An Unexpected Incident

"My eyes are going blind! My titanium alloy eyes are going blind! "Xu Qi'an's eyes burned, and hot tears streamed down his face.

The moment I peered into the Star-Gazing Tower, it felt like two steel needles had pierced my eyes; my consciousness wavered for a moment, followed by excruciating pain.

Song Tingfeng pressed one knee against Xu Qi'an's chest to stop him from rolling around. Then he opened Xu Qi'an's eyelids and found that his colleague's eyes were bloodshot, but his pupils were intact and he was not blind.

Song Tingfeng breathed a sigh of relief and then ignored his foolish colleague.

After waiting for a quarter of an hour, Xu Qi'an's burning pain finally subsided. He sat on the ground with red eyes, his vision still blurry, only able to make out two figures in front of him.

"What did you just do?" Song Tingfeng's voice came from behind.

"I looked at the Star-Gazing Tower," Xu Qi'an said thoughtfully with his eyes closed. "My cousin is a student at the Cloud Deer Academy, and today he gave me a piece of paper that records the Qi-Watching Technique."

Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao knew the Xu Household's financial situation, and upon hearing this, they nodded.

Xu Qi'an continued, "Then I used the Qi-Watching Technique to examine the Bureau of Astronomy."

After he finished speaking, he noticed that Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao remained silent for a long time.

Song Tingfeng sighed, "Do you know that the Supervisor really enjoys spending time on the Bagua Platform in the Star-Gazing Tower Eight Trigrams Platform?"

"Have no idea."

"Do you know that the pinnacle of the Warlock System is our very own Supervisor?"

"I do know that."

"Hmm, you're using Qi-Watching Technique to examine the supervisor? Isn't that just courting death?"

I really don't know.

Zhu Guangxiao also sighed, "The Warlock of the Bureau of Astronomy have frequent interactions with the Nightwatchers. You'll gradually accumulate experience and understand in the future."

Aside from Warlock and Confucian School, ordinary people would not master the Qi-Watching Technique.

Xu Qi'an this time was purely accidental.

The three did not continue their night patrol, but instead sat down by the roadside to rest, waiting for Xu Qi'an's dog eyes to regain their sight.

After a long while, a red light suddenly rose in the eastern sky, lasted for a few seconds, and then disappeared.

"Clang!"

Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao drew their swords in perfect unison.

Xu Qi'an had just regained his sight, asked, "What happened?"

Song Tingfeng said in a deep voice, "The red light is a warning to us, usually used in search and arrest situations. It's possible that one of the Nightwatchers spotted a suspicious person, but he escaped. Judging from the distance of the red light, it's very close to us."

"Ningyan, your eyes haven't recovered yet, so you're in charge of street patrols. Guangxiao, let's go up to the rooftops for lookout."

The two used their lightness skills to leap to the rooftop and each went off in a different direction.

The area the three were responsible for patrolling was quite large, so in this situation, they had no choice but to split up to search.

Watching his two colleagues depart, Xu Qi'an drew his sword, took out his crossbow, and then tightened the brass gong around his chest, as well as the inner breastplate.

He generally doesn't use bone-corroding poison, nor does he apply it to the blade, fearing that one day he might have a moment of madness and lick it.

Xu Qi'an patrolled cautiously for a moment, then saw an unfamiliar gong-wielding figure leaping across the rooftops. The gong-wielding figure stopped on the roof and said in a deep voice:

"What about the other two?"

Xu Qi'an asked, "They split up. What happened?"

Tongluo said, "The Earl of Pingyuan has been killed, and his two colleagues in charge of the area have been wounded. The thieves escaped using secret techniques and their whereabouts are currently unknown."

The Earl of Pingyuan has been murdered?!

Xu Qi'an was taken aback. Daring to kill a count in the inner city, his first reaction was not anger, but a chill running down his spine.

Although the power of nobles has declined in the Great Feng Dynasty, an earl is still an earl, and his mansion must contain skilled fighters.

That thug was able to kill the count, injure the Nightwatchers, and leave unscathed. He was no ordinary expert.

Without a doubt, Xu Qi'an felt he would be in great danger if he encountered such a situation.

After speaking, the man with the gong quickly disappeared into the distance, presumably to inform the guards at the city gate.

Damn it, my eyes haven't fully recovered yet, everything is blurry. But with my lucky streak, I shouldn't run into any thugs. Xu Qi'an secretly prayed that he wouldn't encounter any villains.

