.In the continuous autumn rain, the bones seemed to be rusted, making people feel stiff and uncomfortable.

Cao Peng's face was very ugly, just like the gloomy weather, standing there exuding a chill.

Everyone around him seemed trembling.

Even Chen Qun didn't come forward to talk to him, but just waited and watched from a distance under the porch.

Yue Guan was in the meditation room, his eyes were swollen from crying.

In this lonely nunnery, Xuelian is her only companion.

Now that his partner is gone, Yueguan is very sad.When she saw Xuelian's body, she fell to the ground, unconscious.

Cao Peng squatted down, stretched out his hand and closed Xue Lian's empty eyes.

He narrowed his eyes, examined it carefully, then stood up and walked slowly up the porch.

"How?" Chen Qun asked.

"There are scars on her body, and her clothes are tattered, but the fatal wound was caused by a blunt instrument on the back of her head. The scars on her body should be scratched by the wall of the well when she fell into the well... I can't confirm the time of death now. But it can be generally inferred that it is between Xushi and Choushi."

Cao Peng's eyes burst into flames, and he gritted his teeth.

Xuelian seemed to be murdered right under his nose.

He knew that the murderer was probably at the banquet at that time, but he didn't take any precautions.

dereliction of duty!

This is typical dereliction of duty!
Cao Peng felt that he was really careless.

Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes.I haven't slept all night, my temples are throbbing, and my head is extraordinarily chaotic...

Why was Xuelian killed?

Is it accidental, or is it intentional?

When Xuelian talked to herself yesterday, her voice was very soft.In addition, the singing and dancing were in full swing at that time, even Chen Qun, who was closest to him, didn't hear it.In other words, no one will know what Xuelian said to herself.And everyone's attention was on Yueguan's dance at that time, who would have noticed that Xuelian was talking to him at that time?Cao Peng frowned, and slowly walked down the porch.

"Ah Fu, where are you going?"

"Go and have a look at the water pavilion."

There is a faint feeling that Xuelian's death is related to her conversation with herself last night.

Chen Qun ordered people to block the entire Chrysanthemum Nunnery, followed Cao Peng closely, and walked towards the waterside pavilion.The two came to the water pavilion one after the other, Cao Peng stopped and looked around at the mess in the water pavilion.Last night's singing and dancing seemed to be still echoing in my ears, and the noise was still in my ears...

Cao Peng suddenly asked: "Brother, do you remember where everyone was last night?"

Chen Qun recalled it carefully, and walked to the seat in the middle, "I was sitting here yesterday, and you were on my left. I remember Yuan Xuanshuo on the right, and Zhang Yuanan under Xuanshuo. Boyu Jingzhao, sitting next to Zhang Yuanan , Opposite him is that Lao Shizi Zhudao. Zhudao seems to be Zhang Tai at the top... the next one is...I think about it, Chen Bodao in Runan. The one sitting opposite Chen Bodao is Su Wei.

Yueguan is at the first place under you. At that time, I joked that this Yuean master seems to be interested in you... roughly this is the order. "

Chen Qun's memory is very strong, and he quickly arranged where everyone was seated last night.

"But then, it got a little messy," he added.

"When singing and dancing, where is everyone?"

"During singing and dancing?" Chen Qun closed his eyes, thinking.

"Zhang Ziyu was playing the piano, just at the entrance of Shuixie; Chi Zhong and Su Wei changed seats... Master Yue An was singing and dancing, and the others... Zhang Yuanan was talking to Zhu Dao at the time, and Chen Bodao was a little drunk, so he lay on the table. Yuan Xuanshuo Then enjoy the singing and dancing."

"Why did Chi Zhong change seats with Su Wei?"

"This..." A strange expression flashed across Chen Qun's face, "I think that Boyu Chi seems to like Master Yue a little bit. Su Wei's seat can be seen more clearly, so... you know, Yue The singing and dancing of the nunnery master is quite amorous."

"Uh... I see!"

In other words, no one noticed him at the time.

At least from what Chen Qun said, Cao Peng thought so.

"Afu, what should we do next?"

Cao Peng thought for a while, "Since there was a murder case, and it was found in this chrysanthemum nunnery, I'm afraid it is to wrong the nunnery master Yue."

"Well, it's inevitable that she will be the last to see Xuelian."

Cao Peng and Chen Qun walked out of the water pavilion and returned to Kuayuan.Chen Qun went to explain the situation to Yueguan, and asked her to go to the Luoyang County Yamen to inquire about the situation in detail; as for Cao Peng, he went into Xuelian's room again, sat down on the bed, and observed quietly.

Yue Guan said that Xue Lian went back to her room to rest due to physical discomfort, and then never appeared again.

