Chapter 387: Shadows

Just at this moment, a maidservant suddenly ran over in a panic from the other end of the veranda; seeing many people in the garden, she leaned in to whisper something into Guan Kui's ear.

Guan Kui's expression changed, and he immediately picked up his lantern and ran toward the other end of the veranda.

Tang Wanhong watched the retreating backs of Guan Kui and the maidservant in their haste, his gaze sharpening; he had already guessed what had happened.

He looked at the Guards still lingering in the garden, his face dark, and barked coldly: "Why are you all standing around here? Guard your respective posts and get back to what you should be doing!"

Seeing the hidden anger in Tang Wanhong's words, those Guards immediately dispersed and concealed themselves in the darkness.

The person wearing the felt hat also intended to leave, but Tang Wanhong suddenly called out to him, saying: "Xiong Yi, don't go. Go to my room and wait for me. I'll be there in a moment."

After all, the person who had broken into Shen Garden that night had crossed paths with Xiong Yi, so he had to clarify the situation.

"Yes, Mr. Tang." Xiong Yi replied in a low voice, then turned and walked toward Tang Wanhong's room.

After instructing Xiong Yi, Tang Wanhong immediately walked quickly toward the other end of the veranda; he was somewhat worried, fearing that Guan Kui might not handle things well.

Sure enough, just as he reached the other end of the veranda, Guan Kui rushed out carrying a lantern; seeing Tang Wanhong walking over quickly, he paused slightly and immediately said: "Manager, the two County Magistrates are clamoring to leave."

Tang Wanhong's expression was cold and hard. "You go about your business. Clean up whatever needs to be cleaned up inside the room."

Guan Kui turned sideways, lowered his head slightly, and said: "Yes."

Tang Wanhong walked quickly past Guan Kui and pushed the door open to enter a room not far away.

The moment he entered the room, his previously cold and hard face was immediately filled with a subtle smile.

Inside the room, both County Magistrates were already dressed; one was sitting at a side table, drinking water incessantly, while the other was pacing back and forth not far from the table.

Both of their expressions were somewhat panicked.

As soon as Tang Wanhong entered the room, the two men's gazes immediately locked onto him.

The one pacing immediately stopped, looked at him, and said: "Mr. Tang, what happened just now? Didn't you say this place was very safe?"

The person sitting at the side table drinking tea spat out a tea leaf from his mouth. "That's right! Who was it that broke in just now? Have we been exposed?"

Tang Wanhong smiled: "The two of you, please calm down. It was just a petty thief, and the Guards have already scared them away. There is no need for the two officials to be alarmed."

"Scared them away?"

The two County Magistrates looked at each other, and the one standing by the side table turned his head and asked: "Was the person not captured?"

Tang Wanhong said: "Not captured."

"Mr. Tang, hurry! Find someone to send us away!"

Tang Wanhong said: "Yes. I will arrange it right now."

Tang Wanhong's intention was also to send these two fellows away as soon as possible, so that he could focus on investigating tonight's events. He had a faint, bad premonition in his heart; tonight's affair was definitely not simple.

Carrying the long wooden box containing the "Autumn Clearing Picture," Duan Rong walked alone along the pitch-black night path, returning to the room where they had previously eaten.

He walked slowly into the room.

In the room, Shen Mizhi had actually already returned and was chatting idly with Xiao Yu at the dining table.

She had already taken off her night-traveling clothes and changed back into her original onion-green water-silk dress.

Duan Rong glanced at Shen Mizhi, then sat down at the dining table without changing his expression.

Duan Rong noticed that the sweat on Shen Mizhi's forehead had just been wiped and was glistening. Moreover, there was a small patch of residual fine sweat on her right temple, clearly because she had been too hurried and hadn't wiped it away.

When Duan Rong looked over, Shen Mizhi's eyes clearly avoided him for a moment.

Xiao Yu looked at Duan Rong and said: "Why were you gone for so long?"

