Following in Secret

"Brother Lin!"

Su Haoming walked over, his face full of delight.

But as he drew close, he suddenly stopped and looked at Lin Yu hesitantly. "Strange... Brother Lin, why can't I sense your breathing or heartbeat at all?"

"Because corpses don't breathe or have heartbeats to begin with."

Lin Yu smiled and explained, "This is a body I restored with Healing Magic. Essentially, it's merely a fresh corpse. My consciousness isn't actually inside this body either—it's hidden within the Holy Scripture, controlling it indirectly through spiritual power."

As he spoke, he paused before adding with a smile, "Of course, making its heart and lungs work would be easy enough. I'm just too lazy to waste the effort!"

Before he had even finished speaking, the body's heart began beating again.

Su Haoming looked utterly amazed, then hurriedly said, "Brother Lin, now that you have a body, shouldn't we catch up to them?"

"Of course!"

Lin Yu smiled and snapped his fingers.

In an instant, eerie light enveloped their bodies, and they vanished from the spot.

"The Jinwu Guard has been ordered to raid Chang'an Black Tea!"

"Anyone found concealing or selling it will be punished severely!"

Ghost Market Street was dimly lit and filled with chaos.

After Lu Lingfeng led his trusted men and the Chang'an Catchers here, they discovered people secretly trading Chang'an Black Tea. He immediately dropped his disguise and began arresting everyone involved along the street.

With the Jinwu Guard's name backing them, Chang'an's catchers instantly became far more overbearing.

Men who normally avoided the Ghost Market at all costs now dared to spread through it in groups of two or three, gripping long blades as they fiercely arrested Ghost Market Merchants selling Chang'an Black Tea.

"Move aside, move aside!"

"The Jinwu Guard is conducting official business! All bystanders, move aside!"

"You! Yes, you! Stand right there!"

"Take one step, and don't blame the Tang saber in my hand for being blind!"

The arrogant shouts rang out from both sides of the street, making Su Wuming's lips twitch. He could not help glancing sideways, secretly watching the reaction of the genuine Jinwu Guard beside him.

Fortunately, Lu Lingfeng showed no intention of blaming the catchers. He simply walked through the street expressionlessly, his sharp gaze sweeping through the chaotic crowd like arrows as he searched for any fish that had slipped through the net amid the confusion.

Just then, two Chang'an Catchers pushed through the crowd, dragging a terrified tea peddler before them.

The two stopped walking. The catchers immediately cupped their hands in salute and said excitedly, "County Lieutenant Su, General Lu, this man is a tea peddler we just caught. He says he's willing to reveal where Chang'an Black Tea is delivered!"

...Oh?

Su Wuming and Lu Lingfeng exchanged a glance.

The latter coughed twice, adopting the air of an official as he said flatly, "Speak. Where is it?"

The tea peddler's gaze shifted between them as he cautiously asked, "If I tell you, will you let me go?"

"Hm?"

Lu Lingfeng immediately frowned, frightening the tea peddler into shrinking his neck.

Su Wuming quickly stepped in front of Lu Lingfeng and warned him, "That was unnecessary. This is the distinguished General of the Guards of the Jinwu Guard. As long as your information is accurate, earning merit by atoning for your crimes will absolutely not be a problem!"

One played the good cop and the other the bad cop, easily intimidating the tea peddler.

After hesitating for a moment, he said in a low voice, "It's at the place where Yin Shirou used to live. There's a Secret Door there that connects to the complex Secret Tunnels beneath the Ghost Market. We used to trade inside those tunnels."

Just as expected!

Su Wuming thought to himself.

Lu Lingfeng frowned and stared at him as he slowly asked, "Do you know the consequences of deceiving this general?"

The tea peddler was so frightened that he immediately knelt, forcing a bitter smile. "My lord, how would I dare deceive you?"

"To be honest with you, we definitely wouldn't have dared reveal this kind of information before. But Yin Shirou has now suffered Heaven's Punishment. We've all been discussing it in private and think it may be related to this black tea, so we're terrified as well!"

"To tell you the truth, I can't wait to cut all ties with this black tea. Why would I try to deceive you?"

Lu Lingfeng's brow relaxed. Turning his head, he said quietly, "He doesn't seem to be lying."

Su Wuming snorted and said evenly, "If that's the case, why were you still selling Chang'an Black Tea today?"

The tea peddler froze, then began stammering.

Su Wuming's lips curled into a smile. "Say what people want to hear when speaking to people, and say what ghosts want to hear when speaking to ghosts. That's a Ghost Market Merchant's basic skill. If you can't even do that, how can you survive in a place like this?"

"..."

Lu Lingfeng's expression turned somewhat unsightly. With a sweep of his hand, he ordered, "Tie him up!"

