All sounds had fallen silent, yet his heart could not settle.
Bai Xingwen could not sleep. He tossed and turned, unable to sleep, his knuckles clawing the bedsheet into torn cloth.
One fleeting glimpse, followed by dreams that would not let go.
"Young Master!"
"You damn dog!" Bai Xingwen rolled over and sat up, gripping his shoulders excitedly. "Did you find her? Which family's pretty girl is she?"
"I have disappointed you, Young Master. I searched all of Hantai Prefecture City, but did not find the tall woman you described." Chai Gou lowered his head in shame.
"Useless! Useless!" Bai Xingwen flew into a rage and kicked Chai Gou hard, sending him to the floor clutching his head. "Five feet six or seven, five feet six or seven, and a woman besides! There can't be more than a few in all of Hantai Prefecture, and you still couldn't find her? I feed and house you well every month; raising you is worse than raising a pack of dogs! A dog should have found her by scent already!"
Chai Gou hurriedly said, "Young Master, Young Master, though we did not find her, we did uncover some clues."
"What clues?"
"Just as you said, Young Master, a woman like that is extraordinary. Wherever she went, how could no one know of her? Yet that is precisely what is strange. This lowly one suspects she is an outsider who only recently arrived in Hantai, leaving few traces of her movements. And judging by the portrait you provided, that woman does not look like one of us Hantai people."
"That's all bullshit! Will any of that help find her, or are you just making excuses for yourself?"
"This lowly one dares not make excuses." Chai Gou kowtowed. "But I asked around among the horse