Uninvited Guests Return
When Lu Qinghe brought back news of the Inspection Office's entry into the town, Lu Yuan was squatting by the vegetable patch in the backyard, pinching a small clump of soil between his fingertips and bringing it close to his nose to smell. The earthy smell was mixed with a very faint trace of residual Soul Power that did not belong to this place; it was very thin, but it was there. He frowned slightly.
His father's footsteps were hurried, but not hurried. Entering the backyard, Lu Qinghe lowered his voice. "The officials have arrived in town. Five or six people, dressed in dark blue, almost black, official robes. The leader is a Soul Ancestor. They're going door-to-door asking if there are any unfamiliar faces recently, or if there have been any strange occurrences in the mountains." He paused, "They know I'm Soul Master, and they specifically asked to see me. They're almost at the alley entrance."
Lu Yuan loosened his grip, and the soil fell back onto the furrow. He stood up, his movements steady, but his eyes sharpened. "An official? Which government office?"
"He said he was a steward from the Star Luo Empire's ' Border Inspection Office,'" Lu Qinghe recalled the man's self-proclaimed title, "He's here to investigate 'abnormal Soul Power activities and rumors on the border.'"
Lu Yuan narrowed his eyes. The fish had arrived, but not the opportunistic cultivators or small sects seeking revenge that he had expected; instead, it was the tentacles of the imperial government. This was faster and more troublesome than he had anticipated.
"As agreed," he said calmly. "Father, you go see him. I'll leave with the others. Teacher Shen, take Su Yan and Wangye to the cellar. Mo Chen, tidy up your workbench, don't leave anything conspicuous. Mr. Wen, come with me."
With just a few words, the people in the courtyard sprang into action. Shen Moxin didn't ask any further questions and gestured for the two boys to follow. Mo Chen grabbed the scattered carving knives and half-finished stone shards from the table and stuffed them into a sack prepared in the corner. Mentor Wen strode over to Lu Yuan's side, his eyes behind his glasses flashing with thoughtful light.
Lu Yuan didn't enter the main hall; instead, he turned and walked towards the back window of the east wing. The window frame was old, and the paper pasted on it had several holes, allowing a glimpse of the front yard and half of the gate. He gestured for Mentor Wen to stand in the shadows on the other side.
Just as I concealed myself, a light knocking sound came from outside the courtyard gate. Three knocks, evenly spaced, conveying a sense of order.
Lu Qinghe took a deep breath, rubbed the calluses on his palms, and walked over to open the courtyard gate.
Six people stood outside the door. They were all dressed in dark blue or almost black belted robes, with a simplified version of the Star Luo Empire's star and mountain emblem embroidered on the left chest, and standard long swords at their waists. The leader was a square-faced man around forty years old, with thick eyebrows, lips pursed into a straight line, and a calm but scrutinizing gaze. His Soul Power fluctuations were steady and restrained, indeed at the Soul Ancestor level. The five people behind him were slightly younger, standing upright, their gazes sweeping across the courtyard, habitually glancing over corners, doors, windows, and even the roof.
"Lu Qinghe?" the square-faced man asked, his voice neither loud nor soft.
"Yes." Lu Qinghe nodded and stepped aside. "Please come in, gentlemen."
The square-faced man didn't stand on ceremony and strode into the courtyard. The other five followed in single file, while two men naturally remained inside the gate, their hands resting on the hilts of their knives. Their movements were well-trained.
The courtyard fell silent for a moment. The square-faced man's gaze swept over the simple main room, the corner piled with firewood, and the vegetable patch, finally settling on Lu Qinghe's face. "My surname is Han, and I'm a deacon in the seventh squad of the Inspection Office. I've been ordered to investigate the recent unusual Soul Power activity and related rumors in Maple Leaf Town and the Black Stone Mountain Range." He paused, "You're the only registered Soul Master in town, and there are some things I need to ask you."
"May I ask, Deacon Han?" Lu Qinghe's tone was simple, with the timidity of a commoner meeting an official.
"In the past two weeks, have you seen any suspicious out-of-town Soul Master in or around town? Unfamiliar faces, behaving strangely, or asking about things they shouldn't be asking about?" Deacon Han asked directly.
Lu Qinghe thought for a moment and shook his head, "There are unfamiliar faces. Our town is small, and it's not uncommon for passing caravans, herb gatherers, and hunters to bring one or two Soul Master guards. But to say they're suspicious... I'm not good at judging them. They mostly just stop by for a short while and then leave, they don't really interact with the locals."
Has anyone specifically inquired about the Black Stone Mountain Range? Or discussed any unusual phenomena or treasures found there?
"This..." Lu Qinghe hesitated slightly. "There are occasional disturbances in the mountains, like thunder and tremors, which the older generation says are normal. As for treasures, they've been passed down, but no one has ever actually seen the real thing. A while ago, someone in the tavern got drunk and started talking nonsense, saying that there were strange celestial phenomena in the north, like light, and that the Cloud Mist Sect seemed to have suffered some losses there. It was all drunken talk, not to be taken seriously."
