That’s right, lawyers must tell the truth, but they can choose to tell only partial truths. Song Yue took a deep breath and said with a wry smile: “I think that person hit me to let me experience firsthand the desolation and helplessness of being left on the street. Lawyer Li, who was responsible for that case, probably encountered the same thing.”

Qin Mo immediately made phone calls to inquire, then made several more calls before sighing: “You’re right. Lawyer Li also encountered the same situation as you, and so did the defendant. As for the judge responsible for that case, nothing happened to him, probably because he moved to another city and couldn’t be found.”

Song Yue’s face showed no relief from having his doubts resolved, but rather became increasingly heavy.

Qin Mo said nothing more, knowing that in their profession, morality was a threshold one had to cross oneself.

The previous Song Yue had been too decisive and efficient, while the current Song Yue obviously needed to weigh things again.

Since they had figured out the suspect’s intention, and the other party only wanted to teach them a lesson rather than do anything serious, Song Yue no longer remained as vigilant as before.

But his heart felt like it had a thorn stuck in it that couldn’t be removed no matter what.

This was actually good – it could remind him of the proper boundaries for his future actions.

Song Yue successfully handled many cases and became a new partner at Qin Law Firm, with his scope of work expanding significantly.

One day, he received a call from Zhang Guan saying someone had come to see him without an appointment. Zhang Guan added that the person was very strange.

Song Yue was free at the time, so he had Zhang Guan bring the person in. Soon someone pushed open the office door, and Song Yue immediately saw a young man in a black shirt embroidered with a dragon.

He looked somewhat familiar – where had he seen him before? Just as Song Yue was about to hand over his business card and greet him, the man waved his hand in refusal: “I’m not here for consultation, but to buy back something from you.”

“What thing?” Song Yue was puzzled, not understanding what the other party meant.

“An archer’s ring.” The man said calmly, “I suppose this item is of no use to you now, so please sell it back to me.”

Only then did Song Yue remember – this person should be the antique shop owner from whom he bought the archer’s ring four years ago. Back then, that person wore a traditional Chinese jacket embroidered with a red dragon – he had changed his clothing style! However, Song Yue indeed found this archer’s ring quite repulsive. He couldn’t throw it away, couldn’t discard it, and didn’t dare give it to anyone. Keeping it in his drawer was truly like a hot potato, so upon hearing this, he immediately took it out and handed it to the owner.

The owner was straightforward, took out several bills and placed them on his desk, then took the brocade box containing the archer’s ring and prepared to leave.

Song Yue hurriedly asked: “Boss, does this archer’s ring have any special origin?” He didn’t dare say that his abnormal life over those four years was because of this archer’s ring, but not asking clearly made him feel uneasy.

The boss turned back and looked at him with a half-smile: “Do you know what an archer’s ring is used for? In ancient times, archer’s rings were called ‘she’, meaning ‘shooting tool.’ They appeared as early as the Shang Dynasty and were tools used by archers to grip bowstrings when shooting prey. Although not weapons like knives and swords, they were accomplices and possessed powerful malevolent energy.”

Song Yue was stunned upon hearing this, feeling the boss’s words had deeper meaning. Wasn’t the lawyer profession quite similar to this archer’s ring?

“Moreover, this archer’s ring was used by King Wu of Zhou, Ji Fa, when he founded the Zhou Dynasty. It can fill the wearer with malevolent energy, causing them to make judgments that are most beneficial to themselves.”

Song Yue didn’t know what to say, though he was somewhat skeptical. Antique dealers were always silver-tongued, yet he, a lawyer who also made his living by words, was rendered speechless by someone else’s talk – this was truly frustrating.

“Don’t worry. The reason you couldn’t remove this archer’s ring after putting it on was probably because the residual malevolent energy in the ring affected your personality. After several years of guidance, it should have completely dissipated.” The old boss said slowly. Naturally, his face showed no trace of apology. This Tail Star Archer’s Ring choosing this person was no coincidence – this person’s rationality and emotionality were too extreme, making it easy for him to go astray. The old boss believed this had little to do with the Tail Star Archer’s Ring as a trigger.

