He Who Tied the Bell Must Untie It

This is a two-story building, made of blue bricks and wood, with walls that exude a sense of wear and tear from years of weathering.

The shop owner was a thin, middle-aged man with sharp eyes, scrutinizing the three cloaked figures standing in front of his shop.

"Would you like a few pounds of dog meat, gentlemen?" the shop owner asked tentatively.

Song Tingfeng replied in a hoarse voice, "How much is the dog meat outside, and how much is the dog meat inside?"

Upon hearing this, the shop owner's face immediately broke into a smile; he was a seasoned patron.

"Dog meat outside costs one qian of silver per jin, while dog meat inside costs three qian of silver."

These brothels were charging three taels of silver! To be honest, their prices weren't much cheaper than in the capital. As seasoned veterans of the industry, Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao shook their heads repeatedly.

Xu Qi'an didn't think much of it, because since he entered the industry, he had been at the top. A tea party there cost ten taels of silver, so three qian of silver was nothing. What? I got it for free? Oh, never mind then.

The shop owner got up and led the three into the shop. It was then that Xu Qi'an noticed that the shop owner had a limp.

Once inside, the indescribable sounds became even clearer; the soundproofing was extremely poor, and the noise was chaotic and disorderly.

If Brother Chun were here, he would definitely say, "Listen to my commands, 121, 121, advance, retreat, advance!" Xu Qi'an thought to himself.

The shop owner chuckled, "None of the girls in the shop are available. Why don't you gentlemen wait a bit? I'll cut you a pound of cooked meat."

As soon as it got dark, the girls in the shop were already in good order; the black market dog meat business was doing quite well. Xu Qi'an didn't intend to wait, because he had other purposes.

Xu Qi'an kicked open the room door, startling the girl inside who screamed. He kicked open the doors of each room, drawing a chorus of angry curses.

Several men, not even dressed, rushed out, eager to teach Xu Qi'an a lesson.

Xu Qi'an swatted down one after another, and after five or six men, they dared not advance. Only then did he gather his strength in his Dantian and say:

"Number 15 has been booked out. Get out of here. Tonight's expenses are on Young Master Song."

Upon hearing this, the clients' anger subsided considerably. The problem was difficult, but since the other party was willing to pay, they decided to accept their fate. After all, there were dog meat stalls everywhere on the black market.

At this moment, the shop owner had retreated to the chopping board, where there was a knife for chopping meat. His hand was on the handle, his eyes narrowed, and he said in a deep voice:

"You guys aren't here to buy meat, are you here to cause trouble?"

"Don't worry, shopkeeper, I'll explain later," Xu Qi'an said, then gathered the naked and half-naked women into one room and shouted:

"Hands behind your head and squats down!"

Women of all shapes and sizes followed suit, bewildered.

"No one is allowed to leave this room without my permission." After they nodded in fear, Xu Qi'an closed the door and went back downstairs.

The shop owner was still confronting Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao.

Xu Qi'an closed the shop door again, then sat down at the table, took out half of a jade pendant, and said in a deep voice, "Does the shopkeeper recognize this?"

The lame shopkeeper's gaze fell on the jade pendant. In the candlelight, its color was warm and lustrous, and its break was neat, as if it had been cut in two by a sharp object.

Xu Qi'an clearly saw the shop owner's pupils shrink.

"Who are you to Zhou Min?"

"You don't need to know. I'm just asking you, do you recognize this jade pendant?"

The shop owner nodded slightly. "Please wait a moment."

As he spoke, he limped into a room on the east side. Because of his limp, he usually lived on the first floor.

The rooms on the second floor are for guests to conduct business.

Xu Qi'an gave Zhu Guangxiao a look, signaling him to follow the shop owner to avoid any tricks the other party might try.

Soon, the shop owner returned, holding half a jade pendant and a booklet, which perfectly matched the half that Xu Qi'an had taken out.

"You've come to retrieve something, haven't you?" the shop owner said, handing over a booklet. "This is what Zhou Min left with me."

"Don't you want to ask anything?" Xu Qi'an didn't touch the booklet, but stared at him.

Would you say that?

"No, but you gave it too readily."

The shop owner sighed, "When Zhou Min handed this booklet to me, he instructed that the jade pendant was a token, and nothing would be given without seeing the jade pendant. Not even if it was him in person."

"It doesn't matter if you don't tell me your identity. I only recognize the jade pendant, not the person."

They only recognized the jade pendant, not the person. Because the Zhou Min who came to collect the evidence might not be Zhou Min. The old spy was meticulous; it's a pity he died. Xu Qi'an then picked up the booklet and stared at it for a moment. It was an account book recording the military supplies that had "unjustifiably" disappeared from the Commander's Office, with every entry recorded clearly.

With this "evidence," Governor Zhang could arrest and interrogate the second-rank military commander, although he could not directly convict him yet.

Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao exchanged a glance, seeing joy in each other's eyes. With the evidence in hand, their trip to Yunzhou could almost be considered over.

"What's your relationship with Zhou Min? Why would he entrust the ledger to you?" Xu Qi'an put away the ledger, took a sip of tea, and asked in a casual tone.

"I was originally a wandering swordsman, but because I was nosy, I offended a young master and was beaten by him and his men. That's when I broke my leg. They were going to take me out of the city and bury me alive, but Lord Zhou saved me. I owe him my life." The shopkeeper smiled wistfully.

"With a limp, he'd be a joke in the martial world, so he settled down in Baidi City. The day he entrusted his things to me, I had a premonition that something bad was going to happen to him. But there's only so much I can do; I can't repay the life-saving debt, but I can at least keep his things safe."