But her body was found in the well... In other words, she was probably killed in this room and then thrown into the well.But in the room, there was no trace of any struggle, except for the incense burner in the altar, there seemed to be nothing to prove that Snow Lotus had returned to the room.Cao Peng immediately came up with another hypothesis. Xuelian was not killed in the house, but was called to the side of the well and hit the back of the head with a blunt object.Due to that inertia, Snow Lotus fell into the well...

Wait a minute, if so, what about the murder weapon?
Cao Peng got up immediately and walked out of the room.

Yue Guan changed into plain clothes and was about to follow Chen Qun to the county government office.

Seeing Cao Peng coming out, she gave a little blessing.

Cao Peng smiled at her, then beckoned Chen Ju to come over.

"Did you find the murder weapon during the search just now?"

"Never found."

Cao Peng nodded and said to Chen Qun: "Brother, you go back first, I will ask Zifang to bring a few people to stay."

"it is good!"

Without further ado, Chen Qun agreed to Cao Peng's request.

Cao Peng ordered Chen Ju to lead people to continue searching for the murder weapon.And he was standing on the porch, carefully observing this quiet small courtyard...

The cross-yard area is not large, but very elegant.

It is about 150 meters away from the water pavilion, and there is a courtyard wall about two meters high, which blocks the sight from the water pavilion.

Even if someone kills someone here, the people in the water pavilion will not find out.

Cao Peng came down from the porch, walked slowly to the well and stood still.The dark well, very deep...

"Chen Ju!"

"Here."

"Find out where this well connects."

Chen Ju was taken aback, and quickly responded.

Cao Peng summoned two servants, "Which one of you is better at swimming?"

"Master back to the north, I grew up by the Yishui River, and my water skills are not bad."

"Can you dive in?"

The two servants were stunned, and smiled wryly: "It's okay to dive down, but I don't know how deep this well is, so I may not be able to dive to the bottom."

Also, if the well is very deep, Qi may not be able to breathe.

Cao Peng thought for a while, and asked people to find cowhide, and ordered them to try to make air bags.Use the airbag to store air, and you can breathe underwater.This is a very simple method in later generations.However, this airbag is not very easy to make. It took a full hour to make three simple airbags.A slave tried it out, tied a rope around his waist, and jumped into the well.

At this time, the sky was bright and the rain stopped.

The sun shone through the shade of the trees and shone into the small courtyard, flickering bright and dark, giving the small courtyard a gloomy atmosphere.

About half a cup of tea, the rope suddenly trembled.The guard by the well shouted loudly and quickly pulled up the rope.After a while, the servant who entered the water appeared from the well with a pale face.With the help of the guards, he crawled out of the well, sticking out his tongue, panting heavily.

"How's it going?"

"Going back to the northern master, I found a copper pot at the bottom of the well."

He held a deformed copper pot in his hand and placed it in front of Cao Peng.

Cao Peng recognized at a glance that this copper pot was the prop used when throwing the pot last night.The copper pots used for pitching pots are basically solid and have a lot of weight.The spout is markedly dented, apparently damaged from the blow.Cao Peng took the copper pot and observed it carefully.

On the bottom of the pot, there are faint blood marks, although they have been soaked in well water, but due to time, they have not been completely eliminated.

There is no doubt that this copper pot is the murder weapon that killed Xuelian.

After Cao Peng ordered people to put away the copper pot, he ordered to prepare to leave...

Before leaving, Cao Peng walked into Xuelian's room again.For some unknown reason, he always felt that there was something weird in this room.

"Cao Beibei, I have already asked clearly."

Chen Ju walked in at this time, and replied respectfully: "I asked the surrounding villagers, and most of the wells near here are connected to Yishui."

"Ah."

Cao Peng nodded absently.

"Zi Fang."

"Here!"

"Do you believe in Futu?"

"what?"

"Or, are you at home, worshiping the gods?"

Chen Ju hesitated for a while, and said softly: "The family ancestor once believed in the way of peace for a while, but he no longer believed in it later."

"Well, you don't have to be afraid, I'm not chasing this matter.

I just want to ask you, if your family worships ancestors or pays homage to gods, will you put the spirit cards or the gods directly opposite the gate? "

Chen Ju was stunned, thought for a while, shook his head and said, "No way, wouldn't it be directly hit by the wind?"

His eyes, following Cao Peng's line of sight, fell on the Buddhist altar facing the gate.Chen Ju frowned, and suddenly seemed to understand Cao Peng's intention.He hurried over and reached out to take out the Buddha statue from the altar.But under the Buddha statue, there was a wooden box almost the same color as the Buddhist altar.If you don't observe carefully, it's really not easy to see the flaws.He carefully took out the wooden box, turned around and came to Cao Peng, and handed the Buddha statue and the wooden box to Cao Peng, with a look of great admiration on his face.

