A thousand enlightenments in one night, starting from being a menial apprentice.

Chapter 276 The storm is coming
Xie Daohan left the viewing seat and went straight to the yamen, where the documents were stored.

The clerk there was just about to lock the door and go home when he suddenly saw Jie Daohan walking towards him in a hurry with a serious face. He was startled and thought something had happened.

When Xie Daohan saw the clerk, he said, "Bring me the copy of the examination document with detailed background information of the applicants for this year's Talent Selection Meeting."

The clerk felt relieved, because it turned out that he was here to transfer documents. Seeing Jie Daohan's scary face, he thought he was here to cause trouble.

The clerk immediately smiled and said, "Captain Jie, wait a moment, I will find it for you right away."

The clerk lit the lamp again, took out the review document from the shelf and handed it to Jie Daohan.

Xie Daohan flipped through it and saw that it was the detailed background documents of the candidates who had registered for this year's talent selection meeting. He signed his name on the review list and left in a hurry.

The clerk looked at Xie Daohan's back, his heart beating a little. He wondered what this Chief Jie was thinking? The selection meeting was over, why was he still looking for that review document? Wasn't that document already investigated last December?
Xie Daohan took the document and returned to his official room. He lit the lamp on the desk, turned to the page about Duan Rong, and read it carefully...

The more Xie Daohan read on, the more shocked he became. It turned out that Duan Rong had just joined Yuanshun Escort Agency as a menial disciple in the first month of last year.

All in all, it has been only a little over a year and a month, but this boy has already achieved great success.

What a terrifying cultivation speed!
Xie Daohan stared at the documents spread out on the table while tapping the table with his hands. A look of deep thought flashed across his eyes.

He was thinking about one thing, that is, when Jie Lei died, what level of cultivation could Duan Rong have reached?
According to the records in the documents, Duan Rong's martial arts realm was the third level of the Inner Breath Realm, the minor success realm. However, when he appeared on the Selecting Talents Stage, he showed the major success realm.

No matter whether he concealed his realm years ago or he indeed broke through after years ago, both situations are equally terrifying.

Based on this speed, Xie Daohan could almost infer that when Xie Lei died, Duan Rong must have achieved the second level of the Inner Breath Realm, or at least there was a great possibility that he had achieved the second level.

And Jie Lei is also at the second level of Inner Breath Realm.

Judging from the level of martial arts, Duan Rong already has the ability to commit crimes!
But even if he had the ability to commit the crime, why did he kill Jie Lei? Or how did he get involved in this matter?
He was just a errand boy in the escort agency, even if he had achieved the second level of the inner breath realm. Xu Ruhu's case was so serious, and at that time, Fan Yuanhai and he were both investigating, and the whole city was in an uproar. In addition, Jie Lei's actions were so secretive that he only found out afterwards that it was Jie Lei who rescued Xu Ruhu from the death row.

Duan Rong was just a errand boy at the Yuanshun Escort Agency. How did he know about this?
Xie Daohan couldn't think of anything, so he stood up and paced back and forth in the room...

Yang Zhen had already finished his class and was about to go back. As he walked to the entrance of the corridor, he suddenly saw that the door of Xie Daohan's room was wide open, and a dim light shone out. He also heard hurried footsteps in the room...

Yang Zhen frowned. He felt that there was a banquet being held in the backyard of the county office, and Captain Jie should be at the banquet.

Yang Zhen took the lead and slowly walked towards Xie Daohan's door...

As soon as Yang Zhen walked to the door, Xie Daohan looked up at him. When he saw Yang Zhen holding a knife and a vigilant look on his face, he knew what he was here for...

Xie Daohan said: "It's okay, Yang Zhen. I'll look at the documents here, you go back first..."

Yang Zhen was stunned for a moment, his face a little embarrassed. He put down the knife in his hand, clasped his fists and said, "I am sorry to bother the captain."

Xie Daohan didn't say anything, just waved his hand, meaning for him to go down.

