After the immortal disappeared

Of course Jiao Yu would not object, but General Ling took a sip on the ground: "That's fair! Even if that kid finds out, he won't tell us."

He Lingchuan turned the book to the end and suddenly felt something different: "This book is not an account book."

This book looks nothing special from the outside, but there are only a few thin pages inside. What is recorded is no longer the collection of pulp beads, but some strange numbers, such as:

seventy-six-four-eleven;

Two-eight-one.

And so on.

Three numbers plus two bars form a set, and there are only a few sets of numbers on each page.

"It's a code word."

Both monsters cast expectant looks: "Can you decipher it?"

"You think highly of me." He Lingchuan stared intently, "This secret language must match the translation before it can be translated into words."

"Translation?"

"The book that matches it." He Lingchuan attended a public class at Wensendai, and an old master came to explain the compilation of code words. "In other words, this set of code words is designed to match that book."

"It's over!" General Ling immediately became troubled, "Books, account books, whatever, the ones with the paper were all taken away by Zhongsun!"

"Then you have to look for Zhongsun again." He Lingchuan was very objective, "He might also gain something."

Jiao Yu said: "I think he arranged some people to disguise themselves as civilians and wander around the small courtyard. He probably wanted to try his luck to see if Mr. Mai would come back."

"Probably not." He Lingchuan said this without any reliance, but with unreasonable certainty.

He also had two scrolls on hand, which he had pulled out together from the vase in the study.

He Lingchuan threw them aside. General Ling looked at them several times. He couldn't help being curious, so he took the end of the rope in his mouth and pulled it off. He arched his head and wanted to spread out the scroll.

It’s inconvenient to have no hands.

He Lingchuan had no choice but to help it flatten the scroll. This old sheep also likes paper too much.

The first scroll was a landscape painting, with high mountains and small moons, and streams and springs striking rocks. The painter was good, but He Lingchuan was not interested.

He is a common man and cannot appreciate it.

The second scroll unfolded, showing a portrait:

The person in the painting seems to be a noble lady, dressed in rich clothes and a bun, with an elegant face, standing by the lake and playing the flute.

Even if the two monsters have no level of appreciation, they can still tell that this portrait was painted with more care than the first landscape painting, and every stroke was done to perfection.

Then they heard a "click" and looked back -

He Lingchuan broke the edge of the table.

He stared at the painting closely, his eyes widened but his pupils narrowed, as if he had seen a ghost.

The tiger quickly said: "What's wrong?"

Even the secrets contained in the still life painting and the secret code in the account book did not make him lose his composure.

When it came closer and took a look, it was just a painting of a human figure. Could it be that this person could also come out of the painting?

I didn't see any special signature or seal.

He Lingchuan took a long breath, shook his head and said, "It's okay." His eyes did not leave the person in the painting.

Strictly speaking, he was staring at the flute in the figure's hand.

The first half of the flute is blocked by the lady's hand, but the second half is painted very carefully, with jade white knots, nodes, and two eye-catching red circles!

When He Lingchuan first saw the flute, blood rushed to his forehead.

This is Sun Fuling’s Centipede Bone Flute!

Not only did she blow it in front of him, she even used it as a teaching tool to teach him.

How could he admit his mistake?

How come Sun Fuling's flute appears in the hand of the noble lady in the painting?

The paper is slightly yellowed, and there is no special protection. The painting should be no more than thirty or forty years old.

He Lingchuan got along happily with Sun Fuling in the Soul Country, but always ignored her final fate intentionally or unintentionally. This portrait suddenly appeared, reminding him at once:

People are mortal, and cities are mortal.

But who picked up her belongings in the end? How did this woman get it?

"Do you recognize this woman?"

Both Tiger and General Ling shook their heads.

He Lingchuan silently put away the scroll, and the blue veins on his forehead jumped twice.

The answer lies with Mr. Mai, he must find this person!

"What's so special about this woman?" Does the special envoy like this type?

"No, it's nothing." He Lingchuan calmed down and brought his thoughts back to business, "The old man guarding the gate said that Mr. Mai stayed in the courtyard for a long time. So with Wan Song's ability to appear and disappear, when he gave Wan Song instructions, It’s probably close to home, maybe even at home.”

General Ling said curiously: "But Zhongsun Mou's men have searched the yard and found nothing."

"They search theirs, we search ours."

Mr. Mai's residence is not big, and the study is empty. There are also bedrooms, kitchens, wing rooms, and front and rear courtyards.

He Lingchuan and others searched again.

The guards left behind by Zhongsun Mou were standing at the door, watching them walking around with a cold expression and a hint of sarcasm in their eyes.

Indeed, there was nothing gained. The group of people in Lingxu City had already packed away all the useful and useless things. There was only a bed and a few tables left in the bedroom, and only pots and pans were left in the kitchen.

The front and back yards were even plowed into mud.

General Ling murmured while inspecting: "What are you looking for? There must be a target, right?"

"Of course it's a clue related to the monster-eating beast." Jiao Yu's voice came from the backyard, "For example, this one."

Everyone rushed over to take a look and found it lying next to the pergola in the backyard.

