Not there?

The supervisor frowned. This was the last prison they had searched.

“Liu Zhuo! Why are you standing here instead of moving?” The voice of the supervision team leader came from behind. Liu Zhuo crushed the communication talisman and turned back with a smile.

“I just saw that you had come too, Team Leader.”

The supervision team leader laughed heartily as he put his arm around Liu Zhuo’s shoulder. Reeking of alcohol and hiccupping, he led Liu Zhuo to the lavatory.

Liu Zhuo once again pretended to be drunk, taking the opportunity to listen to the vulgar talk of the man beside him.

The team leader was drunk enough that his cheeks were flushed red, and his speech was slightly slurred, but it couldn’t suppress his desire to talk: “Did you see her? The girl sitting next to you, the new female supervisor. That figure is so damn tempting.”

Liu Zhuo smiled and played along: “Indeed.”

The team leader’s smile made one uncomfortable: “She’s from Bi State. Just look at her face, her chest—you know how she got that position.”

Liu Zhuo fixed his pants and said, “Team Leader, are you too drunk?”

“What do you mean, too drunk? I’m perfectly fine. Don’t believe me? Come see for yourself,” the team leader chuckled. “Too bad that woman isn’t in my team, otherwise I’d be in luck.”

Liu Zhuo turned to look at him: “What luck?”

The team leader hiccupped and lowered his head, fumbling clumsily. He was still snickering without having spoken when someone from behind grabbed his head and slammed it against the wall, then kicked him hard, knocking him unconscious.

“You wish,” said the attacker.

Liu Zhuo shook his hand in disgust, a streak of red light flashing across his eyes.

Heart Meridian Advanced Spirit Technique: Fracture.

He briefly twisted and altered the team leader’s memory of being here, making him believe he had fallen on his own. The man was drunk anyway, and in such a state, the power of the Heart Meridian technique would be maximized.

Liu Zhuo washed his hands before returning to the drinking house, finding the female supervisor sitting next to him, chatting with the person on her right.

Hong Xiu played with a strand of her hair, smiling as she leaned closer to the handsome young man. He seemed extremely shy—he hadn’t been drinking much before, but his face turned red when she moved closer.

His innocence was endearing.

“Are you also newly arrived this term?” Hong Xiu deliberately leaned closer as she spoke. The young man leaned slightly back, maintaining a safe distance, which made her eyes twinkle with deeper amusement.

The young man said softly, “Yes.”

“Which state are you from?” Hong Xiu asked. “I’m from the Bi State. My name is Hong Xiu. And you?”

“I-I’m from Qing State, my name is Yu Mu,” the young man replied bashfully.

“Oh? Qing State, the land of wine. I’ve heard that people there are experts at drinking. Would you like to compete with someone from Bi State?”

Hong Xiu enthusiastically invited him, already passing a wine cup his way and taking the wine jar next to Liu Zhuo to fill Yu Mu’s cup.

“No, no…” Yu Mu shyly waved his hands, but Hong Xiu smiled at him, her beautiful peach blossom eyes blinking coquettishly. “A man shouldn’t say no to such things. Come, let’s play rock-paper-scissors—the loser drinks, or we can do quick questions and answers.”

Liu Zhuo sat there drinking alone, occasionally glancing at Hong Xiu as she tormented the poor boy. Under the influence of her Heart Meridian technique, Yu Mu never won and kept drinking until his ears turned red.

When Yu Mu begged for mercy, Hong Xiu chuckled, “How are you like a fake Qing State person? You can’t handle even this much alcohol?”

Yu Mu waved his hands, his voice growing weaker: “I really can’t drink anymore.”

“Then let’s play quick questions and answers,” Hong Xiu said, taking back the wine cup in front of him. “After you answer everything, you won’t have to drink this cup.”

Yu Mu looked at her expectantly.

Hong Xiu swirled the wine cup and asked, “Do you have a girl you like now?”

Yu Mu: “No…”

Liu Zhuo rolled his eyes.

“No?” Hong Xiu smiled. “Have you ever liked someone before?”

Yu Mu blushed: “Never had any…”

Hong Xiu rested her chin on her hand, gazing at him with enjoyment: “You’re really adorable.”

Seemingly the first time he had been complimented like this, Yu Mu was momentarily stunned.

“Now let’s ask something more exciting,” Hong Xiu blinked, causing Yu Mu’s heart to tense up nervously, but she merely asked, “Who do you dislike most in your team right now?”

Yu Mu froze.

