New and dark light years

Chapter 200 The Disappearance of Zhou Qingqing
Li Lin arrived at the "Flower Market Street" in Yuecheng, a place where private brothels were concentrated.

Government-run brothels were generally called "jiaofang" and could only be frequented by high-ranking officials and nobles.

According to Qin Donglai, his concubine lived in a small courtyard with two gates in a small alley south of Huashi Street, and her name was Zhou Qingqing.

Li Lin then went to the vicinity to inquire.

After asking several neighbors living in the alley, one of them finally knew who Zhou Qingqing was and said, "That Zhou Qingqing sold the house and has already moved away!"

When did you move out?

"A month ago."

Li Lin calculated the time; it must have happened shortly after Qin Donglai was captured.

In other words... Zhou Qingqing knew that Qin Donglai had been arrested, so she immediately ran away.

That's quite a fast reaction time.

Li Lin then asked, "Do you know where she moved to?"

The pedestrian shook his head.

"And what about her son?"

The pedestrians continued to shake their heads.

Li Lin then inquired around the area for a long time, but no one knew where Zhou Qingqing had gone.

Li Lin was immediately at a loss.

No... this Zhou Qingqing seems to be something special; she disappeared in an instant.

It was obvious that they were intentionally hiding their tracks.

Did she sense something?
After searching the area for a while without success, Li Lin returned to the inn.

When he entered the hall, he found that there were even more people there, and most of them were people from the martial arts world.

As soon as he entered, more than a dozen eyes turned to him.

Li Lin frowned; he realized something seemed amiss.

If it were a recruitment order from the King of Qin, even if it could attract martial arts practitioners, there shouldn't be so many talented people.

This is just one of the inns; there must be many martial arts practitioners in the other inns as well.

Upon seeing Li Lin dressed in scholar's robes, most people looked away, with only a few eyes remaining.

Half of them are women.

Li Lin ignored them and walked straight through the hall and up the stairs.

During this time, Li Lin could sense a tense atmosphere among these martial arts practitioners.

Li Lin returned to his room and took out yellow paper and cinnabar from his bundle.

These items were mixed in with writing brushes and inkstones, and the soldiers didn't check them carefully when they entered the city. Besides, even if they had checked them carefully, these items weren't illegal.

Soon, more than a dozen paper figures were drawn, and under the influence of spiritual energy, they slowly turned pinkish-purple.

These little paper figures came to life and began to jump and run around the room.

Soon, several small paper figures dragged out some small insects from the room, pushed them together, and killed them all.

Li Lin brought out the paper figure for safety reasons.

After all, there are quite a few martial arts practitioners below, and with the little paper dolls keeping watch, he can get a good night's sleep.

Most importantly, he can use the paper doll to find Zhou Qingqing tomorrow, but before that, he needs to get a portrait of Zhou Qingqing.

Otherwise, the little paper figure wouldn't be able to find the person.

Just as he was about to go to sleep, there was a gentle knock on the door.

The dozen or so little paper figures scurried away, some hiding in the cracks of the door, some under the bed, and some even climbing onto the roof to stick to it.

"Who?" Li Lin asked.

"Ji Feng, the swordsman in green robes from the Qingcheng Sect, would like to speak with you, young hero."

Li Lin didn't open the door. Instead, he took two steps back, moving away from the doorway, and asked, "I don't know Master Ji, so there's nothing to talk about."

There was a moment of silence outside before someone said, "Young hero, are you not a member of the martial arts world?"

"Correct!"

"Then why have you come to Yuecheng, this place of trouble?"

Li Lin said, "A recruitment order."

"I see. It was a misunderstanding on our part. We apologize for disturbing you."

The footsteps gradually faded into the distance.

It was nearly midnight.

Li Lin blew out the candle, lay down on the bed fully clothed, and closed his eyes to rest.

Under the cover of night, a few small paper figures squeezed out through the crack in the door and began to monitor the corridor.

Two more climbed up to the window, bringing that area under surveillance.

In other words, Li Lin would know whenever someone approached the doors or windows.

No one disturbed Li Lin all night. Li Lin managed to get a decent night's sleep.

