Dingbei Hou's doctor brother

Chapter 110 Manhunt

After walking around the city gate, Xiao Yan stopped at the corner of the street, holding his sword and walking slowly, his thoughts still on the red agate ring, pondering it secretly.

"Where have I seen you before?"

In the blink of an eye, I saw a hint of red in the distance.

He glanced over and saw Lang Si, wearing a dark red robe, riding towards him on horseback.

Xiao Yan stared at the swaying red, closed his eyes and thought hard.

Soon, a pair of old hands habitually behind their backs appeared in my mind, and on them was a red agate ring like this.

It’s Guozhou!

He suddenly opened his eyes and jumped onto the horse. Lang Si had just arrived when Yang Zhounan and Su Chengfeng also happened to come over.

Before they could speak, Xiao Yan spoke first.

"The man wearing the red agate ring among those Hu merchants just now was Guo Zhou."

"What?" Yang Zhounan's eyebrows furrowed. "That person is really?"

"It's easy as long as they're still in the city," Lang Si said. "His disciples can't go anywhere, so they can only hide in places like inns, brothels, and temples in disguise. I'll have someone investigate first."

"Also," Xiao Yan added, "Have the Five Cities Military Department send more people to search!"

In a short period of time, a large number of officers and soldiers shuttled through the streets, alleys and narrow lanes in the city.

Whether it was a residential building, a school, a shop, a factory, or even a place where livestock lived, nothing could escape inspection, causing panic among the people.

On the third floor of the west side of Chengxiang Inn, in a propped-up window, a pair of eyes were staring at the officers and soldiers passing by on the street.

It’s Guozhou!

The tall subordinate also followed to the window and looked at the main street and the side streets and alleys.

"General, the number of soldiers from the Military Affairs Department has suddenly doubled, and they are checking every shop door to door. We might have been exposed."

"We were disguised like this, even I couldn't recognize ourselves, how did we get exposed?" the thin man continued.

Guo Zhou thought with his hands behind his back, pacing slowly in the middle of the room.

The short subordinate's eyes followed the movement, and he suddenly spread out his hands, putting them on his waist to analyze.

"We have nowhere to go right now. The General's disciples must be under surveillance by the Imperial Guards. Fortunately, we have a pass, but otherwise, where else can we go?"

"Whether we've been exposed or not, we can't stay here for long." Guo Zhou finally spoke.

"This outfit is too conspicuous. Change into your old clothes and go to Fucaifang. There's an old friend in Zhongjie Hutong. You can take shelter there for a while."

"Boom boom boom——"

There was a knock on the door, and several people were suddenly startled and looked at each other.

The thin man pushed aside the beaded curtain with two fingers and asked, "Who is it?"

"Dear guests, I am here to deliver food."

The door opened and two waiters came in and put the food on the table. When they left, one of them smiled and said to the few people.

"The food for the guests is ready, you..."

As the waiter spoke, his eyes suddenly widened. He slowly looked at the thin man's mouth and asked tentatively.

"Sir, what's wrong with your beard...ah? You have a fake beard...hmm!"

Before he could finish, his mouth was covered, and his throat suddenly felt cold, and a warm current flowed down his neck.

The blood was stuck in my throat, making a roaring sound. I wanted to cough but couldn't, and I wanted to speak but no sound came out. I was suffocating and my eyes went black.

Another fell to the ground at the same time as him.

Outside the attic, diners were going up and down the stairs, and the lobby was full of people, urging the food to be served, making a lot of noise.

The shopkeeper hastened to apologize and appease the man, secretly scolding the new waiter for being unreliable and preparing to deduct this month's salary.

He was looking for someone angrily and was about to go upstairs. When he reached the stairs, a few guests came down.

The shopkeeper politely made way, but before he was halfway there, someone came in from outside.

He quickly greeted with a smile, but after seeing who it was, the smile disappeared immediately, and the diners sitting in the hall fell silent almost instantly.

