The instant she saw Su Yiyun, Lin Sui’an’s mind flooded with a cascade of conspiracy theories — the death of Shan Yuanming, the axis scroll from Jiang Dongyi, the black-clad assassins on the White Egret Boat. Looking back now, all of these were connected, to varying degrees, with Su Yiyun.

Could Su Yiyun be a final boss?

But then she watched him move, and her certainty wavered. Su Yiyun frantically swept something off the table and shoved it away, then scrambled on his hands and knees toward the window. In his haste, one of his shoes flew off. The untethered sock dragged beneath his foot and tripped him, sending his chin slamming into the floor with a tremendous crack. Lin Sui’an winced all the way to her teeth just hearing it — goodness only knew how many he had chipped.

If he really was a final boss, he was a thoroughly mediocre one.

Lin Sui’an picked up the table and swung it in a wide arc. It landed neatly on top of Su Yiyun, its four legs forming a perfect four-cornered cage that trapped him beneath it — the tableau was strikingly reminiscent of a turtle. Su Yiyun could not bear such humiliation for even a moment and immediately broke into a torrent of curses. “Lin Sui’an, you venomous, viper-hearted shrew! Hunting me down even here! You truly intend to wipe out the entire Su clan root and branch!”

Lin Sui’an couldn’t be bothered to dignify that with a response. She tore off a strip from the hem of Su Yiyun’s robe, bundled it into a ball, and stuffed it in his mouth. Then she planted one foot on the tabletop, propped her elbow on her knee, and angled sideways. She knocked the scabbard of Qian Jing against Hao Liu’s belly — thud, thud, thud. “You’re Hao Liu, aren’t you? It was you who was spreading all those Xiangliu-killing rumors around the Eastern Capital, wasn’t it?”

“You — what are you talking about, I have no idea!” Hao Liu shrieked. “I don’t know anything about any Xiangliu—”

Lin Sui’an flicked her wrist. Qian Jing slid half out of its sheath. The ink-green blade drew a thin line across his throat, and a trace of blood-scent coiled around his neck like a faint but deadly serpent. Hao Liu’s face went white.

“I have a bad temper, and even less patience.” The blade’s green light reflected in Lin Sui’an’s eyes, giving them an eerie, spectral gleam. “Who put you up to this?”

Hao Liu: “I don’t know! I don’t know anything!”

Lin Sui’an let out a derisive snort and swept the room with her gaze. Since entering this garden, she had sensed something wrong. Her body’s instincts had been issuing a continuous, relentless warning: something extremely dangerous was present here.

That feeling was now growing stronger by the moment.

It was as if an unseen pair of eyes had been silently watching her all along.

Hao Liu’s room was unexpectedly sparse. Beyond the tea table and cushions in the outer chamber, there was only a plain wooden folding screen. The inner chamber held a wardrobe, a sleeping pallet, and a reclining couch by the window on which a few scroll books had been casually scattered. There were no other furnishings whatsoever.

This room was too clean — as if someone had deliberately cleared it out.

The long gown Hao Liu wore over his clothes had clearly been thrown on in a hurry; at the collar, the night-operations garment underneath was still visible. On his head sat a gold hairpin, entirely at odds with the room’s decor.

A theory formed in Lin Sui’an’s mind: the true occupant of this room was not the “Hao Liu” before her, but someone else entirely.

If Hao Liu was not the master of this garden, then Man Qi’s words were also lies.

In other words, Man Qi had been arranged to receive her as well.

To what end?

To deliberately lead her into this garden?

Or to draw her somewhere else?

Or specifically to bring her face to face with this “Hao Liu”?

Whatever the purpose, all this elaborate maneuvering would not end with letting her leave easily.

How interesting, Lin Sui’an thought. It seemed she had stumbled headlong into a very large fish indeed.

“It seems Six — the lord — is not inclined to talk,” Lin Sui’an sighed heavily. “In that case, we have no choice but to invite everyone in this entire establishment to take a seat at the Court of Judicial Review. I am sure the court’s interrogation officers will help everyone remember something.”

