In the courtyard, only the two of them remained. Teng Yuyi smiled and said, “I go by many names. Outside, people call me ‘Young Master Wang’, at home my nickname is ‘A-Yu’, and when I’m hunting demons, I have another title – my senior brother bestowed upon me the Daoist name ‘Wuwei’.”

Lin Chengyou nodded with a smile: “Wuwei, indeed. ‘The Dao operates through non-action, yet nothing is left undone, all things will transform naturally.’ With such a title, it should help temper the misfortunes of a young Daoist like yourself. With such a senior brother, Master Wuwei must be quite skilled?”

“Just passable. There’s still one skill where I’m far behind my senior brother.”

“Do tell.”

“Shamelessness. I’ve never met anyone who loves to praise himself more than my senior brother. When it comes to thick skin, he’s number one under heaven.”

Lin Chengyou clicked his tongue: “My good Wuwei, you show promise. It’s good that you know where you still fall short. Planning to go out with your senior brother today to improve your skills?”

“I’ve prepared everything and came specially to invite senior brother,” he said as they walked under the red plum tree, smiling with lowered eyes at Lin Chengyou.

“I can take you out to broaden your horizons,” Lin Chengyou remained motionless. “But the snow hasn’t melted on the ground, and I’m prone to slipping. I’ll need someone to support me the whole time.”

Only Lin Chengyou could say something so shameless. Teng Yuyi looked around – the servants of the Wang mansion were very observant of protocol, knowing their young master disliked being disturbed, they had already retreated far away.

In the vast courtyard, one could only hear the soft rustling of wind through the red plum branches.

Teng Yuyi supported Lin Chengyou as he stood up. Support was certainly necessary, but since they weren’t yet married, it would be somewhat improper to brazenly support Lin Chengyou while walking around.

Hesitating, Teng Yuyi looked at Lin Chengyou’s sleeve and suddenly had an idea: “Then I’ll need to borrow something from senior brother.”

Lin Chengyou shook out the Soul-Binding Beast from his sleeve: “This?”

Teng Yuyi pried open Lin Chengyou’s hand to make him grip the silver chain firmly, while steadily holding the other end himself, then instructed the serpent: “Behave yourself, and don’t randomly let go of your master.”

The serpent was very unwilling to be ordered around by Teng Yuyi, but still slowly coiled around Lin Chengyou’s hand.

After inspecting it to ensure it was secure enough, Teng Yuyi finally led Lin Chengyou forward: “With me here, I won’t let you bump or knock into anything.”

Lin Chengyou’s smile deepened as he unhurriedly followed behind Teng Yuyi.

The long silver chain, with one end in Teng Yuyi’s hand and the other in Lin Chengyou’s, kept them neither too close nor too far apart.

As they passed each flowering tree, petals would fall messily onto both their heads and bodies, like spring rain in rainbow hues. Walking further, they came upon early-blooming apricot blossoms, their petals spinning in the wind, playfully chasing after the two figures, looking from afar like an unfurling, brilliant painting.

As they walked, one person in the painting spoke with a smile: “Why do you keep turning back to look at me?”

Though Lin Chengyou couldn’t see, he could hear the jingling of ornaments in Teng Yuyi’s hair when he turned back.

Teng Yuyi was carefully checking with his gaze whether there were any stones under Lin Chengyou’s feet. That time when she was kidnapped to the underground palace by Naizhong, Lin Chengyou had used the Soul-Binding Beast to lead her out.

“Think about what it was like that time in the underground palace at the Yuzhen Daoist Temple, and you’ll understand why I’m like this.”

Lin Chengyou drawled: “I only remember you were so afraid I’d lose you that you bullied the Soul-Binding Beast until it wailed trying to bind it tighter. Teng Yuyi, have you been domineering since childhood?”

Teng Yuyi snorted: “No, think again about how you treated me in the underground palace then.”

Lin Chengyou fell silent with a smile.

Teng Yuyi paused, unable to resist glancing back at him again. This look was full of emotion, the gaze slightly bitter yet incredibly soft. Back then, Lin Chengyou had been just like she was now, turning back every few steps to confirm she was still behind him.

From the day they first met, he either constantly complained she was annoying or deliberately opposed her, but his heart had already been tied to her.

