Uneasy

If these things had struck Li Yunxin as unbelievable, then a term that came from Qiao Jiaming's mouth that afternoon truly startled him.

Liu Laodao had been terribly dispirited these past few days. He probably felt he had to leave himself a way out besides Li Yunxin, so he shamelessly ran about everywhere. But with something like this on his hands—Magistrate Li personally overseeing it—the few "friends" who had only ever been casual acquaintances now avoided him like the plague. Who would pay him any mind?

Right now, the old Daoist was like a fish on the chopping block—he knew the blade was about to fall, yet there was nothing he could do.

That afternoon, when Qiao Jiaming sauntered over to the temple gate with a cruel, smug look on his face, the old Daoist had already broken out in mouth sores. He kept beating around the bush, asking Li Yunxin how that plan of his was progressing.

Li Yunxin merely smiled and sorted through the clues he had gathered that day in his mind.

Then they heard a strange laugh—

"Oh? You two are still taking it easy?" Qiao Jiaming poked his head through the temple gate and looked around. Seeing that not a single worshipper remained, he leaned contentedly against the doorframe. "If I were you, I wouldn't have such a big heart. I'd have turned myself in long ago—maybe if Magistrate Li took pity on you, he wouldn't sentence you to be beheaded, only exile and banishment. That'd still buy you a few more days to live."

Li Yunxin tucked his hands into his sleeves and walked up to stop before him, giving a slight nod. "Thank you for your concern. Here to offer incense? Praying for wealth or warding off disaster?"

Qiao Jiaming tilted his head to look at him, feeling deeply displeased. This brat... didn't show the slightest sign of panic or fear. His face darkened, and he leaned close to Li Yunxin, snarling, "Stop dreaming, kid. You think you still have a way to live? Let me tell you, I was the one who spent the money. I'm the one who wants you dead. Neither you nor that old fossil will live."

Li Yunxin turned his face slightly aside to avoid the spray of spittle, then said with not the least sincerity, "Oh. I'm so scared. But tell me—being so easily worked up, how have you managed not to get yourself killed by now? I heard that when you went around the streets swindling people with your medical practice a few years ago, you delayed treatment for quite a few patients... No one ever came to settle the score with you?"

Qiao Jiaming's face turned black, and he wanted to burst into curses. But then he remembered that this was a dead man who would be dead in a few days anyway. He forcibly suppressed his anger and laughed. "Heh, you're worrying about me? Back then, your grandpa—"

Unfortunately, when it came to trading barbs, he was no match for Li Yunxin in the end.

They went back and forth for nearly half an hour before Qiao Jiaming finally lost his patience and wanted to make a move. But he quickly remembered Li Yunxin's methods from last time and did not dare strike after all. He now bitterly regretted coming here to humiliate himself, yet had nowhere to vent the evil fire filling his belly. He could only spit repeatedly at the temple gate. Once his mouth had gone dry from all that spitting, he muttered viciously to himself, "Just you wait, ptu! A perfectly good official, hmph... insisting on some procedural justice... ptu! What the hell is that supposed to be?"

Only after he left did Liu Laodao stare at Li Yunxin in dumbfounded silence. "Brother Xin, you..."

It was the first time he had seen Li Yunxin like this—bickering endlessly with a street thug. He had truly seemed like a guileless young man who had been provoked past his limit.

But Li Yunxin had already calmed down again. He closed his eyes and thought for a while, then smiled at him.

For some reason, Liu Laodao suddenly felt that within that smile...

He saw a trace of cruelty.

He truly did not know whether it was merely his imagination.

In truth, Li Yunxin was repeating a term in his mind—"procedural justice."

How could that term... possibly exist in this world?

That senior... was more interesting than he had originally imagined. Just how much had he changed this world?

Magistrate Li wanted to turn this case into an airtight one founded on "procedural justice." But perhaps he had a guilty conscience as well—after letting the word spread, he stopped making any noise about it. Li Yunxin even felt that the "rumor" had probably been spread by that fool Qiao Jiaming, solely so he could watch him and Liu Laodao spend these days "quaking in fear."

