HomeGuardians of the DafengChapter 154: The Collapse of Number Three's Persona?

Chapter 154: The Collapse of Number Three’s Persona?

Heng Yuan’s gaze fell on the small jade mirror, which he had left at the bottom of the well. During his conflict with Heng Hui, it had accidentally slipped from his embrace.

After hearing Heng Hui’s story and watching him enter nirvana, his heart was filled with grief, and he hadn’t paid attention to the Earth Book fragment.

Later, when the Night Watchman arrived, he knew he would be taken to the dungeon. To prevent the mirror from being confiscated by the Night Watchman, leaving it at the bottom of the well was the best choice.

Heng Yuan planned to retrieve the Earth Book fragment if he had a chance to escape, or Daoist Master Jin Lian would collect it for him.

Unexpectedly, it still ended up in the Night Watchman’s hands.

Xu Qi An stared at Heng Yuan, waiting for his response.

The small jade mirror was given to him by Wei Yuan this morning, without any other instructions. But Xu Qi An felt that Wei Yuan’s intention was for him to return the Earth Book fragment to Number Six through his hands.

Seeing the bald monk remain silent for a long time, Xu Qi An took a sip of tea and said leisurely, “This mirror was found at the bottom of the well. If it’s not yours, it must be Heng Hui’s. And its real name is the Earth Book.”

Heng Yuan suddenly looked up, staring at him. Xu Qi An smiled, his tone full of confidence: “Many in this world don’t recognize it, but that doesn’t include us Night Watchmen.”

Heng Yuan lowered his head again and said softly, “This indeed belongs to this humble monk.”

Xu Qi An said, “As far as I know, this is a treasure of the Earth Sect of Daoism. How did it end up in the hands of a Buddhist monk like you?”

Heng Yuan replied, “This humble monk obtained this artifact through a fortuitous encounter. I hope Your Honor can return it.”

Xu Qi An shook his head, withdrew the small jade mirror, and played with it in his hand. He smiled and said, “Master, I believe there’s more to it than that, isn’t there? Can a ‘fortuitous encounter’ really explain how you obtained a treasure of the Earth Sect of Daoism?

“If you speak frankly and tell me something useful, I’ll let you leave. Otherwise, you’ll spend the rest of your life in the Night Watchmen’s dungeon.”

Heng Yuan remained silent for a moment, then stood up to leave.

Xu Qi An frowned and asked, “Where are you going?”

“This humble monk is returning to the dungeon.”

…Number Six’s integrity is not bad; he didn’t betray the Heaven and Earth Society. Of course, it could also be because he hasn’t been tortured yet. But this isn’t what I want. Xu Qi An said in a deep voice, “It’s just an artifact, Master. Why go to such lengths? Is there anything in this world more precious than freedom?”

Heng Yuan didn’t turn back, only saying, “Please put the shackles back on this humble monk, Your Honor.”

Xu Qi An looked at the clerk taking notes: “You may leave for now.”

The clerk packed up his papers, brushes, and inkstone, and then left the interrogation room.

Xu Qi An coughed lightly, his tone becoming gentler: “Master, please sit, please sit.”

He stood up, pulling Heng Yuan’s arm, adopting a respectful posture.

Heng Yuan sat back down at the table, bewildered, looking at this Night Watchman whose attitude had done a complete 180-degree turn, not knowing what he was planning.

“Your Honor, this humble monk knows nothing. The Earth Book was indeed obtained through a fortuitous encounter,” Heng Yuan said helplessly.

…Don’t speak so definitively; Buddhist monks don’t lie. You’ll be embarrassed later! Xu Qi An said with a meaningful smile, “You’re Number Six of the Heaven and Earth Society, aren’t you?”

Σ(°△°|||)

Heng Yuan’s eyes widened, looking at him with both shock and confusion. The calm demeanor on his face vanished, replaced by hostility and wariness.

It seemed that if Xu Qi An showed any sign of intending harm to the Heaven and Earth Society, he would strike the Night Watchman dead with one palm, exchanging his life for Xu Qi An’s.

Xu Qi An lowered his voice, speaking in a tone reminiscent of underground party members making contact. He leaned across the table and said, “I am Xu Qi An, a spy planted by the Yunlu Academy in the Night Watchmen Bureau.