Her heart was both sour and sweet. Lin Chengyou smiled and reminded her: “Watch your own feet, don’t end up falling yourself while I haven’t fallen.”

Just then, they saw Caiping, the managing matron from Wang Fei’s household, approaching.

When Caiping saw the state of the two, she was startled for a moment before breaking into a smile.

In the months since losing his sight, the eldest young master had never smiled, let alone allowed anyone to support him.

The scene today truly made one smile from the heart.

How clever of these two children to think of this method.

Lin Chengyou tilted his head to listen, then said to Teng Yuyi: “This is Mother’s matron Caiping.”

Teng Yuyi hurriedly gave a respectful curtsy.

Caiping looked Teng Yuyi over carefully, smiling broadly: “The Wang Fei asks if the young master and Miss Teng are going out. Breakfast is prepared in the flower hall, and she instructs you to eat before leaving.”

Teng Yuyi had been in such a hurry to find Lin Chengyou this morning that he hadn’t had time for breakfast.

Lin Chengyou said: “Suddenly I want some dessert. Do we have red plum cakes?”

Caiping was surprised – the young master had never liked desserts before – but she still smiled and said: “Yes, yes, we do.”

Lin Chengyou continued: “Please tell Mother that A-Yu and I are going out to investigate a case today, and probably won’t make it back for lunch, so the household needn’t wait for us.”

When they reached the flower hall, it was full of children, and the two of them sat down to have a lively breakfast with everyone.

After the meal, Teng Yuyi went to A-Zhi’s room to change into Daoist robes. A-Zhi walked around Teng Yuyi, sometimes touching the disguise mask on Teng Yuyi’s face, sometimes looking at his attire, finding it more and more fascinating. She clung to her brother, clamoring to go investigate cases with them. In the end, Wang Fei used the pretext of checking her daughter’s newly learned sword techniques to have someone take A-Zhi to the main house.

Magpie Lane was much more bustling than the previous evening, with residents gathering in small groups to discuss last night’s new murder case, still shaken.

The yamen runners were busy dispersing the crowd.

The person killed last night was named Wang Dachun, not a resident of Magpie Lane but a night watchman. He was killed around the fourth watch, and his body was first discovered by a patrolling military officer.

Wang Dachun’s manner of death was the same as Old Liu who was murdered earlier – his head was separated from his body.

Coincidentally, Wang Dachun’s body was found outside Old Liu’s house.

After searching extensively without finding Wang Dachun’s head, the yamen runners reported to Director Chen: “Wang Dachun was sixty-five years old, also a widower. He originally patrolled Yining Ward but was transferred to Tonghua Ward a few days ago. Nearby neighbors didn’t hear any screams at the time, so it must have been a fatal strike. It seems the killer had secretly entered Old Liu’s house last night, and when Wang Dachun happened to come by on his rounds and encountered the killer, he was killed to silence him.”

As Director Chen was about to respond, suddenly someone said: “Wrong. Wang Dachun didn’t just happen to pass by, he came with a purpose.”

Everyone turned in surprise to find two additional people had appeared at some point. Lin Chengyou was crouched by where the blood had sprayed, fingers lightly rubbing something. Beside him crouched an unfamiliar young Daoist, carefully examining the ground while describing the shape and extent of the bloodstains to Lin Chengyou.

Director Chen and the others hurried over: “Assessor Lin.”

Lin Chengyou smiled: “There were already many peculiarities in Old Liu’s case. Hearing another murder occurred this morning, I came to take a look. Director Chen, is Wang Dachun’s wound as clean as Old Liu’s?”

Everyone carefully glanced at the ground, surprised to find Lin Chengyou’s feet hadn’t touched any blood residue. After a moment, they realized it was due to the young Daoist beside him, and their looks at Teng Yuyi became more curious.

“Director Chen?”

“Oh.” Director Chen came back to himself. “That’s right, and Wang Dachun’s head hasn’t been found yet either. Assessor Lin, why do you say Wang Dachun came with a purpose?”

