Martial Arts: Starting from a Seemingly Real System

"Radishes are better than pears - candied dates are sweet - candied haws - roasted ginkgo nuts -"

In the quiet and remote streets, the rhythmic shouting of the peddler could be heard from afar, but it did not attract Qiao Rui's attention at all.

At this moment, his eyebrows were raised and his eyes were sharp, staring at Chen Nian steadily.

Chen Nian stretched out his hand and spread it out, and in the palm of his hand was a jade ball that was sparkling and glittering.

The surface of the jade ball is hollow with exquisite patterns. The inside is hollow and contains a smaller jade ball. The small jade ball is also hollow and contains an even smaller jade stone. When it is shaken, it makes a crisp and pleasant sound.

"This?" Qiao Rui's eyes narrowed. Could it be a children's toy? That's why Chen Nian said that there might be a baby in this family.

"I found it under the bed in my bedroom. This thing is called a rattle ball. It's used to coax babies. It's usually made of ceramic. Only rich families use jade. The sound of a jade rattle ball is better than that of a ceramic one!" Chen Nian explained.

"Ah? Could it be Xiao Yunlei?" Huang Jingxuan couldn't help but exclaimed when he heard Chen Nian say that this was a toy for teasing babies.

Although Huang Jingxuan's words were incoherent, Qiao Rui, Chen Nian and Lu Jia all knew what he meant.

There were shoe prints of brocade flying phoenix shoes nearby, which were exactly the same as the ones in Qiao Rui's grandfather's house. There were also baby toys in this house. Could it be that the thief was hiding here with the little Yunlei that she had stolen?

But the other party has already moved away. Regardless of whether he is the evil thief who stole Xiao Yunlei, the clues seem to be lost again. We can only wait for news from Lao Yu and see if we can find any useful information by checking the owner of the house.

"Radishes are better than pears - candied dates are sweet - candied haws - roasted ginkgo nuts -"

The shouting sounded again, and a thin man passed by slowly carrying a load of goods.

"Stop!" Just as the peddler and Qiao Rui passed by each other, Chen Nian suddenly shouted.

"Gentlemen, would you like to eat candied dates or candied haws? My ginkgo nuts are also fragrant and crispy..." After hearing Chen Nian's words, the peddler put down his burden, turned around and rubbed his hands with a smile.

"Do you come here to sell your goods every day?" Chen Nian was too lazy to listen to the peddler selling his goods and interrupted him directly.

"This, uh..." The peddler noticed that these people did not seem to want to buy preserved fruits and snacks, and each of them had a solemn expression, unlike ordinary people who had a calm and relaxed expression. He couldn't help but become scared and took a step back, hesitating and not daring to answer.

"You don't need to be afraid. He is the chief of police in this city. We are investigating a case and have something to ask you." Chen Nian pointed at Lu Jia and said to the peddler.

The peddler then noticed that Lu Jia was dressed in a black robe, holding a goose-feather knife, and wearing a government badge, a typical attire of a constable.

He looked at everyone tremblingly, and said with a sad face: "My lords, I have done nothing wrong."

"I didn't say you did anything wrong, I just asked if you often walk here?" Lu Jia said unhappily. He also realized that Chen Nian stopped the peddler, probably to inquire about the situation of this house.

Hearing this, the peddler felt relieved, but still a little nervous. He swallowed subconsciously and stammered, "Little, little, I do. I walk this way every day."

Seeing the peddler shaking like a sieve and unable to speak complete words, Qiao Rui knew that the people had always been afraid of officials. He quietly glared at Lu Jia, then suddenly stepped forward and inserted himself between the two men, blocking the peddler's line of sight. Then he smiled gently at the peddler, pointed at the house and asked, "Do you know where the owner of this house has gone?"

The peddler followed where Qiao Rui pointed, looked at the house, then looked at Qiao Rui, and shook his head blankly.

"It's okay." Qiao Rui spoke softly and gently, and then smiled and said, "Have you met the people in this family?"

