Chapter 15 - The Wife Disappears
Although the residence was ravaged by the Demonic Creature, fortunately, no one was killed, only a few servants suffered minor or serious injuries. It was a blessing in disguise.
After taking some medicine and resting for a while, Leng Xinnan could move normally, although her serious internal injuries would require a long time to heal.
"Lord Leng, how... how did this Demonic Creature target our family?"
Landlord Lin's face was ashen, and he was on the verge of tears.
First, his daughter was attacked by a Demonic Creature, then she fell into a Red Rain dream, and now a Demonic Creature had even barged into their home.
Even with Landlord Lin's strong mental fortitude, he couldn't hold back anymore.
He was probably afraid that a female demon would emerge from under his covers at night and steal his kidneys.
Leng Xinnan was in no mood to comfort him.
She turned to Guo Gang, who had changed his clothes, and said,
"Go tell Magistrate Shen to have the yamen runners patrol the streets in shifts, around the clock. As a special measure, equip them with Divine Mechanism Sect weapons. I'll explain to the higher-ups later.”
“Also, call Little Rabbit back and have her bring people to conduct a thorough search with artifacts, to locate the Demonic Creature as soon as possible. But we still need to leave people at Cuihong Mountain to continue the investigation there."
"Alright, I'll go right away."
Guo Gang nodded and hurried off.
Iron Ox sensed something unusual and stepped forward, asking in a low voice.
"Sister Leng, is this Demonic Creature not the one we're supposed to be catching?"
"It doesn't seem like it."
Leng Xinnan said with a grave expression.
"It shouldn't be the one that escaped from Yun City. A new Demonic Creature has appeared in Dongqi County."
Just then, a maid suddenly rushed over with a panicked expression.
"Master, it's terrible!"
The maid stumbled. Because she was running too fast, she almost tripped over the threshold.
Fortunately, Li Nan Ke caught her in time.
"Xiang Er?"
Seeing the maid like this, Landlord Lin looked puzzled.
"Why are you in such a panic?"
"Madam... Madam is gone!"
The maid cried out in alarm.
"What!?"
Landlord Lin was stunned. He immediately jumped up and rushed towards the inner courtyard.
Hearing that Mei Xing Er was missing, Leng Xinnan and Li Nan Ke's hearts sank. They exchanged glances and quickly followed to investigate.
…
The room was in disarray, with tables and chairs scattered around.
Several alarming bloodstains on the floor indicated that something bad had happened in this room.
As soon as Li Nan Ke entered, he smelled a faint, eerie chill.
It was as if the entire room was a large freezer that had recently been powered off.
"Madam!"
"Madam!"
Landlord Lin shouted anxiously, at a loss at the sight of the messy room. When he saw the bloodstains, he collapsed to the floor, speechless and stunned.
Leng Xinnan surveyed the room, instructing unrelated personnel to leave.
Besides the scattered tables and chairs, the bed was also in disarray.
Several books and a fruit plate lay on the dressing table.
The flower pots on the windowsill were shattered on the floor.
After inspecting the room, she saw Li Nan Ke squatting on the ground, staring at the bloodstains in a daze, and approached him.
"Did you find anything?"
The woman bent down and asked, a few strands of her soft hair inadvertently brushing against the man's cheek, carrying a cool fragrance like thin ice.
Li Nan Ke snapped out of his thoughts and shook his head.
"Nothing."
He stood up and asked the anxious servants outside, "Which maid usually attends to Madam?"
A delicate-looking young woman timidly stepped forward.
"I do."
It was the maid who had just rushed to report the incident.
"Tell us what happened."
Li Nan Ke remembered her name was Xiang Er.
The young woman nervously clutched the corner of her clothes with her pale hands, tears welling up in her eyes.
She glanced at Lin Jiao Yue and said with a trembling voice,
"I... I don't know what happened. Madam wasn't feeling well this morning, so she rested in her room. I didn't dare disturb her.”
“But just a while ago, I heard a commotion coming from the room, quite a loud one. As soon as I ran over, I... I saw a monster running out..."
The maid was trembling all over, her voice filled with fear. Recalling the terrifying scene, she could barely speak.
Li Nan Ke turned to Landlord Lin. "Your wife wasn't feeling well?"
Landlord Lin was completely distraught. Faced with Li Nan Ke's question, he froze for a long time before reacting, nodding.
"Yes, my wife indeed wasn't feeling well this morning. I thought it was because she was worried about Yue Er and hadn't slept all night, so I didn't pay much attention."
"Sister Leng, could it be—"
Iron Ox's expression changed, and he was about to speak, but Leng Xinnan stopped him with a look.
