Siheyuan: tomb robbing? I am serious about hunting.

Chapter 870 Writing a Book

In the midsummer of Beijing, the cicadas were so noisy that it was annoying. Lin Xia sat in Xuanjizi's refining pavilion, concentrating on adjusting the newly made mechanical compass. The copper pointer trembled gently on the disk engraved with stars, and suddenly, with a "click", the pointer pointed accurately to the south. She raised a satisfied smile at the corner of her mouth, and just as she was about to get up to show the results to her master, she saw Xiao Cui running in hurriedly. "Miss! It's not good! Something big happened in Beijing!" Xiao Cui's face was pale and her breath was short. "Another female corpse was found in the south of the city. The death was exactly the same as the previous one!" Lin Xia almost dropped the compass in her hand. She hurriedly held the edge of the table, and her heartbeat suddenly accelerated. In the past half month, strange murders have occurred one after another in Beijing. The victims are all young women. They have haggard faces and shriveled bodies, as if all their blood and essence have been drained, but no external injuries can be found. The news spread quickly like a plague, and people on the streets were talking about it. Some people said it was a ghost, some said it was a demon. The whole capital was shrouded in a haze of fear. Lin Xia frowned. As someone who was familiar with mechanical devices and hidden weapons, she instinctively felt that there was something fishy about this matter. There were no sword scars or signs of poisoning on the bodies of the dead, but it seemed that there was some strange power controlling them in secret. At the same time, Xiao Yichen was also investigating these murders. He was the famous "Qingfeng Swordsman" in the martial arts world, and was commissioned by the government to investigate the case. At this moment, he was standing at the latest crime scene, his eyebrows were furrowed, and his eyes were scanning back and forth between the corpses and the surrounding environment. The woman's embroidered shoes and hairpins were scattered on the ground, a mess, but there was no sign of any fight. When Lin Xia learned that Xiao Yichen was also investigating this matter, her heart moved. She knew that her knowledge of mechanical devices might come in handy, so she decided to take the initiative to find him for cooperation. When she arrived at the inn where Xiao Yichen was staying temporarily, the waiter was shaking his head and sighing: "My lady, Mr. Xiao is not seeing guests, please go back." Lin Xia did not give up. She waited outside the inn for a whole hour, and finally waited for Xiao Yichen to return. "Mr. Xiao, please stay!" She stepped forward quickly and blocked his way. Xiao Yichen stopped, with a bit of impatience and suspicion in his eyes: "Miss Su, you and I have never met before, I wonder what you can do for me?" Lin Xia said neither humbly nor arrogantly: "I heard that Mr. Xiao is investigating a murder case in the capital. I have some knowledge of mechanisms and hidden weapons, maybe I can help." Xiao Yichen snorted coldly: "Miss Su, you should stay in the prime minister's mansion. This kind of thing is not something you can interfere with." In his impression, Su Wanqing was just a spoiled and vain young lady, how could she know how to solve a case. Lin Xia was not repelled by his attitude. She calmly analyzed: "Mr. Xiao, there are no obvious external injuries on these dead bodies. Ordinary murder weapons cannot cause such a result. I guess the murderer may have used some lost evil magic mechanism or a hidden weapon that can absorb blood. Moreover, judging from the distribution of the dead, it seems to be irregular, but in fact it is in line with a certain formation..." As Lin Xia spoke, Xiao Yichen's eyes gradually changed. He had to admit that this woman's analysis was clear and insightful, which completely overturned his previous cognition. After a moment of silence, he nodded slightly: "If Miss Su is really sincere, come to the yamen to find me tomorrow at noon." The next day, Lin Xia came to the yamen on time. The two began to jointly investigate. They visited the families of all the dead, carefully checked every crime scene, and looked for clues in the traces. Lin Xia used a mechanism detector to scan the ground and found that there was a strange powder left at many crime scenes. After analysis, this powder seemed to be related to some evil magic. As the investigation deepened, their clues gradually pointed to a mysterious organization - the Netherworld Cult. It is said that this organization is good at evil magic and has secretive whereabouts. It has been operating in secret for many years, trying to gain powerful strength through evil magic practice and dominate the world. But the Netherworld Cult is extremely secretive, and it is not easy to find their traces. In the process of tracking, Lin Xia and Xiao Yichen encountered many dangers. Once, they tracked the clues to an abandoned old house on the outskirts of the city. The door of the old house was closed, and yellowed talisman paper was pasted on the door, rustling in the wind. Pushing open the door, there was a pungent smell of decay, and dust was flying in the beam of light. "Be careful, something is wrong here." Xiao Yichen reminded in a low voice, and the long sword was already unsheathed. As soon as the voice fell, countless black hidden weapons suddenly shot from all directions. Lin Xia was quick-eyed and quick-handed, and quickly activated the defensive mechanism shield he carried with him to block the hidden weapons one after another. However, the more dangerous is still to come. A masked master of the Netherworld Cult appeared, wearing a black robe. He held a strange-shaped scimitar in his hand, and the blade glowed with a faint blue light. "You dare to investigate the Netherworld Cult? You are looking for death!" The man in black sneered, and his figure flashed and disappeared into the darkness. Then, the mechanisms in the ancient house started one after another, the ground began to collapse, and poisonous arrows shot out from the walls. The whole space seemed to have become a huge death trap. Xiao Yichen waved his sword to protect Lin Xia, while looking for a way to crack the mechanism. Lin Xia dodged the attack while observing the surroundings. She found that the murals on the wall had hidden mysteries. Those seemingly ordinary patterns were actually the codes to crack the mechanism. She concentrated her energy and quickly turned several hidden mechanism hubs according to the guidance of the murals. With a burst of "clicks", some of the mechanisms stopped working, but the man in black attacked again. His scimitar brought a sharp gust of wind and went straight to Xiao Yichen's vitals. Xiao Yichen fought hard, but gradually fell into a disadvantage under the opponent's strange moves. At the critical moment, Lin Xia took out her improved "Rainstorm Pear Blossom Needle" and fired it at the man in black. The man in black didn't expect Lin Xia to have this trick, and hurriedly dodged, but was still shot by several silver needles. He groaned, a trace of fear flashed in his eyes, and turned to escape. How could Xiao Yichen let him go, and chased after him with a sword. After a fierce chase, the man in black was finally subdued. From the people in black, they learned some important clues about the Netherworld Cult, but this also completely angered this mysterious organization. After that, the Netherworld Cult began to retaliate against them frantically. They set an ambush on Lin Xia's way back to the Prime Minister's Mansion and set traps around Xiao Yichen's inn. But Lin Xia relied on her superb mechanical skills to escape danger again and again. She not only cracked the enemy's mechanism, but also cleverly used the mechanism to fight back. And Xiao Yichen's attitude towards her also changed dramatically in the process of fighting side by side with Lin Xia. He watched Lin Xia calmly analyze the situation in the crisis and flexibly manipulate the mechanism. There was no more contempt in his eyes, but instead appreciation and admiration. He had never thought that a woman could be so smart and brave, and never flinch in the face of danger. During the cooperation, Lin Xia also felt Xiao Yichen's justice and responsibility, and the tacit understanding between the two gradually deepened, laying the groundwork for the subsequent battle against the Netherworld Cult.