There was no one in the inn. The three of them searched around for a while before finally finding the trembling innkeeper under the counter.
"Innkeeper, I'd like to stay at the inn."
The innkeeper cautiously peeked out, ignoring the three people, and rushed out to close the inn's door as quickly as possible.
"If the three of you wish to stay at the inn, any room upstairs is available," the innkeeper said quickly in a low voice, before disappearing back into his original spot.
The three exchanged a glance, but didn't make things difficult for the shopkeeper. They left a silver ingot on the counter and went upstairs.
From afar, Tang Nian seemed to hear the shopkeeper's whispered advice.
"It's nighttime. Yingzhou City has been quite unstable lately, so don't go out."
Once inside the inn, Lou Mu closed the door behind him and then cast a spell on the room to prevent anyone from spying on him.
"This Yingzhou City is truly quite strange."
Lou Mu sat down in the chair and poured himself a cup of tea to drink.
While drinking, he kept thinking about the very special aura he had just noticed.
"I just saw those soldiers on..."
Chu Roujia recalled that when Tang Nian called out to her earlier, she had just noticed stitches on the soldier's body.
If Tang Nian hadn't appeared in time, she might have been exposed.
“I noticed that too.”
Tang Nian echoed, putting down the bundle on her shoulder.
Lou Mu put down his tea and began to pace around.
"From what Lin Zhenming said, he has sent soldiers out to collect the remains of villagers in the suburbs."
"But if I remember correctly, most of those monsters just eat people directly."
Tang Nian frowned, thinking about the monsters she had encountered at dusk, and retorted.
Lou Mu stroked his chin and continued his analysis.
"If I had to give a reasonable explanation, I would lean towards the idea that the soldiers encountered a monster, fought with it, and were injured. This is probably what Lin Zhenming wanted us to know."
"I've only ever heard of people who died in Yingzhou City being stitched up with thread, I've never heard of injured people being treated with thread stitches."
Chu Roujia pulled off her veil.
Her portrait used to be plastered all over the streets and alleys of the Great Chu. This time, with the enemy in the dark and us in the light, and with the big battle approaching, she dared not reveal her appearance.
So Tang Nian understood the moment he secretly handed her the veil.
Now that Tang Nian and Lou Mu dare to analyze things loudly in the inn, it must be safe.
She quickly removed the annoying veil.
Tang Nian's eyes lit up, and she picked up where Chu Roujia left off.
"So, these soldiers had to be treated with stitches?"
Lou Mu nodded; this was the only reasonable explanation he could think of.
"And the expression on his face when he saw Ming Huan's portrait clearly showed that he had met Ming Huan."
"Aren't you worried that this huge uproar here wasn't orchestrated by Ming Huan?"
Lou Mu even found himself joking at this moment.
Tang Nian rolled her eyes at him, annoyed: "You're more likely to do it than Ming Huan is."
Tang Nian refused to believe that someone who could control monsters could control Bifang.
Not to mention, Minghuan, as a divine beast and an auspicious beast, how could he possibly do such a heinous thing?
Either Ming Huan stayed here for some reason, or something else happened.
Once Tang Nian was certain that Ming Huan was still alive, she was finally relieved.
"This..." Chu Roujia couldn't help but ask, "Young Master Ming by Master's side, isn't he human...?"
Tang Nian and Lou Mu exchanged a glance.
She'll find out sooner or later anyway, so there's no harm in telling her now.
"To be precise, you should be the only human here."
Tang Nian was still thinking about how to explain it tactfully, but Lou Mu said it directly.
Chu Roujia wasn't as surprised as Tang Nian had imagined; instead, she had an expression that said, "I see."
"Aren't you scared?" Tang Nian asked curiously.
"I have known Lord Lou for five or six years, and I know his character very well. My master is also a famous Celestial Master in the Great Chu, with a great reputation. Why would I be afraid?"
Tang Nian was somewhat unwilling, as Chu Roujia's calmness left her with nowhere to vent her mischievousness.
She pressed further, "Then why aren't you surprised at all?"
“Hmm…” Chu Roujia pondered for a moment and said, “Before my father died, I also thought that Taoist priests and monks only knew some deceptive tricks, but my father’s death changed my mind.”
"After thinking about it carefully, I realized that Lord Lou volunteered to resolve the turmoil in the Great Chu, which proves that he has the ability. In addition, Lord Lou's appearance has not changed at all over the years. It would be a lie to say that I have no suspicions."
"If Lord Lou is not human, then Master, your identity is also in question."
Tang Nian raised an eyebrow, somewhat annoyed: "Can't I be the Taoist priest who took Lou Mu in?"
This time, not only Chu Roujia, but even Lou Mu was staring at her.
"What's wrong? Did I say something wrong?"
Tang Nian straightened her chest, raised her head, snorted softly, and looked at Lou Mu with dissatisfaction.
“That’s right, that’s right.” Lou Mu chuckled and quickly stroked Tang Nian’s fur.
Chu Roujia looked at this person with suspicion, then at that person: "You guys..."
"Doesn't it look like it?" Tang Nian pouted slightly.
Lou Mu chuckled and said, "It's alright, please continue."
"People say that humans and demons are irreconcilable, and I have never seen a Taoist priest who can exorcise demons."
"Master is so famous, yet he hasn't changed his name, and he even entered the city with Lord Lou, so the possibility of him trying to conceal his identity to subdue demons can be ruled out."
"Then it can only mean that you are all demons."
“But Master always used yellow talismans in the capital, and you two didn’t find it strange to see the monks of Jinshan Temple, so I dare not draw any conclusions.”
Chu Roujia's words put Tang Nian in a good mood.
“We are indeed demons, but we are different from the demons you have seen.”
Tang Nian kept everyone in suspense, and Chu Roujia guessed, "Could it be that Lord Lou's title of 'First Detective Xiang Liu' refers to...? I thought they were referring to Lord Lou's style of doing things."
Lou Mu could no longer hold back and burst into laughter.
Tang Nian's face visibly darkened, her hands clenched into fists inside her sleeves, and her eyes fixed on Lou Mu.
"No, no, no, Xiang Liu is your master, I am not."
Lou Mu lowered his head without making a sound, glanced at the clear shoe print on his boots, and explained with a smile.
"He's a sly fox, you should stay away from him." Tang Nian glared at Lou Mu and said irritably.
"A willow tree and a fox, what kind of child would you two have?"
Upon hearing this, Chu Roujia noticed that the two people who had been joking and playing around suddenly fell silent, their faces turning bright red.
One looked up at the beam, the other looked down at the floor tiles.
Chu Roujia blinked.
She seems to have said something wrong.
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