In the early morning of the next day, a big news broke out in Hekou Town. The third son of the Li family in Lanzhou was killed. Not only his legs were removed, but his head was smashed to pieces. His body was left lying on the street. The scene was unsightly. The shop was also destroyed.
They ransacked the two counting rooms, eight thugs were all killed, the money disappeared, and the salt warehouse was empty.
There is a government office in Hekou Town, but it is just a few dozen yamen officers who patrol the merchant yamen to maintain order and collect some taxes. They don't even care about fights. What's more, in such a murder, the squad leader sent someone to collect the body and seal the scene.
, quickly reported to the Li family in Lanzhou, and went off to do whatever they were supposed to do. The merchants in the town didn't think there was any surprise at all. They all said that Li Bao deserved what he got. For this reason, several shops even set off firecrackers.
It is said to drive away evil spirits, but in fact it is to celebrate the removal of a scourge from Hekou Town.
Hekou Town is only a hundred miles away from Lanzhou Prefecture, and it takes only a day to get there. The boss of the Li family is stationed in Lanzhou. After hearing the news, he was furious. He immediately ordered the best men in the government to rush to Hekou. At the same time, he notified the escort teams in various places and prepared to fight.
At the Li family's mansion in Lanzhou, two red-lacquered doors suddenly opened. More than thirty men went out, mounted their horses, and left. At the tea stall in front of the door, a dark-skinned young man pressed the bamboo hat on his head, put down a copper coin and quietly
Leave.
At the north gate of Lanzhou Prefecture, thirty people from the Li family and more than seventy people from other places gathered together. The whole team left the city and threw a piece of silver for one person to the doorman, who was so happy that the doorman hurriedly thanked him.
: "Thank you for the reward, sir." Not far from the city gate, a man wearing the same bamboo hat, after knowing the number of people leaving the city, quietly turned around and disappeared into the sea of people.
Late at night, outside the wall of the Li family's mansion, the watchman banged his clapper and walked slowly over. A masked black figure emerged from the darkness. He looked around and saw that no one was around. He walked out silently, hissed twice, and then there was another person.
A dozen masked men rushed out from the shelter. Without any extra words, they quickly took the ladder and sent one of them up the high wall. The man looked into the Li family courtyard and threw a small stone.
, two big dogs immediately rushed over and started barking. The man took out two fragrant meat buns from his sack and passed them over. The two dogs grabbed them in one bite, ate them with great taste, and stopped barking.
After a while, the two dogs convulsed and died. The masked people fell silently into the yard one after another. The long knife blackened by pot ash did not reflect at all in the night. The cloth boots with thousand layers of soles were walking on the ground.
There was no sound at all on the stone floor. There was no moon today, but the wind was very strong. It was a good day for murder and arson.
However, this group of people had no intention of killing people. They just poured barrels of lamp oil on the ground according to the direction of the wind, then went to the woodshed and stable to light a fire. There was a lot of dry firewood in the woodshed and enough hay in the stable.
They were all extremely flammable good things. As soon as the fire started, the gang put away their knives and climbed up the wall to escape.
The wind was very strong, and the flames took advantage of the wind and spread along the ground wet with lamp oil. After a while, someone woke up from their sleep and shouted: "The water has escaped! The water has escaped!"
Once the fire started, it was difficult to control it. For a while, the sound of gongs, calls for help, and the barking of dogs were heard all the time. The fire was soaring into the sky and could be seen from a distance. The Li family was a big family and the family was prosperous, but all the men were out today.
There were only women and a dozen servants left in the family. There was no time to put out the fire. Their family was a wealthy family and their relations with neighbors were very poor. Seeing the Li family was in trouble, no one came to help put out the fire. However, if the fire spread,
No one was able to catch it, so when the Li family was almost burned, someone finally came to save it with a bucket.
Three streets away, at the back wall of Tongfu Inn, a group of people quietly came in, took off their masks, climbed upstairs to their respective guest rooms, and pretended as if nothing happened.
Zhao Ding'an checked the head tied to the door latch to make sure no one had come in. Then he stuffed the long knife under the bunk, fell down on the big bunk and said, "What are you looking at? Sleep."
Several teenagers who were lying at the window watching the fire came back reluctantly, took off their boots and got on the kang, and asked with lingering interest: "Brother Ding'an, are we considered to have made a great contribution this time?"
"Isn't it just setting a fire? It's not a great achievement. Jiulang and the others are doing a big job. If you go to bed, you have to get up early tomorrow." Zhao Ding'an wrapped himself in a quilt and started snoring.
One day later, in Hekou Town, the team leader of the patrol office was accompanying the two men of the Li family to inspect the scene. After looking at the injuries on the deceased, Li Hu said: "The six people in the house were stabbed to death, and the four outside were stabbed to death."
Those who were shot to death by arrows, and the third child was killed with a hammer. It looked like he was seeking revenge. He did it neatly and left not many clues."
"If you think about it again, there will always be some clues." Li Daodao, a middle-aged man in his forties, has transformed himself from a rural salt dealer into the current northwest salt lord. He relies on ruthlessness, but now someone actually dares to do it to him.
They made trouble on the territory, not only grabbing money and salt, but also had the third child cut off, cut off two legs, and smashed his head. This was a demonstration.
"I really can't see anything, but these people are very skilled in archery, and there don't seem to be many local people who are good at using bows and arrows, unless..." Li Hu's face changed, "Could it be that the Li family of Ningxia just killed four of them because of me?"
For someone to take revenge for robbing a hundred horses, he really doesn't take our Lanzhou Li family seriously!"
"Don't rush to conclusions yet, don't fall into other people's traps, let's go and walk the same path that Lao San took before he died." Li Long said, and walked to Tongrenju Tavern accompanied by the squad leader.
