At the hour of the tiger, they arrived at the inn.

The rain had started again, making their hearts restless as the raindrops pattered down.

The horses were led to the stable, and Xu Cheng and his companions stood under the eaves of the inn, removing their raincoats and wringing out their soaked clothes.

The light of dawn was beginning to brighten the sky above.

"This rain seems like it'll never end," Xu Cheng complained, twisting his clothes and causing water to splash all around.

Sighs could be heard all around.

Although the journey was short, it was more exhausting than traveling for half a month.

"After resting at the inn for one night, we'll return to Yanran City with Yu Fu Jian in the evening," Jiang Yu, the leader, announced, and then Xu Cheng, who was closest to the inn's door, pushed it open and entered the room.

As soon as Xu Cheng entered, he shouted, "Innkeeper!"

Jiang Yu's subordinates were about to scold Xu Cheng, but Jiang Yu raised his hand to stop them.

The inn was quiet, with no sound to be heard. Xu Cheng shouted again, but only his voice echoed in the empty inn.

The guards stationed at the inn had left the previous day, and the bodies from the Shi family had been taken back to Yanran City overnight by the guards. Only the room where the incident had occurred was sealed off.

The inn now had only a few people left, the innkeeper and a cook.

With the gray light outside and the dimness inside, it would be a while before dawn. Hu Li searched for a candle holder, lit the candle, and walked over to Jiang Yu's side.

Jiang Yu gestured for his men to step back, and the two of them walked with a candle holder to the small kitchen, while the remaining guards searched upstairs.

As they approached the kitchen door, they smelled a strong odor of blood. Hu Li hesitated for a moment, then bent down, stretched out his arm, and let the candlelight sweep across the floor.

The kitchen was empty, with dried blood on the floor.

Jiang Yu's expression changed, and he covered his mouth and nose with his hand, saying sharply, "Search inside and out thoroughly."

Hu Li squatted down, reached out, and touched the blood on the ground, rubbing it with his fingers.

Jiang Yu frowned, unable to understand why Hu Li would touch such a thing. "What can you tell from that?" he asked.

Hu Li extended his hand in front of Jiang Yu. "Because there are tiny feathers," he said.

Indeed, there were small white feathers on his finger, and Hu Li flicked them away and even blew on them.

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Jiang Yu felt nauseous and stood up straight to prevent Hu Li's dirty hands from touching him.

Hu Li stopped and said, "This is chicken blood."

"How can you tell?" Jiang Yu frowned. He couldn't distinguish between chicken blood, duck blood, and human blood.

Hu Li brought the candle closer to his finger. "Because of the tiny feathers."

There were indeed tiny white feathers on his finger, and Hu Li flicked them away. Then he blew on them.

Jiang Yu stood up, feeling disgusted, but stayed in place with an unchanged expression.

"Master," one of Jiang Yu's men called from the kitchen door, "the innkeeper is here."

The two of them walked to the door. The innkeeper adjusted his hat and said, "I slept too soundly. If it wasn't for the gentlemen waking me up, I'd still be dreaming."

Jiang Yu didn't say anything, and the innkeeper glanced at Hu Li's hand before explaining, "We slaughtered a chicken yesterday afternoon and haven't cleaned up yet. I'll prepare a basin of hot water for you to wash your hands."

With that, the innkeeper turned and hurried to heat the water.

Hu Li held the candle holder and circled around the lobby of the inn.

The "lobby" was actually just a small square hall with eight or nine long tables. The dust on the tables had been wiped clean, and Hu Li rubbed his hand on the tabletop a few times.

Perhaps because it had been idle for too long, the cracks were very obvious under his hand. With a little force, he was afraid of cutting his hand.

They opened the rooms on the second floor, and Hu Li changed into clean clothes, resting on the bed for an hour. When it was already bright outside, he went to the front hall of the inn and sat next to Jiang Yu.

Jiang Yu finished the last sip of porridge in his bowl.

"When will Vice Officer Yu and his men arrive?" Hu Li asked, looking at the empty inn door.

