Luo Jing laughed. "Have you forgotten how Mr. Gangfeng used to curse our Ministry of Revenue, calling us an Evil Sect? If he knew you were working with us, he’d be so furious he’d rise from the grave just to break your legs."
"My father wouldn’t be that stubborn," Li Qingxian said.
’Li Gangfeng, oh Li Gangfeng,’ Li Qingxian thought, ’I’m just an ordinary guy. I’ve got nothing to my name. Grand principles and honor have nothing to do with me, and I can’t shoulder any great responsibility. I just want to live a good life, a life of leisure. I’ll burn plenty of incense and joss paper for you, and then I’ll avenge you. Let’s call that our deal!’
"Why don’t you earn the money yourself?" Luo Jing asked.
"Lord Luo, there’s no need to test me. I’m not a fool. A silk merchant on Wanping Street was skinned and devoured alive by the Demon Sect just for making a little money. Forget the fact that my father is dead—even if he were alive, he couldn’t protect an enterprise this large. This venture involves not only our Night Guard and your Ministry of Revenue, but also the Ministry of Works and the Emperor’s Inner Transport Bureau. My profits are only secure if we form a massive interest group."
"An interest group?" Luo Jing stared at Li Qingxian, his gaze intense.
Li Qingxian offered a faint smile but didn’t elaborate.
"Mr. Xiaoli truly has his father’s bearing and profound knowledge. I’m impressed," the burly, saber-wearing man said in admiration.
Luo Jing shot his subordinate a sideways glance and lowered his head, lost in thought.
Meanwhile, Li Qingxian was making his own calculations.
’Before, I didn’t understand the state of Qii Country, so I could only observe quietly. Now that my memories are clear and I understand this world, I can afford to be a little bolder.’
Seeing that Luo Jing wasn’t speaking, Li Qingxian felt no rush. He began making small talk with the saber-wielding man beside him, trying to fish for information.
He soon learned the man’s name was Duan Heng and that he, too, lived in the outer district. Finding common ground, they struck up a conversation.
「Night Guard Office.」
Zheng Hui sprinted, his Brocade Robe in tatters and his True Essence completely depleted. Steam billowed from his head as if he were balancing a giant steamer on it.
Reaching the courtyard outside the main hall of the Divine Capital Bureau, Zheng Hui yelled, "This humble servant, Zheng Hui, has an urgent matter to report to Lord Zhou! It’s of the utmost urgency! The utmost urgency! It concerns Li Qingxian!"
The two courtyard guards were stunned for a moment before one of them said hurriedly, "Lord Zhou is in the study in the rear hall. I’ll take you, but you must not make a scene. His Lordship may be in the middle of his cultivation. Who’s Li Qingxian?"
"Lord Zhou will surely know!" Zheng Hui blurted out, not caring whether it was true.
One leading the other, they bypassed the front hall and hurried along the colonnade. They circled a lotus pond, walked down a cobblestone path flanked by vibrant flowers and lush grass, and entered the rear hall.
At the door of the study stood a giant of a man dressed in black, so tall he seemed to be holding up the roof.
He wore a red-tasseled helmet, and his chest was covered by a gleaming bronze breastplate fashioned in the shape of an elephant’s head. The rest of his body was clad in a black shirt and black pants, with no outer robe. A weapon hung from each side of his waist.
They were short weapons, about two feet long—one a curved blade, the other a pointed spike. Compared to his enormous frame, they looked like a pair of dangling chopsticks.
A hideous scar slashed diagonally across the man’s face, running from the corner of his left eye to his right jaw. A chunk of his nose was missing.
"Silence!" the man barked, his eyes, as wide as bronze bells, glaring at them.
A grim, chilling aura filled the entire courtyard.
Instead of being frightened by the terrifying giant, Zheng Hui was overjoyed. He quickened his pace and lowered his voice. "Lord Zhou Henn, something’s happened to Li Qingxian! Pang Mingjing from the Finance Department is forcibly taking him to the Ministry of Revenue to harm him!"
Zhou Henn’s brow furrowed. "Explain."
Zheng Hui immediately recounted the entire sequence of events.
"Wait here." Zhou Henn turned and went inside, closing the door behind him. He walked over to a bronze sphere on the left and tapped it three times with a bent finger.
A soothing tone, like that of a singing bowl, echoed through the room.
"What is it?"
The voice was tinged with a faint, raspy sound, as if fine sand were grating against the speaker’s vocal cords.
Wisps of smoke billowed in the side room.
A figure emerged from the white smoke.
He wore a jade-green brocade robe embroidered with a peony pattern and a black gauze cap. His posture was tall and erect.
