Jiangnan Gaiden - Chapitre 5
After taking a long detour, I arrived at the door of room number A in the Tianzi class and listened intently for a long time.
He chuckled smugly, took a thin wire from his sleeve, and stuck it into the lock cylinder of the large padlock hanging at the door.
With a soft click, the lock opened.
Ye Xiao darted inside like a ghost.
I reached the bed, but no one was there.
He sneered inwardly. With guest rooms in such high demand, why was there an empty superior room? If it wasn't a haunted house, what was the reason?
So he confidently lit a tinderbox and began to look around with great enthusiasm.
The room was very clean.
It has been carefully cleaned.
The bedding was clean, but it had a faint musty smell because it hadn't been used for a long time.
Nothing special about it.
But why leave it empty?
Ye Xiao held up the tinderbox and examined it very carefully, running his hand over the table, the edge of the bed, and even under the bed.
They also carefully examined the cabinets in the room, opening the cabinet doors to take a look.
He bent down, crawled under the bed, and struggled to crawl on the floor with his butt sticking out.
After a while, as if he had gained some insight, he squinted his eyes and struggled to climb out again.
Just as he was proudly raising the tinderbox to investigate the beam, he suddenly screamed as if he had seen a ghost.
The tinderbox was also thrown on the ground.
A dark figure slowly crouched down, picked up a tinderbox from the ground, and held it up in front of Ye Xiao.
"Miss Ye, what brings you here in the middle of the night? Did you get up in the middle of the night and enter the wrong room? I remember the door was locked. You look quite neat and tidy, do you have some kind of petty theft problem?"
Ye Xiao breathed a sigh of relief: "Boss Wan, you sneaked in so quietly, you scared me to death..."
"Miss Ye, should I go and call the constables from Gusu Prefecture? We can tell them that Tianbao Inn has been robbed?"
Ye smiled and said "Oh," without any fear: "I couldn't be happier... The officers must be very interested in where the great hero Shen Rujun was killed... and also very interested in why you would accompany a man impersonating the great hero Shen to the boat shop..."
Wan San sneered: "Young lady, you're making baseless accusations. Do you have any evidence?"
Ye Xiao nodded again: "That's true, I'm just guessing, I have no evidence at all... I can't convince the officer, but if this gets out of hand, the wandering swordsmen staying at the inn won't need any evidence..."
In the dim firelight, Wan San's face grew increasingly gloomy. He opened his mouth several times, finally sighing, "Young lady, you are in the prime of your life, why get involved in this mess? It seems I have no choice but to be impolite to you..."
Ye Xiao tilted her head and made a playful face: "Does this mean Boss Wan is admitting it?"
Wan San said in a sinister tone, "I admire the young lady's courage..."
Ye Xiao shook his head: "What you should admire is my intelligence... I was able to find out the truth in just a few days..."
With a sigh, Wan San seemed to wave his hand in front of Ye Xiao, who gasped in surprise and collapsed to the ground.
"What... what happened?" Ye Xiao tried to get up in surprise, but his whole body was like a lump of mud, unable to form a shape.
"You seem to know a great deal about the history and stories of the martial arts world... What, you don't know about the Netherworld Soft Bone Powder?"
Ye Xiao's eyes widened: "Really? You're really from Youming City? Youming City not only has strange martial arts, but they are also good at using medicine and poison... Youming Soft Bone Powder has been extinct in the martial arts world for many years... I feel extremely fortunate to be able to taste the flavor of this famous medicine myself."
"The young lady's courage once again impresses this old man..." Wan San exclaimed sincerely.
Ye Xiao sighed: "I have to remind you again, you should admire my intelligence..."
Wan San shook his head: "No matter how smart a person is, once they're dead, they're no different from an idiot... So I won't admire a dead person..."
He slowly walked up to Ye Xiao, and was about to make a move when suddenly his legs gave way and he fell to the ground.
He turned his head with some curiosity and saw Xiao Xun, dressed in a thin linen robe, standing behind him, shivering from the cold. He could just hear Ye Xiao's mocking words: "The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. I already made this move yesterday when I found out you were eavesdropping on my conversation with Ahua."
Xiao Xun sniffed, his teeth chattering as he said, "Boss... why did you make me stand outside for so long? I'm practically frozen solid..."
Ye chuckled, "Tonight the moon is bright and the wind is gentle; how elegant and refreshing it is to stand outside the door..."
Xiao Xun continued to tremble pitifully: "Boss, you're just making sarcastic remarks... Why won't you let me in to be the cicada, while you're out there like a mantis stalking a cicada?"
"...Are you skilled in martial arts? What if I, this weakling, get caught by the mantis and wiped out? That would be a terrible tragedy..."
Xiao Xun sighed. The boss is the boss; she's always right.
Wan San watched the two of them arguing back and forth with a bit of annoyance, feeling quite frustrated.
"There's something fishy about this house," Ye Xiao finally got back to the main point.
"Oh? Could this be the primary crime scene where Shen Rujun was murdered?"
Ye Xiao shook his head: "That can't be certain. I think there are too many people and too many eyes in the inn, so the murderer might not choose to do it here. It would be too much trouble to dispose of the body. It's just strange that Tianbao Inn would leave a room empty when business is so good..."
Wan San snorted: "Ever since that unlucky fellow died, the constables and江湖客 (jianghu people) have been coming to check this room in an endless stream. I was so annoyed that I locked the room up..."
Ye Xiao gave an interested "Oh": "That's strange... Even if you have a reason for leaving the house empty, it's still strange that the house is clean inside and out, spotless... There's not a speck of dust, debris, or trash under the bed."
Wan San snorted again: "Is it wrong for me to have mysophobia?"
