area51novel Page 536
Page 536
"Let's find these books first," Xu Qi'an decided, taking a desperate gamble.
"What if the numbers Zhou Min left behind were page numbers, or the order of characters..."
"According to the Three Character Classic, the code is 'Silent Human Nature'..."
"According to the Great Feng Dictionary, the code is 'Mo Hua Deep Water East Central'..."
The three of them pondered for a long time, but the code was still completely irrelevant, and their guesses were obviously wrong.
Xu Qi'an began to sort out the case. "If I were Zhou Min, I would hide the codebook in a place that we could find, but that wouldn't attract attention."
“We have already checked Zhou Min’s residence. There were no hidden compartments or suspicious items. We have also compared the books he left behind.”
"So, what's in Zhou Min's belongings, not a book, but something with lots of words, and hundreds of pages thick...?"
Xu Qi'an suddenly froze at this point.
"The Chinese almanac!" the three of them blurted out almost simultaneously!
Among Zhou Min's belongings was a common almanac, something every household has, which is quite ordinary.
The three of them eagerly opened the almanac, treated the numbers as characters, and began to search for the correct information.
The final combination of the codes is: Mo Riguang Ding Yiwu!
Although it is more reliable than the previous results, it is still unclear what it refers to and what it means.
The three then changed their approach, using the two larger numbers as page numbers and the smaller numbers as word order.
Following Zhou Min's habit of solving word puzzles, he split "默" into the two characters "黑犬" (black dog).
Previously, when another team of night watchmen investigated Huangbo Street, they discovered that it was a dog market and a place where prostitution was also practiced; it was commonly known as a black market for selling dog meat.
"Huangbo Street... is actually a red-light district. Sure enough, places with 'color' in their names are all a little bit 'colorful'." Xu Qi'an suddenly realized.
That makes sense now: the black market for dog meat, number 15!
Having already experienced the hardships of the imperial brothels in the capital, the trio of brothel owners naturally had little interest in the black market. They changed into civilian clothes mainly to facilitate their investigation.
Huangbo Street was bustling with people. Although it was already night, it was not cold at all. Everyone there was wearing a hood or a mask.
Xu Qi'an subconsciously looked up, then suddenly realized, how could there be cameras in this era?
However, without cameras, there's not much point in covering your face in these high-risk areas. In such a large city as Baidi, the chances of running into someone you know are extremely low.
Soon, they found No. 15 Ding according to the shop's address. From the outside, it looked like an ordinary dog meat shop.
However, those with sharp hearing and eyesight can hear some strange sounds inside.
"Gentlemen, would you like a few pounds of dog meat?" The shopkeeper was a thin young man with sharp eyes.
Song Tingfeng casually picked at his ear and asked in the tone of a seasoned patron, "How much is the dog meat outside, and how much is the dog meat inside?"
The shopkeeper whispered, "The outside is one qian per jin, the inside... three qian... per serving."
Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao shook their heads simultaneously. The cost-effectiveness was too low; how could these prostitutes charge such high prices?
The three were then led into the shop, where the sounds from inside grew increasingly clear, as the soundproofing was extremely poor.
Xu Qi'an couldn't help but sigh, the soldiers here really have a strong ability to resist interference. They really do their own thing and don't interfere with each other.
It's not necessarily without interference; the stimulation of sound might increase attack speed, or the competition among players might lead to exceptional performance.
"Gentlemen, the ladies are all busy. Please wait a moment."
After the shopkeeper finished speaking, Xu Qi'an also saw several men eating dog meat in the corner, and the men waiting in line all cast curious glances at him.
It seems like they're looking to see which of the three they'll become like-minded with.
"Cough cough!" Xu Qi'an coughed violently twice.
Bang!
He kicked open the door to one room, then the second, the third... From inside came men cursing and women screaming.
Several men came out completely naked, and before they could even say a word, they were all taken down by Zhu Guangxiao and Song Tingfeng.
"Ding has booked the entire venue for the 15th. You all get out of here! Tonight's expenses are on Young Master Song!"
Upon hearing this, the customers' anger subsided by half, and seeing the three men's impressive skills, they had no choice but to admit defeat.
Anyway, there are plenty of dog meat shops nearby. Since the ammunition hasn't been fired yet, wouldn't it be great to have some money and fight another round?
Upon realizing this, the men who had been interrupted all smiled knowingly, then took their clothes and left.
The shopkeeper had already picked up the butcher's knife and squinted as he said, "You gentlemen aren't here to buy meat, are you?"
