Yi Xun Couldn't Believe It

In the Yi Family's mansion in Cloud Pattern Town, Yi Xun held a cup of tea as he listened to Yi Zhanzhi recount what he had seen and heard at the Thundercloud Martial Arts Hall.

When the boy reached the part about the hall master guiding his saber technique, his face lit up, and the new saber at his waist swayed with him. He practically wanted to carve the word "genius" into his forehead.

Yi Xun listened with satisfaction. His proudest achievement in life wasn't the number of shops he had opened or the fields and houses he had acquired.

It was Yi Zhanzhi.

Seventeen years old, at the qi-blood second level, and soon to become the disciple of the Thundercloud Martial Arts Hall's master. If this step went smoothly, the Yi Family could move up in the world.

From a wealthy household in town to a respected family in the county seat.

When that happened, who would dare dredge up the old story about how he had built his fortune through his parents' favoritism?

As he was thinking this, Steward Liu Fu entered with his head lowered, his steps quicker than usual. "Master."

Yi Xun glanced up and asked casually, "What is it?"

Liu Fu looked at Yi Zhanzhi beside him and hesitated for a moment. "A servant just spotted your elder brother in Cloud Pattern Town."

Before he could finish, Yi Xun set his teacup back on the table.

"He finally came to his senses?"

Yi Zhanzhi raised his head too, his expression suggesting that this should have happened long ago.

Yi Xun gave a soft snort. "That elder brother of mine has lived sixty years, yet his brain is still made of wood. Selling his land and moving into town is such a simple matter, but he insisted on dragging it out this long."

As he spoke, he tapped his fingers against the tabletop.

"Old-fashioned, poor, and desperate to save face."

"At least it's not too late for him to see reason."

Yi Xun looked at Liu Fu. "Since he's here, go handle the sale of his fields and house for him. Prepare the deeds and paperwork beforehand, and get a broker to push the price down. What matters now is getting the silver."

Yi Zhanzhi frowned. "Grandfather, when will those eighty taels arrive?"

"Don't worry. Once the property is sold, the silver will go straight to the Thundercloud Martial Arts Hall. We can't delay the apprenticeship gift," Yi Xun said as he sipped his tea.

Liu Fu remained where he stood.

Yi Xun's brows lowered, and the pleasant mood his tea had brought him vanished.

"Why are you still standing there? Go!"

"This concerns my grandson's future. What are you doing standing here in a daze?"

Liu Fu swallowed and bent even lower, speaking cautiously. "Master, that servant said... your elder brother was wearing the Heaven Patrol Office's Official Uniform, with a saber at his waist."

At those words, the teacup in Yi Xun's hand stopped moving.

Liu Fu braced himself and finished.

"Judging by the uniform's design, he's a Patrol Captain."

The mansion suddenly fell silent. The arrogance on Yi Zhanzhi's face froze, and for a long moment, he couldn't find a response.

Yi Xun stared at Liu Fu, his eyelid twitching twice. "What did you say?" he asked in disbelief.

Liu Fu didn't dare raise his head and continued quietly, "The servant said your elder brother was wearing the Heaven Patrol Office's Official Uniform, with a Command Token and a saber hanging from his waist."

"Nonsense!"

Yi Xun slammed his palm onto the stone table. His teacup bounced, spilling tea onto his sleeve.

"How could Yi Yang belong to the Heaven Patrol Office?"

"He was tested at sixteen. He had no future in martial arts!"

"Why would the Heaven Patrol Office want an old fool who spent decades chopping firewood in Three Trees Village? And as a Patrol Captain, no less?"

Yi Zhanzhi couldn't hold back either.

"He must have mistaken someone else for him. Plenty of people in Cloud Pattern Town wear black and carry sabers. He's not the only person who could belong to the Heaven Patrol Office."

Yi Xun seized on that remark, his tone hardening.

"Exactly. He must have mistaken someone else for him."

"How many people in Yi Residence have ever seen him? An old country bumpkin—did the servant see someone with a similar figure from behind and decide it was him?"

Liu Fu hurriedly nodded. "You're right, Master. The servant's eyes must have played tricks on him. I'll go reprimand him shortly. Running his mouth like that, he nearly disturbed your peace."

Despite his words, a chill crept up Liu Fu's back.

That servant was none other than the coachman who had driven to Three Trees Village a few days earlier.

He had seen Yi Yang up close.

Could he really have mistaken someone else for him? Besides, who had so little to do that they would dare impersonate a Patrol Captain of the Heaven Patrol Office?

That wasn't merely courting death. It was rushing to arrange funeral feasts for his entire family.

But Liu Fu only dared let those words rot in his belly.

