Footprints Discovered

"Magistrate Lu, was anyone patrolling and guarding the pavilion at night?"

Xiao Qiuyue asked.

The Flower Thief had committed many crimes in Suzhou. By rights, Magistrate Lu should have tightened security to protect his daughter.

Magistrate Lu said, "Ever since this Flower Picking Thief appeared in Suzhou City, this humble official strengthened the nighttime patrols in the residence. I also added four guards to keep watch beneath the pavilion."

"Alas, who would have thought that last night, those four guards did not even catch sight of the Flower Thief before they were struck in their acupoints by silver needles and all fainted on the spot."

"It was not until close to the fourth watch, when several patrolling servants found the guards lying beneath the pavilion, that we learned something terrible had happened."

As Huang Shaojie listened to Magistrate Lu's account from the side, he secretly thought:

It seemed this Flower Thief was not only highly skilled in Lightness Skill, but also formidable with hidden weapons.

If they encountered him, they would have to be careful of his hidden weapons during the arrest.

Huang Shaojie did not take the Flower Thief's Lightness Skill too seriously. With his Catching Wind and Shadows Lightness Skill, few below the Grandmaster realm could match him.

In daylight, he could easily evade the Flower Thief's silver needles with his movement technique. At night, however, they would be much harder to guard against.

In any case, now that he knew the Flower Thief specialized in firing silver needles, Huang Shaojie would be more vigilant. It would not be so easy for the Flower Thief to hit him.

Xiao Qiuyue asked, "Did your daughter see the Flower Thief's face clearly?"

Magistrate Lu shook his head and sighed. "The Lecherous Thief blew sleeping incense in through the window and knocked my daughter unconscious. She only awoke the next morning and learned that she had been violated by the Flower Thief. She was devastated and tried several times to take her own life, but we stopped her each time."

This matched the circumstances of the other flower-picking cases. The Flower Thief had always blown sleeping incense into the young ladies' chambers before entering to commit his crimes.

"You all search around the pavilion and see whether you can find any clues left behind by the Flower Thief."

Xiao Qiuyue ordered Huang Shaojie and the other constables. Then, she followed Magistrate Lu to Miss Lu's chamber on the second floor.

Miss Lu had already been moved to another side room. The chamber in the pavilion had been kept as intact as possible, preserving the scene left after the crime.

The chamber was somewhat disordered. Various chests and cabinets had been rifled through. Clearly, after picking the flower, the Flower Urging Gentleman had also stolen the gold, silver, and jewelry from the room.

The white bedsheets were mottled with bloodstains.

An erotic poem had been inscribed on one wall:

When flowers are there to pluck, pluck them without delay; Do not wait till no flowers remain, then vainly break a branch. A beauty sleeps alone within an empty room; One breath of incense, then one soul-melting ecstasy.

Signed: Flower Urging Gentleman.

"This lecherous thief truly has the audacity to defy heaven! He is utterly wanton!"

After reading the erotic poem on the wall, Xiao Qiuyue let out a cold snort, her lovely face darkening as two icy gleams flashed through her eyes.

He had dared to pick a flower at the county magistrate's residence, then inscribe an erotic poem afterward and leave behind his name. It was simply rubbing salt into the victim's wound and slapping the authorities across the face.

Magistrate Lu was also filled with grief and fury. "If this official catches that lecherous thief, I will skin him, pull out his tendons, and chop him into ten thousand pieces!"

Beneath the pavilion.

Huang Shaojie and the other constables were searching all around the pavilion.

This area had actually already been searched by the county yamen and the Prefectural Office constables. Naturally, there would be no new discoveries.

With the Insight Technique, Huang Shaojie could spot many chaotic footprints. Yet there were simply too many, too jumbled, and no one knew how many people had passed through. There was no way to tell which belonged to the Flower Thief.

After searching once with no discoveries, Huang Shaojie went directly up to the pavilion and came outside its window.

