Chapter 472

The old man screamed and fainted directly. His eyeball was gouged out alive, rolling in Zhongsun Mou's spoon, completely intact.

Zhongsun Mou grabbed a cup, poured water to wash the eyeball, and then brought it close to the light to examine it carefully.

"It really is this thing." He picked out a small red worm-like creature from the eyeball, and this thing fell onto the table and squirmed, "Eye Mite."

This insect is harmless to humans, and the old man didn't even know he had been planted with such a thing. It is a medium that allows the user to share the field of vision with the Eye Mite host.

Because the Eye Mite itself is a parasite, the guard had previously checked the old man for supernatural powers and spell remnants, but found nothing. However, this kind of insect adjusts its body color in situations of sudden light changes, which was the flaw caught by Zhongsun Mou.

There is no doubt that it was Mr. Mai who tampered with the old man's eyes.

That is to say, whatever the gatekeeper old man saw, Mr. Mai could also see, without needing to show his face personally.

Zhongsun Mou was startled after seeing the Eye Mite, not angry but happy: "The distance between the Eye Mite and its master cannot be too far, otherwise it will fail." He ordered the guard, "Send more manpower to step up the search; this fellow is very likely still hiding in the town!"

The subordinates hurried to do it, and by the way, dragged the old man away, then used clean water to wash away the blood on the ground.

Zhongsun Mou stood by the window and took a long breath.

The subject of the investigation is very cunning; these arrangements could not have been made temporarily, especially the Eye Mite trick.

That is to say, after the gatekeeper old man walked into the courtyard, Mr. Mai saw everything in the courtyard clearly through his eyes.

How many people were chasing him, what they looked like, and what their relationship was with each other—these materials were easily obtained by the other party.

Half an hour later, the guard returned to report: The local government office is very cooperative, and the streets and alleys of Shuanglu Town have already posted bounties, Mr. Mai's portrait is on the wall, and there are people loudly preaching on the side. Anyone who can report Mr. Mai's whereabouts will get fifteen taels of silver; this huge sum of money attracted many townspeople to watch.

Some people also clicked their tongues in wonder, saying that Mr. Mai looked like a good person, and they didn't expect him to be a fugitive, really not knowing a person's heart by their face.

Zhongsun Mou's subordinates hurried to ask, and these townspeople all confirmed that Mr. Mai indeed looked like this, and there were several merchants in the town who bought goods from him to do business.

The gatekeeper old man's description was still very accurate.

Of course, now these merchants have all been arrested for questioning.

Zhongsun Mou listened to the report with his eyes half-closed, then suddenly asked: "By the way, what about that group of people surnamed He?"

"They have already left Mr. Mai's house and returned to the inn."

"Didn't go anywhere else?"

"No, went straight back to the inn, didn't stop anywhere else."

Zhongsun Mou chuckled: "I thought they had other skills." So that's all there is to it.

"But after you left, they stayed at Mr. Mai's house for more than two quarter-hours."

"Doing what?"

"Not clear, two Drilling Wind Beasts guarded the door, we couldn't get in, only know they gathered in the study to talk, and seemed to be looking at something together."

Zhongsun Mou's face sank slightly, but he soon figured it out: "They arrived one step earlier than me, and might have had gains from the search, but refused to share with me."

"In addition, what is the background of this fellow surnamed He? Is there any news from the Bai Shi County Magistrate?"

"The Bai Shi County Magistrate also saw him for the first time, only heard from Guard Jiao that the special envoy is not a Red Yan person, and the Crown Prince respects him quite a bit."

"Not a Red Yan person?" Zhongsun Mou was very surprised, "Fushan Yue actually found a foreigner to be his special envoy?"

The guard couldn't answer this question either.

A special envoy doesn't just have a nickname, but also corresponding privileges.

Giving these powers to a foreigner, is Fushan Yue big-hearted or does he trust this person especially?

Zhongsun Mou knows this eldest son of the Red Yan Kingdom better than others. Someone who can make a person as arrogant and fierce as Fushan Yue respect him should have some skills himself.

But he hated the house and its crow before, so he didn't give the fellow surnamed He a good look either.

At this time, someone else said:

"My lord, the chewing tobacco has been identified; it is indeed produced in Qizhou, Red Yan Kingdom."

Half a tube of chewing tobacco was hidden in Mr. Mai's desk, and they also brought it back for analysis.

Zhongsun Mou clicked his tongue: "Did they need to identify it? Only Qizhou's chewing tobacco uses white bamboo tubes, and this kind of bamboo tube can exude a fragrance similar to citrus."

Not only do the various demon vassal states of Beijia have their own tobacco production, but even the chewing tobacco produced by the same demon kingdom is divided by region.

One side of the water and soil supports one side of the people; similarly, the people of one side are also accustomed to the chewing tobacco of one side.

Zhongsun Mou knows that many dignitaries and merchants also bring local chewing tobacco when they go out, and they are not used to it if they change brands.

"And, and the clothes brought back from Mr. Mai's bedroom chest."

"How about it?"

"We brought back twelve pieces, two of which are 'Yanghu White' material." This person said, "'Yanghu White' is an old brand in Qizhou, a specialty of Bai Sha Qu, deeply loved by the locals. These two pieces have been worn for a period of time, not brand new clothes."

If they were worn daily, they weren't specially placed to confuse people.

Zhongsun Mou said slowly: "Qizhou Bai Sha Qu?"

