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

"Who is the real murderer?"

Cheng Su narrowed his eyes slightly and asked with a serious look.

Hearing this, Hong Mingxu stopped walking, a little panic flashed in his eyes, and he said angrily: "This kid never speaks the truth, he is always cunning, General, don't listen to him."

"I didn't use any trickery. In the art of war, it's called 'all is fair in war'."

"you…"

"Mingxu." Cheng Su called out to Hong Mingxu, then turned to look at Lin Lezhi, his eyes tightened, and with a hint of curiosity, he said, "Let him talk. I want to see what he can say."

Although Hong Mingxu wanted to say something, since Cheng Su had made up his mind, he said no more. He just stood aside with a serious look on his face.

Cheng Su stared at Lin Lezhi and asked, "Didn't you say that there was no murderer in this case, and that the thieves back then were trapped in their own web?"

Seeing that Hong Mingxu had no intention of moving, Lin Lezhi breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time, a hint of hesitation arose in his eyes.

After a careful thought, he still couldn't figure it out, so he had to suppress the emotion for the time being.

He turned to look at Cheng Su, his eyes revealing determination as he said, "The group of thieves back then died in Shekou because of their greed for treasure. Naturally, they caught themselves in a cocoon and reaped what they sowed. But... the murderer I want to talk about is the culprit who killed the four soldiers outside Guo Yonghe's gate, and the culprit who caused the destruction of Huaifeng Village eleven years ago, while he himself hid himself and did not get involved in any crime!"

Upon hearing this, everyone in the room was shocked.

"Varied…"

He Yu thought he had heard wrongly. He looked incredulous and said with pain in his eyes, "Detective Jiang, what are you talking about? Weren't they all bitten to death by poisonous snakes? How...how did they become murdered? Who killed them?"

"The hidden fourth person."

"...The fourth person..."

As soon as Lin Lezhi finished speaking, the people present were shocked and then in an uproar. Only Qi Xi stood aside with his head down, silent.

"Weren't there only three people back then? Where did the fourth person come from?"

"Brother He, why do you think there are only three people?"

Lin Lezhi's words left He Yu stunned for a moment.

He Yu glanced at Qi Xi, then took out the book "Four Strange Cases" from his pocket and used the book as evidence: "In the case that was replaced, it was clearly written that there were only three people. Where did the fourth person come from?"

He Yu couldn't figure it out and looked confused.

"Words and writings can deceive people. I just said there was a treasure in the earth temple, and there was also a blood letter written by County Magistrate Chang stating that there were only two thieves. Before we confirmed that the body was Lü Xingpeng, weren't we all deceived by County Magistrate Chang?"

"..."

What Lin Lezhi said left everyone present speechless, with shock showing on their faces, because they had all believed it without a doubt.

Lin Lezhi continued, "But I am different from County Magistrate Chang. County Magistrate Chang lied in the letter to protect people, I lied to catch people, and..." Lin Lezhi's eyes moved to the tightly grasped book in He Yu's hand, his eyes tightened, and he said, "And lying in the book is to deceive people."

"Liar?" Cheng Su said.

"Yes, he deceived everyone in order to make the fourth person relax his vigilance and take it lightly."

What Lin Lezhi said sounded plausible, but there was no evidence. Cheng Su said solemnly, "Since it's not written in the book and not mentioned in the letter, how do you know there was a fourth person back then?"

"This……"

Lin Lezhi glanced at Qi Xi out of the corner of his eye, with some hesitation in his eyes.

"Why, you can't tell?"

Faced with Cheng Su's questioning, the hesitation in Lin Lezhi's eyes deepened.

"It's not that I can't explain it, but..."

Cheng Su's brows suddenly tightened, revealing displeasure, and he urged in a deep voice: "But what?"

"But the person who can testify for me has already left the island by boat. Even if I tell you, without anyone to testify, it's just empty talk."

"You say, I will make my own decision."

"Yes."

After getting Cheng Su's promise, Lin Lezhi's hesitation melted away. He took a deep breath, looked at everyone and said, "I just said that words can deceive people, but even if words can deceive people, the emotions contained in words can often reveal a lot of things. When I first landed on the island, I implied that rich people are stingy. Guo Yong, who came out of the forest, heard what I said and agreed with me. He said this with an angry look on his face."

'All those rich and powerful people are the same. They usually act like they are generous and charitable, but they are actually just pretending to be generous. When they really need help, they are more stingy than anyone else. They are obviously not good people, but they still come up with a lot of big principles.'

"Why did he suddenly say this? Who was he thinking of? Who is he referring to? He is rich and powerful? I think... he is not referring to the three of them who are hiding from the grave robbers and have words carved on their bodies."

Lin Lezhi glanced at everyone and continued, "Also, do you remember another sentence that Qi Xi heard Guo Yong say in the well that night?"

'I don't know what to do, I went through so much trouble to come here, and go back empty-handed. Damn, I shouldn't have listened to her, there's no treasure!'

