The man in the long gown stared at the faint red on his fingertips, pondered for a moment, and came to a serious conclusion: people who can carry chili powder with them are most likely related to gangsters.

The man with the sideburns nodded in agreement: "Not bad."

Who else but those despicable gangsters would carry chili powder with them?

Imagine that two assassins are fighting each other, and at the critical moment one of them suddenly throws out a handful of chili powder. What will the scene be like?

The thought of having a beard is shameful.

As for the idea of ​​the lady from a wealthy family carrying chili powder with her, this thought never occurred to the two of them.

The rain outside the pavilion gradually subsided and the man in the long gown walked out.

"Where are you going?" asked the man with the whiskers.

The two appear to be partners of equal status, rather than one leading the other.

The man in the long gown did not answer, but stood in the rain with his eyes fixed on the ground.

This is a scene in a secluded area of ​​the mountain temple. The ground is not paved with bluestone slabs like the main road, but a dirt road. Such a ground will inevitably leave footprints when it gets wet.

However, the man in the long gown looked at the ground where water puddle several inches high had accumulated due to the heavy rain, and his brows became more and more furrowed.

The rain was so heavy that even though there were footprints left behind, they were now filled with rain.

No, as long as this kind of weather comes, it will definitely leave traces.

The man in the long gown suddenly turned around and asked the man with the whiskers, "The man who attacked you just now was hiding behind this big tree?"

The man with the beard nodded: "Not bad."

The man in the long gown stared at the ground and walked towards the big tree.

The trees were very tall, with trunks so thick that even two adults could hardly hug them with their arms together. The lush canopy blocked almost all the rain, leaving only a thin layer of moisture on the ground.

The man in the long gown searched carefully and finally found a footprint at the junction where the tree canopy was about to fail to block the rain.

He immediately squatted down and observed the footprint.

Only the front half of the footprint was left, with the toes pointing away from the tree trunk. One could imagine how hurriedly the person left.

The pattern on the footprint was so faint that it was barely discernible, leaving only a rough outline.

The man with the sideburns seemed to understand what the man in the long gown meant. He squatted down, stared at the half footprint and muttered, "It's just half a footprint. There's almost no pattern. There's no way to guess what kind of shoes the other person was wearing."

At this time, some people of the Great Zhou Dynasty wore boots, while ordinary people wore cloth shoes or straw sandals. Boots alone can be divided into several styles. It would be very difficult to tell what kind of shoes the other person was wearing from a footprint with only a rough outline left.

The man in the long gown stared at the footprint and shook his head: "You don't need to look at the pattern or even the outline. Just look at the size of this half of the footprint. Do you think it's strange?"

"Size?" After being reminded by the man in the long gown, the man with the beard's eyes lit up, "This footprint is too small!"

The man in the long gown nodded: "Yes, such small footprints can only be left by a woman."

"Woman?" The man with the sideburns looked strange. "You mean a woman sprinkled chili powder into my eyes and then knocked you out with my iron club?"

The man in the long gown was obviously embarrassed by the beard's words, so he said unhappily, "I hit you with another stick."

The man with the mustache shook his head repeatedly: "Impossible, impossible, this is too unbelievable..."

"Unbelievable?" The man in the long gown sneered and glanced at the bearded man. "No matter how unbelievable something is, it is the truth after eliminating other possibilities. Such tiny footprints can't be left by a child, right?"

"It's even more impossible. Although I didn't see the person clearly, I can be sure that he is definitely not the height of a child."

After the man with the beard finished speaking, he and the man in the long gown remained silent. After a moment, he said in annoyance, "I didn't expect that I would capsize in the ditch and be tricked by a woman."

The man in the long gown stood up and said calmly, "Women who are able to survive in the underworld are often more courageous and careful."

"But why would the other party provoke us for no reason?"

The man in the long gown's eyes suddenly became fierce, with murderous intent looming in his eyes: "Maybe he wanted to avoid us at first, but then he heard our conversation and you discovered what he was doing——"

The man with the whiskers suddenly changed his expression: "What should we do? Our conversation was overheard by the other party. Will they inform the Seventh Prince?"

"It's hard to say." The man in the long gown walked to the edge of the pavilion with his hands behind his back, looking at the rain curtain that was becoming increasingly sparse with a gloomy expression.

The man with the beard came up and said, "Why is it hard to say?"

"If the other party had nothing to do with the Seventh Prince, he might not have gotten involved in this matter. But it is possible that the other party happened to know the Seventh Prince or wanted to make some money by selling this information."

The man with the whiskers rubbed his hands and said, "If that's the case, it's going to be troublesome. However, since the other party is a low-class gangster, the chance of him knowing the Seventh Prince is not high."

The man in the long gown sneered: "Have you forgotten that the Seventh Prince loves to make friends with people from all walks of life?"

The bearded man fell silent.

Finally, the man in the long gown sighed and said, "Forget it. It's useless to worry now. I will ask more people to keep an eye on the Seventh Prince to see if there is anyone special who has contacted him recently. If we really find this person——"

The man in the long gown looked even colder: "Then we can just get rid of her!"

The bearded man nodded.

"The most important thing right now is to get the woman who looks a bit like the Saint to the Seventh Prince as soon as possible." The man in the long gown raised his foot and stepped on the half footprint on the ground, rubbing it a few times and then disappearing. "Let's go!"

After noon, the rain had completely stopped. The cool wind brought a layer of mist to Baiyun Temple. The branches and leaves swayed gently with water droplets. Occasionally, low bird calls could be heard from the woods, but no birds were seen flying through the sky. The mountain temple seemed even more quiet after the rain.

But soon Baiyun Temple became lively.

The pilgrims who were stranded in the temple due to the heavy rain began to come out of their shelters, and some continued to linger in the temple or prepared to leave. The monks in the temple also began to move around.

Jiang Yi stood under the porch, listening to the crisp sound of water drops falling along the eaves, and asked Jiang Si, "Fourth sister, do you want to go somewhere else?"

Jiang Si glanced at Zhu Ziyu who was not far away, smiled and shook his head: "No. The sky has finally cleared up, so we should go back early, otherwise it will be difficult to walk on the road when it rains again."

Jiang Yi breathed a sigh of relief.

She really didn't want to stay here at all, and it would be best if her sister left early.

Jiang Yi turned to Zhu Ziyu and said, "Husband, let's go back with Fourth Sister."

Zhu Ziyu turned his eyes slightly and looked at Jiang Si.

Seeing that he was silent for a while, Jiang Si asked openly, "Brother-in-law, is there anything else?"

Zhu Ziyu seemed to have not expected Jiang Si to ask so directly. He was startled at first, then smiled and said, "Nothing. I came here to burn incense with your elder sister. Let's go back together."