Chapter 15: Returning to the City to Seek Clues
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In a small courtyard in the eastern district of Prefecture City, a family lived in cheerful harmony.
In the main room, the old man savored his tea, while his wife swept the floor. Their middle-aged daughter-in-law busied herself preparing lunch in the kitchen, and the three children were either reading or playing noisily. Only the middle-aged man sat in the courtyard, staring at the sky with a heavy heart.
A passing cloud had merely blocked the sunlight, yet to him the sky seemed unbearably gray.
Suddenly, someone knocked on the main gate. He jerked violently, sprang to his feet, and stared at the gate, his expression shifting between hope and dread.
Soon, he let out a long breath and walked toward it.
He slid back the bolt and opened the gate a crack. Outside stood a young man with a sword on his back.
In an instant, his face turned deathly pale.
They had found him after all.
His guess had been right. Others might not know where he lived, but the vigorous old man might not have been ignorant of it. And indeed, he knew—not only where Qi Zan lived, but far more than Wu Fei.
One stood inside the gate, the other outside.
One had a face like scorched earth; the other looked simple and guileless.
“Qi Zan, this young master has found you.”
“Young Master Qin, please spare my family. They have never involved themselves in any of this, and they know nothing.”
“Then let us see how much information you can provide.”
“I would like to ask one thing. How did you find my home, and why come at this particular time?”
“Bandits may be fierce, but when death stands before you, you should know what to do.”
“Yes. Who among us does not fear death? If only I could—”
“This young master has other matters to attend to. Tell me something worthwhile.”
Qi Zan sighed. “Very well. Once one has escaped death, one can only spend the rest of one’s life running from it. I am merely an escort from the Tiger Mark Escort Agency. Since my income was not enough to provide my family with a comfortable life, I sometimes accepted private commissions. A few days ago, a middle-aged man found me and asked me to intercept and kill someone. You know who that person was—you.”
“What was that middle-aged man’s name? Where did he live?”
“I know neither. I had never seen him before.”
“Describe him.”
“It was very dark that night, and I could not make out his features. But the energy he released was extremely powerful. The pressure he gave me was so intense that I trembled with fear. He should have been in the Qi Refining realm.”
“You judged that from his energy alone?”
“No. After he left, I secretly followed him for a while. I saw him reach an empty place and take a single step that carried him twenty-five feet…”
“How many assassination commissions had you accepted before?”
“None. Never. You were the first. If business at the escort agency had not been poor for such a long time, I would never have accepted it.”
“When did you and Wu Fei become so close?”
“He was my senior fellow apprentice. Though we eventually chose different paths, we had a good relationship in the past.”
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“Who was the man this young master killed? Where did he come from?”
“He was also from our escort agency. We simply never knew that the other had been accepting private commissions.”
“Where did he receive his commission?”
“It should have come from the same person. He also said that he had felt an overwhelming pressure, and that if he refused, he might have died on the spot. I felt the same way.”
“I hope you are not lying.”
Watching the young man with the sword on his back walk away, Qi Zan’s legs went limp and he began to collapse. He hastily seized the edge of the gate and braced himself against the frame, barely preventing himself from falling.
“How could the pressure he gave me be so powerful? It was no weaker than that nameless middle-aged man’s. What has happened to this world?”
…
In the Eagle Record Grocery on the main avenue, the clerk, Zhong the Great Fool, was attending to customers while Shopkeeper Wang sat idle, drinking tea and scanning the pedestrians outside.
Suddenly, his entire body tensed. Sweat poured from his forehead as he fixed his gaze on a certain spot in the street.
“How has he appeared again? Is he coming for me? He must be coming for me.”
After taking two deep breaths, he poured the tea from his bowl onto the floor and said in a perfectly calm voice, “Zhong Sa, I’m stepping out for a while.”
The Great Fool Zhong grinned. “Old man, this customer is just about to settle his bill.”
“You collect it for me.”
