Chapter 51: Complicated and Confusing

“So it’s this, you do have some sense to know these things.”

Lin Cui swallowed back the words she was about to say, quickly putting on an air of arrogant confidence.

Li Tan curled the corner of his mouth.

“Since you understand, don’t bother me anymore. Go find Lin Ge or Lin Yuan yourself. With your status, dealing with them shouldn’t be difficult, right?”

“Of course!”

Lin Cui deliberately raised her voice, as if trying to mask her nervousness, and quickly left.

Back in his room, Li Tan sat cross-legged, about to begin cultivation when the young eagle in the second layer of the Desolate Tower suddenly woke up and started to fuss.

Sighing, he took it out. As soon as the little creature breathed in the outside air, it happily flapped its nearly featherless wings, clumsily tumbling about.

“It seems I won’t be able to cultivate today.”

Li Tan gently shook his head and simply lay flat on his bed. The young eagle climbed from his palm to his chest and back again, blinking its eyes that looked like black glass at him.

Li Tan stared at the dark ceiling, memories of recent events flashing before his eyes like slides.

“The city lord’s mansion, the three major families, the mysterious force pulling the strings from the shadows, the poison of Qing Xian Powder, Jiang Xin and Old Cui.”

These somewhat chaotic words drifted from Li Tan’s mouth.

From the current perspective, the most crucial task for Li Tan was to alter the original outcome after the poison took effect. As long as this could be achieved, there would be ample time to address other issues one by one.

Then came a long silence, since a person and an immature bird absolutely had no way of finding a topic of conversation.

About half an hour later, as the evening lamps were just being lit, the young eagle quieted down, the evening breeze grew cooler, and cicadas and crickets, along with various other creatures, began to show off their songs in succession. The evening breeze blew open the half-closed window and slipped into Li Tan’s sleeves, making him feel so comfortable he almost wanted to fall asleep.

But at this moment, a hasty female voice shattered the tranquility.

“Li Tan! Are you there!”

Needless to say, the person who came uninvited into this neglected room was Lin Cui.

“What now?”

Li Tan somewhat displeasedly got up from the bed, looking at Lin Cui who was slightly out of breath at the edge of the bed.

Lin Cui caught her breath and said,

“I couldn’t find Xiaoxue.”

“That’s impossible.”

“My people have practically turned the Lin household upside down.”

“She must have been taken somewhere else. Why are you asking me about this? Shouldn’t you be talking to your father?”

In the dimly lit room where no lamp had been lit, the moonlight illuminated Lin Cui’s anxious expression as she bit her lip in frustration.

“My father won’t pay attention to this matter. On the contrary, he will tell me not to investigate it anymore.”

Li Tan thought for a moment and sarcastically laughed.

“One servant isn’t worth their attention, right? After all, servants aren’t really people. So why are you asking me to help?

Do you think I can help you?”

Lin Cui hesitated and nodded.

“The people from the Second Elder’s faction have been acting very strangely lately, too brazenly. They must be holding some trump card in their hands.”

Deep down, Li Tan really didn’t want to get involved in these matters. However, thinking that behind the First Elder’s audacity might be the shadow of the mysterious force hiding behind the scenes, he agreed.

“I can help, but have you thought of a specific plan?”

“A plan?”

“A plan to find out what the Second Elder has up his sleeve.”

Lin Cui suddenly fell silent, and Li Tan twitched the corner of his mouth.

“You didn’t just rush over here on impulse, did you?”

Lin Cui glared at Li Tan, somewhat annoyed.

“Of course I have a plan. But first, prove to me that you’re capable of cooperating with me. Tell me what you would do.”

Li Tan gave her a sidelong glance but didn’t bring up the matter again. He lowered his head, pinching his chin with his right hand. Lin Cui watched him, wanting to speak but hesitating.

From the current situation, the Second Elder’s trump card or backing force in the Lin family was almost certainly the mysterious force that was secretly controlling Linjiang from the shadows. Helping Lin Cui find Xiaoxue might also provide a chance to uncover some clues about that mysterious force, preparing for the most important matter two days later.

As for taking action, it was indeed a bit troublesome.

First, his current strength was limited, and it was not advisable to excessively consume his spiritual power. Second, since Xiaoxue wasn’t in the Lin household, it was really hard to find a starting point. He didn’t yet have the terrifying ability to sense things from a thousand miles away.

However, the best method available now was the most foolish one.

So in the end,

“Let’s go.”

Lin Cui furrowed her brow.

“Where to?”

“To find Xiaoxue.”

“Where are we going to look for her?”

“In Linjiang.”

Since Li Tan couldn’t explain the existence of spiritual awareness and spiritual power, he simply made a mysterious expression and said,

“There are some things I can’t explain, and it’s better for you not to know.”

Said without intention, heard with concern. Lin Cui recalled the events that had happened before, her heart trembled, and she suddenly had a thought.

Could it be that Li Tan had received guidance from a master?

“What are you daydreaming about?”

Li Tan glanced at Lin Cui, who was still standing there stunned.

She came back to her senses and looked at Li Tan with a more serious expression.

“Nothing. Let’s hurry up and go.”

So Lin Cui didn’t, as Li Tan had expected, ask questions endlessly like breaking a clay pot until she got to the bottom of things, but instead chose to remain silent.

Since Lin Cui had already searched the entire Lin household, the two of them went directly outside. Naturally, they climbed over the wall, with Li Tan leading and Lin Cui obediently following behind. The once-arrogant daughter of heaven no longer had her previous haughtiness toward Li Tan.

Moonlight, riverside, weeping willows.

“Regarding Xiaoxue’s whereabouts, do you know anything else?”

Li Tan asked.

Lin Cui lowered her head and replied,

“I asked the guards at every entrance and exit, but none of them knew anything. No carriages or anything that could hide people had passed through.”

“What about Lin Ge? What did he say to you?”

“That bastard wouldn’t budge, insisting it had nothing to do with him. Moreover, he mocked me coldly.”

“Was he always like this toward you?”

“No, before, although he resented me, he didn’t show it so openly.”

This change clearly indicated that Lin Ge had already gained confidence to confront the family head’s faction. The source of this confidence didn’t need thinking—it must be related to the mysterious force behind the scenes.

The mysterious force had done so many things, and their purpose was indeed extremely strange. Now what was known was:

The mysterious force seemed to be supporting a general in the city lord’s mansion, might have relations with the First Elder in the Li family, and almost certainly had connections with the Second Elder in the Lin family, and very likely also with the Liu family.

Based solely on this information, it could be inferred that their goal was to control the entire Linjiang area, becoming local gangsters. However, the result was the direct elimination of two out of the three major families in Linjiang, and not a single person was left alive in the city lord’s mansion.

This outcome completely contradicted the previous extensive arrangements in Linjiang, rendering all prior actions completely useless.

Even Li Tan couldn’t understand this. In his memories, there was absolutely no indication of any force that could have destroyed Linjiang. In other words, this strange force had been hiding behind the scenes for at least a thousand years, carrying out actions unknown to him.

The more he thought about these puzzles, the more confused Li Tan became. He quickly stopped himself and redirected his thoughts back to the current matter at hand.