After the rooster crowed three times, Little Qizi tiptoed back to Linglong Wine Pavilion. He was a young servant here, and Linglong Wine Pavilion was the most popular place in all of Yeqiao Town. Old Wine Head rubbed his eyes, yawned, and arranged the tables and chairs in the pavilion. He carefully wiped every spot clean, not allowing even a speck of dust. With a glance, Old Wine Head saw Little Qizi about to slip back into his room. Looking at Little Qizi’s appearance, Old Wine Head said with a laugh, “Little Qizi, did you go catch fish in the Jade River again?”
Little Qizi was startled by Old Wine Head. He turned around and made a silencing gesture, saying, “Uncle Wine, keep your voice down! If Miss hears, I’ll get scolded again.” Little Qizi’s eyes rolled, and he added, “Uncle Wine, this time the fish really didn’t come from the Jade River. I caught them from the spring behind Night Mountain, so it doesn’t violate Miss’s taboo.”
Old Wine Head slightly opened his aged, murky eyes and looked at the fishing net Little Qizi was hiding behind his backside, saying, “That’s really strange. I’ve been at Yeqiao for five or six years, and this is the first time I’ve seen such large black fish from a spring.”
Little Qizi didn’t want to chat more with Old Wine Head. He slipped around the pavilion hall and returned to his small room. Just as he was about to close the door, he smelled a faint, pleasant fragrance in his room—neither cloying nor disturbing, but the kind of orchid scent that intoxicated one’s mind and spirit. Little Qizi’s face immediately turned bitter, and he forced a smile, “Miss, why are you in my room?”
A young woman’s voice came forth, carrying a steady tone that didn’t match her age.
Qiangong Linglong, the proprietress of Linglong Wine Pavilion.
Qiangong Linglong smiled faintly, “I’ve said before that no one in Linglong Wine Pavilion is allowed to fish in the Jade River. Why can’t you ever listen?”
Upon hearing Qiangong Linglong’s laughter, Little Qizi knew Miss was truly angry this time. He quickly threw away the black net in his hands and pleaded, “Miss, this is Little Qizi’s last time. I really didn’t mean to fish in the Jade River—I truly intended to fish in the spring at Night Mountain. But when I passed by the Jade River, I discovered several dead fish floating on the surface, so I netted them. I absolutely didn’t deliberately fish for them.”
Qiangong Linglong was stunned. She looked at the black net, and indeed, the fish in it had been dead for quite some time—they weren’t freshly caught. At this moment, Old Wine Head’s murky, aged voice came from the pavilion, “Boss Ren, you’re here early.”
Qiangong Linglong dismissed Little Qizi, saying, “This matter will be overlooked for now, but this is the last time. If you violate this again, I definitely won’t let you stay in the pavilion for even a moment longer.”
“I understand, I understand.” Little Qizi wiped the sweat from his forehead and watched the departing Qiangong Linglong. Miss Qiangong, bathed in the morning light of the pavilion corridor, seemed to be plated with a layer of faint golden halo, making her already absolutely beautiful and magnificent figure even more graceful and swaying, like an immortal maiden floating down from heaven along the skylight. Though Little Qizi wasn’t very old, even he felt his heart surge with emotion. He quickly collected his thoughts and hurried out.
Ren Youcai—as his name suggested, he truly had wealth. He was the number one wealthy gentry in Yeqiao Town, with hundreds of hectares of good farmland and beautiful concubines surrounding him. He had already enjoyed all worldly prosperity, yet at this moment his face was full of worry. A dark gloom perpetually hung on his face, making him look more like a resentful woman from a deep household. He tugged at his robe and said to Old Wine Head, “Old Wine Head, bring wine.”
Old Wine Head looked at Ren Youcai’s worried expression and brought the wine to him. Ren Youcai didn’t even look at it. He raised his head and gulped it down his throat. The sharp, bitter taste instantly filled his throat cavity. Ren Youcai held it back several times before he managed not to vomit out the wine he’d drunk.
“Boss Ren, drinking alone in depression again?” The voice was gentle and pleasant to hear. Ren Youcai’s bitter expression gained a trace of vitality. He raised his head and looked at Qiangong Linglong walking from the pavilion corridor. Just looking at her made the stuffiness in his heart lessen by a fraction. He respectfully bowed his head slightly to Qiangong Linglong and said, “Miss Qiangong is joking. My heart is stifled, so I’m drinking in depression.”
