Luocheng City at night was like a giant chessboard, with straight bluestone paths dividing the buildings into a neat grid of twenty-one vertical and horizontal sections.

Spies, dressed in black, kept their hands on their waist-knives.

Like black chess pieces, they moved along different paths to their designated locations.

Viewed from above, the silent network of spies seemed like a great black dragon, coiled on the chessboard.

On the quiet Xinglongzhai Street, Xifeng walked at the front, wearing a newly carved dragon-head mask. Chen Ji and Jin Zhu walked side-by-side, also masked.

Behind them, two spies arranged by Jin Zhu constantly followed Chen Ji, blocking any possible escape routes.

As they walked, Chen Ji suddenly stopped and turned around.

Instantly, the two spies half-drew their waist-knives, their eyes fixed on him with a cold gaze.

Chen Ji asked, puzzled, “Lord Jin Zhu, is this to protect me or to detain me? You’re treating me like a criminal already. Is the next step to throw me into the inner prison?”

Jin Zhu patted his shoulder and sighed, “We are all intelligent people; there’s no need to spell everything out.”

Chen Ji’s voice was calm, devoid of any emotion: “Lord Jin Zhu, I helped you find a way to get leverage on the Liu family. With success so close, you’re discarding me! When will you ever trust me?”

Jin Zhu smiled, “I can only trust you when you can explain the many suspicious points about you.”

Chen Ji asked with a firm voice, “What suspicious points?”

Jin Zhu pondered for a moment and said, “As a medical apprentice, you were able to decipher a Jing Dynasty secret letter; you appear to be powerless, yet you survived an encounter with Jing Dynasty spies at the Chaocang Gambling Den; you’re not adept at investigation, yet you managed to shake off two of my subordinates. Do you know that even within my Intelligence Bureau, not many can do these things, let alone a mere medical apprentice?”

Jin Zhu, with his hands clasped behind his back, asked with interest, “So, can you answer these questions for me?”

Chen Ji did not reply.

Jin Zhu chuckled, “It’s fine if you don’t want to answer. Once this matter is concluded, Meng Ji will certainly get to the bottom of it.”

Chen Ji suddenly asked, “Aren’t you afraid, my lord, that when you’re feigning civility with Liu Mingxian later, I’ll suddenly speak up and ruin your plan? You still need me to cooperate with this act, so why don’t we make a deal?”

Jin Zhu slowly asked, “What kind of deal?”

However, at that moment, a spy suddenly whispered, “My lord, why bother making a deal with him? Every time you meet Liu Mingxian, you wear masks. Liu Mingxian has no idea who is beneath the masks; anyone wearing one would appear the same. Why don’t I wear his mask? As long as I don’t speak, Liu Mingxian will never notice anything unusual.”

Jin Zhu smiled at Chen Ji, “I’m sorry, but in this game, the one with the most chips in hand is the one who laughs last. You have no chips left, but I still do.”

As he finished speaking, Jin Zhu abruptly snatched the tiger mask from Chen Ji’s face.

He looked at Chen Ji’s calm eyes, then at Chen Ji’s unconsciously clenched fists, and suddenly sighed, “I know you’re actually very angry, but you don’t need to be. I know being betrayed must feel terrible, but if you truly are blameless, I will personally apologize to you and give you a satisfactory explanation. Take him away and hold him aside, gag him, don’t let him speak and disrupt things.”

Two spies stepped forward and tightly gagged Chen Ji with a strip of cloth.

Jin Zhu smiled, weighed the wooden tiger mask in his hand, and finally handed it over: “Sixiao, wear this mask. From now on, you are the Commander of the Military Intelligence Bureau.”

With that, Jin Zhu, Xifeng, and Sixiao put on their masks and continued towards Mudan Bridge, while the other spy escorted Chen Ji into a narrow alley to meet up with other spies hiding in the shadows.

In the alley, Chen Ji slowed his pace, trying to buy time.

But he had barely slowed down when the spy behind him sharply struck him with a scabbard: “Walk faster. Don’t get any ideas.”

A burning pain spread across Chen Ji’s back, but his expression grew increasingly calm.

It was the Yin hour, the fourth watch.

They say: the first watch is for people, the second for fires, the third for ghosts, the fourth for thieves, and the fifth for roosters.

During the fourth watch, the night is deepest, people are in their soundest sleep, and it is the best time for murder and arson.

Jin Zhu could already see Mudan Bridge in the distance. He slowed his steps and quietly instructed, “Remember, you must wait for me to confirm if Liu Mingxian appears. If he doesn’t, tonight’s operation will be canceled, and we will continue to gain his trust… The current political situation is chaotic, and we must catch Liu Mingxian red-handed to silence the criticism of the high officials.”

“Understood!”

Jin Zhu triple-checked that the three of them had their masks on properly, ensuring no oversight, and then slowly walked towards Mudan Bridge. In the distance, the night watchman’s distant call echoed: “All is peaceful, no illness, no disaster!”

Jin Zhu shook his head. Everyone said that the night watchman’s job was tough, requiring them to wake up five times every night to announce the watch, unable to get a full night’s sleep. But wasn’t his Intelligence Bureau the same?

However, just as he reached the head of Mudan Bridge and saw the carriage waiting on it, he suddenly felt as if he had missed some details: “I just feel like something isn’t quite right.”

