Chapter 148 - 144 Four-direction City

Li Deting nodded: "I can guess a little. Is it about Toujie's business?" As the captain of the Law Enforcement Guards, if Li Deting didn't know about Toujie's business, that would be abnormal. "That's right, Toujie disappeared half a month ago after a visit from a youngster named Ding Huan to the Little Star Corner Market. It looks like that Ding Huan is the most suspicious." Zuo Yougou said to Li Deting. Li Deting laughed: "Manager Gou, as for Ding Huan, I certainly know more about it than you do." Zuo Yougou was puzzled: "Captain Ting, what do you mean?" Li Deting's smile faded: "Since Ding Huan has just arrived in Four-direction Star Land, we monitored him for three months. From the day he came to the Little Star Corner Market, he came under our surveillance. According to our monitoring, he never even came out, so it's unlikely he's connected to Toujie's disappearance." Hearing this, Zuo Yougou had not the slightest doubt. After all, Li Deting was the captain of the Little Star Corner Market's Law Enforcement Team. If there was even a sliver of suspicion, Li Deting would definitely help the Zuo Family; he wouldn't risk defending an outsider. "Then, in the recent period, has anyone special come to the Little Star Corner Market?" Zuo Yougou asked again. Li Deting hesitated a bit before speaking: "Well, there was indeed one peculiar incident." Zuo Yougou's spirits lifted upon hearing this. Li Deting continued: "There was a person named Han Ni who used to make some no-investment deals in the Little Star Corner Market. Later, he sold a house to that Ding Huan. Strangely enough, after he sold the house, he disappeared. It wasn't until we found his body that we learned he had been murdered." Zuo Yougou started, thinking: hadn't Li Deting just said Ding Huan wasn't suspicious? Why did this statement directly implicate Ding Huan? Li Deting seemed not to notice the puzzled look in Zuo Yougou's eyes: "I was naturally the first to suspect Ding Huan, so I checked all his surveillance information and found that he really hadn't come out. As the person in charge of security at the Little Star Corner Market, even if he had no suspicious points, I still had to investigate Ding Huan." Zuo Yougou nodded; this made sense. "When I had just interrogated Ding Huan, Han happened to come back. Ding Huan bought the house from Han Ni, and Han had some connection with Han Ni, so he urged me to find the murderer." Li Deting spoke up to this point and revealed a hint of confusion appropriately: "What puzzles me is, after Han came back to rush things, he hurriedly left the Little Star Corner Market again." "Was the murderer who killed Han Ni found?" Zuo Yougou wouldn't care about Han's disappearance. Li Deting nodded: "We found them; it was the Gu brothers. They targeted Han Ni after he came into a large sum of money and ended up killing him. The Gu brothers previously had a very good relationship with Han Ni, and they had done many cases together. I refrained from taking action against them because of Han's face, not expecting that they would turn on each other..." Li Deting stopped speaking there, but Zuo Yougou's face darkened. He had never met Ding Huan, but from his investigation at the interstellar square, he knew what kind of person Ding Huan was. A man as timid as a mouse, terrified of causing trouble. It was for this reason that Ding Huan sold his spaceship to Toujie and even accepted the price Toujie proposed without daring to ask for more. Such a person killing Toujie, no, it would be impossible for him to kill Toujie and her entourage. Rather, it was more likely the Han Ni and Gu brothers Li Deting mentioned. Those five together, their strength could possibly have killed Toujie. Could it be that they saw Toujie come to the Little Star Corner Market and then, driven by greed, killed her? And then, worried about exposing their crime, the Gu brothers silenced Han Ni? The more Zuo Yougou thought about it, the more likely it seemed. "Captain Ting, tell me the truth, did you execute the Gu brothers so urgently because someone was watching you?" Zuo Yougou believed he had found the crux of the issue, his tone chilling. Embarrassment flickered in Li Deting's eyes: "It's not exactly being watched; Han might be a bit agitated because of Han Ni's murder, causing a stir among the Law Enforcement Guards. Moreover, since the Gu brothers were indeed Han Ni's killers, I decided to honor him and executed the Gu brothers. I suppose he saw the Gu brothers were executed, so he left." Zuo Yougou stood up: "Thank you for your time, Captain Ting. I will take my leave." He believed he had figured out the truth and could report back as such. This whole chain of events was orchestrated by Han. He must've ordered Han Ni and the Gu brothers to take out Toujie and her men, and he might have even participated himself. And then, he had the Gu brothers kill Han Ni. The Gu brothers were too many to kill at once, so he used the Law Enforcement Guards' blade to eliminate them, achieving his goal of silencing them. With the goods of Toujie in hand and everyone silenced, it was only natural for Han to disappear. But he had meddled with the Zuo Family's affairs, so escaping was wishful thinking for Han. ... Ding Huan stopped refining talismans recently; he felt that the grade of his talisman pen was too low, and continuing refining would be futile. After practicing the Escape Technique for half a month and feeling that progress had become difficult, Ding Huan decided to leave the Little Star Corner Market. Previously, when he bought the house, he thought that he could also get news of Advanced Civilization's strong ones coming to Four-direction Star Land at the Little Star Corner Market. Now that it had proven to be impossible, staying