The Key Figures

Xuan Yi Market.

A market devoted to ready-made clothing.

The smell of fabric filled the air along its narrow lanes.

Most customers here were stewards of various minor clans or heads of modestly wealthy households with a little money to their names.

Questions about prices, haggling, people deliberately finding fault, and people trying to snatch a bargain all mingled in the market.

Tap!

Tap!

Hard boots struck the brick-and-stone ground, ringing out with footsteps.

Zhou Muzhi appeared at the market entrance with the saber-carrying Lao Xu beside him. Both looked inside, neither saying a word.

One behind the other, they entered Xuan Yi Market.

He had come to find Sun Yao, whose family ran a clothing shop in this very market.

The two passed clothing shops one after another. Their pairing and clothing were unremarkable, so no one paid them any attention or watched them.

Soon, Zhou Muzhi arrived outside a rather out-of-the-way shop and looked inside.

The people coming and going here wore nothing luxurious. At most, they had some money to spare at home and had come to buy a new garment or two for their families.

Voices drifted out from inside.

Zhou Muzhi moved, stepping in from outside and appearing within the shop.

The interior was small, only thirty square meters. Neatly stacked fabric occupied half the space, and an elderly shopkeeper was greeting customers with a smile.

After settling a sale, the man approached Zhou Muzhi as well.

"What sort of fabric would you like for your clothes, sir? We can make long gowns, short robes, and martial training outfits to order."

Hearing him speak, Zhou Muzhi turned his gaze toward him, not a trace of a smile in his eyes.

He had come to find out exactly how the vengeful spirit had formed. Someone who, like him, was suspected of knowing something was about to appear. How could he smile?

"I'm looking for Sun Yao. Tell him Zhou Muzhi wants to see him."

As soon as he said this, all the customers who had been preparing to order clothes scurried away from this place of trouble.

The elderly shopkeeper's expression stiffened. He had not expected the man before him to be the wastrel his younger brother kept mentioning, the one who ran around with his nephew.

Hadn't they said the Zhou Family's wastrel was like a sick cat, with not a firm bone in his body?

Yet the man before him stood nearly eight feet tall, with shoulders as broad as a savage tiger's, a bear-like waist, and thighs like two pillars.

He was simply a hulking brute!

And the fellow accompanying him actually carried a saber. He, too, was incredibly burly, though his imposing presence was somewhat weaker than Zhou Muzhi's.

He could not help thinking of unpleasant possibilities, but he had lived many years, after all, and managed to steady himself.

"Does Sun Yao owe you money?"

The elderly shopkeeper asked tentatively.

Zhou Muzhi shook his head and folded his arms, looking down at him from above as he volunteered an explanation.

"He doesn't owe me money. I just have something to ask him today. Once I'm done, I'll leave."

That single statement blocked off any further questions.

The elderly shopkeeper thought that, in broad daylight, surely no one would be killed. Constables patrolled the county's streets during the day to prevent disturbances, after all.

"Then wait a moment. I'll fetch him."

It would not be appropriate to meddle too much in the younger generation's affairs, so the elderly shopkeeper decided to fetch him.

Before long, the elderly shopkeeper brought out a youth over seven feet tall, wearing a long gown of blue-green silk and a square black headcloth.

Sun Yao was thin, his head lowered, his gaze seemingly evasive.

That guilty appearance made Zhou Muzhi narrow his eyes slightly as he slowly asked, "How much do you know about what happened that night?"

Hearing those familiar words, Sun Yao immediately reacted like a startled cat, reciting lines such as "The Master did not speak of strange phenomena, feats of strength, disorder, or spirits," before turning to flee.

His attempt to flee made even the elderly shopkeeper beside him-Sun Yao's uncle-change expression. One look made it clear something was amiss, and his face then turned livid.

The instant Sun Yao tried to run, Lao Xu acted. Almost in the blink of an eye, he moved over and gripped the back of Sun Yao's neck, forcing him to meet Zhou Muzhi's gaze.

"Is it so hard to say?"

His voice naturally carried a chill, as though a savage tiger were prowling around them, his presence inherently oppressive.

