Nightwatcher

"Being spied on?"

Xu Qi'an was taken aback, walked to the window, glanced around sharply, then retracted his gaze in a moment: "How do you know you're being spied on?"

He didn't feel like he was being spied on. Although the cultivation of a third-rank martial artist was sealed, the Heavenly Gu would only be more sensitive in this respect.

"After you left, it suddenly said that someone was watching us..."

Mu Nanzhi was a little scared: "But I looked by the window for a long time, but I didn't find that I was spied on. It scared me."

Xu Qi'an looked at the little white fox with a serious face: "Do you have the talent in this area?"

The little white fox shook his head and said softly, "My talents are stealth and speed."

Xu Qi'an questioned: "Isn't it your illusion?"

The little white fox kept shaking his head: "My intuition is never wrong."

"I see."

Xu Qi'an said: "The two of you are temporarily staying in the Pagoda of the Buddha. I did encounter some strange things during my investigation recently."

He called the waiter in the inn, prepared some dry food, clean water, and daily necessities, then sacrificed the Lingfutu Pagoda, and took Mu Nanzhi and the little white fox into it.

After finishing all this, Xu Qi'an did not leave immediately, walked to the table, spread out the paper, and habitually reviewed the Chai family's case.

Although there was a certain amount of attention and analysis before, Xu Qi'an always put the capture of dragon energy in the first place, and the scrutiny of the case was limited.

To this day, after witnessing the death of a family of three, Xu Qi'an decided to put his dragon spirit aside for now, devote himself to the case, and have fun with the people behind the scenes.

"Follow me, kill people, keep an eye on Mu Nanzhi, okay, let's play with you."

He has quite a wealth of experience in criminal investigation, as well as knowledge of criminal psychology, and his analysis of problems is far more precise and sensitive than the smart people of this era.

"The source of everything is the murder that happened in Chai's mansion 20 years ago. The deceased Chai Jianyuan, the suspect's adopted son Chai Xian, the witness Chai Xing'er, including everyone in the Chai family. The motive for the murder: because of love!

"Note: Miss Chai Lan is missing."

Xu Qi'an did not stop writing, and continued to write:

"The motive is not enough to support the suspect's killing his father or relatives, or for other reasons, or being framed.

"Chai Xinger's ex-husband died because of Chai Jianyuan, and he harbored resentment; Chai Jianyuan's heirs were mediocre and unable to inherit the family business. Therefore, Chai Xinger was the biggest beneficiary and had sufficient motives to kill."

After writing this paragraph, Xu Qi'an made a summary:

The first suspect, Chai Xian; the second suspect, Chai Xinger.

Although in his speculation, Chai Xing'er was more suspected than Chai Xian, there was evidence that Chai Xian was the murderer. The investigation cannot be ideal, so Chai Xian is still the first suspect.

Xu Qi'an picked up the teacup, took a sip, and kept holding the cup. Ten seconds later, he began to write the second stage of the case.

"Afterwards, Chai Xian repeatedly committed homicides in Xiangzhou and even Zhangzhou, targeting people from all over the world, and later affected the common people!

"Note: This is not in line with the behavior of a suspect who killed his father for love."

In short, Chai Xian's motive for committing the crime is completely contradictory and unreasonable with his subsequent actions to stir up trouble in Xiangzhou.

This is nothing more than three situations:

"Conclusion: Chai Xian's motive for killing can be overturned, not for love, there are other reasons; Chai Xian was framed, there is another hidden story in this case."

After sorting out the case, Xu Qi'an then wrote down two doubtful points:

"Is the murderer in the small village the real murderer behind the scenes?"

"What is the purpose of the murder case in Xiangzhou?"

Xu Qi'an put down his pen and carefully analyzed:

"If the person behind the scenes killed last night, then he (she) is fully capable of ambushing Chai Xian and eradicating him. But the person behind the scenes did not do so. If the person behind the scenes is Chai Xing'er, Chai Xian should not be killed. Get rid of it and hurry up?"

Here again there is a contradiction.

There are three contradictions in the whole case. If Chai Xian is the murderer, then the Chaifu murder and the subsequent mass killings are contradictory.

Based on this contradiction, it highlights the possibility that Chai Xinger's vested interests framed Chai Xian.

