Inner city, Shadow Pivot Court.
Under the night sky, the Shadow Pivot Court looked more solemn than ever. Its walls were high, its courtyards deep, and only a few watchtowers glowed with lamplight.
Xiao Fan rode up, flashed his Black-Clad Guard token before the gate guards, and passed without challenge.
He rode straight to a secluded courtyard of the Black-Clad Guard, tied his large black horse to a stone post outside, then strode in!
The courtyard was brightly lit. Sure enough, Commander Yang Tong of the White Tiger, renowned for his diligence, was still bent over his desk in the inner hall, "working overtime."
"Sir! I have urgent business to report!" Xiao Fan strode into the hall, dropped to one knee, and cupped his fists. His voice held a deliberately restrained urgency.
Yang Tong looked up from a pile of files and rubbed the space between his brows. "What's so urgent?"
Xiao Fan recounted every detail, with plenty of gestures for good measure: how Mu Sha had become a wisp of remnant soul at the final moment of the Nine Provinces Martial Tournament, and how that soul had told him to retrieve something from the Mass Burial Ground west of the city.
He made the danger of that day sound as harrowing as possible and Mu Sha's remnant soul as tragic and earnest as could be. At the end, he straightened his back and thumped his chest, declaring that though the road ahead was perilous, he would brave ten thousand deaths to uncover the truth for the court!
And he was not done. Changing tack, he began embellishing how, on his way here today, he had seen an injustice and single-handedly fought dozens of villains who were bullying decent folk!
They had outnumbered him, and their ranks included graded martial