Hao Liu’s expression changed drastically. He was about to shout something, but Lin Sui’an stuffed a gag in his mouth first. She kicked one of the table legs free, dragged Su Yiyun out, tore strips from Hao Liu’s outer robe, and in no time had both men bound to either end of the table leg. She gave it a pull — satisfying. This way, she needed only to hold the table leg and she could control both men at once. Su Yiyun’s face was flushed crimson — whether from fury or the sheer indignity of the arrangement was unclear. Hao Liu’s expression showed a visible flicker of panic. Muffled sounds came from his throat as he shook his head in frantic denial.

Lin Sui’an dragged the two of them straight outside. The courtyard was darker than before — and quieter. Deathly quiet.

The east room’s lamp had gone out. In the vast garden, only the faint candlelight at their backs remained, stretching the shadows of the three figures long across the ground.

The darkness prickled against Lin Sui’an’s skin with a dull, soundless sting — it was killing intent. There were many people lurking in ambush, their breathing inaudible. All of them skilled fighters.

Man Qi, who Lin Sui’an had knocked unconscious just a moment ago, had somehow risen to his feet again. Much of the powder on his face had been smudged away, leaving his cheeks blotchy in patches. He still stood in that same posture — arms held out, shoulders rounded — and in the pale moonlight, the smeared makeup gave his face the eerie cast of a paper effigy come to life, his smile ghastly and hollow.

Lin Sui’an felt the table leg in her hand grow heavier. Without warning, Hao Liu had dropped to his knees. By contrast, Su Yiyun still managed to stand with a measure of a noble family’s backbone — though from below him came the quiet, trickling sound of spreading liquid.

Man Qi: “Lin lady, are you truly not willing to reconsider giving me a chance?”

Lin Sui’an: “Have your master come out. That might be more to my taste.”

“How did Lin lady guess that I am not the one in charge here?”

Lin Sui’an thought about it. “Because you are not handsome enough.”

Man Qi’s skin twitched. Several flakes of powder dropped from the corners of his eyes. Then suddenly he smiled again — the flesh bunched up, and more powder fell. “Lin Sui’an, you are not what the legends say. And yet you are exactly as Seventh Master described.”

He produced a scroll book and tossed it in her direction from a distance. Lin Sui’an did not catch it and let it roll to the ground — for all she knew there was poison hidden inside. Better safe than sorry.

“These are several outposts set up by Hao Liu. Follow the trail from these outposts and you can naturally unravel the web of rumors hanging over the Eastern Capital.” Man Qi said. “Seventh Master says this is a gift to Lin lady.”

Lin Sui’an raised an eyebrow: “Why give it to me?”

“Seventh Master says he has an affinity with Lin lady.”

“If the affinity is so great, why not come out and have a candlelit conversation?”

Man Qi shook his head. “Seventh Master says it is not yet time.”

Lin Sui’an glanced at the scroll book on the ground. “How do I know whether this is real or false?”

“The master of Qian Jing has the Net Sect behind her. Real or false, a single investigation will tell.”

From Hao Liu’s throat came frantic, pig-slaughter-level screaming. His enormous body rolled across the ground, dragging Su Yiyun along with him.

“Oh, by the way, my master also asked me to pass a message to Six — the lord—” Man Qi used two index fingers to pull the corners of his face up into an extraordinarily unsettling grin. “Old Six — I told you long ago, those little tricks of yours would be discovered sooner or later, and you wouldn’t listen. And your luck is abysmal — of all people to run into, you managed to stumble into the master of Qian Jing and the Hua Family’s Fourth Young Master. In under two hours they’ll have stripped you inside out, and you won’t be left with so much as an undergarment. Things have come to this — you might as well sacrifice your small self for the greater good. As for your brothers and family, your Seventh Master will personally take good care of them!”

Before the last word had faded, the air on all sides suddenly erupted. More than twenty black-clad fighters surged out of the darkness like masses of clawing black fog descending on Lin Sui’an. She hoisted the table leg and swung it in a wide spinning arc, sending the two men attached to it flying to her back like a human shield against the assault. The green light of Qian Jing flashed like a storm of lightning — sweeping, cleaving, scything, hacking, driving, hooking — six moves executed at extreme speed, tearing apart the all-engulfing darkness and carving a path straight toward Man Qi.

