“That mud Bodhisattva temple on Qingyuan Mountain has been abandoned for over ten years. Who would have known that inside that Bodhisattva statue was sealed a corpse…”

Inside the council chamber of Guangning Prefecture’s government office, Assistant Magistrate Yang sat in his crimson robes, rain stains still lingering on his shoulders. He used a sweat cloth to wipe the fuzz from a peach, recalling the corpse he had seen before dawn in the morgue. His appetite vanished in an instant. Setting down the peach, he picked up his tea bowl instead: “I heard that the one who smashed open the back of the Bodhisattva statue and discovered the examination candidate’s body was none other than the candidate’s own younger sister.”

“His own sister?”

Assistant Magistrate Tao, who had been leaning back in his folding chair intermittently massaging his rheumatic leg beneath his official robes, couldn’t help but sit up straighter upon hearing this. “In a desolate wilderness temple, how would a mere weak woman know that her brother had been sealed inside that mud Bodhisattva statue?”

Even the beggar grandfather and grandson who had been sheltering in the temple didn’t know—how could she have found her way there and known the corpse was inside?

“According to her, it was her brother who appeared to her in a dream.”

An investigating officer respectfully added this detail.

“Appeared in a dream?” Assistant Magistrate Tao started in surprise, setting his tea bowl aside as well. “What kind of explanation is that? Preposterous!”

“At present, where is this woman now?”

Assistant Magistrate Yang was pricked by peach fuzz on the sweat cloth, frowning slightly in discomfort.

“She is currently in the Bureau of Records’ prison. Earlier, when that beggar grandfather and grandson came to report to the authorities, they alarmed Administrator Yin. Administrator Yin felt that her words were truly insufficient to explain why she appeared at that mud Bodhisattva temple, so he had Tian Qizhong take her to the Bureau of Records for interrogation first.”

The investigating officer continued.

“In that case, wouldn’t she first receive a beating to establish authority?” Upon hearing this, Assistant Magistrate Tao exchanged a glance with Assistant Magistrate Yang. He stroked his white beard. “This case is truly strange…”

The Tian Qizhong mentioned in the council chamber was another investigating officer in Guangning Prefecture. At this moment, as the overcast rain continued falling, he was conducting an interrogation in the Bureau of Records’ prison.

“Miss Ni, do you still insist on that explanation about appearing in a dream?”

Tian Qizhong sat expressionless behind his desk, scrutinizing the young woman prostrate on the punishment bench.

Her plum-green dress was soaked with fresh blood. Her temples were covered in cold sweat, several strands of light-colored hair stuck to her cheeks, her face pale as paper, her entire body trembling uncontrollably.

“Yes.”

Ni Su supported herself on the bench with one hand, her voice barely a breath.

“The noble man does not speak of strange phenomena, physical force, chaos, or spirits.”

Tian Qizhong furrowed his brow tightly, sternly rebuking her. “You little woman, why don’t you quickly confess the truth?”

With just a glance from him, a bailiff beside them raised the water and fire rod to strike heavily, forcing out a hoarse scream from Ni Su. Her entire body trembled even more violently. In the dim yellow lamplight, half of Ni Su’s face pressed against the bench surface. Beneath her sweat-dampened disheveled hair, a section of her pale, slender neck appeared fragile and vulnerable.

The pain of the punishment rod would never numb—it only grew more painful with each strike, causing flesh and skin to tremble, even allowing one to clearly feel the sticky sensation of blood soaking through clothing.

“If the Administrator does not believe in ghosts and spirits, why do you wear a yellow exorcism talisman on your person?”

Her lips trembled incessantly as she struggled to make her voice heard.

Tian Qizhong’s expression froze. He couldn’t help but touch his waist area. Beneath this green official robe, he indeed had a folded yellow talisman tied there.

It was something his elderly mother at home had specially obtained for him to carry on his person. Although he didn’t believe in such things, he couldn’t bear to disappoint his mother’s good intentions.

But the yellow talisman was hidden beneath his official robe—how did this woman know about it?

“I said before, in my dream I dreamed of that mud Bodhisattva temple, and I also dreamed of myself smashing open the back of the Bodhisattva statue.” Ni Su breathed with difficulty, word by word. “I even dreamed of you, Administrator. The rain made the road slippery. Your yellow talisman fell on the mountain path, and then a bailiff beside you picked it up for you…”

The more she spoke, the more Tian Qizhong’s complexion changed for the worse.

“Oh my, Administrator Tian, how could she know…”

A bailiff standing beside Tian Qizhong covered his mouth in astonishment.

This morning when the west city gate had just opened, that beggar grandfather and grandson ran to Guangning Prefecture to report to the authorities. Tian Qizhong had led people to that mud Bodhisattva temple on Qingyuan Mountain.

In the temple lay a decomposed corpse, along with this young woman kneeling beside the body.