Lin Chengyou made a large circle in the air before him: “It was the fourth watch, and someone had just been murdered in this house recently. Logically, Wang Dachun would hurriedly leave after making his rounds and reporting in. But upon careful comparison, there’s a set of clean footprints inside the main gate that match Wang Dachun’s size and shape. Strangely, they don’t have any blood on them, showing they were left before Wang Dachun was killed. But this house is not only locked every night but also sealed with the Department of Justice’s notices – without climbing over the wall, it would be impossible to leave footprints inside. This indicates Wang Dachun secretly entered the house last night, happened to encounter the killer, and being no match for the killer’s martial arts, hurriedly climbed back over the wall to escape, only to be killed after running a few steps.”

Director Chen examined inside and outside the house following these words, finding everything matched up. The disdain and impatience finally completely disappeared from his expression, and he hurriedly put on a smile: “Assessor Lin’s deductions are divine. I never would have thought a night watchman could have so many secrets.”

Behind Lin Chengyou, Teng Yuyi observed this Department of Justice official. When she looked at people, she didn’t look at appearances but examined their core nature. Chen was in his thirties and appeared refined, but he had neither Director Yan’s patience when handling cases, nor was his gaze as upright as Director Yan’s.

Such a comparison only highlighted how precious Director Yan had been.

Teng Yuyi sighed regretfully at how things had changed. Lin Chengyou had lost more than just his eyesight – he’d also lost his most trusted colleague and partner. She could imagine how devastated Lin Chengyou must have been upon learning of Director Yan’s death.

“In my view, the three of them likely knew each other before,” Lin Chengyou said. “Wang Dachun originally patrolled Yining Ward and recently managed to transfer here – he might have come specifically for Old Liu, which coincided with the killer’s intentions. Whether due to internal conflict or fighting over the same item, the killer not only murdered them but also took their heads afterward, likely to prevent us from questioning their wronged spirits about his identity. With the heads removed, the spiritual apertures of mouth, tongue, and throat are gone – even if they became vengeful ghosts, they couldn’t reveal who killed them. Additionally, the killer must have killed before. When I came here last night, I found wandering spirits in the lane. If the killer was lurking nearby then, it shows he carries heavy killing karma – wherever he goes, wronged spirits follow him.”

Director Chen asked puzzledly: “Then in Assessor Lin’s view, what were the killer and Wang Dachun looking for? Old Liu was just a charcoal seller in life, he shouldn’t have had any valuable possessions.”

“Whether something is valuable or not can only be known once we find it,” Lin Chengyou said thoughtfully. “The biggest mystery in these two cases is the murder weapon. What kind of blade could sever a person’s head so quickly, not only leaving clean edges but not even giving Old Liu and Wang Dachun time to cry for help? This method reminds me of a familiar hidden weapon.”

Teng Yuyi’s heart jumped, and the silver wire hidden weapon suddenly appeared in his mind.

Although they had learned the mastermind was the Duke of Chun’an, the Duke had only said this silver wire weapon was bought at great expense by the Bright Moon Hermit. They valued it for being light and easy to use, able to kill silently, but where the Bright Moon Hermit originally obtained it remained a mystery.

He remembered that time at Rainbow Phoenix Tower when everyone was discussing methods to deal with corpse fiends, they mentioned that soldiers from Jiannan Circuit had encountered a Corpse King in the Nanzhao Kingdom, and the army camp had used a weapon like a zither string to saw off the Corpse King’s fangs to drive it away.

Could this type of killing weapon have originally been transmitted to the Central Plains from the Nanzhao Kingdom?

“Oh yes, Director Chen, yesterday afternoon when I came, I had Runner Dong request Old Liu’s household registry from Chang’an County. Has it been retrieved yet?”

Director Chen made a sound of recognition: “We found it. It turns out Old Liu wasn’t from Chang’an, but moved here from Jiannan Circuit over ten years ago. He used to travel specifically between the Nanzhao Kingdom and Jiannan Circuit, reportedly making a living by trading goods, though what goods exactly isn’t clear.”

Teng Yuyi was startled – could it be connected to the Nanzhao Kingdom?

“Let’s investigate Wang Dachun’s background while we’re at it,” Lin Chengyou said. “Before becoming a night watchman in Chang’an, he might have also spent time in Jiannan Circuit and the Nanzhao Kingdom. Last year, an expensive silver wire weapon was secretly circulating in the wards, supposedly from the witchcraft regions of Nanzhao. If both Old Liu and Wang Dachun were killed by this hidden weapon, I can roughly guess the killer’s purpose.”

