Volume 4: Holy Capital Tribulation Chapter 245: The Neglected Place
No way?
Xu Zun was secretly surprised, recalling that after receiving Yue Jinglei's visiting card, he did not go to call his mother.
Logically speaking, she should still be in the Inner Guard Palace.
But I didn't expect that she would follow me all the time?
Isn't that right?
Xu Zun quickly realized that there was only one entrance, and Huo Anu, Dongfang Yaorao and others were guarding the entrance.
How did Ku Niang get in?
Could it be... that Huo Anu let her in?
But Ku Niang was wearing a veil and her face was hidden behind the veil, making her look even more mysterious.
Because of her unique dress, people from the Divine Detective Division had already noticed her, but Zhao Yu quickly waved to everyone, indicating that she was one of them.
Seeing Ku Niang suddenly appear, Ani hid behind Xu Zun unnaturally.
She had previously called Ku Niang a female ghost, and now realizing that Ku Niang might have heard it, she naturally felt a little afraid.
Xu Zun was also not sure whether Ku Niang had seen the scene where Yue Jinglei wanted to challenge her to a duel. He wondered how she would react.
However, now is a critical moment to search for the Xuanmen rebels, so Xu Zun naturally has no time to explain too much to Ku Niang.
Moreover, Ku Niang stood there motionless, still looking as if it had nothing to do with her.
However, after seeing Ku Niang, Xu Zun felt secretly moved.
He had realized that nothing mattered to Ku Niang except his own safety.
The reason why she followed must be to keep her promise and protect her own safety.
So Xu Zun said nothing to Ku Niang, but just nodded at her with gratitude in his eyes.
Although Ku Niang still did not react, Xu Zun still instinctively felt something...
"Sir," a constable shouted excitedly at the edge of the ditch, "Come and see, there is something here!"
Everyone went there when they heard the sound. When Xu Zun came closer, he saw two brand new iron rods inserted into the stones beside the ditch. There were knots tied on the iron rods, as if a rope ladder had been hung there before.
These two iron rods are exactly the same as the ones in the secret room of the dry well, except that they are not rusty, and it seems that they have been in there not long ago!
"Sir," the detective said excitedly, "It's obvious that they went down from here. They must have tied a ladder before this."
"Wow..." Zhao Yu smacked his lips and said, "Are they planning to go down and never come back? How big a deal are they going to do?"
After Zhao Yu said this, everyone felt the situation was even more urgent.
So, under Xu Zun's order, everyone began to prepare ropes and went down to check.
After a while, a new rope ladder was set up and Xu Zun climbed down to the bottom of the ditch along the ladder.
The ditch here is much shallower than that in the dry well secret room, only about two meters.
Although it was damp, there was no accumulation of water on the ground.
Surprisingly, there were several human skeletons scattered on the ground!
Judging from the condition of the bones, they must be quite old.
"Presumably..." Zhao Yu guessed, "These are the gamblers that the Eastern Detective mentioned who escaped that year, right?
"Either he ran in such a hurry that he fell and died, or he got lost and starved to death, right?
"Of course, it may not be..."
"It's bad," the leading constable said depressedly after checking the environment, "The ground is so hard, we can't find any traces of those Xuanmen rebels."
"It's okay, we have a compass..." Another constable spun the compass and suddenly frowned, "Oh, the palace is right in front of us!"
Everyone looked in the direction of his gestures and realized that the ditch ran from north to south, but the imperial palace was on the west. If they walked straight ahead, they would see nothing but walls and would be unable to pass through.
It seemed that they could only choose one direction to go around.
"Oh, it's like this again," Zhao Yu said, "There are so many passages on both sides of the ditch, how can we find them? It would be great if we had a map!
"Ani," he asked her, "pay attention and see if those people from the Xuanmen leave any marks or anything."
"Hmph..." Annie glanced at Zhao Yu unhappily.
"Mr. Special Envoy," the head constable asked Xu Zun, "Should we split our forces into two groups?"
Xu Zun did not rush to make a decision, but stroked the slippery canal wall, thinking carefully about something.
Judging from various indications, the Xuanmen rebels should have gone to the underground culvert here, and their target is most likely the imperial palace.
