Chapter 33: Pan Wen (First Part)

  Happy New Year, everyone! It's three o'clock in the morning today, which is a small gesture from Ting Yu. Also, I hope you all support Ting Yu's new book.

  It's estimated that soon, the disappearance of Xu Qing and others will be discovered. At that time, the people from the Security Bureau will definitely come to investigate. If I leave now, I'll definitely become the prime suspect. Moreover, I had a past conflict with Xu Qing, which is enough motive for a crime.

  At present, Xiao Hong plans to do is very simple, just here, the people of the Security Bureau want to investigate how they will investigate, anyway, they can't find the body and cannot be confirmed as a murder case, and he has basically determined that there is no evidence pointing to himself.

  After receiving several waves of patients in the morning, Xiao Hong spread out the map of Taiwu City and began to study it carefully, preparing to find a suitable location to set up his pharmacy.

  During this period when I was still at the quarry, I would strive to complete the site selection and equipment purchase, and then bring Xu Qing over. Once that's done, I would leave immediately.

  Apart from that, it's about enhancing one's own strength to cope with the cruel competition in Tai Wu City, and also through continuous progress, finding a way to cure my strange illness as soon as possible, this is the most crucial thing.

  Looking at the entire Taowu City area map, it is divided into seven districts. Almost every district is dominated by a relatively strong force. For example, Nan Garden District is basically under the control of the Shaojiang Group, while Xijin District is the territory of the Hongbo Financial Group, with the most iconic being Xijin Magic Academy, led by Principal Chai Sang. Next to it is Baihan District, which is also controlled by the Kulong Group, represented by the somewhat mysterious Mei Long.

  This is also one of the three most prosperous districts in Taoyuan City.

  Xiao Hong had chosen a location that would allow him to avoid these three major regions, after all, those were places where others held absolute power and it wouldn't be conducive to his own development. More importantly, without the permission of these three major powers, one couldn't even think about doing business within them.

  After some comparison, Xiao Hong finally decided to set up the pharmacy in Hepeng District, where there is almost no absolute dominant power, making it easy to find opportunities and convenient for future development.

  Having roughly determined the location, Xiao Hong closed the map and prepared to continue his cultivation, further enhancing his own strength. Training still required the consumption of spiritual energy, but with the existence of the cyan-black magic pattern bead, coupled with sufficient diligence, Xiao Hong's training for one day was almost equivalent to that of an ordinary person for two days.

  Before he knew it, time had arrived in the afternoon. Xiang Hong, who was sitting on his bed and cultivating, suddenly heard a hurried footsteps coming from outside the door.

  This made Xiao Hong's nerves relax, and he slightly tightened up, just recalling the Yu Xiang magic spell, when a loud knocking sound came from outside the door. This kind of knocking sound, Xiao Hong could tell, was Li Le.

  "Li Le, what's wrong?" Xiao Hong slightly opened the door and asked, looking at Li Le with a serious face.

  "Hong Ge, something big has happened! I just heard that Xu Qing and Xu Nan have both gone missing overnight. The people from the Security Bureau are now gathering clues at the Miao Dan Medicine Hall. And I had a few younger brothers investigate, it's said that they've already listed you, along with several others, as key suspects." Li Le wiped away the sweat on his forehead, panting heavily.

  "What can be done?" Xiao Hong said calmly, he and Xu Qing had a history between them, being listed as the main suspect was normal, but he didn't expect to be discovered missing so quickly, it's clear that someone else knew about Xu Qing wanting to kill him. Based on Xiao Hong's three years of experience here, the eighth floor should be Xu Qing's wife.

  "Whether or not you're the one who killed him, if it was you, then you'd better run away quickly. The people from the police station are really scary." Li Le said mysteriously.

  "No." Xiao Hong replied calmly, his expression unchanged, giving people a feeling that Li Le was the murderer instead.

  Just then, the sound of a police siren came from afar and got closer to Xiao Hong. Upon hearing this sound, Xiao Hong's expression didn't change, he stretched out his hand and slowly pulled Li Le in, then very naturally locked the door.

  "Lie on the bed and don't say anything else." Xiao Hong instructed, because Li Le's current expression was really too unnatural, giving people a feeling as if he were a murderer.

  Dong, dong, dong.

  A moment later, the sound of a car stopping and then three very rhythmic knocks on the door, with a slightly heavy tone, giving people a sense of oppression.

  "Who?" Xiao Xin carefully applied a herbal remedy to relieve fatigue on Li Le's forehead, and Xiao Hong asked.

  "It's the Taowu City Garrison's officer, I'd like to ask you a few questions." A female voice came from outside the door.

