Seeking Traces

Military Advisor Ji had now arrived outside Green Mountain Pass City. He was speeding through the pitch-black night, his face even darker than the heavy darkness. He had just searched the secret passage in the Marshal's Residence garden, but found nothing. Then he turned back and searched the Marshal's Residence several times, finally having to confirm the fact that Li Yan was not in the residence. After leaving the Marshal's Residence, he jumped onto the city wall again and headed out of the city along the mountain ridge.

His current target was the garrison camp thirty miles away. That was a difficult place to search. Hundreds of thousands of troops were there, and if Hong Linying hid someone among them, even with his Divine Sense, it would take a long time. Moreover, he didn't want anyone to know. If Li Yan was still not there after that search, and so much time was wasted, it would be even harder to find him.

Thinking of this, anger surged in his heart, and there was a faint tendency for Fire Poison to circulate in his body. He had to flash into the mountain forest on the side, find a place at random, and sit cross-legged. After about half a cup of tea, he stood up and disappeared into the darkness again.

Time flew by, and Military Advisor Valley welcomed the second day after Li Yan left. Chen An and Li Yin hadn't slept all night, and their eyes were bloodshot. They didn't know what fate awaited them next, and their hearts were extremely uneasy.

And so, in their anxiety, time slowly came to the evening of the second day. In just one day and night, the two of them were completely exhausted. How could they be well if they couldn't eat or sleep? The other soldiers and women in the valley also saw that something was wrong. Lord Ji had come yesterday, and soon after, he left the Military Advisor's Residence alone with a gloomy face. Even stranger, Young Master didn't return with Chen An and Li Yin yesterday. After the two of them returned, they stayed in the barracks with dark faces, not eating or drinking. The others, not knowing the reason, including the soldiers who usually liked to joke with them, spoke in much lower voices. As a result, the entire Military Advisor's Residence seemed very oppressive, with a feeling of dark clouds pressing down on the city.

The sun slowly rose to the top of the valley in this oppressive atmosphere, leaning towards the west mountain.

The moonlight slowly rose again and gradually moved westward, little by little.

"Chen An, Li Yin, you two come in," suddenly a voice rang out in the open space outside the valley, extremely gloomy.

It was already midnight. Military Advisor Ji, dressed in black robes, was like a ghost in the night. He flashed across the open space and appeared, then walked straight into the valley.

Hearing this, everyone, whether they were soldiers on guard outside or people inside the houses, trembled all over, and a chill rose from their backs. Chen An and Li Yin trembled even more, and ran out somewhat absentmindedly.

When the two of them arrived in the valley, they saw a figure standing in front of Li Yan's room. They hurried closer and looked carefully by the moonlight. It was Military Advisor Ji standing with his hands behind his back. But his appearance at this time shocked them greatly. In just one day and night, Military Advisor Ji's face was purplish-black, his expression haggard, and his face looked much older. Only his eyes shone with a blood-red light.

After Military Advisor Ji arrived at the garrison camp thirty miles away last night, he used all his skills, using his eyes and Divine Sense together, and using his movement techniques and spiritual power at the same time. He flew around the camp, but by dawn he had not finished searching. If he continued to search, he would be discovered when daytime came, even with his movement techniques. But he had no time to wait. With a ruthless heart, he dispersed some of the spiritual power suppressing the toxicity, increased the scanning range of his Divine Sense, and accelerated his movement speed. When he used it, it was like a gust of wind blowing past.

And so, several hours later, he appeared behind a tent. At this

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time, his face was ugly, his appearance was hideous, and his expression was dazed. The Fire Poison had already begun to flow in his body, which made his mind somewhat uncontrollable. He wanted to find Li Yan more and more at all costs. After a short pause, he increased his spiritual power a little more and searched everywhere.

When night came, he had searched seven or eight tenths of the garrison camp. Due to the excessive use of spiritual power, the Fire Poison in his body flowed much faster, and his mind was somewhat insane. Looking at the unsearched areas, the blackness on his face showed a purplish tint, and some of his hair began to turn grayish-black. He said unconsciously, "You think you can hide? Even if I dig three feet into the ground, you won't be able to escape."

Finally, by midnight, he had searched the entire garrison camp, but still found nothing. Military Advisor Ji's face was distorted, he gritted his teeth, and his white teeth gnashed together, revealing a pair of blood-red, glowing eyes under his purplish-black face, like a demon in the dark night.

