"...I saw it, just now...you, were, peeking..."

The weather was sweltering, the dim, yellow light only illuminated a small portion of the shop. Dried fish and seaweed were piled high in worn-out baskets and on tables, casting long shadows that loomed large on the walls in the darkness.

The young man who entered from outside held a dried cuttlefish, tapping it against the nearby table. He glared at Fish King, his tone unfriendly. From the back of the shop, a dark figure pushed back a stool and stood up.

"I don't know what you're talking about, young man. The shop's about to close... Is there anything you want to buy?"

As the local bigwig, Fish King wasn't particularly tall, but he had a broad frame. Although he was getting on in years, his lean face and the scar across his right eye hinted at his formidable past. Perhaps because the constables had paid a few visits, the figure in the back stood up, but didn't immediately rush forward.

A basket of fishmonger's wares fell to the ground with a crash, followed by the rattling of dried fish. The young man who had entered casually pushed over the goods displayed on the front table and pointed at Fish King.

"I heard the local gangs talking about you," he said. "They said there's some kind of...fish ball, or Fish... surname Gao, said this place is under your control. Denying it won't do any good. You were peeking upstairs."

The oil lamp burned quietly. Fish King stood there, unusually without anger or reaction, but as he saw the fishmonger's wares being pushed onto the ground, someone came forward from the back, stepping past Fish King and reaching across the table to grab the youth.

"You little rascal, do you know..."

Before he could finish his sentence, his outstretched hand seemed to be sucked forward. In the darkness, his hundred-odd pounds of body weight lifted into the air. The next moment, with a crash, he flipped upside down and slammed into the cabinet displaying goods by the door. The tiny lamp flickered wildly, and shadows danced across the shop. The young man's body remained still. He continued to face Fish King. Behind him, the sound of weapons could be heard, and several people were about to rush forward, but Fish King blocked them with an outstretched arm.

"One."

The young man pointed at the person embedded in the damaged display rack behind him, then turned and tapped Fish King's chest.

"Two."

Then, he slowly turned to the other figures in the shop.

"Three, four...five, six... Any more?"

The young man picked up a stool and sat down in front of the table where the fishmonger's wares had been pushed aside, looking at the crowd opposite him.

"Are you locals... Do you have families? Wives, children... Good friends? Tell me, how many people do I have to kill tonight to cut the weeds and eliminate the roots?"

Someone roared from behind, "Who the hell are you—"

"Shut up!"

Fish King loudly stopped the reckless words from the back. He took a breath, "This young brother, Gao has not provoked you..."

"Damn lowlife, still saying you weren't peeking." The young man smiled coldly. "A fool named Ni came to make trouble, you prepared the boat, your people rowed the boat, you were peeking upstairs, now you see something good..."

Fish King hesitated, "Friends from the Green Forest came to borrow the road, Gao merely followed the rules and offered convenience. As for seeing something..."

However, the young man sitting across the table ignored his words. He tapped the dried cuttlefish in his hand in boredom, then with a bang, punched through the sturdy wooden frame of a nearby goods cabinet. In the lamplight, the fishmonger's wares tumbled down like a dark landslide.

"Damn bastards... come out and see the world, running to Jiangnan, fighting and killing everywhere, your death wish disgusts me. Talking about going to Fuzhou to see the scenery and set up a stall, be a good person, one after another, never-ending, what Zhan Yunhai, what Yue Yun, fighting every other day. You bunch of chickens and dogs, still talking about doing great things every day, do your mother's dead head... Okay, now it's even more outrageous. You, what Ni Po, just killed a chief constable of the Ministry of Justice, so proud you can't stand it, and dare to come and make trouble. What, give me a law-abiding citizen trouble with the government. You Fuzhou bastards, are you tired of living..."

His words were rambling, his hostility fierce enough to overflow. Only in the last few sentences did he stare at Fish King again: "...Damn it, speak."

"Speak... about what?"

"Speak, why did Ni Po come looking for me!" The young man slammed his hand on the table and stood up. "Speak! What the hell are you people, tired of living and daring to provoke me! Why did he come looking for me!"

The angry roar echoed in the room, almost audible in the streets outside. Fish King stood there and said in a deep voice: "We are just borrowing the road, speaking of Jianghu ethics, as for why that Ni Po would provoke you, brother, I really don't know—"

He felt that the other party was about to lose control and erupt, and his words were hurried, just trying his best to maintain a bit of a neither humble nor arrogant impression. However, as soon as the words fell, the young man had already approached, and with a sudden wave of his hand, he struck Fish King's face with the dried cuttlefish in his hand. Fish King's mind was almost buzzing, he didn't want to fight back, and immediately waved his hand to the side.

