Dawn had barely broken, yet the atmosphere in the Lin Family's main hall was stifling.
Lin Hong sat in the seat of honor, drinking tea without a word.
The room was so quiet that the soft scraping of the cup lid against the rim could be heard.
Old Li, the bookkeeper, and the workers from the Granary Full of Fortune knelt on the icy floor, trembling like fallen leaves in the autumn wind. None of them dared raise his head.
After an unknown length of time, Lin Hong finally set down his teacup and raised his eyes to look at Old Li and the others.
"So, over a dozen of you stood by and watched him kill a man and seize the grain, then let him toy with you in the palm of his hand?" Lin Hong's voice was flat, betraying neither anger nor joy.
But Old Li and the others were scared out of their wits, knocking their heads against the floor with thud after thud.
"Master, please hear me out."
Old Li's voice trembled as he said, "That man wasn't human, he was a ghost! He walked without a sound, killed without spilling blood, and vanished into the darkness in the blink of an eye. We... we really couldn't do anything!"
The other workers were trembling so badly that they could not even speak.
"A ghost?" Lin Hong sneered.
"Where would ghosts come from in this world? He was nothing but a jianghu outlaw playing at gods and ghosts!"
He sprang to his feet and shouted, "Attend me!"
"Master." The steward hurried forward and bowed.
"Lock them all in the woodshed. Without my orders, none of them are to come out!"
"Also, go to the Six Gates and tell them the Lin Family has a case to report. Have them send their best chief constable. I'll pay whatever it costs."
He paused, then added, enunciating every word, "I want that bastard dead without an intact corpse!"
Two hours later, the Granary Full of Fortune rice shop was surrounded so tightly by the Lin Family's servants and government runners that not even water could have passed through. No bystanders were allowed near.
Lin Hong waited at the entrance in person. When he saw two people approaching from a distance, his taut face finally relaxed a little.
At their head was a thin old man past sixty, dressed in a somewhat worn blue cloth robe. His goatee was immaculately groomed, but his eyes were particularly remarkable. Whenever he opened or closed them, they flashed with a penetrating light, as though they could see through a person's heart.
He was Cheng Ming, a legendary figure who had long since retired from the Six Gates. Known as "Divine Eye," he had brought his skills in tracking, investigation, and solving cases to a level of divine mastery.
Following him was a girl of about seventeen or eighteen. She wore a plain, elegant dress and had delicate features, with a composure between her brows that belied her age.
She was Cheng Ming's granddaughter, Cheng Zhiwei.
Though she was young, she had followed her grandfather on cases since childhood. With her meticulous mind and keen powers of observation, she had long since become his indispensable right and left hands.
"Old Chief Constable Cheng, it's been years, but you're as distinguished as ever!" Seeing the visitors, Lin Hong forced a faint smile and cupped his hands.
Although Cheng Ming was only a chief constable, his reputation in criminal investigations was immense. Even the minister of justice had to show him some respect, so Lin Hong naturally did not dare neglect him.
"You're too kind, Patriarch Lin." Cheng Ming nodded slightly, but his gaze had already begun sweeping over the surroundings inside and outside the rice shop.
"I heard your household's rice shop was struck by a thief, so I came to offer what little help I can."
"Sorry for the trouble, Old Chief Constable Cheng." Lin Hong stepped aside. "Please, come in."
Cheng Ming did not stand on ceremony. He led Cheng Zhiwei into the Granary Full of Fortune, with Lin Hong close behind. Lin Hong dismissed the bystanders, leaving only a few trusted aides.
The scene inside the rice shop remained untouched. Wang Shun's body lay on the ground, with blood long since dried beneath him.
Cheng Ming and his granddaughter did not rush to examine the body. Instead, they first made a circuit of the rice shop's entire rear courtyard.
From time to time, Cheng Ming stopped and crouched to examine the ground closely, or leaped onto the courtyard wall to survey the surrounding rooftops and alleys.
Cheng Zhiwei followed quietly behind her grandfather with brush and paper in hand, recording each of his discoveries. Occasionally, she also voiced a question or an observation of her own in a low voice.
Lin Hong stood to one side, watching grandfather and granddaughter examine the scene at their own unhurried pace. He was anxious, but did not dare hurry them, and could only wait patiently.
Only after more than two full hours had passed did Cheng Ming finish examining the scene and the body. He rose and said to Lin Hong, "Patriarch Lin, please bring everyone who was present last night here."
Lin Hong immediately ordered Old Li and the workers brought out of the woodshed.
The questioning took place in the courtyard.
Cheng Ming sat at the table where Wang Shun had been drinking, while Cheng Zhiwei laid out her brush and paper and stood beside him.
"Tell me what happened last night from beginning to end, without missing a single word." Cheng Ming did not speak loudly, but his voice carried an authority that brooked no argument.
Trembling, Old Li recounted what had happened once more.
From Wang Shun's alertness to the masked man's sudden appearance, and then the entire process of opening the granary and distributing the grain, he left nothing out, however small.
Cheng Ming listened intently, occasionally interrupting to press for details. Cheng Zhiwei wrote furiously at his side, sometimes adding a word or two to guide Old Li's recollection.
When Old Li described the masked man merging into the darkness and vanishing into thin air, a strange look flashed through both Cheng Ming's and Cheng Zhiwei's eyes.
"You said he merged into the darkness?" Cheng Zhiwei asked, frowning slightly. "How exactly did he disappear? Can you describe it?"
"He... he just stepped back, and whoosh, he was gone!" Old Li gestured as he spoke, his face full of lingering fear.
Cheng Ming exchanged a glance with his granddaughter, then waved a hand. Someone took Old Li and the other workers away.
"Elder Cheng, have you found any clues? Who exactly is that thief?" Lin Hong asked impatiently.
Cheng Ming shook his head, picked up the remains of the tea on the table, which had long since gone cold, and took a sip.
"There are no clues for now, but one thing is certain: this person is exceptionally skilled, especially in the art of concealing his tracks, which is among the best in the world today. Even across the entire jianghu, the thieves and bandits with such skills can be counted on one hand."
Cheng Zhiwei nodded as well. "That's right. There were twelve workers patrolling the courtyard, yet this person knocked each of them unconscious from behind with a single strike. His technique was clean and efficient, and not one of the twelve had time to raise the alarm. Such skill at stealth is indeed unheard of."
"Another thing is that this person's saber technique is exceptional. I examined Wang Shun's body. The wound on his throat was inflicted with speed, precision, and ruthlessness taken to the extreme. So, Patriarch Lin!"
Cheng Ming added this, then looked at Lin Hong. "Has your Lin Family ever offended some formidable figure from the jianghu?"
Lin Hong was taken aback. He knitted his brows and searched his mind for a long time, but in the end he shook his head in bewilderment. "To tell you the truth, Old Chief Constable Cheng, although my Lin Family has some businesses in the capital, we have always kept to our own well water and left the river water to the people of the jianghu. I truly can't recall when we might have offended such a person."
Seeing that his expression did not seem feigned, Cheng Ming was somewhat puzzled as well.
The thief had acted strangely. He had infiltrated the rice shop and killed the shopkeeper, yet had not taken a penny. Instead, he had distributed all the grain, which was worth a thousand pieces of gold. Clearly, he had not done it for wealth, but for revenge. Yet if it was revenge, the Lin Family did not seem to have such an enemy.