in the Little Star Corner Market was utterly meaningless. Before leaving, Ding Huan went to see Li Deting. Li Deting definitely knew that he had killed Han Ni and Toujie and later Jin. Up to now, the Zuo Family had not found him, which couldn't possibly be just good luck; the only possibility was that Li Deting had covered for him. "Ha ha, Brother Ding." Li Deting was very pleased to see Ding Huan come to see him. Ding Huan was also extremely cordial, "Brother Ting, I've been quite busy lately, so I haven't had time to come and see you. I'm about to leave Little Star Corner Market, and I plan to sell the house in Xingtang for 100 purple gold coins to you, Brother." Selling the house in Xingtang for 100 purple gold coins was clearly giving money to Li Deting. Li Deting was very satisfied with Ding Huan's gratitude, yet he shook his head and said, "I can't buy your house, and I also can't be too close to you." Seeing Ding Huan's confusion, Li Deting explained what Zuo Yougou had come to him about and what their conversation was like. Ding Huan immediately understood; Li Deting had helped him get rid of the suspicion. If he took his house, that would be like "having silver here but denying it." (This is akin to the saying "hiding something in plain sight, yet claiming it is not there.") "Thank you, Brother, in this case, I'll just leave the house vacant here, as I'm certain I will not be coming back." Li Deting laughed again; he understood that Ding Huan meant he had also looked at the laws of Four-direction Star Land. Ding Huan's house in Little Star Corner Market, as long as it had been a long time and Ding Huan was not in Little Star Corner Market, Little Star Corner Market would have the right to reclaim Ding Huan's house. All said and done, Ding Huan was still giving him the house. Ding Huan took out a cloth bag and handed it to Li Deting, saying, "Brother Ting, this is a little token of my appreciation; please accept it." "That won't do, Brother Ding, I became friends with you because I really see potential in you. You've already given the house; I can't accept anything else." Li Deting demurred. Ding Huan stopped Li Deting's refusal, "Brother Ting, I will do everything possible to follow Advanced Civilization's spaceship and leave this place. Before I leave, if you encounter any trouble, you can come to Four-direction City to find me." Seeing that Ding Huan was sincere, Li Deting accepted it, "Thank you, Brother, I believe you are a capable person, Brother Ding, and I'm sure you will make a name for yourself in the future. Oh, and if you're living in Four-direction City for a short time, it's best not to buy a house." "Okay," Ding Huan agreed with a nod, then he bid farewell to Li Deting. ... After Ding Huan had gone, Li Deting felt a great deal of emotion. A talent like Ding Huan was worth his help, one who remembered kindness and sought to repay it. And he quickly grasped an understanding of what to do, truly a talented individual. If Ding Huan had left without a sound, he would have been very disappointed. Opening the cloth bag, the first thing he took out was two bottles of wine, brought by Ding Huan from Earth. Li Deting didn't really care about the wine; it was the thought that counted, not so much the gifts themselves, but the act of giving them. Next, he took out was actually 5,000 purple gold coins. This was somewhat significant. From this, Li Deting judged that Ding Huan was a generous and noble person worth befriending. What he didn't know was that Ding Huan didn't have many purple gold coins on him; if he'd taken out all of the purple gold coins from Toujie Bank, he would have given him at least 10,000 purple gold coins. The last thing he took out was a thin booklet. The Thousand Thread Gene Scripture? Li Deting hurriedly flipped it open and was immediately shocked to find that it was a Cultivation Technique. This was an invaluable treasure to him. Ding Huan gave him this, indicating that he saw that he was also practicing Cultivation, but without a good Cultivation Technique, so his cultivation was not systematic. "Thank you, Brother Ding." Li Deting, excited, put away the Thousand Thread Gene Scripture and saluted towards Four-direction City. He acknowledged this debt of gratitude. In Four-direction Star Land, those who gave Cultivation Techniques to others were either from their own family or master and disciple. Someone as magnanimous as Ding Huan, an outsider, was almost unheard of. ... Four-direction Star Land was not large, far smaller compared to Earth. But Four-direction City was very large. Cities like Shanghai and Yanjing on Earth were considered top-tier metropolises. Compared to Four-direction City, they were not on the same level. If comparisons were difficult to make before, after the outbreak of Genetic Beasts on Earth, whether it was Shanghai or Yanjing, all the great cities have built Protection Walls. Viewed from a distance, they hardly differ from ancient cities. Still, they were much smaller compared to Four-direction City. The city walls of Four-direction City were similar to human corridor protection walls. They enclosed a continent, not just a city. Too many people were coming and going from Four-direction City; there was no need to pay an entrance fee. Ding Huan, with Qi Xinyue and Lao Liu, entered Four-direction City neither standing out nor being questioned by anyone. If anything was strange, Ding Huan and Qi Xinyue with Lao Liu were not the strangest ones. This was the center of the universe; intelligent beings from various planets would all come here. Weird-looking humans were considered normal; even minotaur-like creatures and lion-faced individuals could sometimes be seen. (Today's update ends here, friends. Good night! Please support me with monthly tickets!)