Bai Xiaowen sat outside the high walls of the mayor's mansion, like a stone statue, until late in the evening before he stood up and opened his eyes.

Li Shuyi had been watching for him, and when she saw Bai Xiaowen standing up, she hurriedly asked, "How is it, have you found anything?" For such a long time, I was worried that someone would find out. ”

Bai Xiaowen said with a smile: "The mayor's study is equipped with a magic alarm device, and the shadow assassin was almost exposed, but fortunately, I blamed a cat so that it did not arouse the suspicion of the guards." I had to wait until the moment Mayor Hiram himself entered the study and sneaked in. ”

After a pause, Bai Xiaowen said again: "Fortunately, the hard work was not in vain. I now conclude that there is a problem with Halleym. ”

"Any evidence?"

"There is no direct evidence, but Halleym's behaviour is suspicious. In his study, he has been flipping through a book called [Tyrrell's Anthology]," Bai Xiaowen said, "Normal reading is to read slowly page by page, or to browse quickly. However, Mayor Hiram quickly turned the page, stopped to compare, and then quickly turned the page again and checked again...... He's too purposeful. ”

"Listening to you say that, it really doesn't look like a normal reading, it's a bit like a secret service to a code. Li Shuyi said.

Bai Xiaowen nodded: "The page he compared, what was written on it were all sentences from the [Tyrrell Anthology], which looked like a good sentence excerpt, but in fact, it should be the code of the joint." ”

"Now that we have determined that he has a problem, how can we get the evidence next?" Li Shuyi frowned and pondered, "It would be nice if we could get that page, and we could study what the content of his joint was." ”

Bai Xiaowen smiled: "It's not difficult, I know that the content on that page is very important, so I memorized it." ”

Li Shuyi: "......"

Bai Xiaowen laughed: "Let's go, go back to the house of the sheriff, Mr. Yahan, find a copy of the [Tyrrell Anthology], and study what secrets are hidden in Mr. Mayor's joint code." ”

The two walked all the way back. When walking through the mouth of an alley, Bai Xiaowen suddenly frowned slightly, turned around and shouted, "Who is it?" ”

Li Shuyi's hand pressed on the hilt of the sword.

"Great, my lord, it's my ......"

Gid craned his neck and walked out of the alley, his expression a little frightened.

"You're following me?" Bai Xiaowen narrowed his eyes, and there was a hint of danger in his eyes.

Gid hurriedly said, "My lord, where do I dare to follow you...... I've come to you on a special trip. It's just that you've been at the sheriff's house and haven't had a chance to ...... yesterday"

"Tell me, find me something. ”

Gid said cautiously, "On behalf of all the members of the Raven Order, I am willing to pledge my allegiance to my lordship...... We are still useful, and I hope that the adults will keep us alive. ”

Bai Xiaowen was a little stunned at first, the change in the style of painting in the crow organization was indeed a bit surprising to him. However, Bai Xiaowen instantly remembered the slave Joshua he had died before, and probably understood the psychology of Gide and the others, and regarded him as a strong man who was moody and killed people at every turn......

Although Bai Xiaowen didn't think that the Crow Organization could play any role, it was a good thing that Jidken came to surrender to Cheng. He nodded and said, "I see." So let me ask you a question. ”

Gid felt a chill behind his back and nodded repeatedly.

"Go get me a book called ...... The Tyrrell Anthology. I have limited time, the sooner the better. Bai Xiaowen said.

Originally, Bai Xiaowen thought that this was a simple request, but he didn't expect Jide to have a bitter face: "My lord, that kind of poetry and anthology are all things that are window dressing up by aristocrats, and people at the bottom like me have no channels to do it...... Hodge Town also did not have any shops specializing in books, and the nobles bought books from traveling caravans. If you want this book, you will have to wait at least a week for the traveling caravan to arrive. ”

"What use do I want you for a week?" Bai Xiaowen snorted.

Gid was so frightened that he almost fell to his knees: "Your Excellency, please stop your anger...... Or I'll go straight to the mayor's house and steal it, it's said that he has several bookcases in his study, and there should be this one. ”

"Fart!" Bai Xiaowen scolded, "I am now living in the house of the mayor's son-in-law, Sheriff Yahan, and you want to steal books from the mayor's house for me?

