Chapter 17: It’s Him!

As his Physique attribute reached 8, Ding Xie’s body changes were not limited to his muscles, tendons, bones, and internal organs; his eyesight also underwent a drastic transformation.

At the very least, he could clearly see the bloodstains on the corner of the banner hanging in front of the Hall of Returning Spring, a hundred meters away.

The bloodstains were irregular but very fresh.

It was as if… someone had wiped something there as they passed by.

Taking another look at the tightly shut Hall of Returning Spring, Ding Xie adjusted his sitting posture and leaned back.

Immediately, his black fedora and the rickshaw’s seat back created a squeeze.

As the rickshaw moved forward and the wind blew, his hat flew directly backward.

“My hat!”

Ding Xie exclaimed.

“Sir, please wait a moment.

I’ll go pick it up for you!”

The Cart Driver heard the shout, immediately stopped, put down the rickshaw, and chased after the hat behind him.

Ding Xie took the opportunity to get out of the rickshaw and turned to look back.

He appeared to be concerned about the hat, but in reality, he was taking in his surroundings.

In a breath, two figures were locked in Ding Xie’s gaze.

The Beggar on the street corner!

The Vegetable Vendor across the street!

Not only were the two in positions that allowed them to see the main entrance of the Hall of Returning Spring without blind spots, but also because when the Beggar huddled in the street corner looked up at him, an out-of-place patch of fairness was exposed on his neck.

That fairness was definitely not something a Beggar with a face full of grime could possess.

And the Vegetable Vendor’s flaw was even more obvious.

The lower end of the carrying pole standing beside him had residual bloodstains after being wiped.

They were also fresh.

Of course, none of this was important.

What was important was that when the Cart Driver picked up the hat, someone walked to the front of the Hall of Returning Spring.

This was what Ding Xie needed.

Although he couldn’t completely confirm what had happened inside the Hall of Returning Spring, it was highly likely that someone had died, and Ding Xie didn’t want to create any extra complications—his time was too limited, and he didn’t want to waste it bickering with greedy police.

“Sir, your hat.”

The Cart Driver nervously handed over the noticeably dirty hat.

At this moment, the Cart Driver was afraid that Ding Xie would hold him accountable.

At that point, let alone a tip, even the original fare would be deducted.

“Thank you.”

Ding Xie thanked him politely, patted the dust off his hat, and sat back in the rickshaw.

Seeing that Ding Xie had no intention of holding him accountable, the Cart Driver immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

He immediately lifted the rickshaw handles again.

It was at this moment—

“Ahhh!”

“Someone’s dead!”

The person who had been knocking on the door for a long time without a response pushed open the door of the Hall of Returning Spring.

What greeted their eyes was blood and corpses.

The person was so frightened that they stumbled backward, letting out an uncontrollable scream.

The scream attracted all the nearby pedestrians.

People gathered at the entrance of the Hall of Returning Spring, peering inside.

Upon seeing the bodies, everyone’s faces turned pale, and many covered their mouths and ran to the side.

Because… the heads of six bodies had been severed.

The heads of five of the bodies were even stacked into a small pyramid of skulls in a four-below-one-above manner, while the head of the sixth body was placed opposite.

At the same time, this body with the separately placed head had also been disemboweled.

Torture to extract a confession!

With just one glance, Ding Xie confirmed it.

He also confirmed the identities of the bodies.

The single body should be the shopkeeper of the Hall of Returning Spring.

The other five bodies were the Hall of Returning Spring’s assistants, doctors, and the shopkeeper’s wife, children, and elderly parents.

Ding Xie covered his mouth and nose with his fedora, feigning fright, while his gaze subtly scanned the seemingly panicked but actually observant people in the crowd.

Aside from the Beggar and the Vegetable Vendor.

There were three others.

‘They are… looking for someone!

Not having gotten the person’s whereabouts from the shopkeeper, they want to use such methods to force the person they are looking for to come out!’

With this deduction in mind, Ding Xie withdrew from the crowd, muttering in a voice neither too loud nor too soft.

