Madam, protect me!

[ps: The original title was changed back to the original title at the editor's suggestion. The writing style of this book is mainly relaxed. The original title is too serious and not suitable for the content. Except for the change of the title, other things are not affected. Please be informed. ]

The first "climbing the wall" competition has ended.

In the courtyard, three masked leaders looked at the twelve people standing in a row. One of them pointed and said, "You, you, you..., the six of you stay, and the rest of you can go back."

The people who were pointed finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The ones who were not pointed showed disappointment on their faces, but they didn't say anything and walked out of the courtyard one after another.

Li Nuo was of course among the people who stayed. He felt very distressed when he saw the six people leave. These were all his life spans, and they just slipped away in vain...

But he couldn't persuade him to come back.

He could only comfort himself that the monk could run away but the temple could not. As long as the leaders were caught in one fell swoop and the clues were followed, these people could not run away either.

The six people who passed the first level were taken to a carriage and were ordered to blindfold themselves.

This time, the carriage traveled much less time.

When Li Nuo and others got off the carriage again, they had arrived at an unfamiliar courtyard.

Li Nuo now knew that anyone who was masked was a leader.

There were two other masked leaders in this courtyard.

Just like before, there were twelve people participating in this competition.

The other six people should have finished competing in other places.

A leader briefly explained the rules of the second level to them.

There were twelve tables in the courtyard.

There were three locks on each table.

The first step of burglary is to climb over the wall, and the second step is to pick the lock.

This level is also very simple.

Before the incense in the courtyard burns out, open the three locks on the table in front of you.

If any of the three locks is not opened, you will be eliminated directly.

In addition to these three locks, there is only a very thin wire on the table.

After a masked chief seat lit the incense stick, everyone immediately picked up the thin iron wire and kept probing in the keyhole.

The three locks have different shapes and internal structures, and require three different unlocking methods.

Although Li Nuo had never unlocked a lock before, his movements were not slow, and everything seemed to be muscle memory.

He was the first to open all three locks, and at this time, the incense stick had only burned less than half.

Such a fast speed naturally attracted the attention of the five chief seats.

"This man is so young, but he has such skills?"

"You didn't see it just now, his ability to climb over the wall is also extraordinary."

"I don't know what his other skills are, just from these two skills, he is more than enough to be the chief seat."

...

As time passed, eight of the twelve people finally opened the three locks on the table before the incense stick burned out.

The other four were unfortunately eliminated.

However, this time, the chief seats did not let them change places.

A chief brought the eight people to a door and said, "In a moment, the eight of you will take turns to open this door. Only the four who take the shortest time and make the least noise can enter the next round."

Li Nuo took a look and saw that the door was closed from the inside.

There are two situations when burglars break into a house.

When the owner is not at home and the door is locked from the outside, the ability to unlock the door is required.

When the owner is at home and the door is closed from the inside, another skill is required, which is called "blocking the door".

Blocking the door means using a knife to push open the door bolt.

The thief who broke into the room of the Huang couple used this method.

For the flower thieves who steal the fragrance and jade, this is an essential skill.

The difficulty of this item is a little bit greater than unlocking the door. You need to use a knife as thin as a cicada's wing to push open the door bolt little by little, ensuring speed while not making any unusual noises.

A thief who dares to do this requires not only superb skills, but also extraordinary courage.

This time, Li Nuo was the first to go up.

The gap of the door was very narrow, and the blade of the knife was extremely thin, making it difficult to control, but he didn't need to control it, everything was natural.

After a while, Li Nuo put away the knife and gently pushed open the door.

Everyone, including several chiefs, looked at him in surprise.

Fast!

Too fast!

This kid is so young, but his ability to unlock and unblock is better than many senior thieves.

The thief's manager present was even more alert, as this person might be the biggest obstacle to their promotion to the chief.

After opening the door, Li Nuo stood aside and observed.

The members of the thief's door are obviously more skilled than those unorganized thieves.

Those who can get to this step are the elite among thieves.

Among the eight people, only one failed to pry open the door within an incense stick, and the other three were eliminated because they took too long or made too much noise.

Li Nuo's eyes stayed on the three people for a while.

The difficulty of plugging varies according to the width of the door gap. The simplest plugging can be done by everyone.

But there are not many thieves who dare to do this.

Only those who are extremely confident in their skills dare to do it when the owner is in the room.

The gap in the door of the Huang couple's room is smaller than the gap in the previous competition.

