Jiang Yimian and her companion rode their horses at breakneck speed toward the official road outside Yuncheng Prefecture.
Water droplets splashed out of the puddles on the road and then fell back into the various puddles.
Last night's rain caused landslides in many places along the official road, but fortunately they were not particularly large-scale and did not affect the horses' running.
When they reached the hillside where they had met the woman, Jiang Yimian and her companion found a secluded spot to tie up their horses and then walked up the mountain.
The area around the official road consists of low hills that don't look very high, but once you go up, you'll find that the forest is very deep, with lush trees everywhere. The green leaves block out the light, making the forest seem rather dark.
Because of the rain last night, the road was slippery and difficult to walk on. There was soft soil mixed with dead branches and leaves everywhere, and stepping on it made a slight sloshing sound.
Jiang Yimian and the other person didn't have an easy time walking either, but fortunately they got used to it quickly.
The two walked and looked around for almost half an hour but found no trace of anyone living on the mountain.
Jiang Yimian frowned and asked in confusion, "Since that woman was able to gather medicinal herbs near the official road, she must have settled down on this mountain. How come there is no trace of her living here?"
It's impossible for a young woman like her to go deep into the woods; she should be nearby.
Lu Cijian also found it strange. He looked around but didn't find anything unusual. However, his gaze suddenly fell on a string of messy marks in the distance.
He pointed to the marks, "Look there."
Some faint marks appeared on the muddy ground, mixed with leaves and small puddles.
Jiang Yimian looked over and thought the marks looked like human footprints, but they were not very clear because of the rain.
She walked over and looked at it carefully before saying, "These should be human footprints, and they belong to an adult man. He was probably carrying something heavy, otherwise, he wouldn't have left such deep marks."
If it hadn't rained heavily last night, the mark would have been even more noticeable.
Lu Cijian raised an eyebrow, "Mianmian knows these things?"
Judging a person's weight and height from their footprints is usually a method used by the Ministry of Justice or the Court of Judicial Review. He didn't know that Mianmian could do it too.
Jiang Yimian smiled and said, "Of course, I'm all-around capable, just watch."
She had infiltrated the investigation department during previous missions, and had learned a lot about criminal investigation. In addition, she was also knowledgeable in medicine and familiar with human anatomy, so she learned even faster. As a result, she subconsciously spoke out when she saw the footprints.
Lu Cijian curved his lips into a smile, his peach blossom eyes filled with laughter as he stared at Jiang Yimian, and said in a serious tone, "Well, today this humble official can only rely on Doctor Jiang."
The young man was already handsome with bright, sparkling eyes. When he smiled, his whole face softened, losing its arrogant and dashing air and gaining a gentle warmth.
Jiang Yimian was momentarily distracted, but then she heard a soft laugh beside her, "Mianmian, are you distracted because I'm lost in thought?"
Lu Cijian's smile deepened, and his eyes sparkled as he stared at her, as if they held stars.
Staring at those intense eyes, Jiang Yimian felt her face burning.
As the distance between them drew closer, Jiang Yimian quickly averted her gaze, pushed away the handsome face, and stared at the footprints on the ground, saying, "Let's get down to business."
I almost got seduced by this guy. Who says only women are trouble? Men are too.
Lu Cijian responded with a somewhat disappointed tone, her face full of grievance.
Jiang Yimian pretended not to see it, stared at the footprints for a while, and then discovered more messy footsteps ahead.
This time it wasn't just one person; there were many, with footprints of varying depths and sizes mixed together.
She immediately frowned and said, "These must all be footprints from last night. It was quite lively here yesterday."
Lu Cijian immediately said seriously, "Let's go and take a look first."
The two followed the messy footprints and came to a clearing. The trees around them were not as dense as before; only a few stood there, looking rather lonely.
The footprints stopped abruptly there, as if everything had been erased, leaving no trace, not even the messy marks that didn't look like footprints.
Jiang Yimian frowned, somewhat helplessly, "The rain was too heavy last night, washing away all the marks."
There are still some traces ahead, but that's only because of the leaves covering them. This place is too open; after last night's rain, nothing can be preserved.
Lu Cijian's expression grew increasingly serious. He wondered who had been searched here last night, and whether they were the people he was looking for.
There's very little news from the palace, and there's no news from the Ink Pavilion either.
He doesn't even know if General Wei is in Qingnan; it's like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Furthermore, with the King of Chu's men also watching closely, it's uncertain whether we can successfully find General Wei and bring him back to the capital.
Thinking it over, he simply said, "Let's go back first. I'll have Wang San and the others come and search this place thoroughly to find out what happened."
The area on the mountain was much larger than he had imagined, and it would be difficult for the two of them to find anything useful in a short time.
In addition, there are still disaster victims to deal with; there are many things to do, and they need to be addressed one by one.
Jiang Yimian nodded and was about to leave when she heard several faint sounds coming from the woods, like voices.
Startled, she exchanged a glance with Lu Cijian, and silently followed the sound.
After passing through a small grove of trees, we saw a dozen or so men dressed in tight-fitting clothes looking around. Each of them looked listless, and the fatigue on their faces was impossible to hide.
One of them was getting impatient. "Why haven't they come back yet? Maybe they've gone to slack off. It's taken them so long to catch someone. We've been on this mountain all night and haven't found anything."
"Even if Brother Qi catches the person, he should at least let us know."
"Who knows who that person who ran last night was? It looked like he was carrying someone on his back, but he was running so fast. Maybe it was just a trick."
"He doesn't look like the one next to Wei Jinghai. That guy was seriously injured, yet he's still so powerful. Qi Shang brought so many people but couldn't stop him."
"I heard that Deputy General Jiang's greatest skill isn't sparring, but his masterful troop deployment and formation; he's a true expert on the battlefield."
And yet, with so many of us, we still couldn't catch him.
“He ran away yesterday carrying someone on his back. We don’t even know if it was Wei Jinghai. Maybe we should continue searching on the mountain.”
What if that guy pulls a diversionary tactic?
"Yes, if we find them, the matter will be settled, and we can go into the city to rest. We won't have to search for them in the rain on the mountain."
Hearing this, the group barely managed to pull themselves together and were about to split up to continue searching for the person when they suddenly heard a soft exclamation.
Those people instantly became alert and looked towards the woods.
The leader simply gestured to the people around him to go and take a look.
The man moved quietly, touching the weapon at his waist, and slowly walked towards where Jiang Yimian and the others were hiding.
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