Upon exiting the Gate of Hell, Tang Nian was so frightened by the sight before her that she took a step back.
She hesitated and looked up at the city wall.
It is indeed Nanyu City.
She looked down at the city wall with a solemn expression.
Who did this?
The city gate was littered with corpses, each one seemingly skinned intact, leaving behind a bloody and horrifying sight.
Tang Nian pursed her lips, unsure whether Lou Mu and Ming Huan had arrived. After a moment's hesitation, she stepped into the city.
The entire city of Nanyu seemed to have become quiet, with not a single living person on the streets.
It was even more desolate than Nanyu City was during the outbreak of the epidemic.
Tang Nian felt a tightness in her chest.
"Tang Nian".
A familiar voice came from behind her. She turned around in surprise and saw Lou Mu.
Lou Mu also frowned at this moment, and he quickened his pace to get to Tang Nian.
"What happened in Nanyu City?" Tang Nian took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down.
She is a ferocious beast, but she never takes pleasure in killing, much less treats innocent people like this.
This includes the clansmen she knew.
People who do such things are worse than ferocious beasts!
Lou Mu remained silent for a long time before slowly shaking his head.
Just then, the two suddenly heard footsteps coming from a distance.
Tang Nian looked warily toward the source of the sound.
To everyone's surprise, it turned out to be a team.
Moreover, they seemed to know Lou Mu; the leader knelt down and bowed as soon as he saw Lou Mu.
Lou Mu gestured with his chin toward the leader of the group: "Get up. What exactly happened in Nanyu City?"
Upon hearing Lou Mu's question, the leader sighed, a bitter look on his face.
However, he still told Lou Mu about the news from inside the city.
Lou Mu remained silent for a long time after hearing what he said.
Tang Nian's expression also turned somewhat unpleasant.
I never imagined that the situation in the city had become this serious.
He thought for a moment, then turned to Tang Nian and asked, "What should we do now? Should we go to the government office first, or..."
He did not make a decision immediately, but instead left the decision-making power to Tang Nian.
After thinking for a moment, Tang Nian said, "Let's go to the government office first."
Lou Mu did not refuse, nodded in agreement, and came down.
Upon arriving at the government office, Tang Nian learned from Lou Mu that this group of people were officials and guards sent by the new emperor to accompany Lou Mu on his visit.
Lou Mu arrived in Nanyu City ahead of Tang Nian, but left again because Tang Nian was not there.
These officers, soldiers, and guards walked at a leisurely pace behind. When they arrived at Nanyu City, they found that almost all the people in the city were dead, and even the local officials of Nanyu City were dead.
Only the elderly, women, and children remained in the city.
Lou Mu frowned as he listened to his subordinates finish speaking.
After a long while, he sighed deeply and asked the person in front of him, "Has this matter been reported to His Majesty?"
Upon hearing his question, the subordinate nodded quickly.
"Rest assured, my lord, we have already reported this to His Majesty, and His Majesty has sent back a password saying that he hopes you can investigate this matter thoroughly."
Upon hearing this, Lou Mu nodded: "I understand, I will investigate this matter."
Seeing that the attendant was about to leave, Tang Nian quickly called out to him, "Wait, is Princess Huaining here?"
The attendant hesitated for a moment, then looked up at Lou Mu. Only after Lou Mu nodded did he say, "This humble servant has never seen the princess before."
"Alright, you can go now."
After the attendants had all left, Lou Mu turned to Tang Nian and asked, "When we entered the city just now, did you notice anything amiss?"
Hearing him say that, Tang Nian shook her head: "I didn't find anything special, but to be massacred in such a short time is definitely not something an ordinary person could do."
"This matter needs to be thoroughly investigated, but right now the most urgent task is to find Song Shiyan first." Lou Mu stood up and dusted off his clothes.
There were no customers in the pharmacy, only Chun Tao standing in front of the counter.
Upon seeing Tang Nian, Chun Tao trembled: "Master Tang, are you here to see the master?"
Tang Nian nodded, resting one hand on the counter: "Is he at home?"
"This..." Chun Tao bit her lip lightly, her eyes darting around, finally settling on the curtain at the backyard. "Did Master Tang bring back news of Miss?"
Tang Nian did not answer: "Don't make things difficult for me, we'll go ourselves."
Before Chun Tao could react, Tang Nian and Lou Mu lifted the curtain and went into the backyard.
As soon as the two arrived in the backyard, they saw a person whose back looked very similar to Song Shiyan suddenly appear in the backyard.
The commotion seemed to have startled the man, who hurriedly left and disappeared without a trace.
Tang Nian frowned and quickly went after him.
But when they searched the place where the person had disappeared, they found no one there.
"What's going on? I clearly saw Song Shiyan here just now, so why is he nowhere to be seen now?" Tang Nian looked around, frowning in confusion.
Lou Mu didn't know what was going on either: "I can confirm that the figure I saw was indeed Song Shiyan. I suppose he couldn't have escaped far and should be hiding in this pharmacy."
“That’s right, let’s search here first. If he’s here, he’ll definitely leave some clues,” Tang Nian added.
Chun Tao caught up with them, ran up to the two of them, looked at them with some difficulty, and held her hands in front of her, counting on her fingers.
“Chuntao, I don’t know what happened in Nanyu City, or what happened to your master. You know you can’t stop us.”
Faced with Chun Tao, Tang Nian couldn't bring herself to take direct action.
Fortunately, after a moment of silence, Chun Tao stepped aside and made way for her.
Lou Mu and Tang Nian began a thorough search of the pharmacy, examining every inch of it.
They confirmed that the Song Shiyan inkstone had indeed been hidden in this shop.
Although it's unclear how he managed to fool the skinning murderer, he looked like a living person just now.
As long as he left clues here, they can find some traces in them.
Without hesitation, the two began searching separately.
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