Those who can't even pass the competition are unlikely to be the murderer, they don't have that ability.

There is a certain possibility that the murderer who killed the Huang couple is among these people.

The three were all men, one of whom was thin and small, and it should be impossible for him to kill the Huang couple by himself.

The other two, one was a young man in his twenties, and the other was middle-aged. They were both capable and technically capable of committing this crime.

Unfortunately, it had been more than a day since the crime occurred, and he could not judge through the code.

Of course, the possibility that the murderer was one of the two was very small. After all, there should be several other groups of contestants besides them.

But narrowing down the murderer to a small circle is better than looking for a needle in a haystack.

Li Nuo learned from Zhao Wu that burglary is divided into districts.

A thief in a district can only steal in this district, otherwise it will break the rules.

As long as he can find out which district the Huang Mansion is located in, which chief and which managers are in charge, and who they have under them, he can further narrow the scope.

Of course, when things come to this point, investigating the case of the Huang Mansion is just a side job.

His ultimate goal was to wipe out the top leaders of the Dao Men, and then follow the clues to catch this illegal organization entrenched in Chang'an.

The merit of this incident is far more than a murder case.

Led by a masked chief, the four walked out of the yard and closed the gate from the inside.

Li Nuo looked back and asked in surprise: "Aren't those chiefs going?"

The masked chief glanced at him and said lightly: "You all have the hope of becoming the chiefs in the future. It's better to tell you the rules of the chiefs in advance. Except for important meetings, no more than eight chiefs are allowed to appear in the same place under any circumstances..."

Li Nuo was surprised.

The caution of the Dao Men was beyond his expectations.

They actually had this risk control awareness.

He only knew that modern countries or companies had such regulations that leaders and successors, the top and second in command of a department, could not take the same means of transportation, and executives of the same company could not take the same plane.

If something went wrong, it might paralyze the country and the company.

As expected of the Dao Men, their safety awareness is so advanced.

But this ruined his plan.

He originally thought that this competition would be conducted by everyone together.

Most of the senior members of the Dao Men would also be present.

Who would have thought that they not only divided the examination room and adopted the rule of elimination, but also had risk control measures for the senior members.

In this way, I am afraid that even half of the senior members will not be caught, which is far from his psychological expectation.

He can only take one step at a time.

Several people got on the carriage and blindfolded themselves again.

The carriage stopped slowly after driving for a while.

At the signal of the masked chief, Li Nuo and others jumped off the carriage and walked into the new courtyard.

He immediately scanned the courtyard and found that there were only two masked chiefs here, and in addition, there was an old man in black robe.

The masked leader who brought Li Nuo in came forward and said respectfully: "Meet the Dharma Protector."

The old man in black robe also covered his face and said hoarsely: "Wait a little longer, there are still a few people who haven't arrived yet."

Li Nuo stood in the yard for a while, and then saw another masked leader bringing four other people here.

One Dharma Protector, four leaders, far below Li Nuo's psychological expectations.

And all the contestants, after passing the first three levels, only sixteen people were left.

With such a small number of people, even if they were all caught in one net, it would not add much life.

A masked leader said: "Being able to come here shows that your basic skills are very good. This is the last competition site today. Here, you will have the last three competitions. The one with the best performance will be the new leader of the Thief Sect..."

Everyone was a little excited when they heard this.

Becoming a leader means officially becoming a senior member of the Thief Sect.

A leader's subordinates manage dozens of sect members and can take half of the money they steal.

This power is not possessed by the steward.

Li Nuo has a different idea.

Only by becoming the chief can he have the opportunity to contact more high-level members of the thieves. He is determined to win the next three competitions.

The masked chief walked to the middle of the yard, in front of a dummy made of straw and wearing clothes, and said: "You step forward one by one, take out the silver and copper coins on the chest and cuffs of this person, and those who make the bells on this person ring will be eliminated."

Those who can reach this step are all elites of the thieves.

It is not difficult to climb over the wall and pick the lock when someone is not at home.

Stealing silver and other things in person without being discovered is the watershed between professional thieves and amateur thieves.

This game tests the fourth art of the thieves, which is called "pickpocketing". The main thing is to quietly take away the property on the chest or cuffs of the target when passing by.

"Pickpocketing" emphasizes "fast, accurate, and stable", which tests both technology and psychology.

Stealing things by deliberately bumping into the target's body is the lowest method.