Jiang Yu glanced at the sun outside the inn and knew roughly. They should have arrived by now.

The innkeeper peeked out from the kitchen, took a hot teapot, and went to each table to pour tea. Jiang Yu beckoned to him, and the innkeeper hurried over to Jiang Yu. "What can I do for you, sir?"

"Are there still people staying at your inn these past few days, after we left?" Jiang Yu asked.

"Yes, indeed," the innkeeper replied after glancing at Jiang Yu and then explained, "This deserted place usually doesn't see anyone for ten days or half a month. I don't know what's going on, but suddenly business has been booming."

"What kind of people are they?" Hu Li took over the conversation.

The innkeeper glanced at Jiang Yu before retracting his gaze and said, "They're also escorting teams. There was one who left last night and another who left this morning."

"This morning?" Jiang Yu paused.

They arrived at the inn at the hour of the tiger, and the guards searched the inn upstairs and downstairs.

There were no living people in the inn last night.

"Yes, this morning. They left before dawn, leaving the money on the counter," the innkeeper said.

People suddenly appearing out of nowhere. There was no way to start.

And the escort team that the innkeeper mentioned...

Hu Li asked, "How many people left in the escort team last night?"

"There were quite a few," the innkeeper pondered for a moment before replying, "About the same as you gentlemen, maybe even more."

"Why did this group leave?" Jiang Yu asked.

"At midnight. I remember clearly that the rain was getting lighter. They paid the money and left," the innkeeper replied.

Jiang Yu massaged his temples with a bit of fatigue.

The escort team mentioned by the innkeeper was most likely the second batch led by Vice Officer Yu.

They were supposed to meet at the inn this evening.

The timing was off, but it wouldn't be off by a day.

Could it be that something happened, causing the original time to be moved up? And why did Yu choose to leave at midnight?

"Do we pursue?" Hu Li asked.

Jiang Yu clenched his fist, "Yes!"

All the guards of the Black Horse Escort Bureau, except for the suspect Hu Li, were preparing to return to Yanran.

Hu Li drove the carriage, which was bumping along the road.

The banner on the carriage was taken down, and the curtain was pulled open, letting in the wind. Inside, Jiang Yu's face looked grim.

Jiang Yu, lightly armed, and Hu Li chose a carriage from the escort bureau and set off first, hoping to meet Jiang Yu's men halfway. The people left in Yanran were also on their way and would meet them.

Hu Li glanced at Jiang Yu and said casually, "Lord Jiang, you don't look too good."

Jiang Yu frowned. He was used to the constant chatter between master and disciple, but he couldn't get used to it. "Stop the nonsense," he said.

Hu Li lazily flicked the reins, "Sir, are you sure there were no living people in the inn last night?"

Jiang Yu didn't speak, waiting for Hu Li to continue.

"If we assume that the murderer seen by the innkeeper last night is the culprit, Yu Fu Jian must have sensed something wrong after arriving at the inn. So, taking advantage of last night's rain at midnight, he left the inn, hoping to reach Yiling as soon as possible."

"You're making baseless guesses," Jiang Yu raised his eyelids slightly and then closed them again.

"I'm just making the most reasonable assumptions, sir," Hu Li didn't want to take the blame.

"You're just confusing the court officials."

Hu Li continued along his line of thought, "But there are still many doubts. We were sure before that the Shi family massacre was motivated by robbery, and the murderer came for the map of Prince Liang's underground treasure vault. The map is in the hands of the court, namely, in your hands. Instead of causing trouble for you, the murderer had conflicts with the convicts exiled to Yiling by the court."

After discovering the map of Prince Liang, they concluded that the murders were committed for the map. The map had been in Jiang Yu's hands for two days, and there had been no movement around Jiang Yu.

There were roughly three possibilities.

First, the murderer was using smoke and mirrors to distract them.

Second, someone in the other group had another map.

Or, the reason for the murders was not the map at all.

"Right," Jiang Yu responded, seeing Jiang Yu's back of his head swaying in front of him, "What's next in your assumption?"

"Next, we need to catch up with the team ahead as soon as possible."