After the Chang'an Catchers dragged away the pleading tea peddler, Su Wuming said in a low voice, "Although most of what he said was false, his attitude when he spoke of Yin Shirou could not have been faked."

"Since yesterday, Yin Shirou and the force behind him have lost much of their prestige. These Tea Peddlers no longer fear them as they did before. The location he mentioned is indeed worth investigating."

"Then let's take a look!" Lu Lingfeng nodded and waved his hand. "Leave some men to watch the suspects. The rest, follow this general!"

"Yes!"

The catchers immediately sprang into action. One group stayed behind to guard the suspects, while the other surged forward after Lu Lingfeng.

Before long, they arrived at Yin Shirou's former residence.

But unlike yesterday, the estate was now completely dark, without even a trace of lamplight.

Many homeless Ghost Market residents lay on the stone steps before the estate. When they saw Lu Lingfeng, Su Wuming, and the others approaching with blades in hand, fear instantly appeared on their faces. They hurriedly scrambled up from the steps and scattered into the surrounding alleys.

Lu Lingfeng did not order anyone to pursue them. His gaze swept over the area as he said quietly, "Watch for an ambush."

"Yes!"

The three Jinwu Guards and the catchers all drew the Tang sabers at their waists and slowly entered the estate.

The instant the Jinwu Guard in the lead stepped over the threshold, a sharp whistle of something cutting through the air came from the rafters.

Clang!

Lu Lingfeng slashed the arrow apart with one stroke and glared up at the rafters. "Who is it?!"

A black shadow flashed across the rafters before rushing out through a window on the estate's right side.

"Chase him!"

Lu Lingfeng shouted and was the first to rush out of the estate, charging into the alley on the right.

Everyone followed with torches in hand. Only upon reaching the end of the alley did they discover it was a dead end.

"Where did he go?"

Jinwu Guard Squad looked blankly at the wall before him.

Lu Lingfeng swept his gaze around and quickly noticed a raised brick on the ground.

He strode forward and lifted the floor tile in one motion, revealing a pitch-black hole beneath it.

"It's a Secret Tunnel!"

The three Jinwu Guards looked at one another, then all turned toward Lu Lingfeng.

"General of the Guards, should we go in?"

"..."

Lu Lingfeng frowned. After thinking for a moment, he gritted his teeth and said, "Go in!"

"Wait!"

Su Wuming was in poor physical condition and arrived late. Seeing that Lu Lingfeng and the others intended to enter the Secret Tunnel, he hurriedly stopped them. Panting as he ran up to them, he said in a low voice, "General of the Guards, don't you think this is going too smoothly?"

"Of course I know that!"

Lu Lingfeng shot him a glance. "But if you expect this general to stand here and watch him escape, forgive me, but I cannot do that!"

As he spoke, his gaze swept over the people behind him. He raised his voice and said, "This general will request credit for your arrests of the Tea Peddlers. As for this tunnel, those of you with families need not take this risk!"

Before he had finished speaking, Lu Lingfeng snatched a torch from a Chang'an Catcher and jumped into the Secret Tunnel with the three Jinwu Guards.

Seeing this, Su Wuming and the catchers beside him could only look at one another.

Old Jia, one of the catchers, hesitated. "County Lieutenant..."

"Ah!"

Su Wuming let out a long sigh and looked at them. "No matter what, we cannot let the enemy lead us by the nose. Listen to my orders. Split into groups of four and spread out to see if there are any other entrances to the Secret Tunnels."

"Remember, gather first after finding one. Do not act rashly!"

Everyone cupped their hands and replied, "Yes!"

Very soon, Su Wuming led the catchers away in different directions.

Only after the sound of their footsteps gradually faded did two blurry figures quietly emerge.

"Good thing we followed them here!"

Su Haoming could not help sighing. "This early version of Lu Lingfeng really is reckless enough!"

Lin Yu glanced at him beside him and smiled faintly. "Have you figured out how you're going to make your entrance?"

"...Hm?"

Su Haoming was slightly stunned.

Lin Yu chuckled. "We followed them here in secret. Don't tell me you still plan to reveal your identities?"

"Don't forget, you've already stepped onto the Path of Transcendence. How do you plan to explain all those Magic Powers of yours?"

"And me, your accomplice—if you reveal your identity, you'll probably have to rack your brains to make up a reasonable background for me too. Why bother?"

Su Haoming admitted that he had been persuaded and humbly asked, "Brother Lin, whatever you say we should do, I'll do!"

Lin Yu smiled. "Didn't I already say it? There's no need to risk your own identity. If you want to make a big move, put on another layer of disguise. Just make up some faction background and let everyone else fill in the blanks themselves!"