Chapter 7: Ghostly Tricks
It was night again, but the moonlight outside the city was even more pristine and bright.
In a dilapidated and isolated inn by the forest, Qi Shaoling sat on the edge of the bed, his expression growing heavier as he looked at the letter and hidden weapon that Fu Yunzhi had sent him.
He clearly remembered that the dart his savior—Duanmu Ling—had used yesterday was the very same one Fu Yunzhi had sent.
The door opened, and Duanmu Ling sauntered in. “I went into town and bought some snacks. Want some?”
“Is this fun? Red Longevity Peach.”
Qi Shaoling’s tone was already frigid, but now his words seemed to be laced with ice.
Duanmu Ling froze for a moment, then glanced at the letter and dart in Qi Shaoling’s hand. A smile curved his lips. “If I hadn’t been in such a hurry to save you last night, I don’t think my identity would have been exposed so quickly.”
Shrugging, Duanmu Ling sat down next to Qi Shaoling and offered him the snacks. “Eat first.”
Qi Shaoling didn’t take the food. Instead, he forced his injured body to the door.
“For the sake of you saving my life, I will not expose you. From now on, we owe each other nothing. But if you cause any more trouble in the capital, don’t blame me for being merciless.”
Duanmu Ling laughed out of sheer anger. “Oh, my, Inspector Qi, with that righteous face of yours, you’re scaring me so. What, if I hadn’t saved you, would you have dragged me back and locked me up?”
“Theft is against the law,” Qi Shaoling said.
“Against the law? Then what the Duanmu family did was legal? If you love upholding justice so much, why didn’t you come and save me and the other family retainers when they were abusing us?”
“Have I ever hurt anyone? Killed anyone? Set any fires? I only became the Red Longevity Peach to save myself. Is there a law that says a person can’t defend themselves? Would it have been right for me to be meek and let the Duanmu family force me to practice the Helan Divine Art?”
Qi Shaoling gripped the doorframe, but with his legs so severely injured, he couldn’t manage to step over the threshold.
Duanmu Ling crossed his arms. “Inspector Qi, in your current state, I guarantee you’ll faint the moment you walk out of this inn.”
Qi Shaoling sighed and sat back down at the table. “I don’t completely disagree with your actions, but do not do it again.”
Duanmu Ling shoved the food into Qi Shaoling’s hands. “I can’t promise that.”
“…”
Duanmu Ling’s cheeks and the corners of his eyes had been flushed red with agitation, but in the next second, he put on a playful, cheeky expression. “Unless you take me back to your home and supervise me day and night, I can’t even be sure what I’ll do myself.”
“You no longer need to be the Red Longevity Peach,” Qi Shaoling said.
Duanmu Ling smiled, revealing a set of white teeth. “It’s easy to go from frugal to lavish, but hard to go from lavish to frugal. I’ve already tasted the sweetness of getting something for nothing. Why would I want to go back to earning my silver honestly? I hear the state sacrifice is coming up. It’s bound to be a lively day.”
“Duanmu Ling!”
“So, isn’t the problem solved if you just take me back to your home?”
Qi Shaoling frowned. “What exactly are you planning?”
Duanmu Ling propped one foot on Qi Shaoling’s knee. “My plan is you. I like you, and I want to be close to the person I admire. Is that not allowed?”
Qi Shaoling swatted the mischievous leg away. “Stop messing around.”
“You think I’m joking?”
Qi Shaoling looked at Duanmu Ling’s half-smiling face and suddenly felt he couldn’t read this person at all.
Duanmu Ling leaned in close to Qi Shaoling’s face. “Taking me back to your home is just another form of imprisonment for a criminal, isn’t it? Just in a different location. Think of it as a perk for your savior.”
“Or… are you afraid?”
It would be best to keep the Red Longevity Peach under my watch before the sacrifice, Qi Shaoling thought. He relented, “You can stay for a short while.”
“Great! Thank you for taking me in, Inspector Qi!” Duanmu Ling said, cupping his fist.
Hmph, a short while? I plan on staying for good, and I plan on becoming the master of your house.
Duanmu Ling was lost in his fantasies about the future, exuding a strange aura. Unwilling to sit too close to him, Qi Shaoling went to the window and rubbed his throbbing temples. He happened to glance at the small path beside the inn and saw a group of people dressed in white hurrying along.
Seeing Qi Shaoling’s attention fixed on something, Duanmu Ling also went to the window to look.
“Huh? Aren’t those people from the Shahan Kingdom? Why are they dressed so unluckily… What’s going on?” Duanmu Ling muttered, then promptly jumped out of the window and went to strike up a conversation with one of the people in white.
After talking with them for a moment, Duanmu Ling climbed back into the room through the window.
Qi Shaoling: …
Is it that much trouble to use the door? Is this an occupational hazard?
“Those people are indeed from the Shahan tribe,” Duanmu Ling said. “They came all the way from the Shahan capital. They said they’re here to report a death to our Emperor.”
“A death?”
“The King of Shahan has passed away.”
Back in the imperial capital, at the Linxi Inn, Qi Xiao and Fu Yunzhi stood in the dimly lit corridor, neither of them speaking.
The sound of thumping footsteps continued unabated. Qi Xiao wanted to investigate, but with Fu Yunzhi beside him, he couldn’t leave, so he remained still.
Fu Yunzhi tugged on Qi Xiao’s sleeve.
“What is it?”
Qi Xiao followed Fu Yunzhi’s gaze and saw a faint white shadow at the end of the corridor.