Just as Yang Zhen was about to leave, Xie Daohan's eyebrows suddenly jumped. He seemed to have thought of something and suddenly shouted, "Wait!"

Yang Zhen paused, not knowing why Jie Daohan suddenly called him.

Xie Daohan walked quickly to the desk, flipped through the document, and looked at one of the records.

"Duan Rong, lives in Wutong Lane..."

Xie Daohan took the document, looked up at Yang Zhen who was standing at the door blankly, and said, "Yang Zhen, did you live in Wutong Lane?"

Half a year after Yang Zhen came to the yamen, Xie Daohan saw that he was smart and sent him to Xie Lei, as a way of training an assistant for Xie Lei.

But unexpectedly, just two months later, Xie Lei was killed.

In order to commemorate Jie Lei, he often brought Yang Zhen with him and chatted with him about family matters from time to time. He had a vague impression that Yang Zhen said that he lived in Wutong Lane when he was a child.

Yang Zhen was confused by Xie Daohan's question. He didn't understand why Xie Daohan suddenly asked him so seriously whether he lived in Wutong Lane when he was a child.

However, Yang Zhen immediately replied, "Yes, Captain. Before I was seven years old, I lived in Wutong Lane and grew up there."

Xie Daohan's eyes were cold. "Do you know Duan Rong?"

Yang Zhen's heart skipped a beat. Of course, he had heard about Duan Rong's advancement to a registered disciple of the sect.

Years ago, he was shocked to learn that Duan Rong had signed up for the selection of registered disciples. But now, Duan Rong has achieved the Great Accomplishment Realm and has become a registered disciple of Taiyi Sect.

It can be said that he took off with the wind and turned into a dragon in one day!
He still hadn't been able to fully digest this information. He really couldn't equate the current Duan Rong, a registered disciple of the sect, with the cowardly guy deep in his memory.

Seeing that Yang Zhen was stunned, Xie Daohan asked again in a deep voice.

Yang Zhen suddenly realized, "I recognize him. Duan Rong and I are childhood friends."

"Childhood friend?" Xie Daohan's eyes narrowed, and a flash of lightning flashed through his mind. He asked again in a stern voice: "When the Xu Ruhu case happened, you were injured and unemployed at home. Have you told Duan Rong about the Xu Ruhu case?"

Yang Zhen's face changed when he was asked by Xie Daohan.

His heart moved, and he had already vaguely guessed what Dao Han meant.

Xie Daohan was very experienced. He understood most of what Yang Zhen said as soon as he saw his expression. He said angrily in a deep voice, "He said it! Didn't he?"

Yang Zhen looked at Jie Daohan's ferocious expression and nodded with some fear.

He didn't dare to hide it anymore, or perhaps he didn't want to hide it either.

The dinner in the backyard of the county office didn't last long before it ended.

Actually, it was mainly for the five sect envoys and seven newly registered disciples to meet and get to know each other.

Shen Yanliu toasted to all seven of them one by one, as a way of making good connections.

When Ma Chunmin was serving the dishes, she found Duan Rong was also sitting there. Her bright eyes showed an expression of extreme astonishment.

As the saying goes, yesterday's doorman is today's hall master.

Ma Chunmin never expected that a street painter in the past would become a registered disciple of a sect one day.

The others didn't eat much, but the seven of them had been fighting one after another and were already starving. After three rounds of drinking, under the leadership of Ximen Kankan, they all let go and started eating. Even Shen Mizhi broke off a chicken leg and started gnawing on it...

Shen Yanliu looked so unhappy...

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, they said goodbye and left the yamen.

As soon as he walked out of the yamen, Ximen Kankan pulled Duan Rong and asked him to go to his house, saying that he had something to discuss with Duan Rong.

"What is it that we have to discuss in the middle of the night? I want to go back to Liulu to sleep!"

Duan Rong was already exhausted and had no energy to mess around with Ximen Kankan.

The others also felt that Ximen Kankan was a little strange.