The elderly shopkeeper grew anxious too. They were at the mercy of the stronger party, and things had already reached this point!

"You foolish boy, he's come right to our door! Hurry up and tell him!"

Restrained, frightened, and pressured by his own family, Sun Yao finally began trembling all over and spoke.

"I don't know, I don't know. Brother Zhou, we've been lucky enough to remain unharmed so far. Why don't we leave each other alone? Don't come looking for me. Don't ask me."

A thoughtful look appeared in Zhou Muzhi's eyes. Why did everyone he encountered have something wrong with them, refusing to talk no matter what, then failing to say anything substantial when they finally did?

Irritation could not help rising within him.

It seemed he would have to crush the other man's hope of escaping through luck completely.

"Do you know? If I hadn't been fortunate, I would already be dead. Do you think someone like you could have my luck?"

Whatever else might be said, the Zhou Family was still a minor clan. Any household that could establish itself as a clan possessed wealth beyond comparison with an ordinary small household.

Yet it was Zhou Muzhi's next statement that finally broke Sun Yao.

"That night, everyone apart from us died. Where exactly did that woman go?"

Hearing this exchange from the side, the elderly shopkeeper lost his footing and collapsed onto the floor in terror.

The people of Suming County lived and worked in peace. Death, particularly death under unusual circumstances, had become unfamiliar to them, and their first reaction was panic.

Now a youngster in his family had become entangled with such things. What a disaster!

Sun Yao's face abruptly turned deathly pale. He had not expected everyone to have met with calamity. In that case, there was no reason he would escape trouble either.

His voice trembled a little as he said, "I wasn't feeling well that day, so I went home early. On the way, I ran into that girl, who had escaped on her own. She came up to me and asked me to help her..."

Zhou Muzhi waved a hand, and Lao Xu released Sun Yao.

Once he steadied himself, Sun Yao continued, "I didn't dare help her! Young Master Qian's men came over and dragged her away. She kept shouting and crying that she didn't want to go back, begging me to help her until her voice went hoarse. Slowly, they disappeared into the distance."

Sun Yao then clutched his head in anguish, sobbing as tears and mucus streamed down his face.

"I was too cowardly. I don't dare remember the look in her eyes! They warned me not to talk carelessly, or they would come for me. I was really scared."

Zhou Muzhi did not care about this sort of story, but what Sun Yao said could give him a better understanding of the causes and consequences.

After waiting a moment, he calmly asked, "That's all?"

Sun Yao nodded, looking somewhat dazed.

"I don't care about any of that. I only want to know who the men who took that woman away were."

As Zhou Muzhi said this, his narrowed eyes fixed on Sun Yao. This was the most valuable clue in the other man's account.

"They were people around Young Master Qian. The two leading them were called Ma Jin and Hua Kai. Those two were mainly the ones who brought the men."

Very good!

With names and connections between people, this trip had not been wasted.

Now he could just about piece together an outline.

One night, wastrels from several families had gone drinking and seeking amusement with some local thugs. Along the way, they encountered a girl traveling at night. This woman's origins were unknown, but she was ultimately taken away by the Qian Family's eldest young master.

During that time, she had escaped and encountered Sun Yao, who now stood before him, hoping he would save her. Who could have known he was a useless sack of straw? She was taken away again by the eldest young master of the Qian Family's lackeys, Ma Jin and Hua Kai.

This woman was most likely the vengeful spirit, because the place where the original incident had occurred was called Liu Street, and only a few days separated the events.

In those few days, this was the only strange occurrence!

Verifying it would be very simple. After all, Sun Yao had already named the key figures.

As for Sun Yao before him, he would not lay a hand on him. When those involved died, the vengeful spirit's power would increase.

He, Zhou Muzhi, would never make such a losing deal. He would simply leave the man to live or die on his own.

"Lao Xu, let's go back."

Now he had a reasonably clear grasp of the clues. His enemy was out in the open while he remained in the shadows. Once the power at his disposal grew a little stronger, he could act.

One behind the other, the two left the shop, then left the market.