In Luo City, there were at least twenty shops selling Xuan paper, each backed by powerful officials and nobles.
"Which one should I go to?" Jiao Tu rolled her eyes.
Chen Ji: "Then you’ll have to ask Lord Zhou."
Jiao Tu jumped off Zhou Chengyi’s back and flipped him over: "Lord Zhou?"
"Hey, Lord Zhou?!"
But Zhou Chengyi’s face was dark, his eyes wide open—he was already dead.
"Jiao Tu, you killed him by mistake!" Yun Yang exclaimed.
Jiao Tu rolled her eyes again: "Don’t pin this on me. He was poisoned."
Yun Yang was puzzled: "I removed the poison capsule from his mouth."
Jiao Tu: "He must have hidden poison somewhere else on his body. Trying to kill this kid was just a ruse; the real goal was to retrieve the poison."
"Still, it’s your responsibility. You were supposed to guard him."
"If you keep blaming me, I’ll lose my temper."
Yun Yang: "Sorry, it’s just instinct..."
Jiao Tu turned to Chen Ji: "Going shop by shop is too slow. If we drag this out, we’ll lose this big fish. Do you have any ideas?"
Chen Ji slowly stood up and walked to the table.
He ran his hand over the texture of the Xuan paper: "Xuan paper is handmade, and each craftsman has their own habits. Some prefer more mulberry bark, others more straw. Some grind the pulp finely, others coarsely. The craftsmanship determines the price... If we find the same paper, we’ll find the shop."
Jiao Tu leaned in, carefully examining the paper’s texture.
Before, all Xuan paper looked the same to her...
...
...
At that moment, there was a knock at the courtyard gate.
Someone picked up the brass knocker on the Zhou residence’s main door and rhythmically struck it.
Outside, a hoarse, aged voice asked: "Lord Zhou, is Chen Ji at your residence?"
In an instant, everyone in the courtyard—Yun Yang, Jiao Tu, the black-clad men, and even Chen Ji—turned toward the source of the voice.
Knock, knock, knock.
The knocking sounded again, the brass knocker hitting the red-lacquered door at a steady pace, carrying an inexplicable sense of pressure.
In the dead of night, the knocking was particularly jarring.
The black-clad men in the courtyard slowly drew their swords, making no sound, waiting for Yun Yang’s orders.
These men were the elite of the elite.
Chen Ji recalled that since he had arrived in this world, not one of them had uttered a single unnecessary word.
Knock, knock, knock.
When there was no response, the aged voice asked again: "Chen Ji, are you in there?"
Chen Ji was bewildered.
Who could be looking for him?
He glanced at Yun Yang, who seemed deep in thought before finally signaling to one of the black-clad men: "Take the bodies inside."
Jiao Tu looked at Yun Yang: "Who’s here?"
"Don’t worry, I recognize the voice," Yun Yang said as he walked over to lift the door latch.
The door opened, revealing an elderly man hunched over in the darkness.
He wore a gray robe and black cloth shoes with white soles.
His face was deeply wrinkled, like the cracks in parched earth.
The old man’s beard reached his chest, and his snow-white hair was tied up with a green hairpin.
He looked as old as one could be.
The old man seemed surprised to see Yun Yang, who quickly put on a smile: "Physician Yao, it’s been a while. How’s your health?"
The old man paused: "It’s you. Shouldn’t you be in the capital? What brings you to Luo City?"
Yun Yang explained: "Something came up, so I’m here. I happened to run into Chen Ji while visiting Lord Zhou tonight, so I stayed to chat."
The old man asked: "How’s the Chancellor’s leg ailment?"
"Much better, much better. He even praised you as a miracle worker. The cold he caught years ago at the Charcoal Bureau has finally been cured," Yun Yang said with a smile.
"It’s a shame you didn’t stay in the capital, or the Emperor would have summoned you to the palace long ago."
"I can’t cure the Emperor’s illness," the old man shifted the topic.
"Where’s Chen Ji? Since the medicine has been delivered, it’s time to go back."
Yun Yang thought for a moment: "Chen Ji, hurry and go back with your master. Look how much Physician Yao cares for you, coming all this way at his age to fetch you."
Chen Ji hadn’t expected Yun Yang to let him go...
Was it because the old man mentioned the "Chancellor"?
He quickly walked out, but as he passed Jiao Tu, she grabbed his arm: "Don’t say anything unnecessary when you get back. We’ll come find you again."
Chen Ji didn’t respond and swiftly stepped outside: "Master, let’s go back."
"Mm."
Physician Yao, with his hands behind his back, hunched over and shuffled slowly into the depths of the long street, asking no further questions.
Chen Ji felt two pairs of eyes like hooks piercing his back.
He turned to see Yun Yang and Jiao Tu standing at the door, smirking at him.
Both Yun Yang and Jiao Tu were dressed in black, their appearances strikingly handsome, their postures upright—the kind of people who would catch your eye just walking down the street.
Yet these two killed without batting an eye, as if human life were the cheapest thing in the world.
"Vipers," that was Chen Ji’s strongest impression of them.
Chen Ji jogged a few steps to catch up with the old man.
With a clang, the Zhou residence’s gate closed behind them.
Chen Ji let out a sigh of relief.
This seemed to be a world where life was as cheap as grass.
When he first arrived in this world, he hadn’t felt much desire to survive, merely observing everything as a bystander.
Whether he lived or died didn’t seem to matter much.