At this moment, he sensed a message coming from the fragment of the "Book of Earth." After Blood-Drip Recognition, he felt an inexplicable connection with the Book of Earth.

Who's staying up late chatting in the group?

Confused, he took out a small jade mirror and saw a line of text reflected on its surface:

[Six: Gentlemen, I've encountered some trouble in the capital. Could you please help me?]

A few minutes later, Master Jinlian popped up: [Nine: What trouble have you encountered?]

[Six: I am trapped in the inner city, facing a search by the Nightwatchers. Within an hour, the Warlock from the Bureau of Astronomy will arrive, and then I will be doomed.]

Xu Qi'an: "???"

No way.

He instantly connected the incident to the murder of the Earl of Pingyuan; was Number Six the murderer?

For a moment, no one spoke. Master Jinlian seemed to sense the predicament and could not offer a solution.

[Part Two: An Attempt at a Forced Breakout?]

[Six: No, it's too far from the city gate, and there are Nightwatchers and Imperial Saber Guard patrolling along the way. Besides, there's an outer city beyond the inner city.]

[Second: Do you possess any magical Law Artifact that can conceal your presence?]

[Six: No.]

[Nine: I do have some, but I cannot deliver them to you.]

[Six: Daoist Master, rest assured, if I cannot escape this calamity, I will leave the Earth Book in its original location. You can find it by following the aura tomorrow.]

In the capital, especially within the inner city, it was virtually impossible to escape the Nightwatchers's search.

[Two: You bald monk, stop talking such discouraging things.]

Then, a new character appeared.

[Four: I have some connections with the leader of the Human Sect. However, the Lingbao Hall is in the Imperial City, so I, monk, cannot help you.]

[Two: Isn't that the same as saying nothing at all?]

Number Four has a connection with the female national advisor. Master Jinlian wasn't lying; the holders of the Earth Book are no ordinary people.

Number Two calls Number Six a "bald donkey," Number Four calls Number Six a "monk," and Number Six is a member of the Buddhist School?

Xu Qi'an silently watched the screen.

At the same time, he saw the cohesion of the Heaven and Earth Society. The holders of the Earth Book might be on guard, wary of exposing their identities, but they did indeed share the incense offerings of a gang.

[Two: Baldy, go ask Number One, he's from the capital.]

Number One was probably spying on the screen again. Seeing Number Two bring him up, he broke his silence: [Number One: What did you do?]

[Six: I killed the Earl of Pingyuan.]

It really was him! He was the culprit tonight!

Number Six admitted it so quickly, he's so honest. That day I asked him if he was a member of the Heaven and Earth Society, and he admitted it without hesitation. Do monks not lie?

But monks don't break the precept against killing, so what the hell did you mean by sneaking into Pingyuan Earl's house in the middle of the night and killing him?

Xu Qi'an thought to himself, "This is what I'm thinking."

The group of people writing on the ground fell silent; no one spoke for a long time.

They were probably shocked by what Lu Hao had done.

After a long pause, Number One replied: [Number One: Sorry, I can't help you.]

[Nine: Number One, we're both in the Heaven and Earth Society, I'll help if I can. I believe Number Six wouldn't kill someone without a reason.]

Does Master Jinlian mean that he believes Number One is capable of helping Number Six? Even with the Nightwatchers and Imperial Saber Guard blocking the way, and the upcoming intervention of the Bureau of Astronomy's Warlock, he still believes Number One can help Number Six?

Hmm, Master Jinlian is the only one who knows everyone's identities. Number One's status might be higher than I estimated.

Xu Qi'an made a judgment.

The response to Master Jinlian was silence; Number One's attitude was firm: he would not help.

Xu Qi'an pondered, "Number Six killed Earl Pingyuan, so Number One is unwilling to help Number Six."

"Number Two is warm-hearted, at least on the surface. Number Six is a Buddhist School, very honest, and doesn't lie. Number Four has connections with the leader of the Human Sect, but his identity is unknown. Number Nine is the Golden Lotus Daoist, and Number One is a government official who likes to spy and holds a very high position. This werewolf game is quite interesting."

"I'll show off a bit too. No, I'll perform a grand spectacle in front of everyone." Xu Qi'an used his finger as a pen to type the message:

"Number Six, I can consider helping you, but I need to know why you killed Earl Pingyuan first. Heh, you can choose not to answer and refuse my offer, but don't lie."

P. S.: As requested, I've changed the book's serial number. Please vote for me!

Oh no, I forgot to set the timer.