Li Yan searched the rear courtyard several times over. Aside from the storeroom, he also carefully examined every inch of the two rooms Jin Zhiyuan used personally with his Divine Sense.
One room served both for rest and cultivation. Land in the city was worth its weight in gold; even if the faction behind Jin Zhiyuan could have bought him a larger shop, they naturally would not do so if it would make concealing his identity more difficult.
Thus, according to his own needs, Jin Zhiyuan had only added another room for alchemy and the cultivation and study of spirit plants.
Yet after Li Yan's meticulous search, he ultimately found nothing. His earlier speculation had once again come to nothing. Jin Zhiyuan and the others truly seemed not to possess soul lamps or life plaques.
This meant the two shop assistants might still have received the news through some other method, one that should have relied on outside assistance.
"Or someone else notified the shop assistants that danger had appeared—but how did that person know something had happened to Jin Zhiyuan..."
Countless thoughts churned through Li Yan's mind. After searching for clues in this manner, he had gone around in a great circle and returned to his initial speculation.
This could only mean that while Li Yan was meticulous in his work, he could still fall into a trap laid by his enemies.
Li Yan stood in the shop at the front. He had inspected the counters here several times as well, and Jin Sanshiyi and the others had ensured that nothing here had been touched afterward. They had only searched with their eyes and Divine Sense.
Li Yan was still looking outside. Night remained unchanged; the long darkness had yet to pass, and dawn had not arrived. The