But Ximen Kankan suddenly stood on tiptoe and whispered something in Duan Rong's ear. Duan Rong immediately lost his impatient look and said lazily, "What? It's just a painting. Do you have to drag me there in the middle of the night? Okay, I'll go with you."

Seeing that they wanted to see paintings, and that Duan Rong was willing to make a trip so late at night, Jiang Qingyu knew that it must be something extraordinary, so she said, "What kind of paintings? Kankan, take me to see them too."

"What are you looking at? Go home and have a good sleep." Ximen Kankan said, and then he took Duan Rong away. Jiang Qingyu stood there, feeling awkward, so she just smiled and left.

Xiao Yu was already injured, so when he saw Duan Rong and Ximen Kankan running away, he didn't take it seriously and went straight back to the escort agency.

The rest of the people didn't take it seriously and just went their separate ways.

Duan Rong followed Ximen Kankan to Xueyanju.

Ximen Kankan looked around to see if there was anyone around, then he closed the door. As soon as he turned around, Duan Rong lowered his voice and asked, "Has the cold toad venom really arrived?"

Ximen Kankan said: "Yes, I came back last night and Lao Qin gave it to me."

Ximen Kankan took out the medicine spoon from the secret compartment, walked to the cupboard in the corner, opened the door, took out a wooden basin, and placed it on the table beside Duan Rong.

Duan Rong was surprised because the wooden basin was filled with ice cubes, and in the middle of the ice cubes, there was a porcelain bottle, with only a little bit of its head sticking out...

Ximen Kankan said: "This cold toad venom has extremely strict requirements for the storage environment. Once it leaves the low temperature environment, it will disappear in twelve hours."

"This is the weather right now, in early March. It's still very cold in spring. If it were summer, how could we get back from such a long distance?"

After listening to Ximen Kankan's words, Duan Rong could better understand why the cold toad venom was not available in summer...

Just as Duan Rong and Ximen Kankan entered Xueyanju, in the backyard in front of the City God, the old temple keeper Xu Dongyang released a carrier pigeon in the dark night...

The old temple keeper sighed deeply as he watched the pigeon flutter its wings and disappear into the night...

Before the selection meeting began, he received an order to conduct a detailed investigation into the martial arts realms of the five sect envoys and new registered disciples in Xiangu County.

This order was not given to him by Ruan Fengshan. Ruan Fengshan had already gone into hiding and would definitely not give him any instructions.

There are countless spies watching Ruan Fengshan near the Yuanshun Escort Agency, and who can guarantee that there are no spies of Shen Yanliu inside the agency?
This order was issued to him directly from the entrance of the Filthy Blood Church in Yuanyang Prefecture.

Because the order was given to him directly from the gang, Xu Dongyang felt that something big was about to happen.

This has made him feel very uneasy lately.

Although Xu Dongyang joined the Filthy Blood Sect, he only wanted a peaceful life for himself. He practiced martial arts only to prolong his life. He really didn't want to see war. If he was exposed, even if he escaped, he would be exiled. Moreover, if something happened, could he really escape?

Duan Rong, holding a porcelain vase of cold toad venom in his sleeve, came out of Xueyanju and walked to West Street. It was a dark night with a cold moon in the sky. Duan Rong was thinking as he walked.

This cold toad venom will disappear into nothing after twelve hours if it leaves the low temperature environment.

In other words, he must use it within twelve hours.

It seems that it is time to start practicing the third level of the Taizang Sutra.

Duan Rong was looking forward to it.

After achieving the third level of the Taizo Sutra, not only will his mental power be raised to a higher level, but he will also be able to achieve the second level of spiritual magic.

The first soul technique, which covered his spiritual consciousness, could be said to have benefited him a lot, so Duan Rong was looking forward to the second soul technique.

However, Duan Rong was not prepared to practice now.

After three days of competition, he was exhausted. He had to practice spiritual arts and bear the pressure from the Four Bright Kings in his sea of ​​consciousness. In his current state, he could not bear it.

