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墨書 Inktalez
"Yes, yes, the Jade Ornaments hidden in my home were also stolen!"
"Is everyone here missing Jade Ornaments from their homes?" Zhang Zonghan couldn't help but ask. "Has anyone lost anything else of value?"
The people present exchanged glances, and after a moment of silence, they all shook their heads. This left Zhang Zonghan puzzled as to why the thief only targeted Jade Ornaments.
Unable to think of an answer for the time being, Zhang Zonghan had no choice but to work with Hua Zhong to record the details of all the households that had been robbed in the courtyard. During this process, Zhang Zonghan developed a new question: among the stolen Jade Ornaments, some could indeed fetch a high price, but others were quite cheap...
It was understandable that valuable Jade Ornaments were stolen, but why would the thief also take inexpensive ones? This left both Zhang Zonghan and Hua Zhong baffled.
After the crowd dispersed, when Ms. Qin walked into the courtyard, Zhang Zonghan was still standing with his arms crossed, staring at a stack of bamboo slips on the table that recorded the theft cases, lost in deep thought.
"Master Zhang, what's wrong? What troubles you so?"
Zhang Zonghan came back to his senses, quickly stood up, and gave Ms. Qin a wry smile as he recounted what had happened earlier.
"It is indeed strange..." Ms. Qin said with a furrowed brow.
Zhang Zonghan sighed deeply. "Honestly, this is the first time I've encountered a thief whose motive isn't money..."
Not for money? Ms. Qin murmured softly.
"By the way, Ms.Qin, did you come here for something?" Zhang Zonghan asked.
"Ah, yes. I found Boli; rather, it reappeared on its own," Ms. Qin replied.
"Boli came back by itself?"
"Yes, last night after I finished bathing and returned to my study, I saw Boli sitting there grooming itself. When it saw me, it ran over to greet me affectionately."
"Is that so... It's good that you're back. It feels like something is missing over at the Ms.Qin ’s place when it's not there," Zhang Zonghan chuckled.
"Master Zhang, there's something I want to discuss with you..."
"What is it?"
"Boli came back yesterday with a faint scent of herbs on her."
"The scent of herbs?"
"Exactly, but it seems to be just the herbs from the human realm. So I think it shouldn't be anything serious."
That makes sense; perhaps Boli just wandered off and spent some time in a patch of herbs. Thus, Zhang Zonghan didn't think much of it.
After finishing breakfast, Zhang Zonghan and Ms. Qin headed out to the street to report the theft incident from yesterday to the Yamen.
As they walked through the market in Luoyang City, they encountered Zuo Ci coming toward them. Just as Zhang Zonghan was about to greet her, he noticed that Zuo Ci had a furrowed brow, seemingly troubled by something.
"Zuo Ci?" he asked as they were about to bump into each other.
Upon hearing Zhang Zonghan's voice, Zuo Ci quickly stopped and, upon realizing it was Zhang Zonghan and Ms. Qin in front of her, smiled awkwardly.
"What’s wrong? You look quite troubled," Ms. Qin inquired.
Zuo Ci glanced around before pointing to a small teahouse by the roadside that had no customers.
"Master Zhang, Ms.Qin, please come with me."
Inside the small teahouse, there were no customers. The female Manager was bored and dozing off with her arms crossed. When she heard footsteps, she opened her eyes and saw it was Zhang Zonghan and Ms. Qin, quickly standing up. However, her sudden movement caused the chair beneath her to topple over, and she tripped over her own feet, falling to the ground.
Zhang Zonghan hurried over to help her up.
"I-I'm fine! How could I let Master Zhang help me!" The Tea House Proprietor appeared very flustered.
"Ah—what are you saying? Don't worry about titles! Right now, the people in Luoyang City are living in such hardship, and I, Zhang, am powerless to do more. I'm sorry for you all."
Zhang Zonghan's mood fell, and Ms. Qin and Zuo Ci quickly comforted him.
As Zuo Ci entered the small teahouse, he said to the Tea House Proprietor:
"I need to discuss some matters with Master Zhang, so please don't let anyone else in for now. Here, please accept this." With that, Zuo Ci took out a large handful of Five-Zhu Coins and handed them to the Manager. The Manager's eyes widened in surprise as she hurriedly thanked him while nodding in agreement.
