Volume 1 Zhangqiao Iron Coffin Chapter 29 White-hot
An unnamed small town in the north of Xinye County.
The town is located at the foot of the mountain. It is a must-pass place when returning to Xinye County from Qijiawu. There are not many residents in the town and they are relatively scattered.
Bang!
The fence door of a house in front of the mountain was suddenly kicked open by Huo Anu!
Xu Zun rushed in aggressively, and when he entered the house, he just saw a thin man in disheveled clothes running out!
Without saying a word, Xu Zun kicked the man to the ground, then used professional police techniques to twist his arms behind his back and pin him to the ground.
"Master Xu! Master Xu..." The thin man had already recognized Xu Zun and immediately shouted in panic, "What do you mean? What do you mean?"
"Don't you have any idea of what I mean ?" Xu Zun shouted, "As usual, just speak for yourself! If you wait for me to say it, the situation will be completely different!"
"No, nothing happened." The thin man explained, "I've been very honest recently and haven't done anything!"
"Okay!" Xu Zun smiled coldly, picked up the thin man from the ground, and said, "Then don't blame me, come back to the government office with me and explain it slowly!"
After saying that, Xu Zun pushed him out.
"Sir, sir, please don't..." the thin man said, "Let's talk it over nicely. I forgot to pay my share of the money last month. Can I make it up now?"
“…”
“…”
This one sentence made Xu Zun embarrassed and Huo Anu speechless.
"You bastard!" Xu Zun held the thin man down again and shouted, "You dare to bribe the constable, your crime is even more serious! Hurry up and tell the truth about the case you have been involved in recently!"
"I...I really didn't do anything!" the thin man argued.
"father……"
At this moment, a little girl who was only five or six years old came out from the inner room. After seeing the thin man being caught, she shouted hurriedly.
The little girl had big cute eyes and was very adorable, but when she saw her father being restrained, she suddenly looked frightened and tears welled up in her eyes!
"My lord, my lord, I beg you..." The thin man knelt down in front of Xu Zun and begged, "This time, I only stole a barrel of oil, two bags of flour, and three quilts!
"Sir, sir..." The thin man burst into tears, "Since I had a daughter, I have decided to turn over a new leaf, but seeing my daughter starving and freezing, my heart... I deserve to die, I deserve to die, please forgive me this time, Sir Xu!"
Hearing these words, Huo Anu had already softened his heart, and hurriedly squatted in front of the shivering little girl to comfort her.
However, Xu Zun impatiently said three words: "Tell - the - truth!"
"Alas!" The thin man stopped crying in an instant as if by magic, lowered his head and said, "I stole a few pieces of brocade from Mr. Li's house, the incense burner and vase from Huaxiang Tower, and the girls' rouge and a few silver hairpins, and they are gone!"
"Go on!" Xu Zun said three more words.
As a result, the thin man read out a long list with a look of despair, just like a warehouse cashier reporting accounts.
“Sir!” Finally, the thin man kowtowed to Xu Zun and begged, “I know I deserve the punishment and deserve death, but my daughter is innocent. I have lived half my life and I only have this one daughter!
"If I go to jail, my daughter will die. Please have mercy on me, sir. Please have mercy on me! I am willing..."
"You're not willing to give a shit!" Xu Zun cursed with a dark face, "If I remember correctly, you're only 21 this year, right? What do you mean by living half your life? You bastard, you don't tell a word of truth!"
"I know I was wrong, I know I was wrong," the thin man bowed his head again, "I am willing to hand over the stolen goods and plead guilty, but I only ask you, Lord Xu..."
"Liu Dong," Xu Zun didn't let him finish, and took out a few taels of silver from his pocket and said, "Have you ever thought about changing your way of life?"
"Ah?" The thin man named Liu Dong raised his head and asked, "What do you mean, sir?"
"Help me do something!" Xu Zun said, "If you do it well, I will forgive your crime and reward you with 100 taels of silver, which is enough for you to not have to steal for the rest of your life!"
"Ah?" Liu Dong didn't believe that such a thing could happen. He immediately bowed his head and said, "Master Xu, if this is true, don't even think about risking your life. As long as you don't let me die, I will do whatever it takes for you!"
…
Half an hour later, Liu Dong packed his luggage, said goodbye to his daughter, Xu Zun and Huo Anu, and disappeared into the misty mountains...
Looking at Liu Dong's disappearing back, Xu Zun said to Huo Anu beside him:
"There is something I need to explain to you. The money was paid by the detectives. It has nothing to do with me!"
"They are from the same nest, what's the difference?" Huo Anu complained indignantly, then pointed to the direction where Liu Dong disappeared and asked, "Isn't Songzhou in the east? Why did he go to the south?"
"Oh?" Xu Zun was puzzled, "Why should I ask him to go to Songzhou?"
"Need I say more?" Huo Anu said, "You Dalang and his wife are both from Songzhou. You asked this thief to gather intelligence. Shouldn't he have gone to Songzhou?"
"Hehe..." Xu Zun smiled mysteriously, "No, the real answer is not in Songzhou at all!"
"Really? But... this thief is full of lies. Aren't you afraid that he will run away?" Huo Anu was worried. "Who knows, is this girl his biological daughter?"
Unexpectedly, a little girl's sonorous voice came from behind: "He is my father, and I am his biological daughter!"
"Don't worry!" Xu Zun said confidently, "He will definitely get it done!"
"I really don't understand," Huo Anu said again, "Master Shen has so many capable people under him, who is not more reliable than this thief? Don't you even trust Master Shen's people?"
"It's not that I don't trust them," Xu Zun stared at Huo Anu and said, "but they are too big and will easily attract the enemy's attention! Besides, I am a loyal person and don't want to implicate my father-in-law!"
"Humph, if you don't want to get involved, then don't let me be your bodyguard?" Huo Anu said angrily, "Since you called me here, but you refuse to tell me the truth and don't let me know anything, what is this? It really makes me very unhappy!"
Xu Zun quickly comforted him: "Don't worry! It won't be long, I will make you feel good!"
"you……"
It was obvious that Xu Zun's words had ulterior motives, but Huo Anu couldn't find any handle to get mad at, and she stomped her feet in anger!
"Miss Huo!" Unexpectedly, Xu Zun then respectfully clasped his fists and saluted Huo Anu, saying, "This time, I am very grateful! Miss, I will definitely repay you for your great kindness in the future!"
"you……"
Huo Anu was so annoyed by this.
"Miss Huo, this case will enter a white-hot stage next!" Xu Zun said, "I hope you can cooperate with me and act according to the plan to find out the murderers hiding among us!"
"Bai... Bai what?" Huo Anu frowned, "Can you say something I can understand? Are you bullying me because I'm a foreigner? Oh... okay!" She turned and said, "Anyway, I really want to see what kind of gourds you sell in your coffin?"
"What's the plan?" Xu Zun corrected.
"It's all the same! Xu Zun, once I've settled this child, I'll implement your plan! It's actually quite exciting to imagine, I've never encountered such an interesting thing!"
After saying that, Huo Anu picked up Liu Dong's daughter and strode into the thick morning mist...