"When I met your teacher Qin Xiao, he was already a Propriety Guard Walker."
In the dark bedroom, Bai Yu lit a cigarette. The flickering candlelight instantly illuminated his heavy, rock-like face.
He glanced at Le Yu, then turned around and unreservedly showed Le Yu his back. He took a deep drag and exhaled a ring of smoke that remained faintly visible in the darkness.
"At the time, I was only a disciple, and my contact had died. My father had just died, in other words, so I was assigned to Qin Xiao. I had seen you before, but you definitely wouldn't remember me."
"In the Propriety Guard, there were three ranks: disciple, Walker, and Venerable Seat. Disciples had one-line contact with Walkers and were effectively their subordinates. Shi Huaifeng, for example, was Qin Leyin's subordinate."
"The Walkers weren't equal to one another, either. Someone like Bai Yu, who could contact a Venerable Seat, naturally had a higher status than Qin Leyin."
"But in any case, most people in the Propriety Guard didn't know one another even when they met. This was the best way for the Huiyao Four Guards to conceal their companions—the best way to protect a secret was to make sure you didn't know it existed."
"That way, even if someone was captured, at most their contact would be implicated, while those at higher levels would have enough time to respond."
Le Yu thought for a moment. "The Newspaper Deliverer?"
Bai Yu was slightly taken aback, then smiled. "That was one of my identities."
When he was young, Qin Leyin had once followed Qin Xiao alone to the Yan Capital to collect a copy of the Heart of Nayser and study espionage. By then, he had already been able to threaten his father not to harm his