Bai Xiaowen sat outside the high wall of the mayor's residence, like a stone statue. It was not until evening that he stood up and opened his eyes.
Li Shuyi had been watching for him. When she saw Bai Xiaowen standing up, she quickly asked: "How are you doing? Did you find anything? For such a long time, I was worried that someone would find out."
Bai Xiaowen said with a smile: "The mayor's study is equipped with a magic alarm device, and the shadow assassin was almost exposed. Fortunately, I blamed a cat and did not arouse the guards' suspicion. I can only wait until Mayor Heller
The moment Mu himself entered the study, he sneaked in."
After a pause, Bai Xiaowen said again: "Fortunately, all the hard work was not in vain. I now conclude that there is something wrong with Hiram."
"Is there any evidence?"
"There is no direct evidence, but Hiram's behavior is very suspicious. He has been flipping through a book called [Tyrell's Anthology] in the study," Bai Xiaowen said, "Normal reading is a
Read page after page slowly, or browse quickly. However, Mayor Hiram turned the pages quickly, stopped to compare, then quickly turned the pages again, and checked again... His purpose was too strong."
"Listening to what you said, it really doesn't feel like normal reading. It's a bit like a secret agent communicating with secret codes." Li Shuyi said.
Bai Xiaowen nodded: "The page he compared was written with sentences from [Tyrell's Anthology]. They looked like excerpts of good sentences, but in fact, they should be joint sentence codes."
"Now that it's confirmed that he has a problem, how do we get the evidence next?" Li Shuyi frowned and thought, "It would be great if we could get that page. We can study the content of his joint from it."
Bai Xiaowen smiled and said: "It's not difficult. I knew the content on that page was very important, so I memorized it."
Li Shuyi: "..."
Bai Xiaowen laughed loudly: "Let's go back to Sheriff Yahan's house, find a copy of [Tyrell's Anthology], and study what secrets are hidden in the mayor's password."
The two of them walked back all the way. When they passed the entrance of an alley, Bai Xiaowen suddenly frowned slightly, turned around and shouted: "Who is it? Come out."
Li Shuyi pressed her hand on the hilt of the sword.
"Sir, sir, it's me..."
Jide shrank his neck and walked out of the alley, his expression a little panicked.
"Are you following me?" Bai Xiaowen narrowed his eyes, with a dangerous light in his eyes.
Jide quickly said: "Sir, how dare I follow you... I came here specifically to find you. It's just that you have been at the Sheriff's house and there was no chance yesterday..."
"Tell me, what do you want from me?"
Jide said carefully: "On behalf of all the members of the Crow Organization, I am willing to be loyal to you... We are still useful, and I hope you can let us survive."
Bai Xiaowen was a little surprised at first. The change in style of the Crow Organization really surprised him. However, Bai Xiaowen instantly remembered his former slave Joshua who died, and probably understood the psychology of Jide and others.
He regarded him as a moody and strong man who killed people at every turn...
Although Bai Xiaowen didn't think that the Crow Organization could play any role, it was a good thing that Ji De was willing to surrender. He nodded and said: "I understand. Then let me ask you a question."
Jide felt a chill behind his back and nodded repeatedly.
"Go and get me a book. The title is... The Anthology of Tyrell. My time is limited, the sooner the better." Bai Xiaowen said.
Bai Xiaowen originally thought this was a simple request, but Jide suddenly made a sad face: "Sir, those kinds of poems and anthologies are just cosmetics for nobles. People at the bottom like me have no channels to do it... Huo
There are no shops specializing in books in Qizhen. When nobles buy books, they order them from the traveling caravans. If you want this book, you have to wait at least a week for the traveling caravans to come before you can get it."
"What use do I need from you for a week?" Bai Xiaowen snorted.
Jide was so frightened that he almost knelt on the ground: "My lord, please calm down... or I can just go to the mayor's house and steal it. It is said that there are several bookcases in his study, and this book should be there."
"Fart!" Bai Xiaowen cursed, "I am now living in the home of the mayor's son-in-law, Sheriff Yahan. You want to steal books from the mayor's house and give them to me? If Yahan finds out, you will accuse me of stealing?"
