Starting from a peasant family, he mastered the profound art of martial arts.

Chapter 39 Arrest

The autumn night was dark and without light; the moon was hidden and the stars were few, making it impossible to tell what time it was.

The distant calls of crows only amplified the stillness of the autumn night.

Gao Yuan was beyond dead. Meng Chen took a few breaths and then reached out to touch the corpse.

After searching for a while, they found a small elixir bottle, about ten taels of silver, and a few silver notes.

Meng Chen stood up and looked around. In the deep night, he could vaguely see Bi Qing still crying blankly a hundred paces away.

Bi Qing's abdominal injury wasn't serious, but his legs were badly injured, so he couldn't escape.

However, Meng Chen did not want to silence this person, but rather wanted to use this person to tell the story of his injury.

Moreover, although Bi Qing had been sending people to keep watch in front of the Du family martial arts school, the two had never actually met. Meng Chen's ambush this time also went undetected, so he was not worried about his identity being discovered.

After resting for a while, Meng Chen went to find the old clothes he had hidden beforehand.

Heading northwest for half a mile, Meng Chen saw that the bleeding from his wounds had stopped, so he turned east again.

The wound was still incredibly painful, and after walking slowly for half an hour, I arrived at a small river.

The wounds on my thighs and abdomen have healed, leaving only large patches of blood. After wiping away the blood, it looks as if I had never been injured that night.

The Yang Fish, which had been feeding Meng Chen, had already dimmed and lost its luster.

Meng Chen took off his blue robe, went into the water to wash away the bloodstains, and then grabbed a handful of mud and rubbed his body several times.

Then he sank the blood-stained clothes underwater and weighed them down with stones. Meng Chen then changed into his old clothes and headed northeast, eventually arriving at the East Gate.

To get to the county town from the old Longtan area of ​​Niujia Village, one must enter through the south gate of the county town. Naturally, Meng Chen had to avoid the south gate.

Moreover, if you enter from the east gate, it won't be long before you reach the residence in the west garden.

At this moment, Bi Qing had already crawled to Gao Yuan's body. His wounds were covered in mud, and he was lying on Gao Yuan's body, crying.

After Bi Qing saw Gao Yuan being killed, he wanted to escape, but he was too badly injured to stand up, so he lay on the ground and pretended to be dead.

Unexpectedly, the villain, whether exhausted or too badly injured, did not pursue him but instead limped away.

Bi Qing waited another quarter of an hour before daring to get up and laboriously climb to Gao Yuan's body.

After a while, Bi Qing's voice became hoarse from crying, and he felt increasingly pained. Moreover, the crows all around him were calling louder and louder, and more and more of them, which was particularly eerie.

The autumn night was chilly, and Bi Qing was also badly injured. He was both cold and scared, so he forced himself to crawl to the main road.

The horse was dead, so there was no leverage. They wanted to move forward, but couldn't muster any strength at all.

Bi Qing endured the long wait until a glimmer of light appeared on the horizon, and finally saw someone approaching in the distance—an old man who had gotten up early to collect manure.

"What's going on?" The old man kept his head down, looking at the road. It wasn't until he was about ten steps away that he saw a horse carcass on the road and a person lying by the roadside.

"Come here and tell me the news..." Bi Qing's face was pale and bloodless. He was shivering from the cold as he raised his voice.

But the old man was terrified. He watched from afar for a while, then turned and left. It was quite a while before he returned with a group of people.

With so many people around, they naturally weren't afraid anymore. But then a sharp-eyed person spotted another person in the field with a knife nailed to their body.

"Don't get on the ground, or you'll ruin our tracks." Bi Qing, having followed Gao Dianshi before, immediately shouted to stop him.

Those who were close by were relatively obedient, but those who were farther away did not hear Bi Qing's words at all. Several bold young men immediately ran to look at Gao Yuan's corpse and howled.

Bi Qing had no choice. He took out some loose silver and threw it out. "Go to the city gate and find Zhao Piezi. Tell him that Young Master Gao has been murdered, and ask him to inform Clerk Gao immediately!"

Upon hearing the name Zhao Piezi, some of the people knew he was from the government office and quickly went to report it.

After a quarter of an hour, the horses began to shake, and seven or eight constables arrived first. A little while later, when it was already broad daylight, another rider arrived with several men.

The man was slightly overweight and had a very gloomy face.

"Master!" Bi Qing cried out immediately, clearly the visitor was Gao Dianshi Gao Wangtian.

Gao Wangtian ignored Bi Qing, dismounted, and immediately walked into the field, arriving at Gao Yuan's corpse.

No one dared to touch the corpse, and the constables dared not utter a sound.

"Yuan'er..." Gao Wangtian's eyes were bloodshot, as if he was about to spit blood. He clenched his fists, knelt on one knee beside Gao Yuan, and gently stroked the hilt of the knife.

At this moment, Gao Yuan was lying on the ground, his hands holding a handful of soil, with the knife stuck in his back, only the hilt showing. It was clear that the blade had already pierced through his body and was embedded in the ground.

It was already bright outside, and there was a morning breeze.

After a long while, Gao Wangtian stood up and looked around. He saw farmers from all around him coming to watch the excitement.

Suddenly, he remembered that in June of this year, when the Yan family had their accident, people from all around gathered in front of the Yan family's house, just like a market day.

"Go and bring Bi Qing here," Gao Wangtian said.

