With a rustle, Zhong Wu unfolded a map several feet across and spread it over the table. Numerous red dots were scattered across it in every direction. "This is a map of Fengle City's Nine Cities and Eighty-one Districts. Every red dot marks a place of suspicion."
Xu Yi pressed one hand to the map and produced a charcoal pencil with the other. From time to time, he held the pencil sideways and measured across the map, apparently calculating the scale.
Suddenly, he drew a circle in the upper-right corner of the map, around a cluster of red dots. He tapped the circle with his pencil. "Li Xin, go to the center of that circle. I'll meet you there in half an incense stick."
With that, he left the room. Li Xin stared at Zhong Wu, dumbfounded.
Zhong Wu said enigmatically, "Do as My Lord says. Whatever he says is always right. You ought to trust him to the point of superstition."
Li Xin was at a loss for words. He apologized to Zhong Wu, then hurried toward the center Xu Yi had marked.
In his heart, he didn't believe a word of Zhong Wu's praise for Xu Yi. He considered himself quite skilled at tracking, and it was precisely this ability that had eventually earned him his appointment as Head of the Anti-Theft Department.
He had spared no effort these past five days, yet every clue he'd managed to uncover had been cut off and swept away.
As for ability, he knew perfectly well that he was no match for My Lord Prefectural Commander. But tracking and finding traces weren't skills that could be mastered through sheer strength, nor could a few words of praise truly grant someone divine powers.
Even so, since My Lord had given an order,