Pei Ye shook his head, but sat down beside him. "In your view, Crane Inspector, how will he strike?"
Yue Muzhou pondered briefly. "I've dealt with He Wujian. He isn't stupid, nor is he ignorant. He won't act unless he's confident."
"Yes, but who knows what gives him that confidence?"
Yue Muzhou turned and studied him with those narrow eyes.
Pei Ye said, "Are you thinking, 'Even someone like you can become a Wild Goose Inspector?'"
Yue Muzhou froze.
"What sort of person am I?" Pei Ye looked at him.
Yue Muzhou's surprise turned to a smile, and he looked him over again. "Your sort looks like a lovable fool, best suited to playing the idiotic knight tormented by villains in the Jianghu's blood feuds."
Pei Ye paused, then burst out laughing.
"Oh? What are you laughing at?"
"Take a look in the mirror first," Pei Ye sneered.
Unexpectedly, Yue Muzhou didn't argue. He fell silent for a while, then gave him a mild glance. "Now that I've thought about it, I might indeed be one too. But I won't make mistakes while I'm serving as Crane Inspector. If I resign one day, there's no telling."
"In that case, let's say you aren't stupid," he added.
He wasn't looking at the boy as he spoke, but at the rain in the air, or the night sky beyond it. One leg stretched down the steps while the other remained folded, his posture leisurely and unrestrained.
Some things in the Spirit Realm were all too real. Pei Ye watched him quietly. At this distance, he could almost smell the warmth of his scent, nearly indistinguishable from the scent of the old man's skin when he had nestled in his arms as a child.
His nose wrinkled, his throat bobbed again, and he