Plotting with You: The Forensic Scientist in Ancient Times!-Chapter 362 - 361: Thief

"You! Where were you just now? What were you doing?!" A rough-looking Protector pointed at Yan Daoxin, questioning him gruffly with an incredibly rude tone.

Yan Daoxin looked up at the man, his fair and handsome face adorned with a slight sneer.

"When nature calls, I went to take a dump." Yan Daoxin raised an eyebrow, sizing the man up and down. "What? Interested? If you want to see, just go ahead.

Be quick, or it’ll get cold."

Yan Daoxin’s words almost made Zhu Yu gag, even though she knew Yan Daoxin was deliberately teasing the other party, yet his self-damaging approach still made her want to glare at him.

Clearly, Zhu Yu wasn’t the only one disgusted.

The Protector didn’t expect that someone who seemed so clean and refined could speak with such a nonchalant attitude. He was momentarily at a loss for how to respond, so he just glared at him fiercely, snorted heavily, and turned to stand behind the old steward.

His stance suggested he was afraid a slow movement would get him overwhelmed by Yan Daoxin’s stench.

After a while, all the Protectors who had just rushed in to search returned to the courtyard. The old steward’s gaze swept over their faces one by one, and each person who met his gaze shook their head without exception.

The old steward’s face, already covered in frost upon arrival, now furrowed his brows, and he couldn’t even maintain his feigned mysterious demeanor as he asked, "Have you searched everywhere? Found nothing?"

The Protectors all nodded.

The old steward furrowed his brows even tighter, "Didn’t even find a trace?!"

The Protectors nodded again.

"This..." It seemed the result surprised the old steward. After confirming repeatedly, his expression inevitably turned awkward.

He had rushed in with such confidence, thinking the problem must stem from these outlander merchants new to the Fortress, yet everything in the courtyard looked perfectly normal. The Protectors searched everywhere but found nothing, leaving him unsure how to wrap things up.

Just as the old steward was wondering how to leave and smooth over this matter, Lu Qing spoke up, asking, "I wonder why the old steward brought so many Protectors here so early in the morning. Is something the matter?

Could it be your Fortress Lord is back, and we need to go through such scrutiny to meet him?"

"You’re joking, distinguished guest!" The old steward’s face instantly turned to a smile, completely different from the icy demeanor he had earlier. "You might not know, but last night a thief broke into our Immortal Castle. The Fortress Protectors searched all night, worried about disturbing our guests. No intention of coming here.

Indeed, we found nothing elsewhere, and were concerned the thief might disturb or do something bad to our guests, thus we hurried over.

There was a bit of a ruckus, but ultimately it was to catch the thief, hoping for the guest’s understanding and not to mind our rustic ways."

"I see, so I misunderstood the good intentions of the old steward and Protectors," Lu Qing responded, feigning sudden realization, cupping his hands toward the old steward. "Then let me thank you on behalf of everyone here.

Please do capture that thief, otherwise, we won’t be able to sleep at night!"

The old steward, hearing this, unconsciously glanced at the small pond nearby, seeing the calm water and lush leaves above, barely visible were little white buds snuggled beneath. With a faint snort through his nose, he lifted his gaze with the same smiling face, "Don’t worry, guests, nothing will disturb your rest at night.

If the thief isn’t hiding here, we can rest assured. Sorry for the intrusion, guests may relax for a moment. I’ll have breakfast prepared and sent over soon."

Zhu Yu noticed the old steward’s gaze sweeping towards the pond, causing her heart to tighten, instinctively holding her breath while maintaining a calm and relaxed appearance.

Only after the old steward led the Protectors away did she release a big sigh of relief, feeling her heart pounding, requiring several deep breaths to finally calm down a bit.

The reason she could breathe so freely was that, as they were leaving, she slipped back to the second floor alone, overlooking from the corridor.

From that vantage point, she clearly saw every move of the old steward and Protectors, including their feigned reminders for Lu Qing and his companions to stay safe before departing.

After leaving the small courtyard, Zhu Yu found it hard to discern their figures clearly from the corridor below, though she could see a mass of heads slightly.

Their departure was brisk, almost as if they were in a hurry.

Zhu Yu tried to remember everything she had seen, waiting until the old steward and his party completely disappeared before slipping downstairs again.

"Did you really throw it in the latrine?" She found a chance to scoot over to Yan Daoxin and ask softly.

Yan Daoxin didn’t speak, just grinned back at her.

Seeing his grin, Zhu Yu was taken aback, glancing at him in surprise. "Where is it?!"

"Hidden on me," Yan Daoxin replied mysteriously. "Even if they searched me, they’d have to strip me bare in broad daylight to find it."

"You..." Zhu Yu felt a wave of fear, not knowing what to say.

"Such a rare item, I’m really reluctant to lose it." Yan Daoxin tilted his head, whispering back, "If you found someone who died from a rare poison, I doubt you’d resist using your tools to open them up and see what happened."

With those words, Yan Daoxin left Zhu Yu speechless.

He had her there.

If such a corpse lay before her, without uncovering what kind of post-mortem state the poison caused, she would likely be terribly restless.

"You still need to be careful, secure it well, in case they make a return," Zhu Yu reminded Yan Daoxin.

Yan Daoxin nodded at her, "Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.

I’ve only heard about this thing but never seen it before. I can’t shake the feeling that even dust might be useful; you never know unless you try!

Don’t you think so?"