Once Zuo Ci sat down comfortably, he gently spoke to Ms. Qin and Zhang Zonghan.
"During this time, my daughter has been going back and forth in Luoyang City with Yu Ji and found that the Exorcism Talismans are still intact in their original places."
"Isn't that a good thing?" Master Zhang asked in confusion.
"But don't you think, Master Zhang, that Dong Zhuo's group has been unusually quiet lately? Ever since the incident at the Yizhuang?"
With that said—
Zhang Zonghan and Ms. Qin exchanged glances and silently nodded.
Indeed, Dong the Traitor's group had been too quiet recently—
"Wait a minute, I don't know about this matter—" Zhang Zonghan recalled the multiple thefts that occurred last night and began to discuss it with Zuo Ci.
"The Jade Ornaments were stolen? And among the stolen Jade Ornaments, some were of very low value?"
"That's right."
"Aside from the Jade Ornaments, nothing else was taken?"
"Exactly."
"Was there always a sharp explosion heard first?"
"Yes, that's correct."
Zuo Ci rested his chin on his hand, lost in thought.
"Hearing a sharp explosion is indeed unusual, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's the work of the demon clan. In fact, some human thieves might also create such effects when using certain tricks during their thefts."
"So you're saying it might not be related to Dong the Traitor?" Zhang Zonghan asked.
"That's right. However, even though it may not be related to Dong the Traitor, we cannot rule out the possibility of it being connected to the demon clan."
"Why do you say that?" Zhang Zonghan was quite puzzled.
"Because during our patrols in Luoyang City these past few days, when we passed by the entrance of Luoyang City and chatted with the guards there, we noticed some individuals who appeared to be ordinary but were subtly emanating a demonic aura as they entered the city," Zuo Ci explained.
"What? Other demons have entered Luoyang City?!" Zhang Zonghan exclaimed in shock.
Zuo Ci nodded.
"What should we do... The hearts of the people in Luoyang City are already scattered. If the demon clan disrupts things further, won't it lead to chaos?!" Zhang Zonghan suddenly felt weak and almost slid off his chair. Ms. Qin, sitting next to him, quickly steadied him.
Zuo Ci hurriedly said, "Master Zhang, there's no need to worry. Although some demons have entered, there are also demons who do not wish to fight with the human race; they just want to coexist."
Hearing this, Zhang Zonghan felt a bit relieved.
At that moment, the Tea House Proprietor walked in with a tray of tea.
"Come, come, everyone! Please try the best tea brewed from the finest leaves in my shop."
Ms. Qin took the tea, sipped it, and savored it carefully.
"This tea is quite good! Fragrant like orchids and osmanthus, with a taste like sweet dew. It's really nice to enjoy such delicious tea at this time!"
Ms. Qin appeared very excited and thrilled. Zhang Zonghan and Zuo Ci followed suit and took a few sips.
"It really is quite good!"
"The flavor is nice!"
"Manager, your business must be doing well?" Zhang Zonghan asked.
The Manager chuckled awkwardly a few times and replied softly, "Not really..."
"Such delicious tea, what a pity! How about this, we'll help you attract some customers!" Zhang Zonghan clapped his thigh and said enthusiastically.
"What?! Master Zhang is personally helping to attract customers? This—this—" The Manager couldn't believe what he heard, his eyes wide open, standing there in shock.
"Yes, after all, your tea is indeed quite good. It's really a waste not to have any customers."
Zhang Zonghan patted the Manager's shoulder. The Manager was so moved that tears streamed down his face.
"Then, thank you so much, Master Zhang!!"
After the Manager left, Zhang Zonghan and the others turned the conversation back to the Jade Ornaments theft case.
"However, the fact that demons have entered Luoyang increases the possibility that yesterday's incident is related to them. This cannot be denied..." Zuo Ci said slowly.
"Then we need to consider this possibility and investigate it as well," Zhang Zonghan sighed and said.
"Also, if only the Jade Ornaments were stolen... I have a theory," she added.
"Oh? Please tell me!" Zhang Zonghan leaned forward after hearing this.
"It's just a guess, but I need Master Zhang and Ms. Qin to assist me with something," Zuo Ci said seriously as she looked at Zhang Zonghan and Ms. Qin.
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