“Chener, are you awake?” Jin Yan Hen was standing in front of her room, He waited for few moments but he couldn’t feel any movement inside the room.
Jin Yan Hen peeked at at the sky, it was already dark and it was not possible that Lou Chen isn’t awake yet.
“Chen’er?” Jin Yan Hen knocked at the door one more time. He looked down and he finally noticed the small lock hanging on the door.
Seeing the small copper lock, a smear of worry appeared in his eyes. He looked around. When he determined that nobody was on the hallway, he took out pocket knife and pulled out a very slim blade and slightly picked the key hole until he heard a click sound and the lock was opened.
Jin Yan Hen closed the slim blade and gently pushed open the door. The layout and furnishings of the room were similar to the one he was staying. The room was quiet and there was nothing unusual. The quilt was folded and neatly placed on the bed. Jin Yan Chen was relieved, and it really seemed that Chen Er had gone out by herself.
He left the room and locked the door again and headed downstairs.
In the evening, the lobby was filled with more diners. Jin Yan Hen casually grabbed a inn keeper and asked, “Young brother, have you seen the girl in the room three, she is wearing a light blue dress?”
The inn keeper doesn’t seem irritated even though he was stopped by someone while he was preoccupied. Instead, his eyes brightened, and smiled brightly, “Are you talking about the beautiful girl in blue Chinese Cheongsam?”
Jin Yan Hen’s mouth twitched, to look beautiful was an understatement compared to his expression of fascination like what he actually saw was a goddess as he spoke which only meant…Chen’er was infectious and attractive. Jin Yan Hen secretly cursed, but still said with a smile on his face, “Oh yes, that’s her.”
The young inn keeper chuckled as he responded politely, “She went out after asking me where are the pharmacies in town located because she needed to buy something. I presume she was out to purchase medicine. “
To purchase medicine? He was aware that Lou Chen was painstakingly doing many ways in order to detoxify him. His smile become bigger, “When did she go out?”
” She went out at around 1-3 pm in the afternoon.” The young waiter glanced at the sky outside, although it was a little dark already but there were still a lot of people on the street. When he saw the smile on Jin Yan Chen’s face suddenly disappeared, he immediately said, “Maybe, the Young Miss after buying the medicine decided to also go on shopping. Maoyang Town is not big like a city but the town has bountiful warm jades and there are many other shops, Young girls are fond of this, ah.”
From 1-3 pm up until now, it has been more than two hours. Lou Chen doesn’t wear any ornaments except for the jade pin on her hair. She can’t be hanging out this late just to browse these things. Jin Yan Hen had a bad premonition in his heart.
” Younger brother, tell me also the locations of those pharmacies.”
The young inn keeper contrary to what one might expect, thought because he was an inn’s guest, he graciously repeated to Jin Yan Hen the information he said to Lou Chen. “The town’s most famous pharmacy is a Qingxin (pure heart). It is very large in the west of the city walls, if you go over for sure you can’t miss it. There is also a medical hospital with a lot of medicinal materials, it is called Anxintang (peace of mind) it is on the east, it is not far from here if you turn right on the alley.”
“Thank you, Younger Brother.” After saying his appreciation in a rushed manner, Jin Yan Hen quickly turned and walked out the door.
At the moment, Fang Ru Hui on his way downstairs and he saw Jin Yan Hen was ready to went out of the door and turn right on the alley in a hurry. He curiously called, “A’hen, it’s almost dark, do you still want to go out?”
Jin Yan Hen paused and he explained, “Chen’er went out in the afternoon and she haven’t returned. I am going out to look for her. ”
Thinking that he was still poisoned and that Lingshui League assassins, Fang Ru Hui was also a little worried and said,“ Let ’s go together. ”
Jin Yan Hen shook his head. “You wait at the inn. In case Chen’er comes back and if she doesn’t see anyone, she might worry.”
“I’ll go with you.”
Xing Mu was following Fang Ru Hui behind going down the stairs and naturally heard Jin Yan Hen. After all, this whole mess started because of him and he felt quite guilty.
