At dawn, the roosters crowed.

Chen Ji awoke by the woodpile, smelling alcohol. He turned his head to see two empty wine jars on the ground nearby.

He turned his head again and saw Lu Shi practicing “Xing Zhuang” in the courtyard.

Lu Shi, dressed in black and wearing a black veil hat, glided across the blue bricks. Her body twisted and turned, but her footsteps never strayed from the Bagua Yin-Yang fish diagram.

It was utterly silent.

Chen Ji leaned against the woodpile and looked up, asking, “Why didn’t you call me to stand watch?”

Lu Shi casually replied, “There’s no harm in young people getting more sleep. When you’re old, you can’t sleep even if you want to.”

Seeing Chen Ji awake, Lu Shi’s Baguazhang stopped holding back. It shifted from extreme Yin and softness to extreme Yang and hardness, each move bringing both rain and wind. This drunken Bagua Youshen Zhang even gained a touch of freedom and determination.

Then, with a hint of drunkenness, she said, “Shall we try a sparring match?”

Chen Ji shook his head and refused, “I only use weapons, I’m not good at hand-to-hand combat… Is this Aunt Pi’s Xingguan Menjing?”

Lu Shi didn’t answer directly, only performing a ‘Zouma Huoxie’ with a tipsy air: “When someone taught me before, I didn’t want to learn. After he was gone, I practiced for over ten years.”

At this point, Lu Shi finished one round and started again, teaching as she practiced: “First strike the temple, second strike the center of the throat, third strike the center of the ribs, fourth strike the Taiji points on both sides, fifth strike the crotch from below, sixth strike the two kidneys towards the heart, seventh strike the Weiliu Fengfu, eighth fan the ears.”

Unlike the flowery names of martial arts styles, each of these moves was deadly.

Lu Shi slowly withdrew her stance. “Want to learn?”

Chen Ji leaned against the woodpile and shook his head, “No, hand-to-hand combat isn’t fast enough for killing.”

Lu Shi smiled. “That’s what I said back then too. I told him his hand-to-hand combat was no good, and he didn’t believe me. Everyone suggested a drinking contest to decide the winner, and I ended up drinking all three of them under the table. He drunkenly admitted defeat and, with hazy eyes, asked me, ‘What’s the fastest way to kill?’ I said, ‘Swords are the fastest to kill, but words are the most vicious.’ Little did I expect, it became a self-fulfilling prophecy.”

Chen Ji was puzzled, wondering why Lu Shi was telling him this. Was it intentional, or was she just rambling because she was drunk?

Lu Shi patted the dust off herself. “No more idle talk. Today, I’ll help you catch Liao Zhong. Once he’s caught, you can return to Jingcheng tonight.”

Chen Ji was startled.

He felt that overnight, Aunt Pi seemed to have gained a new layer of killing intent.

Lu Shi sat by the Baxian table and slowly said, “To catch Liao Zhong, you must first guess where he’s hiding. Changping County has five fangs. Xuanhua Fang is where the yamen and gentry live; Anfu Fang is for merchants; Weimo Fang is where garrison troops are stationed and the imperial granary is located; Rulin Fang has the county school and Wenmiao, a gathering place for scholars, where many poor students preparing for exams live because they can’t afford Jingcheng; Gongji Fang is mostly for commoners and ‘Linghu’ of the Ninghuangling, with craftsmen who make paper offerings and incense, and odd-jobbers who clean the tomb roads.”

She looked at Chen Ji through the black veil of her hat. “If you were Liao Zhong, where would you place the dead soldiers?”

Chen Ji sat across the Baxian table and analyzed, “The dead soldiers in Changping County are Liao Zhong’s last resort, his final choice to hide his whereabouts and escape the Ning Dynasty. These dead soldiers must be hidden in a place with a mixed population to avoid searches, and they must have a legitimate reason to leave the city.

Chen Ji began to eliminate options: “Weimo Fang is out. If the dead soldiers are garrison troops, they can’t leave their posts to take him away; Xuanhua Fang is out, as it’s full of constables and yamen runners; Rulin Fang is also out, as students taking exams won’t stay there for too long.”