He remembered investigating the price of these silver wire weapons in the wards during the case involving the Imperial Uncle and the Bright Moon Hermit. Taking Zhuang Mu as an example, one silver wire in his possession was priced at ten thousand coins. Even Peng Yugui, the wealthy owner of Rainbow Phoenix Tower, had only bought one for self-defense.

Reportedly many martial artists wanted to obtain these weapons, but due to government suppression, they dared not trade openly.

Unfortunately, after the incidents with Peng Zhen and the Imperial Uncle, the sellers became like startled birds, too frightened to show themselves again.

It seemed that once the heat died down, these people were stirring again.

He had also heard that in a remote witchcraft region of the Nanzhao Kingdom, the local people, isolated from the world for years, were naturally honest and often sold their local treasures cheaply to people from the Central Plains and foreigners.

This silver wire weapon might have originated from a mining pool in some deep valley of the Nanzhao Kingdom. If someone possessed the secret manual for crafting these silver wire weapons, they could become extremely wealthy by quietly selling them for just two or three years.

Director Chen had also heard about last year’s cases and pondered: “In that case, Old Liu, the killer, and Wang Dachun likely worked together selling silver wire weapons. But something went wrong, and the three fell out. The killer and Wang Dachun thought Old Liu had secretly kept the remaining goods, so one killed Old Liu and searched everywhere, while the other specifically came to patrol Magpie Lane. The killer even risked discovery to sneak back into Old Liu’s house.”

With this analysis, the previously mysterious case became much clearer.

An elderly yamen runner admiringly said: “It seemed completely without leads, but once in Assessor Lin’s hands, it doesn’t seem so complicated anymore.”

Director Chen smiled sardonically: “In the end, it’s all about profit. The case wasn’t that complex, to begin with, and the killer left many clues in his haste to obtain the item. Of course, it’s not difficult for Assessor Lin – he’s solved countless baffling major cases.”

Teng Yuyi gave Director Chen a cool look – earlier he had found Lin Chengyou quite troublesome.

What did it matter if he was blind? As long as his mind was brighter than theirs.

“Wuwei,” Lin Chengyou called.

“Yes,” Teng Yuyi lifted his head. “What are your instructions, senior brother?”

“That thing is probably still in Old Liu’s house. Let’s go in and look while the sun is good.”

“Alright.” Teng Yuyi led Lin Chengyou into the house, describing everything he saw along the way.

Director Chen hurriedly led the yamen runners inside to search as well.

As they walked, Lin Chengyou guided Teng Yuyi on how to search for evidence. Teng Yuyi followed his instructions, being even more protective than usual – once inside, his eyes barely left Lin Chengyou’s feet, guarding him this way and that, afraid the other officials would find Lin Chengyou a hindrance.

Perhaps due to his changed mindset, or perhaps finding Teng Yuyi’s protectiveness endearing, Lin Chengyou not only didn’t feel depressed like last night, but ended up smiling as they wandered around.

While Director Chen and his group were searching breathlessly, Lin Chengyou and Teng Yuyi sat down in the outer courtyard.

Lin Chengyou asked Teng Yuyi: “If you were Old Liu, would you hide such an important item in your own house?”

Teng Yuyi helped Lin Chengyou re-secure the cloth over his eyes, sat back down, and thought with his chin in his hand: “If no one was trying to steal it, I would naturally keep it by my side. But if I knew someone coveted it, I’d have to find a more secure place to hide it.”

Lin Chengyou half-leaned against the corridor pillar behind him, twirling a dead grass stem in his hand: “A charcoal seller… how to hide something without drawing attention…”

After a moment’s silence, they both exclaimed simultaneously: “Selling charcoal!”

Teng Yuyi’s tone was so excited that Lin Chengyou could practically see his bright eyes. He couldn’t help smiling and said: “Quickly tell Director Yan—”

Only then did he realize his mistake, and his smile froze.

Teng Yuyi hurriedly said to Director Chen inside: “Director Chen, my senior brother probably knows where that item is hidden. We must hurry there before the killer.”

Leaving Magpie Lane, everyone split up on horseback, asking neighbors along the way while following Old Liu’s usual charcoal-selling route toward the West Market. By nearly evening, they indeed found an empty house halfway along.