Tian Qizhong first ordered people to take her into custody, while he himself followed slowly behind with several bailiffs. He clearly remembered that when the yellow talisman fell from his body, this woman had already been escorted down to the bottom of the mountain path—there was no way she could have seen what had dropped from him.

But if that were the case,

This matter became even more bizarre.

Could it be… was there truly such a thing as appearing in dreams? Tian Qizhong touched the edges of the yellow talisman beneath his robe, filled with suspicious uncertainty.

“Administrator, she has fainted.”

The bailiff standing by the punishment bench suddenly spoke, interrupting Tian Qizhong’s contemplation.

Tian Qizhong looked up and indeed saw she had lost consciousness. But she had responded to Guangning Prefecture’s interrogation with absurd statements—according to protocol, she should receive a beating to establish authority regardless, to teach her not to show contempt for Guangning Prefecture.

Yet this weak woman not only endured this beating but still did not change her statement.

“Find a medical worker.”

Tian Qizhong spoke halfway, then remembering she was a woman, pointed to a nearby bailiff and said, “Also have your wife come help and apply medicine for her.”

“Yes.”

The bailiff quickly nodded.

Ni Su drifted in and out of consciousness, occasionally hearing some deliberately lowered voices, and feeling someone unfastening her dress, bit by bit peeling away the fabric that had adhered to her flesh. That kind of pain—it hurt so much she wanted to cry out, yet her mind was so foggy she couldn’t lift her eyelids.

The scent of medicine was the smell that could most set her heart at ease. She instinctively identified which herbs were among them, then her thoughts gradually grew muddled again. She didn’t know how much time had passed when she managed to half-open her eyes with difficulty.

In the dim prison, there wasn’t half a human voice to be heard.

But there was one person standing there, clean and neat. Because the prison blocked out the daylight, and the prison lamps were useless to him, his eyes were dim, lacking in spirit.

Perhaps hearing her breathing different from when she was unconscious, Xu Hexue sensitively looked toward her. He couldn’t see her, yet he heard her softly sobbing.

He felt his way forward, slowly walking to her bedside and crouching down.

“Xu Ziling.”

Ni Su’s eyes moistened as she murmured, “I hurt so much.”

Her voice was dry and hoarse.

Xu Hexue was silent for a moment, then said, “I could have originally…”

“We agreed.”

Ni Su interrupted him. Her half-opened eyes couldn’t see his features clearly. “You already helped me find my brother, but I haven’t had the chance to help you yet.”

“Even without that beggar grandfather and grandson, I still would have reported to the authorities. But if I did that, how would I explain why I knew my brother was in the mud Bodhisattva temple? They can all verify that I only arrived in Yun Jing yesterday. What means, what connections could I have to help me discover that someone who had been missing for months was in that abandoned temple on Qingyuan Mountain that no one pays attention to?”

She slowly shook her head. “Since nothing makes sense, then let nothing make sense. But if you used your mystical arts again to help me escape this beating, then either you would be discovered, or I would be treated as a demon.”

“Anyway, since they know I only came to Yun Jing yesterday, the murderer who killed my brother absolutely cannot be me. I’m an orphaned girl from Que County, without power or influence, and without the time or motive to murder my brother. No matter what, they cannot close the case with me as the culprit.”

In the mud Bodhisattva temple, beside her brother’s decomposed body, Ni Su had already thought through all these matters.

That yellow talisman on Tian Qizhong’s body was actually also part of what she had planned. The one who saw the yellow talisman wasn’t her, but Xu Hexue. She mentioned Tian Qizhong’s yellow talisman only to corroborate her own statement about “the wronged appearing in dreams.”

Ni Su hurt so much her mind grew fuzzy. She could see the young man before her even less clearly. Tears pressed against her eyelashes, and she soon lost consciousness again.

The prison cell was utterly silent. Xu Hexue heard no more sound from her.

The fine rain fell like silk. Outside the main entrance of Guangning Prefecture’s Bureau of Records was a long alley. Through the alley opening was a bustling street market where a poor scholar with a figure-eight mustache had set up a stall against a wall. All morning he hadn’t received a single job writing documents.

He was thoroughly bored and had just let out a sigh when he felt a cool breeze on his face. He slightly raised his eyelids and saw that at some point, someone had appeared before his stall.

This person wore a veiled hat covering their face and was still wearing a winter garment with an animal fur collar. The old scholar found this very strange, but then from beneath the veiled hat came a cold, calm voice: “Please write a letter for me.”

“Ah?”

The old scholar saw that person’s pale fingers place a small piece of broken silver on his stall. He came to his senses and quickly said, “Yes, yes, yes. Whatever you wish to write, young master, just tell me.”

The old scholar hurriedly ground ink and hurriedly put brush to paper. But the more he wrote, the more alarmed he became, unable to help but say, “Young master, where is this letter to be delivered?”

The young master didn’t answer, so he dared not ask again. He dried the ink and handed it over.

