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

Looking at the flames burning out in the air, Xiao Yihuo's eyes were slightly stern and he said, "If that's the case, then everyone is a suspect."

"Although we cannot rule out the possibility that the murderer has been on the island all along, from what we have seen since landing on the island, all the methods of committing the crime do not require the murderer's presence. The murderer only needs to arrange everything in advance, wait for us to join the game, and then pretend that nothing has happened and go to the island with us."

"After all, the order to block the boats was lifted yesterday. After midnight, there were no people left beside the lake except for the military camp where Cheng Su was stationed. Hong Mingxu led his men back to the camp before midnight. After that, the two soldiers who stayed in Wu Sanshan's courtyard brought back the news that the treasure in the coffin was missing and led Cheng Su and his men here. Perhaps... the murderer took advantage of this gap to sail to the lake island, and after arranging everything, he returned to Pinghai Town."

"Maybe?" Xiao Yihuo narrowed his eyes slightly, with a hint of inquiry in his eyes, and said slowly: "It seems that you are not very sure about your inference."

The possibility deduced by Lin Lezhi is the greatest, but there is a trace of worry between Lin Lezhi's brows, and it seems that Lin Lezhi is not completely sure about his deduction.

Lin Lezhi was slightly startled, then he breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I'm really not sure. Although the order to close the boats has been issued, it is inevitable that some people will stay by the lake for a long time on the night of the Lantern Festival. Cheng Su attaches great importance to this matter and has sent his soldiers to take turns to guard the boat. Although a boat is not big, it is not easy to sneak in without being discovered by anyone. So, I'm thinking..."

As he spoke, the uncertainty in Lin Lezhi's eyes deepened again.

"what?"

Lin Lezhi's eyes were filled with contemplation. After thinking for a moment, he looked up at Xiao Yihuo and asked uncertainly, "You said... Is there a way to get to the island other than by boat?"

"Not just the shipping aspect?"

Xiao Yihuo's eyes darkened slightly as he pondered the meaning of Lin Lezhi's words.

"Think about it, Wu Sanshan did not use a boat when he left the village two months ago. According to the villagers, Wu Sanshan's boat has been parked by the lake, so it should have been sealed in the same place as the other boats. But when we tracked down the clues to find Wu Sanshan's boat, Wu Sanshan's boat disappeared out of thin air. When it reappeared, it was a boat for the festival with lanterns in full view of everyone."

"On the night of the Lantern Festival, Hong Mingxu, under Cheng Suzhi's order, led people to search along the lakeshore, but found nothing. This means there were no boats parked by the lake. However, boats would not disappear out of thin air. So where was the missing boat parked?"

Lin Lezhi paused, the speculative look in his eyes deepened as he continued, "Also, when did Wu Sanshan go to the island?"

"If it was two months ago, Wu Sanshan's appearance was different from that of ordinary people, with black spots on most of his face, and he would have been very conspicuous to borrow someone else's boat to go to the island. A month ago, the order to block the boats was issued again, and there was no boat on the lake until yesterday. Cheng Su's soldiers have been guarding the lakeside all the time."

Lin Lezhi looked at Xiao Yihuo and said, "This goes back to what I said before. It is not easy to sail quietly into the island. No matter who finds out, the murderer's painstaking plan will fail. And I think... since he has set up such a sophisticated situation, he will not let his plan go wrong."

"So you thought there was another way to get to the island besides sailing."

Lin Lezhi shook his head slightly, his expression and tone were somewhat uncertain, and he said, "Actually, I'm not sure either. I just speculated that there is such a possibility. A few days ago, I carefully observed this island. Although this island is in the center of the lake, it is actually closer to the mountains in the west than the entire lake in terms of the north and south directions. What if... there is a road connecting the north and south sides of the lake?"

As he spoke, Lin Lezhi looked at Xiao Yihuo and asked with a slightly narrowed gaze, "Do you still remember the snake disaster eleven years ago?"

After Xiao Yihuo thought for a while, he said in a deep voice: "I remember that not long after the disappearance of Huaifeng Village eleven years ago, Wu Sanshan picked up Qiao Ying by the lake. After that, white flower snakes appeared in the villages near Pinghai Lake."

Xiao Yihuo looked at Lin Lezhi intently, his cold eyes showing a sharpness, and asked in a deep voice: "Do you suspect that the appearance of those snakes is not a coincidence?"

Lin Lezhi murmured “hmm” and said slowly: “Eleven years ago, the white flower snake appeared in the village near Pinghai Lake. No one in the village knew about this snake, so many people unfortunately died at the hands of the snake.”

