The fine horses and black-clad riders racing through the night were like characters in a storyteller's tale, wanderers of the jianghu who would never return.
Just then, a crow flapped down onto the roof of a tavern ahead of them. It stood quietly on the corner of the eaves, watching Chen Ji and Cloud Goat race past without moving, as though it were itself one of the beasts adorning the roof.
The crow's feathers gleamed in the moonlight, as if draped in a veil of silver, serene and mysterious.
Huh, a crow?
Chen Ji looked back at the corner of the roof, only to find that the crow had already taken wing, flying off to who knew where.
He was certain he had seen this crow in the medical clinic's back courtyard before. The way it looked him over had been like the scrutiny of a superior.
At the time, he had thought it an illusion brought on by frayed nerves, but seeing the crow again, Chen Ji no longer thought so. The mysteries of this world ran far deeper than he had imagined.
He pondered for a moment, then asked Cloud Goat, "Lord Cloud Goat, your Secret Intelligence Directorate must have seen and heard a great deal. Have you ever seen anyone who could control animals?"
"No," Cloud Goat replied casually.
"Then are there people who cultivate the Dao? I've heard storytellers tell tales of gods and monsters. Are they true?" Chen Ji asked.
"No."
Chen Ji fell into thought. He was already walking the path of cultivation, and he was certain there were other cultivators in this world, so why had he never heard of them?
What was it that made those cultivators hide among the common people and throughout the court?
Rip.
Cloud Goat turned to see Chen Ji tear a strip from the hem of his robe and tie it over his face.
"What are you doing? Working for my Secret Intelligence Directorate is an upright and honorable affair. There's no need to hide your head and tail," Cloud Goat said disdainfully.
Chen Ji replied casually, "Lord Cloud Goat, I'm just a nobody. It never hurts to be careful. Besides, you need to protect my identity too. If the Liu Family takes revenge on me, there'll be no one to help you earn merit in the future."
Cloud Goat thought it over and realized he had a point. "Then make sure your face is properly covered... whoa!"
He abruptly pulled the reins tight, bringing the horse to a sudden stop on the dim street.
Chen Ji swept his gaze ahead. Several dozen mounted men were waiting across from them.
They wore straw rain capes and conical hats, and each had a long saber strapped horizontally across the small of his back. Their killing intent washed over the two men.
The man at their head raised his face and glanced at Chen Ji. In the shadow beneath his hat, the middle-aged man's gaze was sharp as a blade, making Chen Ji's cheeks sting.
"Who are these people?" Chen Ji asked quietly from horseback.
"People from the Bureau of Punishments," Cloud Goat replied. Tightening the reins, he called out, "Commander Lin, you look travel-worn. I suppose you brought the Fish-Dragon Guard all the way from Jinling, traveling day and night."
The middle-aged man said calmly, "You and Bright Rabbit have made a fine mess of things. I've come to escort you both back to the capital to await the Lord Inner Minister's judgment."
"Made a mess?" Cloud Goat sneered. "Bright Rabbit and I came to Luo City to capture Jing Dynasty spies. What have we done wrong?"
The middle-aged man said sternly, "You arrested members of the Liu Family but could produce no strong evidence to convict them. Now the Liu Family's old patriarch is at death's door. You won't be able to wash your hands of this."
Cloud Goat remained unruffled. "Bright Rabbit and I found the evidence long ago. We held it back because we wanted to cast a long line to catch a big fish, not beat the grass and startle the snake. Lin Chaoqing, you heard the slightest rustle in the wind and came to arrest us and obstruct our investigation. Are you a spy the Jing Dynasty planted in the Bureau of Punishments?"
"Utter nonsense," Lin Chaoqing said dismissively. "My Bureau of Punishments has a duty to oversee all officials, and your Secret Intelligence Directorate falls within my jurisdiction. I advise you to stop struggling in vain and return to the capital with me!"
Cloud Goat said in a grave voice, "Lin Chaoqing, if you want to arrest me, at least wait until the Liu old patriarch is dead."
Lin Chaoqing was taciturn by nature and unwilling to waste any more words. "Arrest them."
