After parting with Li Tan, Li Tan went directly back to the Lin residence. By the time he arrived, it was already dusk. Lin Cui left a single sentence—“Behave yourself and don’t cause trouble”—before walking off toward the household quarters, likely to visit Xiao Xue. With nothing else to do, Li Tan returned directly to his quarters, planning to test the medicinal herbs he had obtained that morning.
His quarters were surrounded by fallen ginkgo leaves scattered everywhere, forming a golden carpet. The dry well remained unchanged, exuding a strange, eerie aura.
Sitting on the cold bed, he glanced at the young eagle inside the wasteland tower, then took out the soul jade and summoned Jiang Xin’s soul. As usual, she had a blank expression and slumped shoulders.
Li Tan remained expressionless as he retrieved the medicinal herbs that aid in soul consolidation. He carefully controlled the temperature of the mundane flame lit by candle, burning and crushing the herbs until they became a warm, light green liquid. With a gentle flick, he splashed it onto the spirit body, which instantly evaporated like steam. The result was immediately visible—Jiang Xin’s soul had become significantly more solidified.
Letting out a breath of stale air, Li Tan tossed all the tools like the candle beneath the bed. He then played a tune on his zither, stored Jiang Xin’s now more coherent soul properly, and extended his spiritual sense to cover the entire house, attempting to locate the third treasure left behind by Cui Hao. However, he came back empty-handed once again.
Afterward, he returned the books he had borrowed from the library and began his daily cultivation.
However, before he had even settled into his meditation, a loud bang echoed from outside the courtyard, followed by Lin Cui’s furious shout.
“Li Tan! Come out!”
What had happened? It all started an hour earlier.
Within the Lin family’s underground prison in the household quarters, all the guards stood proudly at attention, for a distinguished guest had arrived—Lin Cui.
Her purpose for coming here was naturally to visit Xiao Xue. She believed that by now the girl had received enough of a lesson to correct her arrogant attitude. However, when the jailer opened the heavy iron door with a large set of keys, something unimaginable occurred.
“Where is Xiao Xue?
Where is she?”
Lin Cui glared angrily at the jailer after finding the cell completely empty.
“She’s always been kept here! She was still here yesterday!”
“Then why is she gone now?”
Lin Cui raised her voice slightly.
“Maybe she was transferred elsewhere. I’ll go find out right away—someone come here!”
The jailer swallowed hard, hastily replied, and shouted outwardly. Immediately, two on-duty guards came running in.
“Where did the prisoner from this cell go?”
The guards looked inside and responded nervously.
“We don’t know!”
“How can you not know? You two have been on duty these past two days! Think! Did anyone come by?”
The jailer shouted furiously, spittle flying as the two guards looked at each other, utterly bewildered.
“You two—”
“Enough! Shut up!”
As the jailer was about to curse again, Lin Cui grabbed his shoulder and yanked him backward. He stumbled and fell flat onto the ground.
Lin Cui took a deep breath to suppress her anger and turned to the two guards.
“Are you certain no one came here?”
“Absolutely no one!”
The two guards nodded furiously. Lin Cui continued.
“Then have you been stationed here the entire time?”
“Yes!”
One of the guards shouted.
“So you’re saying Xiao Xue just vanished into thin air?”
Lin Cui asked, her voice laced with fury.
The two guards were immediately thrown into panic. A moment later, one of them hesitantly spoke up.
“Actually, we did leave for a moment at noon…”
Lin Cui closed her eyes, suppressing her rage, then opened them again.
“Why did you leave? Explain clearly.”
“Because someone brought us food, so—” the guards stammered, unable to speak coherently.
“Who? Tell me!”
Lin Cui pressed.
The two guards dared not conceal anything further and confessed everything. The person who had brought the food was their colleague. After a brief investigation, Lin Cui quickly identified and confronted this individual, who eventually revealed under pressure that it was Li Tan who had instructed him to do so.
Blinded by rage, Lin Cui immediately concluded that Li Tan was retaliating for their previous conflict. She stormed toward the desolate courtyard, kicked open the gate, and shouted into the house.
“Li Tan! Come out!”
Moments later, a calm and indifferent Li Tan appeared before her.
“What is it?”
“Don’t pretend! Hand her over now!”
“You’re being unreasonable.”
“Hmph! Do you really think defeating that useless Lin Yuan makes you my match?”
A hint of impatience flickered across Li Tan’s face as he flicked his sleeve and said,
“Don’t act without thinking. I don’t have time for your childish games. Either explain clearly or leave my sight.”
Lin Cui nearly attacked on instinct, but Li Tan’s first half of the sentence cooled her heated mind slightly.
Thinking carefully, even if Li Tan wanted revenge, how could he possibly have the authority to command someone from the Lin household?
This was clearly a setup by the real culprit. She was momentarily stunned.
Li Tan glanced at her again, and with a little thought, he had already guessed most of what had happened.
“You came looking for me because Xiao Xue is missing, right?”
Lin Cui’s eyes widened in shock and disbelief.
“How did you know!”
“You only care about your parents and Xiao Xue. And it’s definitely not your parents who are missing. Alright, tell me what happened.”
Like a child caught misbehaving, Lin Cui shrank her head slightly and murmured as she slowly recounted the events.
After listening, although Li Tan wasn’t particularly inclined to get involved, the fact that the kidnapper had clearly framed him was an act of provocation he couldn’t ignore—it was an insult he couldn’t tolerate.
“Within the Lin family, who else could do such a thing and frame me?
You should go directly to that person.”
Li Tan said.
“Can you stop speaking in riddles?
What do you mean, ‘who else’?
Don’t you know how many people are in the Lin family?”
Lin Cui retorted.
Li Tan’s lips twitched slightly as he asked in exasperation.
“You really don’t know?”
Lin Cui seemed to sense his condescending tone and grew angry.
“So what if I don’t know?
Can’t you just tell me directly?”
Li Tan’s lips twitched again. He swallowed the word “idiot” that was on the tip of his tongue and explained.
“Since the culprit framed me, he must have a conflict with me. The only ones who fit are either Lin Yuan or Lin Ge.”
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