Chapter 104 The Ghost Kneels in the Main Courtyard

Inside the Archives Room.

The lamplight pressed between the old cabinets, and the oil on the floor seeped out along the brick crevices.

Qian Li's legs went weak.

The oil can in Luo Qing's hand remained suspended in mid-air.

Deputy Chief Meng Huaian stood within the threshold, the color drained completely from his face.

Lin Chen sat behind the old desk, the black abyss resting horizontally beside him, and that secret letter from the Wang family lay spread out on the desk.

"Deputy Chief Meng."

"Which page did you come to burn?"

Deputy Chief Meng Huaian looked at the letter on the desk, then at the shadows behind Lin Chen. His Adam's apple bobbed twice, and his knees buckled first.

He knelt on the floor, and the small knife in his sleeve fell out, landing in the oil with a soft sound.

"Inspector, this subordinate is wrongly accused."

Qian Li also knelt down, his forehead pressed against the brick floor.

"Spare me, my lord, this lowly one just came along with Deputy Chief Meng."

"This lowly one knows nothing."

Luo Qing stepped back half a pace, his back hitting the doorframe. The oil can in his hand dropped, and the oil splashed onto his boots.

Zhou Tie stepped out from the shadows outside, his iron spear held horizontally at the doorway, the spear tip pressing against Luo Qing's shoulder.

"Take one more step back, and leave your leg behind."

Luo Qing knelt down on the spot.

"I won't step back, I won't step back."

Zhao Gang walked in through the back door of the Archives Room, his waist saber already drawn half an inch, his face terrifyingly dark.

"Deputy Chief Meng Huaian, you eat the food of the Patrol Division, wear the clothes of the Patrol Division, and hold an official position in the Patrol Division, yet you come here in the middle of the night to burn the Patrol Division's files?"

Deputy Chief Meng Huaian looked up, his lips trembling.

"Head Zhao, I was forced."

Zhao Gang took a step forward, the scabbard pressing against Deputy Chief Meng Huaian's shoulder.

"Forced?"

"Did the Wang family force you to take their silver?"

"Did the Wang family force you to embezzle military pay?"

"Did the Wang family force you to treat the patrolmen below like dogs and bury old cases as worthless paper?"

Deputy Chief Meng Huaian's face was deathly pale, his forehead pressed to the floor.

"I am guilty, but I am also afraid of death."

"The people from the Wang family found me and said that if I didn't do as they asked, my entire family would be dead by tomorrow."

Zhao Gang's saber slid another half inch out of its scabbard.

"You're afraid of death, so you'd let the entire Main Courtyard be buried with you?"

"You're afraid of death, so you use the old files in the Archives Room as firewood?"

Lin Chen raised his hand.

Zhao Gang's saber stopped in mid-air, his chest still heaving.

Lin Chen looked towards the door.

"Liu Buyu."

Liu Buyu came out from the shadows, clutching a ledger, his face still covered in paper dust from the old underground vault.

"Here."

Lin Chen said.

"Record the testimony."

Liu Buyu immediately placed the ledger beside the old desk and spread out blank paper for the statement, his hand steady as he dipped the brush in ink.

Deputy Chief Meng Huaian looked up, a hint of urgency in his eyes.

"Inspector, I will tell you everything."

"As long as you protect my family's lives, I will say anything."

Lin Chen looked at him.

"Tell me what's useful first."

Deputy Chief Meng Huaian swallowed his saliva.

"The letter was sent by the Wang family."

Zhao Gang sneered.

"Nonsense."

Lin Chen said.

"The route."

Deputy Chief Meng Huaian lowered his head, composing himself for two breaths before speaking.

"The Wang family never contacts me directly."

"Every time, they leave the letter at the waste paper shop in the east of the city."

"There is a loose brick on the back wall of the shop. The letter is placed behind the brick, and both the pickup and the reply go through there."

Liu Buyu's brush tip touched the paper, and a rustling sound filled the Archives Room.

Lin Chen asked.

"Who is the contact?"

Deputy Chief Meng Huaian said.

"I have never met the person in the flesh."

"They only gave me a code name."

Sun Qi stood by the side of the door, the medicinal bandage on his face slightly peeling from the night wind.

"What code name?"

Deputy Chief Meng Huaian glanced at him.

"Grey Sparrow."

Sun Qi's expression changed instantly.

Zhao Gang turned his head.

"You know him?"

