Heaven's Formula

More than a dozen people... and counting the number of evil cases, the result is not a small number.

"That's weird. This place doesn't look like it can handle more than a hundred people without being discovered." After some visits, they have narrowed the scope down to the junction of Zhengshou Street and Wangfu Street in the south of the city.This area happened to be involved in the four evil cases, so the suspicion was the greatest.The layout of the houses is connected to the left and right, lined up along both sides of the street, which can be described as extremely regular.

The vast majority of the first floor of the houses are shops, pawnshops, and wine shops, and the upper floors are residences, which don't look like they can accommodate a gang.

As for the luxurious mahogany house in front of the tea stand, it occupies a large enough area, but it is actually composed of two buildings, with the brothel on the left and the inn on the right.The combination of the two occupies about half of Wangfu Street, and it is three floors high, which looks magnificent.

It's just that it's really a brothel and an inn. The two walked around the building and found nothing unusual.

"Indeed." Zhao Dahai agreed, "It's okay to say that the inn is very familiar with the brothel, and it is much more lively at night than during the day. Moreover, both of these two houses are open to welcome guests, and there are all sorts of idlers. How could it be possible to kill hundreds of people in 15 years without making a sound. Unless..."

"Unless what?" Li Xing asked quickly.

Although the other party was unattractive and seemed ordinary, but at least he was the master of the superior, and the external perception might just be hiding his clumsiness.

"Unless they chop up people and send them to the kitchen."

"Pfft——" Li Xing just drank the tea from his mouth and spat it out, "Your idea is really...too sensational."

"I think the guys from the Donghai Gang can do it." Zhao Dahai spread his hands and said, "There are so many places I have traveled, and I can't see any strange things in this world."

"However, we must pay attention to evidence in handling cases. What's more, what we want to investigate is not the opponent's tactics, but a gang's hiding place." Li Xing smiled helplessly, "How about we walk around these two streets a few more times and see Let's see what we can find?"

"That's all." Zhao Dahai took out two copper plates and slapped them on the table, "Perhaps when the two of us go back, there will already be clues on the other side."

They walked out of the tea stand and walked westward along the long street. Li Xing suddenly stopped in the middle of Wangfu Street.

Something is wrong.

"what happened to you?"

Li Xing didn't answer immediately, but turned his head, looked at the other end of the street, and said after a while, "Is this street... so long?"

"Long? It's okay." Zhao Dahai scratched his head, "Isn't it just an ordinary dirt road?"

"Why do I feel like it's getting longer..."

"Hey, don't scare me, it's broad daylight, even if a ghost builds a wall, you can't build it on the main road—"

"I didn't mean that." Li Xing waved his hand, "When I said lengthening, it was a literal extension, and it had nothing to do with evil spirits."

"Then do you know how long it was originally?" Zhao Dahai asked curiously.

"do not know."

"How do you compare if you don't know? Are you dizzy from the sun?"

"I made the comparison based on this house." Li Xing turned and walked towards the tea stand.

Zhao Dahai had no choice but to keep up.

Back at the tea stand, Xiao Er showed an earnest smile, "Guest officer, do you want to drink anything else?"

But Li Xing ignored the other party, crossed the street directly, and started walking from the middle of the brothel and the inn.

This time, he walked very slowly.

When the shadow of the third floor disappeared under his feet, Li Xing stopped.

"Any questions?"

"Let's go back to the brothel again."

Zhao Dahai sighed, "You have to tell me, what are you looking for?"

"I'm not looking for anything, but measuring the number of steps." Li Xing explained.

"Step count?"

"That's right, I've been in this business for a long time, and I'm used to using the number of steps to estimate the distance. Sometimes even if I don't count it deliberately, I can probably have a count in my head." He paused, "But just now we are crossing This house doesn't seem to have come that far."

"Didn't... go that far?" Zhao Dahai frowned.

"It may also be an illusion, so I'm going to walk again."

The two got into the gate of the brothel and walked straight upstairs.It's not yet open for business, and there are only a few customers who want to grab the top card sitting sparsely in the lobby, but no one cares about their entry and exit.

The second floor is a straight road with stairs at both ends and wing rooms on the left and right.It only took ten breaths for Li Xing to walk from one end to the other.

