"This letter... was written by Yan Shouyi?"
Yan Nanfei asked with a peculiar expression, "It seems Yan Shouyi isn't very cultured. There's a typo in just two sentences. Who is this Lin fan? Is the second character pinyin?"
Yan Shouyi sighed.
To catch this赊刀人 (she dao ren), he had truly gone all out. From now on, everyone in the martial world would know that Yan Shouyi was an uncultured playboy.
He knew, of course, that the 赊刀人 (she dao ren) wanted Lin Fan.
To put it bluntly, the grievances in this matter were fundamentally due to Lin Fan not fulfilling his promise from years ago. Whether it was him or Ling Xiaoxiao, they were just people caught in the middle.
Chang Shan asked, "Do you know who Lin fan is?"
"We will resolve this matter," Yan Shouyi sighed and said, "Lin Fan is Yan Shouyi's enemy, but he is just an ordinary person."
Yan Nanfei worried, "But what about Junior Sister Ling's safety..."
"Don't worry, she is not his target. He shouldn't harm her for now."
Yan Shouyi thought for a moment and then said, "You two rest at the hotel and conserve your strength. Tomorrow night, I will bring Lin Fan to find you. We will go to Shanghang Wharf together to pick up the person, and then we can all figure out a way to capture Yan Shouyi together."
"That's all we can do," Yan Nanfei said helplessly.
After bidding farewell to Yan Nanfei and Chang Shan, Lin Zitong specifically reminded the hotel manager not to publicize Ling Xiaoxiao's disappearance or call the police.
The hotel manager naturally preferred this outcome, as a bad reputation would harm their hotel.
Walking out of the hotel, Yan Shouyi frowned. Lin Zitong saw his troubled thoughts and said directly:
"Don't worry about Lin Fan. Although he is my uncle, I have no feelings for him. If he can be exchanged for Ling Xiaoxiao, I absolutely won't object."
Yan Shouyi chuckled wryly, "Will your father agree?"
"He'll have to agree whether he likes it or not. It's Lin Fan's fault for causing trouble, and he's just reaping what he sowed now." Lin Zitong was resolute.
Thus, bringing Lin Fan over became Lin Zitong's task.
As the three were about to return to West Lake Villa, they saw a familiar figure approaching them from a distance.
It was Xue Kai.
"I lost them," Xue Kai said as he approached.
His face was filled with displeasure, seemingly very unsatisfied with his failure this time.
"Don't blame yourself too much, those two are not amateurs," Yan Shouyi comforted him, then asked, "Tell me, where did they go, what did they do, and how did you finally lose them?"
Xue Kai said in a deep voice, "After they separated from you, they found a hotel nearby to stay. They only booked one room for the two of them. I saw Yi Hehuan hug Shen Tianichiro as soon as she entered the room. Those two..."
"Ahem, let's skip those details," Yan Shouyi reminded him. "Skip this part."
"After their passionate encounter, Shen Tianichiro took her to a nearby mall to shop. He bought a lot of luxury goods, and Shen Tianichiro paid for all of them."
Long Feicheng joked, "So this Shen Tianichiro is the real simp!"
Xue Kai didn't respond and continued, "Later, they both went into the restroom and never came out again. I went in to check, but I couldn't see them."
"So, they discovered you?" Yan Shouyi asked, frowning.
"Most likely," Xue Kai nodded reluctantly.
Yan Shouyi stroked his chin, contemplating something.
Suddenly, the soul-summoning bell on Lin Zitong's wrist rang loudly. Then, the Shu Ling Snake coiled around the bell came to life and instantly shot out like a silver flying needle!
The direction where the Shu Ling Snake disappeared was a small alley by the roadside. Everyone quickly chased into the alley and saw a weasel nailed tightly to the wall!
The Shu Ling Snake had pierced the weasel's body, but the weasel was still struggling incessantly.
"A weasel?" Long Feicheng exclaimed, "These things aren't common in Rongcheng."
"The point is, the Shu Ling Snake wouldn't attack without reason," Lin Zitong reminded them.
The weasel soon died, its soul scattered.
Yan Shouyi picked up its body, threw it into the trash can, and said with a cold expression:
"Interesting. We sent people to track them, and they sent a weasel to track us."
"Why would they track us?" Long Feicheng asked, confused.
Lin Zitong teased, "Perhaps Yi Hehuan took a fancy to one of you."
Long Feicheng actually smiled sheepishly.
This guy was clearly feeling self-important, thinking that Yi Hehuan had set her sights on him.