“Bad luck! So much bad luck!

To encounter something like this in the morning!

I need a good wash!”

Saying this, Ding Xie waved to the Cart Driver.

“Sir?”

The Cart Driver immediately ran over and asked.

“Take me to the North-Gazing Tower ahead, and then find me some pomelo leaves.”

Ding Xie flicked out a silver dollar.

“Yes, sir!”

The Cart Driver, having received a silver dollar, was immediately overjoyed.

The Hall of Returning Spring and the North-Gazing Tower were less than five hundred meters in a straight line, so this silver dollar was like found money.

As for pomelo leaves?

Fruit vendors had plenty.

The Cart Driver pulled Ding Xie away.

Many people around had heard Ding Xie’s muttering, and now they were moved to action.

However, only a few followed him towards the North-Gazing Tower.

Most of the remaining people planned to just find some pomelo leaves and wipe themselves with water.

After all, the cost at the North-Gazing Tower was not insignificant.

One must know that the North-Gazing Tower was a bathhouse built by several merchants who fled from the Imperial Capital and Jiangdu to Hong Kong during the ‘Long-Haired Bandit’ rebellion. It not only featured large pools, bathtubs, back scrubbing, haircuts, and pedicures from both the Imperial Capital and Jiangdu, but also incorporated local dim sum and stir-fries into its tea service.

The massage skills of the veteran masters inside were even more exceptional, making it a topic of much discussion.

But even the cheapest general admission ticket cost half a day’s income for an ordinary person, and with a few small additional services, two days’ income wouldn’t be enough.

Therefore, the North-Gazing Tower was very quiet.

“Sir, a bath?”

As soon as Ding Xie entered, a North-Gazing Tower attendant greeted him.

“Open the Yuquan Mountain Study for me.”

Ding Xie’s gaze swept over the plaques hanging on the wall behind the counter, and he directly placed a silver dollar on the counter.

In the former martial arts champion’s memory, the North-Gazing Tower distinguished between general admission and private rooms.

General admission guests could enter directly after paying the bath fee, while private rooms required checking the plaques behind the counter; a private room’s plaque would change to ‘occupied’ if it was taken.

Ding Xie chose the most expensive private room.

Not for enjoyment, but because the Spring Breeze Pavilion by the Flowing Water was next to the Yuquan Mountain Study.

“Someone will bring pomelo leaves later; have him send them directly inside to me.”

After Ding Xie finished speaking, he followed the attendant along the corridor to the left, passed five private rooms, and entered the Yuquan Mountain Study at the end.

The Yuquan Mountain Study was divided into an inner and outer room.

The outer room was furnished with an arhat bed, tea table, incense burner, clothes rack, and so on.

The attendant placed fresh towels, lit the incense burner, and brewed the tea before leaving the room.

Ding Xie looked towards the inner room.

Inside was an open-air pool, with pebbles paving the ground around it, and lush green plants hanging in strings on the walls. Hot water gurgled from a bamboo pipe hidden among the greenery.

When the overhead sunlight reflected through the folding skylight, dappled sunlight immediately filled the entire bathroom, making one feel as if they were in true nature.

Ingenious design!

With this praise in his heart, Ding Xie opened the private room door, stood in the corridor, and openly observed the Spring Breeze Pavilion by the Flowing Water next door.

He had a reason.

He was waiting for the Cart Driver to bring the pomelo leaves.

However, those onlookers who were moved by Ding Xie’s words arrived before the Cart Driver.

They walked into the North-Gazing Tower together—

“How tragic!”

“Shopkeeper Han was such a good person; his whole family is gone just like that!”

“What are you gentlemen talking about?”

“Alas!

Shopkeeper, you don’t know!’

It’s truly a case of good deeds going unrewarded!”

Words full of sighing and helplessness, as someone asked, immediately rose by more than a notch.

That voice clearly carried from the counter to the corridor.

Then… the door of the Spring Breeze Pavilion by the Flowing Water opened.

A figure suddenly walked out.

And after clearly seeing this figure, Ding Xie was stunned—

It’s him!