Ye Xiao snorted again: "Why aren't the other rooms in the inn this clean? Is your germaphobia selective?"
Wan San shut his mouth in frustration, finally realizing that this young girl was not easily fooled.
"Third brother, now it's up to you... Can you pry this guy's mouth open and find out what's so strange about this house! He also has the Netherworld Softening Powder from Netherworld City, find out his origins..." The effects of the Softening Powder wore off, and Ye Xiao weakly climbed onto the chair next to him, slumped softly by the table, looked at the unlit gauze lamp on the table, and then pushed the lamp to the side.
"Oh," Xiao Xun replied, feeling genuinely troubled. He couldn't very well resort to threats or physical force to extract a confession; that didn't seem like something he, Xiao Xun, would do.
Just as I was pondering what to do, the window frame creaked softly, and something flew in with a whoosh.
It was too dark to see clearly, but I could feel the thing jumping around on the ground with loud thuds.
Xiao Xun carefully walked over, kicked it with his foot, but found nothing. Finally, he bent down, holding the tinderbox.
It was a large, live carp, wrapped in a cloth, still thrashing its big tail and jumping around.
Xiao Xun was stunned for a moment, then suddenly heard Ye Xiao shout, "Hey! Don't run!" He quickly turned around and saw a shadow dragging the chubby Wan San out like a wisp of smoke.
"Chase!" Ye Xiao gritted his teeth and ran out, his legs still weak and unsteady.
Xiao Xun followed closely behind and quickly overtook Ye Xiao, taking the lead by a wide margin.
The east was already beginning to lighten, but the streets were still deserted.
Xiao Xun turned a few street corners but didn't see anything suspicious.
Hearing Ye Xiao shout from behind, "Hey! What are you doing! Sneaking around and peeking in the corner!"
He immediately turned around, and sure enough, not far behind him at the street corner, there was a man in black looking around curiously.
Masked Man
Ye Xiao rushed forward, panting, grabbed the man in black, and examined him closely.
His face was very ordinary, and his whole face seemed a bit dull, but his eyes were as black as ink and as clear as spring water, with a bright and cold light.
"Why did you grab me, young lady? Could it be that you've taken a fancy to me?" Though his words were teasing, the man in black's voice was as chilling as his gaze.
"You...you...are you...that dark shadow from just now..." Ye Xiao gasped for breath, unable to speak clearly.
"What shadow?" the man asked coldly.
Xiao Xun immediately rushed back: "Did you see someone dragging another person along?"
"All I saw was you running for your lives."
"Oh..." Xiao Xun was deep in thought when he saw Ye Xiao start running again, so he quickly followed and soon overtook Ye Xiao.
"Oh no! I've been tricked!" Ye Xiao exclaimed, then suddenly turned around.
Xiao Xun paused for a moment, then turned around dejectedly and followed Ye Xiao.
Ye Xiao ran to the man in black from before and grabbed him again.
"I almost fell for it! Your face... huff... it's fake... huff..." Ye Xiao panted, but his eyes were full of smug smiles.
"Oh," the man said indifferently.
"The voice is very young, the face is very rough, it seems like he is already forty years old... Huff... The eyes are very lively, but the expression is very dull... Also, the skin on his hands is much more delicate and white than his face... Huff..." Ye Xiao was almost exhausted from running, bent over and panting heavily, but he still refused to let go, his whole body hanging on the person.
"I was wearing a mask. I've always been reluctant to show my true face. What taboo did that violate, young lady?" The man's voice remained flat and indifferent.
Ye Xiao was stunned for a moment, then sighed, awkwardly withdrew his hand, and continued running forward.
Xiao Xun had just run back to the man in black when he angrily turned around and quickly ran ahead of Ye Xiao again.
Just as they passed Ye Xiao, they heard him cry out "Ouch!" and turned around to find that Ye Xiao had run back to the man in black.
With a flash of silver light, Xiao Xun saw clearly that a small silver wheel flew out from Ye Xiao's sleeve and flew straight towards the man's face.
The man remained calm and unhurried. With a slight wave of his sleeve, a gentle current of air caught the small silver wheel, and with a gentle pull, the silver wheel obediently retracted into Ye Xiao's sleeve.
Ye Xiao showed no sign of frustration or annoyance; in fact, a look of delight appeared on his face: "As expected... suspicious! He knows martial arts, and his skill is not weak..."
The man was blunt: "Knowing martial arts, what taboo have you broken, young lady?"
Ye was speechless.
Just then, Xiao Xun ran back in a fit of rage: "Boss, what are you doing, going east and west all the time? You made me wander around like a donkey pulling a millstone!"
Ye Xiao vented her pent-up anger on him, giving him a slap on the elbow: "You know you're a donkey! What are you doing running around blindly without any sense of direction! If you're a donkey, do your duty! Follow your master properly!"
Xiao Xun rubbed his aching chest in annoyance and mumbled, "Boss, what were you hiding in your sleeve just now? Can you exchange them for some money... I don't have enough clothes... I'm cold..."
Ye Xiao sneered, "Look at you, all sweaty, clearly very hot! I think this outfit could be taken to a pawn shop..."
Xiao Xun immediately shut his mouth and dared not say another word.
The black-clad man's icy gaze suddenly softened, and a slight smile appeared on his face.
Ye Xiao added, "Forget it, we've already been delayed several times, we definitely can't catch up... Let's go back to room number A in the Heavenly tier and see if there's anything suspicious."
Room number A, the door was wide open, and the morning light shone through the window, giving the room a little light.
"This room has obviously been unoccupied for several months, but it's very clean, cleaner than any other room here. Even under the bed, it's spotless. Why?" Ye Xiao began to explain as he caught his breath.