Sprinting wildly without daring to look back, leaping repeatedly across rooftops, Xu Qi An faced a high-level cultivator for the first time. His heart was still gripped by intense fear.
If Daoist Jinlian hadn’t sacrificed himself to save him, Xu Qi An would have undoubtedly perished in the next exchange, with no time to cast spells from the “Magic Book.”
Even with Daoist Jinlian’s assistance, the spells in the Magic Book would likely be no match for the opponent.
That bone-chilling terror was something Xu Qi An had never experienced before.
“Who goes there?” Two night watchmen standing guard on a rooftop noticed the black-robed Xu Qi An. One drew his standard-issue long sword, while the other took down his bronze gong.
“It’s me,” Xu Qi An removed his hood and produced his golden badge.
“Lord Xu…”
Xu Qi An was now a notable figure in the Night Watchmen’s Office. First, two Golden Gong Officers had “fought over him,” and then there was the incident of him slashing Silver Gong Officer Zhu.
Everyone in the office knew him.
Xu Qi An put away his badge and coughed violently several times, tasting blood in his throat. He said in a deep voice, “The Marquis of Pingyuan’s mansion was attacked by assassins. This official was ordered to investigate the case and ran into the assassins.”
“The assassins are extremely dangerous. Don’t act rashly. Quickly sound the alarm!”
Another assassin attack at the Marquis of Pingyuan’s mansion… The two Bronze Gong Officers exchanged glances, then noticed the blood dripping from Xu Qi An’s tiger’s mouth and his slightly trembling arms.
With solemn expressions, they took out bronze tubes as thick as a baby’s arm from their waist pouches. They lightly pinched the fuse, igniting it with qi.
Whoosh…
A dark red flare whistled as it soared into the sky, exploding at high altitude.
Seeing this, Xu Qi An felt relieved. “I’ll go back to tend to my wounds. You wait here for reinforcements. If you encounter anyone in black robes… except me, remember to avoid them at all costs.”
“Understood.”
At that moment, Xu Qi An saw an orange cat standing on a distant rooftop, its deep pupils gazing at him.
…Daoist, where did you get a cat? I knew you’d be fine. Xu Qi An exhaled again and continued leaping across the rooftops. The orange cat followed unhurriedly behind.
“Daoist, I completely lost the will to fight earlier,” Xu Qi An said guiltily as he stopped in a quiet alley.
He believed that with Daoist Jinlian’s cunning and shrewdness if he hadn’t been confident, he would have fled even faster than Xu Qi An.
The orange cat spoke in human language, its tone weary: “When ordinary people see a tiger, fleeing is an instinctive reaction. The gap between you and him is even greater than that between a cat and a tiger.”
Daoist is that an appropriate comparison… Xu Qi An glanced at the orange cat.
“If I’m not mistaken, he must be the sealed entity imprisoned in Sangbo,” Xu Qi An said as he took out some golden wound medicine and bandages to dress his tiger’s mouth wound.
Due to consuming too many strength pills, the weakness after using the “Heaven and Earth Slash” had been alleviated. He didn’t feel the intense exhaustion of having his body drained.
“What makes you think so?” Daoist Jinlian asked, shocked.
“The day the Yongzhen Shanhe Temple exploded, all three hundred Imperial Guards patrolling the area died. Their manner of death was identical—they all turned into desiccated corpses,” Xu Qi An said gravely.
Daoist Jinlian had a sudden realization and fell silent for a moment before saying, “Then your guess is wrong. What’s sealed beneath Sangbo is not the First Divine Envoy.”
…If it were the First Divine Envoy, he wouldn’t kill a minor figure. The Marquis of Pingyuan’s eldest son seemed terrified before his death as if he recognized the black-robed man… Unless the one who killed the Imperial Guards was the person who infiltrated Sangbo and blew up the Yongzhen Shanhe Temple. But this possibility had already been ruled out; it’s impossible for a powerful cultivator to infiltrate Sangbo… Xu Qi An sighed and said:
“I know, and I vaguely have a guess, but I still need to verify it.”