Yan Shouyi couldn't be bothered to compete with Long Feicheng for this inexplicable achievement. He vaguely felt that things weren't that simple. Yi Hehuan and Shen Tianichiro were very shrewd, their faces showing cunning and deceit. They were completely different from upright, honest guys like Yan Nanfei.
Xue Kai said coldly, "Should I sneak into their room and take care of them?"
"Let's not alert them. Their strength isn't weak either. You might not get the advantage going alone."
Yan Shouyi thought for a moment and decided to capture the 赊刀人 (she dao ren) first, report to Zou Xiazi, and then consider how to deal with Yi Hehuan and the others.
So, Xue Kai returned to Yi Hehuan and the others' hotel to wait for them to appear again.
...
Time flew by, and it was night again. After Yan Shouyi took a bath, he returned to his room and saw Lin Zitong practicing the zither with a music score given by Zou Xiazi, learning awkwardly.
Compared to Zou Xiazi's melodious zither music, Lin Zitong's playing was indeed a bit disruptive.
However, Yan Shouyi dared not say it and instead encouraged her, "Stinky girl, you've only been practicing for the first day and you're already at this level. Not bad, not bad!"
Lin Zitong had her back to Yan Shouyi, but Yan Shouyi seemed to see her rolling her eyes,
"You don't have to force yourself to say nice things, I have ears myself."
Yan Shouyi gave an awkward chuckle, "I was just afraid you'd get discouraged."
"This is something left by Uncle Zou and his wife. I'm also interested, so I won't give up," Lin Zitong said while playing. "Moreover, I can feel that after practicing for a few more days, I should be able to play a complete song."
As soon as she finished speaking, they heard Long Feicheng shout from downstairs, "Brother Yan, Sister-in-law, is there something wrong with your room? Why do I hear someone sawing wood?"
They were silent for a moment. Yan Shouyi opened the door and shouted outside, "Get lost! Go to sleep, why so much chatter!"
Long Feicheng was bewildered. How did he manage to provoke Brother Yan?
Yan Shouyi closed the door and said awkwardly, "Little Long has no appreciation for music at all."
Lin Zitong lost the mood to continue practicing. She carefully put away the guqin and the music score, then stood up. Seeing a cup of water on the table, she picked it up and drank it down.
Yan Shouyi reminded her, "That's cold water. Shall I change it to a hot one for you?"
"It's fine, it'll help cool me down."
Lin Zitong drank it all and then let out a breath, slumping onto the bed lazily.
Yan Shouyi also lay down beside her and whispered, "You seem to have something on your mind. Is it because you didn't reach an agreement with Lin Fan this afternoon?"
"Lin Fan has no power or influence now. He's not qualified to negotiate with me," Lin Zitong said. "I'm upset because... I'm thinking that Uncle Zou is about to die, and it makes me feel bad."
Yan Shouyi rolled over and looked at the ceiling, "I feel bad too. I vividly remember Uncle Zou playing music for me when I was a child. Back then, I thought he treated me better than my father did. Now I know, he probably doted on me like his own child."
"After all these years, could Uncle Zou's child have been sold by the 赊刀人 (she dao ren)?" Lin Zitong worried.
"At least we've caught the 赊刀人 (she dao ren), which is the first step. With a clue, we'll find Uncle Zou's child, no matter where they are."
"Speaking of which, Uncle Zou's child should be about our age."
"That's true. I wonder where he is now."
Lin Zitong turned over and rested her head on Yan Shouyi's chest. She said,
"A child without parents must have had a very hard and lonely life. So, you must get through your life's tribulation. I don't want our child to be fatherless."
Yan Shouyi was stunned and couldn't help but pinch Lin Zitong's cheek. "What are you saying? Why are you bringing up children now? Didn't we agree later that we'd have children after we settled down?"
"I was just saying it casually," Lin Zitong pouted.
Yan Shouyi became slightly more serious. "Have you communicated with Lian He recently?"
Lin Zitong shook her head. "She still seems very weak. She only appears at critical moments and then disappears afterward."
"Me too," Yan Shouyi said. "Even with the Drunken Dream Incense, I can no longer see General Qing Jiang."
As they spoke, they took out the Heart-Guarding Jade they obtained from Li Qing'er and studied it for a while, but found nothing. They could only give up helplessly and turned off the lights to sleep.
However, Yan Shouyi quickly fell asleep, while Lin Zitong tossed and turned with her eyes wide open, unable to sleep.
In the latter half of the night, she quietly got up and went to the toilet. After fiddling around for a while, she finally emerged dejected.
She touched her stomach, a little lost, "You came too early... too early..."