"Those bandits?" Zhu Yu burst into laughter after hearing Fu Lu’s words, "I don’t think so."

Fu Lu was left somewhat puzzled by her response, looking at Zhu Yu, then at Lu Qing beside them.

Even someone as typically sharp as Rune appeared equally bewildered at the moment.

"Second Master... do you mean that using fire won’t be able to drive them out of the small wooden building?" he asked cautiously.

Zhu Yu gestured for them to walk further up the slope, indicating they should continue walking a bit farther before discussing.

Although her physical strength had improved greatly compared to before, she had not been eating well recently, especially in the past two days, she was often hungry and had been affected by confusing smoke twice, so saying it had no impact would be a lie.

They had barely walked a few steps up the mountain when she felt a bit lacking in strength, completely different from earlier when she relied on momentum going downhill.

Fortunately, Lu Qing was there; he pushed her gently from behind, helping Zhu Yu with some strength. The four of them returned to the top of the hill, found a sheltered spot, and sat down to catch their breath.

"What do you think?" Lu Qing asked Zhu Yu.

"Second Master, are you worried they won’t come out, or that if they do, the few of us won’t be able to handle it?" Rune also asked quickly.

Zhu Yu shook her head, "Let’s set aside whether the fire attack is feasible or not for now.

What I mean is, there’s no ’plurality’ involved."

"No ’plurality’..." Fu Lu scratched his head, "So you mean... huh? Are you saying there’s only one thief in there?!"

"Indeed, that’s precisely my bold guess." Zhu Yu nodded without hesitation.

Fu Lu Rune exchanged glances; their mistress always demonstrated courage and wisdom, but this time, the hypothesis... sounded a bit unreliable.

And in such matters, since Lu Qing hadn’t commented yet, the two brothers naturally couldn’t say much either and could only look eagerly at Lu Qing, eager to see his judgment.

"Oh? What makes you think that?" Lu Qing inquired, intrigued by Zhu Yu’s conjecture.

"I came to this conclusion through various signs from the last two instances." Zhu Yu shared her reasoning, "When I awoke yesterday, I noticed an interesting phenomenon.

Among us four, I was thrown the farthest, and besides my clothes being damp from rain, there were no other stains or damage.

But soon, I realized that Rune was the closest to me, then you, and Fu Lu was the farthest. Both you and Fu Lu had some dust and plant debris on your clothes.

Initially, I vaguely thought this might mean something, but I didn’t think much of it.

When I woke up this time, I was the first to wake up, and as I searched, I found the situation was exactly the same as last time. I was the farthest again, and the distances of you three were identical to before.

So I couldn’t help but make a bold guess: what if there aren’t that many people, but only one?

Because there’s only one person, their physical strength would be limited, making it impossible to move all four of us out of the small wooden building at once.

Even throwing us out one by one, due to limited strength, they would throw the smallest person in terms of size the farthest.

This person probably tried their best to throw us far away, so each of us was discarded at the farthest point they could carry, lift, or drag us to.

And you two, being the biggest and strongest among us, were dragged because they couldn’t lift or carry you, thus being left with dust and grass on your bodies."

She said while pointing at Lu Qing and Fu Lu.

Lu Qing looked down at himself, finding that while his clothes were mostly fine, his shoes were covered with quite a bit of mud and grass stems, particularly at the heels.

Fu Lu also hurriedly checked himself carefully, discovering that Zhu Yu was not only right, but it was even worse for him than for Lu Qing. His pants and shoes were clean, but his back was covered in stains, evidently from being dragged by the ankles.

Upon seeing the stains on Fu Lu’s body, Zhu Yu couldn’t help but laugh, "Seems this person’s physical strength is indeed quite weak, unable to drag even your upper half!

Grabbing the relatively lighter legs to drag the upper half would certainly be much easier. If it were me, I would do the same.

So, I estimate this person’s physical strength to be roughly on par with mine."

"Ah?! So weak?!" Fu Lu exclaimed in surprise. After blurting it out, he realized it sounded somewhat inappropriate and quickly corrected himself, "No... Second Master... I didn’t mean you’re weak, I mean... after all... right..."

Zhu Yu waved him off, indicating he didn’t need to anxiously find excuses, "So we’re probably dealing with someone who doesn’t have much physical strength but is quite skilled in using seductive fragrance and confusing smoke.

And about setting the small wooden building on fire, I think it’s equally inadvisable.

If the pattern on the window gets accidentally burned in the fire, what will you use to question that person later?

Also, I suspect that person is hiding underneath in a cellar or secret passage below the building. If we set the building on fire and it collapses, trapping them, or worse, they get burned or suffocated inside, our plan would also be doomed."

"Second Master, why do you think they are in a cellar or similar place?" Rune asked curiously.

"It’s very simple, because smoke is light and rises." Zhu Yu gestured upwards with her palm, "If that person was hiding on the first or second floor, they’d need to ensure they had taken the antidote in advance.

The problem is, the antidote takes time to kick in, and our sneaking in, or anyone doing so before, happens at an uncertain time. Both times we went in, we got affected quickly.

Calculating this way, the person can’t foresee everything in advance and defend early on.

Unless they are in the ’downwind’ position, or it would just consume too much antidote.

Would someone who even confiscates our bread be so willing to waste it?"