Gide really knelt on the ground at this moment: "My lord, I really didn't expect this...... By the way, since you live in Ahan's house, you can borrow books from Ahan's wife, Ginny. It is said that Ginny was fond of reading, and when she married Ahan, she brought a lot of books from the family. ”

"You also know Ginny?" Bai Xiaowen was a little curious.

Gide's face turned a little red: "This ...... Ginny was the dream girl of the young people of Hodge Town, but we, low-level civilians, didn't have the courage to pursue it......"

Bai Xiaowen shrugged: "Okay...... You don't need the book thing. You go and do me one more thing. ”

Gide looked like a dog: "Please command." ”

......

When he returned to Ahan's house, he met Ginny. At this time, Yahan had not yet returned home, so Bai Xiaowen directly proposed, hoping to borrow a few books to read the following to pass the time.

Ginny was very happy and generous, and led the two to the bookshelf and let them choose. She herself went to the kitchen and began to prepare dinner.

Bai Xiaowen squinted his eyes and swept it, found the [Tyrell Anthology] in the corner, and immediately pulled it out.

"Ginny is really a lover of books, you see the pages of this book are yellow and wrinkled, I don't know how many times it has been turned. Li Shuyi said.

"Well, let's check it first, and to be on the safe side, we're all talking on the team channel. Bai Xiaowen said through the team channel.

Li Shuyi (Team Channel): "Okay. ”

"The first sentence: 'There is our family in town, please take us with you!'" Bai Xiaowen recalled the contents of the excerpt sheet that Hiram was holding in his hand at the time, and retold it smoothly.

The sound of flipping through the book sounded. To find such an ordinary sentence from a book is difficult, at least a waste of time, for two people who have never read the book. However, what Bai Xiaowen is not afraid of is reading, after he has browsed it once, he can memorize the entire book, the ancients called ten lines at a glance, and recitation at a glance, which is nothing more than that.

is on page 21, line 18. After Bai Xiaowen turned to the corresponding sentence, Li Shuyi recorded the page number and line number according to Bai Xiaowen's prompt.

"The second sentence: 'That iron man bastard, you actually dare to lie to me!'" Bai Xiaowen squinted his eyes and said.

is on page 40, line 5. ”

"The third sentence ......"

The sentences written on that page were all recited by Bai Xiaowen, and then compared with the [Tyrrell Anthology], he wrote down the page numbers and lines one by one. Eventually, the two were given a long list of numbers.

"These numbers ...... What do you mean?" Li Shuyi held her cheeks, and looked at Bai Xiaowen with a look for help.

"This is a relatively common numeric password, have you noticed that regardless of the number of pages, the number of all the lines in it does not exceed 26?" Bai Xiaowen tapped his fingers lightly on the table, and said with a smile, "Each line number corresponds to a Latin letter." Combine these letters to get a code word. ”

"Is the alphabet in order?18 is the number R...... 5 corresponds to E......" Li Shuyi was a little stunned, and wrote down the letters one by one for all the numbers in the line.

A string of code words finally surfaced:

"On the twelfth day of the foggy month, at the Night Owl Pier. ”

Li Shuyi read this sentence softly and said, "The time and place are there." It seems that this is the code of the joint. ”

Bai Xiaowen nodded: "That's right, I looked at the date." The Fog Moon is the second month of the year in the Kuroshio Continent, which is this month. Twelfth ...... It's today. In other words, tonight, at the Night Owl Pier, the two sides will meet. ”

"In the midst of the evil slave trade, we are about to appear as messengers of justice. Li Shuyi said with a smile.

"I still have to find a way to let Yahan witness this scene with his own eyes," Bai Xiaowen thought more, "The goal of the mission is to assist Sheriff Yahan in solving the missing person case." In other words, if Ahan does not agree with our conclusions, we may not be able to complete the task. ”

......

At dinner time, Ahan returned. He was somewhat depressed, and his interest was not high.

"What's wrong, is there no progress?" Bai Xiaowen asked.

