Chapter 184: Ao Tian

Without any surprised expression, she smiled and nodded at him. Gu Yun shrugged her shoulders; Lou Xiyan had no objections, so naturally, she had none either.

The group left the study. Dan Yulan pointed at Ao Tian and said in a loud voice, "Ao Tian, you cannot go." If he ran away again, the Ministry of Justice would lose all its face! Ao Tian snorted coldly, a sound so low that the disdainful and icy look in his eyes made Gu Yun feel a little alarmed. Ao Tian was different today than usual. If he wasn't allowed to find Ye Mei now, he would absolutely not show mercy like last night! Gu Yun hurriedly spoke up, "Let him go. After all, Ye Mei is his biological sister. Lord Dan, I guarantee I will bring him back."

Gu Yun had already given Dan Yulan enough face. To put it bluntly, among his yamen runners, who could do anything to Ao Tian?!

Dan Yulan kept a straight face and didn't speak. Lou Xiyan, who was on the side, said lightly, "Go quickly and return quickly. Saving people is the priority."

Since Lou Xiyan had spoken, Gu Yun immediately led Ao Tian and Mo Bai out. They divided into two groups and left separately. In the spacious study, only Zhuo Qing, Lou Xiyan, Dan Yulan, and Su Ling remained.

Zhuo Qing raised her eyebrows slightly, glanced at Su Ling, who had been sitting there with a cold, dark face from beginning to end, and asked with a teasing tone, "Is General Su not going?" According to her observations, Su Ling had long since fallen for Yun. Watching her come and go with that Ao Tian, she thought several times that Su Ling was going to explode, but he remained indifferent.

Su Ling raised his eagle eyes, swept a glance at the interested Zhuo Qing, stood up proudly, and said to Dan Yulan, "The culprit might continue to throw explosives. I will go to the post houses of various countries to take a look. Notify me if there is anything." After speaking, he didn't wait for Dan Yulan to reply, nor did he look at Zhuo Qing and Lou Xiyan, and left with a body full of cold air.

Zhuo Qing propped her chin with her hand, tilted her head to look at Lou Xiyan, and smiled, "Qing Mo always says Su Ling is a hot-tempered brute, but I don't think so!"

"Do you know how generals from other countries describe General Su?" Lou Xiyan asked with a smile that wasn't quite a smile.

Zhuo Qing hurriedly shook her head, her face full of curiosity.

His thin lips raised a shallow arc, and Lou Xiyan replied in a low voice, "Cold-Faced God of War."

"Oh!" Zhuo Qing had a look of realization, "So that's it." It turns out General Su's hot temper depends on the target.

Dan Yulan sighed helplessly. Were this newlywed couple here to watch a play or to investigate a case?

Gu Yun's group, carrying dozens of soldiers from the Su Family Army in plain clothes, walked to the official warehouse next to the cloth market in the south of the city. Leng Xiao reported the information he had gathered to Gu Yun, "Most of the things stored in this warehouse are finished fireworks and firecrackers; there are fewer fire stones. However, the terrain and environment here are also more complicated; there are many cloth shops and embroidery flower shops nearby."

After hearing his words, Gu Yun didn't think for too long and arranged, "Start searching with the warehouse as the center. Leng Xiao, you take some agile soldiers and mainly look for civilian houses. Don't alert the enemy; sneak in quietly and report back immediately if there is news. Ge Jingyun, you take people to search the shops and state your identity upon entering."

"Yes." Both received their orders. Ge Jingyun didn't understand why they didn't investigate secretly, but Gu Yun followed his team to search. Although he didn't understand, he didn't ask any more questions.

Ao Tian and Mo Bai both chose to follow Gu Yun, searching shop by shop with the team. Two hours had passed, and the sky was gradually darkening. More than half of the shops had been searched, but there was still no harvest. The soldiers were a bit tired, and Ao Tian and Mo Bai were becoming increasingly impatient because of their anxiety.

Arriving at a small embroidery shop, the small entrance hall was crowded with so many people. The shopkeeper was a thin, dry man in his fifties. Seeing their group enter the shop, he greeted them and said urgently, "Who are you people, and what are you doing?"

"We are from the government and are now searching for fugitives." Ge Jingyun stated his identity expressionlessly. The shopkeeper immediately raised a fawning smile and explained, "We are just a small business. In the backyard, there are only my old woman and daughter doing embroidery work; there is absolutely no one else! Where would there be fugitives?"

Ge Jingyun pulled up the cloth curtain at the back of the small shop. Behind the curtain was a small courtyard with two simple wooden plank houses. The doors were still open, and one could see everything at a glance; there was no place to hide anything. Out of caution, Ge Jingyun intended to take people into the backyard to check carefully, but Gu Yun's cold voice rang out faintly with a hint of amusement, "The business in this shop is not very good, Boss."

Gu Yun leaned against a wooden cabinet used to display embroidery, her fingers gently brushing the dust on the edge of the cabinet, a faint smile on her face, her cat eyes staring straight at the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper was stunned, then replied with a hint of embarrassment, "Yes, yes, the embroidery is not good, there is no business."

"Is that so?" Standing up straight, Gu Yun slowly walked to the opposite wooden cabinet, which was also full of embroidery, pulled out a piece of embroidery at random, and smiled neither lightly nor heavily, "This cabinet of embroidery is really exquisite. There must be many people looking at it; even the dust is less!"

