For Ding Songyan, the worst possibility was that an outsider-a dragon crossing the river-had stolen the flower of the Ten-Thousand-Year Golden-Rain Tree. That meant the thief had come with a purpose, had no worries about finding a buyer afterward, and either had a respectable public identity or some other means of slipping into the city. Two days had already passed since the theft. The culprit had probably flown far away by now, beyond their reach.
"Couldn't some other expert in Prefecture City have done it?" Ding Songyan asked thoughtfully.
Liang Gan shook his head with considerable certainty:
"Apart from the thieves under me and their little disciples, no other expert would steal from Dangkang Temple on a sudden whim. And Temple Host Zhu's precious item only arrived in Prefecture City a few days ago. They couldn't have had their eyes on it for long, unless Temple Host Zhu obtained it through one of them. But according to Constable Xue, that wasn't the case. Temple Host Zhu has other secret channels, and everyone involved is in the Flame Capital."
Zheng Zhuxi pressed her lips together and nodded slightly. She asked Liang Gan several more questions, then discussed matters with Ding Songyan. They tentatively decided to investigate the experts in Dangkang Temple first.
Ding Songyan turned to Liang Gan and asked with an utterly harmless smile:
"Senior Liang, what's this cultivation technique of yours called? It can actually hear people's thoughts?"
Seeing Ding Songyan shamelessly ask about it right there, both Zheng Zhuxi and Xu Chang'an pricked up their ears to hear Liang Gan's answer.
They were just as curious, but had been too embarrassed to ask.
With his greatest secret exposed, Liang Gan sighed.
"It's called 'Mirror Lake Divine Mirror.' It reflects the lake of another person's mind and lets me