The crisp sound coming from outside the window made the teammates fall silent in unison. On a summer afternoon, the sudden sound of a rattle drum sent a chill down Xiao Lou's spine for no reason.
He took a deep breath, walked to the window, pushed it open, and looked outside—
The sound came from the alley behind the inn.
The alley was shrouded in the shade of trees, and the light was dim. At this moment, there were not many pedestrians in the alley, except for a young man who was dressed in a dark blue long robe and a matching hat, looking like a scholar.
The man held a rattle drum in his hand and shook it continuously. The pellets on both sides of the rattle drum struck the drumhead, making a rhythmic clanging sound. A pattern was clearly printed on the drumhead—the sheep from the Chinese zodiac.
The painted lamb was incredibly lifelike. The man walked forward, playing with a rattle drum as he did so, a smile on his face, his steps light and quick. Xiao Lou turned to look at Yu Hanjiang, asking for his opinion with his eyes. The latter lowered his voice and said, "Doesn't seem like the murderer."
Xiao Lou also felt that this person did not seem like the murderer. Could it just be a coincidence?
Just then, a young girl dressed as a maid suddenly ran into the alley from the other end, quickly approached the man, and asked breathlessly, "Young Master, where have you been? The young mistress has been looking for you everywhere!"
The man smiled slightly and said gently, "Don't worry, I'll go buy the child something fun." As he spoke, he shook the rattle drum in his hand: "I heard that if a child cries incessantly at night, you can use this to amuse them and they'll stop crying."
The maid said helplessly, "Buying toys for the young master can be done by sending a servant; why did you have to make the trip yourself..."
The man waved his hand: "Alright, alright, I'll go back now."
The two walked out of the alley one after the other.
In the next room, Ye Qi, who had just opened the window and witnessed this scene, breathed a slight sigh of relief. She lowered the window, pressed her earpiece, and said, "That really startled me. When I suddenly heard the sound of rattle drums, I thought the killer had come knocking."
Qu Wanyue laughed and said, "It's probably just a coincidence. The young father was out buying toys for his child and was passing by the alley behind the inn. We happened to be talking about the rattle drum, and everyone was on edge, which is why we were startled."
Xiao Lou said, " Did you guys notice the pattern on his rattle drum?"
Ye Qi said, "I see it, isn't it a lamb?"
Shao Qingge said with certainty, "Today I went to the old man's stall and saw all the patterns of the twelve zodiac animals. The one he was holding was indeed a sheep, so his child should be a sheep."
Xiao Lou looked at the rattle drum that he had found from the Zhao family. Since rattle drums are toys for children, the makers would embellish the designs when drawing them. The little tiger on the drumhead was drawn very cutely, and it was even wearing red clothes. The anthropomorphic drawing style was obviously more popular with children.
Yu Hanjiang followed Xiao Lou's gaze to the drum surface and said, "That young father mentioned that his child cried incessantly in the middle of the night, so his child is probably not even a year old... Is this the Year of the Sheep?"
Shao Qingge said, "It should be the Year of the Sheep. At the old man's toy stall, there was a rattle drum with a sheep painted on it hanging at the front, and there were also some colorful dough figurines, which were also made into cute little sheep shapes."
Xiao Lou carefully calculated and said, "According to the order of the twelve zodiac animals, this year is the Year of the Sheep, so 20 years before the famine... should have been the Year of the Pig. The Tiger is 9 years older than the Pig. Assuming the rattle drum found by the Zhao and Chen families belongs to the murderer, and the murderer's zodiac sign is Tiger, then when the famine occurred 20 years ago, the murderer was very likely just a 9-year-old child?"
Yu Hanjiang added, "It could also be adults who are 21, 33, or 45 years old."
For those born in the Year of the Tiger, a cycle of 12 years means the perpetrator could be 9, 21, 33, or 45 years old.
Xiao Lou said, "So, the current murderer could be 29, 41, 53, or 65 years old?"