That place is already close to the northern border of the Red Yan Kingdom, and if you walk another hundred or eighty miles north, you reach the territory of Lingxu City again.

After another moment, the guard reported again: "My lord, Mr. Mai's account books have been analyzed."

They almost emptied Mr. Mai's study, especially taking all the documents, not leaving a single scrap of paper for He Lingchuan.

Although these documents might all be Mr. Mai's front, Zhongsun Mou still believes they have meaning.

Because these businesses are real.

Whatever exists must leave a trace.

He had many subordinates, and soon the analysis results were out:

Mr. Mai mainly does herb and oil business, but they are all small trades, at best a medium-to-low scale in Shuanglu Town, not eye-catching.

But such fragmented business cannot be supported by him alone, especially since Mr. Mai only comes to Shuanglu Town three or four times a year.

Business requires contact and face-to-face negotiation, unless...

"He has a warehouse locally in Shuanglu Town, and he doesn't have to worry about incoming and outgoing goods; when customers want to buy things, they go there to sign and pick them up."

"In that case, he is just a distributor?" Zhongsun Mou's face became solemn, "He has a supplier!"

"Yes, we also found his source of goods, very likely in—"

Zhongsun Mou interrupted him: "Near Qizhou Bai Sha Qu?"

"Ah no, it's Qizhou, but in Beehive Mountain." The subordinate hurried to say, "Maybe twenty or thirty miles away from Bai Sha Qu."

Zhongsun Mou nodded: "A cunning rabbit doesn't eat the grass by its hole; he won't expose his nest directly."

Just then, someone knocked gently on the door outside the guest room.

The guard opened the door and saw the old postman holding an oil-paper package:

"Someone sent a letter from outside, asking us to pass it to the lord here."

The guard didn't dare to send the oil-paper package directly to Zhongsun Mou, only opening it at the door.

Inside was a book.

Zhongsun Mou took one look and exclaimed: "Who sent this?"

After He Lingchuan returned to the inn, he first filled his stomach and then returned to his room to meditate.

Others thought he was calm and composed, and even General Ling, who was impatient, didn't come over to ask more.

In fact, through the perspective of the eyeball spider, he saw everything that happened at Zhongsun Mou's place.

His own side is full of demon beasts with decent combat power, but when it comes to reading documents and analyzing data, humans still have to do it. Manpower is limited; it's better to pick up ready-made ones from Zhongsun Mou.

Therefore, he allowed Zhongsun Mou to take away all the documents—anyway, he couldn't grab much at that time.

"That is to say, all clues point to near Bai Sha Qu in Qizhou? This Mr. Mai seems like a shrewd person; would he leave such obvious clues?"

At this moment, a knocking sound came from the door.

He Lingchuan opened the door, and the shop assistant standing outside handed over an oil-paper package:

"My lord, someone specifically asked to send this to you."

The fierce tiger, which was originally lying on the soft couch licking its fur, raised its head at the sound.

He Lingchuan took the paper package: "What did that person look like? Where did he go?"

"It, it was brought by the lame beggar in the back alley."

He Lingchuan didn't listen to his chatter, jumped downstairs in one leap, and caught up with the beggar outside the shop in two steps.

Since he was lame, he couldn't walk fast.

He took out two copper coins and shook them in front of the beggar: "The person who asked you to send this, which direction did he go?"

The beggar pointed west.

Jiao Yu also came out at the sound, and He Lingchuan let it sniff the scent on the oil-paper package: "Chase!"

This is using the fierce tiger as a dog. Jiao Yu didn't have time to complain about him, followed the scent and ran forward.

He Lingchuan then asked the beggar leisurely: "What did that person look like?"

"Tall, gray cloak, good clothing material, but the hat brim covered his face, couldn't see what he looked like."

He Lingchuan threw the copper coins to him and went upstairs himself.

About a cup of tea later, the fierce tiger returned.

He Lingchuan saw it return empty-handed and comforted it: "No matter, this lame man took a long time to walk to the shop, enough for Mr. Mai to retreat calmly."

Otherwise, why would people look for a lame man? "The scent disappeared halfway." Jiao Yu shook its head, "He used some magic to cover himself. What's in the paper package?"

At this point, a few thumping sounds suddenly came from the floor outside the door, and then a knock on the door came.

This knocking sound was very characteristic; He Lingchuan knew it was General Ling as soon as he heard it.

Opening the door, he saw that the old sheep had shrunk to the size of an ordinary sheep, looking up at him eagerly: "I heard movement here!"

"Your legs are long, indeed." He Lingchuan knew that General Ling probably always had one ear monitoring here, not letting go of any wind or grass movement.

Honestly, whether it's a human or a demon, being so dedicated to one's clansmen is worthy of respect.

He let the sheep in, took out the oil-paper package, and opened it in front of the two demons.

Inside was a book, strictly speaking a notebook, only about seventy or eighty pages, but the cover was stiff, looking brand new at first glance.

Jiao Yu was very surprised: "Huh, this is... 'Record of Respecting Gods'?"

This masterpiece is a notebook written by the former Beijia Demon Emperor Wu Chen in his later years, and all the nobles of Lingxu City and all the vassal demon kings have it in their hands.

Of course, the families of the common people in Lingxu City and the capitals of various demon kingdoms might also have collections.

Jiao Yu and General Ling had of course both read this book: "Who would send this to you?"

(End of chapter)