Why do I have so many masters?-Chapter 439 - 109: Yi Nanping Reappears (1/2)

From within Fengyue City, a rather majestic goshawk rose from the courtyard of the Ministry of Punishment, circling the sky once like an arrow, before flying directly towards the direction of Fufeng County City.

Less than half an hour had passed.

The soldiers stationed in Fengyue City felt a slight, abnormal trembling of the city walls. Soon afterwards, a fiery line appeared at the edge of the dissipating morning fog in the distance, rapidly approaching.

A group of jet-black steeds, ridden by martial artists clad in vermilion clothes.

They approached Fengyue City as swiftly as quicksilver, in just the blink of an eye.

At this time, the city streets were filled with civilians. Regardless of the urgent tasks or official duties these constables possessed, charging in directly like this would inevitably lead to casualties.

The Defending General of the city, his forehead beaded with sweat, ran down shouting,

"Close them! Close the city gates!"

"Those in front, halt!"

Before his words even landed, the thunderous sound of horse hooves was already close, showing no sign of slowing down.

As the Defending General turned pale, the charging party came to an abrupt halt, horse hooves touching down and kicking up a cloud of dust. Though merely from the Ministry of Punishment, at this moment they displayed an intimidating military might.

The middle-aged man leading the group commanded his men to dismount.

A dozen patrol officers alighted crisply, sabers hung at their waists, their ferocious intent making the Defending General—who was truly born from a Military Family—feel a tremor of fear.

The leading middle-aged patrol officer took a token from his waist and presented it to the Defending General, speaking in a steady voice that reached only the latter’s ears,

"Zhu Jian’an from the Ministry of Punishment, here on official business."

"Please, allow us to pass..."

Zhu Jian’an, as the Deputy Chief Arrestor of Fufeng’s Ministry of Punishment and himself a Master of the Middle Third Rank, belonged to the top echelons among all officials in Fufeng. The Defending General of Fengyue City, a mere Seventh Rank Military Officer, dared not obstruct such an eminent figure—especially witnessing such a display of force, even the normally obtuse General knew this was no trivial matter.

Even the Deputy Chief Arrestor himself had come.

Impressive.

The Defending General inwardly clicked his tongue in amazement, relieved at narrowly averting disaster; he opened the well-secured city gate. The people from the Ministry of Punishment led their horses on foot into the city, and given the spectacle they had just caused, the civilians near the gate looked at them with strange, somewhat awestruck gazes.

Their whispers reached Zhu Jian’an’s ears.

His face darkened as he led his horse, silent and advancing forwards—the urgent missive from Yan Ling had stated that members of the White Tiger Hall were already dead.

One had died by his hand, another was either going to die at Yi Nanping’s hand or, following the White Tiger Hall’s usual modus operandi, would have already left the city many miles behind and be impossible to find even with a lantern.

He didn’t bother with the concerns of startling the enemy anymore.

He only intended to meet Yan Ling as quickly as possible to verify whether the news was true or false.

To facilitate the storage of horses and carriages for travelers, every city in Great Qin, big or small, definitely had a sizable horse market near the city gate.

Wang Anfeng had just been standing by the horse market sign, next to the wall, mulling over some things, when he spotted Zhu Jian’an striding by with a scowl on his face. A flicker of curiosity arose within him.

The Deputy Chief Arrestor?

Why had he come here?

"Ai, sir, we have a deal. Here’s the deed; please, take good care of it."

The Hu horse merchant, with his somewhat blue eyes and his yellow, untamed hair, enthusiastically sent Hong Feibai out, passing a piece of parchment to him. Hong Feibai glanced at it, emotionless in his gaze as if looking at a piece of waste paper, casually tossing it into the carriage. He spurred his horse on, the animal taking steps to stop next to Wang Anfeng.

Hong Feibai looked at Wang Anfeng, his voice husky as he began to speak,

"Sir, you mentioned earlier you wished to travel with me..."

Wang Anfeng nodded, eying the downcast swordsman before him, he thought for a moment and candidly shared his intentions,

"First, to see you off, and second, the enemy that you’ve encountered..."

"Perhaps, is also my adversary."

Hong Feibai looked at Wang Anfeng, sensing that the latter was worried about encountering enemies on the road, with himself unable to defend and thus risking his life, yet out of consideration, he had not plainly stated so. A trace of gloom and the agony of feeling powerless surfaced in Hong Feibai’s eyes, but on the surface, he still appeared somewhat weathered and desolate. With a laugh, he said,

"From here to my Heavenly Sword Sect, it’s about two to three thousand li."

"The carriage travels much slower, covering only slightly more than sixty li in an hour; I’m afraid it will take about ten days. If you don’t mind, sir, please climb aboard."

Wang Anfeng breathed a sigh of relief internally, concerned that Hong Feibai might still be too fragile to accept his company. If that were the case, he would have had to leisurely follow behind alone. But now, it seemed he had been overly worried. Immediately, he hopped onto the carriage, sitting on the other side of the shaft.

Once Wang Anfeng was settled, Hong Feibai flicked the reins.