"I have met you." Seeing that Qiao Rui was in a friendly mood and asked some simple questions, the peddler gradually felt at ease and spoke more fluently.

"The owner of the house is a country woman in her thirties. She buys snacks for me every day when I pass by."

"A country woman?" Chen Nian frowned and looked down at the jade ball in his hand. Isn't she from a wealthy family?

"I also find it strange. Judging from her clothes and appearance, she doesn't look like someone from a wealthy family. How can she afford to buy snacks every day? Even though they are cheap, she can't afford to buy them every day.

It wasn’t until we did business together several times that we got to know each other better, or maybe she was bored after being alone for too long, so she would always pull me aside to talk for a while.”

"What did you say?" Qiao Rui asked with a smile.

"She said she's not from here, and the house isn't hers. It was her distant cousin who asked her to come over to help take care of the child. She'll give her some money afterwards, and she'll also give her some silver on weekdays so she can buy more delicious food for the child to prevent him from making a fuss..."

"Child?" Qiao Rui's eyes lit up. "How old is the child?"

"Probably over one year old, I'm not sure. But once she said that the child had just grown a few teeth and couldn't eat anything too hard." The peddler shook his head and smiled apologetically.

"How long have you known her?" Chen Nian interrupted.

"Not long ago, about ten days ago, she opened the door and called me and bought a string of candied haws for the first time." The peddler thought for a moment and replied.

More than ten days ago, Xiao Yunlei happened to disappear. The time and age basically match, plus the Yunjin Feifeng Shoes... Qiao Rui and Chen Nian looked at each other. The child that this woman was taking care of for her cousin was probably Xiao Yunlei.

Then her cousin was most likely the person who stole Xiao Yunlei, a young woman who worked in a brothel and was good at martial arts.

"When was the last time she bought something from you?" Chen Nian said.

"The day before yesterday afternoon, she bought some roasted ginkgo nuts, saying she wanted to crush them and feed them to her baby." The peddler didn't know which information would be useful to Qiao Rui and the others, so he tried his best to tell them everything he knew.

"Has she ever said she wanted to leave before? Or revealed any such information?" Chen Nian asked again.

"A few days ago, she asked me to bring some more snacks so that she could buy these New Year's goods by herself. I haven't seen her come out to buy things in the past few days, and I was wondering." The peddler muttered.

This means that she decided to leave at the last minute. She was still there the day before yesterday afternoon, so she might have left the day before yesterday. She was in such a hurry. Did something unexpected happen?

Chen Nian asked some more questions, but didn't get any useful information, so he waved goodbye to the peddler.

What happened the day before yesterday that made her leave suddenly?

The day before yesterday, the day before yesterday?

Qiao Rui suddenly paused. The day before yesterday, he had a night meeting with Yu Lu in Yunyu Tower and secretly investigated the matter of the red string. Then...

If Yu Lu was the female thief, then if I had brought the topic to the red rope, it would have surely aroused her vigilance and made her decide to move Xiao Yunlei away?

The more Qiao Rui thought about it, the more he felt that this possibility was very high. In addition, Chen Nian inferred the other party's height, body shape, age and wealth based on the shoe print, and all these factors were consistent with Yu Lu.

And as Yu Lu herself said that night, her body was still clean, and she met the requirements to wear the Yunjin Feifeng Shoes.

Well, with only a little left, can she do Qinggong?

Judging from the Oiran competition and her performance the day before yesterday, Yu Lu doesn’t know how to perform Qinggong, but could this be her cover-up?

Her flying dance was as graceful as a startled swan and as elegant as a swimming dragon, and she looked like a goddess descending to the earth. It seemed that she did not need the help of light skills, but Qiao Rui always had a sense of déjà vu, as if he had seen this figure somewhere before.

"Master, what are you thinking about?" Huang Jingxuan saw Qiao Rui standing there for a long time and couldn't help but ask.

Qiao Rui came back to his senses and glanced at Huang Jingxuan. Suddenly, something moved in his heart, and then he suddenly felt happy.

"I understand, that's how it is!"