The yamen officers from Yanran City arrived in the afternoon.

Carrying a stretcher, they lifted the seven bodies of the Ji family and immediately set off back to Yanran City.

"Let's go back to the inn," Jiang Yu said after the yamen officers left, and both he and Hu Li moved.

On the way back, the two didn't say much.

Hu Li was still driving, but it was evident that his mind was elsewhere. Too many changes had occurred in just one day.

When they returned to the inn, Xiaoer was wiping the tables. Seeing the two men with smiles on their faces, he asked familiarly, "My lords, you're back so soon? Did you catch the culprit?"

"We made better time once the rain stopped," Hu Li replied casually to Xiaoer's half-question.

But he ignored the latter part of the boy's question.

Hu Li found a seat and sat down, looking out of the window. The Jinyiwei and the yamen officers from Yanran City had completely surrounded the small inn. This inn was on the route taken twice by the escorts of the convicted criminals, and it was an unavoidable stop.

After the end of the Shi family murder case, the yamen should not have withdrawn their forces from the inn so quickly.

Now that something had happened again, it was better to be safe than sorry. Perhaps it was not too late to take precautions.

Hu Li's hand ran across the tabletop, leaving deep marks. Inside were some long-standing dust and scratches.

"How many generations has this ancestral inn been passed down?" he asked.

"It's already the fifth generation since it came into our boss's hands. The previous family made it to the fourth generation and was so poor that they only had this inn left. They sold the inn and went to do business in Beijing. It rained last night, and the roof leaked a bit. It's a good thing we earned some silver these past few days to fix it," Xiaoer said, pouring tea for Jiang Yu as he spoke, with a smile.

"Does your boss's business still lack the money to fix the roof?" Hu Li glanced at Xiaoer and joked.

Xiaoer stuttered and couldn't find words to respond. Hu Li chuckled and said, "Enough of the nonsense. Just sit here, my lords, and answer a few questions truthfully."

Xiaoer nodded vigorously.

"This morning, the guest who left the silver, do you remember what he looked like?"

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"He was alone, dressed in black with a knife, looking fierce. As for the rest... I didn't dare to look too closely, so I don't remember," Xiaoer said, rubbing his forehead and smiling awkwardly.

A knife and black clothes.

Xiaoer's description was almost identical to what Yu Qiu had said.

"Master Jiang, they all say you got it wrong. The culprit is already in front of us. Tomorrow, let's find an artist to draw a portrait and plaster it all over the city. Where else could the culprit of these two murders escape to?"

Hu Li finally extracted himself from Jiang Yu's scrutiny, and now all the clues pointed to the mysterious figure with the knife and black clothes. If it was a stretch to connect him to the first night's incident, then during the Shi family massacre, he had been with Jiang Yu all night, let alone escaping to commit the crime.

"That's right, that's right," Xiaoer chimed in with a smile. "This culprit is roaming free. Don't catch the wrong person. I looked at this guest, he had a dignified appearance, full of righteousness. How could he do such a thing?"

"Master Jiang, see, Xiaoer is a wise man," Hu Li added.

"The masked man in black," Jiang Yu murmured, casting a sidelong glance at Hu Li, ignoring his unnecessary words.

"Are you two all right, sirs? Can I leave now?" Xiaoer asked with a smile, rubbing his sleeve. "I'm feeling quite uneasy in front of you."

"Hold on," Hu Li suddenly exclaimed, grabbing Xiaoer's right hand. He touched the palm and looked up at Xiaoer. "Have you practiced with a knife or sword?"

With a slight force, Hu Li bent Xiaoer's upper body down, and his face hit the table.

Jiang Yu calmly took a sip of tea and said nothing.

"Ouch, I've never practiced," Xiaoer said, his arm pulled behind him, wincing in pain. "This is just how I hold a kitchen knife. I'm just a poor man's son. Where would I get a knife or sword?"

"Yeah, where would you have practiced with a knife or sword? You couldn't even withstand this little force," Hu Li said, letting go and brushing off the nonexistent dust from his hands.

Xiaoer lay on the table for a while without getting up, his face pale.

At noon, the weather cleared.

At an inn more than a hundred miles from Yanran City.

A drop of water fell from the eaves, landing at Jiang Yu's feet. Jiang Yu held a pigeon in his hands, gently tossing it up, and the pigeon flew away, disappearing in no time.

Hu Li sat down by the window with a bowl of porridge. He put the bowl down and leaned against the window, his arm resting on the sill, and asked, "Any news from the capital?"

Jiang Yu turned back to look at Hu Li, "The Black Horse Escort has cleared themselves."

He took two steps forward, leaning against the window, and said in a deep voice, "The agreement between the Jianghu people and the Escort is that they don't recognize the person behind the ten challenge tokens. With a little twist in their logic, no matter how they investigate, they won't find anything on the Black Horse Escort. You guys who work as escorts are implicated in this matter. Especially you, Hu Li."

Hu Li took a sip of porridge and raised his head after a while, saying to Jiang Yu, "The porridge today tastes good. Jiang Yu, why don't you try some?"

Jiang Yu sat opposite Hu Li in the inn, rejecting the half-bowl of porridge handed over by Hu Li.

Hu Li rolled his eyes and took the bowl back, taking another sip. Jiang Yu took out a map from his pocket and said, "This map is probably fake. That person can really hold his breath."

After saying this, Jiang Yu threw the map into Hu Li's arms and said, "Keep it."

Hu Li took it and looked down, saying, "Jiang Yu, aren't you afraid I'll take it and run?"

Jiang Yu chuckled indifferently, "Taking this thing out will only get you chopped into pieces. Flying with wings is impossible. Your martial arts are like a target."

"Jiang Yu, you are indeed wise."

Outside the inn, there was a sudden flurry of horse hooves, interrupting Hu Li's banter.

The man dismounted, covered in dust, and entered the inn. He saw Jiang Yu sitting by the window, "My lord, someone was lurking outside the inn last night, acting suspiciously. I followed him to Yanran City and then turned back."

Jiang Yu's expression darkened, "Who was it?"

"It was the innkeeper of this inn, with some background in the Jianghu," the man said, glancing meaningfully at Xiaoer.

"Oh?" Jiang Yu responded, then turned to Hu Li, "You really have some hidden talents in Yanran City."

Xiaoer stepped forward, puzzled. "Our innkeeper probably saw the officials outside the inn and didn't know what was happening, afraid of causing trouble, so he left. Our innkeeper..."

"Wasn't he supposed to be back yesterday?" Hu Li interrupted Jiang Yu's question, glancing at Xiaoer.

Xiaoer looked hesitant, stuttering, "He was supposed to be back the day before yesterday evening, but he must have been delayed on the road."

Supposed to be back the day before yesterday evening.

But he suddenly appeared near the inn last night, not entering but choosing to leave and return to Yanran City.

There must be something fishy going on.