However, it was already too late.

Someone beside him suddenly shouted, "I fuck your..."

Those who followed him and could be called over at this moment were mostly brave and combative men from the fish market, and they had not participated in the peeking tonight. Full of enthusiasm, they absolutely did not want to be humiliated. At this moment, a thin man holding a bifurcated dagger took the lead in propping up the table to jump over, and behind him, a man swung a knife and angrily chopped down.

The thin man's body was still in the air when a fist slammed into his chest, causing ripples to spread across his body, and his body almost stopped for a moment in the air. Beside him, the charging man's steel knife slashed down, and the next moment, the thin man's bifurcated dagger was raised high and stabbed down from the holding hand of the man holding the knife. The sharp edge of the bifurcated dagger pierced the palm of the man holding the knife, and then pierced down into the back of the thin man's hand that was propping up the table. With a bang, it pierced through the entire thick table, nailing the two men to the table at the same time.

At the door of the shop, the man who had been smashed into the goods rack earlier struggled to get up and wanted to escape to the door; in front, the thin man's body slammed on the table, and the knife-wielding man was pierced through one of his hands, and his upper body lunged forward. The long machete in his hand was taken away by the young gangster, and he kicked the broken goods cabinet behind him, and the steel knife roared and whirled. At the moment of reaching the high air, he angrily slashed down at the two people on the table.

"Don't fight--don't fight--"

Fish King's screaming voice echoed in the room. At the door of the shop, the last door panel that had not been sealed was now blocked by the messy cabinets and fishmonger's wares, blocking the man's escape route, and some fishmonger's wares were falling out of the shop onto the street outside.

Deng Nian, who was watching the movements of this fishmonger's shop from a distance at the end of the long street, also saw the vibration on the door. The flying cabinet blocked the already dim light, and Fish King's roar was hoarse, and it sounded like a massacre was being staged inside.

So fierce...

The decisiveness of the young man when he beat Ni Po rose in his mind, but at that time it was the secret passage that was not seen. At this moment, the constables had just patrolled Fish King's shop, and the young man dared to stage this scene directly in someone else's home.

If he got closer, he could see and hear the movements inside more clearly, but considering the opponent's keen perception brought about by "sincere martial arts," Deng Nian did not go forward, just hiding in the corner of the street, ready to leave at any time.

If the other party's murderous act was seen, and they turned around and wanted to exterminate the family, if he discovered that the family extermination had been seen again, he could hardly imagine what would happen...

...

In the dry goods shop, the shadows on the wall shook violently, and for a while, they were about to go out.

But in the end, it didn't go out.

The small flame stubbornly lit up, preventing the room from falling into complete darkness. Fish King waved his hands while shouting, and at this moment, he had blocked the other two people behind him. On the wooden table in front, two figures were nailed to the table with bifurcated daggers through their palms, stacked there.

They didn't shout.

The whistling machete had already fallen heavily. It chopped on the neck of the man holding the knife, and the blade had already broken through the skin on his neck, and slightly entered the flesh, before stopping. In front, the young man held the steel knife steadily with both hands. The aura of his holding the knife was completely different from that of the man holding the knife earlier, grand and fierce, and the bloody feeling spread wantonly around.

The man whose palm was nailed to the table wet his pants, because at that moment, as long as the blade fell smoothly, his head would have been completely separated from his neck, and even the light of the knife that was cut down would have affected the thin man who was also nailed to the table.

"Don't fight--"

Fish King roared, from beginning to end, he just tried his best to let the other party know: we don't fight.

Perhaps it was also because of this that the other party's head-chopping knife was not completely swung down.

In the moment of stillness from movement, the room was quiet for a while, and the young man's eyes slowly turned to the oil lamp next to him, and then he looked at Fish King.

"Do you know that if the fire went out just now...you would all be dead now."

Fish King nodded.

Then, he nodded twice.

In such an environment at night, both sides were at daggers drawn. Once the lights were extinguished, regardless of the level of skill, I am afraid that everyone would fight with all their strength at the same time. It was the stubborn oil lamp on the wall that saved the lives of the six of them.

"...Say."

