At the you hour, heavy fog rolled in and the air grew damp. Walking through the main street was like entering a vast white gauze curtain.
“Hey, I’ve been looking all over for you!” Someone suddenly shouted from across the way at the top of their lungs. “Where the hell did you disappear to?”
Fang Zhi glared at Meng Rui furiously. Not only did Meng Rui not feel angry, he actually felt warmth in his heart. He smiled, “Brother Fang, let me buy you tea as an apology.”
Fang Zhi looked at the dispirited Meng Rui and then smiled in turn, “Just buying tea is enough? You have to buy me drinks!”
“Alright, I’ll treat you.”
Fang Zhi’s shabby house had bare walls and was murky and dim, but Meng Rui felt this was already one of the best places in the world because it was filled with abundant friendship and strong liquor. He downed an entire cup of burning blade liquor in one gulp. Ever since his sister had disappeared many years ago, Meng Rui had never drunk like this. His heart burned fiercely, and his whole body felt light and floating.
“Good liquor!”
Fang Zhi complained quietly, “You said you’d treat me, yet you keep making me buy the drinks. Hmm, you’re really such a miser!”
“Brother Fang, I toast to you.” Meng Rui drank another cup. Fang Zhi, heartbroken over the considerable cost of the liquor, reluctantly drank along with a pained expression.
After three rounds at the tavern, Fang Zhi, whose alcohol tolerance had reached its limit, had a face as red as a monkey’s bottom. He shook the empty wine jar and said angrily, “Damn it, we’re out of liquor! Brother Meng, do you know… that bastard Kong Pei called me in again and told me with wide eyes that the Twelve Corpses Case can be set aside for now—no need to be too anxious about it.”
“The one who told me to solve the case quickly was him, and now the one who’s not anxious is also him! Isn’t he sick!” Fang Zhi roared.
Meng Rui held his wine cup and slowly shook his head, “Brother Fang, you still don’t understand? The Nanhu Military Camp belongs to the Crown Prince. Kong Pei, intimidated by the Crown Prince’s authority, ordered you to solve the case quickly. Now that he’s telling you not to investigate, Prince Kang must have weighed in.”
Meng Rui’s eyes were hazy with drink, but his gaze remained sharp, “In today’s great struggle for power, the only ones capable of checking Prince Kang besides the Crown Prince are Prince Ding of Tianyuan Prefecture. If my inference is correct, the Twelve Corpses Case must be related to Prince Ding.”
His thoughts expanded after drinking. As Meng Rui spoke to this point, his heart jolted with excitement. If the Twelve Corpses Case was related to Prince Ding—could Du Zhongtao’s death also be related to Prince Ding? Were the green-eyed person, the Spider Queen, and Ye Huancheng all Prince Ding’s people? Had his sister also fallen into Prince Ding’s hands… Meng Rui didn’t dare think further. Today’s events already contained too many incredible things.
“That makes sense!” Fang Zhi stood up unsteadily. “How can we endure this long night without liquor? Wait for me—I’ll go buy more!”
Fang Zhi opened the door, and a handkerchief that had been caught in the door crack fluttered and flew into the room like a butterfly, landing right before Meng Rui’s eyes. There were words on the handkerchief, the ink still not dry. Meng Rui looked at it twice, and his drunkenness instantly vanished.
He leaped out of the tile house in one bound. Among the densely packed buildings, he seemed to catch sight of a familiar face. In just the blink of an eye, that face disappeared into the darkness.
Meng Rui gripped the handkerchief tightly, his heart stirring, “Brother Fang, no need to drink anymore.”
At the hai hour, a corner of the Du Residence still had lamplight burning.
Madam Du had reclaimed Du Zhongtao’s corpse and set up a mourning hall for him, awaiting the encoffining.