Yi Xun couldn't bear words that grated on his ears.

Especially when they concerned Yi Yang.

If an elder brother he had trampled underfoot for most of his life truly donned the Heaven Patrol Office's Official Uniform and became a Patrol Captain, that wasn't a promotion.

It was a palm slapping his old face, with every blow ringing loud and clear.

His face dark, Yi Xun waved a hand.

"Go find out the truth."

"Keep quiet about it. Don't let it affect Zhan Zhi's affairs."

After Liu Fu withdrew, Yi Zhanzhi couldn't sit still.

"Grandfather, if it really is Great-Uncle..."

"There is no 'if.'"

Yi Xun cut him off, speaking with absolute certainty. "I know better than anyone exactly what your great-uncle is worth."

"The Heaven Patrol Office isn't a place that collects scrap."

That same evening.

Wearing the Heaven Patrol Office's black Official Uniform with red trim, a saber hanging at his waist, Yi Yang followed the path back to Three Trees Village.

He avoided the main road through the village entrance, circled around, and entered through his backyard.

Jiang Yuexin was washing rice in the kitchen. At the sight of his clothes, she nearly spilled the water in her wooden basin.

"Grandfather, you... whose clothes did you steal?"

Yi Yang glanced at her. "You little brat, can't you wish something good for me? Do I look like someone who steals clothes?"

Jiang Yuexin looked him up and down, then inspected the Official Saber.

"Yes."

Yi Yang raised a hand and rapped her on the head.

"Pack your things tomorrow. You're coming to live in town with me."

Jiang Yuexin covered her head, but her eyes lit up.

"In town? Where will we live?"

"In a house provided by the authorities."

"I found a job guarding a gate."

Yi Yang made it sound effortless. "Meals included, a place to stay, and clothes supplied too. Better than chopping firewood."

Jiang Yuexin stared at the Command Token at his waist and said nothing for a long while.

The girl wasn't stupid.

Would a gatekeeper be issued an Official Uniform and a saber?

But she didn't press him.

If her grandfather wasn't telling her, he must have his reasons.

Yi Yang turned and picked up the packets of medicine he had bought while in town earlier.

"I'm going to check on Yang Hui. Bolt the door and don't wander off."

In the house next door, the smell of medicine had yet to fade.

Yang Hui leaned against the headboard. Her complexion was much better than it had been a few days earlier, and her voice had regained most of its strength.

Zhou Liang sat on a small stool, with two wild rabbits and a pheasant beside his feet.

He held a short knife and was preparing the game for Yang Hui.

When Yi Yang entered, Zhou Liang looked up, his hands going still.

Yang Hui froze too.

"Well now, old man Yi, did you go to town and become an official?"

Yi Yang set the medicine on the table and replied bluntly, "An official? A gatekeeper is all I get to be."

Yang Hui looked him up and down.

"They give gatekeepers clothes that fine? And a saber too?"

Yi Yang patted the scabbard.

"People in town care about appearances. Even a gatekeeper has to make the place look respectable."

Zhou Liang glanced at him without exposing the lie and merely shifted the pheasant aside.

Yi Yang glanced over the rabbits, then looked at Zhou Liang, and finally at Yang Hui.

"Did I come at a bad time?"

Yang Hui's face heated. She grabbed a rag beside her pillow and moved to throw it at him.

"You shameless old fool! What nonsense are you talking?"

Zhou Liang coughed too, looking somewhat embarrassed. "Brother Yi, you can't say things like that. I'm married."

"I didn't say anything."

Yi Yang sat by the door and drawled, "I only asked whether my timing was good. Why are you both getting worked up?"

Yang Hui glared at him furiously.

"With that mouth of yours, heaven must have been dozing for you not to have been beaten to death when you were young."

Zhou Liang lowered his head and continued preparing the game, the tips of his ears red.

Yi Yang quit while he was ahead.

If he kept going, Yang Hui might climb out of bed to fight him.

He pushed the medicine packets toward her.

"It's still Physician Hu's prescription, with medicine to apply externally and take internally. Don't skimp on it. Use it on time. You got a good deal better after I brought you the last batch, didn't you?"

For all her sharp words, Yang Hui hugged the medicine packets tightly.

"Must have cost quite a bit, right?"

"Not much."

"Don't lie to me. Clinics in town charge you just for sniffing the medicine."

Yi Yang didn't take up that thread and instead said, "I'm moving to town tomorrow. Yuexin is coming too."

Yang Hui went still.

The smells of firewood, medicine, and blood from the game mingled in the room, suddenly bringing a sting to the nose.

"You're really moving?"

"Yes."