The carriage was drawn by fine steeds that burst out like a gust of wind. After a turn, they headed towards the charitable estate on the west side of Fengyue City. They needed to place the Black Coffin containing Hong Feibai’s younger martial sister into the carriage. Then, they would follow the smooth imperial road towards the Heavenly Sword Sect.

By that time, even with fine steeds, they could not travel too quickly, no different from the common pack horses.

Wang Anfeng leaned on the carriage shaft.

His eyes watched the scenery slipping by behind them.

He did not inquire about what Hong Feibai knew, knowing the journey was long and the carriage slow. There would be plenty of time to ask him on the way.

Perhaps he wouldn’t even need to ask.

............…

The portly county magistrate bowed his head even lower.

Next to him, the local dignitary had also arrived, and although his expression was calmer, the irrepressible tension in his eyes was evident.

When Yan Ling arrived yesterday, he had sent a message to inform his colleague who was half a rank senior to him.

The latter, citing jurisdictional differences, did not meet with Yan Ling; however, he arrived early, even before being informed, almost immediately after the first one, in a matter of minutes.

News travels fast indeed.

The county magistrate couldn’t help but grumble inwardly.

Zhu Jian’an glanced down at the waiting county magistrate and dignitary, and said:

"I am here only for the case in Fufeng County City. Both of you are from Fufeng, no need to be so courteous."

"With the end of the year approaching, there must be many matters to attend to."

It was just around November, with almost two months left until the New Year festivities – hardly imminent – but the two government officials below, seasoned in bureaucratic ways, understood Zhu Jian’an’s hint and didn’t dare to linger, quickly finding excuses to take their leave.

When everyone had left, Zhu Jian’an looked up at Yan Ling with a more solemn expression and asked:

"Are you certain?"

Yan Ling nodded, organized his thoughts a bit, and carefully recounted the whole matter to Zhu Jian’an, from his departure from Fufeng and meeting Wang Anfeng, to visiting the righteous manor, noticing irregularities, deliberately exposing flaws, and then killing the White Tiger Hall man on the spot, without any omission.

He then took out a dagger from his bosom, gently placed it on the table, and nudged it towards Zhu Jian’an, saying:

"This is the weapon taken from that man."

"He must have been a Seventh Rank ghost minion."

Zhu Jian’an picked up the dagger, his gaze fell on a tiger beast’s head carved on the handle, and his expression became slightly solemn.

He pulled out the dagger with force.

The sharp edge of the blade reflected his eyes, clearly a top-quality weapon, rare to come by.

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It was also proof of the ghost minion’s identity.

With a clang, the dagger was sheathed and gently placed back on the table. Zhu Jian’an’s eyes narrowed slightly as thoughts whirled through his mind. His rank was higher and he knew more than Yan Ling, aware that even among these ghost minions, there were levels of distinction.

The commoners could only get Tiger Beast Tokens; next came daggers and shortblades as small weapons.

Those of higher status used Tiger Beast Swords.

As for those who wielded spears and hammers, he had been in the Ministry of Punishment for a long time and had yet to see any. According to what Yan Ling said, the White Tiger Hall martial artist he killed was only a wing thief, which meant that a Sixth Rank White Tiger Hall Incense Master was likely involved this time.

Above the Sixth Rank, one could not be considered mediocre by any means.

What could the White Tiger Hall be planning this time...

As his thoughts spun, the atmosphere in the room tightened; footsteps sounded from outside, deliberate in volume, as if to notify those inside. Shortly after, a constable dressed in vermilion entered, saluted with a fist, and said in a deep voice:

"Chief Arrestor Zhu, I have an urgent report."

"Come in."

"Yes."

The constable entered, saluted the two inside with a fist, and said:

"Chief Arrestor, honored Yan."

"Following the chief’s instructions, the brothers have searched the fifty li radius around the righteous manor and finally found..."

Yan Ling’s eyes lit up and he said:

"Is it Yi Nanping’s trace, or the murderer?"

The constable’s expression turned strange, and after thinking for a moment, he said:

"Both."

"Both?"

Yan Ling was momentarily stunned.

In Fengyue City, a notification was posted that the murder case from half a month ago had been solved; the murderer was not Yi Nanping.

The killer’s body was found in a Taoist temple that had been long deserted.

When the officers discovered him, he was kneeling on the ground facing the direction of the righteous manor in Fengyue City, his face filled with horror. On his back, he carried a bamboo, and beside his body, a Bi’an mask lay discarded on the ground, suggesting the notorious ’Forgetful Immortal Yi Nanping.’

But he was not Yi Nanping.

Because in front of him stood another bamboo stick.

Fresh and dripping green, it held a dark Bi’an mask, which lightly clinked in the wind, giving off sounds that made one uncontrollably shiver with awe and reverence.

No one doubted who the owner of this sword was.

Inside the Ministry of Punishment.

Zhu Jian’an, looking at the longsword lying horizontally on the table, at the ferocious tiger’s head on the hilt, found himself at a loss for words.

PS: The first update for today...