“What’s not right?”

“It’s too quiet…”

“My lord, our people have secured the area. Quiet is normal.”

“No, no!”

Jin Zhu suddenly looked up at the stars: “‘All is peaceful, no illness, no disaster’ is the call for the third watch. It’s clearly already the fourth watch now. Why would he make such a mistake?”

Xifeng’s muscles suddenly tensed: “If a night watchman or drum keeper announces the wrong time, they can be imprisoned. The time cannot be wrong!”

“The one who just announced the watch is not the real night watchman!”

“It’s an ambush!”

On Anxi Street, an old man wearing white-soled black cloth shoes ambled along, carrying two bags of pastries, until he reached the Chai Ji Grain and Oil Store.

As he gazed into the dim alleyway, dozens of glowing green eyes inside the alley turned to look at him.

In the mutual silence, the old man smiled and waved: “Jiutian Yingyuan Leisheng Puhua Tianzun.”

As he finished speaking, a pair of eyes emerged from the group. The figure stepped from the shadows into the moonlight, slowly revealing a dark, furry form.

Wuyun looked up and meowed, “Master, why aren’t you resting yet?”

Old Man Yao sighed, “With all the troublesome things Chen Ji gets up to, how can I sleep? I’m afraid the sky will fall if I do. Here, I brought you two bags of pastries. Share them with the cats behind you.”

Wuyun picked up the hemp string on the paper bag with its mouth and turned to carry it into the darkness.

The next moment, those pairs of eyes widened and glowed even greener.

Wuyun meowed, but then, one by one, the eyes in the alley disappeared, and the pastries were carried off somewhere unknown.

It walked back into the moonlight and lightly jumped into Old Man Yao’s arms: “Master, may you live a hundred years!”

Old Man Yao smacked his lips, “That sounds like I don’t have many years left to live.”

Wuyun: “…”

It hadn’t interacted with humans for long and only knew that it should praise people at this moment, but wasn’t sure how to do it most appropriately.

Wuyun changed the subject, “Master, why are you here?”

Old Man Yao stroked Wuyun’s head: “Tonight, I cast a divination for Chen Ji… But ever since he learned the sword-seed path, my divination seems to have stopped working on him. It’s hazy, sometimes accurate, sometimes not. Now I can only tell that he’s in danger tonight, but not what the outcome will be.”

Wuyun was stunned: “He said he wasn’t in danger. I offered to go with him, but he didn’t let me.”

Old Man Yao smiled: “He probably didn’t want you to be in danger too.”

Wuyun quickly said, “Then please help him!”

Old Man Yao was silent for a few seconds: “Why should I help him? I already said before that there’s no master-disciple bond between us.”

Wuyun was puzzled: “Then why are you out so late?”

Old Man Yao thought for a moment: “I’m just going to see if I need to collect his body.”

Wuyun was awestruck: “Your heart is truly kind.”

“If you’re not good at compliments, just don’t say anything,” Old Man Yao chuckled happily, “My heart is not kind. If it were, I wouldn’t have lived to this age. Wuyun, all the great figures in this world, the higher their position, the colder the blood in their hearts.”

Old Man Yao looked down at Wuyun: “He came to see you before he left. What did he say?”

Wuyun thought for a moment and said, “He told me to tell you at dawn that he might not be back for several days, but he would be fine.”

Old Man Yao let out a soft “Hmm?”: “He guessed he wouldn’t be back for a few days? But Jin Zhu has already started suspecting Chen Ji and even specifically brought in Meng Ji for this. How can he be so sure nothing will happen to him?”

Wuyun was puzzled: “Jin Zhu previously said he wanted to invest in Chen Ji. Why is he suspecting him now? Was he lying before?”

Old Man Yao smiled and said, “His desire to invest is real, because Jin Zhu’s cultivation path involves placing heavy bets on others. As long as the cultivation of the person he bets on increases, he benefits from it. After he successfully bet on Tian Ma, Tian Ma reached the threshold of the Shendao Realm within ten years. At the same time, Jin Zhu’s own cultivation realm also ascended to a new level.”

“After Jin Zhu tasted success, he constantly sought to discover the next Tian Ma. However, several consecutive failures caused his realm to drop instead of rise, even falling from the Xundao Realm back to the Xiantian Realm… Now that he sees Chen Ji’s potential, he naturally wants to bet again, helping Chen Ji acquire a cultivation path and resources.”

“So that’s how it is.”

“Let’s get back to business,” Old Man Yao asked, “Three days ago, after Chen Ji met with you, you disappeared. Where did you go that night?”

Wuyun hesitated.

Old Man Yao sneered, “Can’t you say?”

Wuyun honestly replied, “Chen Ji said I could only tell you if you asked three times. You’ve only asked twice.”

Old Man Yao chuckled: “…Then I’m asking for the third time now. Where did you go that night?”

“I delivered a note to the Liu family’s manor.”

“What did the note say?”

“The Commander is a fake. You can verify it with the manager of Bailu Pavilion.”

Old Man Yao slightly narrowed his eyes.

The skinny old man stood on the long street, turning his head to look at the endless bluestone path stretching into the night, as if seeing the end of the world: “He wants to ‘manage an isolated group and devour a dragon’?”