Qiangong Linglong’s smile remained as brilliant as sunshine. She looked at Ren Youcai and said, “I just don’t know what kind of matter would cause Boss Ren to come to my wine pavilion to drink in depression for several days, more than ten days in a row.”
Ren Youcai wanted to speak but hesitated. He raised his cup and looked at Qiangong Linglong, only feeling that somewhere in his heart was being tugged. He shook his head, “Speaking of it is useless, it only adds to my troubles. I won’t say it. Better to just drink.”
Qiangong Linglong said no more. She sat across from Ren Youcai and watched him pour cup after cup of wine into his stomach. Old Wine Head felt something was amiss and asked from the side, “Miss?”
Qiangong Linglong shook her head slightly. Ren Youcai was already somewhat drunk. He suddenly raised his head sharply and looked at the woman before him, his gaze fixed, as if hesitating about something. Finally he spoke to Qiangong Linglong, “I saw him.”
“Who?” Qiangong Linglong was stunned.
“Him—the person who left seven years ago, the person who should have been dead. I saw him again.” Ren Youcai poured a full cup of the strongest Drunken Linglong down his throat.
Qiangong Linglong’s slender body trembled lightly in the thin daylight. She looked at Ren Youcai and said, “He’s already dead.”
“I know. I know better than anyone that he’s already dead. The way he looked when he died is still etched in my mind. After he fell into the Jade River, the poison seeped out from his body and poisoned half the river’s fish to death. Even if he truly had a hundred lives, he would have died long ago. But I really seem to have seen him again…” Ren Youcai’s gaze flickered as he slowly looked at Qiangong and murmured, “Could it be that his ghost has returned for revenge?”
“There’s no such thing as ghosts in this world. Boss Ren, you should understand this. Even if there were, he wouldn’t come back to find you. The one he’d seek is the enemy who poisoned him to death. Isn’t that right?” Qiangong Linglong asked in return.
“Yes, yes.” Ren Youcai drank the last cup of wine without lessening his worried expression, then stood up and staggered out of the wine pavilion.
“Little Qizi, see Boss Ren out of the pavilion.” Qiangong Linglong stood up and slowly walked up to the elegant room at the top of the pavilion. That was her place, perhaps the only place in this world where she could hide herself. Qiangong Linglong turned and closed the pavilion door.
After people dispersed, Old Wine Head pulled out his shabby cloth and began wiping. The wine pavilion was his home, and he liked his home to be clean and tidy. Since he fled to Yeqiao Town six years ago, collapsed in a serious illness at the town entrance, and was rescued by Qiangong Linglong who happened to pass by, he had always followed Qiangong Linglong. Later, when Qiangong established this Linglong Wine Pavilion, the pavilion became Old Wine Head’s only home. Little Qizi was also an orphan that Qiangong Linglong had taken in. Alone and pitiful, he had been with Qiangong Linglong for two or three years now.
Old Wine Head collected the wine utensils when Little Qizi suddenly appeared behind him. Little Qizi’s expression was strange. He glanced at the closed elegant room upstairs and asked quietly, “Uncle Wine, do you know who the ‘him’ Miss and that Fat Ren were talking about just now?”
Fat Ren in Little Qizi’s mouth referred to Ren Youcai.
Old Wine Head said to Little Qizi, “You’d better not be curious about these matters. You won’t know the answer anyway.”
“Hmph, who says I don’t know!” Little Qizi seemed quite unconvinced. He pouted and said mysteriously, “Just now when I helped Fat Ren onto his carriage, I heard him muttering a person’s name in his drunkenness.”
“Who?” Old Wine Head asked with murky eyes.
“Yan Zige!”
“Yan Zige?” Young constable Wu Wen listened to Chief Constable Li Si recount his experience, his expression becoming solemn and somewhat shocked as he said, “Chief Constable, what you’re saying sounds very mystical. That white shadow that led you to the tomb, could it be…”
“Could it be what? Don’t speak in a halting manner.” Li Si swept a nearby bluestone and sat down.
“Could it be that you encountered a ghost?” As soon as Wu Wen spoke, he felt a chill run down his back, as if he was the one who had encountered the ghost.
