The New Year was approaching, and whether they had modest means or empty pockets, people took to the streets to purchase New Year goods.

Tea stalls and meat shops, taverns and pawnshops—every place was packed with people.

The meat bun stall at the street corner took full advantage of its location. Those with some spare money in their pockets, after tiring from browsing and finishing their shopping, would spend three copper coins to buy a steaming hot meat bun to fill their stomachs.

The fragrance of the meat buns carried far, attracting a group of small beggars who circled the stall but dared not approach too closely.

Auntie Wang who sold the meat buns was not to be trifled with—she would hack at people with her cleaver.

At a tea stall selling coarse tea, the benches were filled with people.

Two men with ordinary faces silently drank their tea, their eyes occasionally sweeping over a certain place from the corners of their vision.

They were Fifth Master Yun Dong’s men.

Three days ago their people had started standing guard here. New faces would rotate in every day, not only for the traitor Pingli who had hidden in that dwelling, but also for the forces behind the assassination of the Liuqing County Magistrate.

Fifth Master said not to act rashly—drawing out those forces was the Grand Commander’s objective.

This area was a chaotic mix where people came and went. If Pingli didn’t appear, there would be no way to ferret out those people.

But Pingli’s patience was really too good—for three days he hadn’t stepped outside his door once.

According to the first batch of brothers who followed him here, three days ago Pingli had only bought six meat buns.

Thinking of meat buns, one of the men quietly glanced at the meat bun stall not far away.

Those steaming hot meat buns—before completing their mission, they could only look.

Remnants of snow remained at the base of the wall, the ground a muddy mess. Several idlers boredly played with the mud using their toes.

Such idlers could be seen everywhere in the eastern district—either some good-for-nothing son whom the neighbors all knew, or outsiders who had drifted here. No one gave them a second glance.

The idlers’ eyes flickered, searching everywhere for targets. If they encountered someone who looked easy to bully, or found an opportunity to start some trouble, their food and drink for the day would be secured.

Being an idler was all about getting food and drink. They didn’t have the guts to rob houses yet—such imposing deeds they could only secretly fantasize about.

Among them, one idler had an unfamiliar face. His clothing and bearing were no different from the other idlers, even his greedy and restless gaze was the same, except occasionally his line of sight would sweep over a certain place, a sharp light flashing in his eyes.

Next to the tea stall was a fortune-telling booth. The blind fortune-teller never seemed to have business, so most of the time he simply lazed in the sun.

Those cloudy, unfocused eyes would occasionally stare in a certain direction lost in thought—sometimes at the meat bun shop, sometimes at the dilapidated dwelling, and other times at the tea stall or the wall base.

Several parties silently waited, invisibly competing in patience.

Pingli stood quietly behind the shabby door for a while before extending his hand to the door bolt.

It had been a long time since he experienced this kind of hesitation.

Perhaps due to years of comfortable living, he had thought he could handle such circumstances with ease, but in reality it was not so.

Worry, fear, doubt… all kinds of emotions accumulated in his heart, making him irresolute.

At this point, he had to admit he had long lost the courage from years ago when he would risk his life for a meat bun.

The door bolt was just a horizontal piece of wood, flimsy and fragile—like this shabby wooden door, it couldn’t really block anything.

Pingli pulled out the door bolt and opened the door.

If his adoptive father or those people had discovered his whereabouts, a shabby door couldn’t stop them anyway.

Outside the door was lively and noisy. The snow on the eaves opposite glistened brilliantly under the sunlight, rather dazzling to the eyes.

Pingli squinted, momentarily somewhat unaccustomed.

He didn’t dare linger at the doorway too long—that would be too strange.

Pingli collected himself, his expression composed as he walked out.

Sweeping a glance around—peddlers with shoulder poles, old men pushing wheelbarrows, farm women with baskets hawking eggs… chaotic yet orderly.

Pingli’s heart settled slightly as he quickly walked toward the meat bun shop.

The two Jinlin Guards at the tea stall exchanged glances. Not only did they not move, they actually ordered another cup of tea, though excitement showed in their eyes.

Finally their waiting hadn’t been in vain—drinking so much coarse tea in the cold wind was about to give them upset stomachs.

Just then someone walked up to the fortune-telling booth, asking the blind fortune-teller to read his bone structure and tell his fortune.

The fortune-teller’s face showed serene detachment, but inwardly he was cursing: Damn it, three days without a proper customer, and someone comes precisely at this moment.

This expression of serene detachment appeared to the visitor as that of a master, so he became even more determined to stay.

One step, two steps, three steps…

The idler leaning against the wall reached into his tattered cotton jacket and pulled out a crossbow.

Before the other idlers noticed, an arrow flew out, heading straight for Pingli’s back.

The two Jinlin Guards moved.

They didn’t rush toward Pingli but toward the direction from which the cold arrow was shot.

The fortune-teller raised his hand and flicked it—pebbles struck the knee hollows of both Jinlin Guards.

Their legs weakened and they fell to the ground, watching helplessly as that idler ran off.

One Jinlin Guard said angrily: “He has accomplices!”

In the chaos, they couldn’t tell which direction the pebbles had come from.

The other Jinlin Guard said urgently: “First capture Pingli, then we’ll talk.”

The big fish they wanted to catch had escaped. If Pingli escaped too, the Grand Commander would definitely skin them alive when they returned.

Fortunately they also had companions, precisely to prevent Pingli from escaping while they grappled with the big fish.

The two who got up immediately ran toward the meat bun stall.

Pingli had been vigilant all along. When the hidden arrow attacked, hearing the sound cutting through air, he hastily dodged to the side.

The sharp cold arrow buried itself in his shoulder. Intense pain came.

Screams rose one after another as the scene immediately became extremely chaotic.

Pingli had no time to pull out the arrow and took off running.

He had already seen two men running toward him.

He didn’t recognize those two people, but the feeling they gave him was familiar—they were Jinlin Guard men.

Pingli immediately ran in the opposite direction.

In the opposite direction, people were also closing in.

Pingli’s expression changed slightly. He ran in yet another direction, but suddenly a wave of dizziness struck and his speed involuntarily slowed.

Not good, the arrow was poisoned!

This thought flashed through his mind. Pingli’s vision went black as he pitched forward.

Several Jinlin Guards quickly surrounded him and pinned down the convulsing Pingli on the ground.

“Take him away!”

The Jinlin Guards quickly took Pingli away, leaving behind a group of common people whose souls had just settled back and whose gossip fires were boiling over.

What had happened? Were the officers here to catch a thief?

In front of the fortune-telling booth, the man who had come for a fortune reading stood dumbstruck, pointing at the fortune-teller’s hand and saying in a trembling voice: “I, I saw everything!”

This blind fortune-teller had actually grabbed two pebbles and thrown them out, knocking down the two people drinking tea.

The pebbles had clearly been used to weigh down the dirty divination chart…

The man felt completely unable to accept the facts he had witnessed.

The fortune-teller’s pair of cloudy eyes faced the man’s direction as he asked impatiently: “Are you getting your fortune told or not? So much chatter from you!”

“No, I won’t!” The man took off running.

The fortune-teller raised his hand and wiped—his cloudy eyes regained clarity. Pursing his lips, he said: “Tsk, what bad luck to set up a divination booth, and then such a big fuss over nothing.”