Although she waited only a moment, Tao Yu felt like it had been very long. Lord Zhao’s figure finally appeared ahead, walking forward with unsteady steps. As he got closer to the shell, Tao Yu’s heart rose.
Unfortunately, he walked past without even looking, and Tao Yu’s brow suddenly furrowed. Just as she was about to rush out to remind him, he stepped on the shell and slipped, falling with a painful cry.
Tao Yu’s eyes brightened, and she quietly lowered herself, staring in his direction, afraid of missing any micro-expression.
Lord Zhao propped himself up, and the first thing he did was check what he had stepped on. Seeing the round object, he squinted in confusion, picked it up, and held it under the lantern, carefully examining it for a long time without discerning anything.
Tao Yu was inwardly shocked. Someone who could shoot Zhou Ying dead would definitely not be an amateur who didn’t recognize a shell. If this person were the mysterious individual, he would never brazenly hold it up to examine it. Even if intentional, there should have been an instinctive nervous reaction.
But he had none.
Tao Yu’s heart sank. She was now certain he was not the mysterious person. Who else could it be? She had originally determined the person was among the four helping Yue Linze, but after eliminating each one, she was left without a single suspicious candidate.
Would she have to test each one? Just as this thought arose, she saw Lord Zhao about to stand with the shell, and she quickly lowered her head and hurriedly walked over, unapologetically bumping into him.
Already unsteady from drinking, Lord Zhao fell again, dropping the shell. Tao Yu quickly helped him up, apologizing, “Sorry, Lord Zhao, I… I was in a hurry to use the restroom…”
“It’s nothing, it’s nothing. I bumped into my lady,” Lord Zhao, though drunk, maintained proper etiquette and stepped back.
Tao Yu smiled, “Lord Zhao, please go back quickly. Lord Wu and the others are waiting anxiously.”
Lord Zhao heard this and hurriedly agreed, rushing back, though feeling he had forgotten something but too muddled to recall.
Tao Yu immediately searched for the shell, finally finding the muddy object in the grass, staring at it and falling into deep thought.
