Having been blind since childhood, Hua Manlou possessed a sense of smell far sharper than ordinary people. He caught the sour stench emanating from Yan Tieshan almost immediately. Waving his folding fan to stir the air, he remarked between laughter and tears, "Boss Yan, even if the valuables in your home were stolen, your shops must still have silver. Why begrudge yourself a bath just to save a few sticks of firewood?"
Yan Tieshan lamented mournfully, "Young Master Hua comes from a wealthy and powerful family, so of course you wouldn't understand the hardships of us small-time merchants. Right now, I don't even have a single coin in reserve. If my cash flow falters, every one of my businesses will fall into ruin. Naturally, I have to pinch every copper I can. Besides, if I take money from the shops, what if that godforsaken phantom thief comes back to rob me again?"
Hua Manlou was momentarily at a loss for words, nodding with a look of deep sympathy.
Yan Tieshan led the group into the Pavilion of Pearls and Jewels. By this time, most of the servants had been dismissed, leaving behind only Chief Steward Huo Tianqing and a handful of essential hands.
Huo Tianqing was the sect leader of the Tianqin Sect. Though young, he held extraordinarily high seniority in the jianghu and possessed formidable martial arts prowess. Because Yan Tieshan had once saved his life, he had sworn that unless he saved Yan Tieshan in return to repay the debt of gratitude, he would remain at Yan Tieshan's side as his steward for the rest of his days.
Looking at the bare, desolate Pavilion of Pearls and Jewels, Jin Jiuling furrowed his brows and said, "This phantom thief truly cleaned out the entire pavilion. A project of this magnitude could never be accomplished by a single person. It must have been the work of an entire gang."
Lu Xiaofeng was also somewhat perplexed, turning to Huo Tianqing to ask, "With your martial arts, you couldn't stop them?"
Huo Tianqing replied with deep shame, "At the risk of making you laugh, not only did I fail to stop them—I didn't even catch a glimpse of their shadows."
"What?"
Lu Xiaofeng and Jin Jiuling both cried out in shock.
Yan Tieshan chimed in to explain, "You can't blame Chief Steward Huo for this. That thief is a master of poisons. Every time before he struck, our limbs would turn limp, our martial arts would vanish completely, and we would fall into a deep stupor. We wouldn't wake up until the following morning. Even though I prepared antidote pills in advance, they proved entirely useless."
Lu Xiaofeng's expression gradually grew solemn. "What a terrifying poison. If we don't bring this phantom thief to justice, it will cause immense chaos across the jianghu!"
Jin Jiuling's face also turned grave. "The Pavilion of Pearls and Jewels is vast. Let's split up to search for clues."
The others followed his suggestion and dispersed to search.
Half an hour later, Jin Jiuling found a scrap of cyan cloth snagged on a pillar in the storehouse. It appeared to have been left behind when the thief carelessly tore their garment on a wooden splinter.
"Everyone, come over quickly! I found a clue!" Jin Jiuling called out in a loud voice.
Qin Zheng and the others soon arrived at the storehouse.
The moment Lu Xiaofeng saw the scrap of cyan cloth in Jin Jiuling's hand, he blurted out, "The Qingyi Tower!"
The expressions of everyone present changed, except for Shangguan Xue'er, who asked in bewilderment, "What's the Qingyi Tower?"
Lu Xiaofeng explained, "The Qingyi Tower is a mysterious syndicate in the jianghu that burns, kills, robs, and commits every evil imaginable. I hear they have a total of one hundred and eight branch towers, wielding immense influence! I've crossed paths with them before and recognize this fabric. My good friend Zhu Ting barely escaped being silenced by them simply because he repaired a mechanism for them!"
Jin Jiuling added, "It seems this was indeed done by the Qingyi Tower. Aside from them, no one else in the jianghu could organize enough manpower to empty out the Pavilion of Pearls and Jewels."
Hua Manlou took out a red handkerchief and said, "I found this on a ceiling beam. There is still a faint trace of woman's powder on it. Take a look and see if it helps solve the case."
Qin Zheng cried out in apparent astonishment, "The Embroidery Bandit!"
Jin Jiuling's pupils constricted. He snatched the handkerchief and examined it closely.
Qin Zheng explained to the others, "The Embroidery Bandit is a phantom thief who recently surfaced in the jianghu. Word has it he is a bearded man who likes to wear women's clothing, and every time he commits a robbery, he leaves behind a red handkerchief embroidered with a black peony!"
Hearing this, Jin Jiuling broke into a cold sweat.
*Who the hell is framing me?!*
*And how does Qin Zheng know about the Embroidery Bandit? Has the Imperial Court already begun secretly investigating the Embroidery Bandit's affairs?*
Lu Xiaofeng knitted his brows tightly. "If this case was done by the Embroidery Bandit, then what is the deal with the scrap of cloth left by the Qingyi Tower?"
Qin Zheng shook his head, his face solemn. "If it were just the Embroidery Bandit, that would be manageable. What I fear is that it wasn't him alone. Just now, in Boss Yan's room, I caught a faint scent of tulip."
Lu Xiaofeng's face changed abruptly. "Are you certain it's the scent of tulip?"
Yan Tieshan said agitatedly, "I have never used tulip incense, nor has anyone in my household. That must be a scent left behind by the thief!"
Lu Xiaofeng looked at him with mixed feelings and said, "If it truly was that person, I'm afraid your treasure will never be recovered. Decades ago, there was a marshal among thieves in the jianghu. Every time he broke into a place and stole treasure, an elegant, lingering fragrance of tulip would hover over the scene, refusing to dissipate for days. People called him the Fragrant Bandit!"
Yan Tieshan trembled and cried out involuntarily, "The Bandit King, Chu Liuxiang! That's impossible! He retired from the jianghu years ago!"
Qin Zheng said meaningfully, "That's hard to say. In history, there are plenty of people who were full of hot-blooded nobility and clean-sleeved virtue in their youth, only to covet wealth and fame when they grew old."
Yan Tieshan froze. Whatever came to his mind, he lowered his head in silent contemplation, while the others fell into gloomy silence as well.
Seeing everyone struck mute, Qin Zheng continued, "If this heist had been committed by only one of them, it wouldn't be so troublesome. What I fear most is that they joined forces. If Chu Liuxiang and the Embroidery Bandit teamed up to steal, while the Qingyi Tower handled fencing the stolen goods, Boss Yan, your lost fortune would truly be gone forever."
Huo Tianqing, who had remained quiet all along, forced a bitter smile. "How could that be? Our Boss Yan hasn't violated heaven's laws—why would they conspire together just to target him?"
Qin Zheng gave an assenting hum and said, "It is still too early to guess the culprit. Why don't we start by investigating the stolen goods instead? Moving so much treasure out of the Pavilion of Pearls and Jewels couldn't have left no trace at all. I believe we can start by tracking where the loot went. Humble as I am, I happen to be quite skilled at tracking. I've noticed the people carrying the treasure all headed in the same direction. Would you like to come with me to take a look?"
Yan Tieshan snapped back to his senses, overjoyed. "Yes! As long as my fortune can be recovered, I don't care whether the culprit is caught or not!"
Immediately after, Qin Zheng produced a magnifying glass with a look of utmost earnestness. Feigning a meticulous search for clues, he led the group up toward the waist of the mountain behind the estate.
While the others thought nothing of it, the complexions of Yan Tieshan and Lu Xiaofeng slowly turned grim.
All because halfway up that mountain lived a mutual friend of theirs—the man known as the wealthiest man under heaven, Huo Xiu!
Chapter 65