In the City God Temple, a dwarf who looked only six or seven years old in stature was pierced through the heart by an arrow. He fell at the feet of the City God and died instantly.
In the backyard, Ji Lingchuan captured another dwarf alive. He broke the dwarf's hands. Suddenly, a loud whistle came to his ears.
Judging that the whistle came from the small courtyard where he and Song Yihuan had hidden before, his face changed. He threw the captured dwarf to Fuzhou and immediately strode towards the courtyard.
He leaped over the courtyard wall. By the moonlight, the scene in front of him made his heart skip a beat.
Three dwarfs with short statures surrounded Song Yihuan in the middle and forced her into a corner. Although she had a sword in her hand, she didn't know martial arts and was no match for these agile dwarfs at all. Every time she stabbed forward, the dwarfs would dodge. The quiet courtyard was filled with the dwarfs' evil laughter.
"Pretty girl, I advise you to surrender quickly and have some fun with us."
"Pretty girl is really brave. She dares to walk alone on the street at night. We should have knocked you out and taken you away a few days ago to have a good time with you."
"The water inlet of the Prince Ning's Mansion was blocked. It was you who did it, right? You didn't expect that you would fall into our hands today. Hee hee hee~"
Song Yihuan was shocked. She remembered that when she went to look for Doctor Zhong and returned to the Prince Ning's Mansion that day, she did feel someone following her.
It turned out that it wasn't an illusion!
She dodged the hand that a dwarf reached out and swept the sword out, scolding angrily, "Get away! You heartless murderers are doomed to come to a bad end!"
The sword that Ji Lingchuan left for her had a certain weight. Song Yihuan was tightly entangled by the three dwarfs. Her hand holding the sword was already exhausted and her whole arm was trembling. Because of fear, a layer of cold sweat oozed from her palm. When she slashed forward, the hilt of the sword almost slipped out of her hand.
Seeing that she was at the end of her strength, the three dwarfs reached out and grabbed the sword blade, forcibly snatching the sword from her hand. Song Yihuan's heart sank. She thought she was about to fall into the hands of these three people. At this time, she heard Ji Lingchuan's familiar voice in her ear:
"Step back!"
Almost without thinking, she took a step back and leaned her back against the wall. Only to hear a whooshing sound, the two dwarfs on the left groaned and fell to the ground motionless. A tall and imposing figure landed in front of Song Yihuan and attacked the dwarf on the right.
The dwarf was obviously no match for Ji Lingchuan. He was captured alive by Ji Lingchuan in just a few moves. Ji Lingchuan also broke the dwarf's two arms. The next moment, the door of the courtyard was knocked open. A group of yamen runners and black-armored soldiers rushed into the courtyard with hunting dogs and tied up the three dwarfs.
After confirming that there was no more danger around, Ji Lingchuan got up and returned to Song Yihuan's side. He asked, "How are you? Did they hurt you?"
There was an eagerness in his tone that he didn't even notice.
Song Yihuan was still in a state of shock. Her forehead, back and palms were all covered in cold sweat. But she managed to hold herself together and not show her fear in front of so many people. She shook her head and said, "I'm fine. Fortunately, Brother Ling gave me a sword for self - defense in advance. They couldn't get close to me. I'm just a bit exhausted in my arms."
Looking at the three dwarfs captured by the yamen runners, Song Yihuan wiped the sweat off her forehead and frowned, "What on earth is going on?"
Ji Lingchuan's eyes were cold. He said, "You guessed it all right. We just didn't expect that there was not just one murderer, but five. As for why they did this, we'll know after the interrogation."
Song Yihuan seemed to remember something. She reached out and gently tugged at his sleeve, pointing to the other corner of the room. "Brother Ling, there seems to be something strange there."
Ji Lingchuan's gaze shifted downward. The woman's hand was as white as jade in the moonlight. His eyes darkened. He responded and took a torch from a guard, then led Song Yihuan towards that place.
The torch illuminated the dark corner. Only to see a half - person - tall water tank placed in the corner. The lid of the water tank had already been thrown aside. There was no water in it, only a dark hole. Judging from the hole, only a six - or seven - year - old child could pass through.
It turned out that there was a secret passage under the water tank. Presumably, it was another lair of these dwarfs and was connected to the City God Temple.
Ji Lingchuan immediately ordered someone to move the water tank away, dig open the secret passage and search for the dwarfs' residence.
Song Yihuan had been alone with the three dwarfs for a while tonight and had held on until Ji Lingchuan arrived. She was already exhausted. When avoiding, she didn't pay attention and sprained her foot, then fell to one side.
Before Ji Lingchuan's mind could react, he had already taken a step forward, grabbed her elbow and pulled her back.
"Didn't you say you were fine?" he said in a deep voice.
Song Yihuan stood firm with his support. After coming to her senses, she found that the two were too close. She struggled uneasily and pulled some distance away from him, whispering in defense, "I'm hungry."
The fragrance of apricot blossoms drifted away from him. Ji Lingchuan rubbed his fingers. The body temperature from her still remained on them.
"My lord!" Fuzhou ran back leading a hunting dog. "My lord, the five criminals have been escorted to the government yamen. Do you still want to go to the yamen with us to interrogate the criminals?"
Before Fuzhou looked over, Song Yihuan quickly put on her veil hat to cover her face.
All five dwarfs were put on the prison cart and sent to the government yamen. This case that had disrupted the peace of the capital city for half a month finally came to an end.
Ji Lingchuan said to Fuzhou indifferently, "You go with them to the government yamen. Tell Lord Ye to temporarily detain these criminals in the prison. Remember, don't let them have a chance to commit suicide. Starve them for a day and a night before interrogating them."
Fuzhou immediately replied, "Yes, my subordinate obeys the order!"
Fuzhou shouted. Except for the yamen runners still digging the secret passage in the corner, the others all withdrew. Ji Lingchuan said to Song Yihuan, "Let's go."
Song Yihuan was stunned for a moment and whispered, "Can we go back to the Prince's Mansion to rest?"
Ji Lingchuan strode forward, "Just follow me."
Following Ji Lingchuan out of the small courtyard, diagonally in front, the lantern hanging on the City God Temple was swaying in the wind. Song Yihuan took a look and then withdrew her gaze. She got on the carriage that had parked outside at some unknown time with Ji Lingchuan.
The wheels started to roll. Through the changing scenery outside the window, Song Yihuan just remembered that Ji Lingchuan had promised to take her to get something to eat after the matter was done.
The carriage passed through most of the capital and finally stopped in front of a closed small teahouse.
The two got off the carriage. Ji Lingchuan stepped forward and knocked on the door ring. After a moment, a slightly hoarse male voice came from inside, "Who's knocking on the door outside? It's so late and there's a curfew in the city. The shop is closed."
Ji Lingchuan replied, "Brother Jiang, it's me."
The closed door was opened. A middle - aged man with a limp appeared behind the door. He looked at Ji Lingchuan in surprise, "Brother Ling, it's you. Why did you suddenly come here? Hurry! Come in quickly!"
Ji Lingchuan walked in. The limping man noticed Song Yihuan wearing a veil hat behind Ji Lingchuan.
"And this is..."
Ji Lingchuan turned around and watched Song Yihuan take off the veil hat on her head with a meaning hidden in his eyes that only he knew.
"A smart little friend. She's hungry. I brought her here to taste Brother Jiang's cooking."