Chapter 132: Another Office (Begging for Monthly Tickets!)

Passing through the half-open small door, the two entered one after another, with Xu Yuan holding a three-barreled firelock in his hand.

Fu Jingyu also carried a small triangular flag.

The pawnshop was actually not large; behind the storefront there were only three rooms and a small courtyard five or six paces wide.

Whether in the rooms or the courtyard, there was not a single person!

Moreover, apart from some items displayed in the front shop, the other rooms were empty, containing only the simplest wooden beds, cabinets, and so on.

"This..." Fu Jingyu was confused; the "Yi Li He" that his teacher had specially instructed him about did not look like a legitimate business.

Xu Yuan said, "The people here seem ready to flee at any moment?"

These arrangements could be abandoned at any time; they could leave whenever they wanted.

The two arrived at the front shop, and Xu Yuan opened the small door under the counter, letting Song Lu and Yu Yunhang enter.

Fu Jingyu examined the items displayed in the shop.

"They are all worthless; a few look decent, but they are actually fakes."

Young Master Fu, with his family's deep learning, had stood far away outside the counter just now, had not suspected anything, and thus had not looked closely.

Song Lu quickly found the money chest behind the counter, pulled it open, and inside there were only a hundred or so copper coins.

"This pawnshop... is strange in every way." Yu Yunhang was puzzled; no one dared to question Ma Tianshou behind his back, but in their hearts they truly could not understand the reason.

Xu Yuan observed that money chest.

This thing was forged from fine iron, three feet high and one and a half feet wide.

It was entirely embedded in the wall on one side of the counter.

The two iron cabinet doors were not locked; inside were three drawers, and both the drawers and the partitions within were made of high-quality red sandalwood.

Those hundred or so copper coins were in the first drawer.

The bottom two drawers were also pulled open, and inside they were empty.

Xu Yuan removed all three drawers; behind them was the iron plate of the money chest.

Xu Yuan tapped it; the sound was dull, not resembling that of a hidden compartment.

Yu Yunhang said, "This bunch is ready to run at any moment; they wouldn't truly leave anything valuable in the shop."

But Xu Yuan was still somewhat strange: "Ready to run at any moment, then why not just leave directly? Staying here isn't it taking a risk? There must be some reason forcing them to stay here."

Finding no clues in the shop, the four went to the back again.

Yu Yunhang opened all the cabinets and boxes in the other two rooms, even lifting the bedboards of the two wooden beds.

Xu Yuan and Fu Jingyu had already roughly inspected them just now.

"Hey! My lords, come look quickly!" Yu Yunhang suddenly cried out loudly in one room; Xu Yuan hurried in, and under the bedboard was hidden a box; opening it revealed several sets of clothes.

All four present were very familiar: the uniforms of the Quhui Bureau!

Yu Yunhang drew his sword with a clatter and slowly picked out these clothes; there were four in total: one Patrol Inspector, one Inspector, and two Double-Banded Captains!

They also all had corresponding name tags.

The four clothes were laid out on the ground, and the name tags were placed to one side.

The four looked at each other, and all felt a chill rise from the bottom of their hearts.

"These people are impersonating us?!"

"Is it the group that Lang Xiao Ba mentioned?"

Xu Yuan decided immediately: "Take the items and return to the Champa Office first."

"Are we going back?" Yu Yunhang said, "This Champa Office is clearly problematic."

Xu Yuan thought for a moment: "We must go back once."

At this time it was still early; the four returned to the Champa Office just at noon.

No one was stationed in the office.

Lin Zi and Zhu Sili were not present.

Xu Yuan quickly returned to his own room, bent down to look under the bed, and found the space under the bed empty; that seed was already gone!

In the corner under the bed, there was also a rat hole identical to the one in Song Lu's room.

Xu Yuan thought for a moment, released the Sinew Pill, condensed it into a thin strand, and was about to probe into the rat hole when suddenly his mind shifted; he stood up, came out, and turned to Song Lu's original room.

There was also a rat hole here; Xu Yuan extended the beast-sinew rope into it from this spot.

Xu Yuan could already retract the beast-sinew rope to be extremely thin, not much thicker than silk thread; one Sinew Pill could extend to an extreme length.

After fusing with the tongue sinew of the Haikou Toad, the Sinew Pill had reached roughly the level of the Seventh Flow.

Although he could not see, relying on his control over the Longzhu Waidan, Xu Yuan slowly extended the beast-sinew rope, feeling the rat hole twist and turn, sometimes going down and sometimes turning up.

It took a little over half an hour for the beast-sinew rope to find the exit at the other end of the rat hole.

Xu Yuan controlled the beast-sinew rope to shoot straight upward very quickly.

At the same time, Xu Yuan rushed into the courtyard, jumped onto the roof, and looked around.

Very quickly he saw that in the northwest direction of the side courtyard, about a hundred zhang away, the thin beast-sinew rope pointed straight to the sky, swaying in the wind.

From that direction came faint shouts.

Xu Yuan marked the position, jumped down, shifted his mind, and the beast-sinew rope retracted at high speed, reforming into the Sinew Pill.

"Go!" Xu Yuan simply said one word, then charged out of the office first.

Fu Jingyu and the other three had been watching Xu Yuan's actions from the side, their faces full of confusion, not knowing what Patrol Inspector Xu was actually doing.

But the three now trusted Xu Yuan extremely; when Xu Yuan said "go," the three immediately followed.

The Champa Captain guarding the office gate looked at the four strangely.

The one at the head was precisely that "Zhou Leizi."

After the four walked far away, they began to mutter again: "Going in and out all day long, acting as if they are very busy; who knows if they actually found any clues."

"The cases of our Zhan Cheng Office must be handled by our own people; we cannot rely on outsiders."

Xu Yuan had been on guard, expecting someone in the office to block their party.

After they had gone out the main gate and walked a long distance, there was still no movement inside the office. Xu Yuan felt puzzled: someone must have seen the beast-tendon rope just now...

Xu Yuan deliberately circled a few times nearby before arriving near the approximate location where the beast-tendon rope had been.

Xu Yuan was confused again: that place was separated from the Zhan Cheng Office by two walls, with a small alley in between!

In other words, it was not the same government office as the Zhan Cheng Office at all!

Xu Yuan quickened his steps, preparing to circle around to the front of that courtyard to glance at the plaque, but his ear twitched; he heard commotion already rising inside the courtyard.

Xu Yuan stopped: No, sticking one's neck out to peer at the main gate at this moment would easily draw attention.

Xu Yuan then, as if just strolling, casually found a stall, spent ten cash to buy two banana-leaf cakes, and then clasped his hands to ask the stall owner: "Old sir, we just arrived in this fine place today and are unfamiliar with the city. Seeing that the courtyards nearby are all very imposing, are they some kind of government office?"

Dafu, at Xu Yuan's feet, stretched his neck hard to reach for his hand.

You bought this, didn't you, for me to eat?

Xu Yuan casually stuffed one into Dafu's mouth; Dafu swallowed it down with great delight.

Song Lu, standing nearby, looked very envious and wanted to taste what it was like. Fu Jingyu, without showing any emotion, took the remainder from Xu Yuan's hand and quietly passed it to his junior sister.

The old man found it amusing and laughed heartily: "This goose of yours is raised so well it understands human nature." Then he pointed out the direction and said: "Over there is the Filth-Dispelling Bureau, and over here is the Shanhe Bureau. In the few streets nearby, you must be very proper; if you accidentally offend those officers, it is no laughing matter."

Xu Yuan clasped his hands: "Thank you, old sir, for your guidance."

(End of this chapter)