To force the two to separate, the Qiang woman's family beat her to death. In the end, Tianchi was heartbroken and wanted to commit suicide.
But the woman was human, while Tianchi was born of nature and could not die. In the end, the woman died because of him.
Tianchi was filled with despair and, in his anger, punished the Qiang people, declaring that anyone who stepped into Tianchi's territory would be struck dead by lightning.
For more than 20 years, no one has dared to set foot in the Tianchi area of Suizhou.
After listening to Su Yan's story, Shen Yao found it utterly absurd. "This Heavenly Pool spirit fell in love with a Qiang woman, and Prefect Li would actually like this kind of story?"
No matter what, Li Qingming was a third-class Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations). If he knew about supernatural things, it would be as absurd as a mouse falling in love with a cat.
Su Yan thought it was indeed quite outrageous.
But they soon discovered something was wrong: the paint on the relief painting on the wall was clearly from a recent work, which meant that Li Qingming had deliberately left the painting on the wall.
But Su Yan couldn't understand why Li Qingming would leave behind such a painting.
Finally, the two stayed in Li Qingming's house for an hour, and apart from the painting on the wall, they found no other clues.
Su Yan and Shen Yao then returned to the inn.
Looking at the portrait Su Yan had drawn, Shen Yao realized that with Li Changyan's portrait, he was no longer completely clueless, but finding her would still be quite difficult.
"Su Yan, do you think that besides us, there are other people searching for Li Changyan?"
"It's hard to say. If they don't find what they're looking for in Li Qingming, Li Changyan will definitely be the next suspect."
"Then we should send someone to find Li Changyan immediately."
“No, the government officials don’t even know who is friend or foe. If we use the government’s power to find people, Li Changyan will be doomed.”
"What can we do? There are only two of us. Even if we walk until our legs break, we still won't be able to find where Li Changyan is hidden."
Su Yan smiled calmly, keeping everyone in suspense with a mysterious air, "No rush, I'll take you somewhere tonight."
Seeing that Su Yan refused to reveal the truth, Shen Yao was helpless, but he still patiently waited until night.
As night fell, a full moon rose overhead, its bright light spilling onto the earth, onto the stone steps, and onto the windowsill.
The moonlight also fell on Su Yan and Shen Yao, casting their shadows long and narrow.
In the darkness of night, the two hurried about, darting back and forth on the streets, finally shaking off the little tail following them.
At this moment, Su Yan and Shen Yao were sitting in a wonton stall, secretly watching the person who had been following them walk in another direction.
In fact, from the day she entered Suizhou, Su Yan already knew that someone was following her.
Su Yan knew that she was in the open while her enemy was in the dark, and she couldn't shake them off. But the place she was going to couldn't be known by anyone.
So while she was at the inn, she was constantly plotting to shake off her pursuers, and she clearly succeeded.
Su Yan changed back into women's clothing, while Shen Yao disguised himself as her husband. After some disguise, they were indeed not recognized.
Su Yan watched as the little tail walked further and further away until it disappeared into the distance.
She immediately took a big bite of wonton, then put down her spoon and urged Shen Yao beside her, "Stop eating, they're gone, let's leave quickly..."
Upon hearing this, Shen Yao immediately wolfed down his wontons, finishing them off and also taking care of the leftovers in Su Yan's bowl.
Su Yan led Shen Yao to a corner of the wall, in front of a half-grown child who was fast asleep on the ground. The child was about fifteen or sixteen years old, covered in dirt, but his face was very clean.
Without saying a word, Su Yan took out a tael of silver from her purse and threw it in front of the little beggar.
The little beggar was half asleep when someone suddenly hit him with something, which hurt quite a bit. He instantly sprang to his feet, opening his eyes in fury.
Seeing two strangers standing in front of him, dressed in fine clothes and clearly wealthy, he immediately felt disgusted. Without saying a word, he prepared to get up, grab the tattered straw mat he was lying on, and find another place to sleep.
When the little beggar saw the silver coins that had fallen onto the corner of his clothes, his eyes lit up instantly, and he wanted to put them in his pocket.
At this moment, Su Yan spoke.
"Find someone for me, and I'll give you ten taels of silver as a reward."
In fact, Su Yan had noticed that the little beggar sleeping in the corner was unusual; he had been leading all the little beggars in Huai'an Prefecture.
If Su Yan hadn't accidentally witnessed the little beggar giving orders, she would have been truly worried about not being able to find anyone to search for Li Changyan.
Government officials are not to be trusted, but beggars' dens are a different story.
At the very least, it's organized, it's a gang.
When the little beggar saw Su Yan's face clearly by the moonlight, he was stunned. It was the first time he had ever seen such a stunning beauty, and he almost drooled.
The little beggar wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth, looked at Su Yan with a smile, and stammered, "You...you're looking for...who...who..."
Su Yan took out Li Changyan's portrait from her bosom and handed it to the little beggar. "She is my sister. She left home three months ago and has not returned. I want to know if she is in Huai'an Prefecture."
The little beggar opened the portrait, looked at the girl in it, and felt she looked very familiar. A look of doubt flashed in his eyes, but he quickly recovered and smiled, holding out his hand, saying, "One tael... not enough, I need... five taels..."
Su Yan didn't expect this little stutterer to be so greedy, but she didn't say anything and took out the remaining four taels of silver and handed it to him.
Before Xie Yu left, he secretly slipped Su Yan five hundred taels of silver.
Su Yan felt no guilt whatsoever when spending money on someone like Xie Yu who was not short of cash.
They gave it to me without hesitation.
The stutterer weighed the silver in his hand, even taking a bite to confirm it was real silver. He nodded with satisfaction, "Just wait. If we find the person, I'll hang a red cloth on that tree. Once you see it, just come find me."
The stutterer pointed to a camphor tree not far away.
"Okay...I'll wait for you..."
After saying that, she pulled Shen Yao away.
As Su Yan walked further and further away, the stutterer muttered under his breath, "Trying to catch Chang Yan won't be that easy."
After saying that, he got up, picked up the straw mat he was sitting on, happily took the silver, whistled, and left the street.
At this moment, Su Yan glanced at the stuttering boy out of the corner of her eye and immediately pulled Shen Yao to chase after him.
Actually, Su Yan initially wanted Xiao Jieba to find Li Changyan.
However, when Little Stutterer saw Li Changyan's portrait, his expression was very strange. He didn't ask her name, age, or anything that could prove her identity, such as birthmarks or keepsakes.
And it's obvious that he only agreed to find the person in order to pocket the money.
Su Yan couldn't possibly miss this little trick, so she played along and gave the money to the stutterer.
Most importantly, Su Yan felt that the stutterer might know who the girl in the portrait was.
That's why I secretly followed him as soon as he left.
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