Bai Kaiji was heading back to the capital ahead of schedule to handle some official business, coincidentally traveling with Shen Weimu.
On the carriage, Shen Weimu was intently eating Peach Blossom Pastries, while Bai Kaiji focused deeply on reflecting where his deduction had gone wrong, wondering why he couldn’t become a “Divine Seer.”
“Brother Shen, I’ve always had a question. How did you know the person who kidnapped you that day wasn’t the Qi County Constable? And when you saw that it was Wei Fu who was captured, why weren’t you surprised at all?”
Shen Weimu took small bites of the Peach Blossom Pastry, looked at Bai Kaiji, but didn’t say a word.
Bai Kaiji suddenly had an idea:
“How about I treat you to some fine food too?”
Shen Weimu replied,
“Official boots, coughing, the scent of medicine, purpose of the kidnapping.”
After thinking seriously for a moment, Bai Kaiji excitedly said he understood.
“The Qi County Constable also knows how to investigate and solve cases. He wouldn’t be careless enough to wear official boots that reveal his identity when kidnapping someone right under the government’s nose. The Qi County Constable was sick and taking medicine, so the smell of the medicine stuck to him and wouldn’t come off quickly. Wei Fu wore official boots and pretended to cough but had no medicinal scent on him. The real purpose of kidnapping you wasn’t significant; it was to deliberately mislead us by leaving ‘flaws’ so that the blame would fall on the Qi County Constable. The rumors he spread earlier about ghost towns and spirit possessions were also meant to mislead us!”
Shen Weimu nodded and remarked that the Walnut Pastry was delicious.
The Walnut Pastry, like the Tigu Stick, used a milk-rich tigu in the dough, filled with walnuts, wrapped in layers of glutinous rice skin and tigu, then finally covered completely with a flaky oil pastry crust before baking.
This method produced a Walnut Pastry with a crispy outer crust, soft and milky inner layers, and richly fragrant nut filling. Every bite was pure satisfaction.
After reanalyzing the case, Bai Kaiji muttered about something else:
“The case is closed, but I don’t know why they all stayed in Tang County, leaving me to return to the capital alone.”
“Catch Wei Fu’s accomplices.”
Shen Weimu was in a good mood and reminded Bai Kaiji,
“Wei Fu’s shoe soles were stuck with pigeon feathers.”
“Accomplices? Why didn’t I know about that? What do pigeon feathers mean?”
Bai Kaiji was shocked, feeling like a fool again.
But Shen Weimu didn’t answer, seemingly wanting to train Bai Kaiji’s deduction skills by making him figure it out himself.
Such a thoughtful little brother!
No wonder he was considered a good friend.
Bai Kaiji carefully recalled the details, analyzing one by one.
“When we were just discussing investigating Li Hongxiu at the yamen, Li Hongxiu committed suicide. How coincidental! Wei Fu’s mediocre skills could never outrun Lu Yang, so the Red Sleeve Pavilion must have an accomplice.”
“Only something flying in the sky could be faster than Lu Yang running on the ground. So after Wei Fu overheard the situation at the yamen, he immediately sent a pigeon letter to the Red Sleeve Pavilion’s accomplice, ordering them to kill Li Hongxiu.”
Shen Weimu took a sip of tea and nodded, thinking the topic was done.
But Bai Kaiji continued curiously:
“Brother Shen, how did you distinguish the feathers as pigeon feathers instead of chicken, duck, or goose feathers?”
Shen Weimu:
How to explain this?
His magical eyes were sharp as a torch?
“Are pigeon feathers very different from goose feathers?”
“If they’re all white, it would be hard to tell, right?”
Bai Kaiji didn’t doubt Shen Weimu but thought it was his own lack of observation.
He began to recall, compare, and ponder the differences among the feathers.
E!
OK!
OK……..
Sometimes people just get lucky and think of the right thing at the right time.
Just ahead, there happened to be an ox cart moving down the road, carrying several baskets of mushrooms and a few ducks and geese.
At the front sat a couple: the woman wrapped in a sheepskin blanket leaning on the man’s shoulder, the man leisurely holding a whip as he drove the ox.
Bai Kaiji was delighted and quickly called the carriage to a stop, jumping down.
Shen Weimu lifted his eyelids and followed him off the carriage.
Bai Kaiji took out a silver ingot and negotiated with the farmer driving the ox cart, asking if he could buy a few duck and goose feathers.
The young farmer adjusted the veil over his wife’s face and coldly refused:
“Not for sale.”
Bai Kaiji was stunned.
This was really unexpected — who would refuse such a profitable deal?
Turning his head, he saw Shen Weimu had also gotten off.
Bai Kaiji couldn’t help but complain,
“Brother Shen, ten taels of silver! I just wanted to buy a few feathers, and he actually—”
“Du Xiaoyao.”
Shen Weimu called out calmly to the farmer.
The young farmer immediately froze.
Bai Kaiji’s words caught in his throat as he turned, shocked, to look at the farmer.
“Finally, I caught you. When are you going to move your courtyard wall? How many times have I told you, that land on the east side belongs to my family. How can you just arbitrarily expand your courtyard and build the wall on our land?”
“Ahem, which girl did you trick and deceive this time? Have you properly taken care of the three girls you brought home before?”
Shen Weimu pretended to examine the woman beside the farmer, coughing several times in frustration, his face reddening.
“I don’t know you.”
Where did this annoying kid come from?
Du Xiaoyao cursed inwardly.
If it weren’t for the number of people around, he would have killed this stranger on the spot.