"I..." Fish King swallowed, "It's... should be, should be Chen Shuangran... Yesterday night, earlier it should be a water bandit following the Chen family, called Dan... Dan Xiaolu, suddenly came to me, and asked me to arrange a boat at any time these days, waiting to pick up someone to leave, he... he gave me money, I do things, always do it this way, but I didn't expect them to come today, but... it should be Chen Shuangran... it must be Chen Shuangran..."

"Of course it's Chen Shuangran." The young man stuck out his tongue and licked his lips. "The city is killing officials and rebelling, just made a chief constable, how could it not be Chen Shuangran? But why is she looking for me? Xiao Gao, are you fooling me? Say something I don't know."

"I..." The other party was embarrassed for a long time, "Young brother, he... I don't know why this Ni Po suddenly came to you... You said... they couldn't possibly tell me these things. And brother... arranged a boat, so naturally he had to go upstairs to see what was going on, but this matter, everyone Jianghu brothers... Gao has always kept it in his own stomach..."

"Say! Something! I! Don't! Know!--"

The young man's roar sounded, and the steel knife in his hand turned. The next moment, there was only a bang in the room, and the thin man whose palm was nailed to the table was slapped hard in the face, and immediately his mouth was full of blood, and two teeth were knocked out of his mouth.

Miserable screams echoed.

Fish King gritted his teeth and raised his hand: "There is a way, there is a way..."

"What is it?"

"Gao... Gao used to have a relationship with the constable of the Ministry of Justice, and had a few private arguments and grudges. Ni Po killed Song Xiaoming, and Chen Shuangran sold me a big favor. She is now doing things in the city, and she will definitely want me to repay her. Gao has face on the water... some face. If things get out of hand, this friendship will definitely be established again. At that time, I can ask, I will definitely try my best to find out for you--"

"Delaying time, are you fooling me?"

"Gao swears with his life--swears with his ancestors--"

Ning Ji's eyes were fixed on him for a long time, and then he looked around, looking at the expressions of the few people in the room who were either wailing or terrified. If someone was found to be tortured severely, some things should be able to be asked, but at the moment, he couldn't tell more.

After staring for a while, he put the steel knife on the table, moved a stool, and sat down. Then he took a dried cuttlefish and fanned himself in his hand.

"It doesn't matter." He tapped his fingers on the table. "Lying, delaying, having a ghost in your heart... When can't people be killed? Fish ball, Fish... Fish what was it?"

"Whatever the young hero says, is what it is..."

"Well, you are the local bigwig here..."

"Gao dare not..."

"You damn..."

"Yes."

"Well, you are the local bigwig here... That is to say, you have extensive contacts, and you should know people from all walks of life."

"...I do know some people."

"Then today, brother, I encountered such a thing. Chen Shuangran, this little bitch, wants to mess with me. Look, I am very innocent. I arrived in Fuzhou and didn't provoke anyone. I don't want to fight and kill, and I don't want to kill anyone's family if there's nothing wrong. I'm very gentle, but one after another, I don't know why, they just want to deal with me. Then I found them and did them, isn't that too much?"

"It's really... what it should be."

"You are right." Ning Ji nodded, and then stretched out his finger, "That's right, you are the local bigwig, you help me to find out, to find people, whether it is to find out why Ni Po wanted to move me, or to find Chen Shuangran, you can."

"Brother will definitely..."

"Give you... two days." Ning Ji stretched out three fingers, and then broke one back, "If you find out tomorrow and there are results, come and tell me, or I will ask you again the day after tomorrow. If there is still no news for me the day after tomorrow... then it means you don't want to try your best at all. You are locals, you have families, maybe even children, and friends... they will all die, all six of you, are... is that fair?"

"..." Everyone's expressions changed slightly, and no one spoke.

Ning Ji slowly stood up: "Of course, if you can help me with this matter, you can say that this area is covered by my 'Great Sage Equaling Heaven' Sun Wukong. In the future, if you offend someone, I promise to take action for you once. I think you should cherish this opportunity."

"C... certainly." Fish King stood up, and then said: "Certainly."

Ning Ji glanced at him, walked towards the door.

Since the open space was blocked by the cabinet, he raised his leg and kicked the two door panels next to him to pieces and walked out.

In the distance on the street, Deng Nian turned around and left.

Further away, two constables also noticed the movement here and walked over.

One looked at the damage to Fish King's shop, pointing and pointing, and the other looked at Ning Ji coming over, and also looked suspiciously at his companion and talked a few words, quite suspecting that this was the Sun Wukong who had fought with Ni Po in front of the square and disappeared.

