Chapter 83 Silencing
"The owner of Li's Clothing Store, did you see some gangsters running out of Red Clothes Lane last night?"

"Yes, sir. Those four Jianghu people looked hurried and quite suspicious."

The snow in Los Angeles has not melted yet.

The cold wind whistled past the ground, and the swaying torches flickered, illuminating the spies' hands that suddenly tightened on the handles of their swords, as well as the white breath exhaled from under their hats, like hungry beasts finding new prey.

The spies subconsciously looked at Chen Ji, waiting for his decision.

Chen Ji covered his face with a gray cloth and lowered his head in deep thought.

As the saying goes, three kills and a powerful stick will break up the chivalry of the Jianghu. Three pages of confession, every sentence has the word "brotherhood". These Jianghu knights are not tough guys. If the Secret Service catches them, they will definitely implicate the prince and Bai Li.

But if he deliberately did nothing, Xifeng was not a fool.

In the flickering flames, the oilcloth burned by the torch was melted, and drops of flames fell on the bluestone road.

Suddenly, the wind died down and the flames stopped flickering.

Chen Ji looked up at the spy who reported the news and said calmly, "Bring the owner of Li's Clothing Shop here for questioning."

After a while, a middle-aged man dressed as a clerk came forward with a flattering smile and said, "Greetings, everyone. I am Li Bing."

Chen Ji looked at the other person and asked calmly, "Where did you see those chivalrous knights? Tell me in detail."

Li Bing quickly replied, "When the gentlemen blocked Red Dress Alley, they were escaping from the back alley of Red Dress Alley. One of them was so scared that he dropped his knife on the ground. He ran two steps and then turned back to pick it up."

Chen Ji frowned and said in disappointment: "This is not the behavior of a thief from Jing Dynasty."

Xifeng was also a little disappointed: "Although the thieves in Jing Dynasty are hateful, they are all well-trained and definitely not such villains."

Li Bing suddenly added, "Oh, right? There seemed to be someone in the back alley calling for help to climb over the wall. One of them went to help, but before he could help the person out, he ran out again and said to his companions, 'Hurry up, there's no way to save them, they are surrounded by six people.' They passed by me when they were talking, and I heard it clearly."

Xifeng's expression changed, and he looked at Chen Ji: "Sir, the people who surrounded them must be our colleagues. The killer took action to protect the people in the backyard! Although we don't know who the people surrounded are, they must be very important!"

Chen Ji took a deep breath silently. The shopkeeper had listened too carefully. He couldn't hide it even if he wanted to: "Shopkeeper Li, where did you see them running to?"

"Head west along Luoyi Street, but I don't know where they ended up."

Chen Ji breathed a sigh of relief again. It was not easy to catch four people in such a huge city like Luo City, but at least he could delay some time.

However, at this time, Li Bing spoke with a heavy breath: "But I know where they live!"

Chen Ji: “Hmm?”

Li Bing said quickly, "These four people from the underworld came to Luocheng half a month ago. I remember them because they were dressed in ordinary and worn clothes, but they were very generous. When they first came to Luocheng, they each ordered two sets of clothes from my shop. They were all stand-up collars and large lapels that are commonly worn in autumn, and they also chose exquisite mud pumpkin and mouse patterns."

Li Bing continued, "After the four of them took the measurements, they left and told me to make the clothes and send them to the Fulai Inn in the west."

The so-called mud pumpkin and mouse pattern is a kind of embroidery pattern on the edges of sleeves and collars. It has a complex embroidery process and is loved by officials and nobles. It is very expensive.

The more Li Bing spoke, the heavier Chen Ji's mood became.

He had met these four people before. Among the twelve people who met Liu Xingshou in the Embroidery Tower in Baiyi Lane that day, apart from Chen Ji, the Prince, Bai Li, She Dengke, Liu Quxing, Liang Gou'er, Liang Mao'er and the little monk, there were these four people.

At that time, the four of them were wearing stand-up collars and large lapels, and the cuffs were embroidered with mud pumpkin and mouse patterns!
Moreover, the time when the other party came to Luocheng also matched. These four people originally lived in poverty, and their lives became better only after they met the prince.

But even though the prince was so good to them, they still abandoned him and Bai Li when they were in danger.

Xifeng looked at Chen Ji's profile and said, "Sir, what should we do?"

Chen Ji said calmly, "Surround the Fulai Inn and arrest the people."

The only thing he could hope for now was that these four people were not so stupid as to return to the inn after escaping from Red Lane.

……

……

Outside the Fulai Inn, dozens of spies had knives on their waists. In just a dozen breaths, they nimbly surrounded the Fulai Inn, including the backyard, the left and right sides, and the stable.

If those four martial arts masters at the post-natal realm were in the inn, they would be unable to escape even if they had wings.

