Inside the room.
A flash of inspiration struck Xu Qingxiao, and he thought of a solution.
Lure the tiger from its mountain.
What was Ping'an County's most pressing concern right now?
The fugitive who had fled from Southern Yu Prefecture. Now that the prefecture had sent men to capture him, Ping'an County naturally had to cooperate fully.
If the fugitive escaped, the county magistrate would have hell to pay.
So even if the Document Archive really contained an unorthodox art, it could not take priority over this fugitive.
Xu Qingxiao's plan was to spread false information. Only then could he trick the guards into leaving.
But if he was caught doing this, the consequences would be dire.
At best, thirty strokes of the cane. At worst, he would be charged with aiding the enemy and thrown into prison.
But at this point, what reason did Xu Qingxiao have to worry about punishment?
Whether he could even survive was still unknown. Worrying about anything else was pointless.
With that thought, Xu Qingxiao decided to set out immediately.
But a moment later, he shook his head.
"No, going straight there would be too abrupt. I need a suitable reason."
Xu Qingxiao suddenly realized that turning up out of nowhere would arouse suspicion. If Constable Chen grew wary, wouldn't that spell trouble?
After some thought, Xu Qingxiao came up with an idea.
He would put on a show of suffering.
Time passed, and before long, the hour of the dragon arrived.
Ping'an County Government Office.
Bright sunlight spilled into the compound. Because of the fugitive, the officers were far more vigilant than usual.
At a critical moment like this, even the slightest mistake could cost them more than their heads.
The Document Archive stood beside the government office.
Just then, Xu Qingxiao appeared outside the Document Archive's entrance.
He was drenched from head to toe, cold radiating from his body. Even beneath the blazing sun, he looked unsettling.
"Who's there?"
"It's Qingxiao."
"Qingxiao, what happened to you?"
Xu Qingxiao's appearance put every guard at the Document Archive on edge. Once they recognized him, however, they relaxed a little.
Constable Chen, who led them, was the first to recover. Seeing Xu Qingxiao's alarming condition, he immediately stepped forward to support him.
"Brother Chen, something happened. Knowing I was doomed, I went to choose an auspicious place for my grave. But on a hill about ten li north of here, I saw that fugitive from the other day."
"He spotted me by accident, but fortunately, he must have been badly wounded too, because he didn't chase me. I panicked, though, and the cold inside me burst out. I doubt I have much longer to live."
"Brother Chen, hurry and take your men to search the area. That villain probably hasn't gone far. If you capture him alive, it'll be a great achievement, and you'll avenge me too."
Even Xu Qingxiao's voice trembled. A biting chill radiated from him, condensing the moisture in the air into water that dripped onto the ground.
This was Xu Qingxiao's ploy of self-inflicted suffering.
To ensure he could lure the tiger from its mountain, he stopped suppressing the cold inside him and let it pour out.
What he had not expected was how severe the effects would be once he released it.
Now his entire body was rigid, as though he had spent three days and nights in an ice cellar.
Doctor Zhao had previously given him twenty-four hours to live. Now Xu Qingxiao felt he could last another four hours at most.
"What? The fugitive's on North Hill?"
Constable Chen was astonished. He had never expected Xu Qingxiao to stumble upon the fugitive's trail by sheer chance.
He also recalled what his superiors had told him: the fugitive had practiced an unorthodox art and suffered a backlash, leaving him badly wounded.
In other words, once they found his trail, capturing him would be practically assured.
Capturing a fugitive like this would be an enormous achievement for him. It might even earn him a position in Southern Yu Prefecture.
At that thought, Constable Chen began itching to act.
"Brother Chen, you have to avenge me. That villain's badly injured. He saw me but didn't hurt me. His wounds must be serious."
Seeing that Constable Chen still hesitated, Xu Qingxiao piled on more bait, trying to draw him away.
Sure enough, after hearing this, Constable Chen could no longer hold himself back.
"All right, Brother Qingxiao. Go rest at the government office first. I'll definitely avenge you."
Constable Chen spoke, then turned to the others. "Leave two men to guard the Document Archive. Send someone to the government office to report the fugitive's whereabouts. Everyone else, come with me."
Constable Chen was getting excited.
The fugitive from Southern Yu Prefecture was a major wanted criminal. Capturing him would earn a fifth-class merit.
Under the Great Wei Statutes, merits were divided into five classes. Promotions and noble titles depended on them, and a single fifth-class merit would be enough to secure him a chief constable's post in a county of Ping'an Commandery.
Of course, he was no fool. He would never go alone. He would take several men to investigate, and even if they found the fugitive, he would not immediately engage him. A fine official post was worth nothing if he did not live to enjoy it.
"Brother Chen, hurry. Don't worry about me. Delay any longer, and that villain really will escape."
Xu Qingxiao urged Constable Chen to leave without bothering about him. If they took him to rest at the government office, his carefully crafted plan to lure the tiger from its mountain would have been wasted.
"All right!"
Constable Chen understood what was at stake. Without another word, he left with several dozen men.
Only two men remained at the Document Archive.
"Brother Qingxiao, come on. I'll take you to rest at the government office."
The two supported Xu Qingxiao, intending to take him there to rest.
But Xu Qingxiao immediately shook his head. "No need. Just find somewhere to put me. I can't walk anymore. If I die in the government office, I'll only make myself unwelcome. Better to leave me in the Document Archive."