"That's good." Zhou Liang nodded. "However chaotic town gets, it's still better than the village. You've got a position now. With Yuexin going along, no one will dare bully her lightly."

As he spoke, envy crept into his voice.

"Brother Yi, that luck of yours... tsk. After struggling through most of your life, you've finally made it through."

Yi Yang looked at Yang Hui and asked, "Do you want to come too?"

Yang Hui was stunned by the question.

"Me?"

"Yuexin is young and doesn't know anyone or anything in town. I'd feel better with you looking after her. Your injuries haven't fully healed either. There's no one looking after you here in the village. If you fell into the firebox one day, no one would even pull you out."

"Pah!"

Yang Hui cursed him, but her eyes reddened a little.

She glanced at Zhou Liang. He was tying up the game with his head down and didn't look up.

Yang Hui understood Zhou Liang's feelings better than anyone.

Zhou Liang treated her well because of the feelings he had harbored in their youth, but he had a wife. Village tongues were sharp, and trouble always gathered at a widow's door.

Some affections burned when held too close. Keeping a little distance could preserve everyone's dignity instead.

She clutched the medicine packets, her voice growing hoarse. "Would I cause you trouble if I came?"

"Yes."

Yi Yang answered without hesitation, making Yang Hui glare at him.

Then Yi Yang added, "The trouble of cooking one extra bowl of rice."

Yang Hui burst out cursing. "You old bastard, can't you finish a sentence without taking such a long breath?"

After cursing him, she nodded.

"I'll come."

Zhou Liang stood and set the game down properly.

"Then I'll head back. Pack your things. I'll help take them over tomorrow morning."

Seeing him about to leave, Yi Yang asked, "Not staying a little longer?"

Zhou Liang shook his head.

"No."

At the doorway, he suddenly stopped.

"Brother Yi, is there really nothing more to Yang Er's case?"

Yang Hui pricked up her ears too.

Zhou Liang lowered his voice.

"Yang Da still hasn't returned since going into the mountains. Everyone in the village is guessing that he's too busy with official duties to attend to his younger brother's funeral arrangements."

Yi Yang straightened the knot on a medicine packet.

"There are plenty of duties in the county seat. A delay of a few days isn't unreasonable."

Zhou Liang looked at him, trying to read something in that old face.

But Yi Yang still looked like an old woodcutter recovering from an illness, his eyelids drooping and thick calluses covering the backs of his hands. No matter how Zhou Liang looked at him, he seemed to have nothing to do with the deadly trap in the mountains.

Zhou Liang finally nodded.

"True enough."

He slung his bow over his back and left, his steps a little quicker than when he had arrived.

The county seat.

Inside the County Commandant's residence.

The sky outside the window was darkening, and the lamplight inside weighed on the nerves.

The County Commandant sat in the Grand Tutor Chair, his brow knotted tight. The tea beside him had gone completely cold.

"Yang Shuqing still hasn't returned?"

A head constable stood beside him, thin and wiry, his cheeks as sharp as the back of a knife.

"No word yet, sir."

The County Commandant snatched up the teacup and smashed it against the floor with a crack.

Porcelain shards scattered, and tea splashed the edges of his boots.

"Useless fool!"

"Does handling his younger brother's funeral take this long?"

The head constable lowered his head.

"Perhaps the leads in Three Trees Village are complicated, and he's been held up."

The County Commandant sneered, baring his teeth right down to the roots.

"Is his younger brother more important, or is my business?"

"If he hadn't brought back what I wanted, would I have spoken up for him before the Commandant? Would I have let him get the Sinew-Breaking Bone-Pulling Pill?"

"And what came of it?"

"The man's gone, the pill's gone, and the cultivation technique still hasn't been delivered."

He stood, the hem of his official robe sweeping past the chair legs.

"That Five-Organ Internal Refining Force must never see the light of day. Understand?"

The head constable bowed his head.

"I understand, sir."

The County Commandant walked up to him, lowering his voice to a vicious murmur.

"Go to Three Trees Village. Find Yang Shuqing first."

"If something has delayed him, bring him back."

"If he intends to keep it all for himself..."

The County Commandant paused and drew his hand across his throat.

"Clean it up. Bring the cultivation technique back."

The head constable raised his head, a murderous gleam held in his eyes.

"I'll set out tonight, sir."

The County Commandant stared at him.

"Remember, keep it quiet."

"If this gets out, you won't be the only one to die. I'll be dragged under too."

The head constable cupped his fist.

"The cultivation technique will be back in your hands, sir."

He backed out through the door.

The night wind swept along the covered walkway, making the lamp flame lean to one side. The County Commandant stood inside, staring at the broken porcelain on the floor, his expression shifting between light and shadow.