Hong Xiu swirled the wine cup, and Yu Mu hesitantly replied: “…The team leader.”

“Quick questions and answers—don’t hesitate too much,” Hong Xiu said, her words carrying an imperceptible deeper meaning. Her bright eyes released the influence of her Heart Meridian technique, making the person before her increasingly dazed. “How many people are in a Prison Bureau patrol group?”

Yu Mu’s gaze became momentarily unfocused: “Three.”

Hong Xiu’s gentle voice brushed past Yu Mu’s ear: “Have there been any prisoner transfers from the Sinking Prison recently?”

Yu Mu said: “No… There haven’t.”

Hong Xiu sighed softly: “Not even once?”

“No…”

Hong Xiu brought the wine cup to Yu Mu’s lips, making him drink it down. After finishing, he collapsed on the table.

When he woke up tomorrow, Yu Mu would only remember the first few questions, believing he had simply passed out from drinking too much.

Hong Xiu and Liu Zhuo both got up to leave.

Outside, the snow was falling heavily. Hong Xiu walked out of the Drunken Flower Pavilion, raising her hand to fan away the smell of alcohol. Liu Zhuo handed her an umbrella while opening one for himself.

Hong Xiu said, “Wouldn’t it be nice to share with me?”

Liu Zhuo: “No.”

Hong Xiu held the umbrella handle and walked into the snow, pouting coquettishly: “Then wouldn’t it be nice to let me share your umbrella?”

Liu Zhuo said flatly: “No.”

“You’re such a heartless man,” Hong Xiu said, walking beside him with her umbrella.

People walked in small groups on the street; some without umbrellas hurried through the snowy night.

Liu Zhuo said, “She went to check the Sinking Prison but didn’t find Dong Yun.”

“Not in the Sinking Prison?” Hong Xiu exclaimed in surprise. “That’s the last prison in the imperial capital we haven’t searched. If not there, where could he be?”

“Let’s ask Huo Lingfeng first if he missed anything at the Star Fate Bureau,” Liu Zhuo pondered. “From the memory map brought by that dead earth ghost, he was imprisoned somewhere, but it was too blurry, and the glimpse was too brief.”

Although the memories in the memory map were distant and blurry, they could vaguely sense that Dong Yun wasn’t faring well.

They had thought that his lack of news over the years was because he had gone exploring in some desolate place, or perhaps he was so hurt by a previous girlfriend that he wasn’t moving around in the north. They could imagine many possibilities, but never thought he had been severely injured and imprisoned.

“His coming to the imperial capital must be related to that Pingshan boy,” Hong Xiu twirled her umbrella handle, spinning the umbrella in the snow. “And why did Pingshan return to the imperial capital? Both of them have vanished now, most likely both lost in the imperial capital, though we don’t know when it started.”

Liu Zhuo said, “There’s been no news since he escorted someone back to the imperial capital.”

“With his mental state, he could resist the Divine Jade Illusion Technique. Being dumped by a woman is nothing to him,” Hong Xiu laughed softly. “True love doesn’t necessarily bring true love in return—he understands this principle better than anyone. If he came to the imperial capital for Chu Xiao and got imprisoned, I’ll laugh at him for the rest of his life.”

Liu Zhuo said, “I’ll go check with Zhou Caicai.”

“Then I’ll investigate Pingshan’s trail to see if there are any discoveries,” Hong Xiu said, raising her hand to touch her face, instantly changing her appearance from seductive to pitiful.

She looked up at Liu Zhuo beside her, changing her face a few more times, and asked: “How is it? Which face looks better?”

Liu Zhuo said, “The original one.”

Hong Xiu giggled coquettishly: “So you prefer the seductive type.”

Liu Zhuo: “I meant your actual face.”

Hong Xiu lightly tapped her cheek with her fingertip: “My dear brother, you’re good at making me angry.”

Liu Zhuo: “…”

*

Star Fate Bureau.

Half the personnel at the Star Fate Bureau were busy with the Crown Prince’s consort selection, with the Bureau Chief reviewing various selection records daily, investigating the family background of each candidate.

Fortunately, they had recently recruited several bureau children, so there were more hands to help than usual.

A bureau child wearing a white triangular hat quietly slipped out from among his busy colleagues. After leaving the room, he received a message from a companion. Upon reading it, he frowned.

Not in the Sinking Prison? Could it be a private prison?

Huo Lingfeng turned and walked into the snowy night.