The orange cat nodded slightly and said, “My spirit form has suffered severe damage, and I’m very likely to drop in cultivation level. I need you to do me a favor.”
“Please tell me, Daoist,” Xu Qi An was just wondering how to repay the life-saving grace.
“Find Luo Yuheng for me and ask for a Qi Gathering Pill,” the orange cat spoke.
“Luo Yuheng?” Xu Qi An asked, puzzled.
“The leader of the Human Path, barely considered my junior sister,” Daoist Jinlian said.
Daoist, you seem to have quite a high status in the Earth Path… The leader of the Human Path is your junior sister… A beautiful mature female Daoist? Xu Qi An hesitated, “Do you have any tokens?”
“Just show her the Earth Scripture, that will do,” the orange cat showed a human-like bitter smile. “As for whether you can obtain it, that depends on her mood.”
Depends on her mood? Xu Qi An looked dumbfounded.
“The Human Path and the Heaven Path are like fire and water. The Earth Path’s relationship with the other two isn’t tense, but it’s not particularly good either,” the orange cat explained.
Your Daoist sect is too complicated… A family of love-hate relationships? Xu Qi An nodded, “I’ll try tomorrow.”
The orange cat made an “mm” sound. “I’ll come find you tomorrow.”
…
Jiang Luzhong crouched in the courtyard with a gloomy expression, holding a small piece of dried meat in his hand. The meat was very dry, like wind-dried cured meat ground into powder.
A thin layer of brown powder covered the ground.
Dozens of Bronze Gong Officers surrounded the Marquis of Pingyuan’s mansion, while seven or eight Silver Gong Officers were assisting in the investigation. When they arrived, everyone in the Marquis of Pingyuan’s household had been massacred, including the family members and servants.
All the corpses were in the same condition, like cured meat that had been wind-dried for many years.
Jiang Luzhong’s mind was in turmoil. He had been on duty when the Marquis of Pingyuan was killed.
“Golden Gong Officer Jiang, there’s a survivor inside,” a Silver Gong Officer came out of the house and called loudly.
Jiang Luzhong, with a stern face, stepped over the threshold and entered the room. His gaze swept around and locked onto a woman clutching a quilt, her snow-white shoulders exposed, her expression terrified.
She was beautiful but appeared somewhat frivolous and wanton. She was looking at the night watchmen with fear in her eyes.
“Who are you?” Jiang Luzhong asked in a deep voice.
“I… I’m the Marquis of Pingyuan’s concubine,” the woman said tremblingly.
“Did you hear or see anything?” Jiang Luzhong asked again.
The woman had already learned what happened from the Silver Gong Officer who woke her up, which was the reason for her extreme anxiety. She was worried about her fate yet grateful for her survival.
The woman shook her head and obediently said, “I was amid lovemaking with the young master, and afterward, I fell into a deep sleep…”
Jiang Luzhong scrutinized her. The situation of sons inheriting their fathers’ concubines was common. Current high-ranking officials frequently took concubines, with large age gaps. Once the father died, these concubines had only two choices: either work like maids or depend on the new heir.
Of course, such matters, when brought to light, would certainly be criticized.
But no one would take it seriously, neither advocating for it nor bothering to care about it.
“Have her put on clothes and bring her back to the Night Watchmen’s Office,” Jiang Luzhong said before walking out of the room.
“Golden Gong Officer Jiang, we couldn’t find the body of the Marquis of Pingyuan’s eldest son,” a Silver Gong Officer reported hurriedly.
Jiang Luzhong glanced at the brown powder in the courtyard, his gaze profound. “No need to look anymore.”
“Sir, there’s a situation at the outer window.”
Hearing this, Jiang Luzhong came to the window facing the bedroom and saw two holes punctured in the window paper, perfectly positioned to view the bedroom.
He looked down and saw two shallow tracks plowed into the ground.
