Someone inside the county office, or someone closely connected to it.
Someone who could also shadow County Magistrate Li Cheng without a sound had to be a ranked martial artist.
Putting those two points together...
That person was Chief Constable Chen.
He was the only ranked martial artist in Ping'an County, and as chief constable, he could come and go freely in the county office.
What made Xu Qingxiao most certain was this.
Chief Constable Chen's expression had changed when he heard the words "Unorthodox Art."
Normally, when a physician spoke, the things he suggested were utterly impossible to accomplish.
Yet Chief Constable Chen had interrupted him immediately.
Why?
It had been an instinctive interruption.
Because Ping'an County had a manual for an Unorthodox Art.
There was another factor. Back then, Xu Qingxiao had said Wu Yan was some distance away, hoping to lure the tiger away from its mountain.
Chief Constable Chen had gone after him without another word.
Why?
After so many years as a constable, how could Chief Constable Chen have had no judgment at all?
He had wanted to see Wu Yan.
More than anyone, he had wanted to see Wu Yan as soon as possible and give him certain instructions.
He simply had not expected Xu Qingxiao to beat him to it, nor had he expected Wu Yan to have been following Xu Qingxiao all along. Or perhaps Wu Yan had been hiding near the Document Archive the whole time, not daring to show himself.
Everything had seemed like a remarkable coincidence, but those very coincidences had kept Xu Qingxiao alive.
"Chief Constable Chen, then?"
Having made up his mind...
Xu Qingxiao glanced at the sky. It was already the hour of the rabbit.
Xu Qingxiao left, but he did not go to Chief Constable