Duan Rong prepared to go back and have a good sleep first, so as to regain enough energy before practicing again!

The county government office was already quiet, but the light was still on in Xie Daohan's room. He paced anxiously in the room...

The dim light sometimes lengthened and sometimes shortened his figure...

Yang Zhen had already left. Xie Daohan interrogated him for a full hour, telling him every detail about the Xu Ruhu case, how Duan Rong and he met, and how they talked about Xu Ruhu's case.

Yang Zhen concealed nothing and explained everything clearly, like pouring beans out of a bamboo tube.

Xie Daohan frowned. Originally, he just felt that Duan Rong smelled strange...

But now it’s not just a matter of taste. I see a lot of irrelevant information slowly coming together…

"Yuan Shun Escort Agency? Whale Tiger Gang?"

Xie Daohan's eyebrows suddenly jumped, and he thought of another thing.

Before, when he investigated the murder of Jie Lei, the corpse poison was one of the most important clues.

The coroner in the yamen reminded him that three years ago, when they were investigating the Whale Tiger Gang case, they found traces of corpse poison.

In pursuit of this clue, Xie Daohan ordered people to conduct a detailed investigation of the Jingjinghu Gang, which resulted in a thick file.

Xie Daohan spent countless sleepless nights flipping through this file, hoping that a flash of inspiration would come to him, so that he could knead the sand into a ball and find new clues...

But he didn't find anything in the end...

However, after reading it many times, Xie Daohan vaguely remembered one piece of information.

Xie Daohan rummaged through the documents piled on the ground under his desk and found a thick file.

Xie Daohan was flipping through the file in front of the desk under the light, and finally he stopped at a page.

That page reads: Kong Bin and Zhang Zheng, whose fathers were both key members of the Whale Tiger Gang, died in a major case supervised by the county magistrate himself. In the first month of the Jiachen year, the two entered the Yuanshun Escort Agency and became miscellaneous apprentices.

Xie Daohan's heart skipped a beat. Jiachen year, the first month, wasn't that last year?
Kong Bin and Zhang Zheng were the menial disciples who entered Yuanshun Escort Agency with Duan Rong?
"Duan Rong! Did you get the corpse poison from them?"

However, Xie Daohan immediately frowned deeply. According to previous investigation information, the corpse-corruption poison was in the hands of Zhou Shoushan, the leader of the Whale Tiger Gang.

He got this poison by chance from the evil doctor Shen Ping.

Kong Bin and Zhang Zheng were just two teenagers. Although they were the sons of the former main members of the Whale Tiger Gang, the Whale Tiger Gang had already been destroyed by then. How could Zhou Shoushan hand over such an important thing as the corpse-corrupting poison to two teenagers?

Xie Daohan was thinking hard, because he wanted to clarify every detail of the case, because any mistake in any detail could overturn the direction of the entire case.

What's more, the current Duan Rong is no longer someone he can control at will!
It’s not because of Duan Rong’s martial arts level. To be honest, although Duan Rong has achieved the great success level, Jie Daohan is a strong man in the true Qi level after all. How could he be afraid of him?
What he was wary of was Duan Rong's identity and the sensitive timing.

Before the Elite Selection Meeting, he might be able to control Duan Rong at will, but if he had any questions, he could capture him and interrogate him at will.

But now it’s different. Duan Rong has become a registered disciple of the sect, has made great achievements, and is protected by the sect.

What’s even worse is that it is still the ten-day announcement period for the English selection results.

If he tortured Duan Rong now, he would be suspected of favoritism and corruption and disrupting the Elite Selection Meeting.

This is because once Duan Rong is disqualified, another person will be selected from those eliminated in the other segment life-and-death battles to replace him.

Who can tell for sure that Jie Daohan was not entrusted by someone else to deliberately get rid of Duan Rong and make profits for others?
Moreover, although his opponent is a teenager, he is obviously very difficult to deal with. If he wants to avenge Lei'er, he must be careful at every step!
You fail to hit the snake and end up getting bitten!

(End of this chapter)