Chapter 6: The Big Man Who Kills People (3) 1/2

  It's already dark!

  Eighteen hundred years ago, in Zhongyang Town, there was no nightlife to speak of. There were no all-night taverns or brothels with singing and dancing girls. After a busy day, people would return home early to rest... rising with the sun and sleeping with the moon, roughly like that.

  The market is quiet and deserted, with hardly anyone in sight.

  Cao Peng wore a grey cloak and took advantage of the dark night to come under a high wall.

  Seeing no one around, he walked to the foot of the wall, parted the withered grass, and a small dog hole appeared. However, looking at the withered grass at the entrance of the hole, it seemed that it had been abandoned for many years. Cao Peng took a deep breath, stooped down from the dog hole into the wall, squatted in the corner of the wall, and carefully explored around.

  This is the backyard of Cheng Ji Commercial House, with two buildings of different heights.

  One is used as a warehouse and the other for residential purposes.

  In his past life, Cao Peng had dealings with people like Cheng Ji... He was very clear that such people were narrow-minded and vengeful, typical of small men.

  What do rich people care about?

  The answer is simple: face!

  Wang Meng openly humiliated Cheng Ji in broad daylight. Given Cheng Ji's temperament, how could he swallow his anger and remain silent?

  Not to mention that this matter was caused by Cao Peng's mother, but simply because Cheng Ji forcibly took his mother's jade pendant, Cao Peng would not let him off easily.

  I don't remember which book it was, but there's a sentence that goes like this: In every person's heart, there is a wild beast hidden.

  In a society ruled by law, the effect is very obvious. The heavy laws and regulations suppress the beast in human hearts. Cao Peng was originally an enforcer of the law, so this suppression is even more pronounced. However, now that he has been reborn in a chaotic world 1,800 years ago, these restraints seem to have become insignificant. When Cao Peng escorted his mother away during the day, he keenly captured the hidden murderous intent in Cheng Ji and San Lao's eyes... At that moment, Cao Peng knew that this matter was far from over!

  It's better to take the initiative than to be harmed by them!

  The gunshot by the Xiong'er River Reservoir didn't just take his life, but also lifted the layers of shackles that had been weighing on Cao Peng's heart.

  Treat others with respect and they will do the same to you.

  Since you've provoked me, don't blame me for being ruthless and merciless.

  Cao Ju is a loyal and honest person, from his first reaction after learning about the situation, he actually wanted to come and reason with Cheng Ji, to discuss and get justice. The behavior can be seen as a clue; Wang Meng's past experiences, Cao Peng was not clear, nor did he want to understand. But he knew that perhaps Wang Meng used to be lawless, but now... Wang Mai has become his shackles, making it impossible for him to do as he pleases.

  Wang Mai Dao is an unscrupulous guy, but this thing cannot be told to him.

  So Cao Peng decided to take matters into his own hands and fight for justice himself.

  While buying medicine, Cao Peng observed the environment of Cheng Ji's store and discovered this little-known dog hole. He knew that Cheng Ji's store was the best place to stay in Zhongyang Town, and according to his understanding, Cheng Ji usually stayed in the store whenever he came to Zhongyang...

  It's not that San Lao is not enthusiastic, but Cheng Ji is a person who loves to enjoy himself.

  Since he is comfortable living in his own business, he will never live in someone else's house.

  Cao Peng observed the situation in the yard, crouched down and stuck to the wall root, and quietly came to the door of the room. He stretched out his hand and gently pushed the door... The door opened slightly. The door was not locked, and the house was pitch black inside, with no sound of birds or animals.

  Cheng Ji was invited by San Lao to drink at night, so there was no one else in the room at this time.

  Cao Peng swiftly entered the room and closed the door behind him with a swift motion of his hand.

  It's pitch black and you can't see the decorations inside clearly.

  Cao Peng narrowed his eyes, making an effort to adapt to the darkness in the room. He felt his way around with deep and shallow steps, quickly getting a sense of the layout of the room. Directly opposite the door was a low platform bed. The bed from the Three Kingdoms period had a very unusual shape... about two meters long and one meter four wide. It had six legs, twenty centimeters high. The surface was made of live drawers, with railings on all sides, leaving an opening at the front and back for easy access. One side of the bed was against the wall, leaving only one opening for use.

  Although he couldn't see the overall appearance of the bed clearly, Cao Peng could still roughly make out its shape.

  There is a low table in front of the bed, on which are placed several rolls of wooden slips.

  Cao Peng felt around for a moment, and soon discovered that there was a cabinet in the corner of the wall. It was about 2-3 meters high, and on top of it, there was a recessed slot. After probing the width and height, Cao Peng put away his short knife, jumped up suddenly, grasped the edge of the cabinet with both hands, and used force to pull himself into the recessed slot. Lying in the cabinet, it would be difficult for outsiders to notice if they weren't paying attention.

  At this time, footsteps came from outside the house.