Duan Rong said: "Chatted with an old friend for a few words."

As he spoke, he handed the long wooden box to Xiao Yu and said: "You keep this."

Xiao Yu took it and asked: "What is this?"

"A painting," Duan Rong said. "Keep it well; it might come in handy later."

"Is that so?" Xiao Yu just assumed Duan Rong was saying it casually and placed the wooden box behind her without much concern.

She placed a plate of stir-fried beef, which had been brought up after Duan Rong left, in front of him and said: "You didn't eat much just now. This beef is good; eat some more."

Duan Rong nodded and picked up a few slices of beef to put in his mouth. It was indeed delicious and very flavorful. It must have been braised before being stir-fried.

While Duan Rong was eating, Shen Mizhi and Xiao Yu started chatting idly again.

Although Shen Mizhi was smiling faintly, Duan Rong could see shadows and the resentment hidden deep in the depths of her eyes from her smile.

Shen Mizhi was, in fact, a tragedy.

Duan Rong recalled a term he had often heard in his previous life, called "original family."

Although on the surface, her life was more affluent than Xiao Yu's.

However, the father-daughter relationship between Xiao Yu and Xiao Zongting was very good. Deep in their hearts, they highly identified with each other's existence.

This made them true kin and a bond that connected them closely. Therefore, Xiao Yu could obtain genuine warmth and happiness.

This kind of experience would make her life full and fill her heart with an inner vitality.

But Shen Mizhi was the opposite; although Shen Yanliu was already a high-ranking Surveillance Commissioner, Shen Mizhi had grown up in a lonely environment.

Emotionally, she did not identify with her father.

It was as if a thorn were stuck in her heart; based on this paranoid and cold life experience, it was also very difficult for her to identify with this world.

Inner Garden, inside Tang Wanhong's room.

The two had already taken their seats, and Xiong Yi seemed somewhat uneasy.

In the room, the bright lamplight shone on Xiong Yi's face; his eye sockets were deep-set, and his nose bridge was straight.

Tang Wanhong glanced at the filthy felt hat on Xiong Yi's head; actually, if one looked at his features, it seemed one could vaguely discern that he was a handsome young man, but he was slovenly, drowning his sorrows in alcohol all day long, resulting in a body full of the smell of wine and stench, causing everyone to avoid him.

Perhaps everyone has an abyss in the bottom of their heart.

Tang Wanhong had originally met him by chance on the street.

That day, he had gone to a shop to handle some business when suddenly a few ruffians on the street were molesting a common woman.

The people on the street all watched with cold eyes.

Xiong Yi, huddled by the street sleeping in tattered clothes, suddenly struck out and knocked those ruffians to the ground. The village woman fled in a panic, not even thanking him.

Xiong Yi did not take it to heart and continued to huddle by the street to sleep.

When Tang Wanhong finished his business and left, he discovered that Xiong Yi was still lying there.

He pondered for a moment, then paced over.

Tang Wanhong squatted down and patted Xiong Yi. "Hey! I have a job as a bodyguard for you, want it?"

He had already seen Xiong Yi strike just now; his skills were quite good, and this person also had a strong sense of justice. He felt that such a person was always more reliable than the motley crowd recruited from the pugilistic world.

Xiong Yi glanced at him coldly. "I need to drink every day."

As soon as Xiong Yi spoke, Tang Wanhong smelled the heavy scent of alcohol; he hesitated slightly. "How much do you drink every day?"

"I drink all the time."

Tang Wanhong stood up and said coldly, "A drunkard is a piece of trash!"

"From the time I was small until now, I have never once been drunk."

"Is that so?" Tang Wanhong looked at Xiong Yi suspiciously and said, "Then let's go, I'll treat you to a drink."

Xiong Yi immediately jumped up from the base of the wall.

That day, in the restaurant, Xiong Yi drank three whole jars of strong liquor; his face did not flush, he did not pant, and he did not stutter when he spoke.

