"I'm leaving you three communication talismans. Crush them immediately if you encounter danger." The Snow Empress took out three faintly glowing talismans from her sleeve and placed them in his palm. "Also, if you can get the names of any other spies in the court from Liu Yanzhao, write them down and we'll compile them when we return."
Yin Wujou gripped the talisman tightly, lifted Liu Yanzhao from the wooden bed, and hoisted him onto his shoulder. Liu Yanzhao was lighter than he had imagined, limp and lifeless, like an empty shell with a broken spine. He took one last look at Snow Empress Mu Canglan, then turned and pushed open the door, disappearing into the morning mist.
As dawn broke, the capital city awoke from its slumber. Yin Wujou carried Liu Yanzhao through the still-bustling streets and alleys, avoiding the crowds of the morning market, and finally arrived at a quiet alley in the east of the city. At the end of the alley stood an inconspicuous house with mottled walls, a cracked wooden door, and a rusty iron lock. Yin Wujou took out a key from his pocket, unlocked the door, carried Liu Yanzhao into the yard, and then bolted the door shut.
The interior of the house was surprisingly tidy. In the center of the main room was a square table and two chairs, and in the inner room there was a narrow bed and a simple set of bedding. Yin Wujou placed Liu Yanzhao on the bed, sealed the meridians of his limbs with his Spiritual Power, and lit a calming incense stick at the head of the bed—this incense could make people dazed and relaxed, which was most conducive to questioning.
Liu Yanzhao's eyelids trembled slightly. As the scent of the calming incense filled his nostrils, his tightly furrowed brows gradually relaxed. Yin Wujou moved a chair to the edge of the bed, spread the dossier on his lap, and began to wait patiently.
After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Liu Yanzhao slowly opened his eyes. The gloom and vigilance in his eyes had faded considerably, replaced by a confused and sluggish expression. The calming incense was beginning to take effect.
" Liu Yanzhao," Yin Wujou's voice was neither loud nor soft, with a deliberately flat tone, "Can you hear me?"
Liu Yanzhao nodded slowly, his gaze unfocused as he stared at the ceiling. His lips moved slightly, but no sound came out.
"When is the activation point for Puppet Armor's journey to the capital set? Who is responsible for triggering it?"
Liu Yanzhao's eyes darted around, as if he was trying hard to recall something. The calming incense made his thoughts viscous and slow, and every word seemed to be pulled out of deep water with great effort.
"The capital... order..." he mumbled a few syllables, "... the token... three pieces... combined into one..."
Yin Wujou's heart tightened, and he leaned closer. "What tokens? Which three?"
" Meng Qi... has one... Zhou Jing has one... I... I have one..." Liu Yanzhao's voice was broken and intermittent, like a candle flickering in the wind, "Only when the three pieces are combined... can the Armor Vault... be activated..."
Yin Wujou quickly made notes in the dossier. The puppet Puppet Armor could only be activated by combining the three tokens. This meant that although Liu Yanzhao had been captured, Meng Qi and Zhou Jing still each had a token. As long as the two of them worked together, they could still trigger the Puppet Armor's actions.
When did Meng Qi and Zhou Jing find out about the Puppet Armor activation plan? Where are they now?
" Meng Qi... has been in the capital... Zhou Jing... is at Xuan Abyss Workshop..." Liu Yanzhao's eyelids grew heavier and heavier, the calming incense's effects were waning, and his consciousness began to struggle to retreat. " Zhou Jing... is my man... he guards the armory... the token is in his hands..."
Yin Wujou. Zhou Jing was at the Xuan Abyss Workshop? He hurriedly asked, "What is Zhou Jing doing in the workshop? How many guards does he have?"
Liu Yanzhao did not answer again. His eyelids closed completely, his breathing became even and long, and he sank into a deep sleep once more. Yin Wujou asked three times but received no response, so he had no choice but to put down the dossier, stand up, and pace anxiously around the room.
Zhou Jing is at the Xuan Abyss Workshop —which means that Snow Empress Mu Canglan will not only face miasma, poisonous vines, and patrolling Puppet Armor, but also a person in charge who holds the activation token and could trigger the full activation of all hundred Puppet Armor at any time. If Zhou Jing is alerted, he may very well take a desperate gamble and directly activate the armor vault, at which point all the hundred Puppet Armor will swarm out, and Snow Empress Mu Canglan will be powerless to resist them.
Yin Wujou clenched the communication talisman in his sleeve, hesitated for a long time, and finally withdrew his hand. The Snow Empress should have already left the city by now, and the communication talisman was only effective at very close range, useless over dozens of miles of mountain roads. All he could do was continue to extract more information from Liu Yanzhao and then wait for the Snow Empress to return and summarize it.
He sat back down in his chair, staring at Liu Yanzhao's drowsy face, and began to quickly sort through the clues in the case file, arranging all the known information in chronological order: Ten years ago, the Spirit Vein Case broke out, the Spirit Vein Bureau was massacred by the imperial court, Liu Yanzhao secretly recruited the remnants, established the Xuan Abyss Workshop, turned Meng Qi, and took Song Xuanwei's daughter hostage to blackmail Song Xuanwei into covering up his crimes; over the past ten years, he has successively created hundreds of Puppet Armor, which are stored in batches in the workshop; recently, Liu Yanzhao personally went to the capital and stayed at the old residence in Chongwen Ward, contacting various secret agents in the capital through Meng Qi's secret room in the Meng Mansion; the rendezvous on the top floor of the Thousand Flavors Pavilion three days later is actually a transmission of activation instructions - as long as the three tokens are combined in the Thousand Flavors Pavilion, the hundred Puppet Armor will be immediately transported into the imperial city.
But now a new variable has emerged: Zhou Jing is at the Xuan Abyss Workshop, and he also possesses a token. If Zhou Jing realizes that Liu Yanzhao has been captured, will he activate the armory on his own ahead of time? And if the Puppet Armor is activated without command, will it head towards the capital prematurely?
The more Yin Wujou thought about it, the more alarmed he became. He got up and went to the courtyard, looking up at the rising sun. The sky was bright, and the capital city had fully awakened. In the distance, the sounds of vendors hawking their wares and the rumble of carts and horses could be heard from the streets. Everything seemed peaceful and serene, but Yin Wujou knew that beneath that thin layer of tranquility, undercurrents were surging.
He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. Before leaving, the Snow Empress had said that they would return within three days. In three days, all he needed to do was protect Liu Yanzhao, continue questioning him, and wait for the Snow Empress's return. As long as he could get through these three days, there was still room for maneuver.
However, Yin Wujou didn't know was that at this moment, on the other side of the capital, in the study of the Meng family's inner courtyard, Meng Qi was standing in that messy secret room, staring at the empty black iron token rack, his face ashen.
"Someone broke in last night." His aide knelt on the ground, his head almost touching the floor. "The secret room was ransacked, and the token and the secret letter from the Southern Frontier are gone."
Meng Qi slowly turned around, his face hidden in the dim light of the study, his expression unreadable, but his eyes gleamed with a cold light in the shadows. He remained silent for a long time, so long that cold sweat began to bead on the forehead of his advisor, before finally uttering two words.