He frowned. Normally, he would have gone to investigate, but he was unwilling to risk Fu Yunzhi’s safety. After all, with things like this, it was better to be safe than sorry.
“Let’s go back to the room first. When I was on patrol earlier, Damu’s deputy, Shali, told me this sort of thing happens almost every night, but it never lasts long.”
The two sat on the bed, waiting in silence. After an unknown amount of time, the footsteps, whose source was a mystery, finally faded away.
Qi Xiao looked around. “It should be over.”
Fu Yunzhi got up, his first action being to light the candles.
“Hmm?”
Qi Xiao walked over to him. “What’s wrong?”
“This candle won’t light.”
Unable to see clearly in the darkness, Qi Xiao said, “Forget it. Let’s go downstairs and find the others. We can get some new candles from the innkeeper.”
When they went downstairs, they found the main hall of the inn was brightly lit again. It seemed new candles had already been distributed, and the innkeeper was handing them out.
The hall was crowded; it seemed all the members of the delegation had gathered to get new candles. Qi Xiao walked over to Shali. “Were you all in your rooms when the strange phenomena occurred?”
“Yes,” Shali replied. “Because there are many unclean things in the corridors.”
Qi Xiao remembered the white shadow he had seen.
Shali continued, “Now the Langxuan Kingdom must believe that this inn is strange, right? We can finally pack our things and stay outside the city tonight.”
Qi Xiao was at a loss for words, wanting to dissuade them but not knowing what to say. Just then, a group of Shahan people dressed in white suddenly arrived at the inn.
One of them announced in a loud voice, “Attendants of the King of Shahan have arrived, requesting an audience with General Damu.”
Shali hurried forward. “Wearing these robes… are you here to report a death?”
“Yes,” the man in white replied. “The King… he has returned to Tataliya’s side. It was a fever. The imperial physicians did all they could…”
The man’s voice was low and hoarse, as if he were suppressing his grief.
“The King… he…” Shali’s face was filled with shock.
The others, including the King of Shahan’s uncle and the leader of the delegation, Damu, were equally stunned upon hearing the news, their faces soon filled with sorrow and pain.
Fu Yunzhi and Qi Xiao could feel that the Shahan people’s grief was genuine. It was a well-known fact that the King of Shahan was deeply loved by his people.
Someone said, “The King… he died from an illness… Could it be… could it be the King’s restless spirit has come to find us…”
Damu immediately said sharply, “Impossible. The King was a god of war, a son favored by the light. He should return to Tataliya, not linger in the mortal world.”
With that, Damu turned to Fu Yunzhi and Qi Xiao. “The candles were all extinguished and cannot be relit. The ancient texts say this is Tataliya’s wrath, a punishment of darkness She has bestowed upon us. Perhaps it is punishment for letting such an outstanding king pass away… We truly cannot stay here any longer.”
“Idiots.”
Damu looked at Fu Yunzhi, who had been examining a candle, and raised his voice slightly. “What did you say?”
Damu was a veteran of the battlefield, and his every word and action carried an imposing air, commanding respect without anger. Combined with his burly frame, rugged features, and a manly beard, he looked even more intimidating.
Qi Xiao frowned and moved closer to Fu Yunzhi, whispering, “The Shahan people are emotionally unstable right now. Watch your words.”
Fu Yunzhi glanced at Qi Xiao and softened his tone slightly. “I said you are all blinded by faith.”
Damu raised an eyebrow, seemingly waiting for Fu Yunzhi to continue.
“Those involved are often the most blind,” Fu Yunzhi said. “You are all so convinced that this is Tataliya’s disapproval that you didn’t even bother to inspect these candles.”
“Is there something wrong with the candles?” Qi Xiao asked.
“Yes. If you look closely at the wicks, you’ll see they’ve been tampered with, cut in certain places. The person who did this seems to have calculated it perfectly, so that by nightfall, the wicks would be completely ruined, causing the candles to go out. I suspect all the candles had wicks of the same length, which is why they were extinguished simultaneously.”
Shali took the candle from Fu Yunzhi’s hand and examined it closely, then compared its wick to another one. He stammered to Damu, “General, it seems this man is not lying.”
Damu pondered for a moment before saying, “Since this was man-made, am I to understand that the Langxuan Kingdom does not welcome us? It seems someone wants to drive us away?”
“General Damu, you are being too quick to judge,” Fu Yunzhi said. “None of us know the true identity of the person behind this. I ask that you give our kingdom a little time and allow us to dispatch troops to this inn to assist in the investigation. We will certainly handle this matter.”
“Three days.”
“Please inform your King that Shahan is in mourning,” Damu said. “We will be returning in three days to attend the funeral and will be unable to attend the sacrifice. We ask for the Langxuan King’s pardon. Therefore, we hope to have an explanation within three days.”
“Tsk.” Fu Yunzhi grabbed Qi Xiao and turned to leave.
Missing the sacrifice was a small matter, but if Shahan did not get a satisfactory explanation, it could lead to a rupture in diplomatic relations. Not to mention, with Shahan now a group of “wolves” without a leader, there was a fear they might resort to extreme measures, which would be disastrous.
After returning to their room, Qi Xiao finally asked, “Three days… is that possible?”
Fu Yunzhi waved his fan. “Since it’s not a ghost but a person, a person with two legs, there must be a way. Come with me.”
“Where are we going?”
“To the Fu manor, to find my brother-in-law, Zhou Yiqing. I need to get some things from that physician of his.”
Yunzhi is so smart, Qi Xiao thought. There shouldn’t be a problem.