Jide was really on his knees now: "Sir, I really didn't expect this... By the way, since you live in Yahan's house, you can borrow books from Yahan's wife Ginny. It is said that Ginny likes to read.
, when I married Yahan, I brought many books from my family."
"You also know Ginny?" Bai Xiaowen was a little curious.
Jide's face turned a little red: "This...Ginny was the dream girl of all the young people in Hodge Town back then, but we, the lower-class commoners, didn't have the courage to pursue..."
Bai Xiaowen shrugged: "Okay... I don't need you for the book. You go and do one more thing for me."
Jide looked arrogant: "Please give me your orders."
…
Returning to Yahan's home, I met Ginny. Yahan hadn't returned home yet, so Bai Xiaowen directly proposed that he could borrow some books to read and pass the time.
Ginny was very happy and generous. She led the two of them to the bookshelf and let them choose. She herself went to the kitchen and started preparing dinner.
Bai Xiaowen squinted his eyes and found the [Tyrell Anthology] in the corner, and immediately took it out.
"Ginny is really a person who loves to read. You can see that the pages of this book are yellow and wrinkled. You don't know how many times it has been turned over." Li Shuyi said.
"Well, let's check first. For safety reasons, all our conversations will be through the team channel." Bai Xiaowen said through the team channel.
Li Shuyi (Team Channel): "Okay."
"The first sentence: 'There is our family in this town, please take us with you!'" Bai Xiaowen recalled the contents of the excerpted page that Hiram was holding in his hand and repeated it smoothly.
The sound of flipping through books sounded. It is difficult for two people who have never read this book to find such an ordinary sentence, or at least it is a waste of time. However, Bai Xiaowen finally
What he is not afraid of is reading. After he browses it once, he can memorize the whole book. The ancients said that one glance and ten lines can make a memory read, but that's it.
"It's page 2, line 8." After Bai Xiaowen turned to the corresponding sentence, Li Shuyi followed Bai Xiaowen's prompts and recorded the page number and line number.
"Second sentence: 'That Iron Man bastard, how dare you lie to me!'" Bai Xiaowen said with narrowed eyes.
"It's page 40, line 5."
"The third sentence..."
Bai Xiaowen recited all the sentences written on that page, and then compared them with the "Selected Works of Tyrrell" and wrote down the page number and line number one by one. In the end, the two of them got a long series of numbers.
"What do these numbers... exactly mean?" Li Shuyi held her chin and looked at Bai Xiaowen with pleading eyes.
"This is a relatively common numeric password. Have you noticed that regardless of the number of pages, the number of lines in it does not exceed 2?" Bai Xiaowen tapped his fingers lightly on the table and said with a smile, "Each line
Each number corresponds to a Latin letter. By combining these letters, you can get the code word."
"Is it the order of the alphabet? The number 8 corresponds to r...5 corresponds to e..." Li Shuyi was a little stunned, and wrote down the letters one by one in front of all the rows of numbers.
A string of code words finally surfaced:
"On the twelfth day of the twelfth lunar month at Ye Xiao Pier."
Li Shuyi read this sentence softly and said: "The time and place are both there. It seems that this is the secret code for the connection."
Bai Xiaowen nodded: "Yes, I looked at the date. The Wrigley Moon is the second month of the year in Kuroshio Continent, which is this month. The twelfth... is today. In other words, tonight, on
The two sides will meet at Ye Xiao Pier."
"As the evil slave trade is going on, we are about to appear as messengers of justice." Li Shuyi said with a smile.
"We still need to find a way to let Yahan witness this scene with his own eyes," Bai Xiaowen thought more. "The mission goal is to assist Sheriff Yahan in solving the missing persons case. In other words, if Yahan does not agree with our conclusion
, I’m afraid we haven’t completed the mission.”
…
At dinner time, Yahan came back. He was somewhat downcast and not in high spirits.
"What's wrong? Is there no progress?" Bai Xiaowen asked.
Yahan nodded heavily: "Two more residents disappeared, just last night, in the West District."
Bai Xiaowen angrily said: "The mastermind behind the scenes is too rampant!"