This lane was two wards away from Magpie Lane, with only two households living there. Not only was it extremely quiet, but the innermost house had been vacant for years, yet Old Liu came here to sell charcoal almost daily.

The Department of Justice people searched inside and, as expected, quickly found a lacquered box in a hidden hole behind the bedroom bed.

When the yamen runners carefully brought out the item, Teng Yuyi’s face lit up – this was his first time helping Lin Chengyou solve a case.

Just as a runner was about to wipe the lacquered box, Lin Chengyou said: “Wait—”

The Soul-Binding Beast crawled onto the round table, confirming the box didn’t contain any hidden weapons or poison before Lin Chengyou ordered the runner to open it.

Inside were indeed a secret manual and a key. Looking through the manual, recorded the specific mountain location of the hidden mine, as well as the secrets of how to refine and craft these hidden weapons. As for the key, it must open the lock to where the mine was hidden.

Lin Chengyou weighed the key in his palm and took off the golden fish pouch at his waist, handing it to a nearby runner: “Send word to the palace that we’ve caught the big fish who were selling silver wire weapons in the wards last year. Have the Northern Command send a hundred Imperial Guards here to lurk day and night in the vicinity for the next few days. Additionally, none of the brothers present can leave government supervision recently.”

Director Chen and the runners knew this was a major matter and hurriedly agreed.

Teng Yuyi looked at the lacquered box and said to Lin Chengyou: “There are several more books inside.”

The runners carefully took them out – they were secret manuals recording the witchcraft arts of the Nanzhao Kingdom. It was said that a century ago, the Nanzhao Kingdom had a famous Witch Queen who was most skilled at using venomous insects to harm people. Few could break the curses cast by the Witch Queen. These fragmentary volumes in the box were probably collected accidentally by Old Liu and others while trading in the Nanzhao Kingdom, and most were badly damaged due to the passage of time.

As the runners were about to put them back, Teng Yuyi glanced at them and suddenly said: “The Heartbreak Curse?”

Lin Chengyou started. Although the Heartbreak Curse came from the Daoist Great Way, it had always been called a “curse” because although the Wuzheng Hermit used the arts of the Five Elements and Yin-Yang, the trigger and vessel used were the venomous insects of the Nanzhao Witch Queen.

Unfortunately, the Wuzheng Hermit had passed away years ago, and the Nanzhao Witch Queen had long since become a pile of dry bones. Thus his master had sought the method to break it for many years without success.

Teng Yuyi thought of this too and hurriedly took out the old book, patting the dust off its title page. It was a handwritten copy by a later person – though the cover was damaged, the writing inside was clear.

Opening to the first page, it read: [All things have a beginning, few reach their end. The word “love” disorders people’s hearts and souls. Those who feel emotion are blind in both heart and eyes. Crush their hearts, destroy their eyes, blind blind blind.]

It was deranged, permeated with a cold hatred.

Teng Yuyi frowned and read this passage aloud.

Lin Chengyou thought briefly, then quickly said: “Director Chen, I may need to take this book with me. Please review it first to confirm, then register it in the evidence log.”

***

On the way back, Teng Yuyi stumbled through reading the secret manual to Lin Chengyou in the carriage. There were too many technical terms about witchcraft, and with his current basic understanding of Daoist arts, he inevitably found it profound.

The carriage was almost at the Wang Mansion when he finally managed to finish reading the entire manual.

“How is it?” Teng Yuyi put down the book and anxiously looked at Lin Chengyou.

Lin Chengyou’s expression was very ugly. This book must have been left when the Nanzhao Witch Queen created the Heartbreak Curse, probably recorded by some Central Plains Daoist who accidentally stumbled into the witchcraft region of Nanzhao.

The book clearly stated that without the counter-medicine, these venomous insects would remain in a man’s body forever – no wonder he still couldn’t regain his sight after kissing Teng Yuyi. The Wuzheng Hermit had only put a Daoist shell over the venomous insects – the Daoist method of balancing yin and yang couldn’t neutralize it at all, and marriage might not work either.

The book did specify what the miracle medicine was – it had a name and was originally kept by the Witch Queen, but as far as he knew, it had been lost long ago.

If they couldn’t find that miracle medicine, it meant he would never regain his sight for his entire life…

To comfort Teng Yuyi, he smiled and said: “It writes about how to break the curse – if I take a miracle medicine, my eyes can be restored.”

