Of the two men, one stayed stubbornly silent, while the other just groaned and whimpered. Neither would speak.

Jiao Yu leaned in and sniffed, then walked over to the one with the dislocated shoulder before saying, “This one has peed his pants.”

The soldiers burst into laughter. The man’s face went from pale to a sickly bluish color as he felt humiliated, terrified, and trapped.

This was probably the lowest moment of his life.

He Lingchuan walked up to the same captive and patted him on the injured shoulder—

“Aaagh!” The man howled, jerking his head up in pain, only to meet the mirror that He Lingchuan had already raised.

“Look!”

He tried to avert his eyes, but it was too late. His gaze fell on the mirror’s surface out of sheer reflex, and at first, he did not notice anything strange.

Not until the reflection inside the mirror gave him a faint, knowing smile.

The sorghum stalks blocked the slanting sunlight. Everyone stood in the shadow. At that moment, a thin wisp of white smoke was drawn from the captive’s mouth and sucked straight into the mirror.

The man’s eyes went dull at once.

He was injured, his will was weak, and he was far easier for foreign evil to take advantage of than his companion.

He Lingchuan asked slowly and clearly, “Who were you chasing?”

The captive answered woodenly, “The man the whole city is hunting, someone surnamed Mai.”

Once his soul had been taken, even his instinctive wariness vanished.

“Have you dealt with him before?”

The man shook his head. They were only following orders.

“What exactly were your orders?”

“Bring him back. If we can’t bring him back, then kill him on the spot.”

Exactly what He Lingchuan had expected.

“Who sent you?”

“Uncle Wu.”

Finally, a new name to chase down.

“And who is Uncle Wu?”

“Uncle Wu is an old hand in the Cen household. He’s stayed by Lord Cen’s side for more than ten years and handles many matters.”

“Lord Chen? Lord Cen?” He Lingchuan pressed. “What’s his full name?”

“Cen...” The captive’s eyes flickered with struggle.

Even after losing his soul, he still refuses to say it outright by instinct? He Lingchuan said evenly, “Don’t worry. Say it, and I guarantee you’ll be fine.”

The man shook his head frantically anyway.

So He Lingchuan changed tactics. “Does he live in the northwest corner of Baishajue?”

“Yes.”

“East of Lan Lake?”

“Yes.”

“Any identifying markers?”

“At the main gate, there’s a pair of white jade qilin, each over three meters tall, and there’s a three-hundred-year-old phoenix tree.”

He Lingchuan thought for a moment. “What does Uncle Wu look like?”

“He’s in his fifties, has a square face, slightly fat, not tall. When he smiles, his eyes turn into slits.”

Those features are quite familiar, eh? “And today, was he wearing date-red silk, with a black belt edged in gilt, and a black cap?”

The captive had to recall for a beat. “Yes.”

He Lingchuan gave a faint, sardonic smile.

So Uncle Wu had been in the tower too.

He was that elderly, rich merchant in the Chao Lake Teahouse, haggling loudly at one of the tables.

Either his skills were so good that he feared nothing, or he was so confident that he would not be exposed, but Uncle Wu had still come personally.

Fortunately, He Lingchuan had put on a convincing show up there himself. He had not let the other party see through him at a glance.

“Is Uncle Wu the Cen household’s steward? What kinds of matters does he handle?”

“No, the Cen household has another steward.” The captive shook his head. “Uncle Wu only follows Lord Cen. What he does, we don’t know.”

“So he’s Lord Cen’s trusted right-hand man?”

“Yes.”

“Good, take him away.” He Lingchuan felt lighter than he had in days. He turned to the soldier leading the detachment. “Tell your commander to escort this captive with the dislocated shoulder to the capital immediately as a key witness for the Crown Prince. As for the other one, lock him up. Guard him carefully, in case someone tries to silence him.”

The soldier saluted and left to carry out the orders.

He Lingchuan stood and stretched, then whistled.

A goshawk appeared from who-knew-where, a few magpie feathers still stuck to the corner of its beak.

“You already ate it?” He Lingchuan did not know whether to laugh. “The man who turned back to report also needs to be watched.”

The goshawk stood on the saddle and beat its wings once, as if offended by the question. “I already sent out watchers.”

Time was tight. Everyone packed up and hurried back.

Only when Chao Lake Tower came back into view did two blue magpies fly toward them, landing in front of the goshawk and chattering rapidly.

The goshawk snapped its wings in irritation. The two bird monsters flinched and took off again.

“What’s wrong?”

“They lost him,” the goshawk said, displeased. “They say the third man went back into a low house across from Chao Lake Tower and never came back out. They waited and felt something was wrong, so they slipped in through a window to check. The place was empty.”

“Mm, then he’s already slipped away, either through a hidden passage or an array.” He Lingchuan said, not even surprised. He exhaled softly, having known it would not be so easy to stumble straight into the enemy’s lair. “Take me there.”

The two blue magpies guided the way.

They had been temporarily “recruited” on the spot. After all, the goshawk was a Chiyan monster official and had the authority to commandeer local bird monsters for service.

He Lingchuan followed them to a single-story building on the side opposite Chao Lake Tower.

Not the first row facing the street, but a structure slightly farther back. When He Lingchuan climbed up to take a look, he found that the windows offered a clear view of Chao Lake Tower’s main entrance.

Buildings like this were everywhere around the tower, making them unremarkable and easy to miss. The people coming and going were a mixed crowd as well. Many outsiders rented rooms here because they were cheap.

After all, this was a scenic area, not a closed-knit residential neighborhood. Strange faces did not stand out the way they would elsewhere.

