Ji Yunshu held her lantern, focusing intently on searching for clues in the vicinity. Li Shiyan kept chattering incessantly beside her.

Just like an old woman reciting scriptures!

A while passed. Ji Yunshu still hadn’t said a single word. Luo Yang pulled a long face, both angry and helpless, “I’m telling you, you’re really no fun. How can there be someone like you in this world? Like a mute gourd—not saying anything, just circling around here. Could it be that by circling around, you can make the murderer appear?”

Ji Yunshu frowned slightly. Her steps came to an abrupt halt. Then she turned and glared fiercely at him, saying, “Can you be quiet? If you keep talking nonstop like this, are you trying to lure the people outside in here?”

Luo Yang raised both eyebrows and said, “Who told you not to speak! Just tell me what you’re looking for—maybe I can help you search together.”

“I also don’t know what I’m looking for!”

“You don’t even know what you’re looking for? Then what are you doing here?”

Ji Yunshu was speechless. She took a deep breath and forced herself to be patient, “Right now I need to find clues the murderer left behind in the artificial hill. But I don’t know what this clue is, so I have to search. Perhaps I can find something, or perhaps I won’t find anything at all. But investigating cases is like this—no one can say for certain. Sometimes you even have to rely on heaven’s help.”

“Investigating cases?” Luo Yang couldn’t help but laugh mockingly. He looked Ji Yunshu up and down a few times, his fingers also waving up and down as he said, “You? Investigating cases? Do you think you’re someone from the yamen or a magistrate? Or have you taken yourself for someone from the Court of Judicial Review? You’re a woman—what cases are you investigating? What kind of results could you produce? Stop making trouble. You’ve been at this for so long already. If this continues, it’ll be dawn.”

His tone was full of doubt and disdain.

Ji Yunshu really wanted to take something and stuff it in his mouth. Her temples twitched a few times as she said, “In the time you’re wasting talking nonsense, others would have already accomplished many things.”

“You…”

“If you don’t want to stay here, then go back and sleep. I won’t stop you!” Ji Yunshu continued forward, searching carefully.

Luo Yang opened his mouth but couldn’t say a single word.

In the end, he still followed her without any backbone.

But after they searched inside for quite a while, they didn’t discover any clues.

Clearly, the murderer was also an extremely cautious person!

Ji Yunshu let out a soft sigh.

Luo Yang shrugged, “Are you giving up now? There’s nothing here.”

“Impossible! There must be somewhere I’ve overlooked.”

“So are you going to flip over the entire artificial hill?”

“…” Ji Yunshu remained silent.

Luo Yang pulled her, saying, “Alright, let’s go quickly. Why are you as stubborn as a bull? Besides, if the people outside discover us soon, we won’t be able to leave.”

No matter how stubborn Ji Yunshu was, she couldn’t be single-minded about it. She had no choice but to leave.

Luo Yang was in front.

She was behind.

Just as they passed through a small cave, suddenly a flash of silver light swiftly passed before Ji Yunshu’s eyes.

Immediately, her eyes narrowed slightly, and her steps stopped in place.

Based on years of occupational habits from investigating cases and her keen powers of observation, Ji Yunshu felt that flash of silver light came too coincidentally.

Luo Yang noticed there was no sound behind him. Looking back, he saw her standing motionless.

“What’s wrong?” Luo Yang sensed something wasn’t quite right with her.

With that, he walked toward Ji Yunshu!

Ji Yunshu immediately stopped him with a word, “Don’t come over.”

Uh!

Luo Yang’s steps halted abruptly.

He looked at her with a blank expression, not understanding.

He couldn’t help but look around in all directions. His voice inevitably lowered somewhat as he asked worriedly, “What’s… wrong with you? Did something happen?”

Could it be she had stepped on a trap underfoot?

Or had she seen something she shouldn’t have seen?

Or had she noticed something?

Ji Yunshu didn’t respond. Her steps retreated backward slightly, her movements very slow.

Until—

When that flash of silver light that had passed before her eyes earlier fell on her eyes again, her steps stopped.

Luo Yang was astonished, “What is that on your eyes?”

She held her breath and said to Luo Yang, “Walk over slowly.”

Luo Yang didn’t understand, but still followed her words and walked over slowly.

When half of that silver light on Ji Yunshu’s eyes was blocked, she called out, “Stop!”

Luo Yang’s body stiffened!

He stopped in place.

What exactly was this woman up to?

