The winding streets and alleys of Luocheng are like the city’s palm lines.

The Liu family’s forces, in pursuit of Chen Ji and others, split into five groups, converging like a closing hand, making the very air in the city feel solid.

Secret agents moved through the shadows between buildings, while hundreds of steps behind them, Liu family members, armed with spears and clubs, carried high their torches.

Jiaotu glanced back at Chen Ji, who was at the rear of their group, then turned to Yunyang. “Do you believe that kid?” she asked. “What if he doesn’t find the evidence? We’ll miss our chance to leave Luocheng tonight.”

“We can only trust him now,” Yunyang said gravely. “If we don’t find the evidence tonight, we won’t even pass the Chief Tribunal’s inquiry.”

Jiaotu said nonchalantly, “The Imperial Grand Secretary won’t truly harm us. We’re still useful to him. At worst, we’ll just have to kill a few more people for his sake.”

“The Imperial Grand Secretary employs both good and bad people, but never fools. If we botch this, there will be no place for us in the Secret Service… Perhaps this kid truly can find the evidence?”

Jiaotu murmured, “Let’s hope so. If he can’t find the evidence, we’ll fight our way back to the capital and seek Bailong’s intercession. We certainly can’t fall into the hands of the Chief Tribunal.”

As she spoke, she looked back at Chen Ji again.

The young apprentice was panting heavily at the very end of the group, his hair soaked with sweat. The cloth covering his face was completely saturated, yet he refused to remove it.

“This kid’s physique isn’t bad at all,” Jiaotu commented admiringly. “He can actually keep up with the secret agents.”

Any secret agent from the Secret Service, if placed in the ‘Myriad Years Army,’ would be considered an elite among elites. So, no matter how disheveled Chen Ji appeared, merely keeping pace with them was no small feat.

At this very moment, Chen Ji felt his body changing. When he was on the verge of collapse, the three ‘furnace fires’ near his Dantian continuously surged with warmth, sustaining him as he ran on.

The ‘furnace fires’ surged like a torrent, causing a mysterious transformation within his body.

It was as if a rust-covered sword was slowly being polished clean.

As they passed through Changning Street, the shouts behind them grew dangerously close. Yunyang stated gravely, “The Liu family knows Luocheng better than us. They’re taking shortcuts to surround us. If we continue fleeing this way, we’ll certainly be caught.”

“What should we do?” Jiaotu asked.

“Sacrifice the pawn to save the king.”

As they passed a small courtyard, Yunyang ordered, “Qiman, take everyone and draw the Liu family west. That will count as a great service!”

The black-clad secret agent named Qiman whispered, “Yes, the rest of you follow me!”

Chen Ji stood by the courtyard wall, silently watching the secret agents depart. Yunyang and Jiaotu had already climbed into the small courtyard. Seeing him hesitate to follow, they poked their heads over the gray tiles. “What are you waiting for?!” Yunyang hissed.

“Coming!” Chen Ji jumped, grabbing Yunyang’s outstretched hand, and tumbled awkwardly into the courtyard.

The three stood pressed against the wall, holding their breath, listening to the commotion outside.

They heard a dense, chaotic flurry of footsteps passing just outside the wall, along with voices shouting, “They must not be allowed to escape Luocheng! We must avenge the Old Master!”

They were so close, separated only by a wall, that Chen Ji could even smell the burning torches outside. The scent, a mixture of cedar bark and pine resin oil, was dry and pungent.

The massive crowd surged off in the direction the secret agents had taken, until silence once again settled outside the wall. Only then did Chen Ji dare to breathe, asking, “Will the secret agents survive?”

Yunyang cast him a glance. “In times of chaos, life and death are decreed by fate. It’s true for you, for them, and for Jiaotu and me. When Jiaotu and I were just junior secret agents, we lost count of how many times we were abandoned.”

Jiaotu interjected, “Enough talk, let’s go.”

When the three climbed back over the courtyard wall, the street was deserted. They headed east, but stopped abruptly at the first intersection.

Yunyang squinted, observing across the bluestone road. Lin Chaoqing and a dozen Imperial Dragon Guards stood waiting quietly on horseback, as if they could always pinpoint their quarry instantly.

The Chief Tribunal was positioned to the east, the Secret Service to the west. They observed each other from afar, yet no words were exchanged. Both sides remained in the shadows, waiting for the other to speak first.

