My Years in the Jianghu with the Prince: A Time of Unethical Conduct

Chapter 227 Clues

Under the dim candlelight, a tattered treasure map was laid out on the table.

Xie Yan gently stroked the blurred marks on the drawing with one hand, her eyes slightly narrowed, her expression thoughtful and lost in thought.

This was the scene that Chu Ling saw when he walked in from the outer room, his body steaming with moisture.

"What are you thinking about?"

He walked over, stopped beside Xie Yan, and began to examine her closely.

"I'm wondering who drew this treasure map with the symbol of the Church of Saint Sun."

Upon hearing this, Chu Ling raised an eyebrow and said with interest, "Oh? You don't think this is something from the Holy Sun Cult?"

"Of course not."

Xie Yan nodded. "If this treasure truly belongs to them, why bother going to all the trouble of creating a treasure map?"

After a moment's thought, Chu Ling also became serious, "Indeed."

Xie Yan continued, "So I guess that although we don't know where they got this thing from, or why the previous dynasty's treasury went there, the Holy Sun Church should also be searching for the treasure in this picture."

Even though this item did not initially belong to the Holy Sun Cult, they had been lying in wait for many years, and the time they had spent obtaining the treasure map and searching for the treasure was much longer than that of Chu Ling and his group.

In such a long time, even if they dug every inch of the ground, they should have found the treasure long ago.

However, neither of them showed any distress or frustration at the conclusion.

Because they knew that if the treasure was indeed from the previous dynasty's treasury, then the amount of gold, silver, jewels, and various rare treasures inside would be considerable, if not more.

Such a vast and iconic treasure would be extremely difficult for the Church of the Holy Sun to acquire, even if it were to fall into their hands; they would certainly have to proceed with caution and gradual acquisition.

In order to transport the treasure out of the area and prevent it from being discovered, they would definitely station a guard there.

Therefore, in order to find traces of the Holy Sun Church, we must first find the location of the treasure.

However, the problem now is...

Xie Yan pursed her lips, and under Chu Ling's gaze, the hand that had been caressing the drawing slowly stopped.

The point it points to is the far right end of the merged treasure map.

Compared to the deliberately left blank end on the left, the right side of the drawing extends all the way to the boundary, without leaving even a trace of blank space.

If Dongfang Su's memory isn't faulty, then the painting here isn't finished yet.

It should still be missing a section.

Even though the painting is still incomplete, judging from the artist's technique and the layout, Jinlin is indeed the final destination.

Therefore, the last missing piece can only be the specific location of the treasure.

That is why they hesitated to search for the treasure after arriving in Jinlin.

The golden carp was so large that even if they knew the treasure was here, they would have no way of getting to it without any clues.

But it's obviously too late to find that last screenshot now.

The two fell into deep thought again.

Chu Ling narrowed his eyes, his slender fingers gently tapping the table as he slowly reviewed all the experiences and information he had gathered along the way.

A host of clues flashed through my mind, and I peeled back the layers of the mystery without missing a single detail.

As his thoughts wandered, Chu Ling's gaze slowly slid across the treasure map, then followed Xie Yan's slender fingers upwards, finally settling on the face of the person in front of him.

In an instant, my thoughts began to become clear.

A sudden flash of inspiration connected all the seemingly disparate clues to one point through a single thing.

Having figured this out, Chu Ling's expression darkened slightly, and he raised his hand to place it on Xie Yan's shoulder.

Xie Yan subconsciously turned her head and saw Chu Ling staring intently at her.

"Don't you feel that everything, whether it's the Holy Sun Church, the final destination of the previous dynasty's treasury and treasures, seems to have a subtle connection with a certain family?"

Chu Ling's unexpected remark left Xie Yan stunned and speechless for a moment.

A certain family?

A moment later, prompted by Chu Ling, Xie Yan snapped out of her daze and quickly realized something, "Could it be..."

His brow furrowed deeply. "You mean... the Fu family?"

Chu Ling nodded. "That's right."

The unknown "orthodox" sect of the Holy Sun Church is surnamed Fu, the former owner of the national treasury of the previous dynasty was surnamed Fu, and even the final destination of this treasure is the hometown of the Fu clan.

If the previous owner of this treasure map was surnamed Fu, then all of this makes sense.

Xie Yan sighed softly and put the treasure map away. "It seems that if we want to find the treasure and the traces of the Holy Sun Cult, we need to find some clues from the Fu family here first."

Feeling that she had been using her brain too much lately, Xie Yan rubbed her temples and, without waiting for Chu Ling's reply, quickly lay down on the bed.

The moment he slowly closed his eyes, a fierce yet familiar face flashed through his mind without warning.

Xie Yan opened her eyes again.

He searched his memory carefully, but could not find the corresponding memory.

He had no choice but to turn his head to the side and ask Chu Ling, "By the way, I feel like I've seen that Earth God's face somewhere before. Do you remember it?"

"have you seen?"

Upon hearing this, Chu Ling subconsciously frowned.

But after pondering for a long time, he still couldn't find any familiarity with the Earth God's face. He could only shake his head helplessly and say, "No, I have no impression of him at all."

"If you recognize someone but I don't, then they're at least not someone I know."

"Tomorrow, have Xuanfeng draw a sketch of the Earth God's face and send it back for a thorough investigation."

Chu Ling always took Xie Yan's words very seriously. After thinking for a moment, he felt that there was no time to lose and planned to wake Xuan Feng up and get him to work right away.

A soft breathing sound came from inside. Chu Ling, who was about to leave, paused and turned around, only to find that Xie Yan, who was lying on the bed, had already fallen into a deep sleep.

I don't know if he even heard my reply.

Chu Ling smiled silently, turned around, extinguished the candle, climbed onto the bed, and pulled the person into his arms.

Three days later——

Two horses galloped out of Jinlin City, heading west along the official road towards the remote mountains.

"Back then, Emperor Taizu was just a shepherd boy in a mountain village."

The clatter of hooves echoed along the mountain path, accompanied by Xie Yan's nonchalant voice.

"Although his family was of modest means, he was able to live a life free from want and was pampered as the only son in the family. If he had just continued living such an ordinary life, it might not have been a bad thing."

"But things didn't go as planned, and these peaceful and tranquil days couldn't last long."

Chu Ling withdrew his gaze from Xie Yan and placed it on the endless mountain range in front of him.