landbeastnovel Chapter 41 Guidance
Chapter 41 Guidance
Lin Xiu's voice came from outside the courtyard gate, unhurried and polite, with a businesslike tone.
Zheng Yuanpei frowned and slammed the chess piece on the chessboard.
"Come in!"
He muttered something under his breath, his tone revealing undisguised impatience.
Before long, the steward led the three people through the moon gate into the courtyard.
The man in the lead was under thirty years old, with a stern face, and his dark blue uniform was pressed without a single wrinkle.
It was Lin Xiu from the Folklore and Antiquities Survey Department.
Behind him followed a young clerk carrying a black leather suitcase and a lean man in a gray cloth jacket with a bulging waist, who looked like he was a trained fighter.
After Lin Xiu entered the room, his gaze lingered on Zheng Yuanpei for a moment before landing on Zheng Shulan's face.
Then, his gaze swept across the other end of the chessboard and stopped.
Fang Shuwen sat opposite him at the chess table.
Lin Xiu's pupils contracted slightly.
He recognized the face.
This person was a previously suspected target.
Three days ago, the elite class of Xikou Public Middle School tested this person with a detector.
He ruled out this person as a suspect at the time.
But now, this person is sitting in the side room of the Zheng family's house, playing chess with Zheng Gong.
The son of a gatekeeper, a student at a public middle school, is playing chess with Zheng Yuanpei?
Lin Xiu's eye twitched.
I immediately sensed that this young man was probably no ordinary person.
"Who is this?"
Lin Xiu adjusted his black-rimmed glasses, his gaze lingering on Fang Shuwen's face for a moment before turning to Zheng Yuanpei.
"My chess friend."
Zheng Yuanpei tossed the chess piece in his hand into the chess jar, leaned back in his chair, and spoke in a cold tone.
"What, Section Chief Lin, do you even care who I play chess with?"
"Lord Zheng is joking."
Lin Xiu smiled.
Immediately,
His gaze shifted from Fang Shuwen to Zheng Shulan.
"Ms. Zheng, I've come today to confirm something with you."
Zheng Shulan sat upright in her chair, holding a teacup in her hands. Upon hearing this, she raised her eyelids and glanced at him.
"Speaking."
Lin Xiu took a photo out of his pocket, placed it on the chessboard, and gently pushed it in front of Zheng Shulan.
The photo shows a copper plate with crooked, barbaric incantations engraved on the front and a vertical pupil on the back.
"Miss Zheng, have you seen this before?"
Zheng Shulan glanced down at the photo, her brows furrowing slightly as if she were trying to recall.
A moment later,
She shook her head, her tone firm: "Never seen it."
"Never seen it before?"
"You've really never seen it before?"
Lin Xiu repeated himself, his gaze lingering on Zheng Shulan's face for three or four seconds, trying to find a flaw in her expression.
Zheng Shulan remained calm, picked up her teacup, took a sip, and neither flinched nor avoided the tea.
Lin Xiu withdrew his gaze, turned to Zheng Yuanpei, and asked in a more polite tone, "Mr. Zheng, and you?"
"I've never seen it either."
Zheng Yuanpei slammed his cane on the ground, making a dull thud.
"Section Chief Lin, you came all this way just to ask this? What kind of ridiculous thing is this!"
"Get out of here right now!"
Upon hearing this,
Lin Xiu withdrew his gaze, his face darkening.
"Please forgive me, Lord Zheng. This is official business, and I am merely following orders."
He stood up, cupped his hands in a respectful gesture to Zheng Yuanpei, and then nodded slightly to Zheng Shulan.
"Excuse me, goodbye."
After saying that, he turned around and left with two of his men.
The footsteps faded into the distance along the connecting corridor, passed through the moon gate, and disappeared beyond the courtyard wall.
.......
Outside the main gate of the Zheng residence, in a small alley.
Lin Xiu stopped and looked back at the two gilded characters "Zheng Mansion" on the lintel. The politeness on his face disappeared like the receding tide, revealing the ruthless face beneath.
"Xiao Liang, the instruments."
