Chapter 89: One Stone, One Bird

"Is the dungeon only accessible through that one door by the arrow tower?" Duan Rong asked suddenly, his eyes filled with contemplation.

In his view, that heavy lock must have been sawed through by Xie Lei; since he was the one on duty, sawing it a little bit every day would be completely undetectable.

The problem was, Yang Zhen had clearly seen Xie Lei leave, so how did he appear inside the dungeon, and then, at dawn—the time when defenses were at their weakest—suddenly carry Xu Ruhu out to escape from prison!

Hearing Duan Rong's question, Yang Zhen looked at him as if he were an idiot and said, "According to your logic, should the dungeon also open a back door for you?"

Duan Rong curled his lips, feeling somewhat unwilling to engage with Yang Zhen, but he suppressed his emotions and said patiently, "I mean, how did that person suddenly appear inside the dungeon? Are there any other paths?"

"That is another bizarre part of this!" Yang Zhen said, his eyes once again filled with intense astonishment. "The back wall of the dungeon only has two ventilation holes the size of a human head! In that space, even a slightly large dog couldn't get through!"

"According to you, that person has become a ghost?"

"Most likely!"

Duan Rong smiled faintly; he knew that person wasn't a ghost, but Xie Lei. The current deadlock was how Xie Lei could have left and then appeared inside the dungeon again.

The dungeon only had one door, the arrow tower, for entry and exit! It was impossible for a living person to sneak into the dungeon without alerting anyone, no matter what.

Furthermore, Xie Lei was carrying such a troublesome, high-profile prisoner to escape; what was his motive?

"This matter is truly wicked!"

Duan Rong bid farewell to Yang Zhen and walked slowly onto West Street...

The search of West Street had already been completed, and the street had begun normal business, but looking along the way, everyone had a worried look on their face...

The search in South City was still ongoing, and one could constantly hear the people on the street whispering with vigilant expressions...

Duan Rong walked down the street, his head lowered, his thoughts spinning incessantly.

He was very clear that this wave of city-wide searches would not yield any results.

Because he had already guessed where Xu Ruhu was hiding!

It must be in Xie Lei's own home!

Xie Daohan believed that whoever could abduct Xu Ruhu from the great prison must have some strength, and it was very likely that one of the major powers in Xiangu County had plotted it!

Therefore, he personally searched the major powers, while the searches in other places were led by Xie Lei with the yamen runners!

But one might ask, would a person search themselves?

And who would suspect the nephew of the County Government Office's Head Constable?

Keeping him in his own home during this wave of searches—wouldn't that be the safest place of all!

Thinking this, Duan Rong had already entered the Yuanshun Escort Agency, walking thoughtfully along the small path beside the Martial Arts Arena...

Suddenly feeling something sticky on his head, Duan Rong paused his steps, raised his hand to touch the top of his head, and saw a clump of sticky, white, viscous substance on his palm...

"Damn... what is this?"

Duan Rong brought his palm to his nose and sniffed it, his expression turning extremely ugly. "Damn it, it's bird shit!"

Duan Rong looked up and saw a sparrow jumping back and forth on a branch above his head.

Seeing Duan Rong staring at it, the sparrow even chirped twice, appearing quite cheerful!

Duan Rong was furious; he picked up a stone from not far away and threw it at the sparrow on the branch!

As soon as the sparrow saw Duan Rong bend over, it immediately flapped its wings and shot behind the tree like an arrow!

With the stone in hand, Duan Rong seemed to act without thinking, subconsciously waving his hand and throwing it at the sparrow in the air!

With a sharp squeak, the stone hit the target perfectly; the sparrow fell not far away, twitched twice, and then expired, a few feathers drifting in the air...

"That'll teach you to defecate everywhere..." Duan Rong cursed, then paused slightly; the technique he had just used to throw the stone seemed to be a fusion of the Thousand-Hand Arhat and the Plum Blossom Needle!

He could still understand the Thousand-Hand Arhat, as he had digested and absorbed the Spirit Tool of the throwing dart last night and already had Entry Level experience in this hidden weapon technique.

But wasn't the Plum Blossom Needle a technique for acupuncture?