There were several generals wearing armor and carrying swords, followed by soldiers.

The shopkeeper said cautiously, "How many officials are there..."

Xiao Yan held his sword and looked around the hall before speaking.

"I'm under order to investigate a case. Boss, please cooperate. Are there any foreigners staying at your inn?"

"I will cooperate, of course." The shopkeeper nodded and said, "Yes, we often have foreign merchants staying in our shop. Please feel free to search it, sir."

Yang Zhounan waved his hand, and the soldiers behind him immediately dispersed.

Everyone in the hall was interrogated one by one, and upstairs one could only hear the sound of doors opening and the panicked cries of guests.

Su Chengfeng was wandering around the stairs, his eyes darting around, when he inadvertently caught a glimpse of a circle of red marks on the steps.

He bent down to look. There were stairs both above and below. The stairs were dark in color and difficult to see without careful observation.

It's footprints.

"There are bloody footprints here."

This sound shocked everyone present, including the shopkeeper, and they started talking about it.

A murder occurred in the inn, and it was during the manhunt for a wanted criminal, so the murderer might have happened in his own store.

He will definitely be sentenced to death for harboring a fugitive.

He was so frightened that he was trembling, his eyes went dark, and he leaned against the counter without standing steadily.

Xiao Yan followed the bloody footprints upstairs, and a soldier came running down from upstairs to report.

"My Lord, two people died on the third floor. They were the shop assistants."

When the shopkeeper heard this, he fainted.

There was blood all over the floor of the third-floor wing room, as well as several pieces of Hu people's clothes.

Yang Zhounan squatted down and reached out his hand to the waiter's face.

"They're still warm, so they haven't been dead for long. They shouldn't have gotten far. Let's chase them."

Several people followed the direction of the bloody footprints on the stairs and chased out of the small street behind the inn. It was not long after noon and there were not many people on the street.

Xiao Yan and Yang Zhounan split up and chased into the alleys on both sides. The soldiers followed behind, and the common people tried to avoid them.

He rode his horse through two alleys, and Lang Sizheng rode out of the alley across the street and turned onto the main street.

Xiao Yan chased out, his eyes passing through the crowd, and soon saw the person running away in the distance.

Soldiers were chasing people on the street, and the crowd screamed and hid to the sides.

Soldiers and officers rushed out from several alleys and street corners. Seeing that they were about to be surrounded, Guo Zhou grabbed the pregnant woman who was about to dodge from the side in a hurry.

The old woman next to her screamed, "Daughter, my daughter."

The soldiers pulled the old woman away, and officers and soldiers quickly surrounded her.

Guo Zhou strangled the pregnant woman with his arms, held the knife to her neck, and stared sharply at the officers and soldiers surrounding her from both sides.

"General, we can't escape." The thin subordinate stared at the periphery with sharp eyes and said through gritted teeth: "Today, let's fuck him!"

The tall subordinate quickly glanced behind him and saw that the teahouse owner was kicked away before he could close the door.

Several people took the pregnant woman hostage and quickly retreated into the teahouse and closed the door.

The shopkeeper and several guests were frightened and wanted to run away, but the thin man and his subordinates grabbed knives and shouted at them.

"Everyone, be quiet. Anyone who dares to move will be killed."

A young man in white clothes sitting in the corner turned around and stood up when he heard this.

It was Lu Ziqing, Chi Musheng was there too.

There was a three-day holiday during the Wanshou Festival. The two of them were tired from strolling around, so they stopped at a teahouse to rest.

I had only taken a few sips of the tea when I saw this scene.

Chi Musheng quickly grabbed Lu Ziqing's wrist, stared at the man in black, and whispered.

"What are you doing? Those people are carrying knives, and the pregnant woman is being held at knifepoint. Don't move."

"All of you come here and squat down." The tall subordinate waved his knife and shouted at the people standing on the stairs.

After he finished speaking, he ordered his short subordinate, "Go find a rope and tie them all up."