“The Earth Book fragment wasn’t found by the bureau; I fished it out of the well. I also led the team that found you all. And all of this was on Number Three’s orders. He is my superior.”

Number Three?! Heng Yuan was plunged into deep shock. He didn’t immediately deny or doubt the words of the Night Watchman before him because, in that instant, something occurred to him.

“Number Three is a student of the Yunlu Academy. He has mentioned more than once that the academy has planted people in various government offices… As the orthodox Confucian academy that once controlled the government, such behavior is perfectly normal…

“After the Sangbo case occurred, Number Three also mentioned details of the case in internal messages of the Heaven and Earth Society… The Night Watchmen Bureau indeed has spies from the Yunlu Academy…

“But how did Number Three know my location? Ah, Daoist Master Jin Lian knows the identities of each of us. At that time, Heng Hui was with me, and Jin Lian would certainly avoid conflict with Heng Hui, so he could only seek help from others. And with the Night Watchmen handling the Sangbo case, Number Three, who has spies in the Night Watchmen Bureau, would be the best person to ask for help.

“I owe Number Three another life debt. Number Three is indeed a scholar, chivalrous and righteous, a trustworthy friend. This debt of gratitude will be difficult to repay in the future.” Thinking of this, Heng Yuan took a deep breath. The wariness and hostility in his gaze towards Xu Qi An softened as he gently asked, “What else did Number Three say?”

“He said that with the spring imperial examinations approaching, he can’t leave the Yunlu Academy. In the future, if similar troubles arise, he might not be able to provide timely aid. So, he asked me to liaise with you, Master. If you need any help in the future, feel free to ask me.”

Xu Qi An added in his heart: If I have any requests, I can also ask you, without exposing Number Three’s identity. At least not in the short term.

He didn’t want to reveal his true identity for now. Firstly, the image he had previously established was somewhat exaggerated; the members of the Heaven and Earth Society all thought he was a top elite from the Yunlu Academy, a scholar of great learning.

But in reality, Number Three was just a lowly Night Watchman.

Secondly, it’s always good to keep something in reserve. Not revealing his true identity gave him a lot of room for maneuvering and many possibilities for future operations.

Anyway, for Number Six Heng Yuan, whether I’m a Night Watchman or a Yunlu Academy student doesn’t make much difference. It’s not like I’m trying to deceive him for romantic purposes.

Heng Yuan nodded, accepting the Earth Book fragment handed to him by the handsome and distinguished Night Watchman. He said, “If Your Honor needs this humble monk’s assistance in the future, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

Xu Qi An smiled and waved his hand, “Master, I’ll escort you out now.”

After seeing Heng Yuan off, Xu Qi An returned to the Chunfeng Hall. The constables from the prefectural office, including Lü Qing, no longer came to the bureau, knowing that Xu Qi An would likely have his merits offset his faults due to the Princess Pingyang case.

Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao were meditating in the side hall, while Li Yuchun was tidying up, ensuring every ornament was perfectly arranged.

“Chief, let me help you…”

“No, don’t touch anything.” Li Yuchun quickly stopped him. “I’ll do it myself, it’s enough if I do it myself.”

Xu Qi An was content to be idle. He sat down at the table and said, “After the case is over, let’s go to the Courtesans’ Quarter for a drink together. It’s my treat.”

“The Courtesans’ Quarter…” Li Yuchun hesitated.

“Chief, don’t tell me you’ve never been to the Courtesans’ Quarter before.” Xu Qi An discovered an interesting point and teased it with exaggerated expressions.

In this era, for men of status and position who had never been to the Courtesans’ Quarter… the rarity was comparable to a female Ph.D. in Xu Qi An’s previous life still being a virgin, or a 30-year-old male Ph.D. who never indulged in self-gratification.

All were extremely rare occurrences.

“It’s a place of debauchery, what’s there to visit?” Li Yuchun shook his head and said, “Those three will be beheaded at noon today. Are you going to watch?”

Xu Qi An quickly shook his head, “No, I can’t bear such scenes.”

Li Yuchun gave him a puzzled look.

Beheadings were all too common in the Great Feng Dynasty. Not to mention the batch of officials dragged to the vegetable market for execution during the imperial court investigations, even the death row inmates awaiting autumn execution were enough for the common people to become accustomed to it, watching while eating without any psychological pressure.