  Cao Peng hid on top of the cabinet, looking out through the gap in the wooden bars... He saw the lights flashing, and immediately the door was pushed open. Two servants carrying lanterns walked in, lit the oil lamps, and then went to the center of the room, lifted up a floorboard, revealing a dark and shiny fire pit.

  A servant came out of the house and brought in a load of charcoal from outside, pouring it into the brazier.

  "Hurry up, Master will be back soon, if it's not hot enough, we'll both be in trouble."

  "What am I doing wrong?"

  Another servant used a blowpipe to continuously blow air into the fire pit. The charcoal in the pit gradually brightened, and the temperature in the room also gradually rose.

  "Dogzi, did you say Lao Ye had a good day?"

  "What's wrong?"

  "I'm saying... what kind of person Cao's daughter-in-law is, we all know. She came to pawn the jade pendant in order to get a blessing for her son."

  The old man did this, and it's inevitable that he would hurt Tian He.

  To be honest, I'm a bit fed up... Our master doesn't lack that little money, why make things difficult for the widow's family?

  "Shut up!"

  The dog hurriedly drank the wine and said in a low voice, "This kind of thing, it's not up to us to take offense. What kind of person is Master, don't you know? Even if a wild goose flies by, they will pluck its feathers; even if someone pulls a fart, they will also want to get a sniff... In my opinion, it's also because the wife of the Cao family doesn't have eyes, running here to pawn things. A good thing delivered right to our doorstep, how could Master possibly let it go? If you want to blame someone, blame her for not having anyone backing her up, she deserves the bad luck!"

  Then, the dog lowered its voice and said: "Do you think our master is easy to get along with?"

  "King Tiger is something! He's the number one good fellow in Zhongyang Mountain... But I'll tell you, in less than three days, that old tiger will become a dead tiger."

  Cao Peng's eyes suddenly turned cold as he lay on top of the cabinet.

  As expected, Cheng Ji indeed intended to poison Wang Meng...

  "Dogzi, how did you know?"

  "Afternoon, did you see Cheng Si?"

  I told you, that guy was ordered by the old master to rush back to Wuyin County. I reckon he's almost arrived in Wuyin County by now... If the old master reacts quickly, someone will be sent over before nightfall tomorrow. At the latest, they'll arrive in Zhongyang early the day after tomorrow.

  "King Tiger can indeed fight, but can he withstand our great lord?"

  I shut my mouth and didn't express another opinion.

  But seeing him blowing hard to ignite the fire pit, it's clear that this guy is scared.

  The fire crackled to life quickly, and the room was warm as spring. The two servants chatted as they backed out of the room, closing the door behind them.

  Cao Peng was on top of the cabinet, motionless.

  Luckily I made a decisive decision, otherwise, disaster would have struck.

  The more it is so, the stronger Cao Peng's desire to kill Cheng Ji becomes. This is a mad dog, if he can't be killed, he will eventually harm one side.

  He curled up his body and closed his eyes.

  Since the fire pit has been lit, it should be time for him to come back soon!

  One of the compulsory courses for being a detective is to stake out and wait. In those days, Cao Peng waited for six whole days in order to catch a criminal. This moment of waiting was nothing to him. Closing his eyes would actually help him conserve his energy and wait for Cheng Ji's return.

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  Time is passing bit by bit.

  About an hour and a half later, another set of footsteps came from outside the house.

  The door was pushed open with a bang, and Cheng Ji stumbled into the room with the support of a guard, shouting as he walked.

  "I'll make sure he doesn't die well!"

  Who will not die well?

  Cao Peng doesn't know.

  But in connection with what Gouzi said earlier, it should be Wang Meng.

  "Sir, would you like some hangover soup?"

  The guard helped Cheng Ji sit down on the bed and asked cautiously.

  Cheng Ji waved his hand, "Six, you go rest... tomorrow early morning you still need to accompany me into the mountain... by the way, that box Old Cheng sent earlier, where did you put it?"

  The guard pointed to the bedside table, "It's right beside your hand."

  "Sir, don't you need me to attend to you anymore? I'll go down first then. If there's anything, just call out and that will do."

  "Go down! Go down!"

  Cheng Ji waved his hand impatiently and the guard hastily retreated from the room.

  He didn't notice that on the top of the cabinet in the corner of the room, a pair of cold eyes stared at Cheng Ji through the gap in the wooden bars.

  Cheng Ji picked up a bowl of water and took a big gulp with a gurgling sound.

  Then he picked up a small box, opened it, and couldn't stop chuckling to himself.

  The box is not very large, twenty centimeters long, less than ten centimeters wide, and about five centimeters high. On the lid of the box, there are exquisite carvings...

  Cheng Ji put the box aside and then took out a jade pendant from his bosom and also put it into the box.

