The moon had climbed to the middle of the sky, then sunk again. Linyuan Prefecture slept soundly. Only the watchman's wooden clapper echoed through the empty streets and alleyways, striking again and again like it was counting the pulse of this dead-silent city.
Duan Tianbao had left the city.
Ye Qingxuan had coaxed the news out of a worker who delivered vegetables exclusively to Happy Forest, paying half a mace of silver for it. Apparently, the hall master had a major deal to handle and was going to a ruined temple thirty li outside the city to receive an important shipment. He would not be back until noon the next day at the earliest.
Ye Qingxuan knew that "important shipment" was almost certainly the Body Tempering Pills that could help him break through.
The time had come.
Canner Alley was black as if ink had been splashed across it. Cheng Yuan and Zhao Hu hunched low, pressing themselves against the base of the wall. Their movements were far nimbler than when they patrolled the streets by day.
"Brother Cheng, this is the place." Zhao Hu lowered his voice and pointed at an inconspicuous back door. "I asked around. There's a woodshed behind this door, connected to the courtyard by the storeroom. Only an old man guards it at night."
Cheng Yuan gave a sly grin and pulled an oil-paper package from his robes. Inside was a roast chicken laced with sleeping medicine. He pried the door open a crack and tossed the chicken inside. Before long, a burst of barking came from within, followed by several whimpers. Then all was silent.
The two slipped inside and, with practiced ease, felt their way to the storeroom door. The lock was a large copper-bodied padlock that looked intimidating, but it could not