Xuan Ju came to his senses, thought for a moment, and said, "Come with me!"
With that, Xuan Ju headed forward, then turned into an alley he spotted ahead.
After carefully sensing his surroundings and finding no one nearby, Xuan Ju took the Small Wooden Box from inside his robe. He opened it, took out the five sheets containing unconfirmed information, and showed them to one of the men. Once the man had committed them to memory, he said, "You're responsible for investigating these five reports and verifying whether they're true. Do this well, and you'll be handsomely rewarded."
A trace of envy appeared on the other man's face. All he had to do was investigate and verify the information. This was certainly a fine assignment, and a splendid opportunity to earn merit.
Still, he dared not say anything. These were assignments from his superior, and he had no right to question them.
"You'll take the information here back to Mountain Manor. That will earn you tremendous merit as well." Xuan Ju held the Small Wooden Box out to him.
The subordinate froze. He had never expected such a wonderful opportunity to fall into his lap. It was simply unbelievable.
Logically, his superior ought to deliver something like this himself.
"My lord, aren't you going back?" He struggled to suppress his excitement and asked as calmly as he could.
"I still have something to do. I'll return to Mountain Manor as soon as I'm finished. If I'm quick, I might even catch up with you," Xuan Ju said.
"Then I'll travel more slowly and wait for you, my lord," the subordinate said. Such tremendous merit left him uneasy. Wouldn't he be stealing his superior's credit? If his superior took him to task for it someday, wouldn't he be in trouble?