The person had already walked far away, yet the old scholar couldn’t help but keep watching. He saw that young master crouch down by the roadside and seem to say a few words to a child. The child then took the letter from his hand and skipped away cheerfully.

A few streets and alleys away from the Bureau of Records at Guangning Prefecture, past the Di Qian Gate on the left, was where the Yinye Bureau was located.

In the Yinye Bureau, Supervising Envoy Han Qing of the Zhijian Bureau was listening to a report from his subordinate officers.

“Yesterday, His Majesty returned Chancellor Zhang’s former residence to him. After Chancellor Zhang returned home, he personally sorted through miscellaneous items in the house and burned them in the courtyard.”

“Miscellaneous items?”

Han Qing was a eunuch, about thirty-some years old, with stern features and a clear, mellow voice that didn’t carry any sharp tones.

“In response, Envoy, twenty years ago when the traitor Xu Hexue passed the metropolitan examination, he once gifted Chancellor Zhang a painting he had done himself called ‘Fishing Alone in the River Snow.’ At that time, Chancellor Zhang praised it profusely and inscribed a poem on the painting. That poem was also widely circulated for a time.”

The subordinate officer respectfully replied.

“Are you saying Chancellor Zhang burned that painting?”

Han Qing held his tea bowl, about to drink but not quite.

“Yes, he burned it with his own hands.”

After the subordinate officer finished speaking, seeing the Envoy remain silent for a long time, not knowing what he was thinking, he carefully added, “Envoy, now you can report back to His Majesty. Chancellor Zhang’s feelings and loyalty toward that traitor were severed long ago.”

Outside the eaves, rain and dew rustled. Han Qing’s tea bowl remained raised for a long time without being set down.

“Envoy.”

A subordinate officer hurried in, quickly bowing and saying, “Outside our main gate came a child who says someone asked him to deliver this letter to you.”

Han Qing glanced at it and ordered someone beside him to retrieve it.

Han Qing set down his tea bowl and unfolded the letter to take a look. His brow furrowed slightly, his gaze flowing back and forth across the paper. Then he raised his head: “Where is that child?”

That subordinate officer immediately went out and brought in the little child. Han Qing’s attendants questioned the child repeatedly several times, but could only learn from the child’s mouth that it was a young man who had him deliver the letter.

“Today, did someone report to the authorities at Guangning Prefecture? Was the deceased an examination candidate from Que County? Was the body discovered on Qingyuan Mountain outside the west city gate?” Han Qing asked several subordinate officers.

“It seems there was such a matter.”

One subordinate officer who had just come on duty lived closer to Guangning Prefecture and had heard a few words from people at home before coming. “I heard that the examination candidate’s body was sealed inside that mud Bodhisattva statue.”

An examination candidate had died—moreover, one who had come to Yun Jing to participate in the winter examination.

Han Qing lowered his eyes. The person who wrote this letter was certain he would definitely handle this matter related to the winter examination. But who exactly was this person?

Han Qing’s gaze stopped on the two characters “Ni Su” on the paper. “Is the deceased’s sister Ni Su currently at the Bureau of Records of Guangning Prefecture?”

“I heard that woman spoke nothing but absurd words and should currently be receiving a beating to establish authority at the Bureau of Records.”

The subordinate officer replied.

Han Qing crumpled the letter and spoke seriously: “You several, take my official seal and quickly go to the Bureau of Records to transfer the person to my Yinye Bureau.”

Several subordinate officers filed out one after another, rushing out into the continuous fine rain.

Not one of them saw the tall, slender figure standing beneath the eaves.

Being too far from Ni Su’s side, Xu Hexue had to endure even more severe pain. The lamp Ni Su had lit for him yesterday was all consumed during this journey.

His spirit form grew increasingly faint.

Specks of luminous dust were submerged in the rain and mist. Xu Hexue supported himself with one hand against a pillar, wounds all over his body tearing open again. He hurt so much he felt dazed. Taking two steps forward, he suddenly stopped, turned his head, and saw the eunuch lost in thought in the hall.

He didn’t remember what this person looked like.

Because when he had left Yun Jing back then, this person had been only eleven or twelve years old.

Xu Hexue turned around, his lean figure melting into the rain and mist.

But in his mind, certain voices kept circling:

“Chancellor Zhang personally sorted through miscellaneous items and burned them in the courtyard.”

“Burned them with his own hands.”

“Chancellor Zhang’s feelings and loyalty toward that traitor were severed long ago.”

Xu Hexue couldn’t help but raise his head. In the blue-gray hazy sky, the eaves’ hanging ridges and owl-shaped roof ornaments seemed lifelike—just like that year when he was flushed with success after passing the examination, respectfully receiving instruction at his teacher’s residence.

“Ziling, I hope you will soar high and not lose your aspirations.”

His teacher’s words full of expectations still rang in his ears.

But ultimately,

At fourteen years old, he had diverged from his teacher’s earnest expectations, going in completely opposite directions.