The Imperial Dragon Guards wore straw capes and bamboo hats, each man’s hand resting on the hilt of the blade at his waist. An oppressive aura, like a towering mountain, emanated from them.

In this silence, Lin Chaoqing urged his horse forward, slowly approaching Yunyang.

His expression, concealed beneath his bamboo hat, was unreadable. “We both serve within the Directorate of Ceremonial, and as colleagues, we have no desire to see the Secret Service undone by civil officials. Allowing you to leave earlier was giving you a chance. An hour has passed; can you produce the evidence now?”

Yunyang’s face was grim as he remained silent, offering no reply. This was no longer a situation where bluster alone would suffice.

“It seems there’s still nothing,” Lin Chaoqing said, urging his warhorse forward, pressing closer. “Arrest them…”

Before he could finish, he was interrupted by a commotion from a distance. “Liang Mao’er, where are you carrying me off to? Miss Yan’er is still waiting for me in the red pavilion!”

“Brother, the Liu family seems angry. We need to hurry and kill the eunuch faction members, or your drinking money will be cut off, and your cultivation herbs too!”

“What! Cut off my drinking money?”

“Brother, the medicine is more important!”

Both the Chief Tribunal and the Secret Service simultaneously turned to their left, only to see a stout young man running towards them, carrying a heavily intoxicated middle-aged man on his back.

The middle-aged man’s robes were flung open, draped loosely over his body, his head tilted precariously against the young man’s shoulder. He was disheveled and unkempt, yet the blade at his waist appeared to be frequently polished, gleaming exquisitely.

When Lin Chaoqing spotted this man, he immediately reined in his horse, and all the Imperial Dragon Guards from the Chief Tribunal came to a halt.

Jiaotu whispered, “It’s Liang Gou’er.”

Everyone silently watched the stout and slender pair. In the eerie silence, Liang Mao’er, grumbling and cursing, approached with Liang Gou’er on his back.

As they passed the intersection, the stout Liang Mao’er finally spotted the Chief Tribunal and Secret Service standing in the shadows by the roadside. He was so startled he dared not breathe, his plump frame visibly trembling.

“Brother, brother, wake up! I think I see them!” Liang Mao’er said.

Liang Gou’er drunkenly opened his eyes: “Found the eunuch faction?”

Sweat beaded on Liang Mao’er’s forehead; he wished he could just drop Liang Gou’er and flee. He lowered his voice. “Brother, they can hear you…” he warned.

Liang Gou’er’s gaze shifted to Lin Chaoqing. Upon seeing the uniform straw capes and bamboo hats, he exclaimed with delight, “This whole bunch in straw capes and bamboo hats, they truly are the eunuch faction! But let’s not offend anyone. Remember to tell the Liu family when we get back that I’ve drawn my blade…”

In an instant, Liang Gou’er, still sprawled on Liang Mao’er’s back, casually hooked the hilt of his blade with his middle and index fingers pressed together, and gave it a swift flick.

With a clang, the long blade was unsheathed.

A majestic flash of blade light slashed towards Lin Chaoqing. Before anyone could react, the blade was already back in its sheath.

With a crisp snap, Lin Chaoqing’s bamboo hat split in two and fell to the ground, revealing his sharply defined, resolute face. This mid-air strike was executed with supreme precision; the blade’s energy ceased immediately after shattering the hat, leaving Lin Chaoqing’s face entirely unharmed.

The long street fell silent, everyone stunned by the display, their thoughts momentarily suspended.

Liang Mao’er glanced at the Chief Tribunal on his right, then at the Secret Service on his left. “Brother,” he whispered, “you slashed the wrong person…”

“Huh?” Liang Gou’er squinted, looking at the Secret Service side, then back at Lin Chaoqing.

Lin Chaoqing sat unmoving on his horse. “Liang Gou’er,” he said coldly, “open your dog eyes and see who I am.” “Ah!”

The next second, Liang Gou’er leaped off Liang Mao’er’s back and scrambled, half-crawling, to Lin Chaoqing’s horse, offering a fawning smile. “Isn’t this Commander Lin? My apologies, my apologies. It’s all the Liu family’s fault! I told them I wanted to drink in Red Robe Alley, but they insisted I come hack at you all!”

Lin Chaoqing swung his riding crop, lashing Liang Gou’er’s shoulder. “I won’t trouble you today. Get lost,” he commanded.

