An alley barely wide enough for two people felt crowded even when only one person walked through it.
Even if that person was very slight.
Cloth shoes, a single-layered robe, and a small cap concealing her long hair.
Single eyelids, brows like slender leaves, thin lips, and a cold face.
The woman's steps were light and slow. She constantly surveyed her surroundings, as if carefully searching for something. Yet a stern chill lay hidden within her, held tightly in check.
Her slight body was thin but sharp, like an exceedingly aggressive praying mantis.
You knew she would stand before a carriage without yielding, single-mindedly pressing forward.
This solitary walk did not last long, for someone turned into the alley from its far end.
The distant light beyond the alley was blocked by the figure, and the setting sun in the distance sank behind the high walls.
That person's shadow fell heavily, like mist, like night.
His voice spread with the dark haze of evening.
"Miss Dugu! You have lived in Green Sheep Town for a long time without making a move. Why have you suddenly entered Linzi today? Has that lord in the Great Void Pavilion given some instruction?"
The woman in simple robes and cloth shoes raised her eyes and clearly saw the official uniform on the man opposite her, along with the Green Badge at his waist.
Capital Patrol Inspection Office, a fourth-rank Green Badge Constable, an Outer Tower expert.
Compared to his tall frame, she appeared truly small. But with a mere lift of her gaze, a biting sharpness showed through. "Since when did a small fry like me require the Capital Patrol Inspection Office's surveillance upon entering the city? Is the Inspection Office so idle, or am I being singled out?"
She tipped up her chin