The night was deep, the lake water even darker, Yan Xiao Han could only see about a foot around him. He held his breath and dove, continuing to explore the lake’s depths.
As he swam, he felt he had touched something, initially thinking it was a fish, but then something kept poking him from behind. Impatiently, he grabbed it, pulling it closer to see a white, tender object like a lotus root, with a forked end—
It was a human hand.
Encountering a lake resident’s hand right away, Master Yan almost passed out, almost believing he was hallucinating. He exhaled a string of bubbles, feeling he had just been shocked and his breath was insufficient to face the next wave of surprise, so he decisively gave up, kicking his legs to swim upward.
Moments later, a large splash erupted on the lake surface as Yan Xiao Han emerged, just exhaling when horse hooves were heard from the shore.
Fu Shen couldn’t wait to stabilize, leaping from his horse and quickly walking to the lakeside: “Meng Gui!”
Yan Xiao Han waved to him, indicating he was fine, then swam back to the river, repeatedly washing in the clear water. Fu Shen followed him from the lakeside to the riverside, reaching out to pull the wet Yan Xiao Han out, grabbing an outer robe to cover his head, puzzled: “What were you doing, running around like this?”
Yan Xiao Han gripped his hand, refusing to let go: “I won’t tell you, otherwise you definitely won’t let me hold on.”
Fu Shen scoffed dismissively: “Such a drama queen.”
The lakeside was windy, Yan Xiao Han was completely wet, and shivering. Fu Shen, seeing this, was about to remove his outer robe, but Yan Xiao Han still clung to him. Fu Shen struggled unsuccessfully, helplessly saying: “Won’t you let go?
“There are rumors that the local authorities are involved in some corrupt practices concerning this tax reduction.”
Fu Shen raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “Corruption? Are you suggesting that they might be linked to these disappearances?”
Yan Xiao Han nodded, her expression serious. “Yes. It could be that the villagers were forced to silence to cover for their activities.”
Fu Shen pondered this for a moment. “If we could gather more evidence, we might be able to expose them.”