As soon as he spoke, the dozens of mounted Fish-Dragon Guards behind him spurred their horses forward.
Horseshoes pounded against the bluestone road with a sound that shook the soul.
At that moment, a dark cloud covered the sky, and the long street turned black as ink.
The Fish-Dragon Guards' faces were hidden beneath their conical hats, their eyes concealed in terrifying shadows. As they were about to reach Cloud Goat, every one of them drew the long saber from his back in perfect unison!
Cloud Goat said to Chen Ji in a deep voice, "Hold on tight!"
With that, he leaped from the horse and jabbed its rump with a silver needle at his fingertip, quick as lightning. The horse screamed in fright and bolted in the other direction with Chen Ji on its back!
Chen Ji knew nothing of riding and could only duck low and cling tightly to the horse's neck. Looking back, he saw Cloud Goat, clad in black, advance rather than retreat, striding out to meet the dozens of mounted Fish-Dragon Guards!
Boom!
The instant he met the first Fish-Dragon Guard, the guard swung his saber at him. But before the blade could fall, Cloud Goat had already sunk his waist, twisted his hips, and smashed a fist into the horse's head!
The horse let out a mournful cry. The warhorse, as massive as a carriage, was rocked by that slender fist and toppled onto the long street like a collapsing mountain.
"Resisting arrest in defiance of orders adds another degree to your crime!" Lin Chaoqing suddenly sprang into action. He planted a foot on his saddle, drew his saber in midair, and chopped downward. His saber was longer and heavier than any of the others!
When he pushed off the horse's back, even the mighty steed could not withstand the force, and its knees buckled.
On the other side, Cloud Goat also leaped into the air. Their collision in midair stirred up a surging current of air, and before anyone could see what had happened, the two had already separated.
Lin Chaoqing dropped from the air and landed steadily on his horse's back. Where the two had collided, a saber mark several meters long had been carved into the bluestone road!
Cloud Goat, meanwhile, used the force of the collision to leap onto the eaves. Moving as swiftly as a rabbit springing and a falcon diving, he caught up to the fleeing horse like a phantom, then jumped onto its back and escaped.
On the long street, Lin Chaoqing was in no hurry to give chase. He sat back down on his horse and pressed down his conical hat. "Who was riding behind him?" he asked calmly.
"This subordinate has never seen him before. He shouldn't be from the Secret Intelligence Directorate."
Lin Chaoqing's voice rang with the force of clashing metal. "Investigate."
Still shaken, Chen Ji said, "You said earlier that you'd never seen a cultivator...?"
Cloud Goat had just opened his mouth to reply when he spat out a mouthful of blood. He wiped the corner of his mouth with his sleeve. "How could we announce the existence of cultivators to the whole world? What you cultivate and what realm you've reached are things you can't tell anyone."
"Why?"
Cloud Goat said meaningfully, "Cultivating in pursuit of longevity sounds wonderful, but that's only a story from a tale. On this path, there is only life and death. I think you've got promise, kid. Maybe one day some important figure really will take you under his wing. But remember, if you truly step onto this path, never tell anyone what you cultivate."
Chen Ji's heart tightened. A profound warning lay hidden in Cloud Goat's words. It was life experience he must have gained from things he had been through.
While Chen Ji was still thinking, Cloud Goat coughed up another mouthful of blood. "Kid, if you can't find evidence to convict the Liu Family's younger members tonight, I'm afraid we'll both die."
Chen Ji said, "So the reason you said we had to find evidence tonight was that you were worried the Bureau of Punishments would hold you accountable. I thought your Secret Intelligence Directorate was the most formidable."
"Spare me the snide remarks. The Bureau of Punishments commands the imperial escort and ceremonial guard, so of course those brutes are formidable," Cloud Goat said coldly. "But we all serve under the Inner Minister. Our Secret Intelligence Directorate risks our necks every day, fighting and killing the Military Intelligence Directorate, while they spend every day investigating their own people. What kind of skill is that?"
They had reached the gates of the Zhou Residence. Cloud Goat jumped down first and shoved open the vermilion-lacquered doors. Their creaking rang out under the night sky, setting their teeth on edge.
