The night, the galloping swift horses, and the people in black clothes, just like the characters in the storyteller’s tales, are all restless guests of the jianghu.

At this moment, a crow flapped its wings and landed on the roof of a tavern ahead. It stood there quietly on the corner of the eaves, watching Chen Ji and Yun Yang gallop past, motionless, as if it were the very ridge beast of this building.

The crow’s feathers reflected the moonlight with a sheen, as if wearing a silver veil, serene and mysterious.

Huh, a crow?

Chen Ji turned his head to look at the eave corner again, but found that the crow had already flapped its wings and flown off to who knows where.

He confirmed that he had seen this crow before in the medical hall’s backyard. Its eyes, sizing him up, seemed to scrutinize him from a position of superiority.

At that time, seeing this crow, he had thought it was a hallucination born from intense nervousness. But now, seeing it again, Chen Ji didn’t think so. The mysteries of this world far exceeded his imagination.

He pondered for a moment, then opened his mouth and asked Yun Yang: “Lord Yun Yang, your Secret Spy Department should have seen and heard a lot. Have you ever seen someone who can control animals?”

“Never,” Yun Yang replied casually.

“Then what about cultivators? I’ve heard the storyteller tell some tales of gods and monsters. Are they true?” Chen Ji asked.

“No.”

Chen Ji fell into deep thought. He was already walking the path of cultivation and confirmed that this world absolutely still had other cultivators, but why had he never heard of them?

What reason led those cultivators to hide among common folk and in the officialdom?

Rip.

Yun Yang turned his head to look and saw Chen Ji tearing off the lower hem of his robe and tying it around his face.

“What are you doing? Our Secret Spy Department works openly and aboveboard, no need to hide your head and tail,” Yun Yang said disdainfully.

Chen Ji responded casually: “Lord Yun Yang, although I am just a small person, it’s always better to be cautious. And you must also protect my identity well, otherwise, if the Liu family retaliates against me, there might not be anyone to help you earn merits later.”

Yun Yang thought carefully, and indeed, this was the case: “Then cover your face tightly… Whoa!”

He suddenly pulled the reins taut, causing his horse to stop abruptly on the dim street.

Chen Ji’s gaze swept over. Directly opposite them were dozens of people stationed on horseback.

This group of people wore raincoats and bamboo hats. Behind each person’s waist was a long knife, and their killing intent was palpable.

The person leading them lifted their head and glanced at Chen Ji. Chen Ji saw that beneath the shadow of the bamboo hat, the middle-aged man’s gaze was like a knife, stinging his face and cheeks.

“Who are these people?” Chen Ji asked in a low voice from atop his horse.

“People from the ‘Main Criminal Department’,” Yun Yang responded, while tightening his reins and saying loudly: “It seems Commanding Envoy Lin, dusty from travel, brought the Fish Dragon Guards and rushed here day and night from Jinling.”

The middle-aged man calmly said: “You and Jiao Tu have stirred up such a big mess. I have come to take you two back to the capital to listen to the Inner Minister’s disposal.”

“Stirred up a mess?” Yun Yang laughed coldly: “Jiao Tu and I came to Luo City to capture Jing Dynasty spies. What have we done wrong?”

The middle-aged man said solemnly: “You all captured people from the Liu family, yet cannot produce strong evidence to convict them. Now the old master of the Liu family is on the verge of death. This matter is unavoidable.”

Yun Yang wasn’t in a hurry: “Jiao Tu and I have already found evidence. We haven’t brought it out because we want to cast a long line to catch a big fish and avoid beating the grass and scaring the snake. Lin Chao Qing, you slightly heard some wind and grass moving and want to come and capture us to obstruct the investigation. Are you a spy planted by the Jing Dynasty in the Main Criminal Department?”

“Nonsense,” Lin Chao Qing said disdainfully: “Our Main Criminal Department has the duty to supervise all officials. Your Secret Spy Department is originally under my jurisdiction. I advise you not to struggle meaninglessly anymore and follow me back to the capital!”

Yun Yang said solemnly: “Lin Chao Qing, if you want to catch me, at least wait until Old Master Liu is dead before you say anything.”

Lin Chao Qing was originally a taciturn person and was already unwilling to say any more nonsense: “Capture them.”

