When the book-traveling little detective meets the two-faced prince

"Yes, it is indeed a cocklebur, but it is more than just a cocklebur."

Seeing Lin Lezhi's confident look, Xiao Yihuo's gaze turned to the Xanthium sibiricum in Lin Lezhi's hand again, but he didn't understand what Lin Lezhi meant by saying this.

"It's not just Xanthium sibiricum, what is it?"

Lin Lezhi looked at the cocklebur in his hand and said, "Horse feet."

"You said that the cockleburs all over the mountains are a sign of trouble?"

Apart from the Xanthium sibiricum in Lin Lezhi's hand, there were other Xanthium sibiricums everywhere in the house and outside the courtyard.

Seeing Xiao Yihuo's suspicious gaze, Lin Lezhi shrugged slightly and said without any surprise: "I know you don't believe it, but I'm not fooling you. However, these cockleburs are not enough to prove it. If you want to see the truth behind it, you need to combine it with other evidence."

"Anything else?"

"Yes, that 'next' is the biggest clue of the murderer. Follow me and you will know it when you see it."

After saying that, Lin Lezhi walked straight out of the house. Xiao Yihuo followed him doubtfully. Lin Lezhi squatted down by the wall outside the courtyard.

Seeing Xiao Yihuo approaching, Lin Lezhi did not keep him in suspense and spoke directly: "Look at these fallen leaves, is there anything different?"

By the wall there were abandoned things from people who had come to Huaifeng Village before, as well as weeds surrounding the base of the wall, and green and yellow fallen leaves in the gaps between the weeds.

"It's just some green and yellow fallen leaves, what can it mean..."

Xiao Yihuo swept the fallen leaves on the ground with a lack of interest. He wanted to look away after just one sweep, but when his eyes fell on a certain place, his indifferent look suddenly became sharp.

Then he walked to the weeds, squatted down, and pushed away the weeds in front of him, his eyes becoming increasingly darker.

The weeds were pushed aside, revealing the abandoned objects hidden in them more clearly, with a few green leaves scattered on them.

Knowing that Xiao Yihuo had also discovered the strangeness, Lin Lezhi reached out and picked up the abandoned item and put it aside, facing the fallen leaves under the relics.

There are also green fallen leaves underneath the abandoned objects. The number of leaves is much greater than that on top of the abandoned objects, and it is difficult to count them. The rhizomes of Xanthium sibiricum can also be seen.

"Chang Feizhang ordered the ships to be sealed a month ago, and no one has been on the island for a month. These abandoned objects should be covered with dead leaves or clinging to Xanthium sibiricum. It is impossible for leaves that have just fallen to appear under the abandoned objects. But we followed the abandoned objects all the way to this village, and all the abandoned objects are exactly the same."

After Lin Lezhi finished speaking clearly, Xiao Yihuo frowned slightly, not understanding why the murderer did this. He said in a deep voice with confusion in his eyes: "You mean, these abandoned items were deliberately placed there not long before we landed on the island."

"Based on the clues we have obtained so far, this is the most reasonable explanation." Lin Lezhi looked at the abandoned items in front of him and said, "These abandoned items are hidden in the weeds. The weeds are higher than your knees. It is difficult to find anything unusual unless you push them aside and look carefully. I also found them when I stopped in the forest today to clean the cockleburs on my body. However, I was just a little suspicious at the time and did not dare to make any rash judgments, so I kept an eye out along the way."

"So that's why you said Xanthium sibiricum is strange?"

"No, the cockleburs in the house and the cockleburs under the discarded items are the same thing, but they are not the same. It was only after I saw those cockleburs that my guess was verified."

"what?"

Lin Lezhi looked at Xian Xiao Yihuo and said seriously, "The Huaifeng Village where we are now is not the Huaifeng Village a month ago."

"It's not the Huaifeng Village of a month ago..." Xiao Yihuo's eyes were filled with thought and doubt. He repeated Lin Lezhi's words softly, then looked at Lin Lezhi with confusion and said, "The ship has been closed for a month, and the scenery on this island has changed a lot. Naturally, it is not the Huaifeng Village of a month ago."

"That's not what I meant. What I meant was..." Lin Lezhi stretched out two fingers and said, "There are two Huaifeng Villages here, and the Huaifeng Village we are in now is where the murderer intentionally led us."

"two?"

Lin Lezhi's words seemed to be very certain, but they sounded unbelievable.

If there really are two Huaifeng Villages, where is the other Huaifeng Village?

"Yes." Lin Lezhi handed the cocklebur he had picked up in the house back to Xiao Yihuo and explained calmly, "The place where cockleburs grow most densely is in the forest, not in the village. Because the house is paved with blue bricks and the doors and windows are closed, there are not many weeds in the house, and even fewer cockleburs. You also mentioned earlier that no one has set foot in Huaifeng Village for more than a month, so the cockleburs in the house could only have been brought into the house by humans."

Lin Lezhi twisted the cocklebur in his hand with his fingertips and said, "The cocklebur has strong vitality. As long as the seeds find a suitable growth environment, they can easily take root and sprout. But not all cockleburs can be so lucky. If they are lucky, it has been more than a month and they should have sprouted. If they are lucky, they should have been dehydrated and dried."

"But, in the house we just looked at, not even a single withered tree was seen, let alone any that had taken root or sprouted."

Lin Lezhi turned to look at Xiao Yihuo and said, "So the cockleburs in the house should have been accidentally brought in and dropped on the ground by the soldiers when they were inspecting the courtyard today. When I was inspecting the courtyard with you just now, I saw these cockleburs on the ground and confirmed that my guess was correct."

"What Hong Mingxu and his soldiers said can also prove this. When they entered the village to investigate last night, the gates of the village courtyards were all wide open, but today they are all closed. It is not difficult to just close a door, but it is not an easy task to carefully remove all traces of Xanthium sibiricum in the house."

As he spoke, Lin Lezhi looked at the entire village on both sides of the road and said, "Moreover, the corpses buried in the puppet caves and pits we saw numbered over a hundred, but there are only more than twenty houses built here, which are not enough to accommodate all the people in Huaifeng Village, so I..."

Lin Lezhi talked to himself for a long time, during which Xiao Yihuo did not say anything. Lin Lezhi subconsciously glanced in the direction of Xiao Yihuo and found that Xiao Yihuo's eyes were staring at him.

His eyes looked gloomy and doubtful, and I don't know what he was thinking.

All in all, it doesn't look like a friendly expression.

Lin Lezhi blinked dryly a few times, wondering if there was something on his body, and quickly looked at himself.

Nothing, that's normal.

Could it be that I talked too much and Xiao Yihuo was tired of listening to me?

Could it be...

Lin Lezhi smiled awkwardly, feeling a little uneasy, and said, "What's wrong? You suddenly stopped talking, and I'm surprised... I'm not used to it..."

The two looked at each other for a while, and the atmosphere was a little awkward.

Just as Lin Lezhi was about to look away, Xiao Yihuo suddenly said, "Nothing, I just can't figure out something."

"what?"

"I can't figure out what's going on in your head."