Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 130 The Murderer Appears
"Slumped back, weak limbs, shuffling gait, furrowed brows, misty eyes..."

Zhou Zhao recalled the disguise techniques that Su Changying had taught her earlier. There was nothing in this world that Zhou Zhao couldn't learn!
Very good, but with misty eyes, I haven't learned it yet...

Zhou Zhao blinked, feeling a slight twitching in her eyelids. She took a deep breath, punched her nose, and tears welled up instantly.

Oh well! Foggy days are fine, but rainy days will do.

The southwest corner of Chang'an was a melting pot of people, with many from other places visiting the city. At this time, there was no curfew yet, and the street corner was quite lively. There were many people sitting in the small tavern, and some young ladies with a passionate spirit rolled up their sleeves and played drinking games with a few strangers.

Occasionally, a woman from the Orchid Valley will stroll by at night, and as she passes by, a rich fragrance will waft towards her.

Zhou Zhao walked absentmindedly through the bustling city and headed into a secluded alley. The surroundings were extremely quiet; she could almost hear the purring of the raccoon and the slight thud of its tail hitting the roof tiles.

The murderer is likely a man, unmarried, insecure and gloomy, who dares not attack head-on but only from behind. He may have disguised himself as a peddler to lure his prey.

He usually keeps his head down and is the kind of insect or rat that would peek out with a resentful look from a corner of a crowd.

As Zhou Zhao pondered this, he turned into another alley. Suddenly, he heard footsteps behind him.

dong dong dong...

In the deep alley, the shadows of people were stretched very long. Zhou Zhao glanced at the wall out of the corner of her eye and saw a figure approaching and raising its hand high behind her! Now was the time. Zhou Zhao turned around suddenly, reached out and grabbed the person behind her, throwing them over her shoulder.

"Ouch! That hurts like hell! You look like a girl who could be blown away by a gust of wind, how can you have such strength! My back is about to break!"

Zhou Zhao stared intently, then froze in place, her hand still outstretched.

There lay a woman who looked to be about forty years old. She was broad-shouldered and burly, and looked exceptionally robust. She was holding a wooden stick in her hand.

"Why are you following me? You even raised a stick to knock me out! Are you some petty thief?"

Upon hearing this, the woman scrambled to her feet and glared angrily at Zhou Zhao. "Who's following you? My home is deep in this alley! Why would I knock you out? With the two ounces of flesh on your body, even if you were chopped up and made into pies, it wouldn't even fill a bowl."

The woman was suddenly turned around and was clearly furious. She raised the wooden stick in her hand and waved it in front of Zhou Zhao. "What stick? This is my sugarcane. My grandson is waiting to eat it in front of the door. I waved at him. What's it to you?"

Zhou Zhao looked at the stick, then leaned closer to examine it, and indeed it was a sugarcane.

She turned her head and, sure enough, saw a house at the end of the alley with its door open. A chubby little boy was standing in front of the door, looking over with a terrified expression. When Zhou Zhao turned to look at him, the child burst into tears.

He ran towards the door, crying, shouting, "Grandma was beaten by bandits! Grandma was beaten by bandits!"

Zhou Zhao was speechless. She awkwardly cupped her hands to the woman, then took out a string of coins from her sleeve and stuffed them into the woman's hand. "I'm sorry, I misunderstood. Please find a doctor to take a look at my waist and legs."

The woman was taken aback, but looking at the string of coins in her hand, she instantly became happy. "Young lady, you can't be so extravagant. You have to pay someone for falling down. How much money do you have? You don't know the value of money until you're in charge of the household!"

Just then, a whistle suddenly sounded in the night sky.

Zhou Zhao's expression changed, and with a light step, he instantly disappeared from his original spot, rushing off in the direction of the whistle.

"So? Has the murderer appeared?"

Zhou Zhao walked up to Su Changying and asked anxiously, "Could it be that something happened to Chen Jiyuan?" Although Zhaoxingfang was not large, the area in the southwest corner of Chang'an City was quite large. She might miss the murderer if she went alone, so she went to find Chen Jiyuan.

Chen Jiyuan was an androgynous young man, so he could easily disguise himself as a woman.

However, Chen Jiyuan didn't know martial arts, and fearing for his safety, she arranged for Su Changying to secretly protect him. The two agreed that if the murderer appeared on either side, they would use a whistle as a signal. Now, only Su Changying was seen, but Chen Jiyuan was nowhere to be found.

Su Changying shook her head. "Chen Jiyuan is fine. He has changed his clothes and is now Qin Lang. Li Mu and we had the same thought. He came looking for the Northern Army just now and said that Qin Lang had disappeared in this alley."

Zhou Zhao was taken aback, recalling the first time he saw Qin Lang during the day.

That guy has his head on the top of his head, and his face is full of arrogance. It seems that he would be furious and jump up and down if you asked him to wear coarse linen clothes, let alone dress up as a young lady!

"So, in the contest between Chen Jiyuan and me, I lost to that fighting cock in the right courtyard?"

Three women dressed up as delicate young ladies, but this real young lady was tricked by an older woman with sugarcane, making her so paranoid that she ended up losing a lot of money!

Zhou Zhao took a deep breath, suppressing his resentment, and squatted down to look at the ground. His expression immediately became serious. "It's blood... Qin Lang may have really encountered the murderer and was attacked from behind... and kidnapped in the carriage."

As Zhou Zhao spoke, he exchanged a glance with Su Changying, both of them having a bad feeling.

“Based on the previous two cases, the killer’s next step is to harm the victim. He will soon realize that something is wrong with Qin Lang, and then he will lose control. He is very likely to commit the murder and then flee to avoid punishment. When we try to find him, it will be like looking for a needle in a haystack.”

"Qin Lang will die. What about Li Mu?"

As Zhou Zhao spoke, he lightly stepped forward and sped off towards Zhaoxingfang. Su Changying did not stop and immediately followed.

Before Su Changying could answer, Zhou Zhao spotted Li Mu's figure not far away. He anxiously walked towards Zhu Li, who was on night patrol, "Zhu..."

Li Mu opened his mouth to shout, but before he could utter a word, his mouth was covered. He tried to struggle, but the person behind him felt like an iron clamp, holding him immobile. He suddenly felt his feet leave the ground, and he was instantly moved to another location.

"Lord Li, please don't make a fuss."

As Zhou Zhao spoke, he gestured for Su Changying to let go of his hand.

"Lord Zhou, General Su, as a court official of the Court of Justice, I request that you immediately search for Qin Lang's whereabouts in the vicinity. I was arrogant and thought that the two of us men would not be taken down by one person, but... Qin Lang is in danger now. If we don't find him, he will die."

As Li Mu spoke, seeing that Zhou Zhao remained silent, he immediately became angry and said, "Young Master Zhou, do you still think about the conflict between the left and right courtyards even in this situation? Do you think that Qin Lang offended you today?"

Zhou Zhao shook his head. "I am not a petty or narrow-minded person. Lord Li, please calm down. If we search, we will alert the culprit, and the murderer will immediately kill us to silence us."

Li Mu's face instantly drained of color.

"What else can we do now? Just stand by and watch Qin Lang get killed?"

Zhou Zhao shook his head. "He didn't leave Qin Lang alive or dead in the alley, which means he didn't find anything amiss. So he's still operating using the same modus operandi as the previous two cases. What we need to do is calmly wait and see."

"Calm down? Zhou Zhao, if Qin Lang dies, are you willing to take responsibility?"