Chapter 398 - 221: To Capture Bandits, First Capture Their King

After entering the city, Jiang Che led Jiang Ling through familiar streets, heading straight for the long-dilapidated Rag Alley in the southern district.

Returning to this familiar land after three years, Jiang Che was filled with incredibly complex emotions.

The houses on both sides of the road had grown even more dilapidated, their plaster peeling away more severely.

The alley was also filled with more vagrants, their clothes tattered and their faces sallow and gaunt. They huddled in corners, watching passersby with numb, empty eyes.

Jiang Che walked slowly, one step at a time.

Finally, at the end of the familiar lane, he saw the familiar, low-slung, one-story house.

The plaster had peeled away completely, revealing the mottled adobe bricks beneath. More than half the roof tiles were shattered and overgrown with weeds.

On the even more dilapidated wooden door still hung a heavily rusted copper lock.

The door was locked from the outside, meaning no one was living inside.

Jiang Che was silent for a moment before reaching into his robes and pulling out an equally rusted key.

He had always kept this key with him.

CLICK.

Jiang Che turned the key in the copper lock and pushed open the door to the home he had left three years ago.

A smell of dust and mildew washed over him.

The room was dimly lit.

Cobwebs filled every corner.

The worn wooden table, which had once held the countless laughs and joyous sounds of their family of four, was now buried under a thick layer of dust, its original color completely obscured.

’Just as I thought. Not the slightest sign that anyone has been back.’

Jiang Che sighed.

Although he had long anticipated this outcome, he still felt a pang of disappointment.

"Brother..."

Jiang Ling, who had followed him in, called out softly with concern as she looked at her brother’s somewhat forlorn back.

"I’m fine."

Jiang Che turned and forced a smile for his sister.

"Let’s go back outside."

He stepped out of the house, locked the door again, and then tried knocking on the doors of the neighboring houses.

Most of the doors remained closed.

But Jiang Che’s senses were now far beyond those of an ordinary person. He could clearly perceive the fearful, wary breathing from behind each door.

He took a handful of silver pieces he had prepared earlier from his robes and spoke slowly to the closed doors.

"My friends, I mean no harm! I just want to ask about the family that used to live here! I can pay!"

Before long, a few worn wooden doors CREAKED open.

However, Jiang Che saw only unfamiliar faces peering out from behind the doors.

He went from door to door, only to find that they had all moved in recently and knew nothing about his family.

All they knew was that the house had always been empty.

His old, familiar neighbors, meanwhile, were nowhere to be found.

Jiang Che sighed softly, ready to give up and leave with his sister for the time being.

Just then, a gap-toothed old man who looked to be in his sixties seemed to recall something. He spoke to Jiang Che tentatively.

"This... sir... Come to think of it, about half a year ago, I think... someone else came here asking questions!"

Jiang Che whipped his head around, his eyes flying wide!

He strode up to the old man, his voice trembling with emotion. "Sir! What did you say?! Please, think carefully! Was it a man or a woman? What did they look like? Where did they go?!"

The old man was startled by his intense presence and waved his hands frantically, stammering, "I... I don’t know... It was a man... He was just like you, going door to door, asking where the previous owners of this house went. When he saw that no one knew, he just stood at the door in a daze for a bit, and... and then he left."

"What did he look like?!" Jiang Che pressed urgently.

"It was too dark, I couldn’t see his face... I just remember... he wasn’t young. Looked like... he had to be in his fifties..." the old man said, trying hard to remember. "As for his trade or where he went... that... that I have no idea..."

’In his fifties... a man... also here asking questions...’

At that moment, Jiang Che’s heart began to pound uncontrollably.

’Could it... could it be... Father?!’

He forcefully suppressed the churning in his heart, pulled a ten-tael silver ingot from his robes, and discreetly pressed it into the old man’s hand.

The old man’s eyes shot wide. He quickly turned to the side to avoid being seen and hid the silver in his sleeve.

"Thank you for the information, sir!"

After saying this, Jiang Che didn’t linger. He immediately took the still-shocked Jiang Ling by the hand and hurried out of the alley.

......

"Brother, do you think... what that old man said... is it true? Was it really Father?" Jiang Ling asked as they walked, still finding it hard to believe.

"I don’t know..." Jiang Che shook his head, but his eyes were filled with hope. "But I’ve decided to find out."

"But we have no clues. Where do we even start looking?"

"Don’t worry," Jiang Che said, looking at his sister with newfound determination. "I have my ways. I’ll definitely find him!"

He then got Jiang Ling settled in what seemed to be the safest inn in the city and instructed her in a low voice:

"You stay here for now. Remember, just stay put in the inn. Don’t go anywhere. Wait for me to get back."

"I’ll have Xiaohei protect you."

"Okay!" Jiang Ling nodded emphatically.

After settling his sister, Jiang Che’s figure flickered, and he instantly disappeared into the bustling streets of Lin Yuan City.