Chapter 180: Searching for Uncle Bao (Part 1)

"Where are Sister Ruyi and Aunt Lin?"
Jing Mo felt a chill in her heart and didn't dare to enter rashly. She leaned against the wall and shouted into the room twice.
"...We're here!"
After a while, faint sounds could be heard. After careful identification for a while, a voice of response came from inside.
Recognizing that voice as Ruyi's, Jingmo's nervous mood slightly eased.
"Sister, how are you guys doing?"
Peeking out from the corner of the alley, Jingmo immediately spotted two familiar figures in the dimly lit alley.
Ruyi seemed to be supporting Aunt Lin, slowly moving towards the outside.
She hurried to catch up and found out that it was Mrs. Lin who had sprained her foot, walking with a limp and unable to stand steadily.
"What happened? How did you sprain your foot again?"
Jing Mo doesn't understand any medical skills and wants to take someone to the clinic to see a doctor. Just as they were about to leave, they were stopped by Ruyi.
"I have examined it, and there is no major problem. We can wait a while before taking them to the clinic. However, at this moment, there may be some other matters that we need to attend to."
Lin Dajiang also waved her hand to show that she didn't have any major problems.
Seeing that both of them insisted, Jingmo no longer insisted and nodded in agreement with their suggestion: "Then what do we do next?"
Here is the translation of the provided Chinese text into English, retaining the original HTML tags:\n\n```html\nYu Rui's expression was a bit strange, as she turned her head back to look down the alleyway, pondering for a moment, she said to Jing Mo, \"I think you should go inside and take a look. I can't quite explain what's going on in there. However, I thought that since you have a closer relationship with Uncle Bao, you should go and check it out.\"\n```
Jingmo was reminded of this matter again. She had originally seen the condition of Yirui and Lin Dangniang and didn't think it was a big deal. But now, hearing Yirui's tone, it didn't seem like nothing had happened.
"What's wrong? What happened in there?"
As she asked, she nervously walked inside.
The further she walked into the alley, the stronger the smell of blood became. Jing Mo instinctively covered her nose. This smell was not pleasant, and after smelling it for too long, it could make one feel dizzy.
Once she saw clearly, the intense feeling of nausea brought by the bloody smell became much stronger.
The walls and ground around the alley were completely covered in blood.
The dizziness passed quickly. Jingmo closed her eyes and reopened them after a while.
She felt a little weak in the legs and cautiously leaned against the wall, avoiding the blood stains, and took a few deep breaths. Her eyes fell unconsciously on the blood stains on the wall, and Jingmo was stunned, sensing that something was off.
The blood seemed to be splattered all over, but it only reached a height of one person at most, which doesn't look like something that could be splashed from someone's injury.
To be precise, it is precisely because there are all kinds of blood stains splattered on the walls and floors around that it seems less real and more like someone deliberately fabricated it.
京墨见识过人被刺伤而形成的喷溅血迹，那种血迹喷洒的范围虽然大，但因为有行凶之人的遮挡，反而会空出一块不规则的形状出来。
Moreover, despite being filled with blood and looking extremely frightening, there is no sense of horrifying terror here, rather it feels more like a fabricated construct.
"This blood... it's a bit strange. Ruyi, come here and take a look. Does it seem off to you?"
Carefully examining the bloodstains, Jingmo turned back and called Ruyi over to take a look.
As Yu was originally supporting Grandma Lin to rest outside, she heard the sound of Jingmo and quickly responded. She found a clean and tidy place and helped Grandma Lin to sit down.
"Granny, you rest here for a while, I'll go check the situation at Jingmo."
Granny Lin nodded quickly and didn't try to stop her.
Once Granny Lin was settled, Ruyi had the opportunity to reach Jingmo's side and carefully listened to his analysis, closely scrutinizing the situation.
"You mean to say that these blood stains are not from Uncle Bao?"
After hearing the last part, Ruyi also understood Jingmo's meaning.
"If that's the case, is Uncle Bao safe now?"
After careful consideration, Jing Mo shook his head.
"Safe, probably not safe. But just looking at so much blood, it's probably too much for one person to handle. Either more people have been victimized here, or this place is fabricated."
Ruyi nodded and agreed with Jingmo's inference.
"You're right. We were too nervous at the beginning and subconsciously thought wrong. Upon careful consideration, the timing is too tight if Baoshu really became a victim."
She pondered for a moment.
"Front foot Lin Dama came to find us, and I came along shortly after. From start to finish, it didn't take more than half an hour. Even if they are going to start, how could they be so quick?"
