Chapter 202 - 88: Catching the "Snake" (Middle)

"Did you eat breakfast?" Zhang Shutong asked again.

"You talk too much."

"I just figure you must have to get up very early, especially on snowy days."

"I'm used to it."

"Did your grandma make breakfast?"

"Do you still remember the question I asked earlier?" Lu Qinglian said suddenly.

Zhang Shutong did indeed remember. "Just how close are we?"

"I can give you a clear answer now. We're not close enough for that, so don't pry into my personal life," she said coldly.

"Can we talk about business, then?"

"That depends."

"Why does Gu Qiuyan's father want to demolish the Cyan Snake Temple?" Zhang Shutong hadn't asked before, worried she might suddenly turn on him. But now that it was just the two of them, and he was practically a hostage, it didn't matter if she did or not.

"You can ask her yourself."

"Her answer isn't what's important. Your attitude is."

"I don't know," Lu Qinglian said flatly. "If there's an answer, it's all right there on the surface."

"For development?" 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂

"A tourist attraction."

"And what's your stance on that?"

"I believe I've already said it. We're against it."

"What if he uses certain... methods? You should know what happened with the commercial street."

Zhang Shutong continued to probe.

But Lu Qinglian didn't take the bait.

"Why don't you just tell me what answer you want to hear?"

Zhang Shutong fell silent.

"Oh, right," he said, pulling out his phone. "I looked up a few legends about the Cyan Snake Temple. Can you tell me which one is true?"

"My turn to ask a question." Lu Qinglian didn't answer him. Instead, she asked, "Why are you so invested in your deskmate's business?"

"I have a crush on her," Zhang Shutong said with a straight face.

"So what leads do you have so far?"

"The commercial street. Nothing besides that."

"Really? Nothing else?" Lu Qinglian stared calmly into his eyes, as if to confirm something.

Zhang Shutong met her gaze and nodded.

"You'd better not be lying." With that, she started walking again.

Zhang Shutong watched Lu Qinglian walk with practiced ease. Going uphill was already easier than going down, and following behind the girl was surprisingly less strenuous than his earlier descent from Ring Mountain Road. All he had to do was place his feet in her footprints. The snow was already packed solid, so there was no need to worry about a misstep.

He glanced at the surrounding scenery. It was just as Lu Qinglian had said—there wasn't much to see. The ground was nothing but snow, and the occasional bare branches he saw were likewise covered in a layer of white.

Utterly deserted.

That was probably the best way to describe the mountain at that moment.

They finally reached the halfway point of the mountain path. Zhang Shutong glanced at his phone but didn't ask her to stop this time, worried it would be too obvious.

But Lu Qinglian stopped on her own. She raised a finger, pointing to a white courtyard wall hidden among the mountains.

"We're almost there. You'd better not stop again."

'So that must be the Cyan Snake Temple.'

"What did you mean by that warning you gave me? Can you elaborate on that?" Zhang Shutong asked. "What will happen if I go there?"

"That depends on the circumstances," Lu Qinglian said, glancing at him.

Just then, a high-pitched, piercing shriek suddenly cut through the air. Zhang Shutong whipped his head around to see a fox emerging from the forest to one side. One of the fox's ears was only half there. It tucked its tail between its legs warily and let out a low growl at him.

'It was as if I'm an invader in these mountains.'

It reminded Zhang Shutong of that Doberman. He didn't seem to be very popular with animals; they always treated him like an "enemy." He subconsciously took a step back. It wasn't that he was afraid, of course, but it was better to avoid unnecessary trouble.

Foxes are normally afraid of people, but to his surprise, when he retreated a step, the fox advanced one. It then began to pace back and forth a few meters in front of him. He glanced down at the snow, found a branch, and picked it up, getting ready to throw it and scare the fox off.

"Don't move."

Lu Qinglian frowned, stepping in front of him.

'It seemed like this fox was something special, and she'd jumped forward to protect me in case anything happened. But in reality, she was turning to face me—the "Don't move" was directed at me, not the fox.'

"Back up a little. Put the branch down."

'So she was protecting the fox.'

Zhang Shutong tossed the branch aside and backed away. When he turned around again, he saw the fox happily scampering over to the girl and rubbing its furry head against her long robe.

"A pet?" Zhang Shutong asked.

"No." The girl bent down and stroked the fox's head, her expression finally showing a flicker of life—but only a flicker.

'I had to admit, Song said I was a bit detached, but Lu Qinglian wasn't any better. Only now did she seem anything like a sixteen-year-old girl.'

"What happened to its ear?" Zhang Shutong asked. "It looks like it just scabbed over. Did something bite it off? Are there more dangerous wild animals on this mountain?"

"There used to be five of them," Lu Qinglian said in a low voice. "Remember those two poachers?"

'So that's what happened.'

Understanding dawned on Zhang Shutong. He remembered that the poachers hadn't just hunted that rare bird; they had shot other animals too, including foxes.

"So that's why you told me to put down the branch?" he asked. "Is it traumatized because of that air gun?"

Lu Qinglian nodded lightly, and a flicker of shadow seemed to pass through her eyes.

'He couldn't help but feel a bit of sympathy for Lu Qinglian. She was already so detached, and she only softened up a little in front of the fox. And now, to think the foxes she'd been looking after had been killed...'

'But sympathy wasn't an emotion he should waste on her, so the feeling was fleeting. After all, Zhang Shutong hadn't come here today to look at foxes.'

Ever since they started up the mountain, he had been using his own methods to rule her out as a suspect.

In truth, he had never been convinced that Lu Qinglian was Gu Qiuyan's killer, but she was definitely connected to the case. Zhang Shutong just couldn't figure out what role she played.