Twelve days and eight hours after Jiang Yunshu's disappearance, Xie Lin finally found a lead from Duan Jinxing.
During those twelve days, Xie Lin slept scarcely at all, tirelessly searching for any trace of Jiang Yunshu.
Outside the interrogation chamber, the green bricks were scrubbed daily, yet the thick scent of blood lingered, the stains having seeped deep into the stone. The men inside believed they would die there—they had been tasked with guarding and serving Jiang Yunshu in Xie Manor, yet she had been abducted in broad daylight. Given the Nine Thousand Years’ ruthless reputation, how could they possibly be spared?
Yet, though the torture was brutal, it was only to extract the truth. For now, Xie Lin had not executed a single one of them.
Jiang Yunshu’s personal maid had not even been subjected to severe punishment, merely locked away.
"Let her decide when she returns."
Xie Lin burned with the urge to kill, but he restrained himself, knowing Jiang Yunshu would be displeased when she came back.
From the very first day of her disappearance, Xie Lin had ordered Duan Jinxing to be watched. Yet Duan Jinxing, too, had vanished without a trace!
For ten days straight, Duan Jinxing had not returned home, and even the Eastern Depot could not locate him.
Meanwhile, Xie Lin dispatched the Imperial Guards to scour both the capital and the lands beyond its walls. Days later, they found a clue—a handkerchief belonging to Jiang Yunshu, caught on a tree branch within the city.
That handkerchief confirmed she had left through the northern gate and likely continued northward.
Xie Lin ordered the Imperial Guards searching the east, south, and west to regroup and focus their efforts on the southern region.
With three times the manpower now concentrated in the south, the search progressed swiftly.
Soon, another clue emerged—dried blood on a broken branch at the foot of a mountain. Nearby, a patch of earth appeared freshly disturbed. When the guards dug it up, they found bloodstained bark, peeled from a nearby tree and deliberately buried.
The Imperial Guards immediately reported to Xie Lin!
Blood on a branch could mean anything—perhaps just a passerby’s accidental scrape. But deliberately concealed blood? That almost certainly belonged to Jiang Yunshu!
Upon receiving the news, Xie Lin raced toward the mountain without delay.
By the time he arrived, the Imperial Guards had discovered a second and third trail of blood further up the slopes.
Xie Lin collected every bloodstained branch and stone, his expression dark as storm clouds. No one could guess his thoughts.
"Keep searching," he ordered, his voice low.
This was the path Jiang Yunshu had marked for him with her own blood. He had already been too late—today, he would find her.
While Xie Lin and the Imperial Guards combed the mountain, the spies stationed at the Duan residence finally caught sight of Duan Jinxing!
After returning home briefly, Duan Jinxing had left again. The spies tailed him—straight to the same mountain.
They hurriedly sent word to Xie Lin, but though he was also on the mountain, the two parties struggled to locate each other, delaying the message.
Before Xie Lin received it, the spies trailing Duan Jinxing noticed another figure following him up the mountain.
Concealing themselves, they watched closely—and saw Jiang Zhaohua, Duan Jinxing’s wife.
It was Jiang Zhaohua’s scream that finally gave Xie Lin his bearings!
Mistaking it for Jiang Yunshu’s voice, he charged forward like a man possessed!
But by the time Xie Lin arrived, Jiang Yunshu had already fled the mountain cabin.
On a snowy winter night like this, a few hours alone could freeze a person to death.
"Find her," Xie Lin commanded, his aura icy.
Jiang Yunshu’s footprints in the snow vanished once she entered the forest. The Imperial Guards fanned out from where the trail ended, scouring the mountain for any sign of her.
Perhaps it was fate, perhaps coincidence—but Xie Lin was the first to find her, collapsed unconscious in the snow.
Clad in his black cloak, Xie Lin sprinted toward Jiang Yunshu through the pristine white expanse.
He dropped to his knees beside her, his hands brushing her face and fingers—both as cold as the snow beneath her.
Without hesitation, Xie Lin tore open his own robes, pulling Jiang Yunshu tightly against his chest, letting his warmth seep into her frozen body.