Before they had concrete evidence, they couldn't jump to conclusions.
Moreover, when they examined Lin Jiao Yue's body, they had also used spells to check the others, and Mei Xing Er showed no symptoms of Red Rain.
Of course, they couldn't rule out the possibility that she had suddenly consumed a large amount of Red Rain.
"What did Madam have for breakfast today?" Leng Xinnan asked.
The maid shook her head vigorously.
"Madam said she had no appetite, so she didn't eat anything."
"Did Madam exhibit any strange behavior this morning?"
The maid frowned. "No strange behavior, but—"
"Lord Leng, my mother... will she be alright?"
Lin Jiao Yue suddenly spoke, her beautiful lips pale, her eyes shimmering with tears of hope.
Seeing Leng Xinnan's silence, she rushed forward and knelt in front of her, clutching her skirt tightly, and pleaded with a choked voice.
"Please, Lord Leng, my mother must have been taken by that Demonic Creature. Please save her, please..."
The young woman's helpless plea was heartbreaking.
Iron Ox sighed.
Landlord Lin also knelt on the ground and pleaded.
"Lord Leng, please save my wife! I'll do anything. Even if it means giving up my entire fortune, I'm willing."
Leng Xinnan helped Lin Jiao Yue up and said softly, "Don't worry, Madam Lin will be fine."
After asking a maid to take the tearful Lin Jiao Yue away, Leng Xinnan turned to Landlord Lin and asked,
"With your status, there must be many who envy you. Think carefully, who hates you the most, who would want to ruin your family?"
"I don't know," Landlord Lin said with a bitter smile.
"I've always kept a low profile. I shouldn't have made any enemies."
"What about your wife?" Li Nan Ke suddenly asked.
Landlord Lin was taken aback and shook his head vigorously.
"That's even more impossible. My wife rarely leaves the house. How could anyone hold a grudge against her?"
Li Nan Ke stroked his chin and continued to examine the room.
Suddenly, his eyes fell on a clothes basket in the corner of the wardrobe.
Inside the bamboo basket were two women's undergarments, made of fine fabric and quite expensive. Judging from the style and size, they should belong to Mei Xing Er.
Li Nan Ke picked up a dudou and sniffed it.
Everyone's expressions turned strange at this sight.
"You—"
Iron Ox opened his mouth, about to express his displeasure, but a cold glance from Leng Xinnan stopped him, and he swallowed his words.
Landlord Lin, mindful of their status, didn't dare to reprimand him.
But seeing Li Nan Ke sniffing his wife's undergarments, he couldn't help but feel angry. He suppressed his fury and asked,
"My lord, is there something wrong with my wife's clothes?"
"Nothing."
Li Nan Ke said with an apologetic smile and opened the wardrobe to check.
"Why is it empty? Are these the only clothes Madam usually wears?"
Li Nan Ke asked Xiang Er, the maid at the door.
Xiang Er looked timid.
"A while ago, a rat got into Madam's wardrobe. Madam found it disgusting and asked me to burn some of the clothes inside."
"Burned?"
Li Nan Ke was slightly startled and asked sharply, "When exactly did you burn them?"
"It seems like..."
Xiang Er tilted her head and thought for a long time before saying, "It seems like it was on the fifth of eighth."
"Oh."
Li Nan Ke responded and didn't ask any more questions.
Closing the wardrobe, his eyes suddenly fell on two flower petals on the floor.
The petioles of the petals were short, and the leaves were oval to elliptic-lanceolate, with upwardly curved bristles on the edges, quite different from other flower petals.
Li Nan Ke picked up the petals and observed them for a while, then compared them with the scattered flower pots.
After comparing them, he wrapped the petals in rice paper and put them in his pocket.
"Let's go investigate other places," Li Nan Ke said.
Leng Xinnan nodded slightly and said to Landlord Lin.
"We'll investigate as quickly as possible and find your wife. In the meantime, it's best if you stay at home and don't go anywhere."
Landlord Lin's face was etched with bitterness, and he didn't say anything.
Walking out of the room, Iron Ox suddenly let out a surprised sound and picked up a broken jade Buddha statue from the ground.
"Is this Madam's?" he asked with a puzzled look.
The jade Buddha statue was about a quarter of the size of a palm, dark green in color, with many impurities. It was clearly a low-quality item.
"This seems to belong to Old Qin," Xiang Er said in surprise.
Li Nan Ke took the jade and looked at it, then asked Xiang Er, "Who is Old Qin?"
Xiang Er replied in a clear voice, "He used to be a servant in the residence."