"Thanks!" Xu Qi'an nodded, adding in his mind: Leave the revenge to us.

The shop owner cut them several pounds of dog meat without charging them, but Xu Qi'an insisted on leaving him five taels of silver, not for the dog meat, but for Young Master Song's bill.

Song Tingfeng kept turning back, saying regretfully, "Since we can't go back now anyway, why not stay at the shop? I've already paid the bill."

"Yes, there are beauties serving you in the shop." Xu Qi'an pouted, "Then you should go back, they're still busy."

Song Tingfeng thought that Xu Ningyan was really vulgar. He should have said, "They are just waiting to be picked by you."

Late at night, in a large mansion.

Li Miaozhen sat cross-legged on the bed, her long, black hair flowing freely, highlighting her wheat-colored oval face, her beauty radiating a vibrant and heroic spirit.

Having been in Yunzhou for over a year, she spent her time either training her private army or suppressing bandits in the mountains, which tanned her originally fair face to a wheat color.

However, the disciples of the Heavenly Sect do not care about physical appearance; their philosophy is: I have no emotions!

If you can live without feelings, then you don't need to care about your physical appearance either.

After finishing her meditation, she focused her mind and sensed for a long time, only to find that there was no trace of demonic energy in the house.

Mei hasn't returned yet?

Three mere gongs are a piece of cake for Mei, especially since Xu Qi'an is a dissolute man whose body has been ruined by wine and women, so there's even less of a problem for him.

Logically, if they were completely bewitched during the day, they could easily extract information from them. Why haven't they returned yet?

Could it be that Mei disobeyed her orders and took a liking to someone else's body?

Li Miaozhen immediately dismissed this guess. Mei had been by her side for several years, and her greatest virtue was her obedience. She was a good person in life and had almost no resentment after her death. She was still kind and knew that Xu Qi'an was someone who couldn't withstand being exploited, so she probably wouldn't absorb his life force.

Perhaps it was just a moment of playfulness. Li Miaozhen threw back the quilt, tucked in, and drifted off to sleep.

The next day, after Li Miaozhen finished washing up and having breakfast, she waited until the sun was high in the sky, but Mei still hadn't returned to report. She finally realized that something was wrong.

He immediately drew a simple Tai Chi Bagua formation in the courtyard, and took out yin items such as grave soil, corpse oil, and cat's eye, placing them in specific locations.

Then, take out a crumpled paper figure, place it on the Tai Chi fish, and activate the formation with the help of Qi.

In a vision unseen by mortals, the crumpled paper figure frantically devoured the Yin Qi contained within the yin object, and after a moment, its hands and feet moved.

Then, the paper figure staggered to its feet, remained silent for a few seconds, and then lay down again, turning back into an ordinary paper figure.

Li Miaozhen's expression immediately turned serious. This paper figure was an item that the demon had once possessed, and it still carried her aura. It was supposed to guide her to find the demon.

There are roughly three possibilities for this situation: First, Mei encountered an accident and her soul was annihilated. Second, Mei was sealed away. Third, Mei left White Emperor City and went beyond the range that the paper doll could sense.

Whichever of the three possibilities is true, it indicates that something has happened to Mei.

"The one who tied the knot must untie it!" Li Miaozhen said sincerely.

Post station!

"Have you finished looking at it? Is this ledger genuine?"

Inside the room, Song Tingfeng, with a loquat candy in his mouth, asked Xu Qi'an was bent over his desk checking accounts.

Zhu Guangxiao sat cross-legged, Qi Refinement breathing exercises.

"Do you even know what reconciliation means? Interrogating a prisoner requires a face-to-face confrontation," Xu Qi'an said irritably.

"And you were still watching with great interest?" Song Tingfeng yawned. He hadn't slept well at the inn last night; it was actually a side effect of the illusion he had been under yesterday.

Song Tingfeng is now waiting for Governor Zhang to return so he can hand over the task. After that, he will go to the prefectural government office to ask the relevant department to find his beloved Miss Su Su.

"At least I can go through it roughly once and have a general idea of what I'm doing," Xu Qi'an replied.

"I need to use the restroom." Song Tingfeng didn't bother arguing with him.

After squinting his eyes and leaving the room, Xu Qi'an turned to look at Zhu Guangxiao, who was practicing his breathing exercises. "Do you want to look for Miss Su Su?"

Zhu Guangxiao opened his eyes, glanced at him, and remained silent.

"Haven't decided yet?" Xu Qi'an smiled.

"Um."

Xu Qi'an launched into an irresponsible verbal attack. "Is that even a question? You and Miss Su have consummated your marriage, but that brat of a sister at home, she hasn't even let you touch her little hand, has she? And she shamelessly asked you for a hundred taels of silver. Is she crazy for money? That old man treats his daughter like a precious gem. Forget it, I won't insult her."

"Have you ever met my aunt? Isn't she beautiful? A top-tier beauty. My second uncle only paid twenty taels of silver as a bride price when he married her. What makes your fiancée so special?"

One hundred taels of silver, for an ordinary family, would take five years to save without eating or drinking, and normally ten years.

Torn between his brother and his fiancée, Zhu Guangxiao chose to remain silent. But the image of Su Su's soft moans and alluring demeanor kept flashing through his mind.

Just as Old Zhu was about to say something, Song Tingfeng's voice came from downstairs. "Ningyan, we have guests."

P. S.: This is an update, and I'll make changes later. Remember to point out any bugs, everyone!