My dog eyes are going blind, my titanium alloy dog eyes are going blind… Li Qinan’s eyes burned with pain, hot tears rolling down his cheeks.

The moment he peeped at the Observatory Tower, it felt as if two steel needles had pierced his eyes. His consciousness blurred for an instant, followed by intense pain.

Song Tingfeng pressed one knee on Li Qinan’s chest, preventing him from continuing to roll around. He then opened Li Qinan’s eyelids, finding his colleague’s eyes bloodshot but the pupils undamaged. He wasn’t blind.

Song Tingfeng sighed in relief and no longer paid attention to this foolish colleague.

After a quarter of an hour, the burning sensation in Li Qinan’s eyes finally subsided. He sat on the ground with reddened eye sockets, his vision still blurry, barely making out two figures in front of him.

“What did you just do?” Song Tingfeng’s voice came through.

“I looked at the Observatory Tower…” Li Qinan closed his eyes and carefully explained, “My cousin is a student at the Cloud Deer Academy. Today he gave me a paper recording the Aura Observation Technique.”

Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao, knowing Li’s family background, nodded at this.

Li Qinan continued, “Then I used the Aura Observation Technique to look at the Astronomical Bureau.”

After saying this, he noticed Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao remained silent for a long time.

Song Tingfeng sighed, “Do you know that the Observatory Chief likes to stay on the octagonal platform of the Observatory Tower?”

“I didn’t know that.”

“Then do you know that the pinnacle of the Mystic Arts system is our Observatory Chief?”

“That I do know.”

“Hmm, using the Aura Observation Technique to look at the Observatory Chief, isn’t that seeking death?”

“That I didn’t know…”

Zhu Guangxiao also sighed, “The mystics of the Astronomical Bureau frequently interact with the night watchmen. You’ll gradually accumulate experience and knowledge about this in the future.”

Besides the mystics themselves and the Confucians, normal people wouldn’t possess the Aura Observation Technique.

Li Qinan’s case was purely accidental.

The three of them didn’t continue their night patrol but sat by the street to rest, waiting for Li Qinan’s dog eyes to regain their clarity.

After a long while, a red light suddenly rose in the eastern sky, lasting for a few seconds before dissipating.

“Clang!”

Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao instinctively drew their swords.

Li Qinan, who had just regained his vision, asked, “What’s going on?”

Song Tingfeng said gravely, “The red light is a warning signal, usually used in search and arrest situations. It’s possible that some group of night watchmen discovered a suspicious person, but they escaped… Judging from the distance of the red light, it’s very close to us.”

“Ning Yan, your eyes haven’t fully recovered yet, so you’re responsible for patrolling the streets. Guangxiao, let’s take to the rooftops for a better view.”

The two men used their lightness skills to jump onto the roofs, each heading in a different direction.

The three of them were responsible for patrolling a large area, so in this situation, they had to split up to search.

Watching his two colleagues depart, Li Qinan drew his sword, took out his military crossbow, and then tightened the bronze gong on his chest, as well as the inner heart-protecting mirror.

He generally didn’t use the bone-corroding poison, not applying it to his blade, fearing that one day he might absentmindedly lick it.

Li Qinan cautiously patrolled for a moment when he saw an unfamiliar bronze gong bearer moving swiftly across the rooftops. The bronze gong stopped on a rooftop and said in a low voice:

“Where are the other two?”

Li Qinan replied, “They’ve split up to search. What’s happened?”

The bronze gong bearer said, “Marquis Pingyuan has been killed. The two colleagues responsible for that area have been injured. The culprit escaped using a secret technique, and their whereabouts are currently unknown.”

Marquis Pingyuan… a marquis has been killed?!

Li Qinan was shocked. His first reaction to someone daring to kill a marquis in the inner city wasn’t anger, but a tingling scalp.

Although the power of the nobility in the Great Feng Dynasty had declined, a marquis was still a marquis. There must have been experts guarding his mansion.

Yet this culprit was able to kill the marquis, injure the night watchmen, and escape with ease. This was no ordinary expert.

Without a doubt, if encountered, Li Qinan felt he would be in great danger.

After speaking, that bronze gong bearer quickly left, probably to notify the guards at the city gates.

Damn… my eyes haven’t fully recovered yet, everything’s still blurry… But with my lucky constitution, I shouldn’t run into the culprit… Li Qinan silently prayed not to encounter the murderer.