From that day on, he became Tang Wanhong's bodyguard.

Tang Wanhong looked at Xiong Yi and asked, "The person who broke into the garden just now, what kind of person do you think they are?"

The eyes beneath Xiong Yi's hat brim flashed with a thoughtful light, and he replied in a low voice, "It is possible they are from the Filthy Blood Sect..."

"What?!" The muscles on Tang Wanhong's face twitched visibly.

Xiong Yi then recounted to Tang Wanhong the feeling of being instantly plunged into an alternate space.

The only thing Xiong Yi knew of was the Filthy Blood Divine Art, which was eerie and unpredictable. Therefore, he guessed that what made him instantly fall into an alternate space was very likely the Filthy Blood Divine Art.

Tang Wanhong stood up and paced back and forth in the room.

He had not expected that this matter would involve the Filthy Blood Sect.

Because of the peculiar hobbies of certain officials, a few women had indeed been killed in this garden, and he had let Guan Kui dispose of the corpses.

He had always known that the cultivation method of the Filthy Blood Sect also required the frequent disposal of the corpses of young women.

Perhaps they had followed the trail of the female corpses to find this place.

They were very likely suspicious that this Shen Garden was some stronghold of the Filthy Blood Sect, and had risked breaking in to investigate.

If that were the case, then that would be fine; at least they were not coming for their secrets.

Tang Wanhong suddenly turned around, looked at Xiong Yi, and said, "I am going into the city in a moment. I must discuss this matter with Master Shen."

Xiong Yi said, "Then I will go with you."

Xiong Yi was Tang Wanhong's bodyguard; basically, wherever Tang Wanhong went, he would follow.

Tang Wanhong said, "No need. The garden is not peaceful. You stay behind and pay more attention to the movements in the garden."

"Yes!" Xiong Yi lowered his head and said.

Before long, Tang Wanhong sat in a small sedan chair and left the garden.

Xiong Yi leaned out on a rooftop, watching from afar as Tang Wanhong's sedan chair disappeared into the pitch-black night, and only then did he suddenly turn his head, his eyes emitting a bright, cold light in the darkness.

After Duan Rong and the others finished eating, they each went to rest.

Today they had been traveling and climbing mountains, and they were all quite exhausted.

Xiao Yu was already asleep, but Duan Rong was sitting cross-legged at the head of the bed, feigning sleep.

He felt this garden was quite strange, so his Divine Sense remained extended, covering the vicinity, not daring to lower his guard.

Just at this moment, not far from the room where they were staying, a black shadow suddenly darted into a bamboo forest, and then jumped over the tall courtyard wall from that bamboo forest.

It was a person in black, face covered, with black cloth wrapped around their head as well.

The moment Duan Rong's Divine Sense captured that person in black, he learned from the lesson of not checking Shen Mizhi at the start and directly used his Divine Sense to pierce through the black cloth covering the face.

Duan Rong thought to himself, it wouldn't be that girl Shen Mizhi again, would it?

Duan Rong "saw" the person's face clearly. His heart stirred slightly, and his eyebrows twisted into a knot.

"Xiong Yi? It's that person who wears a felt hat."

This person's movements were so mysterious, and in the dead of night, they had changed their attire and snuck out of the garden; clearly, there was some unspeakable secret.

Duan Rong hesitated slightly; he glanced at Xiao Yu, who was sleeping soundly beside him, then gently pushed open the window and, like a wild cat, exerted his movement technique and darted out of the house.

This person was one of Tang Wanhong's men; he was truly curious, what exactly was this person going to do by going out in the middle of the night?

In the pitch-black night, the wilderness was silent.

Xiong Yi's movements were swift as he snuck through the dark night!

Duan Rong exerted his movement technique, like a god of death, following far behind him.

Under the lock of his Divine Sense, Duan Rong trailed him from afar.