Man Qi sucked in a sharp breath and turned to run — he had no martial skill whatsoever. The sword-wind from Qian Jing nearly grazed his robe — and then a terrifying killing intent struck from behind. Lin Sui’an had no time to dodge and could only withdraw her blade to defend — three flashes of a sword cut straight for her face. The attacker was Hao Liu. Somehow he had been freed from his bindings. His eyes had gone entirely crimson, the veins at his neck and temples bulging black, and his entire bearing had taken on the manic air of a man prepared to die.

In that brief moment of turning to defend, Man Qi had already vanished into the endless dark under the escort of the black-clad fighters.

Facing Hao Liu’s frenzied assault, Lin Sui’an was caught off guard. The moves Hao Liu was using were from the first form of the Ten Purity Manual — “The Blade Slashes Across Ten Feet of Blood, the King of the Underworld Summons Souls to Rest.” Did that mean he was in the same faction as those black-clad figures, just like Shen Xun?

And Man Qi too? And that so-called Seventh Master?

Good heavens!

Lin Sui’an’s spirit surged with full alertness. She rotated Qian Jing in her palm, flipping it so the spine of the blade faced out rather than the edge, then came down on Hao Liu without pulling her speed — this way, she could avoid reducing her velocity while still keeping him alive for questioning.

Hao Liu seemed to have been pushed beyond reason. Aside from the first few attacks, which still held some trace of the Ten Purity Manual, everything that followed was pure chaos — wild, frenzied swings with no pattern whatsoever. Yet his speed and force had each doubled, and combined with his sheer mass, his striking power was genuinely formidable. His aim, however, was terrible — he was sending blows flying east and west, and rather than landing them on Lin Sui’an, he demolished the flower beds, the ornamental shrubs, and the garden walkways into a thorough ruin. As Lin Sui’an exchanged a few moves, she felt increasingly that something was wrong. Based on her earlier clash with Hao Liu, this man was simply not capable of reaching this level of striking power. His eyes were growing more and more red, the black pupils giving way entirely to bloodshot crimson, and the distended veins at his throat had taken on a blackened tinge.

Qi deviation? That was Lin Sui’an’s first thought — but no, this world had no concept of internal cultivation. Every skilled fighter she had encountered here had no internal force. So—yes. Was it the effect of a drug?!

Hao Liu suddenly spewed a mouthful of black blood, then leapt into the air. His entire body hung above her like a great slab of flesh, pressing down toward where Lin Sui’an stood. Lin Sui’an was horrified — if he came down on the ground from this height, his life would certainly be forfeit. She immediately dropped into a wide stance, arms extended to catch him.

A flicker of shock crossed Hao Liu’s crimson eyes.

At the critical moment, someone came skating along the ground and struck Lin Sui’an with a palm, shoving her out of the way, then rolled to the side in the same motion.

Hao Liu crashed to the ground with a thunderous impact. Black blood splattered and then sank into the dust.

“Are you out of your mind?!” Jin Ruo scrambled to his feet and bellowed at Lin Sui’an. “You would have died!”

“I thought I could probably catch him—” Jin Ruo’s yelling had left Lin Sui’an rather conscience-stricken. She glanced at Hao Liu and her face lit up. “He’s still alive!”

Apparently the subcutaneous fat was thick enough — Hao Liu had somehow retained a single breath. But the situation was not good. Dark blood was welling continuously from his mouth.

“Doctor Fang, come and take a look!” Jin Ruo called urgently.

Doctor Fang Ke drifted over like a streak of blood-red against the night, pressed two fingers to Hao Liu’s pulse, then lifted his eyelids for a look. He reached into the large wooden box and retrieved a roll of needle cases, drawing out silver needles to apply with swift, precise stabs.

Lin Sui’an: “How is Doctor Fang here too?”

Fang Ke’s hands did not pause. His voice was even colder than usual. “I was at the Wang Family Food House and saw something tearing apart buildings over here in Hong Qiao Quarter. I knew it had to be Lin lady’s handiwork.”

Jin Ruo murmured quietly: “I think we forgot Doctor Fang at the Wang Family Food House.”

Lin Sui’an was startled. “He sat there alone for several hours?”

“Doctor Fang ate quite a lot. The bill came to a full guan.”

Lin Sui’an: “…”

It seemed the forgotten Doctor Fang was very displeased.

