Chapter 504: Tracing Traces

The clear voice was too characteristic of a young man, and "Mountains and Rivers in the Palm" was truly famous in the Jianghu. When the man in gray raised a corner of his clean chin from under the bamboo hat, He Zhangge's stiff body slowly cooled down.

He already knew who the person in front of him was, but didn't know how he appeared here.

"You can't bear for him to suffer before death, and you don't want the Fengshui Dock to be destroyed, yet you don't even have the courage to swing a sword." The man sighed lightly, looking toward the direction of the Divine Capital. That Son of Heaven city was so far away that it couldn't be seen at all.

He Zhangge stood stiffly in silence.

"From Dongting Lake to Yang Family Ferry, two days are indeed not enough." The man seemed to know what he was thinking, "I was already near the capital a month ago."

He looked at He Zhangge seriously: "I have waited for Dock Master He for a month."

He Zhangge turned his head slowly to look at him: "If True Disciple Zhu wants to find a small gang, just send a message."

"Sitting opposite in the bright hall, how can it compare to meeting like this?" The man raised his bamboo hat and looked at him, his eyes as bright as a god, "And how can I be sure that the only son of 【Four Water Cult Snake】 He Wujian still receives his legacy?"

He Zhangge's pupils shrank violently. In an instant, he looked at the man in front of him with near horror, his lips trembling slightly.

"Xianren Terrace Crane Inspector Zhu Gaoyang, ordered to investigate the case of the assassination of the 'Lin Blood Empress'." The man raised his token and pressed his sword, saying sternly, "Now you are ordered to cooperate with the investigation of He Wujian's whereabouts, and be detained afterward."

"..."

"Twenty-three years of old events, there will always be a day to reopen them."

Seeing Pei Ye didn't know that he had missed an old acquaintance. The ice prism didn't appear again until they and the arriving public servants finished cleaning up the entire aftermath.

Seeing Pei Ye remembered Xu Chuo telling him "no need to worry about the Mystic Gate." Although he didn't know what arrangements she had made, it seemed that the promise had indeed taken effect.

There was no need to gallop too fast on the way back. The three sat on an open-air carriage. Xie Chuantang sat, Seeing Pei Ye leaned, and Zhang Piaoxu curled up in a corner.

His friend Niu Ziyi, who came with him, followed far behind on a horse, poking his head and looking around, seeming very wary of these official uniforms.

"You are alone, your pulse tree has just grown, what are you mixing into this dragon's pool and tiger's den for?"

Zhang Piaoxu looked up at him and didn't speak.

But the next moment, Xie Chuantang cast a cold glance: "Routine questioning, can't you hear?"

Zhang Piaoxu stretched his neck unnaturally, adjusted his posture, and said muffledly: "... I just wanted to see what they were hiding underneath?"

"How did you know they were hiding something underneath?"

"..."

"Hmm?"

"The movement that night was very loud, I heard it all."

"Which night? Heard what?"

"It was... the middle of the tenth month, I can't remember which day, anyway it wasn't past the fifteenth." Zhang Piaoxu hugged his knees, "That night, this ship was parked in the Cao River outside Taiping Cao. It was very noisy in the middle of the night, and it stopped after a quarter of an hour. Then all the lights on the ship turned on, many people went up and down, some threw iron nets into the water, and several powerful ones jumped into the water... anyway, it was very lively."

Xie Chuantang frowned: "Xicheng matter, why doesn't the Yamen have this record."

"..., no one saw it at all at the time. That is a forbidden area for Cao transport, not allowed to go at all. The nearest house is far away."

"..."

"..."

A moment of silence. Seeing Pei Ye looked at him sympathetically. He looked at Xie Chuantang stiffly, and Xie Chuantang looked at him coldly.

"Then why were you there?"

"..." Zhang Piaoxu avoided the woman's eyes, "I said don't use it as a handle to bind me to the big prison."

Seeing Pei Ye said: "Say it, won't take you."

"That day a rotten street envoy bullied me, I went to pee on his table in the office—hey! Don't write it on paper..."

Xie Chuantang looked at him expressionlessly, and the youth's tail sound lowered immediately.

"It's okay, Lu Yu Gu was still the magistrate then." Seeing Pei Ye smiled, but was curious, "Are you so curious? You have to get involved when you see it?"

Zhang Piaoxu was silent.

Seeing Pei Ye didn't care too much either. Since the first time he saw this youth, he felt his thinking wasn't on the same line as his, just thinking that Yang Yan should be able to talk to him.

Xie Chuantang was still questioning him meticulously, and wanted him to point out the scene after getting off the carriage.

The journey was still pursuing speed, and the carriage didn't waste much time. When arriving at the Jingzhao Prefecture, it was just another morning.

"Hard work." Di Jiu, who stood on the steps, looked much better. Li Zhao still stood behind him. For the past few days, they had taken over such a big stall as the Jingzhao Prefecture and pursued the clues left by the Taiping Cao gang, really without a moment of leisure.

