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Chapter 349 There is a problem

After hearing what Lu Qing said, Lu Yan calmed down considerably. He frowned and thought about it, and it seemed to make sense.

"So you mean... the person has already been murdered?" he asked, somewhat annoyed.

Lu Qing calmly shook her head, showing no reaction to his emotions, and said unhurriedly, "What I mean is, your people may indeed have been harmed, just as you said."

However, it is also possible that they are imprisoned in some other place.

After all, mixing them with other people of unknown origin could be too risky. If they also happened to wake up from the effects of the drug and took the opportunity to gather evidence and find a chance to escape, the risk would be too great.

As for whether those people will be imprisoned as bargaining chips in future negotiations with the court or with you, or whether there are other intentions, it's not something we can easily guess.

If you're not satisfied and want to go look for it, I won't stop you, I'll just remind you not to get yourself involved.

Lu Yan released his grip somewhat dejectedly, let out a heavy sigh, hesitated briefly, then slapped his thigh: "I'll go out and scout it out, and come back quickly!"

After saying that, he went to ask Yan Daoxin for a sedative pill, swallowed it whole without water, leaped onto the wall, and quickly ran away.

"Are you really not going to stop him?" Yan Daoxin asked as he put the gourd lid back on.

Lu Qing shook her head: "What's the point of stopping him? Would he be willing to accept it?"

“That’s true. With his personality, trying to stop him will only make things worse.” Yan Daoxin nodded in deep agreement.

As they were talking, Lu Qing quickly walked up to Zhu Yu and squatted down, asking, "What's wrong? Is there something amiss here?"

"I think I've found the source of the incense from the other night." Zhu Yu pointed to the small pond and gently parted a large leaf.

Following her movements, Lu Qing saw a white flower bud hidden beneath the leaves, which appeared particularly demure and shy after nightfall.

His face immediately showed a look of understanding: "So this is what's causing all this trouble. No wonder I feel no discomfort during the day, but at night I feel extremely sleepy and restless."

How did you manage to prevent these flowers from blooming?

Zhu Yu recounted her previous considerations to Lu Qing, including how she had secretly cut open the stems of the white flowers.

"That's a good idea! Even when that old steward brought his men over during the day, they didn't notice anything amiss!" Yan Daoxin, who was listening nearby, gave Zhu Yu a thumbs up and then called out to Fu Lu, who was standing not far away, "Come on, Fu Lu, do me a favor!"

These white flowers are interesting. Could you pick out a less conspicuous one for me and cut it off at the base so I can study it?

When Fu Lu saw Yan Daoxin calling him, he quickly stepped forward. After listening to his instructions, he took off his shoes and socks and put them aside without saying a word before going into the small pond.

The pond wasn't deep. During the day, the sunlight could vaguely reveal the large rocks below. Fu Lu was tall, with his pants rolled up to his knees, and when he went into the pond, the water didn't even reach his calves.

He slowly moved toward one side of the pond, hoping to find a juicy tree that wouldn't be easily spotted even if he cut it at the root.

Unexpectedly, after taking only a few steps, his foot accidentally stepped on a piece of moss, and he lost his balance, falling into the pond and splashing water everywhere. Fortunately, the moss he fell on was relatively sparse, so the fall didn't damage any flower stems or leaves.

"Hey, be careful! That's quite a commotion!" Yan Daoxin was so frightened that he quickly jumped aside, afraid that the dirty water in the pool would splash on him.

Fu Lu sat in the small pond, frowning, without saying a word or getting up.

"What's wrong with you? Did you fall and get stupid? Why aren't you getting up from inside?" Yan Daoxin asked curiously from the side when he saw that the talisman hadn't moved.

The talisman's hand underwater did not rise, but instead clenched into a fist and tapped it on the stone slab below.

"This guy didn't even hit his head when he fell..." Yan Daoxin moved closer to Lu Qing. "Why is he acting like a child, 'beating up' the moss just because he slipped on it?"

Lu Qing glanced at him helplessly and asked Fu Lu, "What did you discover?"

“Master, this stone slab is not right. It seems to be hollow underneath!” Fu Lu said quickly when he heard Lu Qing’s question. He even subconsciously lowered his voice and spoke in a voice that was only loud enough for the few of them to hear.

Despite his tall and imposing stature and rugged appearance, this guy is actually quite shrewd and meticulous in his work, never acting rashly.

Having spent so many years living and working alongside the Fu brothers, Lu Qing was naturally well aware of this. Now that Fu has said so, there shouldn't be any mistake.

"You come out first, and go with Fu Wen to the woodshed over there to move those wooden buckets that are piled up inside, and scoop out the water from the pond," Lu Qing instructed.

Fu Lu immediately got up, nimbly dragged his wet clothes ashore, and was about to go over to help Fu Wen move the wooden buckets when Zhu Yu stopped him: "Go change into dry clothes first. It won't make a difference if you catch a cold, it will be more troublesome."

Fu Lu nodded to her and quickly ran to change his clothes.

Upon hearing the order, Fu Wen went to move the wooden barrels by himself.

Those wooden tubs were discovered by Rune and Talisman when they checked around the courtyard on the first day they moved in, to make sure no one was hiding there. Some were small wooden tubs for holding water, and some were large bath tubs. They were all piled up in a woodshed and no one paid any attention to them. They looked covered in dust and had been idle for who knows how long.

Things that were previously ignored have unexpectedly come in handy now.

When Fu Lu came out after changing his clothes, Fu Wen had already brought out a large bath tub and was carrying a small wooden tub in each hand to carry it a second time.

The two brothers worked together much faster, and in no time they had moved all the wooden buckets over.

By now, it was completely dark outside, and apart from the rustling sounds of their busy work, the courtyard was deathly silent.

When Lu Yan slipped back, the pond had been almost completely drained, filled with six large bath tubs. Lu Zhang and Yan Shu were helping by holding torches, while Fu Wen and Fu Lu had taken off one sleeve and tucked it into their waistbands, exposing half of their arms, and were sweating profusely as they scooped up the last bit of water from the bottom of the pond.

Only then could everyone use the dim torchlight to see the bottom of the pond clearly—it wasn't covered in silt as they had originally thought. Instead, several large stone troughs were neatly arranged at the bottom of the small pond, and the strange aquatic flowers were growing in the black mud inside the stone troughs.

Apart from these stone troughs embedded in the ground, the only other places are some silt formed by long-term water immersion, and underneath the silt, there seem to be smooth and neat stone slabs.