Tracking and Investigating

Chu Ming watched the stall owner's retreating back, his brows knitting slightly.

He kept feeling that something was off.

Without waiting long, the tea stall owner returned with a freshly brewed cup of tea. "Please enjoy, sir."

Chu Ming gave a casual nod, his gaze falling upon the tea.

Under the [Sword Gourd Spiritual Sense], the impurities in the water, the veins of the tea leaves, and even the wear marks on the bottom of the cup were all clearly visible to him.

"That..." The stall owner did not leave, but instead stood before the small wooden table, watching him with a beaming smile.

"Is there something else?"

The stall owner hunched his back even further, the wrinkles on his face layering over one another due to his grin, appearing somewhat ghastly. "The tea money."

"How much?"

"Three coppers for old tea, five coppers for new tea."

Chu Ming reached into his robes, then feigned a sudden stiffness.

He withdrew his hand unhurriedly, a flash of embarrassment crossing his face.

"I will pay you when I finish."

"Young master..." The stall owner seemed to discern something, his previous smile fading significantly. "This is a small business of mine..."

"I said, I will pay you when I finish." Chu Ming raised his eyes, revealing a clear, steady gaze.

The stall owner hesitated for a moment, but finally sighed and walked away.

Chu Ming stared at the tea on the table, activating his [Sword Gourd Spiritual Sense] once more.

Tea dregs, tea leaves, broken bits... could my intuition be wrong?

There were no signs of toxic components in the tea, and the leaves were indeed fresh; it appeared to have no issues.

He gently tilted the cup, swirling the tea, yet he still failed to detect any abnormal micro-substances.

After a pause, Chu Ming set the cup down, glancing toward Wheat Valley Alley with feigned indifference.

He needed to observe the movements within Wheat Valley Alley before he could plan his next step.

Dusk was the time Chief Constable Hou returned home for his meal; that would be his opportunity.

After waiting for over half an hour, a steady stream of passersby sat down at the tea stall to quench their thirst.

As the sun set, Chu Ming had yet to see Chief Constable Hou or Steward Fang, but three men wearing Flying Fish Robes arrived at the tea stall instead.

The Criminal Defense Division of Baiyuan County!

He recognized their identities at a single glance. Combining this with what Hou Wuchun had said, these three were very likely the ones threatening Chief Constable Hou and Steward Fang.

"Oh my, the three gentlemen have arrived early today." The stall owner hurried over to serve them three cups of tea.

"Did we ask for new tea?" One of them overturned the small wooden table holding the cups, his manner overbearing.

"Don't you know our lord doesn't drink new tea?" Another kicked the rolling tea cups away, speaking with a cold, sinister tone.

The stall owner hunched his back, offering endless apologies. "Yes, yes, this one is getting old, my memory is failing, I remembered wrong, I remembered wrong. Please sit here, my lords, I will brew a fresh pot."

The commotion was not massive, but the surrounding stalls could hear it clearly.

As eyes converged, the pedestrians on the road also turned to watch.

Chu Ming's expression remained unmoved, though a cold glint flickered in the depths of his eyes.

These three were doing this on purpose.

Chief Constable Hou and Steward Fang are hiding near Wheat Valley Alley to ambush the killer, yet the Criminal Defense Division arrives in their Flying Fish Robes, sitting near the alley to drink tea with a swagger, even picking fights and bullying the stall owner to create a scene.

If the killer were in the vicinity, they would certainly not dare to approach.

In other words, Chief Constable Hou and Steward Fang are actually wasting their time for nothing.

Although he saw through the purpose of the three men from the Criminal Defense Division, he did not act rashly, choosing instead to remain seated.

The pedestrians thinned out, and the mottled shadows of the houses stretched longer and longer until they covered the entire street.

"Let's go." Shao Pengshu smoothed out his Flying Fish Robe and stood up, steadying his sword.

"My lord, the girls at the Fragrant Pavilion have already been arranged," Zhang Yi said with a bow.

The three cast cold glances around the area, causing the stall owner to shrink back in fear.

Only after they departed did the stall owner emerge, still visibly shaken, to clean up the mess left behind.

"Grandpa, I'll help you."