Xu Qingxiao hastily refused and asked them to find any place where he could stay.
The two exchanged a glance.
Indeed, the cold radiating from Xu Qingxiao was fierce, his chilling aura condensing moisture into water. He looked so weak that he seemed liable to drop dead at any moment.
If they took him to the government office and he actually died, that would cause trouble. A death there would unquestionably count as dying in the line of duty, which meant a much larger compensation payment. It would look bad, too.
The county magistrate probably would not want to see that either. Better to put him in the Document Archive. If he really died, they could give him a proper burial afterward.
With that in mind, they nodded and helped Xu Qingxiao into the Document Archive, one on either side.
The Document Archive for the county in Ping'an Commandery was not particularly large.
Supported by the two men, Xu Qingxiao entered the Document Archive.
Inside stood several dozen bookshelves, all lined with case files.
"Brother Qingxiao, rest here. If you need anything, just call out. We'll come in when we hear you."
"That's right. Just shout if anything happens. We can hear you."
They spoke because the cold radiating from Xu Qingxiao was so intense that they themselves felt chilled. Under ordinary circumstances, they would not have minded, but Xu Qingxiao had been afflicted with cold poison.
If it could spread to them, they certainly had no wish to throw their lives away.
"All right. Sorry for the trouble, brothers."
Xu Qingxiao nodded. Naturally, he could not have wished for anything better.
Once they left, Xu Qingxiao slowly exhaled a breath of cold air. He forced himself to focus, steadied the flow of qi within him as best he could, then immediately rose and began searching through the files.
He had little time. The hill was ten li north, and at the pace Constable Chen and his men could travel, the round trip would take forty-five minutes at most. They were ranked martial artists, after all, so they were bound to move quickly.
Even allowing time to summon reinforcements and search, he had five quarter-hours at most. Each quarter-hour was fifteen minutes, meaning he had only seventy-five minutes.
If he could not find it within that time, he would be in trouble.
Soon, Xu Qingxiao was opening file after file. He worked extremely quickly, immediately skipping anything he recognized as a case record. His target was an unorthodox art.
Fifteen minutes later.
Xu Qingxiao set down the file in his hands, shook his head, and muttered to himself.
"I can't search like this. There are thirty or forty shelves. Going through them one by one, I couldn't find it in ten hours, let alone seventy-five minutes."
"Something like an unorthodox art obviously wouldn't be kept among the case records. It should be stored separately."
Xu Qingxiao's anxiety had muddled his thinking for a moment.
Once he realized this, he stopped searching the shelves and headed farther inside, looking for a separate storage area or a cabinet.
Something as important as an unorthodox art could not possibly be left on a bookshelf.
It had to be inside a cabinet or somewhere more concealed.
Following this line of reasoning, Xu Qingxiao searched carefully.
Another fifteen minutes passed, yet he still had no leads. He had opened every cabinet but found no unorthodox art.
Rather than panic, however, Xu Qingxiao grew calmer.
"It's not on the shelves or in the cabinets. This room is only so big. Could it be hidden in a corner?"
Xu Qingxiao frowned slightly.
Blindly rummaging around was surely the worst approach. To find something quickly, he had to reason it out.
Wait!
In that instant, something seemed to occur to Xu Qingxiao, and he looked up at the ceiling.
Four crossbeams and eight lengthwise beams came into view. Before long, he spotted a box.
"Just as I thought."
Xu Qingxiao did not know whether to laugh or cry. Why did people in ancient times all seem to like hiding valuables on ceiling beams?
Without hesitating, however, he dragged over a chair and climbed onto it. Then he suppressed the cold inside him, drew a deep breath, and leaped with all his strength.
The beams were roughly two zhang above the floor, while the chair was only about half a meter tall. Jumping up onto a beam was practically impossible.
Especially now, with the cold eating away at him and his body horribly stiff.
Xu Qingxiao was no fool, either. Holding a wooden plank, he leaped with all his might and swung it at the box on the beam.
Bang!
A sharp collision rang out.
The next instant, the box fell. Xu Qingxiao wanted to catch it, but his body was so terribly stiff that he could do nothing. He could only watch the wooden box hit the floor with a clatter.
"Brother Qingxiao, what happened?"
The two officers outside immediately heard the noise and called out, intending to come in and check.
"Don't come in! The cold's pouring out of me, and I can't control it. I'm afraid I'll hurt you. Let me circulate my qi and suppress it first."
Xu Qingxiao called out at once. If they came inside, he would be in trouble.
Sure enough, his words stopped the two men outside from entering.
Their lives mattered, after all.
"All right, Brother Qingxiao. Hold on. Once Chief Chen gets here, everything will be fine."
Neither dared enter. They could only stand outside and offer a few words of comfort.
Once they fell silent, Xu Qingxiao took a deep breath. He picked up the plank and returned it to its original place, moved the chair back, then finally picked up the wooden box.
The box was locked. Xu Qingxiao drew a deep breath. Finding the key now would be practically impossible.
Forcing the lock would inevitably be noticed.
But at this point, he had no choice.
Crack!
Xu Qingxiao exerted all his strength, twisting the brass lock apart in an instant. He opened the wooden box, revealing a small blue booklet.
Five characters stood boldly on its cover.
[Golden Crow Body Tempering Art]
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