  Without much ado, Xiao Hong opened the door and immediately saw a beautiful woman holding a warrant card, aiming at him. Behind the beautiful woman stood a burly man with a gun holstered at his waist, adorned with a magic rune that Xiao Hong could tell at a glance was of the seventh level of the "Yu Tu" series.

  "What's up?" Xiao Hong asked calmly, with neither his expression nor his actions showing any fawning or servility, and without excessive fear. His words were unadorned, as he knew that the more one embellished, the more likely they were to attract attention.

  "May I come in and talk?" The female police officer asked, her tone very serious.

  Xiao Hong did not resist and directly turned around to let the two security guards in, while he himself sat very casually on the wooden chair beside the desk.

  Two security guards walked into the room, their eyes scanning it like detectors, pretending to be casual.

  "Lying down, is your patient?" The policewoman suddenly asked, obviously having already figured out Xiao Hong's situation.

  "He is a patient as well as a friend." Xiao Hongru replied truthfully and then made a "please" gesture, indicating for the two to sit down.

  The female police officer slowly sat down on the round stool in front of Xia Hong, still being polite. The fierce male police officer was still wandering around in the middle of the room, occasionally pretending to be careless and flipping through things with his hands. Xiao Hong was very clear that he was looking for clues, but Xiao Hong didn't stop him, letting him do as he pleased.

  "Xu Qing and Xu Nan are also missing, do you know that?" The female police officer sat down slowly beside Xiao Hong, picked up her notebook and asked softly.

  "I know, I said that for my friend when we first came." Xiao Hong said with his thumb pointing to Li Le behind him.

  "Earlier, I heard that you and Xu Qing had a falling out. Is this true?" The female police officer asked again, her tone was gentle, but Xiao Hong could clearly hear the alertness in her voice.

  "Yes, I was operating a pharmacy here, which is a legitimate business. However, he didn't allow it. At the time, there was also a patient in critical condition, and he wouldn't let me treat him. So I hit him." Xiao Hong replied truthfully, giving off an air of calmness. Xiao Hong himself was also very clear that as long as he didn't mention last night's events, everything would be fine if he told the truth without hiding anything. And what Xiao Hong was relying on was that the other party didn't have direct evidence, and it wasn't a homicide case, but rather a missing person case, which was the key.

  "Xiao Hong, it seems you like reading a lot." Just then, the burly male security guard said casually, and pretended to casually flip through Xiao Hong's bookcase, and looked down at the books piled up beside the bookcase. The ones inside the bookcase were all about medicine and magic patterns. As for the ones piled outside the bookcase, there were many kinds, including psychology, mechanics, architecture, and even two cookbooks.

  "In the book there is a jade-like beauty, in the book there is a house of gold." Xiao Hong glanced at the male security guard and replied very properly.

  "I also have a son, about your age. If he could think like that too, it would be great." The male security guard said casually, continuing to pretend to read with an expression that seemed relaxed, but Xiao Hong's heart did not let down his guard.

  The female police officer asked some more questions, and the male police officer was chatting with Xiao Hong in a casual tone, but Xiao Hong knew that he was trying to distract him and find flaws in his words.

  However, Xiao Hong, who had seen through this point, had made a thorough plan for his own answer. As for anything about last night's events, Xiao Hong insisted that he was at home and did not go out. As for other things, Xiao Hong answered truthfully, and his words were flawless.

  After asking for half an hour, the two security guards did not get any useful information from Xiao Hong's mouth and had to leave.

  "It's a waste for someone like you who can defeat Xu Qing to be just a small miner." The male security guard added as he was about to leave the room.

  "Yes, so now I'm also thinking about my own way out. But since I've been living in a small mountain village since childhood, I don't have much experience and dare not venture out easily." Xiao Hong smiled slightly in response, this sentence has already laid the groundwork for his own departure, even if he leaves soon, it will reduce suspicion.

  The female police officer slowly closed the door of Xiao Hong's house and asked the male police officer in a low voice, "Brother, what did you find?"

  The male security guard shook his head slightly: "If Xu Qing dies, I'd rather believe that the murderer is not him."

  "Why?" The female police officer asked somewhat puzzled.

  "I took a look at his books, hundreds of them, and I can tell that he has thoroughly researched each one, even leaving notes. Among the books, I saw the Imperial Code of Repentance, psychology, criminal psychology, performance studies, and more. Having read so many books, his knowledge is quite extensive, which means it's extremely difficult to deal with him. He knows even more than we do, and this person, I can tell that he has a very strong psychological quality, not easy to handle." The male police officer responded.

  "That......" The female police officer was momentarily stunned, her serious expression had vanished. She knew very well that someone who is familiar with the Imperial Code would be extremely knowledgeable about the law, and she feared such people because they could find loopholes in the law and occasionally use it as a weapon to threaten the police officers.