For now, Du Xiaoyao held back.
His body still faced Shen Weimu and Bai Kaiji, maintaining the appearance of driving the cart.
But the bulging veins in his clenched hand gripping the whip revealed his impatience and irritation.
“Du Xiaoyao, you’re a grown man! Are you seriously trying to play tricks with us?”
Shen Weimu was so angry he started coughing again.
“You said his name is Du Xiaoyao?”
Bai Kaiji’s expression turned cold as he confirmed with Shen Weimu.
When Shen Weimu nodded, Bai Kaiji’s sharp gaze scrutinized the young farmer again, applying his newly acquired memory and observation skills.
Calluses on the tiger’s mouth (the web between thumb and index finger), the shape of the clothes around his waist hiding a dagger — from his posture, driving style, and wariness, he looked like someone from the martial world.
At that moment, the farmer cracked his whip, trying to drive the ox cart forward again.
“Wait!”
Bai Kaiji took a few steps forward, standing in front of the cart and asked sternly,
“Are you Hei Guanfu Du Xiaoyao?”
“No, you’ve got the wrong person!”
Before he finished speaking, Du Xiaoyao suddenly leapt into the air and fiercely swung his whip at Bai Kaiji’s head.
Bai Kaiji skillfully dodged—
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Three flying darts followed, aimed at his head, chest, and abdomen.
Bai Kaiji twisted, dropped low, rolled on the ground, then quickly rose, counterattacking with a knife strike to Du Xiaoyao’s lower body.
“What a sinister move!”
Du Xiaoyao barely managed to dodge.
Then he noticed the Dali Temple badge hanging from Bai Kaiji’s waist and finally realized.
“You’re the Yinxia Bai Kaiji!”
“Scoundrel! Still remember your grandfather!”
Bai Kaiji unleashed a new move.
Du Xiaoyao felt uneasy and didn’t want a prolonged fight.
He immediately used his deadliest attack.
Bai Kaiji met it head-on, then suddenly leaned back, sliding under Du Xiaoyao’s crotch, and stabbed his knife into Du Xiaoyao’s lower back.
Du Xiaoyao spat blood, staring in disbelief at the red blade piercing through his abdomen.
He didn’t expect to lose so quickly.
The notorious Yinxia Bai Kaiji was indeed fast with his blade, and his style was truly cunning!
What bad luck—why didn’t I check the almanac before leaving today!
Bai Kaiji swiftly pulled back his knife.
Du Xiaoyao’s body twitched, coughed up more blood, then collapsed heavily like a ragdoll, completely unconscious.
“Miss, are you alright?”
Bai Kaiji hurried to check on the veiled woman sitting slumped in front of the cart.
Seeing no response, he gently touched her.
The woman’s body leaned heavily against the cart, revealing a circle of bluish-purple bruises on her wrist.
Bai Kaiji pulled off her veil.
His face turned pale as he saw the red livor mortis blotching her neck — she had been dead for some time.
Bai Kaiji sighed and gently covered her veil back.
“Hei Guanfu Du Xiaoyao has been a fugitive wanted by the court for ten years. Each time he commits a crime, he disguises himself as an unmarried man, marries the chosen woman, then brutally kills his wife after marriage.”
“He has committed over twenty crimes in recent years, escaping several times by luck. That’s why the court issued a kill-on-sight order for him.”
Seeing Shen Weimu’s expression grow listless and silent, Bai Kaiji thought he was frightened by his killing move and carefully explained the reason behind the murder.
“Du Xiaoyao is no slouch. I couldn’t let my guard down for even a moment during the fight. He was attacking to kill, so I naturally fought back the same way. Otherwise, the one lying on the ground would have been me.”
Bai Kaiji hoped this would change Shen Weimu’s impression of him as a ruthless killer.
Shen Weimu coughed twice into his handkerchief.
“Oh no, you’re coughing up blood again. It’s all my fault.”
Bai Kaiji hurriedly helped Shen Weimu back onto the carriage and asked Kang Anyun to leave two guards at the scene.
Once he returned to the capital, he would immediately notify others to take over.
After Shen Weimu drank some tea, Bai Kaiji cautiously asked if he was feeling better.
“You’re still not fast enough.”
Shen Weimu critiqued Bai Kaiji’s skills.
Bai Kaiji felt guilty and apologized:
“Yes, yes, it’s my fault for not being quick enough.”
If he had recognized Du Xiaoyao earlier and taken him down before he acted, no blood would have been spilled, and Shen little brother wouldn’t have been so scared.
“I’ll definitely train harder from now on and make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
Bai Kaiji earnestly reflected.
“Good, at least you have ambition.”
Shen Weimu then closed his eyes, concentrating on circulating the newly acquired Lingli within his body.
Bai Kaiji thought Shen Weimu was too frightened and needed to calm down and rest, so he quietly sat nearby, observing him.
Only when the carriage entered the capital and Shen Weimu was able to drink tea normally again did Bai Kaiji finally breathe a sigh of relief.
“Another day, I’ll definitely treat you to a meal to make up for this.”
Because of urgent official duties, Bai Kaiji had to bid Shen Weimu farewell immediately.
Shen Weimu acknowledged with a grunt, watching Bai Kaiji leave before ordering Kang Anyun to go to Ziwucun on the outskirts of the capital and purchase the most remote house at the northern edge of the village, right next door to Du Xiaoyao’s residence.
“Enough, no need to choose another place. Set up the signboard for Bagua Tower there.”
“Yes!”
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