Chapter 722: Inside and Outside the Wall
Although no other mechanism seemed to be triggered after Su Xingfang rushed forward and cried out loudly, Sun Shaozong still stayed at a distance until more yamen runners arrived, and then he returned to the alley.
At this time, the six yamen runners who were shot by arrows all had black faces and died - those arrows were obviously coated with a deadly poison!
Chen Jingde was so scared about this that he had to rely on others to support him so that he didn't fall to the ground.
Since there was no need for a meat shield now, Sun Shaozong naturally didn't bother to care about him anymore. He asked a constable for a ruler, then walked along the wall to the place where the poisonous arrow was shot.
When I looked closely from a closer distance, I found that there were countless holes dug on the earth wall. It was just that this place was deep in the alley and the wall was mottled, so unless I got close, I couldn't see the holes at all.
Sun Shaozong tried to poke with an iron ruler, but couldn't find a hole to get in, so he gave an order: "Come on, some people, climb over the wall and take a look to see what kind of mechanism is arranged inside!"
Seeing the corpses all over the ground, several yamen runners nearby seemed a little timid.
"I'll do it!"
At this time, Huang Bin stood out from the crowd, rolled up his sleeves neatly, first followed the open door, climbed up the doorpost, and then climbed over the earth wall from the doorpost.
"grown ups!"
Just as he landed on the ground, he heard him exclaim from behind the wall: "There are a lot of crossbows set up behind here!"
Crossbow?
Hearing that he was safe and sound in the back, several more yamen runners climbed over and reported through the wall soon, saying that there was also a desolate courtyard behind the wall, and apart from the crossbows, there were no other mechanisms.
Hearing is not as good as seeing. Sun Shaozong was just about to turn over to take a look - it was too long a detour - but Su Xingfang came over with tears in his eyes.
"Lord Sun."
He cupped his hands and said in a hoarse voice, "Su wanted to see you, but he didn't expect to harm his uncle's life."
At this point, he shook his head slightly, his face becoming more bitter: "My mother only has this one brother. Now that she has met with an unexpected accident, I don't know how sad she is. Su really has no time to look after anything else, let alone investigate any case. I can only take my leave first."
Hearing his choked voice, Sun Shaozong felt quite sorry - the other person was trying to help with good intentions, but ended up getting his uncle into trouble.
He wanted to say a few words of comfort, but they were too light and meaningless. In the end, he could only bow deeply and solemnly promise: "Brother Su, rest assured, Sun will find out the real murderer and give justice to your uncle!"
After that, he personally escorted Su Xingfang to the sedan chair, then returned to the depths of the alley and nimbly climbed over the earth wall.
Just as Huang Bin said, there was a wall full of crossbows behind the earth wall, and they were crossbows with three arrows on one string.
Sun Shaozong carefully took one to inspect while trying not to damage the scene, and found that the structure of this thing was very delicate, but the workmanship was only mediocre.
According to inference, the effective range of this thing is about twenty steps. If three crossbow arrows are loaded at the same time, the range will be further reduced, and the accuracy cannot be guaranteed.
This should be something produced by a small workshop. Its quality is several levels lower than the crossbows of the same specifications equipped by the military. However, in some special circumstances - such as just now - its power is still quite considerable.
The murderer even coated it with poison, which was obviously intended to kill Sun Shaozong!
What’s more…
Not only is this thing not cheap, but it also cannot be mass-produced in just a day or two - at least it is impossible in a small workshop that produces shoddy products.
In this case, the inference of the beggar's revenge seems to be untenable.
Even if the beggars and security chiefs had the financial resources, it would be unlikely for them to purchase so many contraband items in advance - you know, such quantities are enough to be charged with treason!
But since it wasn't the beggar's revenge, who was the person who killed Daoyan and his disciples?
What was his purpose in killing Daoyan and his disciples?
Sun Shaozong looked at the crossbow again and again, and kept deducing in his mind, but he couldn't get the point.
Currently, the only person known to have a grudge against Master Daoyan and his disciples and who is capable of deploying so many crossbows is probably King Zhongshun.
But the problem is that Prince Zhongshun has already reported the matter to the emperor, so there is no need to resort to such means...
That's all.
Let's take a look at the scene first to see if there are any traces left.
Thinking this, Sun Shaozong began to check the condition of the crossbows one by one.
At this time, Huang Bin came up again and pointed at one of them and said, "Sir, please take a look at this crossbow first."
Sun Shaozong looked in the direction he pointed, and saw that among the many empty crossbows, there was still one crossbow that had not been successfully fired.
Judging from the location of the visit, this should not be a deliberate omission by the murderer, but because there is a flaw in the mechanism, so it was not successfully triggered.
Thinking of this, Sun Shaozong immediately moved closer and took a closer look at the mechanism of each crossbow, and indeed found some slight signs of wear.
This should be the mark left by something that was once put on it and pulled hard when it was triggered, causing the crossbow arrow to be fired.
etc!
If that's the case, someone must have triggered the mechanism on their own initiative!
Could it be that...
"In my opinion, the thief might have been hiding behind this earth wall. Otherwise, how could he have triggered the mechanism at the right time?"
Huang Bin's idea coincides somewhat with Sun Shaozong's.
but……
Is it really that simple?
Sun Shaozong remained calm and checked all the crossbows again. Then he raised his voice and ordered, "Deputy Chen, learn from Magistrate Su's uncle and say a few words to the entrance of the alley from where he was standing at that time."
Chen Jingde listened to his instructions. Although his legs were still a little weak, he had to tremble and come to the place where the middle-aged yamen runner's body was sunk. He imitated his previous behavior and said, "My lords, this is the place..."
"Louder!"
"My Lords..."
"Louder!"
"My Lords, this is exactly the place!"
In the end, Chen Jingde almost shouted at the top of his lungs, and the people on the other side of the earth wall finally heard it clearly.
"this……"
Huang Bin was puzzled and said, "When I passed the message just now, it didn't seem to be so difficult."
"That's because you were talking to the wall with the hole, and he was talking with his back to the wall, and there was a considerable distance between them. If the murderer was really hiding behind the wall, it would not be difficult to hear Yin Ren talking, but it would not be so easy to hear what the other person was saying."
"and……"
Sun Shaozong pointed at the hole in the wall. If he really wanted to hide behind the wall and commit a crime, he should at least leave a hole so that he could peek outside, right?
"So, sir, what do you mean?"
"The person who triggered the mechanism is probably not inside the wall, but outside the wall - that is, in the alley or that yard!"