Only Gongji Fang and Anfu Fang remained.

Lu Shi listened quietly, without interrupting.

Chen Ji continued, “Although Anfu Fang has wealthy merchants, they often travel far. As dead soldiers, they might not be able to stay in Changping at all times, waiting for him. While the status of the Linghu in Gongji Fang is low, the Ninghuangling requires monthly cleaning and monthly offerings of paper effigies and tributes. They have legitimate reasons to leave the city… And the paper figures they make can also be used to conceal a person and transport them out of the city.”

Chen Ji stated with conviction, “It’s Gongji Fang.”

The Ninghuangling, east of Changping County, is where dozens of Ning Dynasty emperors are buried. There are monthly sacrificial ceremonies, and paper effigies, incense, and gold and silver ingots are all indispensable.

The Linghu frequently travel between Changping County and the Ninghuangling, having absolutely legitimate reasons to leave the city, which the guards are accustomed to.

Chen Ji looked up and said, “Liao Zhong is in Gongji Fang… I suppose that’s also why Aunt Pi lives in Gongji Fang. Does Aunt Pi know how many households live in Gongji Fang?”

“Two hundred and sixty-three households.” Lu Shi surprisingly poured herself another bowl of wine and asked with interest, “With so many households, how should we find him?”

Chen Ji smiled. “Doesn’t Aunt Pi have a Haidongqing tooth token? Naturally, you’ll use your secret agent identity to openly search house by house. Search for three days and three nights, and you’re bound to find him.”

Lu Shi shook her head. “You’re a bit bold, but not bold enough.”

Chen Ji was stunned.

Lu Shi explained, “My pretense as a secret agent won’t last long, so we need to act fast.”

She pulled a dagger from her sleeve and carved a map of Gongji Fang onto the Baxian table. “Gongji Fang has only one main road running east to west, like a straight tree, and the other alleys are branches, visible from end to end. I’ll create some disturbance in a moment. You go east, I’ll go west. Whichever household reacts differently from the common folk, that’s where Liao Zhong is hiding.”

Chen Ji was slightly puzzled. “What kind of disturbance would attract all 263 households?”

The next moment, Lu Shi walked into the side room, brought out the wine jars, and smashed them in the main house. Instantly, a strong smell of alcohol filled the air.

She took out a tinder stick from her bosom, blew a spark, and threw it into the wine, igniting a raging fire.

Within a few breaths, the flames spread along the window paper all the way to the roof!

Lu Shi smiled. “If I don’t make a big enough commotion, how will I draw everyone out to watch the fun? Don’t worry, the entire Daoyi Lane is mine; it won’t affect the neighbors.”

Chen Ji turned to her. “Aunt Pi, aren’t you afraid that such a big commotion will attract all the Jiefanwei and secret agents?”

Lu Shi carried another jar of wine from the side room. She broke the mud seal, took a deep gulp, and then threw it to the neighboring house. “Don’t be afraid. You worry about the eunuch faction, and Liao Zhong also worries about the eunuch faction. It just depends on who can’t hold out first.”

The firelight in the house, carried by the gushing wind, gently lifted half of the black veil on her hat, revealing the scar that ran across Lu Shi’s nose bridge.

At this moment, Chen Ji didn’t seem like the wanted criminal on the arrest warrant; the Aunt Pi beside him did.

An outlaw!

Lu Shi turned and walked out. “Let’s go.”

She and Chen Ji patrolled east and west. In less than half an incense stick’s time, the entire Daoyi Lane was engulfed in raging fire, spewing thick black smoke, startling neighbors who came out to investigate.

“Fire!”

“Put out the fire!”

Some common folk ran over with their buckets, shouting urgently, “Help put out the fire!”

Chen Ji observed quietly.

Only an incense stick’s time had passed since the rooster crowed. People were still at home; encountering such a large fire would instinctively make them go out to check, or run to put out the fire, or simply watch the excitement.

Those who dared not come out to check surely had a problem, and those with unusual expressions also had a problem… Chen Ji dared not miss a single detail.