The Zhou Residence had already been cleaned up. Tables and chairs had been set upright, as though more than a dozen people had never died there.
Standing in the courtyard, Cloud Goat turned to Chen Ji and said gravely, "There isn't much time. I've placed my bet on you, and I hope you won't disappoint me. Tell me, what did you find at the Zhou Residence earlier?"
Chen Ji headed straight for the main room. "Where were Zhou Chengyi's books gathered?"
"Not a single one is missing. They're all here."
Chen Ji stood before the bookshelf, quickly taking down the books one by one and leafing through them.
Seeing how absorbed he was, Cloud Goat left the main room. Where no one could see him, he took out a shadow puppet, bit open his index finger, and used his blood to dot its eyes.
The shadow puppet came to life, an eerie smile appearing on its face. It hopped unsteadily onto the courtyard wall and ran east.
He returned to the main room to find that Chen Ji had finally selected two books. "The clue should be in these two books."
Cloud Goat took the books and leafed through them, only to discover that their contents were identical. "Both are the eighth section of the 'Commentaries and Annotations on the Four Books,' 'On Governance, Second.' One of them should be a copy Zhou Chengyi made himself. I've seen his handwriting."
In this era, books commonly circulated through buying and selling, borrowing, and copying by hand, as well as through plunder and theft.
The great families held a monopoly on printing books, which were expensive, so borrowing and copying them was very common.
But that was where the problem lay: Zhou Chengyi was not short of money.
Chen Ji pointed to the hundreds of books lining the wall. "As a county magistrate's deputy, Zhou Chengyi appeared honest and incorruptible, but he secretly kept a woman in a separate residence and had more than a dozen servants. Why would he copy books himself? My guess is that every time Zhou Chengyi borrowed and returned a book, he was passing on intelligence. He hadn't yet had time to return this freshly copied book. It should contain the secret he wanted to send out."
Cloud Goat looked at Chen Ji strangely. "The last time you were here, these books were the first things you examined. You spotted this clue then, so why didn't you speak up on the spot to save your life, instead of continuing to look for other clues?"
Chen Ji said, "It never hurts to have more information to save my life with. Besides, I only had a quarter of an hour. Although I knew something was wrong with it, I couldn't guarantee I could decipher the Military Intelligence Directorate's code in that time."
That night, though Chen Ji had been afraid, he had never panicked. His trump card was like the broken shard of porcelain he had held in his hand all along: he had never let go of it.
Cloud Goat sat down wearily in a chair. "Then are you confident now?"
"If I have another four hours, I should be able to do it," Chen Ji said with certainty.
Before he had finished speaking, hoofbeats sounded outside the Zhou Residence. The two looked up to see Bright Rabbit dismounting with more than ten secret agents. She handed her reins to one of them and strode toward the residence. "Close the gates! On my way back, I saw the Liu Family openly marching here with torches and weapons. There are a lot of them!"
Cloud Goat was astonished. "What are they going to do?"
Bright Rabbit said heavily, "The Liu old patriarch is dead."
Cloud Goat stared at Bright Rabbit in shock. "The Liu Family's old patriarch is dead?! Chen Ji, didn't your master go to treat him? His medical skills aren't much good!"
Inside the room, Bright Rabbit said grimly, "He died an hour ago. The Liu Family is in an uproar now."
"Fuck," Cloud Goat said, rubbing his face with both hands. "How the fuck can we be this unlucky? His own body was failing him. How can they blame us? How did this enormous bucket of shit end up dumped on my head?!"
Bright Rabbit said, "Two of my secret agents are missing. They may have been killed by the Liu Family in the chaos. There are 'enforcers' kept by the Liu Family hidden among this group."
As soon as she finished speaking, another flurry of hoofbeats and footsteps sounded outside. The Liu Family had come quickly, and in a great hurry!
Someone shouted, "They had no proof, yet they threw a young provincial graduate of our Liu Family into the imperial prison and caused his death, angering the old patriarch to death! They must give us an explanation today!"
"That's right, they must give us an explanation!"
Amid the clamor of voices and the restless flickering of torchlight, Cloud Goat looked at Chen Ji with a strange expression. "Now, I'm afraid you only have a quarter of an hour."