"No, no, where are you?" At this time, his mind was confused, and the Fire Poison had gradually spread throughout his meridians. He quickly wandered around the military camp for a while, then ran wildly unconsciously, just muttering to himself.

After walking like this for an unknown amount of time, his mind gradually calmed down. He stopped, panting, and after regaining his senses slightly, he looked around. Unconsciously, he had returned to outside the Military Advisor's Residence.

"You two, tell me in detail everything you said and did when you went out with Li Yan in the past few months. Be detailed, be clear, do you understand?" Military Advisor Ji, dressed in black robes, stood under the moonlight in the dark night, speaking coldly and looking at the two kneeling on the ground.

Chen An and Li Yin trembled uncontrollably under his gaze, as if they were in the depths of winter. Chen An immediately began to tell everything, and even Li Yin, who had never liked to talk, occasionally added a few words.

Nearly an hour later, "Is that all?" Military Advisor Ji said coldly. Chen An and Li Yin lay on the ground, not answering, but still racking their brains, thinking hard. After a long while, the two of them secretly looked at each other, and both got the answer in each other's eyes. They had said everything they could say and think of about the times they went out with Li Yan in the past hour.

"Yes, sir, that's all. There's really nothing else," Chen An replied cautiously, and Li Yin nodded in agreement. After this hour of narration, the two of them had begun to calm down. After all, they were people who had experienced life and death on the battlefield many times. At this time, they would just resign themselves to fate.

After Military Advisor Ji heard this, he stood there quietly without saying a word. The two of them lay kneeling on the ground quietly. Under the moonlight, only the chirping of early summer insects occasionally rang out among the flowers and plants, making people feel a little oppressed.

After a while, Chen An and Li Yin felt the pressure on their bodies lessen. When they looked up, Military Advisor Ji had disappeared from sight. Then they heard a sound coming from Li Yan's room.

Military Advisor Ji came to Li Yan's room. In the past hour, he had been thinking about every word the two of them said while listening. His mind had returned to a very calm state, and his brain was constantly analyzing. Finally, he came to several conclusions and doubts.

First, Li Yan should have known his intentions towards him. Even if he didn't know the real purpose, he must have sensed that something bad would happen to him. But how did he know his intentions? He had always been very discreet, which made him a little puzzled.

Second, Li Yan had intentionally or unintentionally begun to increase his contact with Liu Chengyong two months ago. Then Liu Chengyong should be the person Hong Linying arranged to meet him. Was Li Yan's escape today because Liu Chengyong did something in the military camp under orders, using a blindfold to block Chen An and Li Yin's sight?

Third, the several fellow villagers who were close to Li Yan were also suspicious. They may have participated in helping Li Yan escape. Then the tavern and the Ironware Pavilion may be the places where Li Yan was hiding. Although the city gate soldiers said that Li Yan had left the city, with Hong Linying's methods, it would not be difficult to get a few soldiers to lie?

Fourth, if the city gate soldiers could lie, then the military camp guards could also lie. Could Li Yan still be hiding in the military camp?

Fifth, if the soldiers above could all be lying, then could it be assumed that, in addition to the tavern and the Ironware Pavilion, Hong Linying could find any private house in the city to hide Li Yan, instead of having to hide him in the Marshal's Residence.

Sixth, what was the relationship between Li Yan's recent large purchases of farm tools and clothing and his escape? He couldn't figure this out for a while.

Seventh, were the various flowers and plants that Li Yan had recently planted related to his escape?

Eighth, if Li Yan was not in any of the above places, then where could he have gone? His hometown? Or find a hidden place and wait for him to slowly lose confidence and give up looking for him.

Ninth, how could Li Yan imitate his handwriting and forge a message?

Tenth, had Chen An and Li Yin also been bought by Li Yan? Had the two of them been helping Li Yan all along?

He deduced all of the above one by one, and slowly formed conclusions.

First of all, he entered Li Yan's room to confirm the last two points. He believed that Li Yan would not be able to do it perfectly. Any means would have some clues to find. What he had to do now was to get results for these conclusions one by one, and he could gradually find Li Yan's whereabouts.