It was noon, and there were many people dining in the colleagues’ home. They were all whispering about the murder of Mr. Li yesterday. When they saw the eldest and second masters of the Li family walking in with gloomy faces, many people left the table immediately and prepared to run away. However,
But he was frightened by Li Long's words: "You're not allowed to leave." He obediently returned to his seat.
"My third child had dinner here the day before yesterday. Which table was he sitting at?" Li Long asked in a deep voice.
The shopkeeper came over tremblingly and said, "To tell you what, the third master is sitting at this table."
Li Long nodded, pulled a chair and sat down at the table where his third brother once sat, and continued to ask: "My third brother likes to hang up accounts. How much money has he put in your account?"
The shopkeeper smiled apologetically and said, "It's the store's blessing that Third Master has accounts..." He was interrupted before he could finish, "I don't want Third to leave with debts. How much money, tell me."
"Back to uncle, the total including last night's payment is fifty-two taels."
Li Long nodded and waved, and the attendant handed over a bag of silver. He took a fifty-tael ingot and a ten-tael ingot and put them on the table and said, "Who did the third child talk to the night before?"
The shopkeeper looked embarrassed: "I was settling accounts and didn't pay attention."
"You say it or you don't say it!" Li Hu half-pulled out the long knife and shouted.
"I said, I said that at that time, the third master spoke to two groups. One group was four or five strangers sitting in the corner because the man was lame, and the other was Ningxia Master Li, who said some disapproval to the third master.
Three or four words."
"what did you say?"
"He...he said that the third master had snatched his horse and asked the third master to wait and see."
Li Long nodded and said to one of his subordinates: "Go and check if the Ningxia gang is still there?"
The head of the squad came over and said, "Sir, I have already checked the situation. Early yesterday morning, the Ningxia Li family let the ship go."
"Oh, that's it. This matter is close to ten. The people of the Li family in Ningxia are good at bow and horse. Second brother, you quickly lead people to ride horses to block them. The boat may not be as fast as the horse. You can do it in Gaolan
I can stop it."
"Yes, brother, I will definitely bring back that boy Li Mingying's head!" Li Hu replied.
"Idiot! Did I ask you to kill someone? Just arrest the person. The Li family in Ningxia is very powerful. We can't start a war lightly until this matter is investigated."
"But the third child was killed."
"It's not the trouble caused by you idiot. You insist on robbing other people's horses, but you are talking nonsense! Just go if you are told. Just leave ten people for me, and you can take the rest with you."
Li Hu stopped saying anything and led the people away.
"You guys, go to the inn in the town to find out the origins of those five strangers. Report them as soon as you have any clues." Li Long ordered, and six more of the ten remaining thugs left, with only one person around him.
There are four people left.
"Shopkeeper, bring me a pot of wine," Li Long said.
The shopkeeper hurriedly responded: "Come right away." After a while, he cut a plate of beef, boiled a pot of good wine, and asked the waiter to bring it over.
The waiter came over with a tray and put down the plates, wine bottles and glasses. Just as he was about to leave, he was stopped by Li Long: "Boy, what's wrong with your face?"
The waiter bit his lip and said nothing. The shopkeeper hurried over and said, "Come back to me, this is my nephew Xiaoqiang. He just came from my hometown and he is not sensible yet. He said something wrong that day and was punished by the third master. He beat him himself."
Li Long said oh, waved his hand to let the shopkeeper go, and suddenly knocked on the table and said: "Tell me the shopkeeper, your nephew is so merciless. The food and drinks are served, but the greetings are not served. What does this mean?"
The shopkeeper quickly yelled: "Xiao Qiang, why don't you hurry up and say hello to me?"
Xiao Qiang expressionlessly took a pair of wooden chopsticks from the chopstick cage and walked over and placed them in front of Li Long. Li Long took a look and saw that he had a pair of iron fists with the tips evened out. Without ten years of hard kung fu training, it would be hard to
Not coming out.
"Boy, where are you from?"
"Hubei, Macheng."
"Why come to the river mouth?"
"There was a disaster at home and we had no food to eat."
"Hmph, I'm afraid it's a disaster, right?"
"What do you mean, I don't understand. If there's nothing else, I'm going to greet other guests."
"Am I not a guest? Tell me! Where were you the night before yesterday?"
The atmosphere became tense, and the guests in the tavern slipped away quietly. The shopkeeper rushed over and begged: "Uncle, he is only sixteen years old, he is still a child. The third master's affairs have nothing to do with him."
Li Long kicked the shopkeeper away, pointed at the waiter and said, "Are you going to say it or not?"
A cold glint flashed in the waiter's eyes, he clenched his fists and replied coldly: "What do you mean, sir? I really don't understand at all."
"Humph, you didn't say that, right?" Li Long overturned the table, drew out his long knife and slashed straight at the shopkeeper.
With a "pop" sound, the long knife did not fall on the shopkeeper's head. Instead, it was clamped by a pair of fleshy palms. The waiter stood in front of Li Long without any fear and said one word at a time: "Don't bully others too much."
Li Long drew his knife, but couldn't do it. He turned around and shouted: "Hurry up!" The four stunned thugs woke up from a dream and drew their swords to chop at them. The waiter dodged and kicked one of them.
The man carrying the shopkeeper hid behind the counter, then jumped out again with a table leg in his hand.
"Go and call people quickly, call all the brothers, including Captain Li." Li Long roared, and one of his subordinates ran out quickly, but was thrown back in an instant, with a carved feather arrow stuck in his chest, and the tavern
There were three more figures at the door.
"Li Long, we haven't seen each other for ten years," one of the men, a man in his forties, said, his tone full of vicissitudes of life.