On the redwood spirit table sat red gourd candles, incense sticks, nine pieces of gold, soul banners, and other such items. White cloth hangings were suspended from the twin pillars of the mourning hall, and a solitary nanmu wood coffin sat in the very center. There should have been close relatives keeping vigil, but Madam Du’s body was weak and she had returned to the rear courtyard. The others didn’t dare remain in the mourning hall either, so it was completely empty.
A gust of chilly night wind passed through the mourning hall. The cloth hangings and funeral scrolls were blown upward, as if lifted by an invisible hand. In the corner of the mourning hall was a tethered afterlife cat, which could ward off disasters and suffering on the road to the next life for the deceased.
Suddenly, a human figure appeared in the pitch-black pupils of the black cat.
The figure descended into the mourning hall, a pair of eyes cold and sharp as knives—it was Meng Rui.
Having arrived at Du Zhongtao’s mourning hall, Meng Rui’s heart was still pounding—was the item truly here? Just as he had deduced at Zizai Tower, Du Zhongtao was killed because of his entanglement with the mysterious Spider Queen. He must have possessed something that the Spider Queen feared. A voice in the depths of the unknown told Meng Rui—that thing was hidden in the four strange verses.
But if it was truly hidden in the verses, then the Spider Queen and the green-eyed person were allies, and she should have known about it long ago. Unless the two were not on the same side, but then how did the Spider Queen always reveal inside information? Furthermore, Ye Huancheng had even alluded to his sister’s whereabouts. Perhaps he was overthinking things again.
But regardless, now that he was here, he had to try. Meng Rui deeply analyzed the four strange verses:
At the fifth watch, the sparse desire breaks, on one tree the green shows no mercy. There is intent to gamble with no life, Yama peers through double doors.
The most suspicious was the fourth line, “Yama peers through double doors.” “Yama” could be interpreted as the Yellow Springs or the underworld, “peers” as to search for, and “double doors” might refer to a coffin.
The Great World Dynasty had explicit regulations that commoners could not use outer coffins. Therefore, those with money and power, in order to appear exceptionally noble after death, would wrap corpses in gold powder and purple gauze for burial, calling this the “Purple Gauze Door.” So “double doors” referred to the coffin door and the purple gauze door.
—Search in the coffin in the underworld.
The “Death God” on Meng Rui’s back shuddered coldly. He forcefully lifted the nanmu wood coffin lid, and suddenly a blade edge slashed straight toward Meng Rui’s crown. Meng Rui listened to the wind to discern the sound, and with a harrier’s flip, he somersaulted from in front of the coffin to beside the spirit table. Gripping a long blade was a masked person. He laughed coldly, and his long blade danced out an entire sheet of blade light, covering Meng Rui from front and back. Meng Rui remained still as a deep pool. When the blade wind rushed toward his face, he suddenly shifted his body, and the sheath of “Death God” struck the enemy’s blade tip.
An invisible force made the masked person stagger back five or six steps before barely managing to stand steady.
Meng Rui said coldly, “We meet again, Tiangong Ichiro.”
The masked person’s form shook violently, “How do you know…”
“Although the design is not quite the same, your blade follows similar principles to Aihara Hideo’s samurai sword, though he’s far from having your blade mastery, Master Tiangong.” Meng Rui spoke coldly. The masked person was indeed Tiangong Ichiro. He smiled and said, “God-Catcher sir, I am determined to obtain Du Zhongtao’s item. If you can give it up, I’m willing to reward you handsomely.”
Tiangong Ichiro removed the black cloth, revealing a sinister smile.
Meng Rui had never had any good feelings toward him and said directly, “If it were someone else, I might consider it. But for a treacherous and cunning Japanese false gentleman, there’s no need for further words.”
“Baka!” Tiangong cursed angrily and casually threw out a round ball.
The round ball burst into a cloud of white mist, and Tiangong Ichiro disappeared into the vapor in the blink of an eye. Light footsteps came from behind. “Death God” flew out in reverse but struck only a wooden stake. Almost at the same instant, a cold icy blade viciously stabbed up from underground toward Meng Rui’s lower body. Meng Rui stomped with his left foot, and his right foot suddenly shot up half a zhang high, barely avoiding the dangerous move. But the white mist curled about, and Tiangong Ichiro had concealed his traces again.
