Chapter 68: Chapter 67: Someone Had Been Here

“Could it be because of this again?”

After the excitement, Shen Luo gradually calmed down, glanced at the skull tattoo, and muttered to himself in his heart.

The continuous surprises made him worry a little.

Even the Small Transformation Yang Technique took him two full years to just enter, but within a day, his Small Transformation Yang Technique had become perfected. The Nameless Cultivation Technique also advanced to its first level, and even the “Water-walking Decision” almost came naturally…

There’s no smoke without fire!

His early life experiences taught him that there is a cause for every effect. If it weren’t for his medical knowledge gained from long bouts of illness, and the various spiritual medicines he concocted like the “Golden Fragrant Jade”, would the Shen family have risen in fame in just a few years?

These things happening to him are both a blessing and a curse, making it tricky to determine which right now.

But in the short term, this good fortune was incredibly beneficial to him. Now that his mission was accomplished, it seemed he should return.

Shen Luo was silently thinking, heading back to the shore, putting his clothes back on, and soon found himself on the official road outside the town.

The hot sun was overhead at midday, and the official road was scarcely populated.

Shen Luo, under his subconscious, gently sniffed. Various smells were leaving traces, they emanated from the people passing by.

He suddenly discovered an interesting thing – by smelling these odours, he could determine how many people had recently passed by, and even guess what they were doing.

For example, this smell was mixed with bean scent, likely a soy milk and tofu seller. That one was full of sweat, probably a hard labourer who had just returned from the county. Oh, this other scent, it should be a person selling night-blooming incense…

Shen Luo chuckled inside, finding that his enhanced sense of smell had an unexpected benefit, something he had never considered before.

Entering the town, Shen Luo headed towards the inn. With nothing else to do, he slightly pricked up his ears to test his hearing. Suddenly, sounds from far and near came clearly.

There was the voice of a woman haggling with a vendor, the whispers of two old men gossiping at a corner, and even the clear shouting of a waiter from a restaurant not far away.

Shen Luo smiled slightly, closed his eyes, and tried to hear more distant sounds.

The sizzling sound of cooking from the kitchen of a nearby large inn, the sound of someone snoring in a room on the second floor, and from even further away, there was…

About a teacup’s time later, Shen Luo slowly walked back to the small inn he was renting.

Dining time in the inn, the lobby was packed. Even in this secluded little inn at the time, there were four or five tables of customers.

“Master Shen, you had gone out. No wonder no one answered when I knocked a few times,” Xiao San, busy greeting customers at the lobby, quickly came forward when he saw Shen Luo coming back.

“Bring me a meal in my room. No chicken or duck, no greasy trotters, just something light.” Shen Luo gave a noncommittal nod, gave a casual order, and turned to return to his room.

But after taking a few steps, he turned back to Xiao San, beckoned him over. When he got close, Shen Luo lowered his voice and said, “Also get me some talisman paper, cinnabar, black dog blood, and a set of ink, brush, paper and inkstone, and send them to my room.”

Without revealing any emotions, he slipped a piece of crushed silver into Xiao San’s hand and then left the lobby quickly.

Xiao San looked at Shen Luo’s hastily departing figure, feeling a bit strange. Still, he didn’t dig deeper and happily pocketed the silver and headed towards the kitchen.

“Eh, how did Master Shen know about the trotters being served for lunch at the kitchen?” After walking a few steps, he suddenly exclaimed and mumbled to himself.

Numerous tables at the lobby were filled with chicken and duck dishes, but no one had ordered trotters.

…

Shen Luo arrived back in his room, about to pack his things, sniffed, and his eyes narrowed.

There was an additional smell in the room. Judging from the spread of the scent, the person had recently left.

The owner of this smell was none other than Mr. Hou, the innkeeper – not a stranger to him.

“What was he doing in my room?”

Shen Luo wondered, then closed his eyes and tried to discern the person’s movements in his room by the intensity of the smell.

Gradually, a vague image appeared in his mind. A figure entered the room from the door, took a walk around without doing anything, and then left.

“He came in, took a look around, and left. It doesn’t seem like he was looking for something. Could he have come to check on me out of concern?” Shen Luo opened his eyes, perplexed.

At that moment, the sound of approaching footsteps reached his ears, which quickly arrived at the door. Then, the sound of knocking followed.

“The door’s unlocked; please come in,” said Shen Luo, his nose wrinkling as he spoke.

The door was pushed open with a “squeak”, and in stepped a figure, carrying a large wooden plate. One side was piled with a meal, while the other side was stacked with a brush, talisman paper, cinnabar, and other items.

The person was not Xiao San, it was Mr. Hou, the innkeeper.