After entering the room, although there were no lights in the room, with his cultivator's eyesight, as long as he borrowed a little light in the darkness, it would not be much different from daytime. It would only have an impact at a greater distance when looking into the distance. Moreover, the moonlight was like water tonight, and everything in the room was clearly visible in his eyes.

He stood in front of the table. There was still an inkstone and a writing brush on the table near the window. After taking a look, he could deduce that Li Yan was in a hurry at the time. Although the inkstone and brush had been returned to their non-writing positions, the ink in the inkstone was still there and had not been washed away. The ink stains on the brush were also still there, and even some had dripped on the table. Although there were only one or two drops, it could be seen that Li Yan was in a hurry at the time, probably for fear of unexpected changes in the plan.

He picked up the brush with one hand and looked at it for a while, but found nothing else. Then he looked around and found a pile of paper balls thrown in the corner of the wall. He put down the brush and flashed to the corner of the wall. He used both hands at the same time, and his left hand had already inserted the Jade Book, which he never left his side, into his waistband outside his robe. He bent down and picked up a ball of paper from the pile and unfolded it. What was written on it were ordinary poems. Then he picked up a few more and unfolded them. Slowly, his face became a little difficult to look at.

These papers were exactly what Li Yan had often scribbled on in the previous period. Because it was uncertain when Li Yan would write wildly, the woman who cleaned the room occasionally had things that she didn't have time to clean up and take away. The papers that were taken away during cleaning were burned as firewood early, according to what Military Advisor Ji had said to Chen An and Li Yin before.

Military Advisor Ji had seen this before. Chen An and Li Yin had shown it to him. He didn't think anything of it at the time, but today, after taking a closer look, he suddenly discovered some problems. Although these handwriting were still a mess, as if venting the depression in his chest, and were still so ugly and chaotic, after looking at it carefully now, some individual strokes of individual characters were somewhat similar to his own. If he wasn't determined to find fault now, he really wouldn't have discovered such a situation.

This discovery made a flash of inspiration flash in his mind involuntarily. He turned his head and looked at the bookshelf on the west wall of the house, where one or twenty books were placed.

With a sway of his body, he arrived at the bookshelf again. He found a book inside. This book was exactly the source of a poem in the paper balls he had just read. He used to read it often, so he naturally knew it.

Soon he turned to that page. After just one glance, his face changed. Then he found a few more books in succession, and after opening them and looking at them, he couldn't help but sigh and said to himself, "This kid, I really underestimated him. He's only fifteen or sixteen years old, but he has such a mind."

When he opened the first book, he basically understood. These books were all books that he used to read often. It's just that he read too many books, and the bookshelf in his room could no longer fit them, so he only left some books that he read often, and the rest were placed on the bookshelves in these rooms. He had a habit of annotating some good sentences when reading, and from time to time he would write some annotations and comments. Obviously, Li Yan had also discovered this and incorporated it into his plan.

Military Advisor Ji then remembered that Li Yan had previously taken a few more books from him. He figured that Li Yan wanted to see more of his handwriting, and to confirm whether the handwriting in the books in his room was his own.

He also recalled that he had only written things for Li Yan twice. Once was the "Qi Guidance Art," and the other was the "Black Night Curtain Azure Skill." However, it was clear that Li Yan had spent more time studying the latter skill. At the time, he thought that as the skill level increased, Li Yan's comprehension would be slower, which was why he took longer to study it. Now it seemed possible that Li Yan was spending more time looking at the handwriting, or checking whether the handwriting in the books matched the handwriting on the paper, to see if they came from the same person.

Looking back at the piles of paper in the corner, he had an epiphany. In those characters that Li Yan practiced, often only a basic stroke of a character was actually imitating his own, while the rest was scribbled to cover it up. When it came to actual use, Li Yan would slowly combine the practiced basic strokes to form his own message.

At this point, he had confirmed the last two points of his conclusion: Li Yan was secretly imitating his handwriting through the books he had annotated. And the flaw in the cultivation technique was precisely that it required external objects to soothe the burning sensation in his chest, which he used to cover up the practice of imitation. The other point was that Chen An and Li Yin had not been bribed by Li Yan. This was easy to understand. If they had been bribed, Li Yan wouldn't have had to go to such lengths to secretly imitate his handwriting. Chen An and Li Yin would have simply gone out with him.

So next, he needed to confirm some other conclusions. Perhaps Li Yan's whereabouts were among them.