After he woke up, he quickly washed up and went downstairs.

There were far fewer people in the main hall than last night; many were probably still resting in their guest rooms.

Li Lin ordered a bowl of meat porridge and asked the waiter, "What exactly happened here? Even if it was the King of Qin's decree to recruit talents, it's impossible for so many martial arts practitioners to come."

The waiter couldn't answer.

At this moment, a middle-aged man walked over and greeted him with a fist and palm salute, "Young hero, may I sit down and have a chat with you?"

"Your voice sounds familiar." Li Lin frowned as he looked at the other person: "The chivalrous Master Ji from last night?"

The middle-aged man nodded: "Yes, that's me."

Li Lin sighed: "Please sit down."

"Thank you." Ji Feng sat down.

Li Lin sized up Ji Feng. The man's appearance was not particularly outstanding, but he had a certain air about him and seemed to be someone in a high position.

"Young hero, I can tell that you don't seem to be here for the exquisite jade box!"

"A delicate jade box?"

Ji Feng stroked his long beard and laughed, "So you really aren't after the exquisite jade box. Then you don't need to stay here, or you'll run into trouble."

At this moment, people from upstairs also came down, in twos and threes.

Li Lin glanced at the martial arts practitioners around him and nodded: "Alright, thank you for the reminder, Master Ji."

After saying that, Li Lin got up and left.

He really had no need to compete with these martial arts figures for the exquisite jade box; his only goal was to find Zhou Qingqing first.

After leaving the inn, Li Lin led his horse and searched for several more inns, only to find that they were all crowded.

Left with no other choice, he went to a brothel.

This is a high-end establishment; ordinary martial arts practitioners simply cannot enter.

Because there wasn't much money.

Although it is said that scholars are poor and martial artists are rich, the "wealth" of martial arts practitioners is actually only at a comfortable level.

Brothels, on the other hand, are the real dens of iniquity. Martial arts practitioners might occasionally come in to spend money, but they would never stay for an extended period.

Li Lin handed the horse to the pimp, and as soon as he entered the door, he was surrounded by three scantily clad women.

"Wow, this young master is quite handsome, and he's a complete stranger!"

"Young master, do you have someone you fancy? How about choosing me?"

"Young master, I can give you a 50% discount..."

At this moment, even more women looked over.

Li Lin looked around and said, "I'm just here to find a place to stay; I don't need anyone to accompany me."

“Who comes to a brothel just to sleep and not to have fun with someone…” Some women didn’t believe it.

Li Lin said, "That's me."

Laughter erupted all around.

The three women pulled Li Lin to sit down at the table.

At this moment, the madam came over and chased the three women away. She looked at Li Lin and said, "Young master, were you sent here because those martial arts practitioners were trying to kill you?"

"you know?"

"Sigh... Recently, there's been this whole Linglong Jade Box thing, and more and more assassins are coming here, making things really unsettling. People are dying suddenly at night all the time, and people are being killed."

Li Lin wasn't interested in that, but instead asked, "I heard that there used to be someone here named Zhou Qingqing."

Qin Donglai had told him that Zhou Qingqing was someone who had redeemed herself from this brothel.

Zhou Qingqing's first three sons were all born to different benefactors, and were given away after birth, which was truly heartless.

The madam paused for a moment, then said, "You are..."

“I had a friend, her husband, but something happened to him. Before he died, he asked me to take care of his son,” Li Lin said slowly. “But when I went to look for him, I found that Zhou Qingqing had already moved away, and my friend’s son was nowhere to be found either. So I came here to ask if you know where she is?”

The madam sighed and said, "She has become a widow after all. We don't know where she is. She has redeemed herself and escaped her misery. Naturally, she doesn't want to have anything to do with lowly people like us anymore."

"Do you have a portrait of her?"

With the portrait in hand, Li Lin could send the paper doll to search for it.

"no!"

Li Lin was somewhat disappointed.

But then the madam said, "We can draw one for you, but the price..."

"Sure, ten taels of silver per painting, how about it!"

"Young master is so generous." The madam smiled so broadly her eyes almost closed. "I'll draw it for you right away."

(End of this chapter)