Chapter 60: Missing |
As they spoke, the inn worker’s shouts echoed from within the inn.
"Mr.
Shi, Mr. Wu, where are you? Please come out and show yourselves.
Mr. Shi, Mr.
Wu…"
Sounds of room doors opening followed, indicating that rooms were being checked one by one.
Before long, the shouts came from directly below them.
After the sound of footsteps receded, Wu Jinliang quietly asked, "Bian Weiying? No way, we have no previous enmity with her, why would she harm us? Be honest, did you touch her while I wasn't around? Don't think I didn't see you touching Xiang Lan'er the whole time; you're too repressed a pervert."
He clearly remembered the scene when Shi Chun was holding Xiang Lan'er and running; the position he was holding her in was simply outrageous.
It seemed unfair. Couldn't he have chased her instead? He was so tall, and had such a good appearance.
Shi Chun found it strange. When did he touch Xiang Lan'er? What was this fellow talking nonsense about?
No, what time was it now? They didn't dare speak a decibel louder, yet this fellow was still thinking about touching women.
If not for the dangerous predicament, and the need to avoid alarming anyone, he would have given this fellow a big kick.
He said in a low voice, "Don't talk nonsense.
The man beside Bian Weiying, the scar on the web between his thumb and forefinger, it's similar to the hand that sneak attacked us in the carriage, and in the same position. It shouldn't be a coincidence."
Hearing this, Wu Jinliang's nerves immediately tensed, and he widened his eyes to look.
However, Wei Bian's hand had already lowered, and the angle wasn't good. He only vaguely saw what looked like a scar, but couldn't see it clearly.
But he knew very well that Chuntian wouldn't joke about such things.
With his heart pounding with fear, he asked in a low voice, "What do we do then? This is their territory, and they are many in number and strong in power.
Just a few of their manpower are stronger than us, and they have an endless supply of Immobilization Talismans. We're in trouble.
Why are we so unlucky, everything goes wrong for us since we came out? Look at Old Dong and Big Stone."
He then tugged at Shi Chun's sleeve, pointing at the Disheveled Old Man under the opposite eaves, "Isn't he a Master? Can that old man's words be trusted?"
Shi Chun: "You ask me, who should I ask? We're not familiar at all.
He wouldn't even reveal his background details, and we've never tested him. Do you think we can entrust our lives to him on our first try? This is Wukang Mountain.
Bian Weiying is acting as the City Lord in Linkang City. Are you sure she'll intervene? Unless there's absolutely no other way, we can't rely on that old man.
The most important thing now is to find a way to contact Feng Chi and tell her the truth of the matter. They have deep connections here and should be able to solve it.
The problem is we don't know where she is, or if there's enough time. We need to find the shopkeeper; he might know where she is.
No, with such a big commotion, unless she's not in the city, the inn should have already reported it to her. She's likely nearby but finds it inconvenient to show herself.
We'll endure for now; she won't sit by and watch and should find a way to resolve this."
Wu Jinliang thought for a moment, then nodded, "You're right, let's hold out first.
If push comes to shove, we'll try that old man."
"Mr.
Shi, Mr. Wu, where are you? Come out, it's alright…"
The inn worker's haunting voice rose again.
After wandering past, he turned and went downstairs.
Before long, the inn worker's figure appeared in their sight, arriving outside, downstairs.
The inn worker gave the shopkeeper and others a bitter smile, "I've searched everywhere. They're not here.
I don't know where they went."
The shopkeeper was somewhat speechless, demanding, "You've searched everywhere?"
The inn worker, looking absolutely true, said, "I've looked up and down, there's really no one."
Whether Bian Weiying and the others would believe this was one thing, but they wouldn't just drop it because of a casual remark from an inn worker.
It wasn't that simple.
Bian Weiying cast a cold gaze towards Wei Bian.
Wei Bian understood each other, and immediately waved his hand and shouted, "Search!"
A group of Wukang Mountain Disciples immediately rushed through the inn gate and spread out to search.
"This, this…" The shopkeeper spread his hands, unsure what to do, and helpless, he could only watch.
Something seemed to have gone wrong. The onlookers nearby found it even more interesting, completely disregarding the trivial matter of the light rain.
The Gaunt Man in Green Robes on the roof turned his head to look at Feng Chi, seemingly also wanting to ask, what was going on?
Feng Chi was already frowning and whispering, "Not here? Did they escape by climbing out a window from the back? Killing in self-defense, why run?"
Even if this were an unwritten rule, even if it were Heavenly Laws, as long as it was clearly defined, killing in self-defense would not be punished. This was basic justice.
Seeing the commotion of the crowd rushing in downstairs, Shi Chun poked Wu Jinliang, and they retreated from their corner on the roof.
Wu Jinliang quickly followed.
Before they could move the attic opening and slip down to the ground, their bare feet brushed against each other. The roof rarely cleaned had accumulated dust, so this way no footprints would be left on the ground after landing.
The oil lamp in the corridor was dim, and the sound of footsteps downstairs was hurried.
The two crouched, half-squatting on the corridor floor, listening intently to the commotion downstairs.
Listening to the footsteps below, and hearing the sounds of doors opening and people rushing into rooms to check, they roughly determined the search pattern. Shi Chun softly said to Wu Jinliang, "Old method, take a gamble! If it doesn't work out, two choices: one, break through the wall directly and rush towards the old man to try; two, still break through the wall and rush to the neighbors."
He pointed at the oil lamp on the wall, "We can set fire.