Duan Rong's movement technique and Lightness Skill were both far superior to his, and the distance was so great that Xiong Yi could not discover him at all!

Duan Rong's figure drifted like a falling leaf, moving through the pitch-black night just like a ghost...

Beside the woods on the Official Road, there was a Mountain God Temple with a broken corner.

This temple was only slightly larger than a tombstone and had no interior space; it was only for burning incense and offering tributes.

Xiong Yi's figure paused in the night and stopped in front of the temple; he looked down and discovered that in front of the temple, a newly lit stick of incense was inserted, the tip of the incense a flickering red dot in the night.

He coughed once and said, "It's me. Come out."

Following this, a figure walked out from behind the shadowy Mountain God Temple.

It was a slender figure, and as soon as they came out, they asked, "Is it clean behind you? No tail following you?"

Xiong Yi gave a muffled laugh and said, "Can't you tell whether there is a tail or not?"

The reason this person became his Liaison was that he had mastered a skill for identifying positions by sound; in a quiet place, within a hundred paces, no rustling sound could escape his ears.

Unfortunately, "within a hundred paces" was the range of Divine Sense Envelopment when Duan Rong had achieved the second level of the Womb Treasury Sutra, but now he had already achieved the eleventh level of the Womb Treasury Sutra; even though he had not fully released his Divine Sense at this moment, it far exceeded a hundred paces.

That person said, "If I had heard anyone, I wouldn't have come out at all."

After he finished speaking, he paused slightly, then looked at the dark shadow before him and asked, "Didn't I tell you last time not to contact me proactively unless it was something major? What is going on with you? It's only been a few days?"

Xiong Yi sighed and said, "I know."

That person said, "It took so much effort and trouble to set up a scheme just to get you close to Tang Wanhong. If you come out in the middle of the night like this, what if he discovers you?"

Xiong Yi said, "He won't discover me. He returned to the city to see Shen Yanliu."

"Oh?" The person's voice clearly changed. "Did something happen?"

Xiong Yi said, "At night, someone broke into the garden; they likely glimpsed something."

"Someone broke into the garden?"

"Yes."

"What kind of person?"

"I don't know," Xiong Yi said. "I suspect it was someone from the Filthy Blood Sect."

"Someone from the Filthy Blood Sect?"

"Yes!"

Then, Xiong Yi recounted the feeling of being instantly plunged into an alternate dimension to the person in front of him. He spoke in far greater detail than he had told Tang Wanhong.

That person was silent for a moment and said, "Alright. I understand. I will report this matter to those above, and they will find someone to investigate. You don't need to worry about it anymore."

"Fine," Xiong Yi said.

That person asked, "Where is the roster and ledger in Tang Wanhong's possession hidden? Is there any lead yet?"

"Not yet," Xiong Yi said. "However, I feel he already trusts me quite a bit. Give me some more time, and I should be able to find it."

"Good. This matter is of great importance; you must be careful."

"I know!"

That person suddenly turned around, pinched out the half-burned incense in the incense burner, and then his figure darted away, disappearing into the pitch-black night.

Duan Rong hid behind a large tree, his heart shaken.

He had always thought Xiong Yi was one of Tang Wanhong's people, but hearing their conversation just now, this Xiong Yi was actually a nail they had planted by Tang Wanhong's side as part of a scheme.

It was for that roster and ledger in his possession.

Duan Rong could be almost certain that the so-called roster and ledger must be related to the various sordid dealings within Shen Garden.

"It seems the water in that garden is truly deeper than usual!"

Duan Rong had already decided that he and Xiao Yu would leave this garden tomorrow morning. There was no need for him to wade into these muddy waters; this group was investigating the dealings of Shen Garden through Tang Wanhong, clearly aiming at the Shen Yanliu behind it.

This might be the political vortex of Ruyang Prefecture; as an outsider, why should he meddle in this? Better to retreat quickly!

(End of this chapter)