What Tiangong Ichiro was displaying was the Five Elements Evasion of Japanese ninjas—appearing and disappearing mysteriously, capable of both offense and defense. Meng Rui had long heard of the Five Elements Evasion. If he truly entangled endlessly with Tiangong Ichiro in combat, first, with his heart agitated and restless, it would be difficult to determine victory or defeat in a short time; second, it would be easy to expose his whereabouts, and once people from the Du Residence discovered them, it would be difficult to handle.
He had to force Tiangong to reveal himself! Meng Rui had an idea. He no longer paid attention to Tiangong but instead leaped into the coffin. Tiangong, hiding to one side, saw that Meng Rui was about to succeed. How could he still care about the Five Elements Evasion? With a flick of his blade tip, he slashed toward Meng Rui’s back. Meng Rui had been waiting for this. He arched his body like an angry shrimp leaping out of the coffin—”Death God” also seemed like a black moon flying from its sheath, instantly transforming into a sharp edge that could sever all things in the world!
Tiangong Ichiro screamed in anguish as one of his arms was severed by the sharp edge. Blood flowed from the corner of his mouth. He glared at Meng Rui with resentment, grabbed his severed arm, and charged out of the mourning hall.
The screams also alarmed the Du Residence. Meng Rui had no time to delay. He turned and jumped into the coffin. A moment later, he discovered a movable panel beneath the corpse. Twisting open the panel, there was a package underneath. Meng Rui grabbed the item, turned, and like a black eagle spreading its wings, flew into the night.
Returning to his lodging, Meng Rui was quite annoyed that he hadn’t been able to kill Tiangong Ichiro with one blade. The Five Elements Evasion exceeded imagination and had protected Tiangong Ichiro at the critical moment. Having offended such a petty person, he would need to be careful everywhere in the future.
He took out the package from his bosom. Inside was a token, a red seal, and six or seven letters. The red seal was carved with a red sun and eagle along with three lines of Japanese text. On the token was an eerily crimson crescent moon, and on the back, in obscure and difficult-to-understand characters, was carved the character for “night.”
Meng Rui recognized this token—one could even say it was etched into his bones. Because it belonged to the most terrifying mysterious organization in the Great World—Black Night.
Du Zhongtao was actually a person of Black Night! After reading through those several letters, most described mysterious transactions between Du Zhongtao and Japan, but they also mentioned “Black Night” in fragments and pieces, and obscurely pointed out that the “Master of Black Night” was in Tianyuan Prefecture.
“Tianyuan Prefecture?” Meng Rui couldn’t help but blurt out, “Prince Ding, Zhou Dao!”
The master of Black Night, which made the entire Great World Dynasty pale at the mention, was actually Prince Ding Zhou Dao of Pingyuan Prefecture, who was praised as the “Backbone of the Great World”! Waves of shock in his heart were indescribable. After considerable thought, Meng Rui reasoned: Since Du Zhongtao was a person of Black Night, then the Spider Queen and Ye Huancheng killing Du Zhongtao indicated they were enemies of Prince Ding—they were probably the Crown Prince’s people. Then what about the green-eyed person… If the green-eyed person and the Spider Queen were not on the same side, then it was very likely he was Prince Ding’s minion.
Meng Rui picked up the red seal with the red sun and eagle again. Looking at the several lines of Japanese characters, Tiangong Ichiro’s sinister face emerged once more. Meng Rui secretly felt fortunate he hadn’t killed him with one blade. Perhaps all the answers lay in this red seal, as well as with Tiangong and his ocean vessel.
Dawn was gradually arriving. He should go find Fang Zhi to clear things with the patrol affairs of the Maritime Transport Bureau. With a heavy sigh, Meng Rui felt an unprecedented exhaustion.