Through comparison, Xu Zun also came to a conclusion that the secret room in the dry well seemed to be older, while the traces here were very fresh.
From this, it can be inferred that the Xuanmen rebels have been searching for a passage in this underground culvert for more than a day or two.
Even though they had the help of Cao Ding's map, they still needed to keep exploring to find the right path.
But even so, Xu Zun still couldn't figure out what they were going to do underground?
This big bluestone is extremely hard. Even if it is blown up with explosives, how large an equivalent would it take to destroy it?
Even if he could shake the imperial palace, how could he make that solid palace collapse?
Besides, even if the palace really collapsed, were they so sure that it could kill the Queen Mother?
What Xuanmen called the Heavenly Tribulation, what Ye Hanchen called the Change of Heaven...
In Xu Zun's mind, there was always an important question lingering in his ears, that is, even if Xuanmen really had the ability to kill the empress dowager and the emperor, so what?
There will be a new empress dowager and emperor who will be enshrined in the Golden Luan Book, and the Great Xuan Dynasty will always belong to the Li family, right?
Is it necessary to go through so much trouble just to launch a terrorist attack?
Is there an even more terrifying force hidden behind this?
"Sir, special envoy..."
Seeing that Xu Zun remained silent for a long time, the leader of the detectives could not help but ask again.
Xu Zun stopped thinking, nodded at them and said, "This is the only way to deal with it now. Let's split into two groups, everyone make marks and arrange people to deliver the message.
"Then keep an eye on the compass. Once you find the road to the palace, send a message back."
"yes!"
Everyone agreed and started to divide into teams immediately.
"Old Zhao," Xu Zun said, "Ani, Ku Niang and I will stay here, you and the chief constable will search separately!
"If you have any questions, please give us your feedback in time..."
"This..." Although Zhao Yu was a little reluctant, he still clasped his fists and agreed.
After following Xu Zun for so long, he seemed to have developed a habit. As long as Xu Zun was by his side, he felt at ease.
After everyone left, Xu Zun stood there and continued his thoughts.
He felt more and more that the explosives were just a cover.
Because he noticed that the footprints left there were relatively shallow and did not seem to show any signs of being dragged by heavy objects.
Besides , the entrance to the cave is so narrow that it is impossible to transport the explosives.
Unless there is a more suitable entrance somewhere else...
Tsk tsk…
He quickly remembered what Lin Chaofeng said. The palace was heavily guarded. Even if these Xuanmen rebels could really break into the palace, how much commotion could they cause?
The Minister of Works Lan Qizhi said that there was a diamond wall underneath the palace, and entering the palace from underground would be as difficult as climbing to heaven.
There is no water in the Jinyin River, and there are no buildings that reach the sky inside or outside the imperial palace. How can the Xuanmen cause a natural disaster?
"Sir," Ani saw Xu Zun thinking hard and asked hurriedly, "What's wrong with you? Do you feel something is wrong?"
"Yeah..." Xu Zun sighed, "I can't figure out what big move they can make? "
"I really hope that Annie can help you , but..." Annie said anxiously, "I really told you everything I know!"
"I know, I know..." Xu Zun said while pressing Annie's shoulders, "You have tried your best!"
Looking at Annie's stunning appearance, Xu Zun couldn't help but feel a little moved.
However, after the throbbing, his thoughts suddenly stopped at a certain point, and then he was suddenly stunned.
Ani thought Xu Zun was staring at her in fascination, and her cheeks blushed slightly.
"Hey?" Xu Zun stared at Annie and asked, "Annie, I heard you say before that this group of male and female assassins were not trained in the same way as Qinglan Temple, right?"
" Yes!" Ani nodded, "They are all like me, either they were abused and bullied since childhood, or they are all daughters of officials whose homes were confiscated or exiled.
"Because of the hatred towards Daxuan, he was used by Xuanmen..."
"Why!!?"
The next second, Xu Zun seemed to be in a trance, as if he had thought of an extremely important question.
And this problem is exactly the flaw he has been looking for!
"Sir, sir..." Ani was startled and asked hurriedly, "What's wrong with you?"
"Oh my...oh my god!" Xu Zun said in astonishment, "All along, I only saw Qinglan Temple training female killers, and I only focused on those female killers, but completely ignored another important thing!!!"