He Lingchuan and Jiao Yu searched the room several times. When they dragged a low table aside, they uncovered an array beneath it.

Jiao Yu took one look at it and said, “A Minor Mountain-Moving Array. It can only shift someone about seven meters away.”

The cost, naturally, was small as well.

There was no need to even check. The target destination of the array would be in the neighboring house. The third target was long gone.

This time, the blue magpies’ tailing had failed completely.

“Guard the prisoners we already have. They’re important witnesses,” He Lingchuan said, straightening his posture. “Fortunately, we’ve already gotten a new lead.”

A grand residence east of Blue Lake, a pair of white jade qilin at the gate, and a three-hundred-year-old phoenix tree.

That might as well have been a name written in bold ink.

In fact, the moment those three pursuers had come running out, He Lingchuan had already felt steady inside.

This trap of his had achieved its purpose.

First, he needed to confirm whether Mr. Mai had managed to contact the mastermind behind the scenes.

That determined everything about the case.

Now the answer was crystal clear that he had not.

After fleeing Shuanglu Town, Mr. Mai had vanished without a trace. Neither He Lingchuan nor his direct superior had been able to find him.

Otherwise, these people would not have needed to take the risk of probing Chao Lake Tower.

Mr. Mai’s disappearance was, in itself, something worth chewing on.

Had he sensed killing intent and fled to save himself? Or had he planned something from the very beginning? And if it was the latter, then what was he after?

Second, his bait had gotten a bite.

He Lingchuan did not expect to hook a giant fish in a single cast. To be honest, even he felt that the waters here ran deep. Whoever bit might not be the true culprit.

But give him a vine, and he could follow it to the melon.

If the enemy guarded themselves like iron, he only needed to find one crack.

And now, a lead had practically delivered itself right into his hands.

* * *

After stepping out through the Minor Mount-Moving Array, the third guard met Uncle Wu.

The moment Uncle Wu saw him return empty-handed, he knew something had gone wrong. “What happened?”

Before the guard could even open his mouth, Uncle Wu’s expression changed sharply. “Enough. Move! We talk while we walk!”

The guard still had not spoken when Uncle Wu reached up and casually scratched out the array drawn on the wall. Then he hurried off with his men.

About an hour later, Uncle Wu stood before his master, drenched in cold sweat. “Those two fools never came back. This old servant was muddleheaded. I fell into their trap!”

“They may already have confessed.” Cen Boqing paced the room twice. “Those two alone can’t bite deep enough to reach the Cen household, but this He, the one surnamed He, is digging up more and more. We can’t leave him alive.”

“Please instruct me.”

“He is the special envoy of the Crown Prince of Chiyan. We can’t execute him openly.” Cen Boqing paused. “Then we’ll find a curse master and send him on his way.”

“You mean... Cheng?”

Cen Boqing nodded. “He should be ready by now.”

“If we can get that man to act, it’ll be foolproof.” Uncle Wu finally let out a breath. “Even the ruler of the State of Mang died by his hand back then. This He fellow should be nothing more than a snack.”

Cen Boqing said coolly, “Go and check what else needs preparing, and tell him not to be careless.”

Uncle Wu acknowledged and was about to leave when Cen Boqing added, “Oh, right. That man, Mai Xuewen, have you verified his background?”

“We’ve already sent people to recheck. His hometown is far away. We’ll probably have results in three to five days.”

“I just heard that when he has his men kill monsters, he uses a very unusual method?”

“Th-this...” Uncle Wu’s face went faintly pale.

“You don’t know either?”

“When Mai Xuewen first began doing this, I accompanied him and observed for over two months. Back then, his methods of killing monsters were perfectly ordinary, nothing at all like what’s happening now.” Uncle Wu swallowed hard. “After that, Mai Xuewen kept delivering jiang beads on schedule, sometimes even exceeding quota. He was the lowest-profile of all the proxy handlers and never once made a mistake, so this old servant rarely, rarely asked about his methods again.”

He had many subordinates, and many things required his attention. Since Mai Xuewen never caused trouble, why would he keep watching only Mai Xuewen?

Cen Boqing said softly, “You oversee many proxy handlers. It’s impossible to interrogate every one of them about such details. I understand that.”

Uncle Wu lowered his head. He understood Cen Boqing very well. This would not be brushed aside so easily.

“However, this is your second major mistake!”

Crack!

A sharp sound rang out as Cen Boqing flung a teacup. It smashed against the wall beside Uncle Wu.

Shards sprayed outward, slicing the back of Uncle Wu’s hand. He did not move, even as his blood dripped onto the floor.

“Was this He fellow’s trap at Chao Lake Tower really that brilliant?” Cen Boqing slammed the table, shouting. “How could you step straight into it? How did you train your subordinates? They’re either stupid as pigs and dogs, or running away when it matters!”

Uncle Wu took the scolding without a word.

His biggest mistake at Chao Lake Tower was not even the trap itself; it was that he had not stayed behind in the attic to watch and coordinate. So when the three guards rushed out to seize someone, they could not adapt when things changed.

Just then, someone at the back door requested an audience, claiming to be “an old friend from Lingxu.”

Those words were a passphrase.

Cen Boqing immediately reined in his temper and drew a deep breath. Uncle Wu hurried to gather the broken porcelain from the floor.

A servant led in a man dressed as a commoner.

A residence as large as the Cen’s here required more than a hundred people to run smoothly. People entering and leaving were normal.

Cen Boqing assumed at first that this was a disguised guard from Zhongsun Mou’s side.

Then the newcomer lifted his cap, revealing pale blue skin.

“Brother Zhongsun?” Cen Boqing’s shock was genuine. “Why have you come in person?”