Entering the room and lighting the heater, in the dim winter gloom, several people relaxed and curled into chairs, drinking a cup of hot tea to relieve fatigue for the first time in a long while.

"Said that day, you check the purpose of Taiping Cao now, we find the connection behind Taiping Cao." Di Jiu said softly, "Now it seems that this is the same thing."

This newly appointed magistrate put down the tea cup: "Cao Division, Transport Commissioner, and even the south thousands of miles away, if there is no big wing covering in the court, how can everything be so stable and smooth."

"The top priority is to check where they unloaded those 'goods'." Li Zhao passed the plate around, letting everyone grab a few winter dates to go with the tea, "Pei brother and Xie Constable's meaning, is that they have all been unloaded in the Divine Capital?"

Xie Chuantang's expression was the most serious. She hadn't touched her tea: "According to Zhang Er's confession, they unloaded these 'goods' to Taiping Cao, and Taiping Cao transported them elsewhere. The 'Nan Nan Jin Feng' we intercepted was an empty ship on the return trip. According to this inference, it was unloaded in the Divine Capital, that's right."

Taiping Cao was controlled by the Yan Prince's Mansion, so the things were naturally what the Yan Prince's Mansion wanted, but the final enemy had long been clear. At this time, to find out the opponent's plot, it was instead the middle connection that was missing.

Because no matter how they checked, that majestic and deep mansion in the East City had never probed a trace of tentacles.

"Seeing Pei Ye found a very important clue on the ship." Xie Chuantang said, "One of those 'goods' escaped after Nan Nan Jin Feng entered the capital. This one—I'll describe it like this for now—scale monster is not under the opponent's control."

Seeing Pei Ye nodded: "Judging from the traces, it is a very important one... and also very dangerous."

"Can this one be found?" Di Jiu said.

Xie Chuantang said: "I just finished recording the detailed confession. A youth admitted that he had seen it vaguely once. I will go to the east bank of the Cao River to search afterward, and should be able to find some traces."

"I can find people from Xianren Terrace to help." Seeing Pei Ye said, "They are very professional."

Di Jiu tapped the table lightly and thought: "So far, no murder case of people being harmed has been received. Li Zhao, you go and verify it again later."

After a pause, he said: "Also visit those who lost livestock and the like."

Li Zhao took the order.

Xicheng.

There was no such massive gang on the wide Cao River, so it had to be busy and dispatched for some days. Today was slightly cloudy, and the sky was a cold and distant pale haze, boundless.

This river would not freeze, but the soil on the river bank was already a bit dry and hard. The breeze shook the withered grass and also shook the clothes of several people.

"Look, it was here that it tore the secret cabin and escaped. The people on the ship threw fishing nets to catch it. This is the scratch left when it hooked onto the stone." Xie Chuantang pointed with her sword, "At that time, at least twenty cultivators chased along the bank for more than two hundred meters, and I don't know how many jumped into the water. But when they reached this position, they turned back again."

This was the largest dispatch of the Jingzhao Prefecture since Di Jiu took office. Dozens of public servants were sent to the Cao River, opening small boats and holding fishing nets, told to look for things like claw marks and scales. However, after searching several times, these things were not seen at all. The things of Nan Nan Jin Feng that day were restored to seven or eight out of ten.

Seeing Pei Ye frowned: "Why?"

"Because they found they were played, the scale monster went in the opposite direction." Sister Xing Zhi said calmly. She squatted down, dipped a drop of cold water with her finger, and dripped it into her small glass gourd.

Soon the residual Mystic Qi brought out a faint color reaction, all turning into a faint cyan color.

"A kind of Mystic Qi residue, three to five Mystic Arts, all from the same source as Fengshui Dock Master 【Strange Dragon】 He Zhangge." Sister Xing Zhi said.

Seeing Pei Ye was stunned: "What is this Dock Master's cultivation?"

"A Tuan Shen with quite a lot of qualifications."

"Even Tuan Shen didn't catch it?"

"Forced use under 【Same World Law】, after all, it is limited." Sister Xing Zhi looked at the water surface and turned back to the topic, "This represents two things: First, this scale monster's ability to control water is unimaginable. He Zhangge specializes in water Mystic, but was actually played by it in the way of water; Second, this scale monster possesses considerable spiritual intelligence and is extremely cunning."

She looked at Seeing Pei Ye: "Definitely not a Frost Ghost type."

Seeing Pei Ye nodded slowly. Sister Xing Zhi sighed lightly: "I just can't figure out... why can't I search for its spiritual Mystic traces."

Xie Chuantang said at this time: "Sir, is there any clue about its movement?"

Sister Xing Zhi shook her head slowly: "Water is the thing that leaves the least traces. Since no spiritual Mystic was left, no matter how many times it swam here, it cannot be traced."

Xie Chuantang was silent.

Seeing Pei Ye frowned and looked at the river surface at this time: "... Actually, it might not be in the water."

"... What?"

Seeing Pei Ye raised his finger and pointed: "This big return bay of the Cao River is actually closed."