“The silver needles can keep him stable for the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea,” Fang Ke said. “Ask whatever you need to ask, and quickly. No wasting words.”

Lin Sui’an tucked her robe and crouched down, looking directly into Hao Liu’s eyes. The red had begun to fade. His gaze was recovering some clarity, but black veins crawled across his neck and brow like centipedes, and his breathing was irregular in a very alarming way.

She had dozens of questions churning through her mind, but she also knew she was unlikely to get answers to most of them. After a moment’s thought, she asked the most essential one: “Was it your group that abducted Zhong Xue?”

Hao Liu laughed coldly. “I thought you would be more interested in my identity.”

Lin Sui’an: “I am more interested in saving a life.”

Hao Liu: “I won’t tell you.”

Lin Sui’an nodded. “As I suspected — your group only used the drowning cases to spread rumors. The actual cases were not your doing.”

Hao Liu’s pupils contracted violently. “How did you—”

“Because you are about to die.” Lin Sui’an said quietly. “There is a saying — a man on the verge of death speaks from the heart. You said that because you did not want to deceive me.”

Following the principle that villains always die from talking too much, a person this tight-lipped was probably nothing more than a disposable pawn.

Hao Liu blinked, then suddenly broke into wild laughter. “Ha ha ha ha ha! Old Seven — that scoundrel’s character is despicable and his methods ruthless, but what he said was not wrong — the master of Qian Jing is truly… truly…”

Even as the laughter continued, the light in his eyes faded. Lin Sui’an’s brow drew tight. She did not look away.

A flash of white light, and she saw the memory Hao Liu had left behind.

In the lingering scent of tea, someone pushed a cup of tea soup forward. A voice filtered into her ears — ethereal and faint, as fragile as a withered blade of grass clinging to the edge of a cliff, trembling on the verge of falling.

[From this day forward, I rank as Seventh. One day, I will kill you and take your place.]

“Lin lady!” Fang Ke closed Hao Liu’s eyes. His voice was as unyielding as ever. “The dead are my domain.”

Lin Sui’an shuffled to one side, frowning, feeling vaguely unsettled. The wisp of tea fragrance from her golden ability seemed to have taken root somewhere in her chest, coiling and refusing to leave. It made her think of a phrase: as inseparable as a shadow.

“You — are you all right?” Jin Ruo waved a hand at her. “Why did you go blank all of a sudden?”

Lin Sui’an sighed. “We’ve wasted our efforts — the rumor trail is probably useless, and we’ll have to start the investigation from scratch.”

Jin Ruo: “What?”

“Fortunately there’s still one alive.” Lin Sui’an walked to the shadowed shrubbery and reached in to haul out the would-be escapee Su Yiyun. Su Yiyun’s legs folded beneath him and he sank to his knees, as limp and useless as two lengths of wet noodle. Only his mouth remained at full strength. “Lin Sui’an! I am a son of the Su Family of Suizhou! If you dare touch a single hair on my head, I will make you regret it for the rest of your life!”

“Save it. You say the same few lines every time. I’m sick of hearing them even if you’re not,” Lin Sui’an said, picking up Su Yiyun and shaking him from side to side. “What did Hao Liu give you just now?”

“Nothing! He didn’t give me anything!” Su Yiyun shrieked.

Lin Sui’an shot Jin Ruo a look. “Search him.”

“With pleasure!” Jin Ruo rolled up his sleeves and dragged Su Yiyun to one side, patting him down from head to toe. Su Yiyun’s screaming and cursing very nearly burst Lin Sui’an’s eardrums. But they did find two things. The first was a folding-format illustrated guide to intimate positions — not particularly surprising, given that it was clearly Hao Liu’s establishment’s area of expertise. The second, however, was something rather more unusual: a porcelain gourd, pure white all over, translucent and delicate, roughly the height of one hand, bearing no inscriptions or markings anywhere on its surface. Lin Sui’an gave it a shake and heard a rattling sound from inside.

Lin Sui’an raised an eyebrow. “Could it be a longevity immortal elixir?”

Jin Ruo took it, pulled out the stopper, and sniffed. He frowned. “Smells a bit off.”

And then, without warning, Su Yiyun — who had been lying sprawled on the ground — suddenly erupted. He lunged at Lin Sui’an with clawing hands and bared teeth. “Give it back to me!!”

