Chapter 252 Silencing
In order to ensure safety and prevent the news from leaking out, Di Renjie did not throw Jingkong into jail, but brought him back to the Di Mansion, placed him in the east wing, and handed him over to the Qianniu Guards for strict supervision.

On the last night before going to Yuan's house, everyone in the Di residence was immersed in tranquility, but Di Renjie had not slept yet, and his study was still lighted.

On the desk were many of Yuan Tiangang's drawings that he brought back from Hanguang Temple. A bunch of them were valuable, and a bunch were written by Yuan Tiangang to confuse people.

Under the bright candlelight, Di Renjie was flipping through the papers one by one with a serious expression. Zhao Ji, Li Yuanfang, Ruyan and Jingkong were sitting next to him.

After a long while, Di Renjie gently put down the stack of drawings and joked, "Jingkong, if it weren't for you, I'm afraid we wouldn't be able to tell which ones are really important for a while."

Jingkong smiled awkwardly when he heard this: "You are joking, Mr.

Di Renjie smiled like an old fox: "Since you intend to burn these things, you must know something about their contents, right?"

Upon hearing this, Jingkong's throat moved slightly, and he swallowed his saliva and explained: "To be honest, I only know that they are some blueprints of sluice gates, or the calendar and numerology studied by Yuan Tiangang, which I don't really understand..."

Upon hearing this, Di Renjie nodded slightly, with a flash of deep thought in his eyes: "Sluice gate, sluice gate... This matter is probably inextricably linked to the Luo River."

After saying this, he suddenly turned to Jingkong and asked, "Do you know about the miracle of Luo River?"

Jingkong smiled awkwardly and shook his head, looking bewildered: "I've never heard of it!"

Di Renjie stroked his beard gently and said, "Oh... well, it's late at night and everyone is tired, so let's stop here for today. Tomorrow, Yuan Fang and Cheng Yuan will go to Yuan's mansion to find out what happened and prepare for the follow-up actions."

Upon hearing this, everyone bowed and took their leave, then dispersed.

Before leaving, Zhao Ji looked at Jingkong deeply, and Jingkong nodded in understanding.

Returning to his room, Jingkong quickly pulled out a piece of paper from his sleeve and quickly read it in the dim candlelight.

It was a topographic map of Yuan's mansion, and Zhao Ji claimed that there was a secret passage leading to the outside in the small building in the backyard.

After seeing it, Jingkong placed it over the candle flame without hesitation until it turned into ashes.

Then he gently blew out the candle, and the whole room fell into darkness and silence again.
-
The next morning, Li Yuanfang and Zhao Ji followed Jingkong's instructions and came to Yuan's mansion in advance to check.

Mr. Zhao was already familiar with the route, but he deliberately concealed his edge and pretended to be a newcomer in order to conceal his identity.

Zhao Ji and Li Yuanfang first walked around Yuan's mansion separately, familiarizing themselves with the surrounding terrain, streets and alleys, and checking for any snake spirit strongholds.

The two agreed to meet in front of the back door of Yuan's mansion before noon. Zhao arrived first, and Li Yuanfang followed.

"Nothing was found." Zhao Ji's gaze lingered on the dilapidated gate, and a trace of nostalgia and deep thought flashed in his eyes.

Li Yuanfang was quite impressed: "This Yuan Mansion is really quite large. Let's go in and take a look!"

In order to avoid alerting the enemy, the two men did not take the usual route. Instead, they used their lightness skills to lightly climb over the courtyard wall, not wanting to leave any traces.

After entering the back door, Zhao Ji led Li Yuanfang straight to the backyard: "According to Jingkong, they met near a bamboo forest in the backyard."

Li Yuanfang looked around with a frown on his face, and saw only signs of desolation and gloom.

He said with some doubt: "It seems that no one has been to this Yuan Mansion for a long time."

Zhao Ji nodded nonchalantly: "Yuan Tiangang has ulterior motives and built his house in this remote place. Now the area is deserted and sparsely populated. No wonder the snake spirit arranged the meeting place here!"

