Chapter 147: 147. Chapter 145: Four-Direction City

147. Chapter 145: Four-Direction City

Li Diting nodded:

"Can you guess a little? Is it about Tou Jie?"

As captain of the Enforcement Guard, it would be strange if Li Diting didn't know about Tou Jie's case.

"That's right. Tou Jie came to Xiao Xingjiao Market half a month ago because of a kid named Ding Huan, then vanished. Judging by appearances, Ding Huan is the most suspicious."

Zuo Shigou looked at Li Diting.

Li Diting laughed:

"Manager Gou, if you're talking about Ding Huan, I know far more about this than you do."

Zuo Shigou frowned:

"Captain Li, what do you mean?"

Li Diting's smile faded:

"Because Ding Huan just arrived on Four-Direction Starland, we placed him under three months of surveillance. From the day he stepped into Xiao Xingjiao Market, he entered our monitoring system.

According to our surveillance, he never even left his residence—so he's unlikely connected to Tou Jie's disappearance."

Upon hearing this, Zuo Shigou had no doubt whatsoever.

After all, Li Diting was captain of Xiao Xingjiao Market's Enforcement Team; if there were even a hint of suspicion, Li Diting would assist the Zuo Clan—there was no way he'd risk his position to defend an outsider.

"Has anyone unusual come to Xiao Xingjiao Market recently?" Zuo Shigou asked again.

Li Diting hesitated before answering:

"There is one strange matter."

Hearing this, Zuo Shigou perked up.

Li Diting continued:

"There was a man named Kan Ni, who previously did low-capital trades in Xiao Xingjiao Market.

Later, he sold a house to Ding Huan—but strangely, after the sale, he vanished. Only when we found his corpse did we learn he'd been murdered."

Zuo Shigou froze. Hadn't Li Diting just said Ding Huan wasn't suspicious? How could this now point directly at Ding Huan?

Li Diting seemed not to notice Zuo Shigou's puzzled gaze:

"I naturally suspected Ding Huan first, so I reviewed all his surveillance footage—and confirmed he never left his home.

As the person responsible for Xiao Xingjiao Market's security, even if he showed no signs of guilt, I still had to investigate him."

Zuo Shigou nodded—that made sense.

"When I just interrogated Ding Huan, Jin returned. Ding Huan bought Kan Ni's house, and Jin had some connection to Kan Ni, so he urged me to find the killer."

Here, Li Diting subtly showed a flicker of confusion:

"What puzzles me is, after merely urging me once, Jin hurriedly left Xiao Xingjiao Market again."

"Did you find Kan Ni's killer?" Jin's disappearance meant nothing to Zuo Shigou.

Li Diting nodded:

"We found him—it was the Gu family's four brothers. Kan Ni gained a large sum of money, so the Gu brothers targeted him—and ended up killing him.

Previously, the Gu brothers and Kan Ni were close; they'd committed many crimes together. But I held back because of Jin's face, never acting against them. I never expected they'd turn on each other…"

Li Diting stopped there. Zuo Shigou's expression darkened.

He'd never met Ding Huan, but during his investigation at the Star Plaza, he'd learned exactly what kind of person Ding Huan was.

He was a coward, utterly terrified of trouble.

That's precisely why Ding Huan sold his starship to Tou Jie—even letting her name the price, too afraid to raise it.

Someone like that wanting to kill Tou Jie? No—let alone kill her and her entire crew—was impossible.

It was far more likely Kan Ni and the Gu brothers.

Together, those five had the strength to kill Tou Jie.

Maybe they saw Tou Jie arrive at Xiao Xingjiao Market, grew greedy, and murdered her.

Then, fearing exposure, the Gu brothers silenced Kan Ni?

The more Zuo Shigou thought, the more plausible it became.

"Captain Li, tell me honestly—did you rush to execute the Gu brothers because someone's watching you?"

Zuo Shigou believed he'd found the key. His tone turned cold and sharp.

Li Diting's face flushed with embarrassment:

"Not exactly watched—Jin was just upset over Kan Ni's death, and he made a scene with the Enforcement Guard.

Since the Gu brothers were indeed Kan Ni's killers, I gave Jin a favor and executed them.

I assume he saw them executed and left."

Zuo Shigou stood up:

"Thank you, Captain Li. I'll take my leave."

He believed he'd uncovered the truth. He could return and report accurately.

This whole affair was Jin's doing.

He ordered his subordinate Kan Ni and the Gu brothers to kill Tou Jie and her crew—perhaps even took part himself.

Then he made the Gu brothers kill Kan Ni.

Too many of them to eliminate at once, so he used the Enforcement Guard's blade to kill them, achieving his goal of silencing witnesses.

He got Tou Jie's belongings, eliminated her, and vanished as if it were natural.

But anyone who dares touch the Zuo Clan—Jin thinks he can walk away? He's dreaming.

……

Ding Huan had recently stopped refining talismans; he felt his talisman brush was too low-grade, and continuing would be Bai Da.

