The chase in Linjing City kept everyone busy throughout the night, and as dawn broke, people gradually returned, looking utterly disheartened.
"Fifty li east of Linjing, I intercepted the first possible clue—a night freight carriage from Bada Mule and Horse Trade, carrying nothing but a pile of old clothes, bearing the assassin's scent."
"A cargo ship from Wang Family Ferry, thirty li downstream, was captured. Upon investigation, the Water Breaking Pearl was found on the ship's mast, and the crew were all ordinary mortals."
The two elder Daoists exchanged a look, both perceiving the helplessness in each other's eyes.
The scent was traced from a guesthouse, indicating that the assassin had stayed there for at least half a month. The Daoist Sect had many ways to track such kept scents to find traces, but it all led back to general old clothes from the trade carriage.