He was slender, with a jade-like complexion. His features were elegant and handsome, his bearing refined and refreshing.
Beneath thick, dark brows, his eyes shimmered like autumn lakes, his pupils so black they seemed to glow. Though he was a man, he possessed a pair of soul-snatching ’peach blossom eyes.’
His skin was exceptionally fair, which made his lips appear a stark, vermilion red.
Only his salt-and-pepper hair and the faint mustache on his upper lip betrayed his age.
"My lord, something has happened to Li Qingxian..." Zhou Henn recounted the events.
Before he had even heard half the story, Zhou Chunfeng’s face flushed with anger. He started to storm out, but stopped after a single step. Raising his right hand, he pressed a knuckle to his upper lip and coughed lightly.
"COUGH, COUGH..."
Zhou Henn said hastily, "My lord, your concern clouds your judgment."
Zhou Chunfeng stopped, the anger not yet faded from his face. He turned, walked over to his desk, and pulled a black Golden Token from the Divination Tube, holding it out to Zhou Henn.
"Go bring Li Qingxian back yourself!"
"Yes, my lord!" Zhou Henn reached out, but his hand closed on empty air.
Zhou Chunfeng tossed the Token back into the Divination Tube. He then pulled a Seal and Ribbon from his Qi Fortune Silver Fish Pouch and threw it to Zhou Henn.
A crimson ribbon and a Nose-Button Copper Seal.
Zhou Henn scrambled to catch it, then stared blankly at Zhou Chunfeng, whose anger was slowly fading.
"Don the Brocade Robes, hang the red silks, wrap the crimson sashes, and deploy the Ti Qi." Zhou Chunfeng’s voice was firm and resolute as he gazed out the window at the green lotus leaves swaying in the pond.
It wasn’t just Zhou Henn who was stunned; Zheng Hui and the guard outside the door were dumbfounded as well.
The two exchanged a glance. The guard’s eyes were filled with worry, but Zheng Hui’s face was alight with wild joy, and he nearly shouted aloud.
’Lord Zhou really does treat Li Qingxian differently!’
It had been half a year since the Crown Prince’s death. In all that time, the main gates of the Night Guard had remained sealed, and the crimson-sashed Ti Qi, a force that made civil and military officials tremble in their boots, had never once been deployed.
But today, the Ti Qi rode forth.
Zheng Hui’s eyes reddened, and he felt a sting in his nose.
’Qingxian is saved.’
Zhou Henn stared at Zhou Chunfeng for several seconds, then cupped the Seal and Ribbon in both hands, bowed his head, and declared loudly, "This subordinate obeys!"
With that, Zhou Henn took a bronze whistle from the Silver Fish Pouch at his waist, pushed open the door, and blew it.
The entire Divine Capital Bureau erupted into a flurry of activity.
A moment later, the main gates of the Night Guard Office boomed open, and a troop of fifty riders streamed out in single file.
Red silk was wound around the horses’ necks, and the riders wore red sashes around their waists, forming a flowing red ribbon of shadow. Amidst the deafening thunder of hooves, they galloped toward Ministry of Revenue Street.
CLIPPITY-CLOP, CLIPPITY-CLOP...
Yur Ping emerged from an alley, his jaw dropping as he stared at the approaching Ti Qi.
Among the fifty riders was one man whose clothes were in tatters, his face flushed and ecstatic.
"Captain!" Yur Ping shouted.
Zheng Hui, mounted on his horse, turned his head to glance at Yur Ping. He broke into a wide grin, raised his riding crop, and pointed it toward Ministry of Revenue Street.
"Don the Brocade Robes, deploy the Ti Qi!"
The others roared in unison: "Don the Brocade Robes, deploy the Ti Qi!"
Everywhere they passed, pedestrians scattered. Some watched with worried expressions, while others eagerly followed to see the spectacle.
Yur Ping watched the backs of the Ti Qi disappear in a cloud of dust, his blood surging with excitement. He clenched his fists and muttered to himself, "Now *this* is the Night Guard!"
Inside the study, Zhou Chunfeng said, "Someone, attend me."
A Huisun flew in, landed on the floor, and transformed into a man who knelt on one knee and clasped his fist.
"Find out who is plotting against Qingxian. See the investigation through to the very end."
"Yes, my lord!"
With a BANG, the man exploded into a cloud of smoke. The smoke then contracted, coalesced back into the form of a bird, and flew out of the room.
Zhou Chunfeng reached his left hand into his Qi Fortune Silver Fish Pouch and took something out.
The Qi Fortune Silver Fish Pouch was no bigger than his palm, yet the disc he pulled out was over a foot in diameter. It was made of faintly glowing brass and was covered in rows of black Talismans.