This was like the serpent in the Garden of Eden that tempted Eve to eat the apple – even without that evil snake’s temptation, Eve would have done so eventually.

It was just a matter of time.

But whether such a situation was good or bad, no one could say clearly. After all, according to the Bible’s narrative, Adam and Eve ultimately gave birth to humanity, and a momentary mistake didn’t mean much.

Knowing one’s errors and correcting them is the greatest virtue.

After leaving the office building, the boss appeared to be playing with the archer’s ring in his hands, but was actually discretely stuffing a rabbit doll that was slowly crawling out of his pocket back inside.

“Let me just take one look! No one will notice.” The doctor’s exasperated voice came muffled from the pocket, obviously having been stifled after just a short while.

“Someone is watching.” The boss said calmly, but seeing the rabbit doll swaying as it crawled out again, he no longer stuffed it back.

“It’s just that Hu Hai!” The doctor spotted the figure that had been standing in the shadows at the alley entrance – very conspicuous with his silver hair. Because there happened to be a large anime convention nearby these past few days, the surrounding pedestrians had become accustomed to such strange hair and eye colors and paid no attention. However, the red little bird on his shoulder was well-behaved and cute, occasionally acting adorable. Such a combination of handsome guy plus pet bird attracted attention with a high rate of people turning back to look. The doctor even saw many people around taking photos from a distance with their phones: “Speaking of which, what is this young master doing here? He’s not following us, is he? No wait, boss, didn’t you use the Dragon Pattern Marsh to make Hu Hai submit to you? Did you summon him here?”

“He should have come for this tiger bone.” The boss rubbed the archer’s ring in his hand and smiled slightly: “Though he’s controlled by the Dragon Pattern Marsh, I can’t startle the snake by beating the grass. A good blade should naturally be used on the cutting edge.” With that, the boss turned around and waved the tiger bone archer’s ring in Hu Hai’s direction. The other party had obviously been watching the boss’s every move. His face darkened, and he opened a black umbrella to hold over his head before striding away.

The doctor looked up at the bright sunny sky overhead and marveled: “No way? This young master is afraid of getting tanned like a young lady?”

The boss watched Hu Hai’s figure walking in the sunlight until he turned the street corner and could no longer be seen, then slowly said: “Because he cannot be exposed to sunlight.”

“Ah? He’s a vampire? Afraid of sunlight? If we have to deal with him in the future, do we need to prepare garlic and crosses?” The doctor complained about various things, then suddenly remembered something and said with great amusement: “Oh right, that aquamarine was actually carved into a statue of Christ’s suffering, in the shape of a cross – isn’t young master Hu asking for trouble?”

Though the boss was in a foul mood, hearing the doctor’s arrangement, he couldn’t help but slightly curve his lips.

“Vampires are such low-level creatures, not worth mentioning. Haven’t you ever been curious? There are only two Red Dragon Robes – one has always been worn by me, while the other was buried with Fu Su in Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s mausoleum. How has Hu Hai lived until now?”

“Eh? Isn’t it because he also took the elixir of immortality?” Only now did the doctor sense something suspicious. He thought carefully for a long while before saying in confusion: “This is indeed quite strange. Looking at his silver-white hair and crimson eyes… Hu Hai couldn’t have used some heaven-defying method, could he?”

The boss couldn’t help but reach up to touch the hideous old wound on his neck, sighing: “Both he and I took that elixir of immortality, but the difference is that I died once and am already like a dead person, relying entirely on the Red Dragon Robe to keep my body from decaying. But Hu Hai has been living properly all along. Though the elixir of immortality is a spiritual medicine that can make people live forever and maintain their youth, their hair will gradually turn white like that of an elderly person, and those crimson eyes are probably the same. As for not being able to be exposed to sunlight, that’s also imaginable. He should have died early but lacks the Red Dragon Robe’s protection, so his yin energy is abundant and naturally cannot withstand the direct exposure of sunlight, which is heavy with yang energy. Although he has already modified that half Red Dragon Robe into a cloak to wear, it’s not like me who has worn it for years and months, so the effect isn’t obvious.”

