Bai Xiaowen sat outside the high wall of the mayor's house like a stone statue. It was not until evening that he stood up and opened his eyes.
Li Shuyi had been keeping a lookout for him. When he saw Bai Xiaowen stand up, he quickly asked, "How was it? Did you find anything? I was worried that I would be discovered for such a long time. "
Bai Xiaowen said with a smile, "The mayor's study has a magic alarm device. The Shadow Assassin was almost exposed. Fortunately, I framed a cat, so the guards did not suspect me. I could only wait until the moment Mayor Hiram himself entered the study, and then I sneaked in. "
After a pause, Bai Xiaowen said, "Fortunately, my hard work was not in vain. I now conclude that there is something wrong with Hiram. "
"Is there any evidence?"
"There is no direct evidence, but Hiram's behavior is very suspicious. In the study, he has been flipping through a book called Tyrael's Selected Works, "Bai Xiaowen said." Normal reading is done slowly, page by page, or quickly. However, Mayor Hiram turned the pages quickly, stopped to compare, and then quickly turned the pages again, and compared again … He is too purposeful. "
"After hearing what you said, it does not sound like normal reading. It is a bit like a secret signal," Li Shuyi said.
Bai Xiaowen nodded. "The page that he compared to was filled with sentences from Tyrael's Selected Works. They looked like excerpts, but in fact, they should be a secret code for connecting sentences."
"Now that we have determined that there is something wrong with him, how do we get the evidence next?" Li Shuyi frowned and pondered. "If only we could get that page, we could study the content of his secret signal from it."
Bai Xiaowen laughed. "It is not difficult. I know the content on that page is very important, so I memorized it."
Li Shuyi was speechless.
Bai Xiaowen laughed. "Let's go back to Sheriff Ahon's house and find a copy of Tyrael's Selected Works. Let's study the secret hidden in Mr. Mayor's secret signal."
The two of them walked back. As they walked past an alley, Bai Xiaowen suddenly frowned. He turned around and shouted, "Who's there? Come out. "
Li Shuyi put his hand on the hilt of his sword.
"S-sir, it's me …"
Ji De shrunk his neck and walked out of the alley. His expression was one of fear.
"Are you following me?" Bai Xiaowen narrowed his eyes, revealing a dangerous glint.
Ji De hurriedly said, "My lord, I wouldn't dare to follow you … I came here specifically to find you. It's just that you've been at the sheriff's house all this time, so you didn't have a chance yesterday … "
"Speak. Why are you looking for me?"
Ji De said carefully, "On behalf of all the members of the Crow Organisation, I am willing to pledge my loyalty to you, my lord … We are still useful, I hope that you can let us live."
At first, Bai Xiaowen was a little surprised. The change in the Crow Organization's style was indeed a little unexpected. However, Bai Xiaowen immediately thought of his servant Joshua who had died. He roughly understood what Ji De and the others were thinking. They thought that he was a temperamental master who killed people easily …
Although Bai Xiaowen did not think that the Crow Organization could be of any use, it was still a good thing that Ji De was willing to pledge his loyalty. He nodded and said, "I understand. Then let me ask you a question. "
Ji De felt a chill down his spine and nodded repeatedly.
"Go and get me a book. The title is … Tyrael's Selected Works. My time is limited. The sooner the better, "Bai Xiaowen said.
Bai Xiaowen had thought that this was a simple request, but Ji De had a bitter expression on his face. "My Lord, those kinds of poems and anthologies are just for the nobles to put on a facade. A lowly person like me doesn't have the means to get them... Hodge Town doesn't have any bookstores that specialize in selling books. The nobles buy books from traveling caravans. My lord, if you want this book, you have to wait at least a week for the traveling merchants to get it. "
"What do I need you for in a week?" Bai Xiaowen snorted.
Ji De was so scared that he almost knelt on the ground. "My lord, please calm down … How about I go directly to the mayor's house and steal it? It is said that there are several bookcases in his study. This book should be there."
