Ji Yunshu and Jingrong walked along that alley going inward.

Because of several consecutive days of heavy snow, the alley was filled with accumulated snow!

Plus, the entire alley had been abandoned for years—extremely few people walked this way—so it was extremely derelict. The walls on both sides were dilapidated and covered with moss. There were even some messy tree branches lying around horizontally and vertically, piled chaotically everywhere!

Looking out, everything was a vast expanse of white.

As if there was no end in sight!

Because the accumulated snow on the ground was too thick, Ji Yunshu walked very slowly!

Jingrong suddenly grabbed her hand, tightly grasping her icy little hand.

This woman’s hands were always cold year-round.

It was precisely because of this that he wished he could give her all his warmth.

Ji Yunshu could clearly feel the strength with which he held her hand gradually increasing bit by bit.

Warmth blossomed in her heart.

Her five fingers also matched his palm, tightly gripping his hand.

Jingrong walked in front, carefully protecting her at his side.

He would step once, and she would step in his footprint to walk forward.

As the two walked further inward, an unpleasant smell grew increasingly stronger.

Like the smell of dead fish.

Pungent and foul!

Ji Yunshu said, “This place is so abandoned—why would Du Mubai come here?”

She was perplexed!

Jingrong continued leading her forward.

Soon, after passing through this long alley, the two finally arrived at the place the beggar had mentioned.

There was a lake there!

A lake with a foul, disgusting stench.

Many things floated on its surface.

The lake water was covered with a layer of green algae.

Extremely disgusting.

And by the lakeside was a pavilion.

The pavilion was neither large nor small, broken and dilapidated. Each of those red pillars had been eaten through badly by wood-boring insects, with wood shavings all over the ground!

The tiles on the roof had also fallen off everywhere!

How could this be a place for leisurely conversation and tea drinking?

If the person Du Mubai was supposed to meet was here, why would the two have stayed in such a remote place for as long as two hours?

At that time, what exactly had happened here?

Was this place where Du Mubai had been drugged?

Ji Yunshu walked toward the pavilion while thinking about various questions!

Jingrong’s thoughts were actually the same as hers.

Just as Ji Yunshu was about to enter the pavilion, Jingrong reached out and pulled her back.

“Careful!”

Her body was yanked backward.

Her shoulder happened to collide with Jingrong’s chest.

Before she could react, she saw a tile fall from the pavilion’s roof, hitting the ground by her feet with a bang.

It shattered into pieces!

Ji Yunshu wasn’t really frightened, just stunned.

When she came to her senses, she let out a long breath of relief.

Jingrong said, “People say when walking, observe three directions. You just walk looking only ahead. If you’d been injured or hit, wouldn’t I have to carry you on my back for a lifetime?”

Ji Yunshu glanced at him lightly and said, “From your tone, you seem somewhat disdainful of me.”

“Mm…”

“Mm?”

Jingrong smiled, then stepped inside, and without looking back, tossed out a line: “If there’s no other way, I’ll just have to carry you on my back for a lifetime.”

If there’s no other way, I’ll just have to carry you on my back for a lifetime!

Ji Yunshu smiled secretly.

This man, when being tender, could melt her heart into a pool of water.

When speaking words of love, he could also make her dizzy and disoriented.

She put away her smile and followed him in.

Because many of the pavilion’s tiles had fallen down, some parts of the roof were empty, and heavy snow drifted down from above, covering the pavilion.

Inside were a stone table and four stone stools.

And also… a bronze bell!

A large bronze bell placed on the ground.

The bronze bell was covered with dust!

Who knew how long it had been sitting there?

Normally bronze bells were hung in pavilions, but this one was placed on the ground, which seemed strange.

And even more eye-catching were—the circular protrusions on the bronze bell.

Jingrong seemed to have noticed them as soon as he entered. He walked directly to the bronze bell and tapped his fingers on those protrusions.

Signaling Ji Yunshu to look over.

Ji Yunshu walked over, touched them with her hand, measured the distance, and made a judgment based on Du Mubai’s height.

Suddenly she was startled with realization.

She said, “It’s right here!”

Very certain.

Jingrong said, “It seems Du Mubai really did meet the killer here. The place where his back was struck was this bronze bell.”

“That’s right!”

But—”However… who was the person he met?” Jingrong pondered, somewhat puzzled, and said, “The beggar at the alley entrance said that day, aside from Du Mubai, no one else entered at all. If… Du Mubai was drugged unconscious here, then who was the person who drugged him? How did that person get in? And why would the beggar say he personally saw Du Mubai leave the alley? This completely…”

Before he finished speaking—

Ji Yunshu picked up the tail of his sentence and said, “Completely defies logic!”

“Not only does it defy logic, it’s also very strange!”

“Perhaps… this has a lot to do with Du Mubai being inside for two hours.” Ji Yunshu said, “It’s just that during those two hours, what exactly… was he doing?”

While speaking, Ji Yunshu walked toward the edge of the pavilion.

Before her was a body of lake water!

The lake water was very dirty, with various messy things floating on top.

And it smelled foul and disgusting.

Ji Yunshu couldn’t help but cover her nose.

Her brow furrowed lightly!

Her gaze looked at a grove of trees across the lake.

The grove wasn’t large—behind it should lead to some place.

It was just rather far away, so she couldn’t see very clearly.

And at this moment, she seemed to understand somewhat.

It was just that some doubts still hadn’t been resolved!

Jingrong silently stood beside her.

Following her line of sight to look over there.

Thinking, what’s over there?

Isn’t it just a grove of trees?

But Ji Yunshu suddenly said, “I know now. I know how the killer struck.”

Her tone was very firm.

How the killer struck?

Jingrong still hadn’t figured it out.

Many times, he suspected he might have lived these twenty-some years in vain!

His brain wasn’t as good as a woman’s—that was one thing.

His reaction ability wasn’t as good either.

Thinking about it, he felt quite inferior!

So he asked, “You know how the killer struck? Then how did the killer strike?”

Ji Yunshu was silent for a moment.

Pondering in her mind a few times.

She said, “I still need to clarify a few things. Perhaps… then everything will be clear.”

“What?”

Ji Yunshu smiled at him. “The answer might be right across the lake.”

Across?

Jingrong looked over.

Before he could understand—

Ji Yunshu said again, “There’s one more thing I need to go confirm with that beggar from earlier.”

With that, she left the pavilion.

Jingrong followed.

He had already become accustomed to silently accompanying her.

The two retraced their earlier route and left this place.

They returned to face the beggar. People speak of “three visits to the thatched cottage,” but today Ji Yunshu and Jingrong made three visits to the straw shelter.