"Cao Beibu, there really is a mystery."

Cao Peng smiled and placed the Buddha statue beside him.

Then he opened the wooden box, and his eyes suddenly focused.The box was empty, there was nothing...

"Caobei, it's empty."

Cao Peng took a deep breath and said softly, "Maybe, it's a step too late."

This Buddha statue is very small, so there must be something under it.Xue Lian used this box instead, and purposely placed the altar facing the door, as if there was no intention of reminding her.Perhaps, she had expected this day long ago, so she made such an arrangement on purpose.

Stepping up to the shrine, Cao Peng observed it carefully.

After a while, he breathed a sigh of relief and said to himself: "The Tao is one foot tall, and the devil is one foot tall... Xuelian, Xuelian, although you have been on guard for a long time, you don't know that your opponent is also aware of it! Zifang, you Looking at this Buddhist altar, it is clearly a new one! Snow Lotus has practiced in the Chrysanthemum Nunnery for many years. Logically speaking, after receiving so much incense, the altar should have been blackened long ago. But this altar can still see its true colors.

This altar will not be used for more than three months...

Xuelian, you are a foolish girl, but you are also smart enough to think of..."

Cao Peng shut his mouth suddenly, turned his head suddenly, and stared blankly at the Buddha statue on the desk.

Chen Ju couldn't help asking: "Cao Beibei, what's wrong with you?"

Cao Peng did not respond.

"Chen Ju, what is this thing?"

"Fu Tu."

"what?"

"Buddha!"

"No, you read it together and read it faster."

"Futu, Futu, Futu..." Chen Ju didn't understand what Cao Peng meant, so he kept repeating the word "Futu". At first, he could pronounce the words clearly, but gradually, his mouth became dry, Speech becomes slurred, and becomes more slurred.

Cao Peng, suddenly took a breath...

His face also turned pale.

He said to himself: "Fourth brother, fourth brother, so you also saw the flaw, that's why you suffered this catastrophe...Brother, why didn't you just go ahead and search for it secretly? Confused, confused... Fourth brother, fourth brother, you are really confused!"

There was a look of sadness in his eyes.

Cao Peng stepped out of Xuelian's room and rushed into Yueguan's room.

Yueguan's room also looked very simple, somewhat similar to the layout of Xuelian's room.However, Xuelian's room, like its owner's name, is elegant and dignified; while Yueguan's room is obviously brighter than Xuelian's room, just like the owner of the same period...

"Cao Bei?"

"Oh, I'm fine... let's go."

Cao Peng smiled slightly, his face was still a little pale, but his demeanor became calm.

When he left the Chrysanthemum Nunnery, he glanced at the three rooms in the front courtyard, and a look of sternness flashed in his eyes.

——————————————————————————————

It was already noon when we left the Chrysanthemum Nunnery.

Cao Peng and his party hurried back to Luoyang. Seeing that they were about to reach the gate of Luoyang city, they saw a horse galloping out of Luoyang city.

"Ziyou?"

Cao Peng reined in his horse and looked at Xia Houlan who was galloping suspiciously, feeling a little puzzled.

Xia Houlan also saw Cao Peng, urged the horse to come to Cao Peng, then rolled off the saddle and fell off the horse, kneeling on one knee.

"My lord, the black ghost has arrived."

When Cao Peng heard this, he was overjoyed.

"Ziyou, has Heiyan arrived? Where is he now?"

"Returning to the young master, I just got a message from Xingba that Heiyan has passed Yishuikou and is rushing towards Luoyang. Xingba also said that the old lady and Miss Huang have both come, so there is a delay of two days It is estimated that they will arrive in Luoyang in the evening."

"Aniang and Yueying are here too?"

Cao Peng was startled for a moment, but then he was relieved.

Dad is in Xudu, busy with official duties.Now that the official pays homage to the civil servant Cao Duwei, and inspects water conservancy and farming, he is probably too busy to go home all day.

Before Cao Peng was studying in Luhun Mountain, Mrs. Zhang didn't want to bother her.

Now, Cao Peng is serving as Luoyang North Captain, and he is not too far from Xudu. It is normal for Mrs. Zhang to come to visit Cao Peng.However, what makes Cao Peng most happy is the arrival of Hei Yan.The arrival of Heizhen also solved the embarrassing situation that he was short of manpower and no one was available.Not to mention, Kan Ze, Gan Ning, and Hao Zhao accompanied Cao Peng's confidence.

As soon as he thought about it, Cao Peng's eyes suddenly became sharp.

"Ziyou, you go back immediately and let Miao Xu come to see me tonight."

(End of this chapter)