It became more and more obvious that something was wrong.

Here he took only one hundred and nine steps.

But on the street, he had to walk 110 seven steps to reach the edge of the house!

After that is the inn.

And the result is the same!

When Li Xing stopped on the side of the stairs near the wall, the number of steps was more than ten steps less than that outside.

Adding up the two sides, there is a distance of about twenty steps, almost the width of a wine shop.

"This...what the hell is going on?" Zhao Dahai was also a little puzzled. From the outside, he saw that the two stores were close to each other.Even if the wooden wall is thick, it is impossible to deviate by twenty steps!

Could it be that there is something else going on inside this house?

Chapter 113 Investigation

Li Xing squatted down, stared at the stairs for a long time, and suddenly raised his eyebrows, "This staircase...is not straight!"

He pointed to the side of the volley, "Look at the edge of the pedal, each level protrudes a little more than the level below it."

Zhao Dahai observed the direction pointed by the other party for a while, and also noticed the strangeness, "Oh, it really is."

The protrusion is so slight that it is difficult to catch by the eye alone that the stairs are actually set back.

If the distance is longer, or if you look at it from a distance, you may be able to quickly find the difference, but there are many debris in the inn that block the line of sight, and there is also a turning point in the middle of the corridor, which makes this change subtly covered up.

The conclusion is already drawn.

There is also a dark building hidden in the middle of this building.

Li Xing began to knock on the wooden wall, trying to determine its hollow position through the change of sound.

But after knocking twice, Zhao Dahai stretched out his hand to stop him, "We have to go."

Li Xing followed the other party's gaze, and saw that there were already people in the hotel lobby looking towards this side. Obviously, their behavior of staying in the corridor for a long time had attracted the attention of outsiders.

"My apprentice said that if you find anything, you can report it to him immediately. It's better for us to avoid getting involved in things like confrontation."

Li Xing hesitated, and finally withdrew his hand.

"You are right."

After all, the Donghai Gang is not an ordinary gang of gangsters. If someone who is angry secretly attacks them, they may not even have a chance to resist.

The two pretended to be nonchalant and left the inn quickly.

……

"Is there a hidden building in the middle of the mahogany building on Wangfu Street?" After hearing the report from the Chengnan Group, Xia Fan was quite surprised.It's not because the other party hides cleverly, but this kind of subtle changes in the distance between the inside and outside can be measured by the number of steps, which is really unexpected for Li Xing.

"However, this width is fine for a warehouse, and it shouldn't be able to accommodate too many gang members." Xu Sanzhong judged.

"But it's worth our further investigation on the fact that someone deliberately concealed it." Xia Fan looked at Zhao Dahai and Li Xing, "Did you find any entrance mechanisms like secret doors or traps on the outside?"

Li Xing shook his head, "In fact, even when I knocked on the wall, I couldn't feel the hollow inside."

"Okay, you two go down and rest first, the next investigation will be taken over by the alchemist team."

After the two left the lobby, Xia Fan immediately sent someone to recall Li and Shan Hui, and then cupped his hands to Xu Sanchong, "Master Xu, these two streets are deeply involved, I'm afraid I need the power of the princess."

Xu Sanzhong clasped his fists in return, "Lord Xia is serious. His Highness has already explained that you are the first in this matter. If you have any requests, please do so."

"That's easy to talk about." Xia Fan walked to the map of Jinxia City with a smile, and pointed to several street intersections on the map, "I hope you can send someone to secretly watch these locations and prepare to close the streets. Once the information is obtained Confirm that when the Privy Council begins its operation, it is best not to let any enemy go."

……

At four quarters in the afternoon, a fox and a dog jumped onto the roof of the Redwood Building without anyone noticing.

They didn't find many valuable clues in the previous search of the pier, so after receiving Xia Fan's notice, the two demons took a short rest, and when they recovered a little, they immediately rushed to the new designated location.

"It's almost here." Li Zhaoshanhui pouted, "Take out the tools."

The latter put down the cloth bag in his mouth and spread it out, revealing the iron tools such as drill bits and knives inside.

"You lift the tiles first."

