Surveillance

Funeral Street, on the second floor of a street-facing loft about two hundred meters from Deliverance Studio.

The windows were covered with specially made one-way glass. From outside, they looked dim, but from within, they offered a clear view of most of the street, especially the activity at Deliverance Studio's front and back doors.

Zhou Ling and the composed man who had been taking notes at the Black Tiger Gang earlier, Zhao Tie, stood quietly behind the window.

In Zhao Tie's hand was a palm-sized brass compass. Its needle trembled faintly, pointing toward Deliverance Studio.

Zhou Ling held a Truth-Peering Mirror, shaped like a small monocular telescope, and watched Deliverance Studio.

"Brother Zhao, that kid really does look frail." Zhou Ling lowered the Truth-Peering Mirror and rubbed her sore eyes. "The yin baleful intent inside him is even more outrageous than that of the people I've seen who were haunted by vengeful ghosts."

"If he had that kind of ability, could he really have been tormented by yin baleful intent until he was in this state? Besides, when the Black Tiger Gang got into trouble, his health was so bad he probably couldn't even kill a chicken, could he?"

"The yin energy in him has gathered without dispersing and sunk deep into his bones. It really is a sign that his time is nearly up. But Captain Yue must have his reasons for telling us to keep an eye on him." Zhao Tie paused and lowered his voice. "The Black Tiger Gang affair is far too suspicious."

"First came the vengeful-spirit attacks, then the precisely executed massacre. The methods were ruthless and clean—not like an ordinary feud between martial factions."

"Captain Yue is under tremendous pressure right now. We can't let any suspicious clue slip by."

At last, Zhao Tie looked away from the compass and turned to Zhou Ling. "There may be something else hidden about this kid."

"So many of our brothers fell at Green Dragon Shoal, and the impact was enormous. The news of the Black Tiger Gang's massacre also reached the higher-ups in Jinmen."

He sighed, weariness showing in his brow.

At the mention of Green Dragon Shoal, Zhou Ling's expression turned somber, and a flicker of pain passed through her eyes. "Green Dragon Shoal? What exactly is hidden in that cursed place?"

"I heard that seven of our people from the Inspection Bureau alone—capable hands, every one of them—were lost there, and three from the Anomaly Suppression Bureau were injured. Deputy Captain Li..." Her voice caught in her throat.

Zhao Tie fell silent for a moment, then patted her shoulder, his voice growing even heavier. "Eight. I just got word that Old Li didn't make it through last night, either."

"That thing probably isn't an ordinary river ghost or water demon. For it to deal such a heavy blow to the Inspection Bureau and the Anomaly Suppression Bureau working together, it has to be at least a ferocious baleful entity. It may even have brushed against the threshold of a calamity."

He paused, seeming to want to turn the conversation away from this heavy subject and explain some of the levels she might not fully understand yet. "Our Anomaly Suppression Bureau and the Inspection Bureau mainly follow the orthodox martial path, cultivating qi and blood."

"From the basics of abundant qi and blood, to qi and blood like mercury and skin like bronze and bones like iron, then on to the higher realms of an indestructible golden body and even a furnace of qi and blood—each step is taken steadily. It's a path of pure, upright yang energy that restrains evil spirits."

"Captain Yue is still young, yet he's already perfected the realm of qi and blood like mercury and touched the threshold of skin like bronze and bones like iron. He's one of the top fighters in all of Jinmen."

"Whereas the unorthodox arts that kid across the way may be involved in, and the methods the Black Tiger Gang may have provoked, follow a far more varied path."

Zhao Tie continued, "The lower-class arts and unorthodox paths have very vague distinctions between realms. Some judge by the depth of one's magical power, some by the number and strength of the evil entities one controls, and some by how strange one's secret arts are."

"But broadly speaking, anyone who can independently cast spells to harm people and command yin souls is considered to have entered the ranks."

"Anyone capable of staging vengeful-spirit attacks and a precisely executed massacre like last night is at least a seasoned practitioner, at the level of mastery or even subtlety."

