"Hup!"
Zhong Li rode her horse at a gallop along the small path north of the city, with Tuo Bai following close behind.
The two arrived at the place the madam had mentioned. Gazing at the desolate landscape unique to the northwest, she thought for a moment, then took out a small box from her怀 and released the golden cicada within.
"Lord Zhong, are you sure that by following this golden cicada, we can find the Young Master?" Tuo Bai inquired.
Zhong Li watched the golden cicada spread its wings and take flight. "This golden cicada is a sacred artifact of the Flying Kite Pavilion. Within a certain distance, it can locate objects with scents similar to its own. The Young Master stayed at the Drunken Red Pavilion before, so within the city, it could only find the Drunken Red Pavilion. Now that we are in the outskirts, it must be finding the Young Master's location!"
Tuo Bai fell silent, only keeping pace with Zhong Li.
The golden cicada bypassed a barren hill and flew straight towards the deadwood forest beyond. As it approached the border checkpoint between Linzhou and Bei Di, it circled around once more and flew to the right.
"Look, there's a small house," Tuo Bai pointed to a dilapidated hut deep within the forest.
Zhong Li glanced at the golden cicada and saw it flying towards the small house. She took out the small box from her怀 and put the cicada away.
To avoid alerting the enemy, the two first tied their horses in a hidden spot before stealthily approaching the wooden house.
As they neared the hut, a strong smell of blood mixed with a faint stench overwhelmed them, nearly making them faint.
"This smell..." Tuo Bai's expression darkened.
Zhong Li's expression was no better. No one was more familiar with this smell than she was; it was the same smell emanating from the mass grave not far outside the back palace during the Consort Rong case.
"Be careful," she signaled to Tuo Bai, and they surrounded the wooden house, one approaching the front door, the other the back.
Zhong Li kicked open the wooden door with force. She had expected to see Lu Wu Xie in a wounded state.
But the opposite was true. Lu Wu Xie sat on a relatively clean-looking chair, looking at a burly, fleshy-faced man tied up before him with disdain.
"Li'er, I thought I would have to wait for you for a while longer," Lu Wu Xie stood up and walked to Zhong Li's side.
Zhong Li retracted the dissection knife in her hand and walked up to the man, asking, "Is this one of the culprits from this group?"
"Yes!" Lu Wu Xie twisted his neck and said, "He has quite a lot of strength; it took considerable effort to subdue him."
As soon as he finished speaking, the back door was kicked open, and Tuo Bai rushed in. Seeing the situation before him, his eyes also held a hint of surprise.
"Young Master Tuo, please use a flare to notify Lord Tian," Zhong Li said.
Tuo Bai snapped to attention and hurried out of the room.
Zhong Li looked at the fierce-faced man opposite her and said to Lu Wu Xie, "I thought we would catch them all this time. I didn't expect to only capture this one."
"It's alright!" Lu Wu Xie said, "Although there's a slight deviation from the plan, they abducted me here and planned to kill me on the way. I overheard them mention their rendezvous point after the deed, so we can still capture them all then."
"That's good. I've also instructed Lord Tian to take hunting dogs to search their usual haunts. If nothing unexpected happens, we should find some clues," Zhong Li replied.
Lu Wu Xie nodded, glanced at the sky through the open window, estimating that Tian You would arrive a while later, and then asked, "Li'er, did you discover the clue I left for you?"
Zhong Li smiled when he asked this. "Yes, those who aren't observant truly wouldn't notice. You actually sprinkled dragon saliva powder on their skirts, telling me you went missing in that room. Did you ever consider what you would do if I didn't find it and couldn't pry any information from the madam?"
Lu Wu Xie shrugged upon hearing this. "What else could I do? I'd carry this idiot and travel through mountains and rivers back to the city."
Zhong Li's smile widened at this. She walked up to the man tied up with ropes and examined his hand. After a moment, she said, "Indeed, this person was likely a butcher before."
The man's mouth was covered, and he squirmed incessantly. Looking at Zhong Li, who was within close proximity, a lewd expression appeared on his face.
Lu Wu Xie frowned and kicked the man hard.
About half an hour later, Tian You appeared outside the small house with several constables. Zhong Li walked out of the room and began to assign tasks.
"Lord Zhong, this subordinate has arrived late," Tian You said.
Zhong Li shook her head, looking at a hunting dog behind Tian You. The dog seemed agitated by something, barking incessantly towards the wooden house, and she already had an idea.
"Please lend me two constables, Lord Tian. The Young Master and I will escort the people inside back to the yamen," she said.
"What? Then I..." Tian You looked confused.
Zhong Li glanced at the wooden house, then at Tuo Bai not far away, and said to Tian You, "Have the remaining people dig around here to see if there are any corpses or remains, and keep an eye on Young Master Tuo, don't let him get too emotional."
"Ah, here... there are corpses?" Tian You looked incredulous.
Zhong Li raised an eyebrow slightly. "Lord Tian, what do you mean by 'also'?"
"Lord Zhong, to be frank, didn't you give me a hairpin earlier and ask me to take hunting dogs to search all of Linzhou?"
Upon hearing this, Zhong Li had already guessed the general situation. "The hunting dogs searched three or four places successively, and at those locations, my subordinates dug up seven or eight skeletons. The yamen staff are almost all deployed elsewhere, still digging!"
Hearing this number, Zhong Li narrowed her eyes. She had imagined the wickedness of these criminals, but she hadn't expected them to have taken so many innocent lives.
"Rest assured, Lord Tian, we will catch them all tonight."
Upon returning, Zhong Li disguised Lu Wu Xie to look like the burly man and sent him to the meeting. Before dusk, Lu Wu Xie entered the yamen with two other accomplices.
Zhong Li looked at a man and a woman kneeling on the ground. The woman was slender-waisted with a full figure, as beautiful as the madam had described with thick eyebrows and large eyes. She exuded a slightly unpleasant, unusual scent. Zhong Li guessed this scent was likely a combination of scented oil and body odor. As for the man, he was sallow and thin, remarkably petite, as if gravely ill and near death. Only his eyes darted around nervously, appearing exceptionally shrewd.
As Zhong Li was about to speak, Tuo Bai, who had returned with Tian You, suddenly became enraged. He looked at the woman, rushed forward, grabbed her collar, and said, "Tell me, was it you? Was it you who killed my brother?"
The woman was startled at first, then she looked closely at Tuo Bai's appearance and said, "Oh, little sir, you look rather familiar, but I don't know any brother you're talking about."
"You don't recognize him? Tuo Lou, are you sure you don't recognize him?"
Upon hearing this, the woman squinted in thought, then burst into laughter. "You mean that stupid doctor who only knew how to practice medicine? So you're his younger brother!"