After bidding farewell to Physician Wang, Qian Yuanbao hurried back to his mansion. He wrote down the information he had gathered and instructed someone to deliver it to Qi Zhenzhen at Taihe Temple with the utmost speed.
Following that, he paid another visit to Sun Sizheng's residence.
This trip was not in vain. Sun Sizheng revealed some information about the subsequent pursuit of Qin Lang, as well as several places where Qin Lang had frequently appeared.
Of course, the information did not come for free. Sun Sizheng had an illegitimate son who was not good at academics and was now preparing to go into business. Qian Yuanbao generously shared a method for making money with Sun Sizheng and promised to mentor his son.
He never expected that the man who was once incorruptible would be so adaptable for the sake of his descendants.
It seemed that collecting these inconspicuous pieces of information was truly useful at critical junctures.
He had learned about this matter from Ruining. The first time he came, he hadn't thought of it.
He would have to cultivate some people himself to specialize in this.
Qi Zhenzhen carefully read Qian Yuanbao's reply, becoming even more certain that the entire affair was orchestrated by Qin Lang.
After the Yun family incident, Qin Lang had escaped and disfigured himself, initially leaving the investigators with no leads. Later, for reasons unknown, his identity was exposed, but the court officials did manage to track some of his movements. However, each time they attempted an arrest, he managed to escape in advance.
The court officials were baffled.
"Bai Su, can the person who cast the gu sense the location of the person they've cast gu on?" Qi Zhenzhen asked.
"It depends on the strength of the gu. The stronger the mother gu, the wider the range of perception. Of course, even the most potent gu cannot sense beyond fifty li."
Qi Zhenzhen surmised that someone among the pursuers had been infected with Qin Lang's gu.
As soon as someone approached, Qin Lang would know. In that case, it would be a miracle if they could capture him!
Looking at Qin Lang's movements, he had been to Nanzhang, gone to Jiangnan, and in recent years, had been traveling between the border and the capital.
Therefore, Qi Zhenzhen focused on analyzing his several residences in the capital, totaling fifteen.
All of them had been searched.
However, the court had not stationed anyone to guard them, so these residences were likely still being used by Qin Lang. Dangerous places were often the safest.
Comparing them with the locations of the Dark Shadow Tower sent back by Hongdou, Qi Zhenzhen circled six places distributed around the Dark Shadow Tower.
They were close, making travel convenient.
"Er Xi, take two people and investigate these places. Be extremely careful to conceal yourselves. If you find any trace of my mother, do not alert them," Qi Zhenzhen instructed.
"I'll lend you Xiao Jin. That person is skilled at using gu. With Xiao Jin accompanying you, if you are exposed, at least you won't be subdued by his gu."
Er Xi, who feared nothing, was most afraid of these wriggling, boneless insects.
But for safety, he could only steel himself and accept.
Qi Zhenzhen wrote another letter, asking Qian Yuanbao to help investigate the personnel who had pursued Qin Lang over the years.
In over a decade, it was impossible for the same group of people to have been involved in the pursuit.
Yet, Qin Lang had never been caught. The people responsible for this area must have had problematic individuals among them.
Otherwise, it wouldn't always be people with gu on them who were pursuing him.
Qian Yuanbao looked at Qi Zhenzhen's letter, muttering that she was giving him more work, yet he was also greatly impressed by Qi Zhenzhen's deductions. Her mind, like A Nian's, why hadn't he thought of these things? Was he stupid? No, not at all. When it came to business, the two of them combined couldn't compare to him.
He could only say that they excelled in different areas.
To investigate this matter, he would inevitably have to visit Sun Sizheng's residence again. However, this time, Sun Sizheng's attitude was clearly much better than before. As soon as Qian Yuanbao mentioned it, he found a transcribed record. "For the previous ten years, Dali Temple was under my charge, but for the subsequent five years, it was not."