"Bullshit!" Bai Xiaowen scolded. "I am now living in the house of the mayor's son-in-law, Sheriff Ahan. You want to steal a book from the mayor's house? If Ahan finds out, he will accuse me of theft? "
Ji De really knelt on the ground now. "My lord, I really did not think of this … By the way, since you are living in Ahan's house, you can borrow a book from Ahan's wife, Jenny. It is said that Jenny likes to read. When she married Ahan, she brought a lot of books from her family. "
"You know Jenny too?" Bai Xiaowen was a little curious.
Ji De's face flushed a little. "This … Jenny was the dream lover of all the young people in Hodge Town. It is just that low-level commoners like us don't have the courage to pursue her …"
Bai Xiaowen shrugged. "Okay … I don't need you for the book. Go and do one more thing for me. "
Ji De looked like a lackey. "Please tell me, my lord."
…
When they returned to Ahan's house, they saw Jenny. Ahan was not home yet, so Bai Xiaowen directly asked if he could borrow a few books to read to pass the time.
Jenny was very happy and generous. She led the two of them to the bookshelves and let them choose. She went to the kitchen and started preparing dinner.
Bai Xiaowen narrowed his eyes and looked around. He found the Tyrael Anthology in the corner and immediately took it out.
"Jenny really likes to read. Look at the yellowed and wrinkled pages of this book. Who knows how many times it has been turned?" Li Shuyi said.
"Yes, let's compare them first. For safety reasons, we'll talk in the team channel," Bai Xiaowen said in the team channel.
Li Shuyi (team channel): "Okay."
"The first sentence: 'Our family is in town. Please take us with you!'" Bai Xiaowen recalled the contents of the excerpt that Hiram had held in his hand and calmly repeated the sentence.
There was the sound of pages being flipped. It was very difficult for two people who had never read a book to find such an ordinary sentence. At the very least, it would be a waste of time. However, Bai Xiaowen was the least afraid of reading. After skimming through it once, he could memorize the whole book. This was what the ancients called reading ten lines at a glance and reciting after reading once.
"It's page 21, line 18." After Bai Xiaowen flipped to the corresponding sentence, Li Shuyi followed Bai Xiaowen's instructions and recorded the page number and line number.
"The second sentence: 'That bastard iron man dared to lie to me!'" Bai Xiaowen said, squinting his eyes.
"It's page 40, line 5."
"The third sentence …"
Bai Xiaowen recited all the sentences written on the page. Then, he compared them to the Tyrael Anthology and recorded the page number and line number one by one. In the end, the two of them got a long string of numbers.
"These numbers … What do they mean?" Li Shuyi rested his chin on his hand and looked at Bai Xiaowen for help.
"This is a relatively common numerical code. Did you notice that, apart from the number of pages, the number of lines in the book does not exceed 26?" Bai Xiaowen tapped his fingers on the table gently and said with a smile, "Each line corresponds to a Latin letter. Combine these letters and you can get the code. "
"The order of the alphabet? The number 18 corresponds to R … 5 corresponds to E … "Li Shuyi was a little enlightened. She wrote down the letters one by one on all the rows of numbers.
A string of code words finally appeared on the surface.
"Misty Month, 12th at Owl Wharf."
Li Shuyi read this sentence softly and said, "We have the time and place. It seems that this is the code for the meeting. "
Bai Xiaowen nodded. "Yes, I looked at the date. Misty Month is the second month of the year in the Blacktide Continent, which is this month. The twelfth … is today. In other words, the two sides will meet at Owl Wharf tonight. "
"In the midst of the evil slave trade, we are about to appear as the envoys of justice," Li Shuyi said with a smile.
"We still have to find a way to let Ahan witness this scene with his own eyes." Bai Xiaowen thought more. "The goal of the mission is to help Sheriff Ahan solve the missing persons case. In other words, if Ahan does not agree with our conclusion, I'm afraid that we will not complete the mission. "
…
Ahan came back at dinnertime. He was somewhat dejected and was not in high spirits.
"What's wrong? Is there no progress?" Bai Xiaowen asked.