This time, Jin Yan Hen didn’t object. The two quickly walked out of the inn and when they were standing on the street. Jin Yan Hen said, “I guess Chen’er is out to buy medicine. The inn keeper said, there are two large drug stores in town. You go to Qingxin pharmacy in the west of the city, and I go to Anxintang in the east of the city. “
” Okay. “Xing Mu had no opinion on this arrangement. The two looked at each other in agreement and went in the opposite directions.
Anxintang was really close to the inn. Jin Yan Hen only barely described the appearance of Lou Chen and several people in the medical center nodded in recognition, they also praised Lou Chen’s skill and unique medical technique.
Jin Yan Hen listened to their accounts for a while and learned that Lou Chen saved a person in that hospital in the afternoon, but when he asked if they knew what happened to her afterwards, unfortunately no one in the hospital knew. He doesn’t have any useful information except that they were gushing how superb her medical skills were. They can’t even tell him which way she went.
Lou Chen has already left the medical center just after spending a quarter of an hour there. He suspected that she probably planned to go to Qingxin Pharmacy next, west of the city.
After getting out of the medical hospital, Jin Yan Hen started walking towards the west of the city, however he doesn’t blindly dart over the place if he was looking for a missing person. He had been a bailiff for many years responsible for catching criminals, naturally he had some skill and techniques. If you want to track a person, you need to follow all the traces she left from the people in the town. When Chen’er left in the afternoon, when there was still a crowd. Capitalizing Lou Chen’s outstanding appearance and cold temperament, surely someone must have recognized her.
Sure enough, after asking along the way, an old woman who was packing up her stall heard him asking around about the beautiful young woman in blue dress with an icy voice. She nodded and smiled, “I have seen young woman in a blue dress as you described. I don’t see much of her appearance, but I know she must be a pretty good looking. She asked me for a bowl of soft tofu and she doesn’t have a copper so she gave me a piece of silver. “
“Oh, you have seen her?” After asking so many people, finally he found some clues. Jin Yan Hen was very happy and smiled, “Grandma, that young woman is my family. She hasn’t returned home since she left home at noon. After she finished eating soft tofu do you know where did she go? Do you remember? “
” Is young miss was not home yet? “The elderly woman’s face was confused, not wanting to believed, and said nervously,” She haven’t finished eating her soft bean curd and a man took her away. “
” A man? “Jin Yan Hen slightly panicked in his heart but his face did not change in expression, he still appeared calm and asked,” Can you describe the man? “
The grandma was thinking hard, then shook her head, and sighed, “This old granny is useless, my eyes are not good, I can’t see clearly how the man looked like. I only know that he is tall and dressed in gray clothes. The two of them didn’t say anything, the man was helping the girl when they left. I called her but she ignored me. “
With his knowledge of Chen’er, she will never let a man help her, she surely meet some mishap.
Suppressing the growing fear in his heart, Jin Yan Hen continued to ask, “Do you know where they went?”
The elderly woman pointed towards the alley five or six feet away behind him and said, “Just the alley in front.”
“Thank you, grandma! “Jin Yan Hen didn’t dare to delay and immediately ran into the alley.
The alley was really narrow and long. There was no sign that a fight just occurred. At that moment, was she poisoned or immobilized by acupuncture?
Chen’er had an outstanding appearance, she was dazzling everywhere she went. He went to ask the other shops and stalls ahead nearby and they all say that they haven’t seen someone that resembled his appearance, which only meant that Chen’er should not be far away.
There were many small courtyards around the alley, so he can only check it one by one. Jin Yan Hen want to use his qinggong to the nearest courtyard but as he just took a breath to lift himself, his chest suddenly felt pain and a burning sensation rushed from the pit of his stomach and bubbled to the rest of his arms and limbs, and to the numerous parts of his bones. It reminded him that he couldn’t use internal force for now …
Jin Yan Hen took a deep breath and pressed down the burning pain from the pit of his stomach. Without martial arts, he wouldn’t be able to accomplish anything without using his martial arts. Regardless, it was necessary to find Lou Chen quickly. When the darkness comes, it will be hard to find her if she was abducted.
Jin Yan Hen was burning with anxiety, if Chen’er was abducted? What happened after that? Things need to be traced back from the afternoon