In the study, Jin Ancheng solemnly bowed in front of the jade statue and muttered some words.

  After a long time, he opened his eyes, and the anxiety in his heart was slightly alleviated, but there was always something stuck in his mind that made him uneasy.

  "May heaven bless..." He let out a sigh.

  "Yes, I hope heaven will bless you." A hoarse and piercing voice suddenly echoed in the room.

  Jin Ancheng's waist and back were in sync, and without thinking, he pushed the jade statue down, making a cracking sound. At the same time, he slid his feet and turned around, displaying the ultimate skill of "Yanluo Pursuing Soul".

  But both hands were empty and didn't touch anything.

  It wasn't until then that Jin Ancheng saw a mysterious person sitting at the desk, wrapped in a black robe, with a crude mask on his face depicting a smiling monkey head.

  When did he come in? Where is the guard? Seeing this smiling monkey head, a chill rose from Jin Ancheng's soles, and he rushed to the window.

  Before his eyes, he once again saw that smiling monkey face appear before him.

  "If you run again, I'll cut off your legs first." A hoarse and unpleasant voice entered Jin Ancheng's ears.

  This astonishing movement stunned Jin Ancheng, and since the other party did not directly attack him, his determination to fight for his life also decreased a lot. He wiped away the sweat on his forehead and asked: "Could it be Mr. Shen Hou from 'Twelve Xiangshen'?"

  If you can't win in a fight, waiting won't make a difference. If you can't win now, taking action will only infuriate the opponent and might even get you sealed with an acupuncture point, making escape just a fantasy.

  "Now that you know me, give up your fantasies and answer my questions honestly." Meng Qi continued in a hoarse voice.

  Jin Ancheng's hands were hidden behind his back, and a smile was plastered on his face as he said, "I don't know what Mr. Shen Hou wants to ask?"

  "What did Duan Mingcheng do before he went missing?" Meng Qi asked directly.

  "Mr. Shen, there's nothing much to ask about this," Jin An said with a frown. "I've already given a detailed account to Chief Catcher Fei. That night, Young Master Duan booked a private room and invited the Young City Lord and Chief Catcher Fei for dinner. He didn't call any courtesans or have me stay behind. About half an hour later, the Young City Lord and Chief Catcher Fei left one after another, and Young Master Duan came out to settle the bill. He exchanged a few jokes with 'Night Moon', someone he was familiar with, but he didn't stay overnight and left directly."

  "He said no more than three sentences before and after me, all of which were about the wine table."

  "He should have gone missing on his way home, but there were no signs of a fight along the way."

  "Is it? But I got a different message." Meng Qi began to deceive Jin Ancheng.

  Jin Ancheng's expression didn't change: "Mr. Shen Hou is probably being misled by rumors, the fact is just as I said."

  Meng Qi also didn't speak, silently sizing up Jin Ancheng. This atmosphere, combined with the playful monkey head, made people feel particularly oppressed.

  Jin Ancheng said slightly awkwardly: "Mr. Shen Hou, you don't believe me?"

  "What about you?" Meng Qi asked casually, then lowered his voice and said, "You seem to have three sons and two daughters, but no grandchildren yet?"

  "What do you mean?" Jin Ancheng's gaze turned sharp, but his face was extremely ugly.

  "You'd better tell the truth, or I'll kill them one by one in front of you and see how long you can endure it. Hmm, I heard you're most fond of your youngest son, so let's start with him."

  He definitely can't do such a thing, purely to scare Jin Ancheng, but the "Twelve Phase God" is ruthless and takes on any task, no matter how it's completed, with no bottom line, notorious outside, making Jin Ancheng hard to believe.

  Sometimes, bad reputation also has good uses.

  Jin Ancheng's face turned even uglier: "Mr. Shen Hou, every word I said is true, don't force me."

  "Do you think I don't know anything?" Meng Qi snorted and deliberately turned sideways, "Your youngest son seems to be living in the west wing, right?"

  Jin An's anger ignited a fire in his heart, but he didn't lose his composure. As he rubbed the front of his body, his two hands reached out to Meng Qi's throat and right hand. At the same time, he loosened his grip on Meng Qi's throat, preparing to shout loudly and alert the guards. He wasn't hoping they would come to rescue him, but rather that they would make a big commotion. After all, this was Tian Ding City, where even the Twelve Beasts dared not act openly!

  He dodged sideways and feigned a move, Meng Qi retreated instead of advancing, and the ghostly figure dodged Jin An's double-handed attack, crashing into his opponent's arms.

  Jin Ancheng saw Shen Hui's strange movements and had no choice but to force his way through the crowd, reversing his grip on Meng Qi's back, and shouting was temporarily stuck in his throat.

  Meng Qi didn't dodge or evade, he stood up straight and resisted hard, drew his sword and pointed it directly at Jin Ancheng's throat.

  Jin Ancheng grasped Meng Qi's back, his ten fingers suddenly exerting force, but it was like grabbing a rock, with only a few "stone chips" flying off, the tips of his fingers experiencing a burst of severe pain.

  He had just whispered a word of warning when the sword was already placed on his neck.

  Meng Qi's left hand pointed out, and Jin An was sealed in several major acupoints. He let out a strange laugh and said: "Master Jin Lou, we are all educated people, why must you resort to violence?"

  Intentionally provoking Jin Ancheng, after selling a flaw, Meng Qi easily captured him.

  If it were normal times, Meng Qi wouldn't worry about not being able to take down his opponent at all. However, in the dead of night, if he couldn't quickly subdue his opponent, it would be easy to alert others and bring in Tian Ding City's Chief Catcher, Young Master Shao, or even City Lord Cui Xuan.