Yu Hanjiang said, "The possibility of being 53 or 65 years old is relatively low. The average lifespan of people in ancient times was not long. People over 50 years old would suffer from various diseases and it would be difficult for them to kill dozens of people without making a sound. Therefore, the most likely possibility is that the murderer was a 9-year-old child or a 21-year-old young man who came back for revenge in the year of the famine. He is now 29 or 41 years old."
Once the age is identified, the scope of the investigation will be greatly narrowed.
All young and middle-aged people in the town who were born in the Year of the Tiger and were aged 29 or 41 were potential suspects.
Xiao Lou said, "I wonder if this town has any government-like institutions? If we could find a roster or files of the town's residents, it would be much easier to investigate."
Shao Qingge said, "Since it's a small town, there should be a mayor, right? We can try to find out during lunchtime."
After a morning of activities, it was lunchtime, and everyone went downstairs in batches to eat.
The inn became noticeably more lively, with many travelers coming to stay and dine there.
Shao Qingge used the same trick again, ordering several of the most expensive dishes from the waiter. As the dishes were being served, he slipped a silver ingot to the waiter and asked in a low voice, "Waiter, may I ask where your town mayor lives? I am a businessman from out of town and would like to pay him a visit."
The waiter happily accepted the money and whispered to Shao Qingge, "Sir, are you looking for our town mayor? His name is Qin Feng, and he lives in the courtyard at the far east end of Xiushui Lane. Our mayor is a very kind person; he often helps the elderly in town fetch water and chop firewood, and he personally visits anyone who has a baby. Although he is very young,..."
The villagers all respected him greatly.
Ye Qi asked curiously, "How old is he this year? Is he married?"
The waiter scratched his head and said, "He's not even thirty yet and still unmarried. Matchmakers have been practically wearing down his doorstep trying to arrange marriages for him, but he's turned them all down. He says he already has someone he loves and is engaged to, and he's been waiting for that woman. Sigh, what a devoted lover."
While Shao and Ye were asking for information, Ye Qi kept pressing the protrusion on his earphone, so the other teammates could also hear the information that the waiter said in a low voice.
Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang and asked softly, "Is this town mayor a suspect?"
Yu Hanjiang nodded: "We can't get into the town tonight, so let's try to investigate him this afternoon."
Lu Jiuchuan stayed behind at Peach Blossom Spring, outside the town.
Peach Blossom Spring only lasts for 3 hours, after which it disappears automatically. Since Peach Blossom Spring had already vanished, he and Tang Ci simply found a shady spot in the woods to hide. They had been listening to their teammates' discussion, and upon hearing this, Lu Jiuchuan couldn't help but interject, " Should Xiao Tang and I stay outside the town? Why don't we go investigate?"
Tang Ci also wanted to find something to do. He pressed his earpiece and said softly, "The town looks normal during the day, with many residents coming and going. My brother Jiu and I still have our Invisibility Cloak skills, so we can find an opportunity to sneak into the mayor's house."
Xiao Lou thought for a moment and said, "Alright, then I'll trouble Ninth Brother and Mr. Tang to investigate this Qin Feng."
The town during the day isn't like the Ghost City maze at night, where there's no way out once you enter. Therefore, there's no need for Ninth Brother and Tang Ci to stay outside town to pick up the missing person at Peach Blossom Spring. Besides, at this point, two Tao Yuanming... Their card skills have already cooled down, so there's no point in them staying outside the town. They might as well come in and help.
Xiao Lou and his group, who went on a nighttime raid on the town last night, had their Invisibility Cloaks off cooldown, but Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci's card skills were still active, so they could use the 30 minutes of invisibility to conduct some investigation.
Yu Hanjiang whispered, "If the murderer is the mayor, the townspeople trust him completely. It should be easy for him to manipulate everyone's consciousness. Brother, the focus of your investigation should be twofold: first, the mayor's age, background, and origins; second, try to find the town's resident register information from him, and take a picture of it with a drone once you find it. You only have 30 minutes in Invisibility Cloak, so be quick."