Anyone who is a little wary or has experience in anti-theft will check if their property is missing after being hit.

A true master can pass by and take the property.

The mannequins in the yard are hung with bells. If you move too much, the bells will be touched and make a sound.

The sixteen people who passed the first three levels came forward one by one.

Everyone must take the property on the mannequins while passing by them quickly.

Some of them used two thin chopsticks, while others only used two fingers. However, no matter what form was adopted, it would take years of uninterrupted practice to achieve this.

In the end, six of the sixteen were eliminated because they touched the bell.

Even if the bell only made a slight sound, normal people would hardly notice this level of action when stealing, but it was still slightly inferior to the other ten.

"Pickpocketing" is the most common method used by thieves. For powerful thieves, it is as simple as eating and drinking.

The six eliminated people cannot go back for the time being and can only stand aside and wait.

Another skill corresponding to "pickpocketing" is called "cutting the ties".

Pickpockets can only steal money from open pockets. Poor people generally use this kind of open pockets, and some wealthy people who are more particular will use purses hung or tied around their waists.

The purse is not open. It is okay to put it in your arms or simply hang it around your waist. If it is tied tightly, you can only succeed by cutting the ties.

This prompted the thieves to spontaneously study the skill of cutting hairpins, sticking two thin blades on the index and middle fingers to cut the silk rope of the purse.

For petty thieves, this is a very difficult skill.

But for the elites of the thieves who have come here through the trials and tribulations, this is a piece of cake. In this stage, none of the ten people were eliminated.

Everyone successfully cut the silk rope tied to the purse on the dummy and successfully got the purse.

Even the old man in black robe said with some relief: "Yes, I thought that at this point, three or five people would be enough, but I didn't expect that there would be ten left..."

The masked chief beside him also smiled and said: "Their skills are enough to be the chief, and it depends on who is better in the last stage of 'buying against each other'..."

Li Nuo's skills were inherited from the guardian of the thieves, so he was naturally one of the ten people left in the end.

The last competition was called "buying against each other".

The six arts of the thieves, to put it bluntly, are thefts in two situations.

Climbing over walls, picking locks, and removing obstructions are essential skills for burglary.

Pickpocketing, cutting hair, and buying in pairs are aimed at street theft.

The last item, "buying in pairs", refers to secretly replacing other people's property with something of equal weight.

Others go out on the street with a heavy purse in their pockets, and suddenly it's gone. Even if they don't see the thief, they can feel the change in weight.

But if you can replace it with an item of equal weight at the moment of theft, the possibility of being discovered is very small.

But this item requires very high skills.

First of all, you have to judge how heavy the other person's property is based on the amplitude of the purse's falling and swinging, and you have to replace it with something of equal weight. This is already a professional level among professionals. Ordinary street theft is not so troublesome.

The competition of stealing doors reduces the difficulty of "buying in pairs".

A chief seat, with a purse tied around his waist, walks back and forth in the courtyard.

The ten people had to judge the weight of the purse by observing the movements of the chief and the amplitude of the purse's shaking, and then replace it with sand and stones of equal weight. The one with the closest weight would win.

In the courtyard, the ten people stared at the purse on the chief's waist, changing positions from time to time, trying to observe from different angles.

After a while, the chief took off the purse and said, "Let's start."

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately picked up the empty purse on the table and began to fill it with sand.

The opportunity to act was fleeting, and they needed to do all this within ten breaths.

"Stop!"

The masked chief gave an order, and everyone stopped.

He took out a balance, put it on the table, put the purse in his hand on one end of the balance, picked up a purse filled by one person, and put it on the other end.

The balance was obviously tilted towards the filled purse.

Obviously he filled it too heavy.

‘Buying the right amount’ is the most difficult of the six skills. It is difficult for the chief to accurately judge the weight of a purse just by visual inspection. Not to mention the chief, even the guardian may not be able to do it accurately.

The masked chief tried one purse after another. Everyone’s purse was either too light or too heavy.

There were two people whose weight was closest to the original purse.

One of them was a middle-aged man. He knew this person. He was the most experienced manager of the thief sect. He was proficient in the six arts of the thief sect and was one of the most likely to be promoted to the chief.

The other was a young man with dark skin. His appearance was ordinary at first glance, but a closer look showed that he was a little handsome.

The purses filled by the two people were a little heavier and a little lighter, but the difference was not much.

