After traveling along the official road for half a day, they indeed encountered the team that had stopped to rest along the way. The team gathered in one place, their clothes already dried by the strong wind, but still in a sorry state. Yu Qiu noticed Jiang Yu immediately and stood up from the ground.

His face pale with fear, he called out to Jiang Yu, "My lord!"

"Yu, why are you in such a sorry state?" Hu Li examined Yu Qiu from head to toe and suddenly asked.

Yu Qiu immediately knelt in Jiang Yu's direction, tears streaming down his face, "I have failed in my duties and beg for punishment, my lord."

"But you left a day early; Lord Jiang won't blame you," Hu Li said.

Yu Qiu clenched his teeth fiercely and blurted out, "Last night, at midnight, Master Ji's entire family... was killed on the official road."

It was the second massacre.

Also on the route escorted by the convicts.

The Shi family was at a small inn on the wasteland. The killer appeared out of nowhere and disappeared into thin air, like a ghost. The head of the Shi family, Shi Yu, held a map of half of the Liangwang underground palace.

The Ji family was on the way to Yiling. Still under the eyes of the public.

"My lord, did you see anyone?" Hu Li asked.

"I only saw someone dressed in black. This person had extremely high martial arts skills. When we tried to chase after them, they had already disappeared," Yu Qiu replied.

"Just one person?"

One person swiftly took the lives of seven people. Such martial arts prowess would be renowned in the martial world. But why would such prominent figures have a problem with these convicts?

"We couldn't be sure how many perpetrators there were in the rainy weather. The fatal wounds of the Ji family were all inflicted by one person, there's no mistake about that."

"The innkeeper told us that apart from Lord Yu's team, there was also a group of people with mysterious movements last night. That person came and went like a shadow and left the inn before dawn. Did you see them, my lord?"

"A person with mysterious movements..." Yu Qiu paused and said, "There was indeed one person, who happened to be at the inn. Thinking it was clever, I hurried on the road during the heavy rain, but I didn't expect such a thing to happen halfway."

"Where are the bodies? Take me to see," Jiang Yu interrupted Yu Qiu.

Yu Qiu obediently led Jiang Yu and Hu Li to a slope.

Under the slope, there was a flat area with a natural shelter formed by the overhanging rocks, resembling a cave. Hu Li squatted down, touching the necks of the corpses.

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The entire Ji family was here.

Hu Li pulled Ji's sleeve and found a bruise on his wrist. He lifted his hand and saw that the thumb's nail was broken halfway, and the blood had dried.

Ji's hand was claw-shaped, with broken nails. Hu Li let go of his hand and turned to ask Yu Qiu, "Was this Master Ji skilled in martial arts?"

Yu Qiu looked up at Hu Li and said, "Master Ji was originally from a military background, but he was transferred to the Ministry of Works in recent years."

Hu Li nodded and turned back to continue searching for clues on the bodies.

Ji had exerted force in his palm, probably holding something like a signboard. There were two blue marks on the palm, and the palm was pale.

But there was nothing in the middle of the palm. Hu Li reached out to Yu Qiu, asking for it, "Where's the thing in his hand?"

After speaking, Jiang Yu shifted his gaze to Yu Qiu. Yu Qiu looked a bit evasive, but he took out a signboard from his waist and handed it to Jiang Yu.

After handing it over, Yu Qiu sighed and explained, "This signboard was found in Master Ji's hand. It was raining heavily, and we didn't find anything else except this."

"This signboard..." Hu Li looked at it and frowned.

The signboard had the word "kill" written on both sides, with a strong sense of hostility. The craftsmanship and carvings were plain and unremarkable. The signboard was only half the size of the Black Horse Escort's token, and it could be completely grasped by one person's fist. Besides the body, there were no other parts to it.

This signboard would probably not attract anyone's attention even if it fell by the roadside.

"The kill signboard from the Moonriding Tower," Jiang Yu said.

Hu Li looked at the signboard several times in disbelief. "The Moonriding Tower, the notorious assassination organization? Is this small signboard all there is?"

Most of the strange events in the martial world were spread through storytellers. Storytellers stood in teahouses, with common folks munching on melon seeds and drinking wine, listening to stories about the lives of martial heroes that were far removed from reality but greatly admired. Although Hu Li didn't spend much time drinking tea in teahouses, he had heard plenty of rumors about the Moonriding Tower in Yanran City, indicating its great reputation.

And according to legend, the Moonriding Tower feared neither the heavens nor the earth. They dared to take on any business and kill anyone, openly defying the court.

Hu Li couldn't help but scoff at this. The Moonriding Tower clearly engaged in murder and robbery, but it was talked about as if it were upholding justice in the martial world.

"Well," Jiang Yu replied, "I saw this signboard once in the capital."

"Was it also related to a murder case?" Hu Li asked, still squatting in place, somewhat puzzled.

What did this sudden appearance of the Moonriding Tower's kill signboard represent?

The identity of Master Ji, the identity of the murderer, or perhaps it was deliberately left behind by the murderer?

The clues were like a tangled mess, and this mess was growing like a snowball.

"Yu Qiu, hurry and get on the road. You don't need to worry about this for now," Jiang Yu put away the kill signboard. Although Yu Qiu had left a day early from the inn, the incident on the way had already coincided with the original schedule.

Tomorrow, they would have to send all the convicts to Yiling.

Yu Qiu felt as if he had been granted a reprieve and waved his hand. Within a moment, he led his men towards Yiling.

Hu Li watched the team's receding figures, leaning slightly against the side of the carriage. "According to Deputy Yu, there's some connection between the murderer and the person who left the inn early in the morning."

"The Liangwang underground palace... the Moonriding Tower's kill signboard..."

What kind of connection was there between these two?

It seemed like one problem hadn't been solved before another arose.

Another murder case occurred on the way escorting the convicts. When this news reached Yanran, the Yanran Prefecture immediately took action.

The news spread like wildfire, and within half a day, it had spread to the capital.

Those involved in the incident in Yanran were all tied together like grasshoppers on a string. Apart from being efficient in their work, they had no other choice.

But being tied together also inevitably led to selfish motives, hoping to escape trouble and rise to a better position.

The head of the Black Horse Escort's branch glanced at the tea cup beside him. After a long silence, he spoke, "A few months ago, thanks to the help of the prefecture, the Black Horse Escort's branch had a competition on Changhong Street. Now that the matter of the branch has been resolved, the Black Horse Escort has prepared a small gift."

The head of the branch took out a brocade box from his sleeve and pushed it beside the tea cup.

The prefecture official, who had gained weight and had some wealth, was sweating profusely in such a critical situation. The person in front of him clearly wanted to quickly get out of this situation, but if all the Black Horse Escort's branch heads escaped, wouldn't all the major issues fall on his shoulders as a small prefecture official in Yanran?

The prefecture official pursed his lips and said, "There's no need for a small gift. The establishment of a branch of the Black Horse Escort in our small town of Yanran has indeed benefited many people, which is a good deed unrelated to me. But what's the matter with you, head, coming here today?"

"It's just to thank you, sir," the branch head said as an excuse, then took out something from his chest and handed it to the prefecture official.

"Sir, please take a look first. This is the contract signed by the escort and our Black Horse Escort on that day, with black and white clearly written.

After speaking, the head of the branch bowed.