Tie Ci immediately reached out to grab his pants.

That fellow laughed in shock, leaped forward, and with a ripping sound his pants tore, but he had already grabbed his trousers and run far away.

The long strip torn from his pants fluttered in the wind from afar, like a fairy’s trailing sash.

The crowd had already approached, light and shadows dancing chaotically. Tie Ci had freed herself from her entanglement and pounced toward the group carrying lanterns with a fierce leap.

Everyone thought she was trying to escape, unprepared for her to charge at them with bared teeth and fierce expression. Caught off guard, they momentarily fell into chaos—your lantern crashed into my lantern, your stick hit my buttocks. In the brief confusion, Tie Ci had already passed through their crowd.

Someone looked at the ground and exclaimed: “They roasted and ate the Dragon Pearl koi… Ah, they even ate the Mountain Chief’s beloved Floating Yellow!”

The leader immediately flew into a rage: “Outrageous! How dare they roast and eat the Dragon Pearl Floating Yellow! We must catch them at all costs and announce it to the entire academy! To serve as a warning to others!”

The crowd rushed out in pursuit again. Several among them were quite skilled, and with their full effort in the chase, coupled with Tie Ci’s unfamiliarity with the terrain, she actually got lost for a moment. After turning this way and that, she found herself on a covered walkway, where she saw someone striding toward her with a giant bird on his shoulder. Before he could see Tie Ci clearly, the giant bird had already spotted her. Its crest feathers immediately stood up, its wings ruffled, and it let out a series of calls that were both terrified and furious.

Tie Ci’s eyes lit up.

Wasn’t this Dan Ye and his brother!

With no time to think about why Dan Ye would be here, she rushed forward quickly. As she passed by Dan Ye, her finger swept across him, and she chuckled softly: “I treated you to fish, you help me take the blame. Many thanks, many thanks.”

She tilted her head and met the golden, glittering eyes of Hai Dongqing directly.

Hai Dongqing: “Squawk!!!”

Tie Ci had already charged past, bumping Dan Ye and making him stagger. Dan Ye had been walking peacefully when someone actually dared to bump into him. He turned around and let loose a string of Western Rong curses. By the time he finished his chattering tirade, the pursuing army had also caught up. Seeing Dan Ye standing in the corridor, he happened to be wearing a first-rank student uniform. The sharp-eyed leader immediately spotted a fish bone stuck to Dan Ye’s sleeve cuff and shouted: “It’s him! There’s still a fish bone hanging on his sleeve!”

An elderly man, panting heavily, pushed through the crowd. Everyone called out: “Supervisor!” and said they had caught the fish thief.

Tonight, this second-in-command of the academy was personally leading the night patrol shift. He never expected to encounter a fish thief. Earlier, this fat old man had also been bumped by Tie Ci and had been dizzy and confused, spinning around in the crowd for several circles before catching up a step behind. Now seeing they had caught the fish thief, the supervisor panted and said: “Someone! Lock him in the ancestral hall first, let him reflect properly before the ancient sages for a few days!”

Speaking thus, he habitually reached for the token at his waist. With this touch, his expression changed. Looking down, he shouted: “He even stole my jade pendant!”

Everyone was in uproar.

Stealing a jade pendant was completely different in nature from stealing fish!

People surrounded him from all sides. Dan Ye stood in the corridor, nearly laughing from anger.

He had always been the one fighting, cursing, and bullying others—he had never seen anyone dare to make him suffer a loss right to his face!

“Are they blind?” he cursed. “I just came from the martial arts field over there—when would I have time to steal your fish!”

“We chased all the way here, and you’re the only person in this corridor. If not you, then who!”

“Your mother!” Dan Ye spat. “We Western Rong people don’t eat fish!”

A moment of silence.

This was a rule known by all people of Great Qian. Western Rong people lived in the great desert where water sources were precious, and they revered all things related to water—they did not eat fish.

It was truly an irrefutable reason.

“Then who was it…” someone asked resentfully.

Hai Dongqing suddenly cried out.

Dan Ye turned his head to look, suddenly smiled, his eyes curved, little canine teeth flashing. His smile was sweet enough to cause sugar overload yet carried an undertone of killing intent.

“Follow me, I’ll help you catch the fish thief!”

He shifted his shoulder, and Hai Dongqing took flight, flying along the long corridor. Everyone rushed after them in a clamoring crowd.

Inside the Fifth-Rank Dormitory, Tie Ci entered quickly. The dormitory was pitch black, with faint sounds from somewhere. As Tie Ci passed Jin Wanliang’s bed, her finger dropped down and quickly tucked something in.

Then she climbed onto her own bed in two or three steps, flicked off her outer robe, and pulled the blanket over her head.

Her entire sequence of movements was like light smoke, calculated to avoid disturbing anyone.

Most people in the dormitory were sleeping soundly. Fat Tiger’s snoring was earth-shaking.

In the curtained bed diagonally across, a finger suddenly lifted a small gap in the curtain.

A pair of eyes appeared in the gap, looking toward Tie Ci’s direction.

Tie Ci had already closed her eyes to pretend sleep when she suddenly sensed something and turned her head.

She met a cold gaze directly.

That person didn’t retreat, staring straight at Tie Ci for a long moment.

In the darkness, neither could actually see the other clearly—only vague silhouettes facing each other. But inexplicably, both knew the other was staring intently at them, both knew their mutual gazes were cold and murderous, like the natural hostility of predators meeting while competing for territory.

Their gazes were like steel wires, slowly extending, touching, and at the moment of contact, ringing with a metallic sound and flashing with cold light.