He couldn't make up his mind, so he looked at the old man in black robe and asked, "Protector, it's hard to tell who will win in the 'buying match' between these two. Please make the decision."

The old man in black robe looked at the young man and asked, "What's your name?"

The young man said, "Protector, I'm Song Yu."

The old man in black robe nodded and said, "Very good, you will be the new head of my thief sect from now on."

Several heads were stunned when they heard this. They thought that the protector would let the two compete again until the winner was decided, but he didn't expect that he would directly designate the young man.

The middle-aged steward heard the old man's words, and after a brief moment of daze, he didn't care about the hierarchy and said angrily, "This is unfair. Our scores are similar. Why can he be the head!"

The old man in black robe glanced at him indifferently and asked, "Where is your steward's badge?"

"Here..."

The middle-aged steward touched his bosom, his face suddenly changed, and he said in shock: "Where is my badge?"

The young man took out a badge from his bosom and returned it to him, smiling: "Thank you."

The middle-aged steward took the badge silently, lowered his head and dared not look at people.

He was too ashamed to see people.

He had been a thief all his life, and today he was robbed by a thief.

He finally knew what it meant that there are always people, there are always heavens, and there are always thieves.

He was not as skilled as others, so there was nothing to say. He put away his badge, bowed respectfully to the young man, and said with conviction: "Meetings, Master Song..."

The new master had been selected, and the other contestants on the scene had dispersed.

In the courtyard, only the old man in black robe and the four masters were left.

The old man in black robe looked at Li Nuo and said, "My last name is Zhang. You can call me Zhang the Dharma Protector. From now on, you will be directly responsible to me."

Li Nuo bowed to him and said, "Meeting Dharma Protector Zhang."

The old man nodded, looked at another masked man, and said, "Master Wu, Master Song has just been promoted and doesn't understand many things. You can take some time to teach him so that he can get familiar with the position of the master as soon as possible..."

The masked man nodded and said, "Don't worry, Dharma Protector Zhang, I will help Master Song get familiar with the affairs of the sect as soon as possible."

The old man in black robe and the other three masters left. Master Wu, who was masked, clasped his fists to Li Nuo and said, "Master Song, let's go back too."

Li Nuo followed him out of the yard and got on the last carriage parked outside the yard, which was the first carriage he took when he came.

This Master Wu was the one who took him away from his fifth brother.

In a simple house somewhere in Chang'an.

Zhao Wu paced in the yard with a somewhat anxious expression on his face.

Xiao Song has been gone for so long, why hasn't he come back yet?

Although the later he comes back, the further he has gone in the competition, but this is too long.

Could it be that after he was eliminated, he couldn't find the way back?

It is very likely that the alleys outside this base are connected in all directions, winding and twisting, and you can't find the direction without walking dozens of times.

Xiao Song has only walked once, so it is normal that he can't find the way back.

He is going to look for him at the intersection where he met him. Xiao Song is so smart, if he can't find the way, he may wait for him there.

Bang bang bang!

Just as Zhao Wu was thinking this in his heart, there was a regular knock on the door outside.

He walked over quickly, opened the door, and saw the young man standing there. He smiled and said, "Xiao Song, you are finally back. It doesn't matter if you are eliminated in the competition. Just consider it as a new experience..."

The masked man standing next to the young man glanced at Zhao Wu and said lightly, "What Xiao Song? It's rude. Call me Song Shouzuo!"

A moment later, inside the room, Zhao Wu respectfully poured hot tea for the two of them. Li Nuo smiled and said, "Thank you, Brother Wu."

Zhao Wu's face changed, and he kept saying, "No, no, no, Song Shouzuo is embarrassing me. Just call me Xiao Wu..."

Wu Shouzuo had taken off the scarf on his face. He looked like a simple and honest middle-aged man. Just from his face, no one would have thought that he was one of the sixteen heads of the Daomen.

He took out a wooden sign from his bosom, handed it to Li Nuo, and said: "This is the identity token of the chief, Chief Song, keep it well, and do not lose it, this is the only proof of your identity."

Li Nuo took the wooden sign, which was neat on the top, but had irregular tooth-like indentations on the bottom, which should be used for anti-counterfeiting.

Then, Wu said, "Song has just become the chief, so there is no need to rush to handle the affairs of the sect. In a few days, there will be a half-yearly thief meeting. At that time, the sect will redivide the jurisdiction. When Song's jurisdiction is determined, I will tell you what you should do so that you can get familiar with this position as soon as possible..."