  "What do you want?" Although he was captured, Jin Ancheng still had a bit of a rogue's spirit as a master.

  Meng Qi's tone sank: "I want to hear the truth."

  "What I said is all true." Jin Ancheng looked at the sword across his throat and said, his eyes flickering slightly.

  Meng Qi Sha sneered: "You'd better be honest, our 'Twelve Phase Gods' have always been very reputable. If we say we'll kill your whole family, then we will absolutely kill your whole family."

  Perhaps it was the "golden signboard" of the Twelve Spirit Gods that worked, or perhaps Jin An was already old and valued his family more than anything else. He sighed and said, "It's not that I don't want to say, but I really can't say."

  "If you speak up, you'll still have a chance to escape with your family and belongings; if not, your whole family will die right now." Meng Qi felt relieved that he had finally tricked Jin Ancheng.

  At this time, he also deeply felt the benefits of doing things with "**". If it were not for Duanyang Fei, with his identity as a grand and upright master, even if he said such intimidating words, Jin Ancheng would not have believed him. But since "Twelve Phase Divine" spoke up, he knew that if the opponent said they would kill the whole family, then they really would kill the whole family.

  No wonder Duan Xiangfei would look for "Twelve Phase Gods" to investigate.

  Jin Ancheng paused for a moment before saying, "That day, Duan Gongzi saw off the young master of Shao City and the chief catcher, but he didn't leave immediately. Instead, he exchanged a few jokes with Ye Yue and then turned into a quiet courtyard behind. He even ordered a table of wine and invited other guests to join him."

  "The guest was wearing a black long gown, with a face veil covering his head, and it was impossible to discern his age or appearance, but he should be a man, probably about your height, Mr. Shen Hou, and slightly thin in build."

  "After Duan Gongzi entered the yard, he sent me away. I felt that something was fishy and worried that it would be unfavorable to Young Master Shao and Chief Catcher Fei, so I went around to the other side and eavesdropped on them from behind the wall. Their voices were very low, and I only vaguely heard a few words about the Snow God Temple."

  "Snow God Palace..." Meng Qi whispered again, after coming to this world, the things he encountered were surprisingly mostly related to Snow God Palace.

  Jin Ancheng glanced at the smiling monkey head mask and continued: "Since it's related to the Snow God Palace, I don't dare to be careless. Although I couldn't hear clearly, I still made an effort there. However, gradually, no more sounds came from inside the courtyard. I was shocked and didn't care about anything else, so I turned back to the main gate, only to find that it was empty and deserted, with no one left, except for the leftover wine and dishes."

  "From then on, Gongzi never appeared again."

  "Are there any signs of a fight inside?" Meng Qi asked carefully.

  Jin An shook his head: "Not only is there no sign of a fight, but also a silver ingot was left behind. It's possible that Duan Gongzi voluntarily followed the other party away, or it's also possible that his martial arts skills are low and he was easily captured by the other party."

  "Is there anything special about the silver? Are there any anesthetics or poisons in the wine and dishes?" Meng Qi racked his brains, thinking of all the possibilities he had seen before.

  Jin Ancheng shook his head again: "The silver is from Duan Gongzi's, with the family crest on it. There was no problem with the food and drink, and there were no clothes fragments left at the scene."

  "Mr. Shen Hou, I've told you everything I know."

  The mischievous monkey head mask swayed slightly, making Jin Ancheng a bit uneasy. Then he heard the hoarse voice open its mouth with a smile that was not quite a smile: "You've made it very clear, but there's one problem, the part you're hiding doesn't seem worth hiding."

  This part of the content, it's completely fine to say it out loud and there's no problem with it, so why hide it?

  Jin Ancheng's face suddenly turned white, and after a long while, he stammered: "It was, it was Commander Fei who told me to conceal it, I didn't dare not to conceal it."

  "Is it true?" Meng Qi looked into Jin Ancheng's eyes.

  Jin An nodded: "Yes, after Duan Gongzi went missing, the first one to come and investigate was indeed Fei Zong Huo. He had a hold on me, his martial arts skills were stronger than mine, I didn't dare not listen. As for why he wanted to hide it, I really don't know."

  "Not bad, Master Jin is indeed a wise and capable person. It's a pity that I couldn't kill your whole family." Meng Qi chuckled to himself, his figure flickering as he slipped out of the study and disappeared from Jin Ancheng's line of sight in an instant.

  Jin Ancheng, who had his acupoints sealed, couldn't resist or chase after him. After panting for a few breaths, he shouted loudly. Soon, the guards rushed over and helped him unseal his acupoints with a frightened expression.

  Then, he turned pale and let his guards retreat, sitting stupidly in the chair of the study.

  After half a time, he slowly got up, looked at the guards outside, took advantage of their inattention, pushed open the window, slipped into the darkness outside, then climbed out of the yard and ran in another direction.

  "Hmph, no matter how cunning you are, how can you compare to my 'vast knowledge and experience'?" Up above, Meng Qi sat cross-legged in the shadow of the eaves, watching as Jin Ancheng sneaked out of the courtyard.

  He had seen many things and knew that in similar situations, some unexpected events might occur, such as someone coming to kill Jin Ancheng to silence him, or Jin Ancheng not telling the whole truth, and after leaving, he would go to report to the people behind the scenes... and so on. Meng Qi felt it was a family matter, but still decided to continue lurking outside, observing the subsequent movements, and only left when it was almost dawn.

  He jumped onto the roof and quietly followed Jin Ancheng.