Though the doctor was a careless and inattentive person, he could still hear the melancholy in the boss’s words. He suddenly realized why the boss’s gaze had been so complex when looking at Hu Hai’s figure just now.

Perhaps in this world, the only one who could be called a kindred spirit with the boss was Hu Hai. Both had experienced ups and downs through over two thousand years, witnessing all the changes in human affairs. The doctor suddenly felt that immortality wasn’t necessarily a good thing – one could only stay in each place for a few years before having to hurriedly leave before others became suspicious. Watching those one cared about age one by one, finally ending up accompanied only by ancient objects…

The doctor quietly wrapped his long ears around the boss’s hand, drawing back his attention.

Even if the boss was lonely, he shouldn’t think of finding Hu Hai as a companion. Hmm, that Fu Su who occupied his body should dream even less of it.

Fu Su put down the medical book in his hands and rubbed his aching temples. Though he possessed the memories of this doctor’s body, medicine was boundless in learning. The doctor was only a junior physician with much, much more to learn. For example, there were dozens of surgical suturing methods, each requiring judgment based on the patient’s specific condition, and requiring diligent practice before surgery. Fu Su was somewhat of a perfectionist who liked to do everything to the best of his ability, so he was somewhat physically and mentally exhausted.

A freshly brewed cup of Biluochun tea was placed beside him. Fu Su smelled the tea fragrance and felt his headache ease slightly. He glanced up at Hu Hai standing beside him, then used his hand to hold the teacup and stirred the floating tea leaves with the lid, saying calmly: “You didn’t obtain that tiger bone archer’s ring, did you?”

“This subject-brother was reckless and failed to obtain it.” Hu Hai lowered his head like a child who had done something wrong waiting for an adult’s scolding. Actually, it wasn’t that he had no opportunity to retrieve that tiger bone archer’s ring, but having experienced two thousand years, though most of that time was spent sleeping hidden in tombs, he knew this era was different and his imperial brother’s wish would probably be difficult to achieve. Instead, he felt that living together with his imperial brother, watching him go to work at the hospital daily, and getting along like ordinary brothers wasn’t a bad choice.

Fu Su glanced at him with a half-smile, said nothing, but lowered his head to cool the teacup in his hands and gently took a sip.

Cold sweat soaked Hu Hai’s back. Though his imperial brother hadn’t said a word, the aura he emanated was astonishing, making Hu Hai not dare even breathe too loudly. He always felt his imperial brother was somewhat strange. Though he had declared his intention to rebuild the Heaven and Earth Formation, over these past few months, Fu Su had been normally going to and from work at the hospital every day as the doctor’s replacement, not even traveling to other places once. This made Hu Hai somewhat uneasy.

Was it that he didn’t trust him? Or was he plotting something?

Seeing this disappointing younger brother’s forehead breaking out in fine sweat, Fu Su waved his hand: “It’s nothing. Let’s have roast duck tonight. I’m too lazy to go out – you call for delivery.”

Hu Hai was slightly stunned. Though he felt his imperial brother had become increasingly reclusive these days, he didn’t go against his wishes and went to call for takeout.

Fu Su rubbed the He Shi Bi placed on his desk, slightly narrowed his eyes, and murmured in a low voice: “Only six imperial antiques collected so far? No rush… no rush…”

“Tiger Bone Archer’s Ring” Mini Theater

Doctor: Boss… that…

Boss: ?

Doctor: That archer’s ring… what did you say it was called again?

Boss: You actually don’t recognize the last character, do you?

Doctor: Hehe… don’t laugh at me for being illiterate… Chinese characters are profound and complex. It’s normal to not recognize some characters!

Boss: The character 韘 is pronounced “she,” remember that? This character’s form is also hard to remember – go write it a hundred times!

Doctor: …Hey… do you think with my current arms I can hold a pen? My fingers aren’t even separated!!!!!!!

Boss: …