After practicing the evasion technique for half a month and finding his progress growing difficult, Ding Huan decided to leave Xiao Xingjiao Market.

He had bought the house earlier, believing he could still receive news of powerful beings from high civilizations arriving at Si Xiang Star Continent from Xiao Xingjiao Market.

Now that he proved this impossible, staying in Xiao Xingjiao Market was meaningless.

Before leaving, Ding Huan still went to see Li Di Ting.

Li Di Ting knew for certain that he had killed Kan Ni and Tou Jie, and later Jin.

Until now, the Zuo Shi family had not found him—not because of his good luck, but because Li Di Ting had shielded him.

"Haha, Brother Ding."

Seeing Ding Huan come to him, Li Di Ting was very pleased.

Ding Huan was also very warm:

"Big Brother Di Ting, I've been busy lately, so I never had time to visit you. I'm about to leave Xiao Xingjiao Market and plan to sell my Xing Tan house to you for one hundred purple gold coins."

Selling the Xing Tan house for one hundred purple gold coins was clearly giving money to Li Di Ting.

Li Di Ting was very satisfied with Ding Huan's gratitude, yet he shook his head and said:

"I cannot buy your house, and I cannot grow too close to you."

Seeing Ding Huan's confusion, Li Di Ting explained the matter of Zuo Shi Gou, and recounted his conversation with Zuo Shi Gou.

Ding Huan immediately understood: Li Di Ting had helped him shed suspicion; if he accepted the house, it would be like hanging a sign that read "Thief, I did it."

"Thank you, Big Brother. If that's the case, I'll leave the house empty here—I won't be coming back."

Li Di Ting laughed again; he understood Ding Huan's meaning—it showed Ding Huan had read the laws of Si Xiang Star Continent.

Ding Huan's house was in Xiao Xingjiao Market; if he stayed away long enough, Xiao Xingjiao Market would reclaim it.

In short, Ding Huan had still given the house to him.

Ding Huan took out another cloth bag and handed it to Li Di Ting:

"Big Brother, this bag contains a small token of my appreciation—please accept it."

"No, Brother Ding, I befriended you because I truly believe in you. You've already given me the house; I cannot accept anything else."

Li Di Ting refused.

Ding Huan stopped his refusal:

"Big Brother Di Ting, I will find any way to board a high-civilization ship and leave this place. Before I go, if you ever face trouble, go to Si Xiang City and find me."

Seeing Ding Huan's sincerity, Li Di Ting accepted it:

"Then thank you, Brother Ding. You're a capable man—I'm certain you'll make a stunning name for yourself one day. Also, if you stay in Si Xiang City temporarily, don't buy a house."

"Understood." Ding Huan replied, then took his leave from Li Di Ting.

……

After Ding Huan left, Li Di Ting felt deeply moved.

Someone like Ding Huan was worth helping—he knew gratitude.

And he understood with just a hint—truly a talent.

If Ding Huan had left without a word, he would have been disappointed.

Opening the bag, he first pulled out two bottles of wine—Ding Huan's from Earth.

Li Di Ting didn't care much; the gift was light, but the sentiment was heavy—what was given mattered less than whether it was given.

The next thing he pulled out was five thousand purple gold coins.

That was heavy.

From this, Li Di Ting judged Ding Huan to be a generous, trustworthy man.

He did not know that Ding Huan had few purple gold coins on him—if he had withdrawn all from Tou Jie's bank, he could have given him ten thousand.

The last thing he pulled out was a thin booklet.

Qian Luo Gene Scripture?

Li Di Ting quickly flipped through it—and was stunned to discover it was a cultivable technique.

To him, this was a priceless treasure.

Ding Huan giving him this meant he had seen that Li Di Ting was cultivating—but without a proper technique, his cultivation was completely unstructured.

"Thank you, Brother Ding." Li Di Ting eagerly tucked away the Qian Luo Gene Scripture and bowed toward the direction of Si Xiang City.

He accepted this favor.

On Si Xiang Star Continent, those who gave techniques to others were either family members or master-disciple, father-son pairs.

Someone like Ding Huan—a generous outsider—was almost unheard of.

……

Si Xiang Star Continent was not large, far smaller than Earth.

But Si Xiang City was huge; Earth's Shanghai and Beijing were top-tier metropolises, yet compared to Si Xiang City, they were not even in the same league.

If before it was hard to compare, after Earth's gene monsters erupted, even major cities like Shanghai and Beijing built protective walls—yet from afar, they looked little different from ancient walled cities.

Even so, they were still far smaller than Si Xiang City.

Si Xiang City's walls resembled the human corridor defense line—they enclosed an entire continent, not just a city.

Too many people entered and exited Si Xiang City; no entry fee was required.

Ding Huan entered Si Xiang City with Qi Qi Xinyue and Lao Liu—neither conspicuous nor questioned.

If anything was strange, Ding Huan and Qi Qi Xinyue bringing Lao Liu was not the strangest thing.

This place was the center of this universe; sentient beings from all planets came here.

Unusual-looking humans were normal—even minotaurs and lion-faced beings could be encountered occasionally.