"That's right, in my opinion, this really looks like a forgery. If we had seen a fierce scene firsthand, our first reaction would have been that Uncle Bao had already suffered a ruthless attack and perished."
Following the words of Ruyi, Jingmo continued to infer.
"If we think that Uncle Bao is already gone, then we certainly won't carefully send people to search for his whereabouts. By that time, Uncle Bao will be isolated and helpless, and won't he be easily tortured by them?"
After taking another look at the bloody alley, Yuyi couldn't help but shiver. She had a vivid imagination, and just based on this scene, she could already imagine the kind of abuse Bosco would suffer.
"Then we have to hurry and look for them again. Since they deliberately disguised themselves, it means there must be some clues left at the scene. We only briefly searched for people before and didn't see Uncle Bao, so we were about to leave. Now it's time to carefully examine the situation here."
Jingmo nodded and thought for a moment before asking Ruyi, "Sister, did Lin Dangniang tell you approximately where they encountered the thief?"
Ruyi looked around and her gaze landed on a corner.
"It's right there. Lin Daye and the others just arrived here and were about to set up their stalls when they encountered a group of strange people. After confirming who Baoshu was, they swarmed in and completely destroyed the entire stall."
Although I didn't personally witness it, I have already heard from Aunt Lin about the whole incident. Now, thinking back, it still gives me a lot of chills.
"I wonder how Uncle Bao is doing. I'm really worried about him. If something bad happened to him, I'm afraid..."
Cautiously glanced at the confused Mrs. Lin, Ruyi felt a pang of sadness in her heart, unsure whether she felt sorry for Mrs. Lin or for Uncle Bao.
"It's okay, we will definitely find Uncle Bao. Let me go and see what the situation is, and if there's anything unusual."
Kung Mo's gaze swept over the area pointed out by Ru Yi, and he already had a rough estimate in his heart.
Presumably, those wicked thieves must have first trapped people in a corner before proceeding to the next step.
There is a spot in the corner that is very clean, not too big in size, but it does look like a human shape.
She leans in and carefully looks at that spot.
This corner of the wall is low and at first glance, nothing strange can be seen. However, after a careful inspection, Jingmo did discover something peculiar.
"What is this?"
In the cracks of the bricks in the corner of the wall, some scattered weeds are growing. Jingmo pushed aside the weeds and felt like his hands were covered in something sticky and uncomfortable.
Jingmo raised his hand and looked at it, frowning involuntarily.
Ruyi also leaned over, examining Jingmo's hand.
"What is this? It looks like blood paste, but... it doesn't have the same deep color as blood paste."
She moved closer again and sniffed, carefully smelling the scent.
"There's no blood smell, I think it's not real blood paste, it should be a replica."
"Does sister know what the function of this blood paste is?"
This thing appeared here for no reason, and that's not a good thing.
"I don't know either, but those wandering theater troupes or other traveling artisans who roam the streets and journey through the rivers and lakes might find it useful."
Jing Mo nodded, it seems that this thing has a wide range of uses. It's probably not an easy task to trace its origin.
"Although I don't know where this thing comes from, I personally think that the blood stains here should have been made with this kind of thing."
After careful consideration, I also agree with Jingmo's point of view.
"The possibility of the situation you mentioned is very high."
This is already a big breakthrough, and Jingmo's eyes lit up as he continued to look at the place where Baoshu leaned, hoping to find some fresh clues.
"That's right, there really is something else!"
Before the words had even fallen, Jingmo quickly spotted yet another thing.
"What is this?"
This thing is very small, if it hadn't been accidentally touched by Jingmo's hand while fiddling with the grass, it would probably have stayed here and never been discovered.
"Is it a bead?"
After pinching for a long time, Jingmo finally managed to pick up that thing.
Once it was held in the palm of their hands, the two of them recognized that it seemed to be a valuable jade bead.
"This thing certainly isn't cheap. It seems that the person leading the group who kidnapped Uncle Bao must have some considerable strength."
Thoughtfully, Jingmo continued to select candidates based on Ru Yi's reminder.
"Could it be Gundam... No, it couldn't be him. His dressing style is much more simple and plain, and besides, if it was him, he wouldn't go through all this trouble and pretend to spill blood along the way."
Although Ruyi doesn't know who Jingmo is referring to, she tries her best to follow her thoughts and make deductions.
"Do you think this person might have intentionally left clues? Or perhaps they are guiding us to look in other directions and intentionally removing themselves from consideration?"
Jingmo shook his head and did not think that the bead was deliberately left at the scene.
"This thing is too small. If it was intentional, what's the point if we weren't careful enough to examine it here? Then his step would be useless, right?"