Sun Qi walked two steps closer, his hand pressing on the short saber at his waist.

"Among the three undercover outposts that were wiped out, the teahouse waiter discovered this code name before he died."

"At that time, he only had enough time to pass on two words: Grey Sparrow."

The Archives Room was silent for a moment.

The butt of Zhou Tie's spear pressed against the brick floor.

"In other words, the traitor in the Main Courtyard and the undercover outposts in the East Courtyard are all connected to the same line."

Shen Yue walked out from beside the old cabinet at the back, holding a sealed case file in her hand.

"Grey Sparrow manages the underground lines in the city."

"The Wang family handed everything over to him: Deputy Chief Meng Huaian, the rumors at the teahouse, and the clearing of the outposts."

Zhao Gang gritted his teeth.

"No wonder Sun Qi's men were tracked so accurately."

Sun Qi did not refute this, only looking at Deputy Chief Meng Huaian.

"What else has Grey Sparrow sent you?"

Deputy Chief Meng Huaian shook his head hurriedly.

"I really don't know."

"I only take the letters and do the work."

"He told me to delay sealing the vault, so I delayed it."

"He told me to burn the Archives Room, so I came."

Zhao Gang kicked the oil can nearby, and it rolled to the base of the wall with a clattering sound.

"You're certainly obedient."

Deputy Chief Meng Huaian knelt and shuffled half a step forward.

"Inspector, I can testify."

"I can write down how the Wang family made me do things."

"Qian Li and Luo Qing, they can also testify."

Qian Li immediately kowtowed.

"This lowly one can testify."

Luo Qing spoke up as well.

"I can too."

Zhao Gang looked at Lin Chen.

"Inspector, let's lock them up."

"Throw them into the dungeon now, and send them to the Governors Mansion at dawn."

Deputy Chief Meng Huaian's face turned even paler, and he hurriedly looked up.

"You can't send us."

"Inspector, you can't send us now."

Zhao Gang cursed.

"You dare to pick and choose the location?"

Deputy Chief Meng Huaian raised his hands, his palms covered in oil.

"If Grey Sparrow knows I've been exposed, my entire family won't survive the night."

"He has people in the city."

"There are also people watching my estate."

"If I don't reply to the letter, they will immediately know the Archives Room wasn't burned."

Sun Qi looked at Lin Chen.

"He is right."

"If Grey Sparrow can wipe out my outposts, there must be eyes here in the Main Courtyard too."

Zhou Tie frowned.

"Then we dig along those eyes."

Lin Chen looked at Deputy Chief Meng Huaian.

"Reply to the letter."

Deputy Chief Meng Huaian was stunned.

"Reply with what?"

Lin Chen said.

"The secondary file room has been burned; Lin Chen is not suspicious."

Deputy Chief Meng Huaian looked up, the fear on his face heavier than before.

"Inspector, if Grey Sparrow notices the handwriting is wrong or asks for details, I'm dead for sure."

Lin Chen looked at him.

"You write it."

"Write it according to their habits."

Deputy Chief Meng Huaian's lips trembled.

"Then my family..."

Lin Chen pushed the secret letter on the desk in front of him.

"Your life depends on whether you are useful tonight."

The light in Deputy Chief Meng Huaian's eyes dimmed, as if he finally understood that he had no room to bargain.

He lowered his head, crawled on his knees to the side of the desk, and took the brush handed to him by Liu Buyu.

"I will write it."

Zhao Gang stared at his hands.

"Don't try any tricks."

Deputy Chief Meng Huaian gave a bitter smile, which looked uglier than crying.

"If I try tricks now, the Wang family will kill me, and the Inspector will also kill me."

"Head Zhao, how many lives do you think I have left to gamble with?"

Zhao Gang snorted coldly.

"People like you are certainly bold when gambling with other people's lives."

Deputy Chief Meng Huaian did not answer, his brush tip touching the paper, and he quickly finished writing two lines.

Liu Buyu picked it up and read it once.

"The secondary file room has been burned, the seal can testify, and Lin Chen is not suspicious of the audit."

Shen Yue looked at Lin Chen.

"You added the words 'the seal'."

Deputy Chief Meng Huaian immediately explained.

"Grey Sparrow knows I would pick the seal open and stick it back on."

"If I don't mention it, he will be suspicious."

Sun Qi nodded.

"Keep it."

Lin Chen looked at Deputy Chief Meng Huaian.

"The code."

Deputy Chief Meng Huaian said.