“Alright, alright, I’ll get lost right away!” With that, Liang Gou’er actually rolled himself to the side of the road.

Lin Chaoqing looked up and glanced across the street.

By this time, Yunyang, Jiaotu, and Chen Ji, who had been on the opposite street, had long since vanished without a trace.

“Chase them, they haven’t gone far.”

Dozens of Imperial Dragon Guards spurred their horses in pursuit. Only then did Liang Gou’er shakily stood up. Liang Mao’er walked over, his face pained, to brush dust off him. “Brother,” he murmured, “why must you endure such indignity?”

Liang Gou’er cheerfully gathered his disheveled hair, securing it with a hairpin atop his head. “Mao’er,” he chirped, “wasn’t I clever just now? I skillfully defused a crisis!”

Liang Mao’er grumbled plaintively, “It wasn’t clever at all!”

“Come on, work’s done. Let’s go continue drinking!”

“I won’t drink! You’ve already had so much, you shouldn’t drink any more!”

Liang Gou’er: “I haven’t had enough… *gags*!”

“The Chief Tribunal has such keen noses; how do they manage to find us everywhere?” Jiaotu complained.

Yunyang, carrying Chen Ji over one shoulder, said as he sprinted wildly, “They say we are the Imperial Grand Secretary’s hawks and hounds; we are the hawks, and they are the hounds. The Chief Tribunal’s noses are famously sharp; they’ll root you out even if you hide at the ends of the earth.”

Mid-sprint, he coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Jiaotu exclaimed in surprise, “You’re injured? Let me carry him.”

“I just had a brief exchange with Lin Chaoqing; it’s nothing, just a minor injury,” Yunyang said. “This kid is a man; why would you carry him… We’re here!”

Arriving at the front door of a sealed mansion, Yunyang finally set Chen Ji down. “This is it! Be quick, the Chief Tribunal will be here any moment!”

Chen Ji walked forward, tore off the seal, and forcefully pushed open the vermilion lacquered gate. He hurried past the decorative rockery and pond fish near the entrance, moving swiftly inside. “Where’s the study?” he called out.

“Deep inside!”

From a distance, they could already hear the thunder of hooves, galloping like drums!

Chen Ji entered the study, taking books from the shelves. Under the moonlight, he would roughly flip through each one for a moment before tossing it to the ground, just as he had done earlier at the Zhou residence!

Yunyang pulled a fire starter from his pocket, lit a candle in the room, and held it up to the bookshelf. He suddenly felt like Chen Ji’s personal page, a surge of irritation rising within him. But with disaster looming, he could only suppress it.

Yunyang asked doubtfully, “What exactly are you looking for? I feel as though you’re just flailing around like a headless fly, relying purely on luck.”

Chen Ji said, “Sometimes, luck is also part of one’s strength.”

As he spoke, the sound of hooves ceased just outside the door. They heard the rustle of straw capes and the creak of saddles — the Chief Tribunal was about to storm in!

Jiaotu’s expression darkened, her agile, petite figure blocking the doorway, her hand resting on the hilt of a short blade at her waist.

She faced the rushing Imperial Dragon Guards. “The Secret Service is in the critical stage of apprehending a spy,” she declared. “Take one more step, and you will die.”

However, Lin Chaoqing ignored her threat, continuing to press forward. “Storm in!” he commanded. “Kill anyone who resists!”

With a fierce battle poised to erupt, Jiaotu suddenly drew her short blade and made a cut between her eyebrows. From that spot, a wisp of black mist seemed about to emerge.

Inside the hushed mansion, Lin Chaoqing advanced step by step, his long blade at his waist. Slowly, he drew it from its sheath, a cold, terrifying glint emerging from beneath his straw cape.

The burly, robust middle-aged man, like a fierce tiger, kept his eyes fixed on the crimson wound between Jiaotu’s eyebrows, from which an inexplicable power seemed to surge forth.

Lin Chaoqing sneered, “I hold a fourth-rank official position in Da Ning. Don’t bring out such petty tricks; they’ll only make you look foolish.”

Jiaotu calmly replied, “Whether it’s a petty trick or not, you’ll find out if you try.”

Just then, Chen Ji’s voice suddenly came from inside the room: “Found it!”

The young man emerged from the room, a rolled-up book in his hand.