Chen Shilan pulled up a chair and sat down next to Lin Xiaodong. Li Jiantong looked at her and his eyes turned cold.
Gao Anhe asked Fang Tianrui: "You and Master Shen have been investigating in the city these days. Have you made any progress?"
Fang Tianrui shook his head: "Master Shen and I have been visiting the city in the past few days, and there are all kinds of rumors."
Gao Anhe asked: "What did everyone say?
Tell me and I'll listen."
Fang Tianrui said disdainfully: "They are all rumors. Some say it is monsters causing trouble, and some say it is snitches."
Chen Shilan shook her head: "Even if the monster really becomes a spirit, isn't it bad to eat human flesh and drink human blood? Why steal food?"
Gao Anhe said: "If it's a thief, there's no reason to steal food if you leave the jewelry and silver alone."
Lin Xiaodong asked: "You robbed a thousand households in one night and there was no movement?
Not a single witness?”
Fang Tianrui snorted and said disdainfully: "As long as there are any clues left, we would have caught the murderer long ago."
"The doors and windows were closed, there were no footprints on the ground, and there was no sound. Even the people who raised chickens and dogs didn't notice it."
Chen Shilan said in disbelief: "The doors and windows were closed, so how did he get in?
How is the food transported out?"
Gao Anhe said: "It's not difficult to steal things quietly, but it's not that easy to steal from a thousand homes in one night."
Lin Xiaodong asked: "Why did he steal so much food?"
Fang Tianrui rolled his eyes: "You are a Taoist priest, what do you think?"
Gao Anhe glared at Fang Tianrui: "After dinner, take us to the house where it was stolen."
After dinner, Fang Tianrui took Lin Xiaodong and others to the stolen homes in the city.
The owner of this house is Jia Yuze, who is in his early forties. He has a wife, Yu Hongxue, and a ten-year-old son, Jia Wenxuan.
A family of three lives in a two-story building next to the street, with a carpenter's shop on the first floor and people living on the second floor.
Several people entered the first floor. Jia Yuze was planing wood and was sweating profusely. When he saw a few adults coming in, he hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Are some adults looking for something to do with me?"
Fang Tianrui said: "We are here because of the food theft case a few days ago."
Jia Yuze nodded: "Okay, okay, please come soon."
He turned around and called his wife, "Madam, make some tea! Your Excellency is here!"
Lin Xiaodong and others went up to the second floor and sat down at the tea table. Yu Hongxue served them tea.
Gao Anhe said: "Tell us what happened that night when the food was stolen."
Jia Yuze scratched his head: "There's nothing to say. The whole family slept well that night and didn't notice anything unusual."
"When I woke up in the morning, my wife went downstairs to cook, only to find that a jar of food was missing. Oh, how many taels of silver have been spent!"
Fang Tianrui asked: "As a family of three, you didn't hear any sound at night?"
The whole family shook their heads. Jia Yuze asked Jia Wenxuan: "Did you hear anything at night?"
Jia Wen preached: "No, it will be dawn as soon as I open my eyes."
Gao Anhe stood up and said, "Take us to see where your food is kept."
Several people went downstairs again, and the food was placed behind the stove on the first floor.
Yu Hongxue pointed to an open space and said: "This turned out to be a vat of grain. When I came to see it that morning, even the grain and vat had been stolen."
Lin Xiaodong looked down and saw that the marks left by the vat on the ground were still there.
Yu Hongxue said: "It's really weird to say that the first floor of our house is a carpenter's shop. We have a lot of valuable ironware. We usually lock it up at night."
"When I woke up in the morning, I went downstairs to cook and found that the food was gone. I told the child's father."
"The child's father came down to take a look. The doors and windows were locked properly, and all the valuables were there. The only thing missing was a jar of food."
"Moreover, what was lost was not a small amount. Even the vats and grain weighed more than a hundred kilograms. There were not even any footprints on the ground, so they were stolen."
Fang Tianrui said with a smile: "Not only are there no footprints, some people have dogs, and the dogs are not even found."
Several people walked around the room and couldn't find any clues, so they came to the street to discuss.
Gao Anhe said: "Everyone tells me what he thinks."
Lin Xiaodong said: "I think it's better to analyze the motive first. Why did you steal so much food?"
Gao An and several others shook their heads, unable to answer.
Chen Shilan said: "If one thousand families steal one vat, that's a thousand vats. With so much food, there must be a place for it."
Fang Tianrui said: "I think we should analyze the method of committing the crime. How did this person steal food from a room with closed doors and windows?"
Li Jiantong said: "Stealing so much grain will most likely be sold. We can keep an eye on the grain market."
Lin Xiaodong asked: "When was the food stolen? How many days has it been since today?"
Gao Anhe said: "Today is already the fifth day."
Fang Tianrui curled his lips and asked Lin Xiaodong: "What can you do?"
Lin Xiaodong said calmly: "Maybe he may commit another crime again."
Fang Tianrui smiled disdainfully: "Why?
If you don’t leave quickly after stealing something, you will commit another crime again?”
Lin Xiaodong said: "This person can steal from a thousand houses without anyone noticing, which shows that he is not afraid of the government at all."
Fang Tianrui spread his hands: "So?
Are we just going to wait?"
Lin Xiaodong said: "As long as he reappears, I will be sure to catch him."
Fang Tianrui curled his lips: "Hmph, he can come and go freely in the locked room, how do you catch him?"
Chen Shilan said: "Taoist Master Lin can do it too!"
Fang Tianrui glanced at Lin Xiaodong up and down: "You?"
Chen Shilan said: "Master Li, Master Gao and I have all seen it. They are in Nanlu City. If you don't believe me, ask them."
Fang Tianrui looked back at Li Jiantong, who nodded reluctantly.
Fang Tianrui still didn't believe it: "What do you mean, do you think you can steal food from a sealed room without anyone noticing?"
Lin Xiaodong spread his hands and tilted his head: "Of course you can, let alone a thousand families, ten thousand families, or a hundred thousand families, you can also steal it."
Fang Tianrui smiled and shook his head and looked at Gao Anhe: "Master Gao, do you invite such a person to help handle the case?"
Gao Anhe did not help Fang Tianrui, but said to Lin Xiaodong: "If you can find this person, go ahead and capture him."
Lin Xiaodong nodded: "As long as he appears again, I will definitely catch him."
Fang Tianrui squinted and snorted coldly.
The investigation made no progress, so everyone returned to the inn to rest.
As soon as Lin Xiaodong sat down in front of the window, he heard someone knocking on the door. When he opened the door, he saw that it was Chen Shilan.
Lin Xiaodong asked: "It's so late, does Miss Chen have anything to do with me?"
Chen Shilan smiled shyly and said, "Nothing, I just want to talk to you."
Lin Xiaodong invited Chen Shilan in, and the two sat down opposite each other at the table.
Lin Xiaodong said: "This Master Fang seems to have a lot of opinions on me."
Chen Shilan smiled: "Except Master Gao, Master Fang is the person with the highest magical power among our eunuchs. Neither Li Jiantong nor I can be his opponent.
Of course he doesn't want anyone with higher powers to join him."
Lin Xiaodong was surprised: "Master Gao is your eunuch supervisor with the highest level?
It’s really hidden.”
Chen Shilan smiled: "Our eunuchs are not like other yamen. They deal with Taoist disputes and evildoers causing trouble, so people with high magic power can be promoted."