"Fold the letter into three, don't write a name on the outside, put a drop of wax on the seal, and don't stamp it."

"After putting it behind the loose brick, you must turn the grass straw in the brick crevice horizontally."

Sun Qi noted it down.

"Time to deliver the letter."

Deputy Chief Meng Huaian said.

"Between the hour of Zi and the hour of Chou."

"If it passes the hour of Chou, he will assume I failed."

Lin Chen looked at Sun Qi.

"You go."

Sun Qi took the letter and put it into his bosom.

"I'll take two people."

Lin Chen said.

"Don't get close."

Sun Qi nodded.

"I know."

"Once a person has died, they cannot walk the same path a second time."

Zhao Gang glanced at him, surprisingly not retorting.

Lin Chen looked at Zhou Tie again.

"Deputy Chief Meng Huaian stays here."

"Lock up Qian Li and Luo Qing separately, and don't let them talk to each other."

Zhou Tie nodded.

"Understood."

Deputy Chief Meng Huaian hurriedly looked up.

"Inspector, my estate..."

Lin Chen said.

"Shen Yue."

Shen Yue responded.

"Here."

Lin Chen said.

"Send two people to watch the Meng Estate; don't go inside, just watch who enters and leaves."

Shen Yue glanced at Deputy Chief Meng Huaian.

"What if someone goes out to seek help?"

Lin Chen said.

"Note their names."

Deputy Chief Meng Huaian's shoulders slumped.

"Thank you, Inspector."

Lin Chen looked at him.

"Don't thank me too early."

"If you leave out another sentence, no one will save you tonight."

The waste paper shop in the east of the city was at the end of a narrow alley.

The shop door was already closed, and several bundles of wet paper were piled at the entrance. As the wind blew, the corners of the paper fluttered lightly on the ground.

Sun Qi changed into the short brown clothes of a night soil collector, wiped dust on his face, and walked to the entrance of the alley carrying half a basket of shredded paper.

He did not enter the shop.

A skinny beggar slid along the base of the wall, holding the letter in his hand. He circled to the back wall, felt for the location of the loose brick, and stuffed the letter inside.

The grass straw was turned horizontally.

Sun Qi stood at the entrance of the alley, his carrying pole not touching the ground, only using his toe to scrape a small mark of soot at the base of the wall.

On the eaves nearby, an undercover agent from the East Courtyard lay behind the tiles, not looking at the waste paper shop, but only at both ends of the entire alley.

A quarter of an hour later, a person walked out from the shadows of the back wall.

The person was not tall, missing half an ear, with an old scar on his throat, and walked with very light steps.

The little beggar was lying behind a pile of firewood and was about to look up when Sun Qi hit his cuff with a pebble.

The little beggar immediately buried his head back down.

The Earless Servant took the letter without opening it, first replaced the loose brick, and then kicked the grass straw at the base of the wall into disarray with his foot.

He walked around the alley, entered the back door of a rice shop, climbed out from the side wall of a winery, and finally ducked into a dark alley in the east of the city.

Sun Qi did not follow too closely.

Every so often, he wiped a small streak of soot on the corner of a wall; sometimes it was a horizontal line, sometimes a slanted dot.

At the end of the dark alley was an abandoned dye house.

The gate of the dye house was half-collapsed, and several large vats in the courtyard were toppled on the ground, with dried blue-black dye remaining at the bottom of the vats.

The Earless Servant entered the dye house, and his figure quickly disappeared into the back hall.

Sun Qi stopped two alleys away, pressing his ear against the wall to listen for a while.

A very faint sound of iron clashing came from underground.

Once.

And again.

Sun Qi's hand left the wall, his expression darkening.

The undercover agent beside him asked in a low voice.

"Should we go in?"

Sun Qi shook his head.

"Do not go in."

The undercover agent frowned.

"The people are right inside."

Sun Qi looked in the direction of the dye house.

"Last time, I let my men get too close, and that's why three died."

"This time, we only leave a path."

He took a pinch of soot from his sleeve and drew the final mark on the corner of the wall.

"Return to the Main Courtyard."

In the main office of the Main Courtyard, the lights were still on.

Deputy Chief Meng Huaian was kneeling in the side room, with Zhou Tie's men guarding the door.

Zhao Gang sat at the registration desk, twirling a pen in his hand, glancing at the direction of the Archives Room from time to time.

When Sun Qi returned, Lin Chen was flipping through the bundle of case files on Qingyun Ridge.

