Chapter 2496: Chapter 103: How Could Withered Flowers and Yellowed Leaves Be Old Already (Part 2)

The green grass of Qingyan flourished, suspended at the fingertips, swaying solitude.

Then the grass bowed its head, as if in reminiscence.

"Hmm?"

Jiang Wang snapped out of his reverie, discovering that the grass of recollection seemed to have found its target, slowly rotating.

Involuntarily, he held his breath and concentrated, staring in the direction of the green grass of Qingyan.

He saw it circle a few times, suddenly stop, pointing... backward.

Jiang Wang suddenly stood up and turned back, looking at the bookshelf, but the direction the grass of recollection pointed to kept moving. Only then did he realize that this grass of recollection was pointing at himself.

The art of recall, as re-evolved by Yu Beidou, imprints the cognition of the tracking target on one’s spiritual soul level, thereby forming a perception at the spiritual soul level.

It has a certain time limitation. To use this technique to trace the target more than three months later, even if familiar, would be impossible.

Jiang Wang was merely pondering methods to find Lin Youxie, constantly recalling bits about her, subconsciously forming the grass of recollection, never expecting to actually find something with it.

But now the grass of recollection was pointing back!

What about himself would resonate on the spiritual soul level with the cognition of Lin Youxie in him?

Jiang Wang sat down, took out the three storage boxes he carried, placed the fingernail-sized boxes on the desk, which quickly expanded, resembling three thick books with wood-grain covers.

Removing the box lids, he could see neat tiny grids inside, and various items reduced in size many times over within them.

They were filled with wealth, such as Prime Stones, Ten Thousand Prime Stones, Dao Yuan Stones... and several Life Soul Stones. They were both currency in the supernatural world and could serve as a supplement for combat consumption.

Additionally, there were some gold, silver, knife coins, and ring money.

As well as various foods encountered during travels around the world...

His eyes carefully scanned, finally resting on a thin book—

This was the Nameless Book given to him by Lin Youxie.

The life’s work on autopsy by the arrest officer Lin Kuang, posthumously completed by Earth Net Uncle Wu Lie.

At that time, Lin Youxie decided to face death, trying to use her own death as evidence to overturn the case of Concubine Lei and Lin Kuang from many years ago, after all substantive evidence was erased.

Thus, she gifted this extraordinary book, documenting how to capture clues from corpses, to Jiang Wang.

As heirloom knowledge of the Green Badge Aristocracy, the value of this book couldn’t be measured in money.

Or perhaps, if it were to spread, it would undoubtedly become another classic in the Legalists’ punitive field!

Jiang Wang held the thin book in a daze, the resonance from the grass of recollection pointed directly to this book.

Indeed, it was impossible to use this to track down Lin Youxie’s traces...

However, this was a secret manual recording the autopsy technique, yet Lin Youxie’s current fate remained unknown.

This thin book was of no help to the current situation, and Jiang Wang further hoped it would never need to be used.

But now, as he sat alone in the study, looking at the thin book spread on the desk, pondering his friend lost without a trace, an indescribable melancholy welled up within him.

That was Lin Youxie.

The sole heir of the four great Green Badge aristocracies.

She had been missing since early May, yet no one noticed.

Her father, Lin Kuang, died in Yuan Feng year 38. The one who raised her, Wu Lie, died in Yuan Feng year 55. In the same year, Li Youjue, also of the four great Green Badge aristocracies, died from execution...

No matter how ordinary a person, once vanished into the crowd, there would still be relatives and friends thinking of them.

But Lin Youxie had no family left.

Because the Green Badge aristocracy had collapsed, and also because of her stubborn adherence to the law, handling cases impersonally. Hence, she had no friends.

In this world, no one cared for her anymore, no one would inquire about her.

So it wasn’t until now, when Jiang Wang’s letters to the Triple Punishment Palace were returned unopened, that people learned that the young first of the Green Badge aristocracy, who had been deemed a genius in solving cases with her Transcendent skill wearing a Grade-5 Green Badge, had lost her trail.

Alive, unseen; dead, no corpse to be found.

She disappeared silently, like a breeze dispersed in a gust of wind.

As if she had never existed!

But the experiences of the past twenty-something years remained vividly intact. The cases she solved, the events she went through, there were still clear traces preserved at the Imperial City Inspection Mansion.

Even if all these could be erased.