Ahan nodded a little heavily: "Two more residents are missing, just last night, in the West End." ”

Bai Xiaowen was angry: "The mastermind behind the scenes is too rampant!"

“...... I've only been on patrol of the West End two days ago!" Ahan gritted his teeth, "if I hit ...... I'm going to make those damn guys pay!"

"I'm sure you'll catch them, Mr. Ahan. Bai Xiaowen said.

"That's right, I'm going to catch those rats, hang them up, and let all the residents of Hodge Town have a good look at their faces!" Ahan clenched his fists and let out a crackling bone explosion.

After dinner, Ginny cleaned up, Yahan picked up the helmet from the table, got up and walked out: "I'm going to patrol the southern district today, and you try not to go out at night." ”

Bai Xiaowen stood up: "Let's go together." ”

Li Shuyi followed: "Yes, Mr. Yahan, we will definitely be able to help." ”

Ahan remembered that the two of them could kill the Voodoo alchemist, and he recognized the strength of the two. He nodded and said, "Okay." Night patrols are not an easy job, though. ”

Walking out of the gate of the house, when he was heading to the militia assembly point, Bai Xiaowen suddenly walked in front of Yahan and stopped him.

"Huh?" Ahan looked at him quizzically.

"Mr. Ahan, if you don't want to be played like a fool, please change your plans for tonight's night patrol. Bai Xiaowen said.

"Why?"

"After this day's investigation, I have every reason to suspect that there are spies behind the scenes in the patrol team," Bai Xiaowen said lightly, "Don't you think it's strange? Why do missing people always happen in uninspected towns?"

Ahan's thick eyebrows furrowed: "This is impossible, my subordinates are all good boys, and they will never do such a conscientious thing." ”

"Trust in your subordinates is a good thing, but blind trust is not advisable," Bai Xiaowen said, "If Mr. Yahan is willing to believe me, change the night patrol plan and take the militia to inspect the eastern district......!

"I can't believe you. Ahan said solemnly.

"I understand that for you, I am just a neighbor who has met a few times, and I have only recently moved into your house, and the militia of the patrol is a comrade-in-arms who has fought side by side with you for many years. But you can also think about it, does the suggestion I put forward any loss to you and to Hodge Town?" Bai Xiaowen said lightly, "There is an abandoned dock in the Eastern District, called 'Night Owl Pier'...... All you have to do is go there and solve all the puzzles that have plagued you for months. ”

Yahan stared at Bai Xiaowen's eyes: "You...... What the hell is hiding from me?"

"In fact, what I investigated is so unbelievable that if you say it directly, you won't believe it, only seeing is believing. Bai Xiaowen said.

“...... Good. I grant your request. If you can't give me a satisfactory answer tonight...... My trust in you is about to be gone. Ahan said solemnly.

"Trust me, I won't live up to your trust. Bai Xiaowen replied calmly.

......

Night Owl Wharf has become an abandoned dump.

With a patrol militia, Ahan silently ambushed among the trees on the periphery of the Night Stalker's Wharf.

All the militias, in the course of routine patrols, temporarily changed directions and were pulled over. Bai Xiaowen also asked the militia to work in pairs to monitor each other, and no one should have abnormal behavior, even when they went to the toilet, they could not get out of Bai Xiaowen's sight.

Bai Xiaowen's spiritual power narrowed the scope even more, monitoring all the militia.

No way, although the Kuroshio Plane World doesn't have such a thing as a mobile phone, it does have magic items such as the "Vigilance Stone" that can be used to transmit messages. Although Mayor Hiram may not have such a strong sense of vigilance, he handed over a magic prop to the "traitor" in advance, but there is nothing wrong with being careful. If there is a moment of negligence, the news leaks, and the transaction is canceled, Bai Xiaowen will inevitably face Yahan's doubts, and it will be unclear when the time comes.

Regarding Bai Xiaowen's grouping and surveillance, Yahan all adopted a tacit attitude. He's like a volcano in the making, ready to erupt at any moment.

In the middle of the month, the night owl pier was quiet.

Suddenly, a procession of wagons slowly drove along the abandoned path until they came to the abandoned docks. Subsequently, several motorists jumped down, opened the back compartment, and lifted a broken sack down.