Stir-Fried Jade Hibiscus Pork

At the sight of this, Li Yunxin's heart stirred. As the man passed by him, he greeted him. "Yo, that was quick."

The young servant had already noticed Li Yunxin's attire. To keep a low profile today, he wore only a blue cloth Daoist robe with a wooden hairpin in his hair. But his looks saved everything—he still appeared noble and unworldly, like a young lord in disguise.

Being greeted by such a handsome fellow clearly pleased the young servant. He stopped, lowered his head to glance at the food box in his hands, and reckoned that chatting for a moment would do no harm. Smiling, he said, "Yes. You look unfamiliar, sir. Did you only just arrive in Weicheng?"

"More or less. The weather here is rather strange." Li Yunxin tightened his collar. "Before crossing the bridge, I didn't feel it. But once I crossed it and entered this street, it suddenly turned cold."

As he said this... the young servant was standing directly in front of those faceless ghosts that had been staring fixedly at him.

One of them was practically overlapping his body.

The young servant frowned. "Eh? You're absolutely right. I was just saying this street felt cursed today. The moment I came out from the residence and stepped onto this street, waves of chill ran through me. Even now—good heavens, isn't this a late spring cold snap? The cold wind keeps whooshing straight down my neck!"

"Oh, you're from the residence? The Prefect's residence?" Li Yunxin's eyes lit up as he asked with interest.

"Ah, I'm only a third-rank servant." The young servant smiled rather reservedly, then seemed to realize that this young gentleman probably did not know what "third-rank servant" meant. So he explained, "Still, it's a comfortable life. We get silver during festivals and holidays. If I scrimp and save for a year, I can put away twenty taels of silver. Save for a few years, return home, buy a few mu of land, and then... well..."

At that point, he felt that this young gentleman was probably not very interested in such matters, so he stopped speaking.

Who would have thought that Li Yunxin instead straightened up and leaned slightly forward, looking intensely interested? "That truly is quite good. Little brother, you found yourself a fine household. Where I come from, it isn't nearly so good—"

He was already handsome to begin with. Once he deliberately put on a friendly manner, he became even more refreshing than a spring breeze. Combined with experience from his former profession—drawing people into conversation and fishing for information was as easy as turning his hand over.

By the time they were done, the young servant suddenly slapped the back of his head—the snacks in the food box would be cold by now. He hurriedly apologized to Li Yunxin, then jogged around the corner and into the alley.

Li Yunxin glanced once more at the residence in the night, clasped his hands behind his back, and headed home.

There was a Yin Spirit Array there. He did not want to cast any spells and draw someone's attention, so he could only gather information through scraps of conversation. After questioning the servant and adding his own deductions, he had figured out most of the matter.

His initial guess had been correct. The Qiao Household and Prefect Li wanted the old Daoist's courtyard.

Neither the Qiao Household nor the Prefect held any grudge against Liu Laodao or himself—they simply wanted the property.

Li Yunxin had long understood the thoughts of those three members of the Qiao Household. To them, the old Daoist's real estate truly was an enormous fortune. And the old man had neither son nor daughter, while he himself was merely an unfamiliar youth. Neither of them had been taken seriously.

As for Prefect Li... at first, Li Yunxin could not understand why an official like him, with so many ways to make money, would risk stirring public resentment and staining his own reputation just to covet a piece of property under his jurisdiction. By now, he had more or less figured it out.

It seemed Prefect Li had offended someone.

Someone extraordinarily formidable—someone capable of threatening his life.

So formidable that Prefect Li had scattered his family fortune and begged the masters of the Dao Tradition and Sword Sect in Weicheng to set up this Yin Spirit Array to protect his residence.

That servant named Aze had only felt the street turn "chilly" tonight. Clearly, this great array had only recently been completed.

Prefect Li was short of money, and he was no upright official to begin with. The Qiao Household had delivered a fine opportunity to his door, and the victim was only a down-and-out old Daoist... Li Yunxin felt that if he stood in Prefect Li's position, he would probably do the same.

Thinking this, he let out a breath.

He had been so concerned because he feared there was some hidden truth beneath it all—for example, that someone had set their sights on him. Now, it seemed he had merely been unlucky enough to get dragged into it.

Mm... perhaps that was not quite right...

Perhaps someone else was the unlucky one.

By the time he walked back to the temple, he had more or less sorted out his thoughts.

He pushed open the door, shut it behind him, entered the rear courtyard, and went into the main hall. He found food already laid out on the table.

A plate of thinly sliced braised beef sat in the center. The slices were cut almost transparent, the braising sauce on the meat giving off a soft gleam and fragrant aroma. Around it were a dish of golden, plump crispy peanuts; a dish of stir-fried jade hibiscus pork, pale jade-colored hibiscus slices paired with red and green pepper shreds, bursting with fresh fragrance at a single bite; and a dish of fragrant bamboo shoot chicken, the chicken flash-fried until just done and lifted out while still tender, then paired with bamboo shoot slices gathered in the spring mornings while the dew still clung to them—fragrant and sweet.

Beside the four dishes sat a silver wine flask. Li Yunxin laughed the instant he saw it. Wasn't this Liu Laodao's most treasured one? Usually, he was afraid even to take it out, lest it be chipped or dented.

This old Daoist truly cherished his old companion.

Li Yunxin sat at the table and picked up his chopsticks, first taking several peanuts. The more he chewed, the more fragrant they became. He then selected a slice of bamboo shoot to eat. Once his mouth was filled with that fresh savor, he went for the braised beef. After several bites, he poured himself a cup of wine and drank it down.

The wine was not harsh. It went down his throat mellow and refreshing, then spread a warm glow through his belly, truly sweeping away the fatigue of the day.

He drank another cup before he saw Liu Laodao edging in through the doorway, studying his expression and seeming to want to speak, yet holding back.

Li Yunxin found it amusing that a man of such age seemed like a child before him, this "child." He lifted his chin. "Have you eaten?"

The old Daoist sat beside the table, stared at him, and asked anxiously, "Brother Xin, how did it go?"

Li Yunxin then told him the whole matter in meticulous detail.

But the old Daoist was clearly more concerned about something else. "My... old companion?"

"If Prefect Li has set his heart on doing this, then no one can save him." Li Yunxin set down his chopsticks and looked seriously at the old Daoist. "No one can persuade him, because he sees this as a matter of his own life and fortune. What could be more important than that?"

"So, if you want to save your old companion, you have to pull the firewood from beneath the cauldron. Solve Prefect Li's problem."

The old Daoist pondered for a while, blinking. "Brother Xin means... help him through this calamity? Keep him safe? Ah... how could we possibly manage that? Even a prefect has no solution, and we..."

Li Yunxin looked at him strangely. "Your way of thinking is quite strange. If we're pulling the firewood from beneath the cauldron, why would we help him?"

He picked up a peanut and tossed it into his mouth, smiling. "He was about to come after me, and I'm supposed to help him instead. What kind of fool would that make me?"

"If we kill Prefect Li, wouldn't that settle everything once and for all?"