Qining's face was solemn and he asked in a low voice: "Did you hear anything?"
"Sound?" Ximen Zhanying looked confused: "What is the sound?"
Qi Ning said: "It seems... someone screamed, and... it seemed to be a woman."
"Scream?" Ximen Zhanying turned pale: "You heard a scream, I... I didn't hear it, where did it come from?"
Qi Ning shook his head: "The sound passed by in a flash, and I don't know if I heard it wrong. But if there is really a scream, it is in this house, in the middle of the night, who is it...?" thoughtfully , then saw Ximen Zhanying's nervous expression, hugged him into his arms, and said with a smile: "It's okay, maybe I'm on duty. You have a good rest first, and I'll go out and see what's going on."
Ximen Zhanying immediately grabbed Qining's arm and whispered, "I'll go with you."
She was exposed to rain and dew, and it was the time when our love for you and me was strong. Although she didn't say it in her mouth, she didn't want to be separated from Qining for a moment.
Seeing her charming appearance, Qi Ning smiled and nodded. The two of them put on their clothes and then went out. It was still some time before dawn and the sky was dark. He vaguely heard movement outside the courtyard. Qin Ning walked out of the courtyard and he heard I really couldn't tell where the voice came from. I vaguely saw a few figures not far away and asked in a deep voice: "Who is it?"
Several figures over there stopped, and one of them ran over quickly, but it was Qi Feng.
"My lord, you... why are you up?" Qi Feng asked in surprise.
Qi Ning said: "What are you doing?"
"Someone said they heard a cry just now. They don't know where it came from, let alone whether they heard it wrong." Qi Feng said, "Boss Duan asked us to split up and look around the house. Don't let others take advantage of it." Come in empty."
Qi Ning had previously wondered whether he had heard something wrong, but when he heard what Qi Feng said, he was sure that he had heard it correctly and immediately asked, "Who heard it?"
"Two or three people heard it. If it was just one person, he might have been a loser, but...since several people heard it, we still have to look for it carefully." Qi Feng said: "My lord, madam, you go back first. Just rest and leave it to us. If we find anything, we will report it."
Qi Ning felt strange, but tonight was the wedding night, and it was not easy to take the bride everywhere to search. Moreover, it was enough to leave this kind of matter to Qi Feng and the guards in the house. He nodded and said: "Then you should be careful. You have to be more careful when searching." Xiang Ximen Zhanying said: "Let's go back to the room first!"
Ximen Zhanying nodded, but before he turned around, he heard a voice shouting: "Here it is!"
Qi Ning tensed up, and Qi Feng also changed his color slightly, and said in a deep voice: "Go over there and take a look." He ran towards the direction of the shouting, and several guards immediately followed him. Qi Ning did not hesitate and also went in that direction. .
Soon, he arrived outside a forest and saw torches burning in the woods. Several torches were flashing. He was standing outside the forest. Before he entered, someone had already come out of the forest. He held his hands to Qining and said, "Guo." Sir, there is an assassin!"
"Assassin?" Qi Ning immediately held Ximen Zhanying's hand, wondering if his enemies came to visit him on their wedding night? Whether in the court or in the arena, Qining naturally has no shortage of enemies, but if someone dares to sneak into the Duke's mansion, they are really brave.
"My lord, there is a corpse in the forest. It is the maidservant of our mansion." Another person walked out of the forest, but it was Zhao Wushang, with a stern look on his face.
Zhao Wushang and Duan Canghai returned to Beijing to attend Qining's wedding. After the wedding banquet, they did not return to the camp and stayed in the mansion. When there was movement in the mansion, Duan Canghai sent several people to search for it in the mansion. Zhao Wushang But he was the first to discover the situation.
Qi Ning frowned and was about to enter the forest when he suddenly thought of Ximen Zhanying, secretly thinking that on their wedding night, it would be better not to let Ximen Zhanying see these bloody things. He turned around and didn't say anything, but Ximen Zhanying moved swiftly, without saying a word. When Qi Ning reacted, he had already gotten into the woods. Qi Ning was startled, and then smiled bitterly. Ximen Zhanying was originally from the Shenhou Mansion, and would often be involved in some cases in the world. When he heard that there was a corpse in the forest, he didn't even think about it. Then he went in.
Zhao Wushang took the torch and led Qi Ning into the forest. He saw six or seven people forming a circle in the forest. When they heard the sound of footsteps, everyone turned around and saw Qi Ning and immediately stepped out of the way.
Qi Ning walked forward and saw Ximen Zhanying already squatting next to the corpse. The corpse was wearing a skirt and was undoubtedly a maid. Qin Ning came closer and took a look at the maid's face. Her face suddenly changed. He lost his voice and said: "It's... it's Su Lan!" He could clearly see that the female body lying on the ground was actually the maid Su Lan who had been taking care of the strange man in black cloak.
Qining's surprise was no small matter. When he came back from the wedding banquet tonight, he talked to Sulan and had always had a good impression of this girl. The girl who was still alive a few hours ago has now become a corpse. A cold corpse.
Qi Ning was shocked and felt unprecedented anger in his heart.
"Ms. sir, she...!" Ximen Zhanying checked the body and suddenly raised his head to look at Qining, his pretty face full of horror.