In silence, Chen Ji was the first to step over the threshold of the inn.

The first floor of the inn was a simple wine shop. It was closed at this time, and the wooden chairs had been wiped clean and turned upside down on the table. Behind the counter, a young waiter was sleeping soundly on an abacus, with an oil lamp lit next to him.

Chen Ji came to the counter and patted the waiter on the shoulder gently.

The waiter raised his head sleepily and said in a dreamy voice: "Dear guests, would you like to stay in the hotel? The first-class room is 140 wen a night, the second-class room is 45 wen a night, and the stable is 12 wen a night..." As he was speaking, the waiter saw the masked Chen Ji and several spies with knives behind him, and he suddenly woke up!
He trembled and said, "My Lords, I...I have never done anything wrong."

Chen Ji asked: "Don't be afraid, I just want to ask you one question."

"Excuse me, sir."

"Do you have four sword-carrying people living here?"

The guy quickly replied: "Yes!"

"Are they still in the inn?"

The waiter answered in detail, "Yes, they said they were going to Hongyi Lane to have fun yesterday, but they came back before midnight, looking very hurried. After that, the four of them ordered food and drinks directly to the room and never came out again."

This was the answer Chen Ji least wanted to hear. He was silent for a moment: "Which room are they staying in?"

The waiter pointed at the stairs and said, "Go up the stairs and it's the third room on the right. It's the No. 1 room. There's a sign in front of the door that says 'Chun Shui'."

Before Chen Ji gave the order, Xifeng winked at the spies, and several of them immediately drew their swords, bent down carefully and went upstairs.

Chen Ji wanted to follow him, but Xifeng held his shoulder and said, "Sir, Master Jinzhu said that you have no martial arts skills, and he specifically told us to protect you. We can handle this kind of dangerous thing, you must not put yourself in danger."

Chen Ji looked at the other person's expression under his bamboo hat, which was serious and sincere, with an unwavering gaze: the other person was not doubting him, but Jin Zhu really told him so.

He sighed in his heart and stood beside the counter without moving: "Be careful."

The secret agent suddenly kicked open the door of Chunshuijian, and rushed in with long knives in hand, full of murderous intent.

But the next moment, someone suddenly shouted, "Sir, come and see!"

Chen Ji rushed up first, holding the oil lamp on the counter. He pushed aside the spies in the corridor and came to the door of the room. He looked up at the beam and his breathing suddenly stopped.

On the beams, they saw the four gangsters they were looking for, with their necks tied with four white silk scarves, hanging neatly on the roof!

Not only that, the skin on the faces of the four people was completely cut off, leaving only the bloody facial muscles exposed in the air, which was extremely horrifying.

The spies looked indifferent, as if they had seen this kind of thing many times, but Chen Ji suddenly felt a chill in his heart. These four people were killed in advance.

He suppressed his discomfort and went to examine the body.

The corpse was cold and stiff, and the stiffness spread throughout the body. It meant he had been dead for at least two hours.

Chen Ji came to the door and found that the latch was not damaged.

He went to the window again, but saw that the copper sheet used to close the window had been cut off by a sharp weapon. The murderer had come in through the window.

"Take them down and take off all their clothes!" Chen Ji said coldly.

The spies used a human ladder to take down the four bodies and laid them on the beds.

When the four men were stripped of their clothes, everyone saw in the moonlight outside the window that each corpse had a copper nail nailed into the chest, and the copper nail was inserted cleanly and neatly without drawing a drop of blood.

The deceased did not cry for help. The people who killed them must be masters among masters, and they did not even give them a chance to react.

Chen Ji pried open the mouths of the four people again, and saw that there was a short copper nail nailed on the tongue of each of them.

"This is not silencing, this is a trial."

"Someone is punishing them!"

Xifeng looked solemn. They had just found a new clue and before they had time to be happy, the clue was broken again.

Chen Ji looked at Xi Feng: "Have you ever heard of this kind of trial method?"

Xifeng was thoughtful: "There seem to be two cases in the martial arts world, but we have to go to the inner prison file library to find out the details. Sir, this matter is strange. The people they left behind must be very important. For this reason, they killed them and shut them up forever. Moreover, the murderer also cut off their faces to prevent us from finding witnesses who are familiar with them. Who do you think did it?"

Who did it?
It's simple, whoever benefits the most is the one who does it.

Chen Ji stood in the dim room, holding the oil lamp in his left hand. He recalled the prince's generous and cheerful smile, and it was hard to believe that the other party had such a deep and vicious mind.

Moreover, if the prince had such an expert by his side to clean up the mess, how could it have been my turn to rescue him last night?

But if this wasn't done by the prince, who else could it be? !
The brilliant impression of the prince in Chen Ji's memory suddenly became blurred, as if a layer of haze gradually enveloped the prince's face.

(End of this chapter)