Li Nuo bowed and said, "Thank you, Wu."

Wu smiled and said, "It's my duty. Song can go back first. If you have any problems in the next few days, just find Zhao Wu. Zhao Wu, you send Song out..."

Zhao Wu sent Li Nuo to the entrance of the alley. When they returned to this base, Wu closed the door and asked, "How did you know Song? Tell me everything."

Zhao Wu was slightly stunned, and then told him the details of the incident.

Then, he asked again tentatively: "Master Wu, Xiao Song... No, is there anything wrong with Master Song?"

Master Wu said calmly: "Whether there is a problem or not, we have to check it out. The position of the master is very important. If there is a slight mistake, it will bring immeasurable damage to the thieves. It is better to be careful. In the next few days, you should find someone to watch him 24 hours a day, and then conduct a detailed investigation on him. Make sure there are no omissions."

Although Zhao Wu was sure that Xiao Song was fine, he still nodded and said, "Yes."

Chang'an, north of the city.

Li Nuo walked to a house on the street and knocked on the door.

After a while, the gate of the courtyard opened from the inside, and Li Anning, wearing coarse cloth and makeup on her face, walked out from inside.

She smiled, took Li Nuo's arm first, and said happily: "Husband, you are back!"

Feeling the full pressure on his arm, Li Nuo was slightly stunned, but before he could speak, Li An Ning lowered her voice and said: "Someone is following you, don't show it..."

Li Nuo reacted instantly, and quickly put on a smile on his face, picked her up, turned around on the spot, and said: "My wife, come in quickly, I have good news to tell you!"

At the gate of the courtyard, the couple walked into the courtyard hand in hand and closed the gate.

Not far away, a figure hiding against another door slowly breathed a sigh of relief.

This First Lord has first-class stealing skills, but his vigilance is also very poor.

He actually walked straight into his home without even taking a detour, without any awareness of counter-following.

Such a person can actually be the leader. There is a big problem with the promotion system of the Thief Sect.

When he becomes a manager, he must give his opinions to his superiors.

Crunch!

Just as he was thinking this, the door he was leaning against suddenly opened. He was caught off guard and almost fell down.

An old man was carrying a basin of sewage and was about to pour it on the street. He saw a man standing at the door, holding on to the door frame, and asked: "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

A smile appeared on the man's face and he asked: "Old man, do you know Song Yu?"

The old man pointed to a house not far away and said, "We know him. That's his home there. Why are you looking for Song Yu?"

The man said: "I am Song Yu's friend, and I have something to do with him. Old man, are you familiar with Song Yu?"

The old man smiled and said: "Of course he is familiar. I have watched him grow up. Time flies so fast. I always feel like he was crawling on the ground two days ago. In the blink of an eye, he has grown so big that he even married a wife." Already..."

"Who says it isn't?"

"Hey, time is not forgiving, I am old!"

"The old man's body and bones are so healthy, he will definitely live a long life."

"Then I'll lend you some good advice!"

…

The two chatted for a while. The old man chatted happily with the man and warmly invited him into the house for dinner. The man smiled and said, "Thank you for your kindness, old man, but I still have some things to do, so I won't disturb you..."

After the old man returned home, he waited for a while and then knocked on the door of a courtyard across the street.

Soon, the courtyard door opened a crack, and a peasant woman looked at him from behind the door and asked, "Who are you and what do you do?"

The man smiled and asked, "Excuse me, is this Song Yu's house?"

The woman slammed the door and said angrily: "No, Song Yu's house is diagonally opposite. You knocked on the wrong door!"

The man touched his nose. It seemed that there was no need to ask any more questions. Mr. Song indeed grew up here.

Not long after.

Inside the stronghold, the man said to Zhao Wu: "Manager Zhao, my subordinates have asked clearly. Mr. Song grew up there. There is no problem with his identity. Do you want to keep an eye on him these days?"

Zhao Wu asked: "How many neighbors did you ask?"

The man thought for a while and said, "Seven or eight."

Zhao Wu touched his chin and said: "If it's seven or eight, I should be sure."

The man asked again: "Then do you want to continue to stare at him?"

Zhao Wu waved his hand and said: "No, even if we don't keep an eye on him, Chief Wu will definitely send someone to keep an eye on him. I personally recruited Xiao Song into the gang. If he has any problems, can I not know..."