The shopkeeper's expression stiffened. Gu Yun sneered. His acting was good, but unfortunately, it still couldn't deceive her eyes. A small embroidery shop owner didn't have the slightest fear after seeing Ao Tian's silver hair and Mo Bai's blue eyes, which showed he was definitely well-informed.

Gu Yun lifted the silk on the wooden cabinet and touched the partition of the wooden cabinet with her slender hands.

The shopkeeper's eyes flashed with fierce light. Suddenly, he pulled a dagger from his sleeve and stabbed at Gu Yun's back—

From the moment Gu Yun spoke, Ao Tian and Mo Bai were alert. The dagger had just been revealed when the shopkeeper's hands were already pinned behind his back by Mo Bai and Ao Tian, one on each side. The dagger fell to the ground with a *clang*.

Gu Yun couldn't be bothered with what happened behind her. She believed that with Ao Tian and Mo Bai there, no one could commit murder under their noses! She was sure there must be a mechanism behind this wooden cabinet, but she couldn't find it no matter what.

Ao Tian pressed the shopkeeper against the wooden cabinet and asked coldly, "How to open it?"

The shopkeeper struggled, and suddenly a suppressed growl overflowed from his throat, and his whole body began to convulse.

Gu Yun frowned and asked, "What's going on?"

Ao Tian's black eyes were obscure. He released the shopkeeper and replied with some annoyance, "He took poison."

As if to verify his words, the shopkeeper fell to the ground, clutching his throat tightly. Dark, filthy blood gushed out of his mouth continuously, and his face turned from green to black. In just an instant, he had no breath left. Gu Yun frowned. He took poison as soon as he was caught?! What kind of place is Juling Island!

Seeing that Gu Yun had been looking for a long time and still hadn't found it, Ge Jingyun said urgently, "Let me."

His thick hands grabbed the sides of the wooden cabinet tightly and pushed hard toward the side. He tried several times, his face flushed to the color of a pig's liver, but he still couldn't push it open.

"You can't use brute force." Gu Yun patted Ge Jingyun's shoulder, let him step aside, and said, "Go to the backyard and grab a handful of fine soil."

Ge Jingyun didn't ask what she wanted the fine soil for, but quickly ran to the backyard and returned to Gu Yun with soil in his hands.

Grabbing a small handful of fine soil and spreading it in her palm, Gu Yun blew gently on the wooden cabinet. Not only were the soldiers in the room puzzled, but even Ao Tian and Mo Bai were confused, not knowing what she was doing.

After blowing for a while, the faint soil dust left a thin layer on the wooden cabinet, as if covered by dust. Gu Yun narrowed her eyes and looked at the wooden cabinet partition for a long time. Finally, a faint smile appeared on her face. She reached out to the side of the wooden cabinet and patted it a few times. The wooden cabinet that Ge Jingyun had spent a long time trying to push open just now opened like a door. Behind the wooden cabinet was a passage leading underground.

Everyone still didn't know how Gu Yun knew where the mechanism was, but the most important thing now was to save people. Ao Tian and Mo Bai went down the tunnel first. The tunnel was not deep, and soon faint light could be seen. It turned out that a hole as big as the small shop had been dug under the embroidery shop. On the other side of the hole, there was another hole exit half a person high, but it was unknown where it led.

There was only a dilapidated wooden table and chair in the hole, and straw was scattered in the corner. Gu Yun walked to the straw and suddenly found a red light faintly showing under the straw. Pushing the straw aside, she saw—Ye Mei's crimson long whip! Lifting the long whip gently, Gu Yun called out in a low voice, "Ao Tian!"

Seeing clearly what was in Gu Yun's hand, Ao Tian's whole body stiffened. He held the long whip in his hand and, without thinking, got up and drilled into the other tunnel of the hole.

There was an oil lamp lit in the room, and the straw still had residual warmth. They must not have gone far, they must not have! Following closely behind Ao Tian, Mo Bai also drilled into the small tunnel.

Not knowing the situation at the exit, she didn't approve of them taking such risks, but now she was powerless to stop them. She could only instruct Ge Jingyun to take the soldiers to guard the place, report back to the Ministry of Justice, and she herself followed into the tunnel.

This tunnel was much longer than the previous one. Gu Yun crawled for about half an hour before seeing the exit. Coming out from the other side of the passage, it was a small cave. Dense branches covered the cave entrance, so even people entering the cave wouldn't notice there was a small hole here. Coming out of the cave, the sky was completely dark. Looking around, it was pitch black, and there was no sound of people around, nor did she see Ao Tian and Mo Bai.

Gu Yun's heart began to feel uneasy. Mo Bai should be able to go back by himself, but what about Ao Tian? If he couldn't find Ye Mei, where would he go?

Gu Yun searched nearby for a long time and shouted for a long time, but there was still no response. Just when she almost concluded that she couldn't find Ao Tian, a proud figure appeared on the hillside not far away.

Gu Yun hurriedly ran over. The proud back standing against the wind made Gu Yun stop her steps to approach. The silver-white hair flew with the wanton night wind, and the crimson long whip in his hand was gripped so tightly by him that it almost sank into his flesh. Even if it was just a back view, Gu Yun could already feel his pain. He had been so close to her, yet he still couldn't save her!

Standing behind him for a long time, until the moonlight grew thicker, Gu Yun sighed in a low voice, "Let's go back first and see if Cheng Hang and the others have any clues. They must have more than one lair!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 185 =====