Qi Ning squatted down beside her, staring at Sulan's throat. The originally fair and slender neck was now dripping with blood. There was clearly a bite wound in her throat, and the blood was dripping from there. The wound flows outward.
Qi Ning's eyes were like daggers, and he said word by word: "Bronze General!"
When they first met Ximen Zhanying, Ximen Zhanying and Yan Lingxian were chasing the traces of the Bronze General that night. During that time, there were several strange murders in the capital, and all the victims had their blood drained from their bodies. , turned into a mummy, and the culprit was the bronze general.
The Shenhou Mansion has been pursuing the whereabouts of the Bronze General, but since that time, the Bronze General seemed to disappear out of thin air. No more crimes were committed, and no blood-sucked corpse appeared in the capital.
Qi Ning once analyzed the characteristics of the Bronze General and told the Shenhou Mansion. After all, this was not a matter that he was in charge of. Moreover, he had other matters at the time and did not have the energy to pursue the case of the Bronze General. The Bronze General did not commit another crime, and Qi Ning did not ask the Shenhou Mansion about the follow-up of this case. However, he never expected that the Bronze General, who had disappeared for a long time, would reappear this time, and the place where he appeared would be the Protector's Mansion.
The case of the Bronze General is a secret case, and naturally it will not be publicized to the outside world. Everything is investigated secretly by the Shenhou Mansion, so no one else present understands who the Bronze General Qin Ning mentioned is.
"It's him!" Ximen Zhanying said with certainty: "The wound is exactly the same as the previous cases he committed."
Zhao Wushang also knelt down and whispered: "My lord, this wound is very weird, like... it's like a wild beast tearing it open with sharp teeth. However, looking at the tooth marks on the wound, it doesn't look like a wild beast. It's obviously... Human teeth, and there are no ferocious beasts in the house.”
Qi Feng said in shock: "It was someone who bit his throat open. Then... who was that person? How could... how could he do such a vicious thing?"
"There must have been some traces left." Ximen Zhanying raised his head and said, "General Bronze always washes away the blood in a person's body and turns it into a mummy when committing crimes, but this... Although this girl's neck was bitten open, But the amount of blood that was sucked was not much. If I guessed correctly, it was not that the murderer didn't want to suck blood, but that the guards in the mansion acted quickly, so the murderer didn't have enough time, so he fled in a hurry." He stood up and checked around the body. Suddenly, After taking a few steps, he knelt down and said coldly: "Torch!"
Zhao Wushang hurriedly approached with a torch. Ximen Zhanying took the torch and shined a light on the ground. Qining also came closer and asked in a low voice: "Zhanying, what did you find?"
"There are footprints here." Ximen Zhanying bent down, looked around with a torch, and whispered: "My lord, look, there are many footprints here. The guards in the mansion are all wearing boots. This is obviously The footprints left by the cloth shoes will naturally not be theirs."
Qi Ning thought to himself that Ximen Zhanying was trained by the Shenhou Mansion after all, and his observation skills were not weak. He nodded and said, "These should be the footprints left by the Bronze General."
Qi Feng drew his sword out of its sheath and said: "My lord, we can chase the assassin by following the footprints. You guys, follow me."
Qi Ning had already said in a deep voice: "Qi Feng, take people to the Third Lady's side immediately. We are not sure whether the assassin has left. We must protect the Third Lady's safety, and don't disturb the Third Lady for the time being. Before she can Just protect it around the yard.”
Qi Feng said hurriedly: "Yes!" He took a few people and hurried away.
"Old Zhao, go find the ugly man and see where he is now." Qining ordered: "If you find him, don't be alarmed."
Zhao Wushang bowed his hand and said yes, and quickly retreated.
At this time, Ximen Zhanying had already walked a short distance with a torch. He suddenly stopped, turned around and said, "Ms. sir, the murderer... seems to be injured!"
"Injured?" Qi Ning was startled, then stepped forward and asked, "Why do you judge like this?"
"Look at his footsteps, there are no rules, it seems to be stumbling." Ximen Zhanying said: "I'm not sure he must be injured, but if a person is seriously injured, he will be unsteady when walking, his feet will be floating, and he will stagger... Of course, it’s also possible that the murderer was drunk.”
Qi Ning's heart trembled, and he frowned and said, "Drunk?" But he couldn't help but remember that when he and Ximen Wuhen talked about the Bronze General, he had judged that the murderer was probably someone from the officialdom, or even He was probably a military general, and at the wedding banquet in the evening, many civil servants and generals from the court came, and many of them came home drunk. Could it be that the Bronze General was among the guests tonight
Thinking of this, a chill ran down my spine. If this was true, then the Bronze General would most likely deal with him often, but the other party concealed his identity, but he was completely unaware of it.
At this time, he heard the sound of footsteps again. Qining turned around and saw that Duan Canghai had brought several people over. Duan Canghai led people to search in other places. Hearing the movement here, Qining hurried over. This small forest is right next to Qi Ning. Ning lived near the east courtyard, so Qi Ning arrived before him.
Seeing the corpse on the ground, Duan Canghai's face showed a look of shock and anger, and he clenched his fists, but when he saw that Qin Ning was safe and sound, he felt relieved, stepped forward and whispered: "My lord, the assassin should be coming for you! "