The next moment, a raptor’s cry accompanied by chaotic footsteps broke this suffocating moment of silence. A large group of people rushed in, someone shouting: “Midnight inspection! Get up immediately!”

Sounds of awakening, confused questions, and shuffling feet rang out in sequence. Lights were lit, the supervisor leading, followed by a crowd of instructors and guards who quickly entered and blocked the doorway.

Li Zhi, rubbing his eyes and just getting up to light a candle, nearly dropped the lamp in his hands when he saw this scene.

“Everyone get up! Leave your beds! Stand in the center and don’t move! Anyone who moves without permission will be immediately expelled from the academy!”

The others had awakened by now. Hearing this, they understood the situation was serious and looked at each other with pale faces.

Several agile men walked in, lifting bedding, opening trunks and boxes, searching through everything.

The supervisor quietly asked Dan Ye: “Wolf Master, are you certain it’s here? The students in this fifth-rank dormitory have always been well-behaved—they shouldn’t have such audacity.”

Dan Ye sneered and slightly raised his chin: “Mo Ye is skilled at finding people. That little thief is definitely here!”

Suddenly someone shouted: “Found it!”

Everyone looked over. Under Jin Wanliang’s bedding, a purple jade pendant was clearly visible.

Everyone in the dormitory looked at Jin Wanliang in amazement, then gradually showed expressions of understanding. Jin Wanliang’s face turned deathly pale as he exclaimed: “No! This isn’t my thing!”

“Of course it’s not your thing—it’s something you stole,” the supervisor said coldly.

“No… no, I mean I’ve never seen this thing before. I didn’t steal it!”

“If you didn’t steal it, did it grow legs and run under your bed?” someone said sternly. “We chased you all the way here—how could we be wrong!”

Jin Wanliang’s mind was still relatively clear: “If I really stole something, why would I just stuff it under my bedding waiting for you to search!”

“That’s because you didn’t have time to hide it properly!” Someone pointed at his collar: “Look, there’s still some fish meat here!”

Jin Wanliang stared wide-eyed, not understanding how fish meat had suddenly appeared on his collar, much less how the jade pendant matter was now connected to fish meat.

But coming from a merchant family, he had always been quick-witted. Knowing he absolutely could not accept this accusation, his mind raced, and he said: “I’m a weak scholar without the strength to truss a chicken—how could I outrun so many skilled guards! There must be something fishy about this. What if… what if I’m being framed?” His eyes darted around wildly, suddenly fixing on Tie Ci, and he shouted loudly: “This person just arrived today, acts very viciously, and moreover has good martial arts skills—it’s him! He stole the jade pendant and then framed me!”

Tie Ci stared at him, almost wanting to applaud.

The supervisor frowned as he looked at the innocent-faced Tie Ci, then at Jin Wanliang. This person had a poor complexion, unsteady steps, and dark circles under his eyes—he indeed didn’t look like a master who could shake off a group of guards.

He then asked Li Zhi: “Did you happen to see any disturbance?”

Li Zhi replied with a pale face and bowed posture: “Supervisor, this student was sleeping the whole time and didn’t see anything.”

“What do you think of your dormmate’s accusation?”

Li Zhi hesitated, avoiding both Jin Wanliang’s urgent gaze and Tie Ci’s curious look, saying in a low, vague voice: “This student is busy with studies and doesn’t… know either dormmate very well, making it difficult to judge.”

The supervisor then asked Tian Wu. Tian Wu scratched his head, sleepy-eyed: “Supervisor, what are you all talking about? This student doesn’t understand… but our dormmates are all good people and wouldn’t steal things.”

Cui Shi sneered: “Wouldn’t steal things? Then how do you explain our things going missing so often?”

The supervisor immediately turned his gaze to him. Cui Shi immediately said: “Supervisor, with your keen perception, you should see what’s going on at a glance. Obviously Jin Wanliang and Ye Shiba conspired to steal things, and now Ye Shiba wants to push it onto Jin Wanliang—the two are having an internal conflict!”

“So you witnessed it? When did they conspire, how did they steal, and how did they turn against each other?”

“Er…” Cui Shi was stumped and said: “If you interrogate them, won’t you find out? These two are both no good—please investigate clearly!”

The supervisor glanced at him coldly: “A gentleman should examine himself daily and never harbor malicious intentions!”

Tie Ci watched coldly, thinking this fat old man was actually a clear-headed person. She recalled that this person also seemed to be on He Zi’s list?

The current Mountain Chief had been adopted and raised by He Zi in his youth, growing up in He Zi’s home as his first disciple. Although this supervisor wasn’t He Zi’s disciple, he had also been appreciated and cultivated by He Zi back in the day, frequently visiting the Gu household as one of his capable subordinates. They could be called close friends with great mutual understanding.

He Zi had once said that his first disciple was intelligent and refined, but unfortunately his character was too accommodating—like flowing water that accepts and embraces all, but inevitably lacks a gentleman’s firm principles. The supervisor’s character was straightforward, but he erred on the side of being too direct—like shallow tidal flats where waves reveal every grain of sand.

The old man’s assessment of people was quite accurate, but ultimately could not prevail against fate’s cruelty.

The supervisor then turned to Tong Rushi.

Tie Ci’s heart jumped, remembering the mutual staring in the darkness earlier.

“Did you see anything?”

Tong Rushi remained silent, his gaze slowly turning toward Tie Ci.

Tie Ci maintained a calm expression, took a deep breath, and silently prepared herself.

Author’s Note: Traveling far from home, so updates will be a bit less frequent lately, as the manuscript reserves are getting thinner and thinner.