"...I just inspected the West District two days ago!" Yahan gritted his teeth and said, "If you are hit by me...I will make those damn guys pay the price!"
"I believe you will catch them, Mr. Yahan." Bai Xiaowen said.
"Yes, I will definitely catch those rats, hang them up, and let all the residents of Hodge Town take a good look at their faces!" Yahan clenched his fists and made a crackling sound of bones.
After dinner, Ginny cleaned up, and Yahan picked up the helmet from the table, stood up and walked out: "I'm going to patrol the South District today. You guys should try not to go out at night."
Bai Xiaowen stood up: "Let's go together too."
Li Shuyi followed: "Yes, Mr. Yahan, we will definitely be able to help."
Yahan remembered that the two of them could kill the Voodoo alchemist and recognized their strength. He nodded and said, "Okay. But night patrol is not an easy job."
After walking out of the gate of the house and heading to the militia assembly point, Bai Xiaowen suddenly walked in front of Yahan and stopped him.
"Huh?" Yahan cast a confused look.
"Mr. Yahan, if you don't want to be played like a fool, please change the night patrol plan tonight." Bai Xiaowen said.
"Why?"
"After this day's investigation, I have every reason to suspect that there are spies behind the scenes in the patrol team," Bai Xiaowen said lightly, "Don't you find it strange? Why do missing persons incidents always happen in towns that are not patrolled?
district?"
Yahan's thick eyebrows frowned: "This is impossible, my men are all good boys, they will never do such a heartless thing."
"Trust in your subordinates is a good thing, but blind trust is not advisable," Bai Xiaowen said. "If Mr. Yahan is willing to believe me, then change the night patrol plan and lead the militiamen to patrol the East District! And this process must
It is absolutely confidential to outsiders. After the militiamen get the news of the change of plan, they will never leave your sight and contact the outside world..."
"It's hard for me to believe you." Yahan said seriously.
"I understand that to you, I am just a neighbor you have met a few times. I just moved into your house recently, and the militiamen of the patrol are comrades who have fought alongside you for many years. But you can also think
"Excuse me, will my suggestion bring any harm to you and Hodge Town?" Bai Xiaowen said lightly, "There is an abandoned pier in the East District called 'Ye Xiao Pier'... As long as you go there, you will be troubled for several months.
All the puzzles can be solved."
Yahan stared into Bai Xiaowen's eyes: "What...are you hiding from me?"
"In fact, the things I investigated are too incredible. If I tell you directly, you won't believe it. Seeing is believing." Bai Xiaowen said.
"...Okay. I agree to your request. If you can't give me a satisfactory answer tonight...my trust in you will disappear." Yahan said solemnly.
"Believe me, I will not betray your trust." Bai Xiaowen replied calmly.
…
Ye Xiao Pier has become an abandoned garbage dump.
Yahan led a group of patrol militiamen and silently ambush among the trees outside Ye Xiao Pier.
All the militiamen were pulled over due to temporary changes in direction during routine patrols. Bai Xiaowen also asked the militiamen to work in pairs and monitor each other. No one should behave abnormally, even going to the toilet.
Get out of Bai Xiaowen's sight.
Bai Xiaowen's mental power narrowed the scope and monitored all militiamen.
There is no way. Although there is no such thing as a mobile phone in the Kuroshio plane world, there are magic props such as "alertness stones" that can be used to send messages. Although Mayor Hiram may not have such a strong sense of vigilance.
, give the "traitor" a magical prop for communication in advance, but be careful not to make a big mistake. If there is a moment of negligence, the news leaks out, and the transaction is cancelled, Bai Xiaowen will inevitably face Yahan's doubts, and it will be unclear by then.
Yahan acquiesced in Bai Xiaowen's grouping and surveillance. He was like a brewing volcano that could erupt at any time.
When the moon reaches high in the sky, everything is quiet at Ye Xiao Pier.
Suddenly, a team of horse-drawn carriages drove slowly along the abandoned path until they arrived in front of the abandoned dock. Then, several drivers jumped out, opened the carriage at the back, and took out a torn sack.