As a martial arts master who could compete with Ni Po, the possibility that the other party disappeared for so long and then came out of Fish King's shop with an unkind expression was quite thought-provoking.

The two sides greeted each other.

Ning Ji spoke first: "Officer, there is a fight in the shop behind."

Being called big brother, the two constables were slightly stunned. One of them thought for a while: "Oh, that's Fish King's shop..."

"I heard it's your local underworld."

"...Ah?"

"It's bad guys, local bullies, gangsters, maggots..."

"That's right."

"Then it should be infighting, are you going over to see?"

"Infighting is... whatever they want..." The constable struggled to say, and then said, "May I ask, young brother, are you the Sun Wukong, Little Brother Sun, who set up a stall in front of the night market?"

"Well, it's me."

"Little Brother Sun fought with that thug Ni Po earlier..."

"That's right, I am the victim." Before the other party could finish speaking, Ning Ji had already put his arm around his shoulder. "Did you catch that bastard?"

"Uh... Ah?"

"Haven't caught anyone yet? What are you guys doing..."

The street market was dimly lit, and since the night curfew had already begun, there were fewer pedestrians at this time. Ning Ji and the two constables returned to Yinquiao Fangqian Market, saw that Qu Longjun had not been harassed, and looked around, and then knew what was going on.

After that, the old constables naturally came to ask him questions. Ning Ji insisted that he was the victim, chasing the thug for half a street and finally failing to catch him, and was very angry, and then expressed a round of emotion that "you came too slowly". Some constables naturally wanted to ask more things, and even had the human-like question of "why would the other party come to you if you had no problem", and in fact, in solving the case, this was of course a valuable question and thinking, but it could only be regarded as a private idea. If the other party's martial arts value was relatively high, asking it would definitely be beaten, and they would also be asked "why would I beat you if you had no problem", which could also be regarded as part of human nature.

Due to insufficient martial arts value, the entire case, temporarily, could not obtain too many breakthroughs on Ning Ji's side.

After entangling for a while, until the time of curfew was gradually approaching, Ning Ji and Qu Longjun packed up the carriage and went back in the direction of Huaiyun Fang. On the way, Ning Ji and Qu Longjun carefully told them about the various gains since this evening, and asked her to refer to the entire event...

...

The midnight bell rang, and the chaotic June 2nd passed.

There were soldiers on fixed patrols on the streets under curfew. Since the conflict that started on the first day had not stopped, there would occasionally be riots, which were mostly the Ministry of Justice raiding a den of thieves somewhere.

Around the hour of Chou (1-3 am), Zuo Wenxuan, who had just fallen asleep, was awakened. It was the sentry arranged at a contact point outside the courtyard who brought news about Zuo Xingzhou.

He felt a burst of relief, and quickly got up, and then left the Zuo family's compound, followed the secret passage to the small room where he used to arrange to meet Zuo Xingzhou on the street, and then, he was slightly stunned.

The figure in the room wore a ridiculous headgear, but he knew who the other party was at a glance.

"What are you doing here?"

"I am the lecherous masked man, looking for you to go out and play." The other party took off the headgear, it was Ning Ji, "Go to a good place."

Zuo Wenxuan drove the carriage and followed the other party's instructions all the way east in the city. On the way, Ning Ji asked: "Zuo Xingzhou hasn't been found yet?" Zuo Wenxuan was slightly stunned, and then knew that there was no point in hiding it.

The two sides came to an old warehouse on the opposite side of the fish market in Yinquiao Fang, turned around a few times, and after moving a pile of forage, he saw a tall man lying in it. The other party was wrapped in some very casual bandages, but naturally it was not Zuo Xingzhou.

"This..."

"He's been drugged with Mafeisan (an ancient anaesthetic), given to you. You can do whatever you want to him."

Ning Ji stretched out his foot and kicked the other party, and then said: "There are still some things I want to tell you..."

"What are you doing again? Do you know that your identity is the most sensitive..."

"I made a plan, maybe I can help you find Chen Shuangran, this little Bitch." Ning Ji looked at him and said calmly, "The moment I see her, I will chop her up immediately, do you think it's okay?"

Zuo Wenxuan opened his mouth.

"...You can still make plans?"

...

Due to the court's face, the city cannot be rudely sealed off at this time, but under the premise of not disturbing the people as much as possible, it is still possible to conduct household registration verification in the city area by area. In order to use this action to put the greatest pressure on the Chen and Pu factions, even Tie Tianying was planning the steps of the entire work in the palace until dawn.