Teng Yuyi froze – so it turned out medicine was necessary, which meant the Wuzheng Hermit had fooled them all. He swallowed his anger: “Is it the ‘Li Gen Yao’ mentioned in the text? What is that?”

Lin Chengyou: “It’s the Nanzhao language. It means the Red Whisker Wing, a treasure of Nanzhao.”

“Red Whisker Wing?” Though Teng Yuyi had seen many world treasures since childhood, he had never heard of this one.

“It’s a crystal formed from a local Nanzhao insect, about ten thousand years old. It can illuminate at night and has skin-beautifying effects when worn on the neck. They say the Nanzhao royal family kept one, but it was lost many years ago. Hey, don’t be discouraged – if I want to search for something, there’s nothing in this world I can’t find.”

But Lin Chengyou knew in his heart these were just words to comfort Teng Yuyi. A long-lost treasure wouldn’t be so easy to find.

By the time they found it, he and A-Yu might be thirty or forty years old – entire decades to be spent in darkness.

Though thinking this, he quickly cheered up: “It’s too late now, let’s return to the mansion for dinner. Later we can take this book to show the Master at Qingyun Temple—”

But Teng Yuyi suddenly said: “Wait, I know where this treasure is.”

Lin Chengyou asked curiously: “Where?”

Teng Yuyi smiled and lifted the carriage curtain to tell the driver: “Please go to Huayang Lane in Jinggong Ward.”

***

At an elegant mansion in Huayang Lane.

Lin Chengyou spread his arms, sprawled like a handsome falcon between the back window and the eaves.

Teng Yuyi lay on his back.

This position would be torture for ordinary people to maintain for long, but for Lin Chengyou it was as easy as eating or sleeping. Still, beads of sweat appeared on his forehead – not for any other reason than being able to clearly hear the sounds from inside the room.

It turned out the Red Whisker Wing wasn’t lost, but was kept by Wu Yingying, the widow of Prince Xinchang.

On the way here, Teng Yuyi had assured him that with just a word from him, Wu Yingying would obediently hand over this worldly treasure. He also warned Lin Chengyou not to show himself – this matter should be left to him alone. Once Lin Chengyou appeared, it would involve the courts and diplomacy of both countries. When Lin Chengyou had smiled and asked why, now he knew the reason.

That bastard Gu Xian was currently engaged in cloud-and-rain activities with his aunt Wu Yingying.

To blackmail Wu Yingying, Teng Yuyi had specifically watched her for two months, originally intending to catch other leverage on her, but accidentally discovered her affair with Gu Xian. When enough evidence was collected, Teng Yuyi deemed the time ripe, and one night Uncle Cheng and others made arrangements around the mansion while he used the breathing technique Lin Chengyou taught him to hide silently in the wardrobe.

In other words, that night when Gu Xian and Wu Yingying were having their tryst, Teng Yuyi had been in the room the whole time.

As it happened, he had been in Huaixi Circuit dealing with Peng Zhen then – how could he have known Teng Yuyi wasn’t idle in Chang’an either? He had long known Teng Yuyi didn’t follow rules but hadn’t expected this little devil could even…

Lin Chengyou’s mind wandered chaotically, and when he came back to himself, the sounds in the room were still continuing.

Almost an hour had passed, and Gu Xian and Wu Yingying still hadn’t stopped.

It was only tonight that he learned there could be so many variations to this activity.

Lin Chengyou’s heart was pounding, sweat breaking out in waves – this sensation was more exhausting than fighting several battles.

Would they ever finish?

If this continued, he could barely hold on.

Teng Yuyi lay on Lin Chengyou’s back, not faring much better.

His face burned like charcoal, his heartbeat also deafening – who could have imagined they would encounter Gu Xian visiting Wu Yingying right away tonight?

Probably because he was about to return to the Nanzhao Kingdom and feared there would be no chance for future trysts, Gu Xian and Wu Yingying were carrying on much longer than last time.

Though Lin Chengyou hadn’t made a sound throughout, he looked even more uncomfortable than her – except for that crimson cloth strip, his face was covered in sweat everywhere.

Sweat beads were slowly trickling down his temples.

[Author’s Note: Lin Chengyou: Never imagined getting a live demonstration with his wife-to-be before their wedding night?]