Fog Formula-Warning Book of Fog City Search Chief's Strange Talk

Venus Tower, twelve noon.

Xue Jianze's continuous rainy day has not stopped yet, Jian Shenxiu, who was silently watching the turbulent clouds at the window, suddenly heard a little commotion from the office behind him, and turned his head to look behind him in surprise.

The officers of the Search Bureau who were on duty last night had already returned to report, and now they have gone back to rest, and only some of them in the hall are still on duty. The search bureau, which was already thinly manned, seemed even more empty at the moment. When I saw Shenxiu walk out of the office a few times before, the hall was quiet, not to mention human voices, not even a lot of people.

How could such a search bureau suddenly become noisy? You must know that this is an institution that is extremely quiet when it is full on weekdays, otherwise it would not be jokingly called a place where there are ghosts during the day.

"Owner."

Just when she saw Shenxiu was surprised, there was a knock on the door suddenly. Marcus pushed the door eagerly and came in, but he still didn't forget to knock on the door before entering.

"It's Mr. Xiu." Jian Shenxiu corrected him casually. Then asked, "Is something going on outside?"

"Yes, Master...Mr. Xiu, something happened." The hooded boy choked for a moment, but he quickly reacted, walked up to Jian Shenxiu and handed over the box in his hand.

It was a long and luxuriously packaged wooden box, about 80 centimeters long, tied with a silk belt, with embossed patterns carved on it, and the scene of carp floating on the waves was carved. It is rare to see such retro things in 2035, and this box looks more than just "retro". The moment the box is picked up, there is a sense of history. The texture is smooth and delicate in the hand. You can even feel the mottled lines on it when you touch it with your fingertips. It looks like a carved ancient object.

In a sense, this is an item that is quite easy to guess the origin of. You don’t need to look at the things inside, but just look at the box to limit the range to those three or five. In the entire Xuejianze, only those Chinese who have been passed down for a long time can use this kind of thing. It is a symbol of their heritage and a source of their pride.

Even the box is an object of this size, so what exactly is in it?

"It was sent up from the first floor. It is said that a man in black has sent it to the lobby. Let us pass it on to you."

"Huh?" Jian Shenxiu frowned upon hearing this.

"It's just one thing, why are you in such a hurry? Why is it so noisy outside?"

"Because the visitor left after delivering it, without explaining what was inside the box. So the window on the first floor took it to pass the security check, wanting to make sure if it contained any dangerous goods." Marchesias explained helplessly. .

"After the inspection, the first floor became restless, so someone contacted me to send it up for you."

"Huh?" Seeing that Shenxiu was slightly stunned, he was a little curious for a while with his calm state of mind. He stretched out his hand to take the box, then untied the ribbon, and opened the box, wanting to see what was in the box that Xia Si said "makes the first floor restless".

Then the moment the box was opened, seeing Shenxiu, his pupils shrank slightly, and his expression suddenly became serious. Moving his steps, he placed the box on the table next to him.

Inside the box was actually a small Taidao, the kind of weapon also known as Wakizashi. The overall length is about 70 centimeters. It has a red sheath made of paulownia wood and an old-fashioned knife. The inlaid watch is made of gold. The accumulated scratches on it and the wrapped shark skin together present a sense of time. .

This is obviously an ancient relic with a long history, and there is even a small card next to it to introduce its name and inheritance. Most of the famous knives in the world are famous for their performance, but the Japanese knives are famous for their inheritance. A famous knives may last for hundreds of years, and each generation of masters has a name and surname for hundreds of years. While it is a weapon, it is also an ancient relic. After a long time, each generation of masters has accumulated history and legends on it.

However, it was not the sword itself that attracted the attention of Jian Shenxiu, but a small envelope on it. The seal of the envelope was stamped with the seal of the camellia flower, indicating its origin.

He opened the envelope in silence, read it silently, then sneered, and handed the letter to Marchesias next to him. Then he set his gaze on the wakizashi, and reached out to pick up the knife.

"The reaction is quite fast. It's a pity that these gangsters have nothing new in their lives."

"Huh?" Markesias was slightly taken aback when he heard the words, and looked down at the letter paper Shenxiu gave him. The words on the paper were old-fashioned and complicated. Markesias frowned and spent a long time before he could barely understand the meaning of the letter. After reading it, he was relieved.

"The above said that they heard that Mr. Xiu, you are currently investigating a case. They now have relevant clues and think that you may need it. It happens that they have a dinner party on the top floor of the Asahina Grand Hotel in the upper city at five o'clock in the afternoon. They want to Invite Mr. Xiu to... have a meeting?"

"The signature is Asahina's flower name." Jian Shenxiu nodded.

"The heir of the Asahi Group?" Markesias' expression changed slightly.

The Asahi Group is the largest polar faction in Yukimizawa, the "orthodox" underworld, and its territory is in Shangcheng District where the rich live. As the eldest lady of the Asahi group and the current de facto head of the family, the name of Asahina Hana, a sixteen-year-old girl, is also well-known in Yukimizawa City.