Yet in Jiang Wang’s memory, the scenes of interacting with her, from Bi Yu County to Haimen Island, from the small ship swaying in the storm, to the rare moonlit nights in Hengyang Prefecture... everything was still vividly present, how could one say she never existed?

"Knock, knock, knock!"

On this night, along with the sound of knocking, came the soft call of housekeeper Xie Ping: "Marquis, someone from Marquis of Bowang’s Mansion is here to see you."

Jiang Wang regained his composure, reduced the size of the storage boxes on the desk, slipped them into his arms, and said with a usual tone: "Let him in."

Squeak~

The door pushed open, and in entered the Shadow Guard of Zhongxuan Sheng, a figure Jiang Wang was also familiar with, the Qingzhuan.

He closed the door behind him, then saluted Jiang Wang: "Marquis, my young master sent me to find you at night, with some words to pass on."

"Your young master is about to inherit the State Marquis title tomorrow, yet he still cares so much about irrelevant matters tonight?" Jiang Wang joked, to appear calmer, before saying: "Go on, what trouble is he brewing now?"

Qingzhuan kept his head down: "My young master just returned to Linzi, heard about what happened on your side, and quickly sent me over with a message. Were it not for the grand ceremony tomorrow, making it impossible to leave the gate, he would have come personally..."

"What’s happening on my side?" Jiang Wang chuckled twice, then said: "Speak, what’s his high opinion?"

Qingzhuan said: "My young master said, the matter you’re investigating might not be as complicated as you think! He advised you not to act recklessly, especially not to trust Bao Zhongqing’s apprentice, giving them an opportunity. After inheriting the title tomorrow, he will personally come to talk to you..."

"Is that all?" Jiang Wang asked.

"Oh, my young master also specifically emphasized." Qingzhuan replied: "Please, you must stay at home properly, do not act rashly. The matter with Chief Lin isn’t complex, once he’s freed up, it will be easily resolved."

Jiang Wang listened, feeling something off, slightly frowning: "Is this the exact wording?"

"Uh, the exact wording is..." Qingzhuan cleared his throat, mimicking Zhongxuan Sheng’s voice: "Remember, if he doesn’t have the brains, then just don’t think! If unsure of where to go, don’t leave the house! Seriously, going all out to find someone, to show off to whom?"

Seeing Marquis Wu An’s face already looking displeased, he very quietly repeated the last five words, lowering his voice: "Rea-lly, so stu-pid..."

The attention shown by Zhongxuan Sheng, who was still grieving and dealing with a bunch of family duties at such an important juncture, touched Marquis Wu An greatly.

But the phrasing was so impolite, it displeased Marquis Wu An.

Marquis Wu An wasn’t one to hold grudges, so he merely waved a hand at Qingzhuan: "Alright, I got it, you can go back."

Qingzhuan disappeared in a whoosh.

"In the future, you Shadow Guards should still mind..."

Jiang Wang only spoke halfway, the study already empty, ’etiquette education’ could not continue, so he helplessly said: "Rude individuals!"

Oddly enough, with just a message sent by Zhongxuan Pang, his heart settled considerably.

Trusting in the full-bodied Zhongxuan Sheng, who could think with his whole body, since he said the matter wasn’t too complex, advised to stay home and wait for news.

He trusted unconditionally, believing Zhongxuan Sheng could provide a correct answer.

Tonight the moon shone brightly, the stars sparse.

He didn’t leave the house again, sat quietly in the study, reading through the nameless book.

This reading lasted an entire night.

For a long time, he hadn’t thought of flipping through this booklet, learning a bit. Because autopsies were nearly unnecessary for him, in his life experiences, often life and death were the entire answer.

But now he wondered, what does a person leave behind for this world if they are gone?

If a person disappears, what remains to prove they existed?

Perhaps only such a nameless book.

The content of this book wasn’t much, but understanding it required some thought. And some accompanying subtle secret techniques, requiring time to cultivate, of course, the first read-through provided only a general understanding.

As dawn broke, Jiang Wang, with a complex mood, turned to the last page of the thin booklet.

Then he froze.

Because the last page was noticeably different from the rest of the nameless book.

It didn’t record any techniques related to autopsy.

Just one secret technique—

A secret technique uniquely created by the late Heavenly Net Uncle, renowned capture specialist Lin Kuang, "Nian Chen".

"Unforgetting thoughts, as if the heart is tethered to dust."