As soon as the little beggar finished speaking, Su Yan immediately recalled the woman she had just seen in the crowd.
The direction she went towards was the backyard, which happened to be the nuns' quarters, and a bad thought surfaced in her mind...
Instead of fleeing the scene, the murderer went to the backyard, which must be suspicious. After realizing this, Su Yan gave Sun San a look and pointed to the backyard, signaling him to take his men to check it out.
Sun San understood immediately and, with a few constables, headed towards the backyard, disappearing into the distance in the blink of an eye.
Guo Huan didn't know why Su Yan had Sun San take people to the backyard, but he didn't have time to ask. He waved to the other constables, pointed at the little beggar, and said, "Men, take the criminal away and lock him in the jail for trial."
Upon receiving the order, the constables quickly handcuffed and shackled the little beggar.
"I'm innocent! I didn't kill anyone, why are you arresting me..." The little beggar struggled, looking at Su Yan with teary eyes, "Brother, save me, I really didn't kill anyone, I just wanted to fill my stomach... Brother, save me..."
The helpless and fearful look in the little beggar's eyes pierced Su Yan's heart. She didn't understand why Guo Huan was doing this, so she stepped forward and pleaded, "Lord Guo, this child is innocent. Why are you arresting him?"
"Innocent?" Guo Huan raised a contemptuous smile, stepped forward and patted Su Yan's shoulder. "Su Yan, although I value you, you still have a lot to learn about the ways of officialdom..."
Su Yan was completely confused. "What do you mean?"
"The murders of the past few days have become the talk of the town in Chang'an. If I don't give my superiors an explanation now, how can I keep my official hat?"
Guo Huan's suggestion made Su Yan instantly understand his intention. He was afraid that if the case made no progress, he would lose his official position. Now that they finally had a suspect who could deal with the higher-ups, how could they not make the most of it?
“But Lord Guo, this child is not the real murderer. What’s the difference between arbitrarily arresting people and taking lives? You are the people’s official, and this is not appropriate.”
Upon hearing this, Guo Huan instantly exploded. He had never hated someone so stubborn and unyielding. He angrily pointed at her and said, "Su Yan, what you need to do now is solve the case quickly. Since he is an accomplice, what's wrong with me arresting him? Instead of letting you boss me around, do your own job. If you don't solve the case soon, our fate will be the same as his..."
After saying that, Guo Huan angrily turned and left, and Su Yan watched helplessly as the little beggar was taken away.
As Su Yan watched Guo Huan's heartless departure, waves of emotion surged within her. It turned out that a living human life was nothing more than an ant in the eyes of others.
She desperately wanted to save the little beggar, but she also knew very well that if the murder case remained unsolved, more people would sacrifice their lives.
So Su Yan hurried to the backyard, hoping to find something.
The backyard was connected to the kitchen and wasn't considered remote. By the time Su Yan arrived, the backyard was a complete mess.
Upon entering, one could see the constables brought by Sun San knocked unconscious on the ground, and the sounds of fighting could be heard from inside the room.
Is the murderer still alive?
Su Yan quickly shouted, attracting more people, "Help! Catch the murderer! Help!"
The shouts quickly attracted the guards stationed elsewhere, who also rushed towards the location.
Su Yan picked up the yamen runner's knife from the ground, mustered her courage, and rushed into the room. She saw a white figure burst out of the window and disappear into the dense woods in the backyard in the blink of an eye.
Sun San's leg was slashed by the murderer. He wanted to chase after him, but his leg was too weak, and he missed and fell hard to the ground.
Seeing this, Su Yan quickly went forward to check on Sun San's injuries. Fortunately, his Achilles tendon hadn't been severed, otherwise he might have lost his leg. She quickly tore off a corner of her clothes and used it to wrap the wound to stop the bleeding. "Brother Sun, are you alright?"
Sun San was in excruciating pain, but he gritted his teeth and persevered, saying, "Don't worry about me, quickly take men and chase after them..."
"No, your leg needs to be bandaged..."
Sun San, drenched in sweat from the pain, ignored it and shoved Su Yan aside, shouting, "Hurry, don't let the murderer get away..."
Su Yan couldn't refuse, so she gave Sun San a quick treatment and led the arriving constables into the woods to chase after him.
The White Horse Temple occupies only a thousand acres, is an isolated temple surrounded by water. Hundreds of people searched for it until late at night, but still found nothing.
The murderer seemed to have vanished into thin air.
Standing in the moonlight, Su Yan felt a headache coming on just thinking about not catching anyone.
"How are you..." Sun San, leaning on his crutch, limped over to her.
Su Yan's face was gloomy, and she shook her head in disappointment. "There was nothing unusual at the ferry crossing. I led people to search several times but found nothing. They've probably already disappeared."
Sun San stepped forward and patted Su Yan on the shoulder reassuringly, "It's alright, you can run away but you can't hide."
"Brother Sun, is that your injury?"
"It's alright, it's all bandaged up now. That little wench's kung fu is pretty good, even I got hurt."
Upon hearing that Sun San had exchanged blows with the murderer, Su Yan instantly regained her energy. "Brother Sun, did you see the murderer's face?"
Sun San shook his head. "No... She was wearing a ghost mask, and her moves were all insidious. She doesn't seem to be from an ordinary martial arts sect."
These words piqued Su Yan's curiosity. "A ghost mask? What kind of ghost mask is it?"
Sun San pondered for a moment, "It's a bit like those eerie masks from the Western Regions, I can't quite put my finger on it."
Su Yan felt slightly relieved. Fortunately, she hadn't come away empty-handed. At least she knew that the murderer was a woman who was skilled in martial arts and could obtain incense, phosphorus powder, and tung oil from the Western Regions. She was definitely not an ordinary person.
Unfortunately, she didn't see the mask the killer was wearing at the time, but Su Yan had a general idea of who it might be. "Looks like I'll have to ask around in the martial arts world..."
"Brother Su Yan, don't worry, I have another clue."
After saying that, Sun San pulled a painting from behind his waist and handed it to Su Yan.
"This is?"
“It was snatched back from the murderer; of course, she was looking for this in the victim’s bedroom.”
Su Yan took the scroll and opened it. The scroll depicted four beautiful women who looked like fairies. The scene in the painting seemed to be a pavilion in the center of a lake. One woman was playing the zither, another was singing, another was brewing tea with a hint of reproach in her eyes, and yet another was dancing gracefully.
The date on the signature is spring of the twelfth year of the Great Liang Dynasty, which is ten years ago.
The painting was ordinary, not a masterpiece by a famous artist, and Su Yan couldn't guess why the murderer would be after this painting.
Looking at the beauty in the painting, Su Yan seemed to be lost in thought, feeling that she looked somewhat familiar. She asked Sun San, who was standing next to her, "Brother Sun, take a closer look and see if the person in this painting looks familiar?"
Upon hearing Su Yan's words, Sun San couldn't help but become curious. He picked up the scroll and examined it carefully, but unfortunately, he was a rough man and knew nothing about music, chess, calligraphy, or painting. "The beauties in this painting are beautiful, but how can they be compared to real people?"
Su Yan pointed to the dancers and singers in the painting, "Brother Sun, don't you think these two people in the painting look similar to the two deceased men from before?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Sun San perked up instantly, narrowed his eyes, and examined the object more carefully. "You know what, it really does look somewhat similar."
Su Yan then pointed to the woman playing the zither in the painting, saying, "The woman playing the zither in the painting should be the deceased of today."
"How did you figure it out?" Sun San asked, his mouth agape in disbelief. He had seen corpses before, their features often crushed, but Su Yan was still able to recognize them.
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