Li Yuanfang thought it made sense after hearing this, nodded, and continued to move forward with Zhao Ji.

Soon, a vibrant and green bamboo forest came into view. The summer sun shone through the dense bamboo leaves, casting mottled shadows.

However, there are still a large number of withered and yellow bamboo poles under the bamboo forest, which have been cut off by people, and there are also some dead bamboo roots on the ground.

Li Yuanfang squatted down, picked up a bamboo pole, and carefully examined the cut part. He pondered and said, "It was cut by a sword. Judging from how dry the bamboo is, it must have been here for at least one or two years. Someone has been here before. Who could it be?"

Zhao Ji's eyes widened, he took a breath, and didn't say anything. It seemed that all of this was Xiao Feng's work. "It's getting dark, we need to be careful. The snake spirit may show up at any time, we should find a secluded place to hide first." Zhao Ji changed the subject.

Upon hearing this, Li Yuanfang quickly put down the bamboo pole and disappeared into the depths of the bamboo forest with Zhao Ji, hiding together.

The setting sun disappears, the bright moon appears in the sky, and time passes quietly.

Around the hour of Hai, Jingkong finally appeared. His shiny head was quite eye-catching in the moonlight and was difficult to replace.

He gestured in the direction of Zhao Ji and Li Yuanfang, indicating that Di Renjie and Ruyan were nearby with a large group of Qianniu Guards.

Then, he slowly walked to the stone table near the bamboo forest and sat down gently. Although his face seemed calm, his heart was full of turmoil. He looked around from time to time, as if he was expecting something.

Soon, a black shadow descended silently like a ghost and landed lightly beside Jingkong.

The man was wearing a thick black cloak, which wrapped himself tightly, leaving only a slight outline exposed.

Jingkong looked at the black cloak in front of him and said in a pretentious manner, "Why are you here? Has the old master returned to the Liuzhou headquarters?"

At this time, Xiao Feng's low and clear voice came through the cloak: "Yes, he has already set off..."

The two people were talking about irrelevant nonsense.

Zhao Ji heard this and pretended to be surprised: "Is it her?"

Li Yuanfang beside him heard this and quickly turned his head and asked in a low voice: "Why, Chengyuan knows her?"

Zhao Ji nodded in confirmation, a trace of solemnity flashed in his eyes: "Yes, this voice, she is the female assassin I met in Hanguang Temple!"

Before he finished speaking, in that brief moment of trance, Xiaofeng and Jingkong suddenly communicated with each other by some unknown means and fled.

Seeing this, Zhao Ji shouted, "Oh no! Jingkong is trying to run away!"

As he said that, he did a somersault and chased after him. Li Yuanfang was a step slower and followed closely behind him.

Xiaofeng and Jingkong ran straight to the small office building without looking back, pushed open the door and went in.

After the first two people entered, the door of the small building closed automatically.

Zhao Ji did not hesitate at all. He drew his sword and with a flash of sword light, the rotten wooden door shattered. He then followed him into the small building.

When Xiao Feng saw Zhao Ji barging in, he drew his two swords, turned around and followed Zhao Ji's fake moves.

Just at this moment, Li Yuanfang arrived, and Jingkong took the opportunity to escape into a deeper room.

Zhao Ji's eyes flashed, and he suddenly performed a feint, actually using the opponent's force to counter attack, pushing Xiao Feng to the second floor.

Xiao Feng fired two darts in the air, hitting a handrail on the stairs. The whole building suddenly creaked and the mechanism started to work!

Seeing this, Li Yuanfang was about to jump and chase Xiaofeng.

Zhao Ji was quick-witted and quick-handed, and quickly pulled Li Yuanfang down, killing two birds with one stone.

Li Yuanfang didn't understand what it meant at first, but soon he saw poisoned darts and arrows flying around the room, and a sharp scream came from the inner room.

"what!!!"

Zhao Ji pretended to go to the inner room to check, but a burst of yellow smoke came out of the room again.

Li Yuanfang also quickly grabbed Zhao Ji and said, "Chengyuan, get out first!"

(End of this chapter)