The window was a wooden lattice window covered in patterned paper. It had been pushed open, and a small hole remained in the paper, clearly pierced when the Flower Thief had inserted a blowpipe.

On the windowsill, Huang Shaojie discovered a footprint through the Insight Technique. He took off one of his black boots and compared them. The print was at least four or five sizes smaller than his own shoe.

Huang Shaojie pondered to himself. He was seven chi nine and a half cun tall—one chi being twenty-three centimeters—and wore size 43 shoes. That meant the shoeprint was approximately size 38.

Ordinarily, a man who wore size 38 shoes should not be tall, perhaps around 160 centimeters.

The footprint was extremely faint. Without the Insight Technique, he would not have been able to see it at all. The Flower Thief's Lightness Skill was excellent, so Huang Shaojie could not infer the Flower Thief's build from the print.

Just then, Xiao Qiuyue also arrived at the window, and their eyes met.

"Why did you come up here?" Xiao Qiuyue furrowed her delicate brows. Before Huang Shaojie could answer, she asked again, "Did you find any clues beneath the pavilion?"

Huang Shaojie cupped his hands. "Reporting to you, my lady, I only found many chaotic footprints. There were no other discoveries."

This was within Xiao Qiuyue's expectations.

The Flower Thief had come without a shadow and gone without a trace last night. He had not fought with any of the residence's guards or servants, so naturally he would not have left anything behind.

Moreover, the county yamen and the Prefectural Office had surely searched the place already that morning. Had there been clues, they would have found them long ago.

Huang Shaojie added, "However, this subordinate estimates that the Flower Thief is probably less than seven chi tall."

Xiao Qiuyue could not help but stare. "Oh? How did you determine that the Flower Thief is under seven chi tall?"

"This subordinate found the Flower Thief's footprint on the windowsill. I compared its length, and it was roughly size 38. Therefore, this subordinate estimates that the Flower Thief should be less than seven chi tall."

"A footprint? Where?" Xiao Qiuyue looked toward the windowsill, but she did not see any obvious footprint. There was only a faint trace of mud left behind.

The windowsill was frequently wiped down by servants and had no dust on it, so stepping on it naturally would not leave a clear footprint.

Huang Shaojie pointed to the trace of mud. "Please look here, my lady. The lecherous thief's footprint was left here, though it is not very distinct."

Xiao Qiuyue focused her inner power into her eyes and looked closely. Only then could she barely make out a faint footprint on the windowsill.

This astonished Xiao Qiuyue greatly!

Even with her Xiantian Eighth Level cultivation, she could only spot the slightest trace of the footprint after channeling her full inner power into her eyes, much less discern exactly how long the shoeprint was.

Yet this newly arrived constable had noticed the footprint on the windowsill at a glance and could even measure its length.

Was this Young Master Huang simply born with exceptional eyesight, or was his cultivation even higher than hers?

But if his cultivation were higher than hers, how could that be possible?

Xiao Qiuyue had received instruction from renowned masters since childhood and taken quite a few spiritual medicines. Coupled with her extraordinary talent, she had reached the Xiantian Eighth Level at only twenty-one.

Huang Shaojie was merely the pampered son of a wealthy merchant in Suzhou City. How could his martial cultivation surpass hers?

Seeing the beautiful Banner Commander staring at him as though he were some kind of monster, Huang Shaojie naturally guessed the doubts in Xiao Qiuyue's mind.

He immediately cupped his hands and said, "This subordinate was born with exceptionally keen eyesight and can easily notice minute details that others struggle to see."

So he really had been born with excellent eyesight!

Xiao Qiuyue believed him. She nodded slightly after hearing this. "Mm. With eyesight like that, you are well suited to handling cases in the Imperial Guard."

Then she added, "Come inside. See whether you can find any further clues in Miss Lu's chamber."

"Yes, my lady."

Huang Shaojie bowed, walked around to the door, and entered.