Ahan nodded solemnly. "Two more residents went missing last night in the Western District."
Bai Xiaowen was indignant. "The mastermind behind the scenes is too rampant!"
"… I just patrolled the Western District two days ago!" Ahan gritted his teeth. "If I run into them … I will make those damned guys pay the price!"
"I believe you will definitely catch them, Mr. Ahan," Bai Xiaowen said.
"That's right, I will definitely catch those rats and hang them up so that all the residents of Hodge Town can see their faces!" Ahan clenched his fists so tightly that the sound of his bones cracking could be heard.
After dinner, Jenny washed up. Ahan picked up his helmet from the table and walked out. "I'm going to patrol the Southern District today. Try not to go out at night."
Bai Xiaowen stood up. "Let's go together."
Li Shuyi added, "Yes, Mr. Ahan, we will definitely be able to help."
Ahan remembered that the two of them had killed the Poison Sect alchemist and acknowledged their strength. He nodded and said, "Okay. But patrolling the night isn't an easy job. "
When they walked out of the gate and headed for the militia's assembly point, Bai Xiaowen suddenly walked in front of Ahan and stopped him.
"Hm?" Ahan looked at him doubtfully.
"Mr. Ahan, if you don't want to be played like a fool, please change tonight's patrol plan," Bai Xiaowen said.
"Why?"
"After today's investigation, I have good reason to suspect that there are spies among the patrols," Bai Xiaowen said indifferently. "Don't you think it's strange? Why do missing people always happen in towns that aren't patrolled? "
Ahan's thick eyebrows furrowed. "That's impossible. My subordinates are all good lads. They would never do such a heartless thing."
"Trusting your subordinates is a good thing, but blind trust is not desirable," Bai Xiaowen said. "If Mr. Ahan is willing to believe me, then change the night patrol plan and take the militia to patrol the Eastern District! Moreover, this process must be kept absolutely secret from outsiders. After the militia receives the news of the change in plan, they must not leave your sight and contact the outside world … "
"It's hard for me to believe you," Ahan said seriously.
"I understand. To you, I'm just a neighbor you've met a few times and only recently moved into your house. The militia patrols are your comrades who have fought side by side with you for many years. But you can also think about it. Will my proposal cause any loss to you or Hodge Town? " Bai Xiaowen said indifferently, "There is an abandoned pier in the Eastern District called the 'Owl Pier' … As long as you go there, the mystery that has plagued you for several months will be completely solved."
Ahan stared at Bai Xiaowen's eyes. "You … What are you hiding from me?"
"In fact, the things I've investigated are too outrageous. You won't believe me if I tell you directly. Only seeing is believing," Bai Xiaowen said.
"… Okay. I agree to your request. If you can't give me a satisfactory answer tonight … My trust in you will disappear, "Ahan said solemnly.
"Believe me, I won't betray your trust," Bai Xiaowen replied calmly.
…
The Owl Pier had become an abandoned junkyard.
Ahan led a group of militia patrols and silently laid an ambush between the trees outside the Owl Pier.
All the militia had been temporarily changed in the course of their routine patrol and were pulled over. Bai Xiaowen also asked the militia to form groups of two and monitor each other. No one was allowed to make any abnormal movements. Even when going to the toilet, they couldn't leave Bai Xiaowen's sight.
Bai Xiaowen also narrowed the range of his mental strength and monitored all the militia.
It couldn't be helped. Although there were no such things as cell phones in the Blacktide Plane, there were magic tools such as "Warning Stones" that could be used to transmit messages. Although Mayor Hiram might not be so vigilant as to give the "traitor" a magic tool to transmit messages in advance, there was no harm in being careful. If the deal was canceled due to a moment of carelessness, Bai Xiaowen would have to face Ahan's doubts. At that time, it would be difficult to explain himself.
Ahan acquiesced to Bai Xiaowen's grouping and monitoring. He was like a brewing volcano that could erupt at any time.
The moon was in the middle of the sky, and the Owl Pier was quiet.
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