The deflated cultivator refused to give up and vowed to turn the tables.

"Oh, where?" Grandpa Lin's eyes flickered, and his elbow trembled slightly.

"I'm not entirely sure yet, but I have an idea. May I look around here?" Su Zinong asked cautiously.

“Sure,” Grandpa Lin said. “You mean my Heavenly Spirit Stone is still in this house?”

"That's my guess, but I don't know if I'm right." Su Zinong and the man in white searched everywhere, even the servants' rooms, but found no trace of them, and couldn't help but feel a little discouraged.

He returned to the hall and looked at the two servants.

They both appeared calm, their eyes fixed downwards, but according to Su Zinong's observation, the woman would occasionally glance to the left front.

Following her gaze, it seemed she was looking at the pond beneath the artificial hill in the courtyard by the entrance to the hall. The pond was filled with many bright red goldfish, which swam back and forth rapidly, displaying great vitality.

"These fish are so lively! Are they always like this?" Su Zinong stroked his chin.

"Oh! Usually, our master feeds them too much, so they seem unable to swim. But today they are unusually vigorous, much more lively than usual." The white-clad man beside him was slightly surprised.

Su Zinong nodded, looked around the fishpond, and then squatted down, lying right next to the pond, his eyes almost touching the water.

He carefully examined the situation in the pool at the bottom, then glanced back at the maid, reached into the water and pulled out a green oilcloth bag. When he opened it, he found it was full of glittering celestial spirit stones the size of tofu.

"Ah!" Grandpa Lin's eyes lit up. He stepped forward and took the Heavenly Spirit Stones from the oilcloth bag. He counted them one by one, and sure enough, there were thirty-three stones, which were all the Heavenly Spirit Stones he had lost.

"Not a single piece missing, brilliant!" The man in white raised his eyebrows, patted Su Zinong on the shoulder, and gave him a thumbs-up in praise.

Even the old Master Qin, standing to the side, smiled slightly, feeling a sense of pride. After all, it was his granddaughter who brought the people who discovered the treasure and solved this extremely troublesome case of the stolen spirit stone.

"I keep my word," Grandpa Lin praised as he split the Heavenly Spirit Stone in half and handed the seventeen Heavenly Spirit Stones to Su Zinong.

Su Zinong respectfully accepted the seventeen Heavenly Spirit Stones. He looked at the stones; each one was shining brightly, indicating that they were full of spiritual energy.

"How did you find it?" Grandpa Lin asked with a smile. "Who stole my treasure but didn't take it, instead hiding it in this fishpond?"

Upon entering the room, Su Zinong noticed that it was perfectly tidy, without a trace of a struggle, and even the things that would have been knocked over in the chaos were nowhere to be seen, which was highly unusual. Moreover, he saw that the two servants' hands and feet were bound behind their backs, and the knots were very peculiar, the kind that were pre-tied and could be tightened with a single pull.

Furthermore, one section of the rope used to tie the hands had a strong sour smell. After questioning, Su Zinong learned that the person had eaten sour food at noon and determined that the person had used their teeth to bite the rope and tighten the knot when tying it.

It's not hard to see that this servant couple orchestrated the whole thing themselves.

If it were an ordinary cultivator who came to steal, their cultivation level would be so high that there would be no signs of a fight. They must be much stronger than these two servants. Why bother using four ropes to tie their hands and feet behind their backs? They could just knock them unconscious or kill them.

Clearly, the couple had been criticized by their master at noon and were indignant. So, they made a snap decision, stole the Heavenly Spirit Stone, hid it, and then pretended to be tied up with their hands behind their backs. When they got to the last knot, they used their teeth to bite the rope and tighten it. Then they knelt in the hall and waited for their master to return and find out.

Later, although Su Zinong searched everywhere but could not find the Heavenly Spirit Stone, he noticed that the woman's gaze kept drifting towards the fishpond, so he took a closer look at the fishpond.