He answered flawlessly, weaving the truth into "rumors" and "drunken ramblings," which both conformed to the perception of a cautious commoner and subtly aligned with the information spread by Lu Yuan.
A young deacon behind Deacon Han quickly scribbled notes in a notebook. Deacon Han himself remained expressionless and continued, "How much do you know about the Cloud Mist Sect's activities in this area?"
Lu Qinghe smiled wryly, "Deacon Han is joking. The Cloud Mist Sect is a high and mighty sect. What they do is none of our business. We commoners would never dare to ask or know anything about it. Even when we occasionally see their people wandering around outside the mountains, we stay far away and dare not get close."
"Have their people been seen near the town?" Deacon Han noticed the detail.
"It happened before. It seems to have decreased in the last six months," Lu Qinghe said vaguely.
Deacon Han stared at him for a few moments. Lu Qinghe met his gaze calmly, his eyes showing just the right amount of bewilderment and a hint of unease. The square-faced man finally looked away and nodded slightly to the young deacon who was taking notes.
"We understand the situation." Deacon Han's tone softened somewhat, but the bureaucratic detachment remained. "The Empire is concerned about border stability. Any unauthorized actions by any sect in this area, especially those causing distress to civilians or vying for resources, are under surveillance."
He paused, his gaze sweeping across the courtyard again, seemingly intentionally or unintentionally, before slowing his speech. "If you discover any clues in the future, such as any behavior by the Cloud Mist Sect that transgresses the rules, or any other unusual occurrences, please report them. The Inspection Office will handle it."
Having said that, he didn't say anything more, turned around, and said, "Let's go."
The six people arrived swiftly and left just as quickly. The courtyard gate closed again, and their footsteps faded into the distance.
Lu Qinghe stood still until the footsteps completely disappeared, then slowly exhaled a long breath, his back slightly damp with sweat. It wasn't fear, but the instinctive tension one feels when dealing with such a behemoth at close range.
Looking out the back window of the east wing, Lu Yuan slowly straightened up. His Mentor Wen leaned closer, his voice extremely low. "The last sentence is the key point."
Lu Yuan remained silent. He tapped lightly on the window frame with his index finger, the rhythm steady, but his eyes were unfathomable.
The wooden planks at the cellar entrance were pried open, and Shen Moxin led Su Yan and Li Wangye out. Mo Chen also emerged from behind the main room, carrying the burlap sack. Everyone gathered in the backyard, their eyes all fixed on Lu Yuan.
"They're gone." Lu Qinghe walked over and said in a low voice, "The questions were exactly what I expected. I answered as you said."
Lu Yuan nodded. "Father, you handled it very well." He paused, "Mr. Wen, what do you think?"
Mentor Wen adjusted his glasses and pondered, "The Inspection Office... is directly under the Imperial Household Department, nominally responsible for border security, smuggling investigation, and monitoring sects' transgressions. But in reality, their responsibilities can vary greatly; often, they are the Empire's tentacles and eyes reaching out to sects on the border."
He quickened his pace. "The Cloud Mist Sect caused such a commotion in the Black Stone Mountain Range and even suffered a loss. The Empire couldn't possibly be unaware of this. They're happy to see this happen, and might even want to take this opportunity to put pressure on the Cloud Mist Sect, or... get a share of the spoils. This trip is a pretense of investigation; the real purpose is to send the signal that 'the Empire is watching.' That last sentence from Deacon Han sounded like official rhetoric, but it was actually an implication—they're looking for leverage against the Cloud Mist Sect, and also for 'locals' who might provide that leverage."
Mo Chen frowned. "Using someone else to do your dirty work? Are you suggesting we be their informants?"
"It's more likely a case of mutual exploitation," Shen Moxin replied, her voice cold. "The empire needs to check and balance the sects to prevent any one sect from becoming too powerful. We, on the other hand, need external forces to disrupt things and create an opportunity to rescue Lin Xiao. Our goals are different, but in the short term, there might be... a tacit understanding on dealing with the Cloud Mist Sect."
Lu Yuan listened in silence, then stopped tapping on the window frame. He turned around and glanced at everyone.
"The Empire wants to counterbalance the Cloud Mist Sect." He spoke slowly, each word enunciated clearly, "We want to save Lin Xiao, we want to survive, we want to find a path that won't be easily crushed."
He paused, his eyes narrowing slightly, as if examining a dangerous model whose outline had just begun to emerge.
"Perhaps there is a force that can be borrowed in this, even if it is only temporary, an unspoken 'understanding'."
The courtyard quieted down. The evening breeze blew, and the leaves of the Blue Silver Grass in the vegetable patch swayed gently.
A bolder, more dangerous, and vague idea, like a pebble thrown into a deep pool, rippled through Lu Yuan's mind: limited, high-risk contact or even cooperation with official forces? It sounded like playing with fire.
But tigers have their prey, and they have their own dead ends.
How to make contact? In what capacity? And what are the consequences?
These questions weighed heavily on the landscape, offering no answers. Only in the distance, towards the town's entrance, the last glimmer of light was swallowed by twilight, and the outlines of the rolling hills vanished completely into darkness, like countless lurking, silent behemoths.