Xu Qi'an gathered all the naked and half-naked women into one room, then shouted, "Hands on your heads and squat down!"
Women of various appearances rustled as they gathered their clothes, squatting nervously in one spot.
Xu Qi'an closed the door and then took out the half of the jade pendant. "Does the shopkeeper recognize this?"
The slightly lame shopkeeper examined the jade pendant carefully by candlelight, his pupils immediately contracting. "Who are you to Zhou Min?"
Xu Qi'an said, "You don't need to know about this. I'm just asking you, do you recognize this jade pendant?"
The shopkeeper glanced at Xu Qi'an and then said, "Please wait a moment."
Then he limped into a room on the east side and took out the other half of the jade pendant and a booklet.
"Is this what you wanted?" The shopkeeper presented the booklet.
“This was left here by Zhou Min as a token. He won’t give me anything without seeing the jade pendant. Even if he comes in person, he will still need the jade pendant.”
"Don't ask too many questions. I don't know anything. I only recognize the jade pendant. It saved Zhou Min's life before, so I'm just helping out once."
They only recognized the jade pendant, not the person, because the person coming to collect the evidence might not be Zhou Min. This approach is consistent with the identity of a seasoned spy like Zhou Min.
Xu Qi'an picked up the booklet and found that it was an account book containing evidence of the unexplained disappearance of Yang Chuannan's military funds, with each entry recorded in great detail.
With this evidence, Governor Zhang can investigate Yang Chuannan, and this trip to Yunzhou can be considered a complete success.
"Zhou Min trusts you a lot." Xu Qi'an still felt a little uneasy.
The shopkeeper said, "I was originally a wandering knight-errant. I offended someone by meddling in other people's business and had my leg broken. Some of their forces wanted to take me out of the city and bury me alive, but Lord Zhou saved my life."
"Having broken his leg, I could no longer roam the world, so I settled down in Baidi City. When he gave me the things, I had a feeling that something bad was going to happen to him. I couldn't save his life, but I could still keep the things safe."
"Thanks!" Xu Qi'an, who hadn't slept for several days in order to break through to the Refinement of Spirit Realm, nodded.
He had a vague feeling that something was wrong, but his mind was foggy and he felt completely drained.
He felt as if he had returned to the battle after his transmigration, where he fought Mingyan for several days, and the feeling back then was similar to that now.
Just as the three were about to leave, a person suddenly walked in through the door.
The man covered his face with a black cloth and even covered his nose with his hand, showing that he was very disgusted with the place.
Seeing that customers had arrived, the shopkeeper said with a smile, "Gentlemen, may I open for business now?"
Xu Qi'an said listlessly, "Go ahead, go ahead."
He had barely finished speaking when the guest at the door suddenly exclaimed, "Wait a minute!"
Upon hearing this man speak, the three members of the brothel shouted in unison, "Boss!"
This is Li Yuchun's voice. The seemingly respectable Li Yuchun actually came to the black market to buy dog meat, and was even run into by three of his former subordinates.
The three men, Xu Qi'an, Zhu Guangxiao, and Song Tingfeng, exchanged joyful glances.
“Boss…you’ve changed since we left the capital.”
"You actually sneaked into a place like this..."
"Boss...the girls are still moist, take your pick!"
Li Yuchun did not respond to the three brothel members' words, but instead took off his mask.
"Ning Yan, you've made a huge mistake."
Where are the pages of your book on aura reading?
Upon hearing the words "Qi Observation Technique," Xu Qi'an was immediately enlightened and realized what he had overlooked.
Such an important matter, and I completely forgot to check if the shopkeeper was lying!
Indeed, fatigue makes driving, let alone solving a case, unwise.
Xu Qi'an turned his head and noticed a hint of panic flash across the shopkeeper's face. He unconsciously took a step back, and his smile looked very unnatural.
These micro-expressions and actions indicate that he has something to hide.
Xu Qi'an took out a stack of pages from his pocket, turned to the page on Qi Observation Technique, tore it off, and the page burst into flames.
"I'm asking you, how do you know Zhou Min?"
Asking the same question again, Xu Qi'an's eyes gleamed with a green light as he carefully examined the shopkeeper's aura.
"I...I just said that Zhou Min saved my life."
The shopkeeper stammered, his heart pounding with anxiety, his fists clenched tightly, but Xu Qi'an didn't notice anything unusual about his aura.
The shop owner's temper was perfectly normal!
Xu Qi'an was greatly alarmed, because judging from the man's expression, there was definitely something else going on in what he said, but the Qi Observation Technique was completely normal.
"search!"