"Further up, those who can control powerful demons, set up formidable formations, or even undergo strange changes themselves are even harder to deal with. We generally treat them as comparable to martial artists at the level of skin like bronze and bones like iron, or even higher."

Zhou Ling looked thoughtful. "Brother Zhao, you mean that if the Black Tiger Gang affair really was the work of an unorthodox practitioner, then the person who did it may be quite powerful? At least, it's beyond what that kid across the way seems capable of right now?"

"Exactly." Zhao Tie nodded. "But Captain Yue doesn't suspect he has that kind of ability now. He suspects he may have had it once—or knows someone who does."

"Don't forget, he's the only son of Paper-Crafting Chen. Paper-Crafting Chen was a figure of some standing on Funeral Street. They say the Paper Crafting Technique passed down through his family had some real secrets, though the family later fell into decline."

"Chen Mo grew up around all this. Even if he never learned any advanced arts, might he know some secrets? And isn't the deadly yin baleful intent in his body strange in itself? The Black Tiger Gang kept pressuring his family's shop for its secret arts, so there was already plenty of reason to suspect the other party."

Zhou Ling suddenly understood. "Captain Yue suspects that Chen Mo might be the murderer, or a person in the know? Maybe even his illness is some kind of cover—or a price he paid?"

"That's possible." Zhao Tie looked back at the compass. Its needle still pointed steadily toward Deliverance Studio. "That's why Captain Yue told us to keep watch."

"On one hand, we need to see whether he really is just a dying patient. On the other, now that the Black Tiger Gang has been wiped out, he's directly connected to the case. Will anyone come looking for him? Whether to silence him or fish for information."

At that, Zhou Ling raised her strong brows, confusion in her eyes. "Brother Zhao, if Captain Yue suspects Chen Mo might know something, why don't we just invite him back to the bureau and question him properly? That would save us from wasting time sitting here."

"The Black Tiger Gang massacre is a serious case. We have grounds to bring him in to assist with the investigation."

Zhao Tie glanced at Zhou Ling and shook his head. She was still too young. "Xiao Zhou, you're oversimplifying things. In the past, or under a different pretext, there'd be no problem bringing him in for questioning. But the timing is wrong now, and we can't throw the rules aside."

His tone grew grave. "We suffered terrible losses in the battle at Green Dragon Shoal. We're short on manpower, and our fighting strength has been badly diminished."

"Second," Zhao Tie said, pointing out the window toward Funeral Street, "do you think the Black Tiger Gang is all that's going on lately? The waters are murky beneath the surface."

"According to reports and our own investigations, quite a few suspicious characters from the Moon-Worship Cult have secretly slipped in lately. They're elusive, and their purpose is unclear. Those lunatics worship the Red Moon and stop at nothing. They're harder to deal with than ordinary unorthodox practitioners."

Zhou Ling's face changed. "The Moon-Worship Cult? Those lunatics are here too?"

Zhao Tie nodded. "That's why it's not just Linhe County—Jinmen as a whole is facing trouble both within and without. We don't have enough strength, so we can't keep using the old black-and-white approach for everything."

"Captain Yue has been in talks with the higher-ups these past few days. When necessary, the Inspection Bureau and the Anomaly Suppression Bureau may consider recruiting unorthodox practitioners with relatively clean records, or heirs to the Eight Yin Craftsmen like the Chen family across the way."

"Recruit them?" Zhou Ling looked surprised. "Can we trust these people?"

"Of course not." Zhao Tie spoke bluntly. "But sometimes, you have to use extraordinary means."

He looked toward Deliverance Studio. "For those Eight Yin Craftsmen and unorthodox families who have inherited their arts but haven't been caught committing any obvious crimes, the government and the Inspection Bureau generally focus on keeping them under surveillance and avoid acting rashly."

"As long as they don't openly cause trouble, endanger the people, or cross the line, we give them some room to live."

"Push them too hard, and you risk driving them to the other side—or chilling the hearts of other unorthodox practitioners still watching from the sidelines. That would only make things worse."