"What a coincidence! This snake appeared right after the disappearance of Huaifeng Village. Since the white snake appeared eleven years ago, there has been no trace of it in the past eleven years. But when we came to this lake island, we saw that there were a lot of white snakes on this lake island."

"A snake that has never appeared in the public's sight suddenly appeared." Lin Lezhi frowned, then turned to look at the dense fog around him, his eyes became solemn, and he said: "It's like someone opened a door, giving these snakes the opportunity to go to the outside world, and then closed the door one day later."

Xiao Yihuo pondered Lin Lezhi's inference carefully, and the sharpness in his eyes deepened.

Lin Lezhi exhaled lightly, and the solemn look in his eyes faded away. He then shrugged and said, "However, all of this is just my speculation. I cannot be sure whether such a door really exists. Maybe I am overthinking."

In fact, Lin Lezhi wanted to say much more than that.

He always felt that there was a bigger mystery hidden behind this matter. The coffin carved with banyan tree in Wu Sanshan's basement alone was inextricably linked to Ya Ren Zhuang.

There are also banyan tree carvings in the doll cave and in the jewelry box.

but……

Xiao Yihuo was looking at his expression, and Lin Lezhi had noticed it. From the moment he realized that Xiao Yihuo's expression was not right, he had been paying close attention to him.

Instead of thinking about the case, Xiao Yihuo's expression was more about pondering himself.

Although I didn't intend to be wary of Xiao Yihuo, I didn't trust him that much either.

Just as Xiao Yihuo said, the appearance of those snakes was not a coincidence. Naturally, the arrival of Xiao Yihuo and his group could not be covered up by the word coincidence.

However, he couldn't ask Xiao Yihuo to be completely transparent with him.

after all.

I came to Pinghai Town for my own purpose.

In short, it is always better to talk less and do less.

Lin Lezhi raised the corner of his mouth slightly, looked at Xiao Yihuo with a firm look in his eyes and said: "Even if I may have overthought other things, my previous inference must be correct. Maybe when we get there, all the confusion will be solved."

Hearing this, Xiao Yihuo lowered his eyes slightly with a chuckle. When he looked up at Lin Lezhi again, his eyes had returned to their normal state. He chuckled and said, "So, you have already thought of a way to get back to the past?"

Lin Lezhi's face clearly showed an expression of having a plan in mind as he said, "Of course I can't do it by myself, but I have you here."

"I?"

"Yes." Lin Lezhi responded immediately, with an expression of admiration on his face, and said, "It would be too slow to go back and look for it along the abandoned objects, but Master Xiao's martial arts are unparalleled in the world. I only need to exert a little force and he can take me there in a flash."

Xiao Yihuo narrowed his eyes slightly, raised one eye slightly, and said with a hint of amusement in his eyes: "You...are you praising me?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

Lin Lezhi widened his sincere eyes and asked back.

The moment he said this, Xiao Yihuo's expression turned into one of doubt, with a hint of visible disgust in his eyes. He then took a step back and said with a hint of teasing, "It's not that it's not obvious, it's just that it's too fake. If you want me to take you there, just say it directly. There's no need to embarrass yourself by saying these things against your will."

After saying that, Xiao Yihuo prepared to turn around and walk up the mountain.

When Xiao Yihuo was about to turn around, he suddenly stopped and looked towards a place at the foot of the mountain, and his eyes narrowed.

"I'm not making it hard on myself. What I said is..."

Lin Lezhi naturally understood what Xiao Yihuo meant, and half of his joking attitude returned to normal, but when he saw Xiao Yihuo standing up and walking down the mountain, Lin Lezhi quickly grabbed Xiao Yihuo and reminded him: "Wait, you're walking the wrong way..."

But Lin Lezhi couldn't finish his words, because he noticed the coldness in Xiao Yihuo's eyes and looked in the direction where Xiao Yihuo's gaze was.

Seeing this, Lin Lezhi couldn't help but feel a palpitation in his heart, and then his eyes darkened.

He had been staying in the courtyard on the top of the mountain and had not been able to explore the courtyards in the village with the soldiers. So when he followed Cheng Su's team to leave here, he deliberately paid attention to every courtyard.

At that time, all the gates of the courtyards on both sides of the mountain road were opened towards the inner courtyard without exception, and the edges of the door panels almost touched the courtyard wall on one side.

Can……

just now.

Not far from them, on the right side of the mountain path, was a courtyard gate. The two door panels opened at different angles, and the door panel on the right was not fully open to the inner courtyard.

The space left between the door panel and the courtyard wall looks like there is a person standing behind the door panel.