“A discovery so soon?”

Including Gold Gong Jiang Luzhong, the night watchmen’s spirits lifted as they followed the direction pointed out by the white-robed figure, descending towards the roof ridge.

They saw a Bronze Gong standing on the rooftop, one hand on his sword hilt, also watching their group approach.

The enemy could be hiding nearby, ready to strike at any moment, yet this Bronze Gong hadn’t even drawn his sword – his professional standards seemed lacking… Several Silver Gongs frowned.

With a series of soft thuds, Gold Gong Jiang Luzhong waved his hand, preparing to call over the young Bronze Gong to inquire about the situation.

The white-robed figures jumped down from the night watchmen’s backs first, rushing eagerly to Xu Qi An and cupping their hands in salute:

“Young Master Xu.”

…The night watchmen looked on in confusion as the white-robed members of the Astronomical Bureau bowed respectfully before this junior Bronze Gong.

So they hadn’t come because of a discovery, but specifically to greet this Bronze Gong?

Gold Gong Jiang Luzhong narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing Xu Qi An.

Xu Qi An stared at the white-robed figures for a moment, confirming he didn’t recognize them. After all, he mainly dealt with the 6th-rank alchemists and wasn’t very familiar with those above or below that rank.

He didn’t know them, but they knew him.

The Astronomical Bureau’s occultists all knew of Xu Qi An’s existence as a super genius in the field of alchemy.

The blue book he wrote was classified as top secret by Senior Brother Song Qing, and ordinary disciples couldn’t even get a glimpse of it.

Although these men were only 8th-rank aura readers, they would eventually become alchemists one day. Building a good relationship with this alchemy prodigy in advance would greatly benefit their future promotions.

In their eyes, this was far more important than investigating the case.

“Young Master Xu, you haven’t come to the Astronomical Bureau in a long time. Senior Brother Song Qing has been talking about you constantly.”

Talking about me? More like wanting to collect a debt… Xu Qi An smiled modestly.

“Young Master Xu, you must come to have tea at the Astronomical Bureau another day. We’d also like to seek your guidance on alchemy.”

Seek his guidance on alchemy?

Gold Gong Jiang Luzhong raised an eyebrow.

The other night watchmen found it hard to believe. The usually proud Astronomical Bureau occultists, who looked down on martial artists, were so respectful towards a Bronze Gong.

From what they were saying, this colleague of theirs was even an expert in alchemy.

Thinking of this, many Bronze Gongs unconsciously glanced at the waist token hanging at Xu Qi An’s side.

His name was engraved on it.

“Another day, perhaps,” Xu Qi An waved his hand. “The case is pressing. Thank you for your trouble, gentlemen.”

“Not at all, it’s our duty.” The white-robed men turned around, their attitude much more polite towards the night watchmen now: “Time is of the essence, let’s continue.”

The white-robed occultists’ attitude had taken a sharp turn.

Jiang Luzhong nodded slightly, “Leave a few men to search this street.”

Taking the rest of the men and the white-robed occultists with him, they left in a few leaps, arriving at a distant location.

A Silver Gong looked back at Xu Qi An’s figure and couldn’t help asking, “Gentlemen, do you know that colleague of ours?”

A white-robed man sighed, “We know him, but he may not know us.”

The other white-robed men also sighed.

When had the Astronomical Bureau’s occultists ever been so humble? The Silver Gong was very curious and pressed further, “What do you mean?”

The surrounding night watchmen pricked up their ears, and Gold Gong Jiang Luzhong tilted his head slightly.

The white-robed men said proudly, “You’ve heard of Senior Brother Song Qing, right? The Astrologer said he’s a once-in-a-century alchemy genius.”

“But do you know what Senior Brother Song has been saying lately?”

Another white-robed man added, “Xu Ningyuan is truly my teacher.”

That can’t be true?! The night watchmen all made the same gesture – turning their heads to look back at Xu Qi An’s figure.

He stood proudly on the roof ridge, his silhouette straight and tall.

Gold Gong Jiang Luzhong didn’t look back, but ordered, “Find out tomorrow who he’s affiliated with.”

…

Xu Qi An searched along the street with the newly arrived colleagues. After a few steps, Zhu Guangxiao and Song Tingfeng returned.

“The Imperial Blade Guards have already sealed off the surrounding area. We need to search the streets,” Song Tingfeng said gravely after greeting the Bronze Gongs.

At this moment, they happened to walk by the Qingshu Inn. Xu Qi An’s eyes flickered slightly as he said, “Tingfeng, Guangxiao, and I will start searching from this inn. The rest of you go elsewhere. Let’s split up.”