“Besides the killer, there was someone else present at the time…” Jiang Luzhong pondered for a while, then asked, “Who first discovered the anomaly at the Marquis of Pingyuan’s mansion?”
“Two Bronze Gong Officers on duty.”
“Call them over.”
Soon, two Bronze Gong Officers were brought over.
Jiang Luzhong asked, “When you discovered the situation, did you notice any suspicious individuals nearby?”
The two Bronze Gong Officers exchanged glances. “We didn’t notice any suspicious individuals, and we weren’t the ones who discovered the case.”
Jiang Luzhong was stunned and quickly asked, “If you didn’t discover it… then who?”
“It was Bronze Gong Officer Xu Qi An.”
Xu Qi An… A glint flashed in Jiang Luzhong’s eyes.
…
Upon returning to his small courtyard, Xu Qi An fell asleep without even taking off his clothes. He woke naturally three hours later and sat cross-legged to meditate and practice qi circulation.
After two complete cycles, he opened his eyes, looking vibrant. Apart from a slightly pale complexion, he was in good condition overall.
He left the small courtyard and rode directly to the city gate.
At this time, there was still half an hour before the city gates opened. The outer city didn’t enforce a curfew, and the restrictions at the city gates were quite relaxed. Xu Qi An used his golden badge to order the guards to open the gate.
In less than an hour, he arrived at Qinglong Temple, just as the monks were getting up for their morning chanting. The morning bell echoed softly through the air.
After tying up his horse, Xu Qi An climbed the stone steps to Qinglong Temple, where he received unexpected news.
“Abbot Panshu has gone to the Western Regions?”
The same rotund supervisor Monk Hengqing said expressionlessly, “After you left that day, the Abbot departed. This time, I truly don’t know the reason.”
…How much psychological trauma do you have from me? Xu Qi An grinned.
Abbot Panshu had mentioned that Qinglong Temple’s responsibility was to keep an eye on the sealed entity beneath Sangbo. That day, he had already expressed his intention to travel west.
I wonder if the old monk will pick up a monkey as a disciple along the way. That would be interesting, hehe.
“I need to trouble the Master with something,” Xu Qi An said in a friendly tone.
Supervision Monk Hengqing eyed him warily.
“I want to see Henghu’s portrait. If the temple doesn’t have one, please have someone paint one immediately,” Xu Qi An made his request.
Hengqing relaxed and said to wait a moment.
After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, he returned with a scroll in his hand and handed it to Xu Qi An.
The latter took it and slowly unrolled it. The scroll depicted a monk wearing cyan-colored monastic robes. His features were handsome, with spirited eyes and brows—a man of extremely good looks.
It’s him… Xu Qi An confirmed that the black-robed man from last night was indeed Monk Henghu.
Although his demeanor had changed drastically, his features were still vaguely recognizable.
Monk Henghu from Qinglong Temple was already possibly involved in the Sangbo case, and Number Six Hengyuan had sworn that his junior brother had been abducted by traffickers.
Combined with the conversation between the Marquis of Pingyuan’s eldest son and the black-robed man last night, Xu Qi An immediately formed a guess and was eager to verify it.
If not for his poor condition last night and urgent need for rest, he would have chosen to leave the city immediately.
“It is Henghu, it’s Henghu… How could it be him? What connection does he have with the sealed entity beneath Sangbo?”
“Looking at it this way, it’s not the First Divine Envoy after all. No wonder the current Divine Envoy isn’t worried at all and is even feigning illness.”
“But if it’s not the First Divine Envoy, what could it be? The only possibility I can think of is that the sealed entity is within Henghu.”
“A mere monk couldn’t have planned this earth-shattering case. There must be someone behind him. The King of the North?”
Lost in deep thought, Xu Qi An left Qinglong Temple.
Returning to the capital and the Night Watchmen’s Office, he headed straight for Haoqi Tower with a clear goal—to tell Wei Yuan this truth.