Unfortunately, he was disappointed.

And in Qiao Jiaming's eyes... after Li Yunxin had "put on a brave front" for a few rounds that afternoon, he had finally been unable to sit still.

—Li Yunxin and Liu Laodao had begun going from street to street, asking around everywhere. Qiao Jiaming made some inquiries and learned that the fool was asking about his past. His past... well, there had been a few things that were not entirely aboveboard. But medicine was medicine—could one say that a doctor was only allowed to cure patients and never allowed to have them die? He had at least read some medical books and learned a little medicine. When treating those poor wretches who could not afford proper physicians... perhaps he had used the wrong medicine a little, charged the wrong amount of money a little—who had never stumbled and fallen from a horse?

Besides, once they fell ill and could not afford treatment, they were going to die anyway.

It was not as though any physician in any clinic had never had a patient die under his hands, right?

That brat wanted to make an issue out of this? Ptu. Magistrate Li was dead set on getting that residence. Why would he pay any attention to him?

He also heard that the brat had gone looking for people in Magistrate Li's household...

Ha, he had some brains after all, knowing to seek connections. But with the few scraps of silver that he and Liu Laodao had, who would even spare them a glance?

Qiao Jiaming grew even more delighted.

He even hoped the day Li Yunxin and Liu Laodao were summoned to the magistrate's office would come later—watching them scurry about like headless flies now was the interesting part. There had originally been talk that they might know a distinguished person like Yu Meng... but now it seemed that Young Master Yu had merely taken a passing interest and had long since forgotten them.

And so another three days passed.

That afternoon, Magistrate Li was drinking tea in the spacious rear residence of the magistrate's office.

Magistrate Li's full name was Li Yaosi. He had always been broad-minded and stout, kind and compassionate by nature. Li Yaosi had served as an official for more than twenty years, and in official circles he had always enjoyed a reputation for being "impartial and strict." Every case that passed through his hands was handled beyond reproach—evidence conclusive, procedures sound. Even if the "Iron Judge" from the capital came, he would not be able to pick out a single flaw no matter how he looked.

Given his compassionate nature, that old servant was already advanced in years. Once he had been beaten into confessing, it would have been best to close the case quickly and give him a swift end, sparing him further suffering.

Who would have thought that old bag of bones would be so hard to crack? Both his legs had already been beaten useless, yet he still refused to open his mouth.

On ordinary days, it would have been enough to let him be rid of his misery early and fabricate a confession. But the "Iron Judge" was due to inspect Weicheng soon, so he had to be cautious upon cautious.

The thought of it vexed him.

Yet there should not have been any reason for him to be this vexed—his chest thudded, his heart was in chaos. Everything he looked at seemed irritating and eerie, but he could not say what was wrong.

Even Aze, usually the sharpest of his young servants, had been grating on his nerves these past few days. It was not that the boy lacked filial devotion.

It was simply that he kept botching things these days.

A few days ago, he had said he found a piece of wood in the courtyard that had been left behind after the last lightning strike. Calling it Lightning-Struck Wood that could ward off evil, he had brought it over as though presenting a treasure.

But the moment Li Yaosi thought of that night, his heart began pounding, and he immediately rebuked him.

Then that afternoon, Aze said, "Seeing that Master is troubled, I'll tell you some strange tales and anecdotes"—and began talking about Three-Rivers Mouth Dragon King Temple. Li Yaosi gave him another scolding.

Afterward, Aze became timid and aggrieved, not daring to speak. But that expression, that appearance, that way of walking...

Li Yaosi scolded him again.

Something was wrong. Something had to be wrong, yet he simply could not put it into words.

Li Yaosi set the teacup in his hand down heavily on the table and felt that it was time to bring this case to an end.

Perhaps it was because of this case... that his heart had felt so uneasy.

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