As his words fell, the dozens of mounted Fish Dragon Guards behind him spurred their horses and charged forward.

The iron hooves of the horses clattered on the bluestone slab road, emitting heart-pounding sounds.

At this moment, the sky was covered by a dark cloud, and the long street was like ink.

The faces of the Fish Dragon Guards were blocked under their bamboo hats, their eyes hidden in terrifying shadows. When they were about to reach Yun Yang, all of them uniformly drew the long knives from behind their waists!

Yun Yang said in a low voice to Chen Ji: “Sit tight!”

With that, he leaped off his horse, and with a thunderous stab of a silver needle from his fingertip, he pricked the horse’s buttocks. The swift horse neighed in surprise, carrying Chen Ji wildly away in another direction!

Chen Ji was not skilled in horsemanship and could only lower his body and hug the horse’s neck tightly. He turned his head to look and saw Yun Yang, dressed in black, not retreating but advancing, striding forward to meet the dozens of mounted Fish Dragon Guards!

Boom!

The moment he collided with the first Fish Dragon Guard, the Fish Dragon Guard swung his knife to chop, but before the knife could fall, Yun Yang had already lowered his waist, twisted his hips, and smashed his fist onto the horse’s head!

The swift horse wailed, the warhorse as huge as a carriage was actually shaken by this slender fist, and like a collapsing mountain range, it fell onto the long street.

“Resisting orders and arrest, the crime is increased by one grade!” Lin Chao Qing’s figure suddenly exerted force. He stepped on the horse saddle with one foot, drew his knife in mid-air, and chopped down. His knife was longer and heavier than everyone else’s!

When he stepped on the horse’s back and exerted force, even the sturdy swift horse couldn’t withstand this force and its knees bent down.

On the other side, Yun Yang also flew up and leaped, seeing the situation. The collision between the two people in mid-air actually stirred up surging air currents. No one saw clearly what happened, and the two people had already touched and separated.

Lin Chao Qing fell from the air and actually stood steadily on his own horse’s back. On the bluestone slab road where the two people collided, a knife mark several meters long was left!

In contrast, on the other side, Yun Yang borrowed the force of that collision to leap onto the roof. Between a rabbit’s rise and a falcon’s fall, he chased after the fleeing horse like a ghost, jumped onto its back with one leap, and escaped.

On the long street, Lin Chao Qing was not in a hurry to chase. He sat back on his horse, pressed down his bamboo hat, and calmly asked: “Who is the person sitting on his horse’s back?”

“This subordinate has never seen him. He should not be a person from the Secret Spy Department.”

Lin Chao Qing’s words sounded forceful, like metal clashing: “Investigate.”

…

…

Chen Ji’s heart was still pounding as he said: “You said before that you haven’t seen cultivators…?”

Yun Yang was about to answer, but when he opened his mouth, he spat out a mouthful of blood. He wiped the corner of his mouth with his sleeve: “How can matters of cultivation be proclaimed to the world? What you cultivate, what realm you cultivate to, all cannot be told to others.”

“Why?”

Yun Yang said meaningfully: “Although seeking longevity through cultivation is beautiful, that is only a story in books. On this path, there is only life and death. I feel you, boy, have prospects. Perhaps later you will really get the promotion of some big figure, but remember, if you really step on this path, absolutely do not tell others what you cultivate.”

Chen Ji’s heart trembled. There was a deep warning hidden in Yun Yang’s words, which must have been life experience summarized after the other had experienced something.

Just as he was pondering, Yun Yang coughed out another mouthful of blood: “Boy, if you cannot find evidence tonight to convict the Liu family’s descendants of their crimes, I’m afraid we will die together.”

Chen Ji said: “So you said that you must investigate out the evidence tonight because you were worried about being held accountable by the ‘Main Criminal Department’. I still thought your Secret Spy Department was the most powerful.”

“Less of the sarcasm. The Main Criminal Department controls the imperial guards. This group of warriors is, of course, powerful,” Yun Yang said coldly: “However, everyone is working under the Inner Minister. We in the Secret Spy Department are constantly clashing with the Military Intelligence Department, fighting back and forth. What ability is it for them to investigate their own people every day?”

The two people had already arrived at the gate of the Zhou family. Yun Yang was the first to jump off his horse and push open the vermilion lacquer door. A creaking sound echoed in the night, making people’s teeth ache.