At that moment, a young girl wearing coarse linen clothes with soot on her face crawled out from under the table where the stall owner boiled his tea.

"No need, Grandpa can manage." The stall owner's movements were nimble, and before long, he had cleared away all the tables, stools, and cups kicked over by the Criminal Defense Division.

The girl blinked her eyes and walked toward Chu Ming. "Big brother, it's dark now. Aren't you going home?"

The stall owner walked over, looking at the untouched, long-cooled tea on the table, and pulled the girl behind him. "Young master, I am closing up shop. You see..."

Chu Ming looked at the girl's bright eyes, and the look of embarrassment crossed his face once more. "Old man..."

However, before he could continue, the tea stall owner spoke up: "The tea isn't good, so I won't charge you, young master. We live quite far away and need to pack up."

Chu Ming paused, offered a smile to the little girl, and then departed on his own.

If the tea stall owner had a problem, then by deliberately not drinking the tea and not paying, he had acted suspiciously enough to likely alert the other party.

Once alerted, the other party would take action, which in turn might reveal a flaw.

"What a strange big brother." The little girl picked up Chu Ming's teacup, her rosy little face leaning in to sniff it, before turning to the tea stall owner. "Grandpa, that big brother was even a scholar."

The tea stall owner's eyes flickered slightly as he bowed to tidy up the tables and stools.

Chu Ming left the tea stall and switched to the other side of the street at the alley entrance, a contemplative look appearing on his face.

"Wheat Valley Alley, murder cases, Catching Yamen, Criminal Defense Division..."

He walked to the end of the street and used the cover of night to hide his figure in the shadows.

"Alley entrance, tea stall, Criminal Defense Division, elderly tea stall owner, little girl..."

His brows gradually furrowed.

"Is there anything I missed?"

"There was nothing wrong with the tea," he thought, recalling everything he had seen from the moment he sat down at the stall until he left.

Just as he was deep in thought, the tea stall owner had already packed up the stall and was walking down the street with the little girl, presumably heading home.

Chu Ming remained hidden in the shadows, his gaze suddenly sharpening.

Just a moment ago, he had caught the tea stall owner glancing intentionally or unintentionally toward Wheat Valley Alley.

"There is definitely a problem."

With consecutive murders occurring in Wheat Valley Alley, a normal person passing by would walk on the side of the street furthest from the alley entrance, yet the tea stall owner was walking in the middle of the street with a little girl, seemingly unafraid.

"Grandpa, I'm scared." The little girl grabbed the tea stall owner's pant leg, her childish voice echoing in the somewhat empty street.

Inside Wheat Valley Alley, several figures darted out rapidly.

"Bad luck, wasted another day." One of them seemed very annoyed.

"Hurry up and leave, I'm starving. If Chief Constable Hou sees us coming out of the alley, we'll get scolded again."

"Old Yuan, are you still patrolling tonight?"

"Of course. No one manages me, and patrolling at night earns a little extra coin, doesn't it?"

"Heh heh."

The three bailiffs had just emerged from the alley when they saw the tea stall owner and the little girl standing frozen in the middle of the street.

"What time is it? Why is there still someone here?" one of the bailiffs cursed under his breath.

They were not allowed to let others know they were staking out Wheat Valley Alley, and they were forbidden from using the alley entrance to come and go.

"Old man, you didn't see anything, understand?" Another bailiff stepped forward to threaten him.

The tea stall owner nodded. "Rest assured, officers, rest assured."

With that, he pulled the little girl along and hurried away with flustered steps.

"Heh heh, that's more like it. A decrepit old man and a brat—if they dare to talk nonsense, we'll make sure they can't survive in Willow Town."

Don't let the fact that they were just low-level bailiffs from the Catching Yamen fool you; in the eyes of ordinary people, they were still officers not to be trifled with.

"Alright, I'm truly starving. My wife is waiting for me."

"I'm hungry too. There's plenty of good food on South Street. I'll head off first."

"You really are hungry." The bailiff named Old Yuan laughed. "Make it quick, don't waste time. We still have to stake out the place tonight."

South Street, also known as Old Flower Street... the place to seek out old flowers and withered willows.

"Don't worry, you know what I'm capable of."