Moonlight and wind

While the two were talking, a guard ran in hurriedly and whispered something in Bao Qingjian's ear. Bao Qingjian's pupils dilated after hearing this, and he was extremely frightened. He glanced at Shan Zimo, then immediately calmed down and waved his hand to let the guard go.

"Young Master Shan's courtyard is flooded due to my fault. I will go and take a look to find out the cause! Young Master Shan, please do as you please!" Bao Qingjian shook his fat body and quickly left the hall.

"Follow him!" Shan Zimo said softly to Shan Boyu, "I'm going to find Zi Ling'er!"

"Bai Yu must follow the young master! There are so many people in this mansion who are trying to harm you!" Shan Bai Yu disagreed.

"Time is running out! You go and hold Bao Qingjian back, and I'll go find Zi Ling'er. It will be faster if we split up into two groups!" Shan Zimo didn't give Shan Boyu a chance to refute. He circulated his internal energy and disappeared out the door with a whoosh.

Shan Boyu did not dare to delay and hurriedly chased after Bao Qingjian.

"Hey? Where are you going, Mr. Shan?" Bao Qingjian asked hurriedly when he saw Shan Boyu chasing after him.

"It's not that the young master is worried that he has to let me accompany you to check. If you need me to do anything, please tell me to do it!"

"Where is the young master?" Bao Qingjian looked anxiously behind Shan Boyu, but Shan Zimo did not appear.

"Young Master, go back and tell Miss Qi that Zi Ling'er might have run away for fun. Tell her not to worry!" Shan Boyu clung to Bao Qingjian like a dog-skin plaster. Bao Qingjian saw that he couldn't get rid of him, so he had to change his route and walk towards the courtyard where the fire had broken out.

Shan Zimo rushed around in the prefect's mansion, his legs filled with internal strength and full of energy! When he arrived at Bao Datong's courtyard, Shan Zimo quietly jumped onto the wall and walked along the wall to the hall.

At this time, Bao Datong came out with his sweat towel hanging on his shoulder. "Drag him out and deal with him!" Bao Datong said nonchalantly and walked towards his own room.

Several guards walked in, and soon came out carrying a disheveled woman with her head hung. Dan Zimo couldn't see the woman's appearance clearly.

"Beast!" Shan Zimo cursed softly and was about to leave to continue looking for Zi Ling'er when the woman spoke.

"Please be kind, gentlemen, and don't bury me. I will give you money when I get out!" The weak voice of the woman came, causing Shan Zimo to stop.

"This is not your call!" The guard ignored her and dragged her even more roughly.

Shan Zimo was about to go down, but then he changed his mind and thought that it was more important to find Zi Ling'er. He glanced at the woman who was about to leave the courtyard, and then looked around and found that the courtyard he would meet was not far away, so he immediately ran over there.

"Li!" Shan Zimo came to the courtyard. Li ran out immediately after hearing Shan Zimo's shouting.

"What is it, young master?"

"There's something that needs to be tracked, go and do it!"

"No problem! Where do I start?"

“Start from Bao Datong’s courtyard!”

"Okay! Master Shan, just wait for my news!"

"Li, you just need to watch from a distance. No matter what you see, don't take action and expose yourself!"

"I understand!" Li said, and ran out.

"Miss Qu, don't worry, I'll look for her again!" Shan Zimo saw Qu Xuanyue, who came out with Li, and she looked extremely haggard.

"Do you want me to go look for it too?" Xuanyue suggested.

"No, you'd better stay. There's another group of people here who need your protection!" After saying that, Shan Zimo jumped back to the top of the wall and disappeared into the night.

Shan Zimo searched almost the entire prefectural mansion all night, but still did not see Zi Ling'er. Before dawn, Shan Zimo sat in Bao Qingjian's courtyard.

"Oh! Young Master Shan, you're here so early?" Bao Qingjian quickly packed his clothes and ran over to greet him enthusiastically.

"Have you found out the cause of last night's fire?" Shan Zimo looked at Bao Qingjian with a half-smile.

"I found out!" Bao Qingjian sat down on the stone bench next to Shan Zimo. "There was a little girl cutting candle flowers in the courtyard. She accidentally knocked over the candlestick last night, and the fire broke out." Bao Qingjian said, and his expression suddenly became sad. "The child was narrow-minded. She was afraid that I would blame her, so she jumped into the fire and burned to death!"

Shan Zimo was shocked after hearing this. "Could it be that the girl who was burned to death was Zi Ling'er?" Shan Zimo was suspicious. "Miss Qu's personal maid Zi Ling'er did not return home overnight. Since she was lost in the prefect's mansion, please find her for her, Mr. Bao." Shan Zimo smiled a fake smile.

"Look at my brain!" Bao Qingjian pretended to slap his head hard, "I was delayed by the fire last night and forgot about this matter! Young Master Shan, don't worry, I will send someone to look for him right away!" Bao Qingjian called out and several guards came. He gave a few simple instructions and then hurried out.

"If Lord Bao can find Zi Ling'er, this young master will definitely reward him handsomely!"

"I don't deserve it! I don't deserve it! This is what a humble official should do!" Bao Qingjian stood up and made a gesture of invitation. Shan Zimo didn't want to stay any longer, so he left Bao Qingjian's courtyard and returned to Yi Yan Hui.

Everyone was anxiously waiting for Shan Zimo, Li, and Zi Ling'er who had not returned yet. When Shan Zimo came in, everyone gathered around him. Seeing his expression, everyone tacitly did not ask any questions and returned to their seats.

After a while, Li came back stealthily. He slipped along the wall and slid into the courtyard very quickly, without being noticed by the guards outside the door.

"How was it? Did you see that woman?" Shan Zimo pulled the breathless Li back to the hall.

"I saw it!" Li panted and swallowed. Zi Zhong quickly brought some tea and Li drank it all in one gulp. "It's in the woods two miles outside Yunlan City!"

"Dead or alive?"

"Almost died!" When Li put down the teacup, Shan Zimo noticed that he was covered in dirt and black mud on his fingernails. "I followed the guards to the woods and saw with my own eyes that the guards threw the woman into the big pit they had dug in advance! Fortunately, the guards were lazy and shoveled some dirt hastily. When they saw that the woman didn't make any sound, they thought she was dead and left."

"You rescued that woman again?" Shan Zimo continued to look at the mud on his body.

"That's right! I was just going to check and leave a mark, but I didn't expect that the soil was soft and a hand stretched out!" Li couldn't help but shudder. "I knew that the buried woman might not be dead yet, so I tried my best to dig the soil. I didn't have anything suitable, so I just used my hands. Finally, I pulled the woman out!"

"Where is that woman now?" Shan Zimo was a little worried.

"Don't worry, young master. I have already reburied the earth pit before I came back, and hid the woman in a dilapidated earth temple outside the city. When I returned to the city, I went to the Mo Yue Xiang Tea Shop first. Master Yu Wen has already sent someone to pick her up!"

"Good! Your disciple is really smart!" Shan Zimo was very pleased. "Next, we have to find Zi Ling'er as soon as possible. The longer we wait, the more dangerous she will be!"

"Since Young Master said so, why not send someone to wait in Bao Datong's courtyard? In my opinion, this matter has something to do with Bao Datong!"