It was almost dawn.

The disciple Song Xiaoming was assassinated yesterday evening, but even though some progress messages were sent from outside, he still could not leave the palace to inquire about this matter at this moment, or to take a look at the condition of the disciple's remains.

Halfway through the hour of Yin (3-5 am), it was the darkest moment before dawn. He let the people who had been working in the Imperial City Division all night off work, and someone came to call him from outside. He went to the square outside, and Zuo Wenxuan was waiting for him with his sleeves in his arms.

"Lord Tie has worked hard." Zuo Wenxuan said, "Didn't sleep all night?"

"The bandits are rampant, and my apprentice has been killed, so I can't sleep a little." Tie Tianying bowed his hands. "The arrangement for checking household registrations next has been done almost... Lord Zuo here, could it be that he can't sleep either?"

"I fell asleep, but was called up again."

Zuo Wenxuan smiled, and then led Tie Tianying towards the outside.

All the way out of the palace, Zuo Wenxuan drove the car south: "What's the progress on Head Constable Song's case?"

"The case is very clear, but I am afraid it will not be easy to find the murderer. Some progress has been passed from outside, and I may go to investigate it tomorrow."

"Is there any progress from Yinquiao Fang?"

"..." Tie Tianying's eyes looked at Zuo Wenxuan. After a moment, he said, "That's exactly what I'm talking about, why is Lord Zuo..."

"The people in Yinquiao Fang are fine, I want to vouch for them. Lord Tie, please be merciful..."

"Oh... so they know the news..."

"That's exactly why there are many details that need to be communicated with Lord Tie..."

As the hour of Yin was about to end, a faint fish-belly white was lighting up on the horizon. Zuo Wenxuan stopped the carriage in front of a quiet courtyard. There was no one around, and the room inside was quite small. Zuo Wenxuan and Tie Tianying both checked their surroundings before preparing to unlock the door and enter.

"Only I in the Zuo family knows about this matter." Zuo Wenxuan said, holding the lock. "As for the entire court, I only plan to tell Lord Tie you one thing. In order to prevent the news from leaking, Lord Tie, please remember, you must not tell anyone."

"...I know."

"In addition, Lord Tie, any information that is found out cannot be used and must be discussed with me before a decision is made."

Tie Tianying thought for a while and smiled: "I have to see the goods before I know whether to agree or not. Or, if I don't nod, Lord Zuo won't unlock the door."

Zuo Wenxuan looked at him a few times before finally opening the lock.

In the room was a man who was still unconscious and had been added with a few iron chains. Tie Tianying walked over and quietly looked at him for a while, and then frowned slightly and looked at Zuo Wenxuan: "Ni Po?"

Zuo Wenxuan nodded.

Tie Tianying laughed, and then observed here more carefully. When he lifted the gauze to look at the knife wounds, his eyes gradually became suspicious, and then he counted them one by one.

"...Fifteen... Eighteen... Twenty... This..."

"He has a total of thirty-seven knives all over his body, none of which hit a vital point, but the blood has been let out almost. The dosage of Mafeisan can probably last for a while, but next, I will leave it to Lord Tie for you to deal with... Anything is fine, only one thing, any useful information you ask, cannot be used before I agree."

"With such a great gift, a little thing, Wenxuan just give the order." Tie Tianying looked at the unconscious Ni Po and smiled coldly. He had been in the Jianghu for many years. Although he now talks about devoting himself to justice and tries his best to be upright and generous in many ways, with a disciple whom he regarded as his own son dead in front of him, he is definitely not a kind-hearted person at this moment.

Then he looked at Zuo Wenxuan again: "But Wenxuan, you Zuo family, now, in my opinion, are becoming more and more unpredictable."

It had not been six hours since Song Xiaoming's death, and the constables all over the city were still looking for clues like headless flies. Zuo Wenxuan actually sent the seriously injured and unconscious thug to his eyes, especially the thirty-seven knives on the other party's body, none of which hit a vital point. Just thinking about what kind of fight it was made people feel a little chilly.

Zuo Wenxuan pushed the glasses on the bridge of his nose. At this moment, he didn't know whether he was proud or sighed slightly.

"...Alas... who says it isn't?"

Another seven thousand words... I originally wanted to divide it into two chapters, but for some reason, I still acted like a decent person...