  Cao Peng clearly saw on the top of the cabinet that in the box, several glittering gold ingots were neatly arranged. Each gold ingot was about the size of a baby's fist and weighed around 7-8 liang. And that jade pendant, wasn't it the one that had been snatched from his mother?

  Cao Peng subconsciously made a move and his foot accidentally kicked against the wooden railing.

  He was startled and hastily shrunk his body, lowering his head. However, there was no movement in the house, and after a moment, Cao Peng heard a snoring sound.

  He lifted his head again, but saw that Cheng Ji had already fallen asleep on the bed, snoring loudly.

  The big stone in his heart was finally put back into his stomach. But Cao Peng did not rush to take action, continuing to curl up on top of the cabinet, motionless.

  About an hour later, it had quieted down outside.

  Inside the house, the oil lamp's light flickered, and the charcoal in the brazier was sometimes bright and sometimes dim.

  Cheng Ji's snores grew louder, clearly fast asleep... Cao Peng slowly propped himself up, stretched his legs, and quietly got down from the cabinet. He crawled forward, observed for a moment, and saw that Cheng Ji was indeed dead asleep. Only then did he slowly get up and walk softly to the bedside.

  Gently pulling out the hunting knife, under the light in the house, Cheng Ji's oily and shiny fat face was clearly visible.

  Cao Peng's heart was racing wildly.

  He raised the hunting knife, slowly approaching Cheng Ji's neck. When the knife was about half a centimeter away from Cheng Ji's neck, he pressed one hand on the back of the knife and suddenly used force... The hunting knife, sharpened by Cao Peng to be razor-sharp, brutally cut into Cheng Ji's neck.

  Cheng Ji's eyes suddenly opened wide, but before he could see who the murderer was, Cao Peng's other hand grasped the hilt of the knife and pulled it hard.

  The knife left Cheng Ji's body with a stream of blood... Cheng Ji stared at his eyes, one hand covering his neck, and the fresh blood flowed down his sleeve, instantly dyeing the bed red. One hand stretched out and grabbed Cao Peng's arm, his mouth opened, but he couldn't make a sound.

  Cao Peng also relaxed at this time.

  With a swish of his hand, another knife flew out, but it didn't enter Cheng Jing's face.

  The fat body convulsed twice and fell into the pool of blood with a thud, head down, half of his body tilted...

  However, Cao Peng also used too much force, causing the hunting knife to snap in two with a "ka" sound. One section of the blade remained stuck on Cheng Ji's head!

  Cao Peng inserted the short knife into his waist and struggled free from Cheng Ji's hand, then reached out to grab the box placed on the wooden pillow.

  He opened it and took a look, the gold and jade pendants were still there. He then put it in his bosom, looked at Cheng Ji's corpse, went forward and untied a bag from the waist of the corpse. He weighed it in his hand, it was five mace of money, at least two or three guan. Cao Peng didn't hesitate either, put the money bag into his bosom as well, and then quietly walked out of the room.

  Because Cao Peng killed cleanly and efficiently, there wasn't much commotion.

  The guard in the next room was also dead asleep and didn't notice the sudden change on this side. The cold air blew over, clearing Cao Peng's mind.

  He locked the door, looked around the yard and found no movement, then crouched down and ran quietly to the dog hole.

  Along the original road, Cao Peng put the withered grass back in order outside the courtyard wall. He looked around and saw that there was no one, then he ran along the small path, leaving the Chengji business firm. After running out for three or four hundred meters, Cao Peng finally stopped his footsteps, supporting himself against a tree by the side of the road, bending over and panting heavily.

  In his past life, he had killed people!

  But that's as an enforcer...

  Now, he is a murderer with a criminal identity, and the stimulation and panic intertwined in it made him unable to calm down for a long time.

  No, I have to hurry back!

  Leave Zhongyang Town before dawn, otherwise there will be endless troubles.

  Cao Peng thought of this and immediately got up, ready to head home.

  After all this time, he didn't plan on hiding anything. Cheng Ji's crimes were well-deserved, and killing him might even help Cao Quan make up his mind.

  In the afternoon, Cao Qiu's conversation with his wife was overheard by Cao Peng and others.

  Don't look at Cao Ju speaking like that, but Cao Peng knew that Cao Ju still had some hesitation.

  Perhaps it is only by doing so that Cao Jue will no longer have any attachment. This Zhong Yang Town has now become a place of right and wrong.

  Turned a corner and then walked forward, you can see your own home.

  Cao Peng's emotions had also calmed down, and he was thinking about what to say, when suddenly a person rushed out of the darkness and grabbed his arm.

  "You little scoundrel, how dare you go and kill someone!"

  In an instant, Cao Peng's soul flew away and his legs went soft, almost falling to the ground.

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  Thanks for the rewards from book friends Hao Gao Xuan Yuan, Ren Wei Chen, An Ye Zhi You, Long Qi Xiao Xiang and book friend 100114192037122.

  The first update on the 20th is here, got drunk with people from the publishing house at night, going to sleep first...