As he was thinking, the sound of hooves approached from afar, rumbling like thunder.

There were also the brass whistles of the Miedie Division, sounding in quick succession, each whistle two bird-like calls: “Surround!”

The commotion here was too great, eventually attracting the lurking Miedie Division and Jiefanwei.

As Chen Ji listened to the approaching hoofbeats, his heart grew calmer.

He had to find Liao Zhong before the Jiefanwei arrived.

As far as Chen Ji could see, every household in Gongji Fang had come out to investigate, except for four houses with tightly closed doors.

Was he in one of these four houses?

No, that’s not right. The roofs of these four houses didn’t have wild vegetables drying.

Northern people in the Ning Dynasty often faced food shortages in spring. Things like elm money, shepherd’s purse, purslane, and dandelions were life-saving early spring wild vegetables. Dried, they could be stored until autumn and winter for emergencies.

Chen Ji looked around. Every household had wild vegetables drying on their roofs, except for these four.

No one was living in those houses.

This alone wasn’t ironclad proof, so Chen Ji observed more carefully. He noticed that the weeds and willow shoots in the roof tiles of these four houses hadn’t been pulled, suggesting that no one lived there.

Chen Ji temporarily memorized these four houses and turned his gaze elsewhere.

Just then, he suddenly saw a woman looking nervously at the fire, her eyes red, as if she had cried several times, making them swollen.

The woman quietly watched the large fire in Daoyi Lane, instinctively hiding behind a neighbor while watching.

The woman whispered to a neighbor, “What happened over in Daoyi Lane?”

The neighbors shook their heads, “Don’t know how it started.”

The woman’s gaze cautiously scanned the crowd. When it was about to sweep over Chen Ji, he turned around, not letting her see his face.

Lu Shi arrived from the west, came to Chen Ji’s side, and quietly asked, “No abnormalities in the west, how about your side?”

Chen Ji didn’t answer, his peripheral vision still on the woman from before.

But the woman was extremely alert. Seeing Chen Ji and Lu Shi come together, she immediately grew wary and lowered her head, walking towards her own house.

Chen Ji thought, something’s wrong.

The next moment, the woman pushed through the crowd and ran into the alley. Chen Ji ignored everyone else, leaped onto a rooftop.

One in the alley, one on the rooftops, they ran wildly. Chen Ji leaped down, his body tensed, ready to fight the woman.

But before he could land, the woman, knowing she was no match, fell to her knees, tears streaming down her face.

The woman looked at Chen Ji in front of her, then at Lu Shi blocking her path behind her, and said sadly, “My lords, please spare me. My child is still in his hands. The slightest hint of trouble, and my child might lose his life!”

Chen Ji landed in front of her and asked with a stern voice, “Liao Zhong is holding your child hostage?”

The woman frantically kowtowed, “He threatened us with our child. My husband and I were truly forced. My lords, please be merciful. Once my husband and I rescue our child, we will accept whatever punishment you deem fit.”

At this moment, the sound of hooves from afar was close.

Lu Shi walked directly past the woman. “It’s too late. Dead soldiers must have the awareness of dead soldiers. Once you take other people’s money, you are no longer innocent.”

Seeing that begging was useless, the woman suddenly stood up, pulled a dagger from her sleeve, and lunged at Lu Shi.

Lu Shi sidestepped the dagger, her body twisting suddenly. Chen Ji didn’t even see how her body moved, but she somehow knocked the woman away, sending her crashing heavily against the wall.

Lu Shi didn’t look at the woman. She walked straight into an open house, pulled a burning piece of firewood from the stove, and threw it into the house next door to the woman, starting another large fire.

Thick smoke, carried by the wind, drifted into the woman’s house.

The fire quickly spread to the woman’s house in less than half an incense stick’s time.

Chen Ji watched Lu Shi leap onto the roof, crouching on the eaves of the woman’s house, holding her breath, waiting for the people inside to be forced out by the thick smoke, regardless of the fire burning beneath her feet.

The Miedie Division’s brass whistles were getting closer, but Lu Shi remained unmoved.

She intended to use the fire to force Liao Zhong out of the house.