The Star Scroll Tower recorded all major and minor events that occurred in the imperial capital each year. The lower three floors contained archives available for public review, while the upper three floors held classified documents that could not be viewed without Emperor Wenxiu’s orders.

Huo Lingfeng watched the heavily guarded Star Scroll Tower from a distance, concealing himself in the darkness.

Divine Miracle Ability: Mirror Flower.

A dark shadow moved with the shadows of the scenery. Under the protection of the Mirror Flower spirit technique, it evaded the formation array monitoring the Star Scroll Tower without triggering any alarms. The shadow climbed to the highest floor of the tower and squeezed through a window crack.

*

The Eastern Palace was heavily guarded. Due to the Crown Prince’s special circumstances, there were guards everywhere, with nearly half the Imperial Guards assigned there.

Zhou Caicai had the Crown Prince’s token, so she could come and go freely.

Occasionally, she would bring a maid with her, which the Crown Prince tacitly permitted.

Zhou Caicai waited for the Crown Prince to return to his sleeping palace, sitting at the table, folding paper. But her mind was on the matter of the Sinking Prison, while her peripheral vision caught her maid Snow Sound peeling grapes for her.

A few months ago, an earth ghost named Sui Qiusan had brought a memory map containing Dong Yun’s whereabouts and proposed cooperation, asking her to help bring Sui Qiusan and his people into the imperial capital.

It took Zhou Caicai some time to believe Sui Qiusan’s words.

As the Zhou family head had said, his daughter Zhou Caicai was a child with a weak sense of responsibility. Though intelligent, she was very capricious—today wanting to be the head of a merchant association, tomorrow changing her mind and feeling content just being a rich young lady.

She had only a three-minute attention span for anything she did.

One year, out of interest, she traveled with the merchant association. Unfortunately, while passing through the Huai River area, they encountered scheming from other merchant associations and attacks from merchant bandits.

Dong Yun was one of those merchant bandits.

He had originally intended to rob the merchant association’s black goods, but through a twist of fate, an accident occurred. They failed to get the goods, but instead, he and his companion Huo Lingfeng kidnapped the merchant association’s young lady.

The three of them struggled through extremely unfavorable circumstances, sharing life and death moments, never abandoning each other through several dangers. Zhou Caicai even revealed her Divine Miracle ability, while Dong Yun was always the last to retreat, covered in wounds.

That night, the three of them escaped through water, crawling onto the riverbank grass, panting. Zhou Caicai asked him: “Didn’t you say you hadn’t awakened your Heart Meridian? How were you unaffected by the Soul-Capturing Formation?”

Dong Yun stood by the shore against the moonlight, shaking water droplets from his face. Hearing her question, he made a sound of acknowledgment and took off his clothes to wring out the water: “Perhaps it can only affect two people, and I was lucky to be the third one.”

Zhou Caicai: “Do you think I’ll believe that?”

Dong Yun turned his head to look at her once, without answering, only smiling slightly.

Zhou Caicai sat up irritably, wiping water droplets from her face, and patted Huo Lingfeng, who was lying on the ground with his eyes closed: “Hey, wake up.”

Huo Lingfeng weakly said, “Not dead, let me lie down for a while.”

Zhou Caicai stopped bothering him and turned to look at Dong Yun, who was still wringing water from his clothes. He had taken off his upper garment, revealing the wounds on his back from covering their retreat, bloody and shocking to see.

The thrilling escape had drained all of Zhou Caicai’s energy. She recalled the scene before they jumped into the water—this tall, strong man at the very back, holding off countless enemies coming from all directions. Just one man, yet he provided such a sense of security.

Zhou Caicai asked: “Your family background must be good. You can’t be short of money, so why become a merchant bandit?”

Dong Yun: “Your family background is also good. You’re not short of money either, so why personally travel with merchants?”

“Me?” Zhou Caicai narrowed her eyes. “I was bored. The merchant association is my family’s anyway, so I came when I wanted to.”

“This world doesn’t belong to anyone, so I also come when I want to,” Dong Yun said. “Because it’s interesting.”

“Interesting?” Zhou Caicai was stunned. “We’ve nearly died several times along the way.”

Dong Yun turned back in the moonlight. To Zhou Caicai, this usually quiet and somewhat dull person suddenly became incredibly radiant at that moment. He said, “That’s why it’s interesting.”

For him, when he found something “interesting,” it generated endless motivation and passion, making him completely absorbed in it.

Thus, Zhou Caicai made an interesting friend.

Several years later, she left the West and went to the imperial capital because she needed to save an interesting friend.