Time seemed to fly by. In the blink of an eye, the sky had grown dark.
Yan Shouyun, the couplet mage, walked alone down a street where most shops had already closed and few pedestrians remained.
"Whooo... whooo..."
As the cold wind swept past, Yan Shouyun pulled his ritual robe tighter. He shivered several times and sniffed, drawing the watery mucus back into his nose.
"Ah... how did it come to this? How did it come to this?"
Yan Shouyun muttered to himself as he walked. Passing a wall at a street corner, he could still see the notice pasted there-a notice from the Local Government.
It concerned the case from early that morning. In all honesty, the case was no small matter. News of it had spread throughout Heaven-Bearing Prefecture within a single day. The imperial court took it very seriously and had issued notices warning the people to stay alert.
And sure enough, the streets were almost deserted as soon as dusk fell. Although the Local Government had not imposed a curfew, the effect was much the same. Apart from a handful of upscale taverns, restaurants, and establishments of a special nature, the streets were utterly desolate.
So much so that Yan Shouyun almost felt as though he were the only person walking them.
Yan Shouyun had some abilities, but the Capital City was clearly a place where fish and dragons mingled these days. He might have divined roughly where his purse had gone, but when he finally found it in an alley, it was already empty and shriveled. Naturally, the coins inside had vanished without a trace.
There had not actually been much money. Between his two purses, one carried openly and the other concealed, he had less than a hundred copper coins. Yet that little bit