Before Sun San could even reply, Shen Yao immediately ordered without hesitation, "Without further ado, take men to Wan Hua Lou to arrest them."
The government officials made their way to Wanhua Tower, only to find that since Xin Yunniang was arrested, and Ying Liu had redeemed herself and left two days earlier, there had been no news of her since.
The fact that a mere brothel maid could have such a large sum of money to redeem herself clearly shows that she had paved the way for her future.
With Ying Liu's news, the trail went completely cold.
"It seems I'm too late. How could I be so careless as to overlook such an important clue?"
"This is not your fault, there is no need to blame yourself." Lord Shen did not use a blaming tone, but instead carefully comforted her.
"But Lord Shen, what should we do next? All the leads have gone cold."
Shen Yao looked up at the sky, which was a clear, cloudless blue, as if it could not tolerate even a trace of impurity.
After a long silence, he said in a deep voice, "The net of Heaven is vast, and though its meshes are wide, nothing escapes it. I will not give up until the very last moment."
Shen Yao's words instantly encouraged Su Yan. If she were to be defeated so easily, how could she ever clear the name of the Su family?
Sun San chimed in, "Lord Shen is right. I'll arrange for people to investigate and find out about Ying Liu."
Over the next few days, Sun San took Su Yan from house to house, inquiring about Ying Liu's life and experiences.
Sure enough, they discovered some good news.
Yingliu's original name was Xu Lanxin. She took her wet nurse's surname. She was aloof and did not like to interact with others.
Since her wet nurse died, Xu Lanxin had her body cremated and placed in the columbarium of Baima Temple to pray for her. It is known that Xu Lanxin goes to the temple to offer incense on the fifteenth of every month.
This also explains why the murderer was extremely familiar with the area around Baima Temple. During the search of the temple in the third case, Su Yan and her group searched for most of the day but found no trace of the murderer.
When the group arrived at Baima Temple, there was a room in the stupa where the memorial tablets of more than 120 members of the Zhang family were enshrined.
Xu Lanxin's identity is self-evident; even if she is not the real murderer, she is still inextricably linked to the Zhang family.
Therefore, Su Yan suggested waiting for the rabbit to run into the tree stump, and everyone unanimously agreed to this decision.
…………
September 15th, the weather was fine and sunny.
The weather was perfectly clear, a perfect day for offering incense, but perhaps because of the murder, there were fewer worshippers and the flow of people was not as good as usual.
Most of the county government's troops, as well as the Imperial Guards, had already been lying in ambush at Baima Temple.
Having laid a trap, Shen Yao refused to believe that the person could escape.
As noon approached, the lingering summer heat was still raging, and everyone's face was already drenched in sweat, their inner shirts soaked through and clinging uncomfortably to their skin.
Su Yan was both afraid of the cold and the heat. The murderer hadn't even appeared yet, but she felt like she was being roasted alive. Moreover, she had been sitting still for a long time, making her feel dizzy and her face flushed.
Shen Yao quickly noticed that something was wrong with Su Yan. "What's wrong?"
Su Yan leaned her head against the stone pillar and said weakly, "It's nothing, it's just an old ailment. I'll be fine after a rest."
Su Yan didn't know if it was because her soul had entered someone else's body or because of the original owner's old illness, but her body was weaker than that of an ordinary person.
She couldn't afford the best medicinal herbs for treatment, so she had to dig up herbs herself to nourish herself. She also had to avoid getting cold or working for long periods of time, otherwise her old ailments would flare up again.
Shen Yao glanced at Su Yan, took the gourd from his waist and handed it to her, "Have some water first."
Su Yan naturally didn't stand on ceremony. "Thank you, Lord Shen." After saying that, she opened the spout and drank heartily.
After drinking the water, Su Yan's dizzy head cleared up considerably.
"Brother Su Yan, do you think Ying Liu will really come to offer incense? If it were me, I'd hide for a few years and wait for things to calm down before making a move," Sun San whispered in Su Yan's ear.
"She will definitely come," Su Yan said with certainty.
"I hope so."
Not long after the two stopped talking, a woman in white wearing a white veil appeared among the worshippers.
Everyone held their breath, watching the woman's every move. Her figure was indeed the same woman who had fought with Sun San that day.
“It’s her…” Sun Sanyi said, his eyes shining as he saw the woman in white.
"Give the order: the target has been spotted. All units, prepare yourselves," Shen Yao commanded sternly.
Just as the woman in white was carrying a basket full of incense and paper money toward the path to the columbarium, she seemed to sense something was amiss. Her pace slowed, and she watched her surroundings warily.
Shen Yao realized that the fish had already gotten off the hook, and immediately ordered them to be caught.
People who had been lying in ambush in the grass, on the treetops, and on the artificial hill immediately filed out and headed toward the woman in white.
Upon seeing this, the woman in white immediately threw away the basket in her hand, drew the soft sword hidden at her waist, and engaged in a fierce fight with the person who rushed at her.
Although he was fighting against several people, he couldn't withstand the white-clad woman's vicious attacks, each move taking lives. People fell one after another, and the county officials, fearing her skills, dared not step forward.
The two sides remained deadlocked. Seeing this, Shen Yao decisively drew his broadsword and cursed, "What a bunch of useless trash."
Having said that, he leaped up with a light-footed movement, raising the large sword in his hand and slashing at the woman in white.
Shen Yao's moves were ruthless, all honed from battlefield experience. The woman in white intended to block Shen Yao's slash with her soft sword, but she underestimated each other's strength.
With a single, sharp slash, the white-clad woman's veil was split in two, and the fabric of her dress was torn at her shoulder, revealing a strange tattoo. Had the blade been two inches closer, her arm would likely have been ruined.
Yingliu's face appeared before everyone. Who would have thought that a seemingly weak woman with no strength could actually have such amazing skills?
Yingliu clutched her injured shoulder, her eyes flashing with malice as she glared at Chen Yao, pondering how to escape.
Shen Yao noticed Ying Liu's intention to run away and said coldly, "Once you're in my hands, it won't be so easy for you to escape."
After saying that, the two started fighting again.
Su Yan watched the commotion with great interest from the shadows when her gaze suddenly fell upon the tattoo on Liu's shoulder. A familiar feeling immediately overwhelmed Su Yan's mind.
In an instant, scenes flashed through my mind, stimulating my sensitive nerve endings.
That night, the wind howled and the snow fell heavily...
The flickering candlelight, the blood-stained snow, the black-clad figures clashing with swords, the desperate cries echoing in the wind, the raging fire illuminating the night, and the falling figures...
Despite being reborn for three years, Su Yan still lives in the nightmare of her entire Su family being slaughtered every day.
The tattoo on Yingliu's shoulder is the totem of the 'Dark Moon' Pavilion, a Jianghu assassin organization. Three years ago, everyone knew that Su Ci, the head of the Imperial Medical Academy, and his family died suddenly, but no one knew that they were killed by assassins from the 'Dark Moon' Pavilion.
After her rebirth, Su Yan secretly investigated the Dark Moon Pavilion, but to no avail.
Unexpectedly, Yingliu was actually from the Dark Moon Pavilion. It was like finding a needle in a haystack.
Under Shen Yao's aggressive attacks, Ying Liu gradually fell into a disadvantageous position.
Just as she was about to be caught, Yingliu took something out of her waist and threw it away.
With a loud 'bang,' similar to the sound of firecrackers exploding, a thick plume of yellow smoke billowed out, instantly irritating the delicate eyes and nasal passages, rendering the person unable to move.
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