Just rush, just burn. The bigger the fire, the better.
No matter whose house it is, the more that burns, the better. In short, the more chaotic and bigger the commotion we create, the better.
Let the Demonic Path Group discover our position, and create an opportunity for the Demonic Path Group to act amidst chaos. I don't believe that now that we've caused trouble and started fighting desperately, they can still sit by and watch.
They probably don't realize the gravity of the situation, so we have to force them to intervene to save us!"
Regardless of the outcome, he had clearly prepared for failure first.
Wu Jinliang nodded, "Okay."
Shi Chun then pulled out the short blade from his sleeve, pointed to the room in the furthest corner on this floor, and calmly said, "Let's get to work!"
Regardless of whether this blade had just stabbed someone, he finished speaking and bit it into his mouth.
Wu Jinliang quickly stood up and moved, tiptoeing to the door of the furthest corner room. He cast a spell to gently open the door, entered to confirm the situation inside was clear, then peered out from the doorway and gave an "all clear" gesture.
Shi Chun quickly took off his clothes, using a clean part of the inside of his garment to wipe off the dust from the attic on the ground, then also quickly tiptoed into the furthest corner room.
Just as the two gently closed the door, several people had already rushed up the stairs, pushing open room doors like fierce as wolves and tigers to search.
After a leading figure came up, his eyes immediately fixed on the attic, shouting, "Two people go up and check."
Immediately, someone opened the attic entrance and climbed in one after another, illuminating the space with Tanjin purple flame aura, searching in the low-ceilinged area where one had to bend over.
Before long, one person rushed to the room where Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang were hiding, pushing the door open aggressively and bursting in.
But the moment he stepped inside, the sharp tip of a short blade touched lightly on his head, then plunged in.
The man never dreamed that in their territory, Linkang City, inside this inn, someone would dare to assassinate him so brazenly.
His eyes widened, his mouth opened, but he could no longer make a sound; only his body trembled.
Still, a hand conveniently covered his mouth, and Shi Chun, using his shoulder to borrow strength, silently landed.
Wu Jinliang, who had cat-like steps, gently reached out and caught the Tanjin for illumination that fell from the man's hand.
The man was quickly dragged beside the榻. Wu Jinliang, who followed, quickly pulled a quilt to cover the man's head and wrap him.
Only then did Shi Chun pull out the saber, bloodlessly, and swiftly stripped the Wukang Mountain Disciple's clothes, quickly putting them on himself.
"Nothing."
"Not here either."
"No discovery."
Responses came from the corridor.
Before long, the leading figure who had been checking the corridor walked over, glanced into the room, and asked, "How is it?"
With his buttocks facing away, Shi Chun, who was crouching under the couch holding the Tanjin for illumination, seemingly inspecting diligently, replied, "Not here either."
In reality, Wu Jinliang was lying under the couch, with a corpse wrapped in a quilt beside him.
Indeed, as Shi Chun had said, this was truly a gamble; the possibility of failure was too high.
Fortunately, the leading figure only took a direct look, didn't pay much attention to Shi Chun's voice, and turned to leave.
Shi Chun quickly stood up, gripping the light of the Tanjin, and moved to the door to listen for outside movement.
Before long, someone on the other side of the corridor shouted, "There seem to be man-made traces on this attic.
I don't know if they were left before or by those two."
The leading figure's voice rang out, "Regardless of any traces, I'm asking if anyone is up there?"
The former replied, "No, the three of us checked back and forth, definitely no one.
It's empty up there, nowhere to hide anyone."
"Seriously, it's been so long, they must have left already."
Someone uninformed complained.
"Just do what you're told, stop with the nonsense, let's go."
Soon, a flurry of descending footsteps sounded.
Shi Chun poked his head out to glance at the corridor outside the door, then slipped back beside the couch, leaning down to say, "You wait here first, I'll go up and check."
Wu Jinliang hummed in assent.
Shi Chun immediately slipped out of the room, again opened the attic opening, and climbed up, crouching stealthily back to his original position to peer down.
Some of the manpower searching were looking around in the inn lobby, some had followed out from the entrance.
The group hadn't even noticed that one of their accomplices was missing.
The leading figure came before Bian Weiying to offer greetings, then said to Wei Bian, "We've searched.
Up and down, even the ground was searched with spells. Not even the pillars and beams were spared.
No one. The people are indeed not here."
Wei Bian quickly turned his head to look at the stalwart man who had climbed into the carriage earlier.
The latter awkwardly said, "Indeed, I didn't see anyone come out."
Not just them, even the inn's shopkeeper and inn worker couldn't help but look at each other quietly.
Are the people really gone? No one saw them come out. Where did they go?
The Gaunt Man in Green Robes on the roof and Feng Chi, wrapped in her cloak, also felt strange.
From the shopkeeper's response, the people should still be in the inn.
Bian Weiying smiled, turning her head to look at the Anle Inn signboard, "That's truly strange then.
Either you're blind, or there's something fishy in this building."
She hadn't avoided the rain, and even though the rain was fine, after a long time, her clothes were wet.
She turned to look at the inn shopkeeper, a half-smile on her face. The latter was very helpless, unsure how to explain.
Wei Bian said fiercely, "City Lord, I'll take them to search again thoroughly!"
He knew very well that after the assassination of Old Liu, seeing the two murderers escape into the inn, he immediately had people stake out the inn, waiting for the City Lord's next decision. He still believed in his subordinates.
Bian Weiying did not stop him.
(End of chapter)