'I knew it, I knew it...'
Ignoring the strange looks from those around him, Fang Ke fought his way to the front of the line. When he saw Yang Ge holding the primordial unity stance over there, his heart sank.
The moment he entered the city, he had heard that a hero called Nine of Coins was handing out porridge at the vegetable market. A bad feeling had immediately seized him. He hurried to the Welcome Inn and Yang Ge's home, but found him at neither, then raced here...
With so many people watching, he naturally dared not make a scene. After one glance, he pulled down the bamboo hat shielding him from the wind and snow, turned, and left.
Once out of the vegetable market, he jogged all the way back to the Embroidered Uniform Guard's station on Gong and Drum Lane. Finding Gu Tong, he asked a question he already knew the answer to: "Where's the Banner Commander?"
Gu Tong replied in surprise, "When have you ever seen the Banner Commander come here during the day?"
At that, half of Fang Ke's anxiety fell away. He took off his hat and smiled, offering an excuse. "Look at my memory. I was so focused on delivering a message to the Banner Commander that I forgot he doesn't come here during the day."
Gu Tong was deeply curious, but the organization's rules made him restrain the urge to ask.
Fang Ke strode into the side room where he worked. While calling for the guard on duty to bring in a pot of hot tea, he asked with seeming casualness, "Any urgent business while I was away?"
Gu Tong said, "Nothing urgent, really. Just the usual surveillance reports... The Wang Family of Everlasting Peace did report a case to us through