The other colleagues had no objections, feeling this was the right course of action.

After watching them leave, Xu Qi An went forward and knocked on the wooden door, startling the waiter inside. The sleepy-eyed waiter came to open the door.

“Off-officers…” the waiter stammered, a bit frightened.

“Room check!” Xu Qi An called out instinctively.

The waiter stood there dumbfounded. Song Tingfeng glanced at Xu Qi An and picked up the thread: “We’re searching for a criminal.”

Raiding hotels for room checks was something Xu Qi An had done plenty of times in his previous life, usually in response to tip-offs.

The reasons for the tip-offs were often that the “working girls” were overacting – feeling nothing from a toothpick but screaming as if it were a wolf’s fang club.

This caused the guests next door to be unable to sleep, angrily reporting it.

The three of them checked room by room, and when they reached the sixth room on the second floor, the waiter said, “This room is unoccupied.”

Song Tingfeng said sternly, “We need to check every room, occupied or not.”

The waiter took out the key to open the door.

Xu Qi An entered the room and glanced around, seeing the blanket on the bed neatly folded and the room empty. He felt relieved.

Not so stupid after all… Although he had the One Leaf Blinds technique, if someone had slept in the bed, the waiter would have found it strange. That would certainly not have escaped the notice of the meticulous Song Tingfeng and the quietly observant Zhu Guangxiao.

Leaving the inn, Xu Qi An made an excuse to use the latrine, lingering at the inn while Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao went to search house by house.

Squatting in the stinking latrine, Xu Qi An placed the candlestick by his feet and took out the small jade mirror.

[Three: The night watchmen came to the inn. Were you discovered?]

A few seconds later, Six replied: [Six: I hid in the rafters and didn’t touch anything in the room.]

An old hand at being wanted… Xu Qi An quipped internally.

[Two: What’s the situation now? Six, are you safe? I didn’t dare ask earlier when there was no news for so long.]

Number Two is still awake?

Is he (she) genuinely concerned or just pretending to be?

[Six: I’m safe for now.]

[Two: How did you escape?]

[Six: Three, can I tell them?]

[Three: A gentleman has nothing to hide. Why not? However, Two, if you want to know, you’ll need to exchange equivalent intelligence. Hmm, I’m very interested in the history of the Myriad Beasts Kingdom and its remnants.]

The case of the saltpeter mine seemed to involve remnants of the Myriad Beasts Kingdom plotting in the shadows. He needed to help Brother Chun by trying to investigate this case.

[Two: I’m not very clear on the history of the Myriad Beasts Kingdom.]

At this moment, another new character chimed in: [Five: I know about the history of the Myriad Beasts Kingdom! I know it very well.]

Good, good, group chats should be lively like this. This way information can be shared… Xu Qi An’s mouth curved into a smile.

So far, those who had spoken up were: Number One, Two, Four, Five, Six, as well as the crafty old Daoist Nine and himself, Three.

Only Seven and Eight hadn’t made an appearance yet.

Seeing no one else speaking, Six input a message: [Three gave me a page with a Confucian spell for concealing one’s aura. That’s how I was able to come out of the water channel.]

[You successfully left the Inner City?]

Two, Five, Four, and the lurking One all expressed their surprise simultaneously.

[Six: No, Three prepared a guest room for me. The spell concealed my aura, allowing me to evade the eyes of the night watchmen along the way and hide in the inn.]

[Three: Wait, you revealed the inn. Aren’t you afraid One will report you?]

[Six: One won’t do that. If he wanted to report me, he would say so directly. Three, I owe you my life. I’ll repay you someday.]

The bald monk is indirectly revealing One’s way of doing things to me… Xu Qi An guessed.

One didn’t respond, and like the other Earth Book holders, he mentally went over the information Six had provided.

Now it could be confirmed that Three was indeed a Confucian disciple, and one highly valued by his teachers at that.

This narrowed down the range considerably, as the outstanding disciples of the Cloud Deer Academy were few, though not too few.

One, who was in the capital, keenly sensed something slightly amiss. How could Three have provided help to Six when the night watchmen had already reacted and mobilized forces to seal off the surroundings?

Unless he lived in the Inner City and happened to be in the same area… Were there any outstanding disciples of the Cloud Deer Academy recently staying in the Inner City?

He made a mental note to have someone look into it later.

Our Heaven and Earth Society finally has a Confucian disciple… The other “Earth Book” holders thought in unison.

Although Confucianism had declined, at its peak, it had suppressed all other cultivation systems and held an extraordinary status in the eyes of cultivators across the world.

[Three: It was just a small favor. Five, it’s time to exchange intelligence.]