The green tarpaulin bag in the fishpond was normally hard to spot because there was a lot of moss in the pond, and its color was similar. However, the goldfish were more active than usual, presumably due to the influence of the Heavenly Spirit Stone.

Su Zinong examined it closely and discovered that it contained an oilcloth bag, from which he found the Heavenly Spirit Stone.

It sounds simple, but it requires meticulous attention to detail, excellent analytical skills, and an understanding of human psychology to uncover clues, find the treasure, and solve the case.

After listening, everyone suddenly understood and praised Su Zinong. Qin Xiangxue patted Su Zinong on the back with a smile, very happy.

Su Zinong picked up seventeen Heavenly Spirit Stones and gave two each to the head of Qin Tian Manor and the old head of the manor, and two to the man in white.

Then he approached the servant couple and said, "From now on, you two must take good care of Grandpa Lin. He actually treats you very well. He only criticizes you for not working hard enough because he considers you two as his own. Do you understand?"

The two servants nodded with tears in their eyes and said, "We understand, we will never do anything foolish again..."

Su Zinong handed each of them two Heavenly Spirit Stones and said, "Cultivate diligently and don't disappoint Grandpa Lin."

With ten of the seventeen Heavenly Spirit Stones already sent out, only seven remain.

“We’ll split the rest between the two of us,” Su Zinong said, looking at Qin Xiangxue.

"Okay!" Qin Xiangxue nodded, took three pieces, and was very happy.

“I used to cherish these spirit stones as if they were my life. But the value of a treasure lies in its effects. It would be a waste for me to leave them unused. Since Young Master Su is so generous, you should take them and practice diligently. One stone can usually raise your cultivation level by one small realm. When you don’t use the rest of the spirit stones, store them in a light-proof cloth or a box to prevent them from losing their spiritual energy,” Grandpa Lin said.

Su Zinong and Qin Xiangxue left the Lin residence first.

Qin Xiangxue said, "It's so precious, yet you're willing to give it away to so many people. Do you know that you couldn't buy a piece like this for 50,000 taels of silver outside?"

“I know these things are very valuable, but they’re either from the Lin family or your Qin Tianzhuang, so it doesn’t matter. Money is just an external thing. If these treasures were in my possession, they might even bring me death!” Su Zinong said, gazing into the distance.

"Then I thank you on behalf of Grandpa and Father. Please stay at my Qin Tian Manor for a couple of days. I'll be going out to gain experience in a couple of days, and then we can travel the world together..."

“I won’t go to Qin Tian Manor. After all, I’m being hunted down right now, and it’s not convenient for me to have too much to do with your manor. But do you really want to come with me to wander the martial world? I just said I’m being hunted down…” Su Zinong was very worried.

"I know, you've told me that many times. Actually, when you're disguised and wearing a mask, no one recognizes you, so there's definitely danger. But I'm out here to train and practice counter-tracking, to experience your cautious feelings. That's what makes it exciting and engaging. If it were just like sightseeing, it would be too monotonous and boring!" Qin Xiangxue was already imagining the thrill and fun of the training.

After the two had lunch at a restaurant, Qin Xiangxue said she needed to go back and persuade her father.

Two days later, Qin Xiangxue indeed came to the inn with her bundle to find Su Zinong.

"It's settled. My father agreed to let me go out for six months, and he also asked me to give you 50,000 taels of silver as a token of my appreciation. However, he doesn't know that I'm going on this training trip with you," Qin Xiangxue said mysteriously.

"As expected of a noble family, fifty thousand taels is just a token gesture! Forget it, I have my own. I'm not as penniless as I was a few months ago. You can keep it for yourself." Su Zinong declined.

After some back and forth, Su Zinong only accepted 30,000 taels as a token gesture.

"Let's go!" Bathed in sunlight and a gentle breeze, Qin Xiangxue tossed a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled radiantly, captivating all who beheld her...