But last night's murder case in Xiaoshan Village once again contradicted the speculation that "Chai Xing'er is the murderer behind the scenes".

In the first phase of the case, the Chaifu murder case, the suspect was identified as Chai Xian.

In the second phase of the case, there were frequent murders in Xiangzhou, and the suspect was identified as Chai Xing'er.

The third stage of the small village extermination case further reduced the suspicion that Chai Xing'er was the person behind the scenes, making the case even more complicated and confusing.

"Where's Chai Lan? Where did Chai Lan go?

"Assuming that Chai Xing'er is the mastermind behind the scenes, but Chai Lan was responsible for the case of killing the family in Xiaoshan Village, then the previous speculation can barely be established, and there is no need to overthrow it. But what is Chai Lan's purpose for doing this?

"I can't make such speculations. Chai Lan never showed up from the beginning to the end, and there are no clues related to her. Making such assumptions will only lead me to a dead end."

After analyzing this point, Xu Qi'an vaguely felt that something was wrong.

This is an old detective's intuition.

Xu Qi'an leaned back, leaned against the back of the chair, and closed his eyes. This process lasted for more than ten minutes. When he opened his eyes, he already had the answer in his heart.

confusion!

Yes, the biggest problem with the Chai family's case was the confusion and contradictions everywhere, but what really made him realize that something was wrong was the motive!

"All the contradictions lie in unreasonable motives. Chai Xian's motive for killing Chai Jianyuan is unreasonable, the motive for the small village extermination case is unreasonable, and the motive for killing so many people just to keep Chai Xian is also unreasonable.

"It feels like hitting a fly with a cannon. If Chai Xian is an infatuated seed, he is willing to kill his father for Chai Lan, so as long as he hides Chai Lan and takes it as a hostage, he will not leave Xiangzhou.

"Therefore, there is another hidden story in this case, which is not as simple as it appears on the surface.

"Trace back to the source, starting from the Chai family."

Xu Qi'an lit the paper with shaking hands, turning it into ashes, threw it into the small celadon water tank for washing pens, and left the inn.

Half an hour later, the shopkeeper of the inn sat behind the counter, fiddling with the abacus and sorting out the books.

There was a gentle voice chanting the Buddha's name:

"Amitabha!"

The shopkeeper looked up and saw a monk with the characteristics of people from the Western Regions, wearing a robe that is convenient for traveling, calm and restrained.

"Master, do you want to stay in the shop, or be the top?"

The shopkeeper's smile was all over his face.

He ran this high-class inn in Xiangzhou for most of his life, and saw monks only a handful of times. In the Central Plains, Buddhist monks are "rare things."

The young monk clasped his hands together, and his tone was as gentle as a spring breeze:

"The poor monk would like to ask if there has been a man and a woman living in the store recently. The man is wearing green clothes, and the woman is plain-looking, riding a war horse."

The monk's words seemed to have convincing power, and a strange feeling arose in the shopkeeper's heart, as if the monk opposite was a majestic father.

"There is such a pair of guests."

The shopkeeper told the truth: "If you say it is a pair of ordinary-looking men and women, I have no impression, but if you want to talk about war horses, then you know who the master is talking about. But unfortunately, this guest officer just checked out and left .”

Jing Xin nodded, and said, "Thank you, shopkeeper, for telling me."

Late at night, Chaifu.

A shadow sneaked in the darkness, silently, the light of the torches of the patrolling guards distorted the reflection of the green belt, and for a moment, this sneaking shadow was illuminated.

But in the next moment, it disappeared without a sound, appeared in the darkness farther away, and continued towards the destination.

Not long after, he came to a secluded small courtyard.

I didn't enter right away, because many guards were added near the small courtyard, and many of them were warriors in the realm of refining gods.

But the black shadow didn't recede because of this, he went around in one direction and came to the back of the small courtyard.

In the room, the candles were brightly lit, and the strong smell of meat permeated the room. Three men sat around the table, eating antique soup, that is, hot pot.

Since Chai Xian invaded the cellar, Chai Mansion has strengthened its defense here.

Not only did additional manpower be sent outside, but also masters were "stationed" in the house day and night.

Xu Qi'an was outside the house separated by a wall, concentrating on sensing:

"The three of them are all warriors above the realm of refining the gods. The sneak attack will only make them sense my presence in advance, and thus attract the guards outside. If it was me before, I probably had to use force to get in, but now I have Not a rough warrior anymore."