Just now, when he attacked, after the starting move of the Thousand-Hand Arhat, the feeling of the Plum Blossom Needle was brought along with it!

It was as if there was some kind of natural connection between the Thousand-Hand Arhat and the Plum Blossom Needle...

"Could it be... that this Plum Blossom Needle contains hidden weapon techniques?" Duan Rong's eyes flickered.

Duan Rong guessed correctly; this Plum Blossom Needle was originally created a hundred years ago by a hidden weapon expert who, after suffering a great change in life, abandoned martial arts to practice medicine!

The Plum Blossom Needle not only contained hidden weapon techniques, but it was the very essence of hidden weapon techniques; that expert had simplified this essence and integrated it into the art of acupuncture!

Because this part was originally a hidden weapon technique, since it could be integrated into acupuncture, it could naturally be integrated into other hidden weapon techniques even more easily!

Therefore, just now, Duan Rong possessed Entry Level Thousand-Hand Arhat and Proficiency level Plum Blossom Needle, and because he was in a fit of rage and focused solely on hitting that sparrow, he had done so.

It was only by this coincidence that he had thrown that strike!

"This bird shit wasn't for nothing!"

Duan Rong wiped the bird shit from his hand onto the tree, then walked quickly across the Martial Arts Arena, preparing to go to the dormitory courtyard to wash the bird shit off his head.

Just as he reached the dormitory entrance, he was suddenly called out by the dormitory manager.

"Escort Duan, excuse me for a moment."

This manager was chubby and kind-hearted; his name was Zhao Gang, and he was the second uncle of Zhao Meng, the Escort Head of the Sixth Escort Team.

"Manager Zhao, what is it? Tell me!" Duan Rong smiled.

Zhao Gang walked to Duan Rong's side and smelled a strange odor.

As soon as Duan Rong saw Zhao Gang's expression, he knew he had smelled the bird shit. Fortunately, he was half a head taller than Zhao Gang, otherwise, he would have definitely seen the bird shit on his hair, which would be another joke if it got out.

"Escort Duan, have you seen Kong Bin recently?" Zhao Gang stepped back and asked with a smile.

Duan Rong's heart skipped a beat, but his face remained unchanged as he said, "I haven't! We don't live in the same dormitory courtyard. We basically haven't practiced martial arts together either!"

Hearing this, Zhao Gang felt it was a bit strange; usually, Apprentice Escorts from the same batch had decent relationships, as they would have to work together in the Escort Agency later. How could these two seem to have no interaction at all?

"Oh, is that so." Zhao Gang explained with a smile: "It's just that his dormitory door has been closed for more than ten days. The young man living next to him told me he hasn't seen him for over ten days, and there's a foul, unpleasant smell coming from the room!"

"I was afraid something had happened, so I opened the door and went in to take a look. There were two moldy flatbreads in the room, and the clothes soaking in the basin were also stinking."

"I reported this to the Chief, but Master Luan said that Apprentice Escorts are under the management of Xiao Lao, but Xiao Lao's family has been busy with funeral arrangements recently, so I didn't want to disturb them!"

"Oh, I don't know about this either. But Manager Zhao, since you've already reported it, there shouldn't be any major problems. Why not wait and see? Maybe he'll be back in a couple of days," Duan Rong smiled.

"That's true, that's true..." Zhao Gang nodded with a smile.

Duan Rong smiled and walked forward, then suddenly stopped and turned back, saying, "Steward Zhao, I remember that among the Miscellaneous Disciples in our batch, there is one named Zhang Zheng who seems to be a childhood friend of Kong Bin. Why don't you go ask him? He might know."

"Oh, is that so? Then thank you, Escort Duan, I will go ask him right away."

"You're welcome!" Duan Rong turned and walked into his dormitory courtyard.

Zhao Gang lifted his feet and headed toward the front courtyard; he prepared to find the manager of the Miscellaneous Disciples to take him to find Zhang Zheng and ask.

Duan Rong returned to his dormitory, took a wooden basin and soap pod, then squatted by the well to wash his hair. With his hair dripping wet, he stood by the well and muttered to himself, "I still have to thank Wu Hui for this; he chose a good place to bury the body, otherwise, the aftermath would have been a bit troublesome..."

(End of this chapter)