"Found it."

Lin Chen looked up.

Sun Qi spread the route map on the desk.

"The one who picked up the letter from the back wall of the waste paper shop was a mute Earless Servant."

"He circled through six alleys and finally entered the abandoned dye house in the east of the city."

"There are people under the dye house."

Zhou Tie gripped his iron spear.

"How many?"

Sun Qi shook his head.

"I didn't get close."

"I only heard weapons clashing."

Zhao Gang stood up.

"Then what are we waiting for?"

"Take men to surround the dye house, block the doors, and not a single person underground will be able to run."

Zhou Tie looked at Lin Chen.

"I also advocate for attacking."

"Death Warriors have entered the city; if left too long, it's easy for something to go wrong."

The sound of a wooden spear tapping on the ground came from outside the door.

Instructor Qi Boyuan walked in from under the corridor, his white eyebrows pressed down, his body still carrying the night dew.

"We cannot attack."

Zhao Gang turned his head.

"Old Qi, we've tracked them down, why can't we attack?"

Instructor Qi Boyuan planted his wooden spear on the ground.

"If the Death Warriors dare to hide in the city, it means they have a way out."

"If there were only one door in the underground of the dye house, they would have died eight times over already."

Zhou Tie frowned.

"Are you afraid of secret passages?"

Instructor Qi Boyuan said.

"A secret passage is only one thing."

"There is also oil, poisonous smoke, crossbows, and scapegoats."

"Once you surround them, he will burn the dye house, kill the servant, and then leave through the secret passage."

Zhao Gang was unconvinced.

"So we just watch?"

Instructor Qi Boyuan looked at Lin Chen.

"What do you think?"

Lin Chen placed the Qingyun Ridge case file on the desk.

"We don't attack the dye house."

Zhao Gang became anxious.

"Inspector."

Lin Chen looked at him.

"Attacking the dye house means fighting on the ground they chose."

"Seizing the secondary files means coming to the place I chose."

Sun Qi's eyes flickered.

"Release the news?"

Lin Chen nodded.

"Tomorrow, the secondary file room of the Main Courtyard will be transferred to the Governors Mansion."

"The Qingyun Ridge case file is inside."

"Let them hear it."

Zhou Tie understood.

"Force the Death Warriors to come and steal it."

Instructor Qi Boyuan looked at Lin Chen, his white eyebrows slightly raised.

"You want to set a trap in the Main Courtyard."

Lin Chen said.

"If they don't come, the Qingyun Ridge case file goes to the Governors Mansion."

"If they come, both the people and their blades stay here."

Zhao Gang grinned, his earlier impatience mostly dissipated.

"I love doing this kind of work."

Lin Chen looked at him.

"You guard the front."

Zhao Gang patted his saber hilt.

"Whoever comes, dies."

Lin Chen looked at Sun Qi again.

"Make the news sound real."

"Let them know that the secondary file room contains the Qingyun Ridge files."

Sun Qi nodded.

"I will let the line at the waste paper shop hear it."

Shen Yue asked.

"What about Deputy Chief Meng Huaian?"

Lin Chen looked towards the side room.

"Keep him kneeling."

"Let Grey Sparrow think he is still working here."

Instructor Qi Boyuan said in a low voice.

"If the Qingyun Ridge Death Warriors really come, the person leading the team will not be weak."

Zhou Tie said.

"Ningdan Realm?"

Instructor Qi Boyuan shook his head.

"Not necessarily."

"Death Warriors don't rely on Realm to suppress others."

"They rely on a single strike to trade their lives."

Lin Chen picked up the black abyss and fastened it back to his waist.

"Then don't give them the chance to trade lives."

Underground in the abandoned dye house in the east of the city.

An oil lamp hung on the wall, illuminating a row of narrow-bladed daggers.

The Earless Servant knelt on the ground, holding the letter high above his head.

A person wearing an iron mask sat behind a wooden table, his fingertips pressing on the letter as he slowly read it.

The man in black beside him said in a low voice.

"New news has come from the Main Courtyard."

"Lin Chen is going to transfer the secondary file room to the Governors Mansion."

The iron-masked person looked up.

The man in black continued.

"The Qingyun Ridge case file is also inside."

The sound of weapons underground stopped.

The iron-masked person picked up the narrow-bladed dagger on the table, the blade tip pressing into the wooden table, and carved two words stroke by stroke.

Main Courtyard.