Bi Qing was immediately carried to the front by a group of people. He was covered in blood, his face was pale, and he was trembling uncontrollably. It was unclear whether he was cold from losing too much blood or frightened by Gao Dianshi.

"Tell me," Gao Wangtian said in a chilling tone.

Bi Qing dared not hide anything, and immediately began to cry as he spoke, explaining in detail what had happened the previous night.

"You mean the assailant was wearing a long blue robe, his age is unknown, but he was probably a young man. He was very strong and had a steady hand. Did you see how he used the knife?" Gao Wangtian asked.

In the martial arts world, each school and sect has its own lineage. Some people can be identified by experienced people as soon as they make a move, which is why Gao Dianshi asked this question.

"It's hard to see clearly at night, but at first it seemed like he was being suppressed by the young master. Later, he traded injuries for injuries and finally managed to hurt the young master," Bi Qing said.

"Where was the assailant injured? How badly?" Gao Wangtian asked.

"The assailant's left leg was stabbed by the young master's knife, and his left hand was also cut when he grabbed the young master's knife. I stabbed him in the lower left rib and abdomen, and that is the most serious injury," Bi Qing said.

Gao Wangtian stopped asking questions and instead looked at a constable.

The constable immediately bowed and whispered, "Sir, we followed the bloodstains southwest for half a mile, then onto a small path, and there was no more blood. The brothers searched the area twice more, but found no more bloodstains, the footprints were broken, and we didn't find any cart tracks or hoofprints. We can't figure out what kind of arrangements the murderer might have made. Or maybe someone was there to meet us."

"Someone's meeting you?" Gao Wangtian sneered. "Since you're meeting me, why not kill that piece of trash Bi Qing?"

No one dared to utter a sound.

"What do you think?" Gao Wangtian asked, looking at an elderly constable.

"Although you are only at the second level of the martial arts realm, your swordsmanship is quite skilled. Since you were able to suppress your opponent, the murderer must only be a first-level martial artist with no extraordinary abilities," the old constable deduced. "I reckon the murderer ambushed and killed you because he probably knew you were inferior to you. As for whether it was a revenge killing or for money, that's hard to say."

Gao Wangtian looked at Bi Qing and asked, "How much wealth did Yuan'er take last night?"

Bi Qing, being Gao Yuan's personal attendant, naturally knew all this. He immediately said, "Yesterday, Young Master hosted a banquet for Young Master Yan at Feiyun Tower, bringing six hundred-tael silver notes. He also has five notes left over, and I don't know about the loose silver. And... last night, Young Master Yan gave Young Master a Blood Qi Pill."

Gao Wangtian frowned and asked again, "Has Yuan'er offended anyone recently? Has he made any enemies?"

"This..." Bi Qing stammered, but seeing Gao Wangtian's unfriendly expression, he said, "Young Master has always been kind and has never offended anyone. It's just... it's just that a few people couldn't pay their gambling debts, so Young Master locked up their wives and daughters as collateral. But this was all done by the White-Robed Scholar; Young Master didn't reveal anything."

These words were spoken lightly, but the constables knew immediately that it was a scheme to force a woman into prostitution.

"A doting mother often spoils her son!"

Gao Wangtian naturally understood. After a moment's thought, he said, "Zhang Qian, Li Wan, you two take men and check every pharmacy and clinic in every town. If anyone is looking to buy wound medicine or herbs for stopping bleeding and relieving pain, make sure they report it. Also, check if anyone has purchased these kinds of medicines in the past month! Check the new guests at the inn too!"

"Yes!" Upon receiving the order, the two constables, Zhang and Li, selected a few men and immediately set off.

"Yang Bao, Wei Bin, take your men and patrol the area within ten miles several more times. Inform the village heads and elders that if any villagers have seen a stranger, or if anyone in the village stays home or does anything strange, they must report it immediately!" Gao Wangtian said.

"Understood!" Constables Wei and Yang received the order, selected a few men, and left.

"Xue Sheng, Dong Yang, the killer's wounds can't be concealed, so he probably won't enter the city. But we can't let our guard down. Take some men and go into the city. Ask around at every clinic and pharmacy. Also, check on people in the city who have learned martial arts. Carefully examine their bodies for injuries or anything unusual. In addition, have the gangs in the south of the city check themselves. Ask if they've seen any strangers and if anyone hired anyone to commit the crime. Especially the white-robed scholar Qu San, he's closest to Yuan'er, have him come over." Gao Wangtian gave his third order.

"Yes!" Constable Xue and Constable Dong pointed to a few men and immediately returned to the city.

In a short time, most of the constables dispersed.

Gao Wangtian sighed, then knelt down again, looking at Gao Yuan's corpse.

A short while later, the coroner from the county government finally arrived. He bowed first, then went forward to examine the body. Upon seeing Gao Yuan's miserable state, he exclaimed in surprise, "This looks like a demonstration of anger."

The coroner examined the hilt of the knife carefully and said, "This knife looks somewhat familiar."

He had someone help Gao Yuan up, and then he drew his sword. He saw a single character engraved on the hilt: the character "leopard".

"Yan Bao's knife has never been found, I never expected..." The coroner was shocked.

Gao Wangtian took the knife in his hand to examine it, and saw that there were many nicks on the blade, obviously damaged during yesterday's battle, but the blade could still be seen to have been recently sharpened.

"Sir, could this be aimed at the Yan family? Has our young master been wrongly accused?" the coroner asked.

Gao Wangtian didn't say much and immediately rode his horse towards the Yan family.