“To think you’re someone from the yamen, saying such groundless things.” Li Si laughed and scolded, though his heart was also somewhat worried.
“By the way, tell me about the background of that Pingyang Pond thief I had you investigate. When we split up earlier, I tracked the thief here while you went to investigate his background. What did you find?”
“Speaking of which, it’s really strange. Regarding this thief, neither the legitimate nor underworld circles of Pingyang Pond have any information. It’s as if he jumped out of thin air to commit all these crimes. Not only did he steal the night-luminous pearl from Prince Linnan’s mansion and ten thousand taels of gold leaves from Tianwei Escort Agency, he even stole the basin that Philanthropist She uses to feed his dogs. No wonder Philanthropist She was furious. Such a wicked thief—if we catch him, he must be given death by a thousand cuts.”
“This thief’s martial arts are not low, and he’s especially skilled in lightness techniques. All along the way, I used every method and only barely managed not to lose him.” Li Si said with emotion.
“Chief Constable, what do we do next?”
“Send a message by carrier pigeon and have Xiao Ning continue investigating in Pingyang Pond. We can’t let go of even the slightest clue.”
“Alright. What about us?”
Li Si patted his backside and stood up, looking at the open river area at the end of the forest path. He said, “Wu Wen, do you know what place is ahead?”
“An inconspicuous small town. I heard Xiao Ning mention it—it’s called Yeqiao Town.”
“That’s right, Yeqiao Town.” Li Si murmured softly. Li Si seemed to have heard the name Yeqiao Town before, but couldn’t recall it at the moment. Li Si continued, “Yeqiao Town is surrounded by rivers on three sides and mountains on one side. There’s only one road in and out of the town. Since I lost the thief, I’ve been guarding this exit and haven’t seen even half a person come out. What does this indicate?”
Wu Wen suddenly understood, “It indicates that the thief must still be hiding in the town.”
“Exactly! This thief first set up a trap for us, then left himself in a pocket. What we need to do next is walk in and tighten this pocket for him, leaving him nowhere to hide, making him jump out desperately like a cornered dog!”
At noon, Li Si alone walked into Yeqiao Town, while Wu Wen continued to stand guard at the town entrance to prevent the thief from escaping. Before leaving the town entrance, Wu Wen suddenly asked mysteriously, “Chief Constable, there’s still one question I haven’t figured out. You said that when you returned to the riverbank, the stone bridge you came across was gone. So how did you get back to the opposite shore?”
Li Si didn’t answer this very ordinary question because he didn’t know either. Li Si tried hard to recall and could only remember that when he returned to the riverbank, a pair of hands suddenly appeared in the center of the river. Like a soul-hook, they caused Li Si to lose self-control and walk over in a daze. Then when he woke up again, Li Si found himself lying in the forest on the opposite shore.
At noon, the sunlight was bright, but recalling up to this point, Li Si still couldn’t help but shiver. Those hands in his memory were extraordinarily clear—Li Si could even clearly describe every vein on them.
Li Si cut off these bizarre thoughts. This Yeqiao Town wasn’t very large, and there weren’t many permanent residents. Most households lived along the river, settling their homes along the inner bank of a river that wound through the town. This, however, caused a large wasteland to appear in the town center. Behind the wasteland was a solitary small mountain.
Li Si walked along the way, wanting to find someone to ask if they had seen any strangers appear, but after walking for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, he hadn’t encountered a single person. Only the chirping of birds and insects reached his ears, as if this town were an empty town. Just as Li Si was hesitating whether to knock on a household door to ask specifically, the door of a deep red mansion not far to his side was suddenly pushed open. A man rushed out in panic and confusion. Li Si was just about to inquire when he saw the man’s face covered in blood, grimacing and shouting loudly, yet unable to speak half a word.
Li Si instinctively caught his swaying, about to collapse body. The blood-covered man opened his mouth wide, wanting to speak, but ultimately only spurted an arrow of blood from deep in his throat. The man’s head lolled to one side and moved no more.
Li Si gazed at the man who had suddenly appeared and suddenly died in his arms. The man had an obvious sword wound at his chest. The robe at his chest was shredded to pieces, leaving deep marks on his flesh, shaped like a blooming plum blossom. Li Si looked up darkly at the deep red mansion. At the top of the mansion hung a conspicuous golden plaque—Ren Residence.