"Wuwu..."
Nan Shiying let out a whimper, trying to resist, but was held tightly by Ji Jinmo's arms, only able to glare at him fiercely.
"Close your eyes!"
Ji Jinmo felt her gaze on his face and slowly opened his eyes. Seeing that she was still looking, he commanded her, his voice muffled as if carrying moisture, to close her eyes.
The sounds of sucking and swallowing, filled with desire, made Nan Shiying's heart pound like a drum. Her entire body felt as if it had been set ablaze, burning inch by inch, her fair skin flushing pink. She couldn't help but grip Ji Jinmo's collar and obediently closed her eyes.
Their tongues twined and danced, stirring up a mist in their mouths. The temperature in the study seemed to rise, making them break out in a sweat.
Nan Shiying's body went soft like spring water. Her legs could no longer support her, and she leaned entirely against Ji Jinmo, their bodies pressed tightly together. Ji Jinmo embraced her delicate form forcefully, as if wanting to swallow her whole.
After a long while, their lips finally parted, and they looked into each other's eyes, breathing heavily.
Ji Jinmo lowered his head, gently pressing his forehead against Nan Shiying's, their noses touching and slowly brushing against each other.
"Are you still running?" he asked, his hoarse voice laced with desire and panting.
Nan Shiying's legs grew even weaker, as if something was flowing down from her dantian. She bit her lip, her face flushed like a ripe apple, and gently shook her head.
Ji Jinmo's pupils darkened further. He felt that the taste from yesterday was intoxicating and addictive. He forcefully suppressed the urge within him, preventing him from doing anything out of line in the study.
Ji Jinmo released her and took a step back. He walked to the window and opened it. The cold wind blew, helping to quell some of his heat. Nan Shiying placed her hands on the desk and slowly sat down. She rested her weary body for a long time, and the heat on her skin finally subsided, allowing her reason to reassert itself.
She looked at Ji Jinmo and couldn't help but shoot him a glare.
Ji Jinmo did not close the window but left it slightly ajar. He turned and sat down beside Nan Shiying, continuing their previous conversation.
"How much do you believe what the Medicine Venerable said?" he asked.
The topic shifted rather abruptly, seeming like a deliberate change of subject. Nan Shiying retracted her glare and stopped looking at him. She only believed three parts of what the old man had said.
"Which three parts?"
"My corpse is in Medicine King Valley."
"Corpse?"
Nan Shiying pointed to her nose, "I'm here. The one lying there must be a corpse."
Ji Jinmo nodded.
"You think that's the only truth the Medicine Venerable spoke?"
"I'm not sure, but that's all I can trust for now."
There were too many suspicious points about the old man. He claimed everything was done by the previous valley master, but was it really so? It still needed verification.
"Have there been any leads regarding the border defense map?" Nan Shiying decided to set aside the lingering questions about Medicine King Valley for now and asked about the border defense map.
Ji Jinmo nodded and walked back to his desk, picking up the records of entries and exits from the city over the past few days since the border defense map was stolen. He pointed to one entry record and said to Nan Shiying, "This caravan."
"An incoming caravan?" Nan Shiying looked up at him.
Shouldn't they be checking outgoing teams?
"There are inner and outer gates at each of the four city gates of the capital. On the day the border defense map was stolen, this caravan, mixed with those exiting the city when the gates just opened, stopped on the road between the inner and outer gates until noon. Then, they turned their carts around and headed towards the inner gate. Because their entry procedures were incomplete, they were driven away by the guards."
"So, in the records, they belong to the group that was driven away for failing to complete their entry into the capital."
"On the afternoon of the border defense map's theft, the city gates were under lockdown. All exit records before the lockdown were submitted. It was precisely because this group was driven away after attempting to exit and then enter that we only discovered this caravan today."
Nan Shiying understood. The other party was quite skillful. While this method couldn't completely hide them, by the time the imperial authorities discovered any clues, they would have already vanished without a trace.
"The caravan has already been investigated. They are southern cloth merchants, an old brand that has been competing with other cloth businesses for the qualification to become imperial merchants in recent years. There are no issues with the caravan itself. However, one of the鏢師 (bodyguards) they hired joined the agency not long ago. He wasn't supposed to be on this escort mission; one of the original镖師 fell ill, so he replaced him."
"The secret guards have drawn a portrait of that person, and it has been distributed to various locations. As soon as he shows his face, he will be caught. I'm afraid his previous appearance might not have been his true face."
Even though the Jade-Faced Gentleman was dead, it wasn't only a human skin mask that could change someone's appearance. Anyone with some skill in disguise could alter their features.
"Let's pursue both approaches!" Nan Shiying said. "We cannot rule out the possibility of the Longevity Sect being involved. We still need to investigate the western regions."
"Yes, someone has already been sent!"
Nan Shiying took a deep breath, her temples aching slightly. Ever since she transmigrated into this body, there had been no respite. She truly missed the early days of internal family feuds.
That period was a rare time of leisure.
Unlike now, with the Miao territory facing annihilation, the Western Liang kingdom in ruins, the Longevity Sect that had developed for hundreds of years, the covetous neighboring kingdom of Dali, and now Liaoyuan as well.
The difficulty level was simply hellish.
However, speaking of which, there was something she had always found puzzling.
"Why aren't these Miao remnants seeking revenge against their true enemies and instead causing trouble in Lin Yuan?" Yin Silan not only replaced the Empress Dowager and killed the late emperor but also mysteriously poisoned Ji Jinmo. If they had such capabilities, the emperor of Dali would have been killed countless times hundreds of years ago, and revenge would have been long served.
Ji Jinmo glanced at Nan Shiying. He actually had a guess, though it was only a guess.
"You say..." A thought suddenly popped into Nan Shiying's mind. She looked at Ji Jinmo with an inexplicable expression, "Could it be that Dali is the main base of Miao?"
"Is the current emperor of Miao still himself?"
While their directions were similar, Ji Jinmo had a different conjecture, "I believe the reason the Miao remnants dare not invade the Dali imperial family is that someone within the imperial family is already skilled in using蛊 (gu)."
"You mean, the Dali imperial family has a蛊师 (gu master) more powerful than Yin Silan?"
"Isn't Miao originally subordinate to Dali? If the Miao remnants truly controlled the Dali imperial family, do you think they would still be trying so hard to control Yuzhou Commandery?"
"In other words, if the Miao remnants truly controlled the Dali imperial family and the entire Yuzhou Commandery, then the world would already be under Miao control, wouldn't it?"
Nan Shiying nodded.
The number of Miao people who had managed to escape was not large. If they could truly control the Dali imperial family and take over Yuzhou Commandery, then the Longevity Sect, which had developed for hundreds of years, should have already unified the world. They wouldn't still be like rats in the gutter, afraid to show themselves.