Zhong the Great Fool called loudly, “Then I’m taking a few of those sugar-oil cakes!”
Before he could finish, Shopkeeper Wang had already opened the back door and slipped outside, then shut it with a gust of wind. The latter half of Zhong’s sentence continued to echo through the shop.
“That old rascal!”
Shopkeeper Wang hurried through one narrow lane and entered another. Just as he was about to turn into a third, he stopped.
Ahead stood Qin Anyu, looking honest and dull-witted.
Shopkeeper Wang sighed and said respectfully, “Young Master Qin, I have already written down everything I know for you.”
“This young master is a fool.”
“Young Master, you possess true wisdom.”
“You are cleverer than I am.”
“Young Master, may I ask why you have sought out this old man? If it is information you want, I have nothing new to offer.”
“What about that mysterious organization?”
Shopkeeper Wang immediately stumbled, inwardly roaring, Who betrayed me?
Qin Anyu was not disappointed that he had gained no useful information from Qi Zan.
Such information was not something an ordinary person could know.
He had returned to Prefecture City today because the vigorous old man had written that, not long ago, he had shared tea with Shopkeeper Wang and heard him sigh helplessly. His family had been seized by a powerful organization, one connected to the disappearance of the Prefectural Lord and his wife.
That made Shopkeeper Wang the key.
“Shopkeeper Wang, a cunning rabbit has three burrows. But those three burrows are known not only to the mysterious organization—they are known to this young master as well. You took part in the operation against my parents. In that case, this young master has no qualms about taking revenge on your family.”
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“The Prefectural Lord and his wife were both in the Qi Refining realm, while I…”
“They are merely my father and mother. They are my family.”
“...Young Master, you cannot fight that organization. They are far too powerful.”
“That is not your concern.”
Shopkeeper Wang looked as though his parents had died. With a mournful expression, he said, “Young Master Qin, please come to my humble home and sit for a while.”
He understood Qin Anyu’s meaning.
His own family was family. Qin Anyu’s parents were also family. There was no distinction between ordinary people and Qi Refiners where family was concerned.
If that organization could use his family to threaten him, Qin Anyu could do the same.
Shopkeeper Wang shook his head and sighed. “A fish lives comfortably in shallow water because no one has set their eyes on it. Once it is noticed, it can only become someone else’s meal.”
After turning through several narrow lanes, they finally stopped before a small courtyard.
Qin Anyu looked around and thought, It must be said, the surroundings here are excellent—quiet and secluded. Those who live here probably chose it for precisely that atmosphere.
There were few people on the road, and the streets were clean and orderly. Water bamboo, grape trellises, and the like peeked over the walls of every courtyard.
Shopkeeper Wang’s courtyard also contained a clump of water bamboo and two low pines more than a century old. It was exceptionally tranquil.
Unfortunately, his fondness for this tranquility was only a façade.
“Shopkeeper Wang, you earned quite a bit from the Eagle Gang. Now that the Eagle Gang is gone, how will you support your family?”
“Young Master, the shop is still there. The income is smaller, but it is enough to get by.”
“I heard that your eldest grandson has considerable talent for cultivation. Cultivation requires a great deal of money.”
“This old man understands. Please rest assured, Young Master. I would sooner sell this residence than become involved in that organization’s evil deeds.”
“That is your own affair. For now, this young master only wants to know about the organization.”
“Young Master, please allow this old man to explain…”
About half an hour later, Qin Anyu stepped out through the courtyard gate. His simple, honest face was wholly at odds with his deep, unfathomable eyes.
“So Zhang Qili’s distant cousin is involved? Then I must find her first.”
Before long, he appeared outside the former Qin residence, a jar of wine clutched in his left hand.
It was still the Qin residence, but it was no longer the same Qin residence.
A new plaque hung above the gate, bearing the same two words: Qin Residence.
He did not comment on the ugly lettering. Instead, he climbed the steps and stopped before the gate.
Then he raised his foot and kicked it.