HLnovel Chapter 924 Moon Bar
Chapter 924 Moon Bar
Shopkeeper Li said tremblingly that his son Li Shubai had been engaged to Li Xiuniang, the daughter of a cloth shop in the south of the city, half a month ago. They had planned to get married during the Mid-Autumn Festival, but they didn't know why it ended up like this. Zhao Mo looked at the two bodies in wedding dresses and felt a chill on his back. The identities of the deceased were very different, one man and one woman, but they were wearing the same wedding dress and were killed in the same strange way. There were tokens related to each other left at the scene. What is even more disturbing is that the inexplicable details on the two bodies-the strange marks of strangulation, the mysterious black debris, and the red wedding dress full of ritual sense, all suggest that this is no ordinary homicide. What kind of terrible secrets are hidden under the calm appearance of Bianliang City?
Clues The morning mist in Bianjing City had not yet dissipated, but Zhao Mo had already stepped on the bluestone road and started a new round of investigation. He first came to the cloth shop in the south of the city. The three large gilded characters "Jinxiufang" on the lintel of the cloth shop glowed slightly in the morning light, but the atmosphere in the shop was suffocatingly oppressive. Li Xiuniang's mother's eyes were red and swollen like peaches. She slumped in the armchair, tightly holding her daughter's unfinished mandarin duck handkerchief in her hands. Tears kept dripping on the embroidery, leaving dark marks. "Madam, does your daughter have any special friends? Or has she done anything unusual recently?" Zhao Mo asked softly, fearing to disturb the mother who was immersed in grief. Li Xiuniang's mother trembled her lips, and spoke after a long time: "Xiuniang has been well-behaved since she was a child. Every day, she would go to the embroidery shop to learn skills with her sisters. After she got engaged half a month ago, she did like to go out more than usual, saying that she wanted to prepare for the wedding... But who could have thought..." At this point, she could no longer control her emotions and cried with her face covered. Zhao Mo visited the embroidery shop and Li Xiuniang's close friends, but the answers he got were similar. Li Xiuniang was gentle and had never had a dispute with anyone. After getting engaged, she was very happy to prepare for the wedding. There was really no reason for her to be killed. After leaving the south of the city, Zhao Mo rushed to Chen Shuyan's residence in the east of the city. It was a simple thatched cottage with a few skinny green vegetables planted outside. In the house, there was a wooden bed and a desk, which were piled with densely packed books. Chen Shuyan's classmate told Zhao Mo with red eyes: "Brother Shuyan is studying hard all day long, and he only wants to pass the imperial examination. He doesn't even have time to chat with others, let alone offend people. But half a month ago, he suddenly became worried. When asked what happened, he refused to say." Zhao Mo sat in front of Chen Shuyan's desk and opened a notebook. It neatly recorded the annotations of various classics and historical books, but on a certain page, there were several lines of messy handwriting: "Red line is wrong, marriage is wrong, fate..." The handwriting behind was stained by water stains and could not be recognized. Zhao Mo stared at these handwritings, frowning, and felt more and more that these two seemingly unrelated murders must have a thousand connections behind them. After visiting for a whole day, Zhao Mo still did not find any substantial clues. As the sun set, the afterglow dyed the Bian River bloody. He stood on the Rainbow Bridge, looking at the sparkling river surface, and thought of the gray-clothed man wearing a bamboo hat. "Maybe we should start from the Bian River." He thought to himself and walked towards the teahouse by the river. This teahouse, called "Linheju", is a good place for boatmen to rest. As soon as Zhao Mo entered the door, he heard the sound of laughter and clinking glasses. He found a corner to sit down, ordered a pot of strong tea, and swept his eyes over the noisy crowd in the room. "Sir, you look unfamiliar. Are you new to the Bian River?" A dark-skinned, bearded boatman came over and asked enthusiastically. Zhao Mo smiled slightly, took out a few copper coins and put them on the table: "Brother, I am from another place and want to ask about someone. Have you ever seen a man wearing a bamboo hat and gray clothes?" The boatman's smile froze instantly, and a trace of fear flashed in his eyes. He looked around vigilantly and said in a low voice: "Sir, why are you asking about this man? He is an ominous person! A few days ago, I was rowing on the river and saw him standing on a black boat with my own eyes. The boat had no sails and no ship number. It just floated quietly in the middle of the river. Moreover, every night, strange sounds would be heard from the boat. chanting, which is creepy! Once, I got closer to see what was going on on the boat, but a green light suddenly shot out from the black boat, which almost scared me to death! Since then, I have walked around the boat when I saw it from a distance. "Zhao Mo was shocked and asked quickly: "Where is the black boat now? Do you know its origin?" The boatman shook his head helplessly: "I have never seen the boat since then. However, if the official really wants to investigate, he may go to the ghost market in the west of the city. There are all kinds of people there, and maybe you can get some information. But you must be careful, the ghost market is not a good place. If you are not careful, you will lose your life. "As night fell, the city of Bianjing lost its prosperity during the day and put on another mysterious face. Zhao Mo changed into a coarse linen shirt, smeared some coal dust on his face, dressed himself up as a down-and-out citizen, and walked towards the ghost market in the west of the city. Half a mile away from the ghost market, we heard noisy noises and faint strange laughter. At the entrance of the ghost market, two red lanterns flickered in the wind. The lanterns were painted with hideous ghosts, which looked particularly gloomy in the night. Zhao Mo took a deep breath and stepped into the ghost market. The lights in the ghost market were swaying, and all kinds of strange things were filled in the stalls. There were people selling human skin masks, which were lifelike, as if they had life; there were people selling strange talismans, and the cinnabar writing on the talismans glowed strangely red under the light; there were also people selling unknown elixirs, and the stall owner shouted loudly that the elixir could make people immortal and bring the dead back to life. Zhao Mo shuttled through the crowd, asking passers-by from time to time about the news of the black ship and the man in gray, but most of them were vigilant eyes and head shaking denials. Just when he was a little disappointed, a stall selling talismans caught his attention. The stall owner was a one-eyed old woman. Her stall was filled with all kinds of talismans. One of the talismans had a picture of a black ship with a man wearing a bamboo hat standing on it, who looked very similar to the man in gray he described. "Old man, what's on this talisman?" Zhao Mo squatted down and asked with pretended curiosity. The old woman's cloudy one-eyed eye sized him up and sneered, "Young man, if you're looking for trouble, just get out of here. This is not something you can ask about." Zhao Mo took out a silver ingot and put it on the stall, "Old man, I do have something urgent to ask you.