Chapter 18 Integrating Clues

Even though everyone was an experienced veteran, they were still shaken by Lin Qianqian's words. The number of heads matched the number of coffins, indicating that the coffins could only contain corpses, and the hole was dug outwards from inside the coffin...

Combining these scattered clues, a bold and terrifying hypothesis surfaced.

Just then, Li Bai shared an even more chilling piece of information, pushing the eerie atmosphere to a climax, "On the night the heads were washed out, Fengtou Village experienced a rare torrential rain, but according to the villagers' recollections, amidst the sound of the rain, some of them vaguely heard the sound of horses' hooves, and... and the crisp sound of metal clanging."

"The sound came from the direction of the village's end," Li Bai added in a deep voice after a pause.

The sound of horses' hooves and metal clanging... such descriptions immediately reminded everyone of Madam Su's words in the Su Mansion. Song Keli, who was hiding under the alias of Master Su, was constantly disturbed by the mysterious sound of horses' hooves, living in perpetual anxiety.

Jiang Cheng recalled the Bao Mo Zhai shopkeeper's attitude and became increasingly convinced that the painting he held in his arms was significant. This made him think of the news about *Gui Jun Tu* (Ghost Steed Painting) published in the newspaper.

He Tianhe had also stated directly that the painting in his arms, like the other paintings in the study, was a copy made by a painter.

But if it was a copy, there must be an original, and this original was likely the *Gui Jun Tu*!

If that was the case, Jiang Cheng suddenly became vigilant. The Bao Mo Zhai shopkeeper's willingness to let them go might be a ploy to play the long game. Perhaps they were already being watched.

The three groups shared the information they had gathered. Next, everyone subconsciously looked at Luo Tianhe and his team, the last group responsible for investigating the source of the newspaper news.

"We found the newspaper that published the article, but the people at the newspaper were unaware of the matter," Luo Tianhe said, taking out the newspaper. His voice revealed a subtle feeling between doubt and relief.

But clearly, everyone didn't buy this result. He Ping, with a stern face, was the first to question, "I don't understand what Mr. Luo is saying. Since you found the newspaper and confirmed that this newspaper was published by them, how can they be unaware of it?"

"They are indeed unaware," another slightly older voice said. Yuan Shanyuan explained, "It is true that the newspaper was compiled and published by them, but the content was not entirely written by them."

"Mr. Luo and I have seen their initial draft and the final version. There was no story about *Gui Jun Tu* at all, nor was there any related report on the charred corpse case at the Roman Hotel."

"The sections where these two reports appeared originally contained two completely different pieces of news: one was about the Huachi Steamboat Company safely crossing the Pacific Ocean, and the other was a commercial advertisement for Suji Baifeng Pills. We looked closely and found that they were not related to the case we were investigating."

Yuan Shanyuan's wording and tone gave people a sense of security, as if no matter how urgent or bizarre the matter was, it would be properly resolved in his hands.

Bai Yu raised her hand, her pale and slender fingers gently grasping Yuan Shanyuan's arm. This porcelain doll-like girl seemed very dependent on her grandfather. Yuan Shanyuan affectionately lowered his head and stroked the back of Bai Yu's hand with his thick palm, as if comforting her and giving her the strength to persevere.

Seeing this scene, Jiang Cheng suddenly felt strange, which made him uncomfortable. It seemed... that the affection between this grandfather and granddaughter had already crossed a certain line based on family ties. At least in Jiang Cheng's subconscious, their performance was more like that of a couple.

Luo Tianhe took over the conversation at just the right moment and continued, "The newspaper also doesn't understand what's going on. They are also very troubled. When we went there, we happened to run into several blond-haired, blue-eyed foreigners who were throwing a tantrum. They were arguing loudly. Later we learned that these people were from the Huachi Company. They angrily denounced the newspaper for breach of contract because it had not published the content they needed on time, causing the company to suffer losses, so they came to demand an explanation."

"After these people left, we met with the person in charge of the newspaper. The person in charge was injured, and the office was also smashed. When we asked, this person in charge also had a bellyful of grievances. He complained to us that these blond-haired, blue-eyed Westerners were relatively easy to deal with, as they only wanted money. Giving them money could send them away. What was deadly was those Dongying people (Japanese)."

"Those Dongying people didn't know what they were thinking. They took the newspaper and barged in, smashing the office without saying a word. They also grabbed him and beat him severely. Before leaving, they warned him that if he dared to talk nonsense in the newspaper again, they would cut off his head, put it in a broken coffin, bury it outside the city, and no one would ever find him."

Lin Qianqian's eyes lit up, obviously thinking of something. She opened her mouth to speak, but was stopped by He Tianhe's look. "I know what you want to ask. You're right. These Dongying people... came for the second story, the *Gui Jun Tu*."

Yao Shunyu also restrained his usual arrogance, touching his chin and revealing a thoughtful expression. "Cut off his head, put it in a broken coffin, and bury it outside the city..."

"Isn't that the way those seven people died?" Fatty couldn't help but say.

"Based on the current clues, I think we can be sure of one thing: those corpses outside the city were killed by the Dongying people, and their purpose is related to that *Gui Jun Tu*." Ding Zongzhen believed his statement was valid after integrating the information everyone had obtained.

"Also, Song Keli heard the sound of horses' hooves, and the villagers also heard it. This shows that the deaths of those people outside the city are inseparable from Song Keli. That is exactly what he fears," He Ping added later.

"Traitor, selling out friends for personal gain!" Lin Qianqian seemed to have grasped the key point, raised her head, and said excitedly, "Do you think this so-called selling out friends for personal gain refers to the corpses outside the city? Those people all knew Song Keli, and it was because of his betrayal that they were killed by the Dongying people."

"Very likely," Ding Zongzhen said in a muffled voice.

As the clues were pieced together, the outline in everyone's minds gradually became clearer. However, Jiang Cheng understood that the information sources were complex, and the so-called speculation was largely based on the reliability of the information source. These could only provide them with a rough idea.

But even just an idea was enough. This was only the first day of the official mission. Before they had even faced the ghosts head-on, they had already obtained so much information, which was unthinkable in the past.

The teammates in front of him were no less capable than the teammates in the Dahe Niangniang (River Goddess) mission in terms of strength alone. Some of them even gave Jiang Cheng a dangerous feeling.