"Based on the fact that they couldn't find the treasure and were furious, everyone would naturally think that Guo Yong was scolding Tao Yingxue, thinking that Tao Yingxue had deceived them. But what if Guo Yong was scolding someone else? It was a male character "he" instead of a female character "she."

"Is this the evidence you said?"

"General, I know that empty words are not enough, but think about it carefully. If Guo Yong and his two companions did not have external help, how could they have transported so many treasures from Huaifeng Village in such a short time without being discovered by the people of Pinghai Town and buried in Shekou?"

Lin Lezhi's words made not only Cheng Su, but everyone present fell into deep thought.

"Also, did everyone forget someone?"

"who?"

Lin Lezhi looked at Qi Xi and said, "Qi Xi said that before Guo Yong and the other two came to the island, Qi Xi had met a man and took him to the cliff to see the beauty of the river fog. But he did not mention this person in the book, and he was not any of Guo Yong and the other two. Did he forget? I think it's just the opposite. He clearly remembered the voices of Guo Yong and the other two, so how could he forget a person he had met several times? In this case, there is only one answer, he deliberately did not mention it in the book."

Lin Lezhi's pupils tightened, and he said in a deep voice: "The murderer behind the scenes who actually explored the terrain and led Guo Yong and the other two to the island, but did not land on the island himself."

After he finished speaking, everyone's eyes were focused on Qi Xi.

Lin Lezhi continued, "That person was the only one who saw the fog and stayed on the island for two days. If he hadn't been to Huaifeng Village, how could Guo Yong and the other three tomb robbers, who had never been to the island, know that there were a total of 123 people in Huaifeng Village!"

Lin Lezhi tried his best to keep his voice calm, but when he mentioned "one hundred and twenty-three people", his voice couldn't help but tremble with anger.

After hearing what Lin Lezhi said, everyone suddenly realized that Qi Xi, the person involved in the incident eleven years ago, was right next to them, so why were they asking Lin Lezhi for evidence?

Qi Xi is the most powerful witness.

As long as he nodded and said yes, the real murderer could be caught.

Cheng Su's eyes fell on Qi Xi like a sharp arrow, his eyes darkened and he said, "Qi Xi, is what Jiang Lian'an said true?"

Although it was not a question and had an urging tone, Qi Xi still pursed her lips for a moment, and her fists clenched at her sides were trembling. Even through her clothes, one could clearly see that Qi Xi's shoulders could not stop shaking.

After a long silence, he nodded.

"Who is he?"

"he…"

Qi Xi only said one word, and the words froze in his mouth, unable to utter any more.

He was not afraid, but he remembered what happened in the past, the anger and sadness. Those painful memories made his chest feel extremely heavy and suffocated, and his body trembled uncontrollably.

Seeing Qi Xi's discomfort, Lin Lezhi couldn't bear it and interrupted, "Qi Xi was only thirteen years old back then. His appearance would naturally change as he grew up. The murderer back then might not recognize Qi Xi, but Qi Xi would definitely recognize him. But it was precisely because he recognized him that he couldn't write him into the storybook."

Lin Lezhi paced slowly and said, "Because that person is in a high position and has great power, it is difficult to get close to him. If he is mentioned in the storybook, he will definitely notice it and kill him to save himself, just like he killed Guo Yong and the four soldiers."

"Who?" Cheng Su asked.

"Whoever was alone with Guo Yong and the four soldiers was the one."

As he spoke, Lin Lezhi looked straight at someone with his deep gaze.

After hearing what Lin Lezhi said, the others also guessed who it might be, and everyone's eyes were focused on one place.

"Qiao Ying would smile foolishly whenever he saw anyone. During the days he came to Pinghai Town, he had never been seen to be afraid of strangers. But that night at the entrance of Jianghe Inn, he was scolded by the general, and he hid behind Luo Zhifeng out of fear. But everything has to be done in order. Qiao Ying didn't hide behind Luo Zhifeng because he was scolded that night. Instead, someone dismounted and came to him, and that's when he hid behind Luo Zhifeng."

After hearing Lin Lezhi's words, the soldiers who appeared at the door of Jianghe Inn that day recalled what happened that day.

"Qi Xi transformed into Qiao Ying and pretended to be dumb for eleven years. How could he easily reveal his true emotions in front of everyone? I guess..." Lin Lezhi stretched out the words and paused for a moment before saying, "He hid behind Luo Zhifeng not because he was afraid, but because he saw the enemy he had been thinking about day and night and vowed to kill, and he was afraid that the hatred in his eyes would be seen, so he hid."

That night, before Lin Lezhi disguised himself as a beggar to rescue Luo Zhifeng, he saw this scene clearly.

But he didn't know Qiao Ying at that time, so he didn't think about it.

Now that I know Qi Xi's identity and think about it carefully, it's not right.

After that, Lin Lezhi's eyes darkened, and with a hint of coldness in his tone, he asked in a firm and questioning tone, "Am I right, Captain Hong?"