His face was contorted beyond recognition, as if something had possessed him. Both Lin Sui’an and Jin Ruo were startled. Just as they were about to kick him away, another figure appeared from nowhere, intersecting the situation with a single kick that sent Su Yiyun flying. Robes billowed and whirled, enveloping Lin Sui’an face and nose in the scent of fruits and wood.

“Who do you think you are?! Dare you touch my Lin Sui’an?!” Hua Yitang still had the little beggar boy on his back, but it did not hinder him in the slightest. He stood with one hand on his hip, his voice carrying full force. “Go piss in a puddle and look at your own reflection — are you worthy?!”

Jin Ruo saw the officers of the law from the Jingzhao Prefecture and the Court of Judicial Review come pouring in. Outside, shouts, yells, curses, and cries tangled into chaos. He quickly read the situation and covered his mouth, murmuring: “That Hua fellow isn’t going to think you came to Hao Liu’s place for pleasure and showed up with an entourage to catch you in the act, is he?”

Lin Sui’an glanced sideways. “Hua Yitang isn’t that thick—”

“Lin Sui’an!” Hua Yitang spun around, his expression cycling through shades of stormy black and bilious green, his eyes flashing. “Your taste is truly appalling! That little house entertainer is an ugly, lopsided, sorry-looking creature — to say nothing of how he compares to me, even Jin Ruo is ten thousand times better looking!”

Jin Ruo: “Pfft!”

Lin Sui’an: “…”

Lin Sui’an: “Look more carefully — that is Su Yiyun!”

“Oh?” Hua Yitang froze, turned to look again, and said slowly: “The Su Family has fallen this far? That they’re reduced to coming to Hao Liu’s place—” Then some thought struck him, and he gave another start. He leaned close, dropped his voice, and began stammering: “D-don’t tell me — you — you didn’t still have feelings for… for… the b-betrothal… with Su Chengxian…”

Jin Ruo doubled over laughing. “Ha ha ha ha ha ha!”

Lin Sui’an: “…”

Please, someone save her. Had that razor-sharp, brilliant brain of his been stuffed with lard?!

Bonus Scene

Half an hour earlier. South Market Office.

Hua Yitang was like an ant on a hot griddle, pacing in frantic circles around the room. The little beggar boy was perched on his back and refused to budge — like a grain of rice clinging to an ant.

Ling Zhiyan: “Fourth Young Master need not worry. With Lin lady’s skill, that would-be assassin will not escape.”

Hua Yitang: “The last time she chased Yun Zhong Yue, it only took a quarter of an hour. Why has she been gone so long this time? Could she have walked into a trap?!”

Wan Lin: “Perhaps she chased far and had no one nearby to send word—”

Before the words had settled, a law enforcement officer strode in quickly and cupped his fists in salute: “There is a peddler outside who says he has urgent business with the Fourth Young Master of the Hua Family.”

Hua Yitang: “Let him in at once!”

The peddler arrived breathless, gasping for air. The first words out of his mouth stunned the entire room: “Lin lady has gone to Hao Liu’s establishment. The Young Sect Leader says—”

A gust of snow-white, fragrant air shot past so fast it nearly knocked the peddler off his feet.

The crowd stared in astonishment as the man widely known as Yangdu’s First Wastrel — who on ordinary days could not take two steps without swaying five times — vanished from sight in the blink of an eye. All that remained was a voice echoing for three days after: “Go chew on a dog! The house boys at Hao Liu’s place couldn’t possibly be better looking than me!”

Ling Zhiyan and Wan Lin looked at each other. The peddler drew a steadying breath and finally finished his second sentence: “The Young Sect Leader says Hao Liu’s establishment may be an assassin’s base of operations, and asks Lord Ling Sicheng to dispatch law enforcement officers immediately to provide support.”

Ling Zhiyan: “…As expected of the Hua Family’s Fourth Young Master — his grasp of the situation is, as always, incisive and to the point. Come, move out immediately!”

Wan Lin: “…”

Heavens. Their Lord Ling — an honest and upright man through and through — when on earth had he learned to lie through his teeth with such a straight face?!

Lin Sui’an (facepalming): Ah, blast — I forgot to get the gold leaves back from Man Qi. What a loss!