Jing Chen’s room was small—one bed, one cabinet, one table, one chair.

The bedding on the bed was neatly folded;

Two old nun’s robes hung on the back of the door;

Two pairs of old cloth shoes sat beneath the bed;

A thick stack of Buddhist scriptures lay on the table.

Beyond this, there was nothing else.

Yan Sanhe walked to the table and pulled open the drawer. Inside were a bronze mirror, a comb, and two plain wooden hairpins without any carved patterns.

“Is this all of Jing Chen’s belongings?”

“There are also the bowls and chopsticks she regularly used for eating, the wooden basins for washing her face and soaking her feet, and her mosquito net—all burned on the day of the funeral.”

“What about the clothes she wore when she died? Her jewelry? The rouge and face powder she used?”

“We threw them away!”

“Why throw them away?”

“The abbess said these were worldly objects that couldn’t be kept in the nunnery.”

Only worldly objects could reveal something about Jing Chen’s background!

Yan Sanhe’s tone turned severe. “How were they thrown away? Who threw them away? Where were they thrown?”

“I, I threw them away.”

Lanchuan didn’t understand why the honored guest’s tone had suddenly changed and trembled slightly. “I just gathered everything into a bundle and threw it in the river.”

How capable of you!

Yan Sanhe quickly walked outside and shouted, “Li Buyan!”

Li Buyan came flying over almost at a run. “What happened?”

“The clothes Jing Chen wore before she died and her jewelry were all thrown in the river. We need to go retrieve them.”

“I’ll do it—I’m a good swimmer.”

Li Buyan: “Little nun, lead the way.”

“I, I should tell the abbess first…”

“Tell her what?”

Li Buyan grabbed her by the collar, smiling broadly. “I’ll give your abbess permission myself.”

…

The river Lanchuan mentioned was actually a small lake in the forest, not far from the Water Moon Nunnery—about half an hour’s walk away.

The water was very clear, with blue sky and white clouds reflected in it. Quite beautiful.

Yan Sanhe patted Lanchuan’s shoulder. “Where did you throw it? Point it out to me.”

Lanchuan walked to the riverbank and pointed at the large stone beneath her feet. “I stood right here and threw it into the river.”

Then she raised her hand and pointed to a spot in the river. “It seemed to land about there.”

Li Buyan removed her outer robe and shoes. Just as she was about to enter the water, Yan Sanhe grabbed her.

“First go down and check the depth. If it’s too deep, come back up and we’ll think of another way.”

“My swimming skills were personally taught by my mother—I’m absolutely a little white dragon in the waves.”

Li Buyan threw her a flirtatious wink and slowly waded into the water from the bank.

Though the sun was blazing overhead at the end of May, the water was still cool.

“I’m going under!”

Li Buyan flipped her body and sank down.

“Be careful!” For some reason, Yan Sanhe felt uneasy.

Fortunately, after just a moment, Li Buyan’s head emerged from the water. “I can see the bundle—gray colored, right?”

“Yes, yes, yes!” Lanchuan nodded eagerly. “It’s gray.”

Yan Sanhe breathed a sigh of relief. “How deep is it?”

“Not deep—about two people tall. No problem, my lady—watch this!”

Li Buyan took a deep breath and sank beneath the water again.

The water truly wasn’t deep.

She dove to the bottom and grabbed the bundle that had sunk to the riverbed.

The bundle was quite heavy, waterlogged. Li Buyan couldn’t use her full strength in the water and could only slowly float upward.

Breaking the surface.

She caught her breath and shouted toward the shore, “Sanhe, I’ve got it!”

No one answered.

Where were they?

She swept her gaze around—not only was Yan Sanhe gone, but the little nun Lanchuan had also vanished without a trace.

Li Buyan shuddered violently and swam forcefully toward the shore.

—

Before she had even emerged from the water, she saw Lanchuan lying stiffly behind the rock.

Not good!

The thought had barely formed when she caught movement in her peripheral vision—someone was charging toward her.

“Damn it!”

Li Buyan threw down the bundle, leaped onto the shore, snatched up her soft sword from the ground, and charged forward like a madwoman.

She charged with such urgency and ferocity that her first move with the soft sword was a killing strike.

The person quickly flipped backward, shouting loudly, “Miss Li, I’m Third Master’s man—stop!”

Xie Zhifei?

Li Buyan quickly withdrew her sword. “Where’s Yan Sanhe? Did you take her away?”

“We didn’t take her away.”

The man spoke rapidly. “She was knocked unconscious and carried off. There were two of them, both very agile.”

Li Buyan felt her soul scatter, roaring, “Then why didn’t you save her?”

The guard looked helplessly anxious.

“Third Master was afraid of startling you, so he told me to follow from a distance. I heard the commotion and rushed over as fast as I could, but I was still too late.”

“Then why are you still talking?”

Li Buyan grabbed the guard, forcefully suppressing the fury erupting from her heart. “Which way did they go? Chase them!”

…

Central City Patrol Command Office.

“BANG!”

Chief Bai Yanlin slammed a stack of case files heavily onto the table. The officers below shrank their heads, not daring to make a sound.

The case of Xu Sheng’s mutilation—the Embroidered Uniform Guard had ordered them to assist in the investigation.

They’d investigated and investigated, but the culprit seemed to have descended from heaven and departed the same way—they couldn’t find a trace.

The Ministry of Justice sent people daily to press them. Unable to withstand the pressure, the chief took it out on his subordinates.

“Chief Bai, Chief Bai!”

Zhu Qing shouted as he charged in. “My Third Master has disappeared.”

“What?”

Bai Yanlin suspected he’d misheard. “Who disappeared?”

“My Third Master.”

Zhu Qing pressed right up to him, backing Bai Yanlin into a corner. “This afternoon during patrol, several petty thieves suddenly appeared and led the men on a wild chase, scattering them.”

Bai Yanlin: “And then?”

Zhu Qing laid his blade before him. “Then we found this on the ground—my Third Master’s sword.”

“Where is he?”

“He’s disappeared.”

Zhu Qing gritted his teeth. “A few beggar children saw someone knock Third Master unconscious, stuff him in a sack, and carry him away.”

“You’re saying…”

Bai Yanlin looked at Zhu Qing with shock and doubt. “…Xie Laosan was abducted?”

How was that possible?

What suicidal lunatic would dare lay hands on Xie Laosan? Before they acted, didn’t they bother to find out that Xie Laosan…

Bai Yanlin involuntarily shivered. “Who do you think did it?”

“Do we even need to guess?”

Zhu Qing exhaled two streams of cold air from his nostrils. “Whoever my Third Master has recently offended is who did this!”

The Xu family?

Xu Sheng?

Bai Yanlin almost blurted it out.

“Chief Bai, you’d better send people to search immediately.”

Zhu Qing’s usually expressionless face showed ferocity.

“If anything happens to my Third Master, just wait for my master to file an imperial complaint at tomorrow’s morning court!”

Not finished, Zhu Qing added through clenched teeth, “No one’s official hat will be safe!”

Bai Yanlin: “…”

“CLANG—”

Bai Yanlin slammed his fist on the desk, lips trembling. “What are you all standing around for? Go search!”

“Yes!”

The officers moved swiftly.

This was no joke—never mind keeping their official hats, Third Master was a brother in their office!

Within just a quarter-hour, the patrol offices of all five districts—east, south, west, north, and central—knew that Third Master had been knocked unconscious and abducted. They all took to the streets to search.

Bai Yanlin thought it wasn’t enough.

“Someone!”

“Chief?”

“Immediately report Third Master’s situation to the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Patrol Censor.”

“Yes!”