Xie Chuantang looked at him immediately.

"Look, this water looks like it leads south, but it passes the Taiping Cao gang station after three miles. In the case of this thing escaping, Taiping Cao will definitely set up a card to intercept—they did indeed do so," Seeing Pei Ye said, "And toward other directions, it is all shore."

Yes, the Cao River looks wide and long, but in the end, it was excavated for merchant ship loading and unloading. The flowing water must pass through the dock. Therefore, to the scale creature, this is a huge cage.

Sister Xing Zhi turned her head: "There are always too many possibilities. Is it that they didn't have time, or just didn't stop it?"

"Then they should have gone out of the city along the river to chase long ago." Seeing Pei Ye pointed.

Xie Chuantang's eyes lit up.

"But they delayed the itinerary for eight days here, precisely because this thing escaped, and they determined that it was in the city." Seeing Pei Ye said, "Finally, they searched this water area and didn't find it, and Taiping Cao itself got into trouble, so Nan Nan Jin Feng had to leave the city."

"So..."

"The Cao River is two miles away from the nearest West Pool, so since it is not in this water area, then it must be able to go ashore."

Things are getting clearer and clearer, only this scale monster is becoming more and more ghostly and blurry. The two women were silent for a while.

"... Can travel in water, and can walk on land... Is there such a creature in the world?" Xie Chuantang frowned and muttered.

"I know!" In the silence, Seeing Pei Ye suddenly clapped his hands.

"Hmm?" Both looked at him.

Seeing Pei Ye smiled and stretched out his finger: "It's a tadpole, and later it turned into a toad."

"..."

Both gave him a white eye silently at the same time.

"... What's the matter! Isn't this joke funny?" Seeing Pei Ye was dissatisfied.

Sister Xing Zhi smiled: "Funny, Sect Li Li Zhangmen must love to hear it extremely."

"..."

"The matter of appearance is a specialty in the industry. They should be almost done over there, let's go and see first." Xie Chuantang didn't know what Sect Li Li Zhangmen or Sect Master Ming was, and took the lead to turn around.

Not far from the Cao River, an office stood here.

The man with the Yan character token tied to his waist held a pen and leaned on the case, closing his eyes quietly from time to time. Some images slowly took shape under the pen. He wore a Daoist robe and had a somewhat immortal style.

Zhang Piaoxu sat opposite him, unwilling to put his arms on the desk.

"You should have seen its head... describe it to me." The man closed his eyes and said in a low voice.

"It had scales on its face, and I was almost scared out of my soul when I saw it suddenly." Zhang Piaoxu raised his head and recalled that night.

The man frowned, as if he felt something was wrong, but after sorting it out in his heart, he put down his pen and completed this realistic painting.

"The 【Painter】 in the Terrace." The three didn't know when they had pushed the door in. Sister Xing Zhi lowered her voice, "A warlock who has practiced the spiritual scripture 'Beauty in the Painting,' has a special intuition for some images he has never met."

The man raised his head and looked at them, just smiling and putting down the pen: "Purple Ribbon Xing, hello."

"Is Mr. Qi done?"

The man stood up: "This little friend and I have five key points, which are: 'many scales,' 'sharp claws,' 'have fins,' 'sharp teeth,' and 'terrifying face.' The remaining parts were supplemented by myself combined with other materials, thus completing this 'Beauty Portrait'."

Sister Xing Zhi thanked him and took it, and Seeing Pei Ye leaned over to look.

I saw that the painting was a creature covered in scales lying in shallow water. The body shape was very strange: there was a pair of muscular and slender forelimbs on both sides of the torso, bending the joints, serving as support for lying on the ground, and the claws were indeed sharp; the rear part of the torso turned into a powerful long tail, which I think was used for paddling water, but there were no hind limbs; the face really had a bit of the feeling of a Frost Ghost, and it was indeed a look that would be scared when seen for the first time.

But soon Sister Xing Zhi raised her head: "Mr. Qi, we just surveyed and found that this thing might be able to cross at least two miles of land, and I'm afraid it's not effortless."

The man raised his eyebrows in surprise: "Oh? —Can it go ashore?"

He looked at Zhang Piaoxu.

Zhang Piaoxu was also surprised, stunned: "No... I don't know... just saw a glance when it came out of the water at night..."

"It's Pei Shaoxia's inference, we think it is mostly correct."

Seeing Pei Ye nodded confidently: "It must be—actually I think it can move and hide on land very easily."

"Oh well, actually I think this image is already very balanced." The man pondered, picked up the pen again, closed his eyes and thought for a while, leaned over to the case, and added several strokes again. He smiled and handed it to Sister Xing Zhi again.

The three gathered together and looked down, only to see that nothing else had moved, but two strong and powerful hind limbs were added to both sides of the long tail.

Seeing Pei Ye was silent for a while, frowned, and whispered to Sister Xing Zhi's ear: "Isn't this still a toad?" ===== CHAPTER 505 =====