Chapter 50: Traces

Bright morning sunlight shone into Jintai Ward, but an uninvited guest appeared at the Li family’s doorstep. Gu Yu looked at the official seal on the front door. After a moment, as if having made up his mind, he tore the seal off with a single tug and stepped into the courtyard. The yard seemed to remain just as it was when he left that day, but he knew everything had changed: the old were thrown into prison, and the young had an uncertain fate. Inside the house, Gu Lifu’s corpse had already been taken back to the official yamen, and his relatives had been notified to claim it.

Yet the mottled bloodstains on the ground were still clearly visible. Gu Yu walked around the room, deep in thought. He had come and gone in a rush that day and hadn't had time to look closely. Examining it today, he felt that while this residence could not be called large, its furnishings and utensils were not cheap. Children's toys and clothes could be seen everywhere in the room, crafted from fine fabrics—evidently all purchased by Li Fu using Tang Haiqiu’s reward money.

Li Fu had once claimed that he and his daughter were abducted by bandits, taken onto a carriage as soon as they left the ward's gate, and had lost all sense of direction ever since.

Where on earth could it be? Gu Yu scratched his head; it seemed he still had to start with the scent.

Footsteps sounded outside the yard. Startled, Gu Yu darted out from the room just in time to see an elderly woman leaning against the doorway, peering inside with a suspicious expression. Upon seeing Gu Yu appear, the old woman’s expression changed and she turned to leave. Gu Yu strode after her. After the old woman had run a few steps, her arm was suddenly grabbed and held fast.

Gu Yu looked at her with guarded vigilance: "Who are you?"

The old woman dropped to her knees with a thud, kowtowing repeatedly: "Spare my life, official! This old woman was just meddling in other people's business, and her crime deserves a thousand deaths."

Gu Yu helped her up: "Grandmother, speak slowly. Who on earth are you?"

Seeing his amiable tone, the old woman stood up tremblingly: "Reporting to the official, my husband's surname is Qian, and I am Li Fu's neighbor. It was I who reported to the authorities the other day when Li Fu was carried away. Hearing commotion at the Li household just now, I thought he had returned."

Gu Yu asked doubtfully: "You reported it to the authorities?"

Qian's aunt said, "That's right. An arresting officer surnamed Li received me at the Shuntian Prefecture yamen." She then recounted everything from beginning to end: how she witnessed Li Fu and his daughter being abducted by three bandits, how she went to Shuntian Prefecture to report the crime, where she happened to run into Li Zheng, and how Li Zheng promised to help her find the missing people. A chill ran through Gu Yu's heart. He had already heard some gossip about Li Zheng and Dong Xinwu vying with each other, but he never expected that this fellow, in order to stand out on his own, would conceal such important information and fail to report it.

Having finished speaking, Qian's aunt looked at Gu Yu with hopeful eyes: "I wonder if the authorities have found Ji'an yet?"

Gu Yu shook his head and comforted her: "Don't you worry, I will definitely find Ji'an."

Bidding farewell to Qian's aunt, Gu Yu carefully turned the clues he currently held over in his mind, only to helplessly discover that there was only a single clue left to trace. Li Fu had once said that he was taken to a private residence where a strong fragrance could be smelled, leading him to suspect that there might be a spice shop nearby. All large and small shops in the capital were registered at the yamen. Gu Yu explained his purpose to the counselor, who readily handed him a thick stack of documents. He quickly sorted through them, filtering out business establishments related to spices. Just to be on the safe side, he also pulled out powder and cosmetics shops, jotted down their locations, and then left.

He ran straight into Wu Haichao. Upon seeing him, Wu Haichao let out an exclamation and stepped forward: "My living ancestor, where on earth have you been? Master has been looking for you for ages."

Gu Yu asked suspiciously: "What is it? Something the matter?"

Wu Haichao said, "Why else would you skip roll call?"

Gu Yu said, "Just tell them I drank too much alcohol yesterday and suffered a migraine, and ask for a day's leave on my behalf." He patted Wu Haichao's shoulder and walked around him. Wu Haichao stamped his feet: "Hey, I said the wrong thing! Master is looking for you—no wait, we all have business, hey, hey..." Gu Yu waved his hand without looking back, having already walked far away.

Chen's Spice Shop adopted a business model featuring a storefront in the front and a workshop in the back. In the workshop behind the store, workers bustled about in front of steaming woks. The fragrance diffused under the effect of the steam, and the air was filled with a rich aroma. Gu Yu had already circled Chen's Spice Shop several times. The clerk at the front desk looked suspiciously as his figure flashed past the shop door again and again. The clerk rubbed his eyes and cursed, "Must be seeing ghosts."

This was the third place Gu Yu had marked. During the time he had been wandering around, he had thoroughly scouted the private residences surrounding the shop and found nothing suspicious.

He felt somewhat discouraged, but thinking of that child, he did not dare to give up. Perhaps out of guilt, or perhaps simply out of unwillingness, his heart told him that no matter which reason it was, he had to keep searching. He scratched his head and headed toward the next location: eight spice shops, three powder workshops...

At noon, he walked out of Xianyifang feeling dejected, having found nothing at the last shop either. Running around all morning while suffering from a hangover took a tremendous toll on his physical strength. Catching sight of a noodle shop ahead, he went inside and ordered a bowl of plain noodles. Seeing that the shop was crowded, he simply picked up the bowl and stood in the shade by the doorway, wolfing down the food.

At this moment, the sun hung high in the sky and the weather was hot. Pedestrians on the street came and went in twos and threes. As Gu Yu ate his noodles, he scanned every passerby. He finished the bowl in three or four bites, and just as he was about to return the empty bowl to the shopkeeper, his footsteps suddenly came to a halt. His gaze drifted toward the distant sky, where wisps of blue smoke were clearly visible against the blue canopy—that was the incense smoke from the City God Temple.

Gu Yu stared fixedly for a long time until a thought suddenly rushed into his mind, giving him such a violent start that he shuddered. It was the temple's incense smoke! He suddenly bolted and ran toward the City God Temple. The shopkeeper rushed out shouting: "My bowl! Return my bowl!"

The City God Temple lay south of Jincheng Ward, uniquely structured, magnificent, and towering. Its tall memorial archway flashed with five colors, resplendent and magnificent, with the plaque reading "City God Mansion" hanging high in the center. Gu Yu stood panting beneath the mountain gate. From his perspective, the incense offerings to the City God burning in the huge tripod furnace in front of the main hall were wreathed in mist, with wisps of blue smoke rising straight up.

The City God Temple was bordered by Jincheng Ward to the north and Fucai Ward to the south, with the city wall at its back; the two wards enclosed the temple between them. Gu Yu stuck out his tongue and licked the back of his hand, then raised the back of his hand above his head to feel the wind direction. The wind speed was slight. After lingering for a moment, he lowered his palm and walked straight toward Jincheng Ward, his alert eyes scanning the houses on both sides. A few people suddenly emerged from the alley ahead, wearing official uniforms.

Bailiffs! Gu Yu felt a shock in his heart. Catching sight of a draper's shop nearby, he stepped into it in a single bound and quickly concealed his body behind the door panel. The clerk stepped forward suspiciously: "Honored guest..."

Gu Yu placed a finger to his lips to signal silence, then pulled out his official token and flashed it before the clerk's eyes. The clerk immediately became as tight-lipped as a split-stem gourd, swallowing every word at the tip of his tongue entirely back down.