Ten seconds later, under the foundation of the yard, in a hole in the ground, a sleeping mouse woke up and opened its blood-red eyes.

This is not an ordinary mouse, it is covered with poison, and the toxin is sprayed out with its breath, infecting all living things around it.

In the house!

"Why did Chai Xian come back?"

A burly man said.

"I heard from the clan elder that he was looking for Xiaolan. This lunatic thought that Xiaolan had been killed and hid in the cellar."

Another man shook his head: "Didn't Xiao Lan be taken away by him?"

Just as they were talking, they heard the sound of "Zhi Zhi". Following the sound, they saw a fat black rat standing in the shadow of the corner, with a pair of red eyes, silently staring at the three of them.

As warriors with a strong premonition of danger, the moment the three men saw the mouse, their intuition began to warn.

They instinctively grabbed the weapons leaning against the table and shouted loudly to notify the guards outside.

But the next moment, the three of them fell limply on the table and passed out.

A few seconds later, a shadow emerged from under the table. Xu Qi'an looked around and listened carefully, making sure that the guards outside the courtyard hadn't noticed any movement inside. He turned around and came to the entrance of the cellar, and opened the heavy stone cover.

Among the three people in the room, the poison has a strong paralyzing effect and will not endanger life. At most, it will recover after a few days of weakness.

As the stone cover was opened, a dark hole appeared, Xu Qi'an took out the prepared candle and lit it, holding the orange halo, and entered the cellar along the steps.

He walked briskly through rows of corpses, feeling that this was the safest and most comfortable place in the world.

But the investigation was the most important thing. He forcibly resisted the urge to talk and interact with the corpse, and went straight to the secret room deep in the cellar.

There is a custom in the Chai Mansion that after the death of the clan members, they are either cremated or donated to the family to make them into walking corpses.

This is to prevent the corpses of the clansmen from being dug up by outsiders.

Before the action, Xu Qi'an had already received information from Li Lingsu that Chai Jianyuan's body was turned into a walking corpse by Chai Xing'er and stored in the cellar.

Chai Xinger's argument is that the Chai family has undergone major changes and urgently needs strength to protect the safety of the family.

This reason won the unanimous approval of the Chai family.

But Xu Qi'an believed that there was a selfish "eye for an eye" in this.

Of course, Chai Xing'er's thoughts are not important, Xu Qi'an sneaked in this time because of the autopsy.

The corpse can give a lot of information, the appearance of the wound, the condition of the injury, etc. It can tell whether Xu Qi'an is an acquaintance who committed the crime.

Soon, he came to the secret room deep in the cellar.

The chamber door was locked.

Xu Qi'an put his palm on the lock cylinder, exerted a sudden force, and with a "bang", the lock cylinder was directly blown away, releasing a cloud of dust.

There are not many corpses in the secret room, there are four on each side, wearing hoods and all gray clothes of the same style.

From the slightly bulging chest, it can be seen that three of them are female corpses.

Xu Qi'an took off the hood of the corpse, and after identification, he recognized that the third corpse on the left was Chai Jianyuan.

Interestingly, the third corpse on the right was a male corpse with clear facial features. According to Li Lingsu's description, "he" was Chai Xinger's ex-husband.

"Tsk, looking at each other, Chai Xing'er really has resentment towards Chai Jianyuan."

Without delay, Xu Qi'an kicked down Chai Jianyuan's body, stripped off his gray clothes, and inspected the body with a candle.

There was a sutured wound on Chai Jianyuan's chest, but the scattered corpse spots destroyed the traces of other wounds.

Xu Qi'an moved the candle, and the orange halo moved down from his chest, and stopped between his legs. He wrapped his hands in gray clothes, and picked out the bird's eggs.

"Exclude attacks on the crotch!"

This position is relatively weak for a warrior with copper skin and iron bones.

Moving further down, the halo of candles illuminated Chai Jianyuan's feet.

In the darkness, Xu Qi'an's pupils dilated slightly, and his eyes froze.

Chai Jianyuan's left foot has six toes.

PS: Sorry, the recent updates have been sluggish. The number of words updated this month is 160,000 words, which is a new low since the serialization. I am trying to recover.