Officer Liang responded and squatted down to open the black leather suitcase.
The box was lined with dark red velvet, and in the center was a palm-sized copper-cased instrument.
The surface is engraved with a dense array of dials, and a few hair-thin pointers tremble slightly.
Officer Liang turned on the knob on the side, and the instrument emitted a faint hum. The pointer jumped a few times and then stopped steadily on a scale.
"Section Chief, everything is normal. No alien energy has been detected."
Officer Liang looked up, his tone carrying a hint of relief.
Lin Xiu looked down at the instrument, his brows furrowed slightly, and remained silent.
He was silent for a moment, then took a cigarette out of his pocket, put it in his mouth, and lit it with a match.
Take a deep breath, and the smoke comes out of your nostrils.
"Section Chief, what do we do now?" Officer Liang closed the box and stood up.
"That Fang Shuwen... we investigated him. He's the gatekeeper's son. His grades were terrible last semester, but they suddenly improved over the summer. And he was just sitting at the Zheng family's house, playing chess with Master Zheng. He doesn't look like an ordinary student at all."
Lin Xiu flicked his cigarette ash, his gaze falling on an old locust tree across the street, his voice neither hurried nor slow.
"The fact that the instrument isn't responding means he hasn't been in contact with the Teng Snake's Reverse Scale. At least, he hasn't been in contact with it recently."
"So you mean... it's ruled out?"
No, quite the opposite.
Lin Xiu adjusted his glasses and said in a low voice, "Have someone keep an eye on him. When Fang Shuwen comes out, go and test him."
.......
In the side room of the Zheng residence, Fang Shuwen placed his last chess piece, checkmating Zheng Yuanpei's old general.
"It's not running anymore, it's not running anymore!"
Zheng Yuanpei pushed the chess piece aside, leaned back in his chair, and looked sullen.
"You little rascal, if Lin Xiu hadn't ruined my fun today, I definitely would have won this game!"
Fang Shuwen smiled and picked up the chess pieces one by one and put them back into the chess jar.
They didn't expose the stubborn old man.
"Grandpa, just who is this Lin Xiu?"
"The head of the Xikou Folk Customs and Antiquities Survey Section, a member of the Sheng Hailin family."
Zheng Yuanpei stroked his goatee, his tone tinged with disdain, but a hint of apprehension flickered in his eyes.
"oh!"
Fang Shuwen nodded. He had never heard of Sheng Hailin's family.
But those who can make a name for themselves in Shenghai are definitely not simple.
"Here, this is today's prize."
Zheng Yuanpei called him over, took a small blue cloth bag from a drawer, and tossed it to him.
Fang Shuwen caught it, and it felt heavy in his hand.
You don't even need to count it to know there's a lot of money.
However, he did not accept it, but pushed the money bag back.
"What? You think it's not enough?" Zheng Yuanpei said, blowing his beard and glaring.
"You flatter me, sir. But today I don't want money; I'd like some guidance from you."
Fang Shuwen said with a burning gaze.
Today he arrived at Zheng Yuanpei's home and finally learned of Zheng's reputation.
The top martial arts expert in Xikou County, and the last martial arts champion during the Great Yin Dynasty.
He was once received by the deposed emperor and was bestowed with a plaque by the emperor.
Before the collapse of the Great Yin Dynasty, he was appointed as the military commander of Xikou, a fifth-rank official.
Now, although a new nation has been established.
However, Zheng Gong's status did not decline but increased, and the largest trading company in Xikou County was owned by the Zheng family.
Zheng Yuanpei took the money bag that was pushed back, looked up at Fang Shuwen, and his gaze became more scrutinizing.
"Guides?"
"You're quite the schemer, aren't you? Back in the day, with my skills, you couldn't even get in the door of a school in Shenghai for less than three hundred silver dollars a month. And you think you can trade me two chess games for that?"
Fang Shuwen smiled, neither humble nor arrogant: "If you feel you've been taken advantage of, then forget it. I'll come and play chess with you another day."
As he spoke, he stood up, making a move to leave.
"Hmph, come with me!"