Lu Jiuchuan replied decisively, "Understood! We'll get started right away."
The two didn't go into town to eat. Instead, they made do with milk, chocolate, and instant noodles from their resource supply cards, then found a secluded spot, put on their Invisibility Cloaks, and quickly infiltrated the town.
Following the waiter's instructions, Jiu Tang and his companion quickly arrived at Xiushui Lane—a very secluded lane with a few households living there. The town mayor's residence was at the end of the road, a rather large courtyard with a simple and elegant layout.
To make sure no one was inside, Lu Jiuchuan threw the eavesdropping device against the wall and listened intently for a moment. When he heard nothing, the two of them climbed over the wall and entered the courtyard.
Many herbs were drying in the courtyard, and you could smell their fragrance as soon as you entered.
The mayor is not home; he's probably out on business, which makes it convenient for the two of them to investigate.
Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci pushed open the door and went inside—the room was simply furnished and very clean and tidy.
The furniture was all made of bamboo, and looked very much like it was handcrafted. Two rows of bamboo chairs were placed in the large living room, enough to accommodate dozens of people for a meeting. Next to it was a study and a bedroom; the two checked the bedroom first.
There was an old solid wood cabinet in the bedroom, with an iron lock on the door, which probably contained important documents.
Lu Jiuchuan used the master key to open the lock and found a thick stack of notebooks inside. He quickly took them out, flipped through them, and had Tang Ci take pictures of the contents with a drone.
These notebooks contain detailed records of the family members and birth dates of all the residents in the town.
Lu Jiuchuan noticed that the missing families of Zhao Zeping and Chen Yu were both recorded in a blue register, their names marked with a bright red cross.
Those red crosses were shocking.
The roster was filled with red crosses over 90% of the names. It's unclear whether the Zhao and Chen families had many more people marked with crosses!
Tang Ci gasped – this list was like a "list of the dead", was the murderer killing people according to the list?
He quickly took pictures of these scenes with the drone, then had Lu Jiuchuan restore the roster to its previous order, put it back in the cabinet, and then relock the iron lock.
The two left the bedroom and went to the study.
The study was filled with all kinds of books, including some on medicine, herbs, and acupuncture. There was also a shelf full of medicine bottles of various colors, each labeled with the name of the medicine. It seemed that the mayor knew a little about pharmacology.
Lu Jiuchuan glanced around and whispered, "Look around for hidden doors or secret rooms."
Tang Ci carefully examined the bookshelf. All the books were neatly arranged, and most of them had a small amount of dust on them. It was normal for books to have dust on them in an open bookshelf.
However, one row of books was noticeably cleaner than the ones next to it.
Tang Ci stepped forward and pulled out the thick "Compendium of Materia Medica" on the top shelf. The next moment, a rumbling sound suddenly came from his ears—the bookshelf in front of him suddenly split in two, revealing a hidden door in the middle!
Behind the hidden door, a long staircase leads down to the ground. The room is extremely dark, and the staircase seems to have no end.
There must be a secret behind this hidden door!
Just as the two were about to go downstairs, the courtyard gate suddenly...
He was pushed away.
Footsteps approached the study.
The owner of the yard has returned.
It's too late to go down and investigate now; we can only take pictures of the secret room as quickly as possible.
The drone was much faster than they could climb the stairs. Lu Jiuchuan whispered, "Use the drone!"
Tang Ci quickly released the drone to film the scene inside the secret room.
Almost the instant he took back the drone, the living room door was slowly pushed open by the man.
Passing through the living room, you'll find the study where the two of them are.
Tang Ci hurriedly put the book back and closed the door to the dark room. Lu Jiuchuan quickly went to the window, found Tang Ci's location by feel, gently grabbed Tang Ci's wrist, and pushed open the window, saying, "Let's go!"