The night patrol had ended, and Ding Songyan, Li Baima, and Wu Mo had barely entered the courtyard when Fan Chunlin returned through the darkness, making almost no sound.
His breathing was steady as he said:
"I asked him. The servant's surname is Fang, given name Nuo. Two days ago, he bought a jade pendant burial artifact at the Night Market on South-Pacifying Street. At a quarter past midnight, he accidentally broke it, and the Evil Object hidden inside invaded his body. Fortunately, he came to no harm.
"The residence's interrogation expert confirmed that he was telling the truth."
"Then why did it take you over two hours to come back?" Wu Mo asked in confusion.
An ordinary servant who lasted even the time it took to drink a cup of tea against a martial artist skilled in torture would have been impressive.
Fan Chunlin exhaled and said:
"They sent me off to work, didn't they? Lü Sanlang from the interrogation chamber and I went to find the proprietor of the Night Market on South-Pacifying Street. He confirmed the story. A few days ago, an outside merchant paid to rent a stall and sold gold and silver jewelry of unknown provenance, suspected to be burial artifacts. Once he sold everything, he never appeared again.
"There was nothing unusual about the merchant's appearance. He looked ordinary and called himself Li Da. The residence has notified the Martial Prohibition Bureau and Heaven-Bearing Prefecture so they can investigate."
Ding Songyan listened quietly, then looked at Fan Chunlin and said, almost to himself:
"The Night Market on South-Pacifying Street... I remember Fortune's Arrival Inn and the Silver Hook Gambling House are on that street too."
Fan Chunlin's temple twitched.
"Is this connected to Qi Lingyi's death?"
"Perhaps it's only a coincidence." Ding Songyan chuckled.