Some fruits and herbs were planted in the yard. They were supposed to be growing well this season. The gourds were already climbing the vines and the prunella vulgaris was blooming with small purple flowers. However, Zhongsun Mou’s men did not even spare this place, and all the garden soil was turned over. The ground was covered with mud marks, and the flowers and plants were crushed.

If Mr. Mai hides something in the ground, it will be found.

Jiao Yu's tiger head is facing the wall.

This is the north wall, where the sun does not shine all year round and the moisture is heaviest, so the base of the wall is covered with moss.

He Lingchuan found a little shiny reflection here.

"Slime, but the trace is very narrow. It should be left by ordinary snails." He Lingchuan was about to get up when he unexpectedly found a stone urn over a foot high lying next to the pergola.

This kind of stone urn is a whole piece of stone polished smooth and carved into various shapes. Ordinary people put it at home. Some use it as a Feng Shui stone to bring luck, some place it among flowers and plants to make it look good, and some simply use it to press vat to pickle pickles... Anyway, there are many uses.

This piece was supposed to be sitting quietly under the trellis, but it was ruthlessly overturned by Zhongsun Mou's men and half of it was buried in the soil.

But the side facing He Lingchuan was painted in the shape of a thread.

He simply stretched out his hand and pushed away all the soil on the stone urn.

The thread became clearer and clearer.

The two demons also saw it and came over and said, "Is this a shell? A snail shell?"

"Snail shell." He Lingchuan had caught many candy snails in Panlong's Dreamland and could tell the difference between the two.

To be honest, the carving is quite artistic, which shows that the craftsman is good at carving. But when placed in Mr. Mai’s backyard, it has a profound meaning no matter how you look at it.

There are also some moss marks on the stone urn, which shows that it has been here for a long time.

He Lingchuan thought for a while and simply put it into the storage ring.

The yard had been turned upside down and there was nothing left to search.

…

At night.

While the lamp was being turned on at the inn, Zhongsun Mou was also writing furiously.

"Someone is coming."

The guards are coming.

"Take this letter to the capital of Chiyan and present it to the king."

The content of the letter is very simple, complaining that the special envoy sent by Prince Fu Shanyue of Chiyan was rude and unreasonable and obstructed the handling of the case.

He knew that the King of Chiyan had always disliked his eldest son, and if he received a complaint from the inspector of Lingxu City, he would probably take some action.

After the guards took the order and left, Zhongsun Mou began to enjoy his dinner.

He doesn't like hot food, so the chef he brought with him tonight made him crystal clams, which are thinly sliced ​​sashimi and clam foot slices. Each slice must be so thin that it can be seen through. When eating, add shredded pepper and garlic slices, and then dip it in some sauce and mustard, which is the taste Zhongsun Mou is accustomed to.

The monsters in Lingxu City have lived with humans for hundreds of years, and they pay a lot of attention to food, housing, and transportation, but they are not like humans who like to eat all kinds of food. Zhongsun Mou is already very open-minded. Most sharks don't like human sauce.

As he ate, he looked at the ivory ball in his hand.

Fushanyue's special envoy collected the ball first and was reluctant to hand it over. Is there something fishy about this thing?

He studied it for a long time and dropped some potion on it, but found nothing special.

He simply asked someone to cut it open.

Solid, with no virtual machine inside.

The identification results showed that this was indeed ivory, and just ivory.

What a waste of his time.

After finishing the meal, he felt something in his heart and asked the old man who was the gatekeeper of Mr. Mai to come over and ask him carefully.

This time, he mainly asked Mr. Mai about his daily life and living habits, and also to see if the old man was lying. A question often appeared suddenly every once in a while, just when the old man was least vigilant. If he answered inconsistently, he would surely suffer.

If He Lingchuan were present, he would probably call him an expert. Whether it was Uncle Hao from Blackwater City or the Gale Army, they often interrogated prisoners like this.

But the old man never answered wrongly once.

Finally, Zhongsun Mou asked about Mr. Mai's diet.

The old man said that Mr. Mai likes noodles more than rice, and he also orders some soup and water when he wants a late-night snack. "Every time he comes to Shuanglu Town, he will bring a kind of very thin and white rice noodles and ask me to cook them." He eats it. When the powder is rolled in boiling water, it will be cooked. When Mr. Mai eats the powder, he will put some Kaiyang in it."

"Extra thin and white? Where did it come from?"

"Then I don't know."

Zhongsun Mou then sent his guards to go to Mr. Mai's house again and bring back the fine powder.

The candle at the table happened to be burned out.

When the guard was lighting a new candle, Zhongsun Mou caught a flash of green light in the corner of the old man's eyes.

"Huh?" He thought, "Do you usually feel uncomfortable with your eyes?"

The old man blinked frequently. He was not surprised before. After all, people have more problems as they get older.

But now, Zhongsun Mou put out the candle with one hand, and then asked the guards to light it again.

He is the master, he can do whatever he wants, and of course the guards have no objection.

When the candlelight came back on, Zhongsun Mou saw the green light flashing in the old man's eyes again!

It only lasted a moment, but it didn't escape his notice.

Zhongsun Mou sneered, suddenly grabbed the old man's neck, pulled him close, picked up the spoon from the plate with his other hand, and pressed and gouged out his eye sockets!