Ji Yunshu stared at his shadow cast on the artificial hill, then walked over.

In the crack of the artificial hill covered by Luo Yang’s shadow, she saw a silver thread stained with bloodstains.

It was like embroidery thread from clothing that had been caught and left behind.

Beside the silver thread, there was also a patch of very light-colored bloodstain. Looking carefully, that bloodstain wasn’t a blob but rather resembled a flower-shaped pattern. Presumably, that pattern had been stained with fresh blood, then inadvertently rubbed against the artificial hill, forming this shape.

Luo Yang tilted his head to look and quickly asked, “What is this?”

“Silver thread!”

“How could this be here?”

Ji Yunshu set down the lantern in her hand, pulled that silver thread out from the fine crack in the artificial hill, then handed it to Luo Yang to keep. She also took out a white handkerchief she carried on her person, brushed it neatly a few times, then pressed it against that blood-colored pattern imprinted on the artificial hill, trying to transfer the pattern’s shape onto the handkerchief. But the bloodstain had already dried on the rock—it couldn’t be transferred to the handkerchief at all!

Fortunately—

She noticed there was a lot of grass stained with water droplets at the bottom of various corners of the artificial hill. She instructed Luo Yang, “Pick some grass and bring it here.”

Luo Yang’s eyes rotated twice in circles. His face was blank, but he still did as told.

He picked a handful of grass for her.

Ji Yunshu couldn’t free her hands, so she could only say, “Sprinkle the water droplets on top onto the handkerchief.”

“Oh!”

Luo Yang carefully sprinkled the water droplets on top.

After the water droplets gradually seeped into the handkerchief, Ji Yunshu pressed down hard on the handkerchief with her palm several times. The water stains simultaneously transferred onto the blood pattern. After being moistened with water, the bloodstain underneath gradually became imprinted on that white, clean handkerchief.

Very clearly!

Luo Yang was stunned watching!

Sometimes he wondered—what exactly was this woman’s head made of?

It certainly turned quite quickly!

Ji Yunshu waved the handkerchief gently a few times. Only after the water and bloodstains on it had dried did she fold it and place it in her sleeve.

At this moment—

Suddenly a voice came from outside, “Who’s inside?”

Uh!

Then they heard a series of footsteps.

Those servants, one by one carrying lanterns, rushed inside.

Ji Yunshu immediately blew out the lantern in her hand.

“Let’s go quickly!” Luo Yang instinctively grabbed Ji Yunshu’s hand and led her in another direction.

But those servants dispersed into the artificial hill, surrounding them from all sides!

Getting closer and closer…

Suddenly—

A figure leapt out from the artificial hill. The toes were like a dragonfly touching water, lightly leaping on the artificial hill, then heading in the opposite direction from Ji Yunshu and Luo Yang.

“Who’s there?” Someone shouted loudly.

This also attracted the attention of those servants.

“Chase quickly!”

“Over there!”

For a moment, they all surged toward that shadow.

This also made it convenient for Ji Yunshu and Luo Yang to quickly leave the artificial hill and hide beside a covered corridor to one side.

Luo Yang gasped for breath, saying, “That was way too close just now! We were almost caught by those people.”

Ji Yunshu withdrew her hand from his.

Luo Yang looked at his now-empty hand. He didn’t pay much attention to it and continued, “Who was that figure just now? If it weren’t for him, we definitely would have been caught right now.”

Ji Yunshu’s gaze lowered slightly!

In her heart, she vaguely felt that person…

Resembled him extremely!

Could it really be Jingrong?

Luo Yang saw she remained silent for a long time. He waved his hand before her eyes and asked, “What are you doing? What are you spacing out about?”

She came back to her senses and said, “Nothing!”

“By the way, that silver thread and bloodstain just now should be clues, right? So what’s next?”

Ji Yunshu looked at him and said firmly, “Next is to examine the corpse!”

“What? Examine the corpse?” Luo Yang dug at his own ears, thinking he might have heard wrong. He asked again, “You said examine the corpse? Is that real or fake?”

“You didn’t hear wrong. Dawn is approaching now—we must act quickly!”

She went along the covered corridor—

Luo Yang immediately blocked her path, grabbing her arm and saying seriously and earnestly, “Alright, you’ve played enough! Do you really think you’re… some kind of divine person? Or do you think you’re some heavenly soldier saving lives and healing wounds? You’re not a coroner—what are you examining corpses for?”