Obediently, Shan Hui stretched out his front paws, and removed the tiles covering the roof one by one, until the dry gray grass soil was exposed to the sun.

"Then use a knife to cut a square opening." Li continued.

"Why am I doing it?" Shanhui suddenly felt that something was wrong, "Can't you help me?"

Li lay down unhurriedly, and stretched his tail, "I have to think about the problem in order to plan ahead. It takes a lot of energy. How about we switch, you use your brain to give orders, and I will do it." How is work?"

Shan Hui was stunned for a moment, then lowered his head and bit the knife, "Then I'll do it."

"That's right." The fox narrowed his eyes, and began to supervise the work with peace of mind.

If an outsider sees this scene, they will be stunned. The two animals will come together to carry out an orderly and controllable "destruction" of bricks and tiles that are neither tasty nor useful.And what they use is not fangs and claws, but quite professional human tools.

This method came from Xia Fan's idea.

Since the Donghai Gang can find such a hidden place, the entrance must be hidden deeper, and there are probably not a few secret sentries and guards. It may be quite difficult to sneak in from the entrance.

The roof is completely different.

No matter how ingeniously designed the secret door below, the structure of the top of the house is always roughly the same, with rafters on the trusses, and above the rafters are planks, earth and tiles-although it is not possible to directly enter the house by removing the tiles, But it's much easier than cutting a wall.The difference in load-bearing requirements between the two means that it is impossible to play too many tricks on the roof.

After cutting through the mud layer and drilling through the wooden planks, Li Kuo looked at each other with one eye, and his heart skipped a beat!It really wasn't pitch black below, but brightly lit.Under the light of the oil lamp, a continuously spiraling staircase appears in the small hole.

Between the inn and the brothel is a corridor leading to the ground!

"It seems that we have found the right place." Li grinned.

"Then what's next?"

"Of course, continue digging." She commanded, "But we have to adjust the position so that the hole is as close to the roof beam as possible, so as to reduce the chance of being discovered."

"Okay." Shan Hui picked up the knife again and started to work hard.

Half an hour later, a three-inch square gap was opened up by the Tengu.

"You are responsible for guarding the rear, and I will explore the front, understand?"

"Woof. Keke...I said 'OK'."

Li An secretly sighed, "Why don't I think it's not good... How about we make a signal signal." She raised a front paw while recalling the gestures she used when she and Xia Fan were exploring the caves in Gaoshan County at night , "This is to follow."

Shan Hui nodded seriously.

Li raised one hind leg again, "This is to stop."

"it is good."

The fox demon raised its tail, "This is an attack."

"Uh...in the enemy's lair?"

"What if it needs to be used? I'm just preparing in advance." Li finally raised his paw and kicked his foot. "When you see this gesture, retreat immediately and never look back. Do you understand?"

"Okay." Shanhui said he remembered.

"Then let's go in now." Li got into the hole in the roof and climbed up the roof beam lightly.The scorching sun was blocked out immediately, and a cool cold wind blew across her whole body from bottom to top.

Shan Hui, who followed behind, carefully covered the tiles again, cutting off the light from outside.

Chapter 114 The Hideout

"This place...is weird." Tengu looked around for a moment, then whispered.

The interior of the room is like a distorted space, which is diamond-shaped when viewed from the top, narrow at the front and back, and open in the middle.The stairs start from the third floor and go all the way down until they are completely submerged in the deep underground.

Since the entrance is on the third floor, it is likely to be hidden in a certain room. Considering that there is a brothel on one side and an inn on the other, it must be difficult for outsiders to figure out the layout of the room. This is indeed a suitable place for hiding.

The question is, who built all this?

Li Minrui realized that it must not be the Donghai Gang—they are just outsiders, and they are unlikely to be able to build such a building within the eyes of the residents.

There is no one guarding the inside of the corridor. Apparently, the Donghai Gang thinks that this place is sufficiently hidden. As long as the outside is not breached, no one can break in.

Li raised his front paws, signaling to follow, then jumped up and landed steadily on the top of the stairs.

A fox and a dog went down the spiral stairs like this, and the surrounding wooden walls turned into gray-blue masonry. After descending about thirty feet, the two monsters reached the ground.

A narrow, damp passage appeared before them.