“Anyway, I’m not going,” Xu Qi An said.

The scene of hundreds of people being beheaded was still too shocking for him; it would keep him awake at night. This was despite his several years of experience in criminal investigations and having seen many bloody murder case files. For ordinary people, it might cause psychological trauma.

At noon, at the vegetable market execution ground.

On the execution platform knelt over a hundred people, with Minister of War Zhang Feng and his son Zhang Yi at the front.

They wore white prisoner’s clothes, their eyes blindfolded, waiting for death to descend. Thousands of commoners gathered around, forming several layers of onlookers.

Not everyone enjoyed watching such cruel and bloody scenes, even though in the eyes of the common people, those being beheaded were all heinous criminals. Mainly, the government adopted a semi-compulsory, semi-encouraging policy towards “spectating.” Some people were forced to come and watch.

The reason was simple: to promote the majesty of the court and intimidate the people.

“Execute!” The officiating official looked at the sundial and threw down the execution token.

As death descended, the blindfolded relatives broke into curses, angrily cursing Minister of War Zhang Feng for harming others and himself, swearing that even as ghosts they would not let him off.

The executioner raised his butcher’s knife high, and heads rolled one after another. The blood splattered dramatically, with the thick smell of blood reaching even the outer circle of onlookers.

Afterward, two more batches of death row inmates were executed, namely the relatives and family members of Marquis Pingyuan and Sun Zhongming.

Standing outside the crowd, the monk Heng Yuan silently turned and left. He came to watch the execution for two reasons:

First, to settle the karmic debt on behalf of his junior disciple Heng Hui, thus coming to watch the enemy’s beheading. Second, to calm his obsessions and avoid developing heart demons in the future.

Heng Hui was the junior disciple he had raised with his own hands, like a brother and a son. A debt repaid, this matter was now concluded.

“Master Shen Shu… Are you awake?”

In the side hall, while practicing qi circulation and calling out to Shen Shu, Xu Qi An still received no response from the eminent monk.

He seemed to be able to sense my thoughts. Is it the Buddhist divine power of mind-reading? Mind-reading shouldn’t be able to read memories… Anyway, he’s asleep most of the time, which is a good thing.

Just as Xu Qi An was thinking this, his heart fluttered. He opened his eyes and saw that both of his colleagues were still in meditative breathing. Reassured, he took out the small jade mirror and browsed the messages.

[Six: Everyone, I am safe and sound. Thank you for your concern.]

[Five: Is Six Six? Could it be the Night Watchmen impersonating him?]

Number Five was the first to raise doubts. At first glance, he seemed cautious, but in reality, he was the most foolish.

[Four: Heh, if it were fake, Daoist Master Jin Lian would have warned us. Five, what you should be considering is whether Six has been turned by the Night Watchmen.]

Number Four, true to his scholarly background and experience as a high official, had keen insight… Xu Qi An clicked his tongue twice.

[Five: Then Six, have you been turned?]

[Six: This humble monk is fine. This humble monk wanted to express gratitude for the rescue by Number Three and Daoist Master Jin Lian.]

[Nine: No need for thanks. That junior disciple of yours had no intention of killing you.]

[Four: How is the Sangbo case progressing?]

Seeing this, Xu Qi An waited for a moment but received no message from Number One. He input a message: [The Sangbo case is over, but also not over.]

[Four: Indeed, as expected.]

[Five: What does that mean? What do you mean ‘indeed, as expected’? How is the Sangbo case over, and how is it not over?]

[Four: Heh, let Number Three explain. I think he can explain it more clearly than I can.]

Xu Qi An pondered for a moment, choosing to take up Four’s challenge. He inputs a message: [It’s simple. The true purpose of the Sangbo case was to bring out the Princess Pingyang case. Heng Hui causing havoc in the inner city with the sealed artifact, destroying the Marquis Pingyuan’s mansion, is the best proof.

[Today at noon, three officials involved were executed along with their families at the vegetable market. The case of Princess Pingyang is now closed; the mastermind behind it has achieved their goal. They will likely leave the capital with the sealed artifact next, bringing this storm to an end.

[But the Sangbo case itself is not over yet.]

So that’s how it is, Number Five suddenly realized. Then he unexpectedly stabbed Number Three in the back: [Number Three, you’re a big liar. That person who was always picking up money was you.]

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