"It's not in the name of the Asahi Group." Jian Shenxiu reached out to take back the letter from Markesia's phone.

"The last thing written on it is [President of the Asahina Charity Foundation——Asahina Hana Sincerely]. The seal is not the Asahina group's [Asahi pattern], but Asahina Hana's private [Tsubaki pattern]."

Chunhua is camellia, which is its another name.

"It means that this letter does not represent an invitation to [the Chief Investigator] in the name of [Underworld-Asahi Group]." Jian Shenxiu explained to Marchesias.

"But just as an ordinary philanthropist, I invited Navi officials to attend."

It's not the opposing positions of [underworld] and [police], but the identities of ordinary [rich businessmen] and [local officials].

"So this is just an ordinary banquet?" Markesias was slightly taken aback.

"Ordinary banquet? Then why did you send this knife? You can't naively treat it as a gift." Jian Shenxiu stroked the wakizashi that could be regarded as an antique collection with his gloved hand.

"Hundreds of years ago, if a person with status wanted to invite others to a duel, they would use a bow and arrow to string a duel invitation letter, and shoot the arrow and the letter into the opponent's house. It stated their identity on it, and the duel invitation letter Time and place." Jian Shenxiu patiently told him the story.

"But later, with social stability, bows and arrows were banned among the people, so people at that time replaced this job with wakizashi, which were easy to hide. They stringed letter paper on the wakizashi, and then threw it on the wall of other people's homes, and received letters. People will know that when it comes time for a duel, he will come with a wakizashi and a letter, and put his sword in the middle of the field. If the challenger wins the duel, he can draw his sword and leave. If the challenger is dueling If you fail, the knife will naturally be taken away by the winner as a trophy."

"But even this was more than a hundred years ago. Now it is a society ruled by law, even Wakizashi can't nail it to the wall, so with the changes of the times, now we can only send Wakizashi and letters together. "

"so……"

Seeing that Shenxiu narrowed his eyes slightly, he pulled out the knife from its sheath instantly with both hands, and then stabbed the letter paper on it. This centuries-old ancient knife is still sharp after being kept for a long time, and it still cuts through paper as smoothly as cutting butter. In the next second, Shenxiu threw the knife against the wall vigorously, and in an instant the short knife pierced through the air and plunged into the wall, but the 40 cm long blade actually sank one-fifth of it into the concrete wall after this throw. , vibrating on the wall and making a humming sound, which lasted for a long time.

After throwing the sword, Jian Shenxiu looked at the trembling Wakizashi on the wall and sneered. "That's what the letter really looks like."

"There is no Hongmen Banquet more blatant than this in this world."

"Ah..." Markesias was slightly taken aback by the sudden change, but quickly reacted. His expression suddenly became serious. "So master, you mean, is this a dueling book?"

"...It's not entirely true. It's better to say that this is a blow to the horse."

However, to his surprise, Jian Shenxiu thought for a while and gave an answer that completely confused him.

"It's like when I went to search the port early this morning, the reason I was looking for was to investigate the case. We all know what we are talking about, but we have not revealed this matter on the surface. They also took the exact same choice , and even simply made up the same excuse as we did, saying that they had learned clues related to our case. Neither party intends to reveal this matter.”

"I told them I had a clue, I had the evidence, and I could look it up or not. And they responded, they sent a duel letter, but it wasn't [Asahigumi]'s The name, but the name of [Asahina Charity Organization]. It could be just a normal dinner party, or it could be a duel."

This man looked indifferent and cold when he analyzed these things, and he didn't seem to care at all whether he was the one who was invited to the duel, as if it didn't matter to him which one of the two it was.

"For both parties, the specific choice depends on the attitudes of both parties. And tonight is the time to show the attitudes of both parties."

"Understood, I'm going to gather people." Markesias finally understood, turned around and was about to go out.

"Calling people?" However, seeing Shenxiu raised his brows, he stopped him.

"This is a personal invitation, and the other party specially used the name of the heir. What does it look like for a sixteen-year-old girl to privately invite you to a dinner party with a large group of people?"

Seeing that Shenxiu walked to the wall, he pulled the sword off the wall, put the letter back into the invitation letter, and covered the hole that was just pierced by the knife. Then he changed hands, took the blade and threw a few beautiful sword flowers casually.

Jian Shenxiu had never used a Japanese sword in front of anyone, but the random flips just now were obviously proficient in the ancient style. The moment he pulled the knife out from the wall, a dazzling red glow bloomed in his eyes, and a fierce and violent aura emerged from his body. Just flipping the blade casually, it was like a wild animal coming out of the cage to lick its fangs.

But this man didn't mean to show off his skills, he just moved his body a few times randomly, and then retracted the sword into its sheath casually. The moment the sword was sheathed, all the viciousness on his body disappeared, and he returned to his previous state. His skin was pale and his expression was indifferent, and he even looked a little young.

"Just you and me, the two of us will go."

"Yes! Master!" Marchesias stood upright.

"How many times have I said, it's Mr. Xiu."

"Yes, Mr. Xiu!"