At this moment, he felt a message coming from the “Earth Book” fragment. After the blood recognition, he had a mysterious connection with the Earth Book.

Who’s chatting in the group in the middle of the night?

Puzzled, he took out the small jade mirror and saw a line of text appearing on its surface:

[Six: Everyone, I’ve run into trouble in the capital. Can you help?]

After a few minutes, Daoist Jin Lian appeared: [Nine: What trouble have you encountered?]

[Six: I’m trapped in the inner city, facing a search by the night watchmen. In at most an hour, the mystics from the Astronomical Bureau will arrive. By then, I’ll be doomed.]

Li Qinan: “???”

No way…

He immediately associated this with the Marquis Pingyuan murder case. Was Number Six the culprit?

He didn’t speak for a moment. Daoist Jin Lian seemed to sense the difficulty and couldn’t offer a solution for the time being.

[Two: Have you tried forcefully breaking through?]

[Six: It’s not possible. I’m too far from the city gates, and night watchmen and Imperial Blade Guards are patrolling along the way. Moreover, even if I get out of the inner city, there’s still the outer city.]

[Two: Do you have any magical items to conceal your aura?]

[Six: No.]

[Nine: This poor Daoist has one, but I have no way to deliver it to you.]

[Six: Don’t worry, Daoist. If I can’t escape this predicament, I’ll leave the Earth Book where it is. You can come and find it tomorrow by following its aura.]

In the capital, especially in the inner city, it was almost impossible to escape a search by the night watchmen.

[Two: You bald ass, don’t talk like you’re giving up.]

At this point, a new character appeared.

[Four: I have some connection with the Taoist Sect leader… but the Spiritual Treasure Palace is in the Imperial City. Monk, I can’t help you.]

[Two: Isn’t that the same as not saying anything at all?]

Number Four has connections with the female National Preceptor… Daoist Jin Lian wasn’t lying, the Earth Book holders are all extraordinary individuals.

Number Two calls Number Six “bald ass,” Number Four calls him “monk,” is Number Six from the Buddhist sect?

Li Qinan silently observed.

At the same time, he saw the cohesion of the Earthly Alliance. The Earth Book holders, while perhaps guarding against and being wary of exposing their own identities, indeed had a sense of camaraderie like members of the same gang.

[Two: Baldy, go ask Number One, he’s from the capital.]

Number One seemed to be lurking again, but seeing Number Two bring him up, he no longer remained silent: [One: What did you do?]

[Six: I killed Marquis Pingyuan.]

So it was him, tonight’s culprit was indeed him!

Number Six admitted it so quickly, he’s too straightforward… That day when I asked if he was part of the Earthly Alliance, he also admitted it without hesitation… Do monks not lie?

But monks also don’t break the precept against killing, what the hell were you thinking sneaking into Marquis Pingyuan’s house in the middle of the night and slaughtering him?

Li Qinan inwardly criticized.

The Earth Book group fell silent, with no one speaking for a long time.

They were probably shocked by Number Six’s actions.

After a long while, Number One replied: [One: Sorry, I can’t help you.]

[Nine: Number One, we’re all part of the Earthly Alliance, help if you can. This poor Daoist believes Number Six wouldn’t kill without reason.]

Daoist Jin Lian’s words implied that he believed Number One could help Number Six. Even with night watchmen and Imperial Blade Guards blocking the way, and mystics from the Astronomical Bureau about to arrive, he still thought Number One could help Number Six.

Hmm, Daoist Jin Lian is the only one who knows everyone’s identities… Number One’s status might be higher than I estimated.

Li Qinan made this judgment.

The response to Daoist Jin Lian was silence. Number One’s attitude was very firm; he simply wouldn’t help.

Li Qinan thought about it: “Number Six killed Marquis Pingyuan, so Number One is unwilling to help Number Six.”

“Number Two seems warm-hearted, at least on the surface. Number Six is from the Buddhist sect, very straightforward, and doesn’t lie. Number Four has connections with the Taoist Sect leader, whose identity is unclear. Number Nine is Daoist Jin Lian, Number One is from the government, likes to lurk, and has a high status… This werewolf game is quite interesting.”

“I’ll also show off a bit… no, I mean, reveal my brilliance in public.” Li Qinan used his finger as a pen and input a message:

“Number Six, I can consider helping you, but I need to know why you killed Marquis Pingyuan first. Hehe, you can choose not to answer, refuse my goodwill, but don’t lie.”