The Zhou family residence had already been cleaned up. Tables were straightened, chairs were set up, as if more than ten people had never died here.

Yun Yang stood in the courtyard, turned his head to look at Chen Ji, and said solemnly: “Time is running out. I’m betting on you. I hope you don’t disappoint me. Tell me, what did you discover earlier in the Zhou family residence?”

Chen Ji walked directly towards the main house of the Zhou family: “Where are all of Zhou Cheng Yi’s books gathered?”

“Not one less, they’re all here.”

Chen Ji stood in front of the bookshelf and quickly took down the books one by one to flip through them.

Yun Yang saw that he was focused, so he walked out of the main house. In a place where no one was around, he took out a shadow puppet figure. He bit open his index finger and dotted its eyes with fresh blood.

The shadow puppet figure came to life, revealing a strange smile on its face. It wobbled and jumped onto the courtyard wall, then ran away towards the east.

He returned to the main house and saw that Chen Ji had finally selected two books: “The clues should be in these two books.”

Yun Yang took the books and flipped through them, only to discover that the contents of the two books were exactly the same: “Both books are the eighth article, ‘For Politics Second Article’, from the Annotations of the Four Books Chapter Sentences. One of them should have been copied by Zhou Cheng Yi himself. I have seen his handwriting.”

In this era, the regular ways of circulating books included buying and selling, borrowing, copying, and also plundering and stealing.

Printed books were monopolized by aristocratic families and were expensive, so borrowing and copying were very common behaviors.

But the problem was right here: Zhou Cheng Yi was not short of money.

Chen Ji pointed at the several hundred books on one wall and said: “Zhou Cheng Yi, as a county magistrate, seemed upright on the surface, but he secretly kept women in his outer residence. Even the servants numbered over ten. Why would he copy books himself? I guess that Zhou Cheng Yi borrowed books and returned books every time, which was his way of transmitting intelligence. This book was just copied and hadn’t had time to be returned. There should be secrets inside that he wanted to transmit.”

Yun Yang looked at Chen Ji with a strange expression: “You checked these books first last time. At that time, you discovered this clue. Why didn’t you speak up on the spot to save your life? Instead, you continued to search for other clues?”

Chen Ji said: “It’s always better to have more information that can save your life. Moreover, I only had a quarter of an hour. Although I knew there was a problem, I wasn’t sure if I could decipher the Military Intelligence Department’s code within a quarter of an hour.”

That night, although Chen Ji was afraid, he never panicked. His trump card was like the piece of broken porcelain he always held in his hand, never letting go.

Yun Yang sat tiredly on a chair: “Then do you have confidence now?”

“If I have another two hours, I should be able to,” Chen Ji said confidently.

Before he finished speaking, the sound of horse hooves echoed from outside the Zhou family residence. The two people lifted their heads and saw Jiao Tu leading over ten secret spies dismount. She handed the reins to one of the secret spies and quickly walked towards the mansion: “Close the door! On the way back, I discovered the Liu family openly and brazenly rushing here! There are many of them!”

Yun Yang was surprised: “What do they want to do?”

Jiao Tu said heavily: “Old Master Liu has died.”

Yun Yang looked at Jiao Tu in shock: “Old Master Liu died?! Chen Ji, didn’t your master go? His medical skills aren’t very good!”

Inside the house, Jiao Tu said gravely: “He died an hour ago. The Liu family people are all excited at this moment.”

“Damn it,” Yun Yang rubbed his face with both hands: “We are also too damn unlucky! It’s clearly because his own body wasn’t good, how can they blame us? Why did this shit pot falling from the sky just land on my head?!”

Jiao Tu said: “Two of my secret spies are missing. Perhaps they were already killed by them in the chaos. Among this group of people are the ‘Officials’ raised by the Liu family.”

As her words fell, the dense sounds of horse hooves and footsteps transmitted from outside again. The Liu family people came very fast, very urgently!

Someone shouted loudly: “They, without evidence, dragged my Liu family’s young scholar into the imperial prison and harmed him to death, angering the old master to death! Today, they must give us an explanation!”

“Right, they must give us an explanation!”

In the boiling voices of the crowd, in the restless firelight, Yun Yang looked at Chen Ji with a strange expression: “Now, you probably only have a quarter of an hour left.”