But since he had been given a second chance at life, could his parents also have the same opportunity? That was crucial to him.
He had to survive first.
"Master, thank you for coming to get me," Chen Ji said sincerely.
The old man sighed: "If I’d known the Secret Intelligence Bureau was here tonight, I wouldn’t have come."
Chen Ji: "..."
What did that mean?
Was he just going to abandon his disciple?
The old man muttered to himself: "Strange, the divination before I left said it was a great omen. I thought I’d find a gold ingot... What a load of nonsense."
Chen Ji was confused: "Master, aren’t you going to ask about tonight..."
The old man, walking ahead, raised a hand to cut him off: "Wait, don’t tell me. I don’t want to know about any of this trouble. Knowing about it will only bring bad luck. I’ve lived to ninety-two by minding my own business."
Chen Ji: "You’re quite good at avoiding trouble..."
The old man stopped: "The medicine’s been delivered. Where’s the payment?"
Chen Ji was stunned.
He had no idea about any payment: "I forgot to ask Lord Zhou for it..."
The old man turned back, displeased: "Go back and ask them for it."
Chen Ji was resolute: "I’m not going."
The old man thought for a long time: "Then you’ll have to cover the cost."
Chen Ji changed the subject: "... You’re quite familiar with them?"
The old man said: "I dealt with them back in the capital. They’re ruthless, always doing things that anger both heaven and man. If you see them on the street in the future, pretend you don’t know them. Or, you can pretend you don’t know me either."
Chen Ji: "..."
The old man muttered to himself: "With a big shot from the Secret Intelligence Bureau here, Luo City is probably going to be in turmoil."
The long street was quiet, Luo City seemingly asleep.
Even the usually bustling East Market was silent, many of its lights extinguished.
A night watchman, carrying a white lantern under his arm, passed by them, lazily striking the gong for the third watch and calling out, "The air is dry, beware of fire."
When they reached a crossroads, Chen Ji suddenly saw the old man take three copper coins from his sleeve.
The next moment, the old man looked up at the stars, squatted down, and tossed the coins six times on the stone-paved road: "Hmm... Let’s go left."
"Master, is there danger on the right?" Chen Ji asked curiously.
"Not exactly danger, but the divination suggests we might run into a beggar. I’ve grown a bit more compassionate in my old age, and if I see one, I might give them some money. So let’s take a detour and avoid it," the old man explained calmly.
Chen Ji: "..."
...
...
Back in the Zhou residence, Jiao Tu sat on a grand chair, chin in hand, gazing at the night sky: "You just let him go? Because his master knows the Chancellor?"
"Not at all. The Chancellor is ruthless and would turn on anyone in his way. Even if it were Physician Yao’s disciple, if they got in his way, Physician Yao would be killed too."
Jiao Tu sighed: "Alright, do you think that kid is a spy from Jing Dynasty?"
"Absolutely," Yun Yang said confidently.
"An ordinary apprentice wouldn’t have been able to withstand my needles. He would’ve passed out from the pain. Plus, look at how quickly he adapted. That’s not something a mere medical apprentice could do."
Jiao Tu was puzzled: "Then why let him go?"
Yun Yang smiled: "If he really is a spy, then he came tonight to meet Zhou Chengyi and pass on information. The Jing Dynasty’s Military Intelligence Bureau must know about this. After Zhou Chengyi disappears tonight, and he’s still alive, the Bureau will definitely think he betrayed Zhou Chengyi."
Jiao Tu’s eyes lit up: "The Jing Dynasty is notoriously harsh on traitors. They’ll definitely send someone to eliminate him. When that happens, we can capture the assassin and earn another merit!"
"Exactly!"
After a while, a black-clad man returned to report: "Sirs, based on the Xuan paper’s texture, we’ve identified two corresponding shops. The shopkeepers and their assistants are being taken to Luo City’s inner prison."
Jiao Tu stood up: "I’ll interrogate them tonight!"
Yun Yang stretched: "Then I’ll handle the bodies. Once I’m done, I’ll head back early to rest."
"First, let’s talk about how we’re splitting the credit!"
"Fifty-fifty, of course."
"No way."
Yun Yang raised an eyebrow: "Why not?"
Jiao Tu: "Tonight, I killed nine people. You only killed six. I also captured Zhou Chengyi. Sixty-forty, or don’t invite me on missions anymore."
Yun Yang sighed: "Dealing with colleagues is harder than dealing with corpses. Fine, sixty-forty it is."
Jiao Tu jumped off the grand chair and led the black-clad men away in high spirits, leaving Yun Yang alone to clean up.
After everyone had left, Yun Yang took out a dozen palm-sized shadow puppets from his sleeve.
He pricked each corpse’s wrist with a silver needle, squeezing out drops of blood.
Then, he used the blood to dot the eyes of each shadow puppet.
As the blood seeped into the puppets’ eyes, turning them crimson, the figures seemed to come alive.
"Done!"
In the next moment, all the dead bodies in the courtyard stood up one by one, expressionless, and followed Yun Yang out of the Zhou residence.
The group walked in a line down the long street for who knows how long, until Yun Yang suddenly saw a small beggar curled up under a straw mat by the roadside, shivering from the cold.
Yun Yang stared at the beggar for a long time before taking out a string of copper coins from his sleeve and tossing them on the ground.
Then, he led the dozen or so corpses into the night.
(End of Chapter)