Chapter 18: The Wanderer

Outside the Zhou manor, a cacophony of shouts and the flicker of firelight painted a scene of unrest. Within its walls, a dozen warhorses, tethered to trees in the courtyard, shifted uneasily, their hooves tapping the ground, disturbed by the turbulent atmosphere.

Suddenly, a forceful shove against the manor gate sent the heavy wooden barrier and its horizontal bolt rattling, threatening to splinter.

Cloud Sheep turned to Chen Ji, his voice urgent. "The Liu clan might breach the gates within a quarter of an hour. At that point, I cannot guarantee what will unfold. Can you unearth the evidence in that time?"

Another quarter of an hour.

Chen Ji, masked by the grey cloth obscuring his face, inwardly questioned himself. Could he truly decipher the secrets of that book in such a short span? Impossible. He lowered his head, lost in thought for a moment, then responded, "A quarter of an hour is insufficient. I need at least..."

From outside the Zhou manor, a thunderous roar cut through his contemplation. "Hearken, you within! Come forth swiftly and explain yourselves! If you possess evidence, present it! If none, let the murderer pay with his life!"

Cloud Sheep, with fluid motion, tucked the hem of his robe into his waistband and casually drew a long knife from a nearby secret agent's belt. He strode towards the gate. "Seven Stripes, Five Biscuits, guard this door with your lives. Jiao Rabbit, see to the rear wall. Any who dare to intrude shall be deemed rebels and slain without mercy! Chen Ji, I grant you but a quarter of an hour. Unearth the evidence, else we all meet our end here!"

Chen Ji hesitated no longer. He turned, closed the door, and re-entered the room, shutting out the clamor of the outside world. He opened the book containing Zhou Chengyi's annotations of the Four Books. With frantic urgency, he sifted through every ancient cipher technique in his memory, seeking the method by which the information was concealed.

Was it the hidden character method? No.

The character verification method? Negative...

Could it be the character analysis method?

The so-called 'character analysis method,' a cunning technique, might represent "Dong" with "thousand miles grass" or "Zuo" with "ten days divination," thus embedding hidden information within seemingly innocent text. If this were the case, it spelled trouble. While not inherently difficult to crack, the sheer volume of work required days, not mere minutes!

Time bled away, second by second. The Zhou manor gate, at any moment, could be shattered by the enraged crowd. In the cool autumn air, a fine sheen of sweat beaded on Chen Ji's forehead.

It wasn't the character analysis method. Chen Ji had scoured the pages, finding not a single clue indicative of this technique! What was he to do?

Chen Ji closed the book, shut his eyes, and pondered... Wait! The key to a riddle often lies not within the riddle itself!

A spark of inspiration ignited in Chen Ji's mind. He spun back towards the bookshelf, his hands darting through the volumes. One book, two books, three books... the more books he flipped through, the brighter his eyes became.

At this moment, the clamor outside gradually subsided. The quiet that followed the storm held a strange, unsettling quality.

A voice, projected through the gate, called out, "Liu Mingxian of the Liu clan humbly requests Cloud Sheep adult to open the gates for a meeting."

The secret agents exchanged silent glances, their eyes fixed on Cloud Sheep.

Jiao Rabbit murmured, "Liu Mingxian. Son of Liu Ge Lao, grandson of Old Master Liu. Currently in charge of the Liu clan's second house, and the circuit intendant of Luocheng. A fifth-rank official."

Cloud Sheep considered for a moment, then tossed the long knife he held to a secret agent. "Open the gates. Let us not diminish the prestige of our Secret Agents Office!"

With a protesting creak, the vermilion gates slowly swung inwards. Outside, several hundred people stood in the flickering torchlight, waiting in hushed anticipation.

Liu Mingxian sat astride his horse amidst the crowd, standing out like a crane among chickens. He was clad in white mourning cloth, a mourning hat upon his head, his eye sockets rimmed with red. Even the brown horse beneath him bore white silk flowers on its chest.

Cloud Sheep stepped forward, stopping just inside the threshold. "Lord Liu, to gather several hundred individuals and surround our Secret Agents Office at this late hour... do you intend rebellion?"

"I dare not," Liu Mingxian's voice was hoarse, his grip on the reins tight. "We have merely come to inquire of Cloud Sheep adult why you have arrested members of my Liu clan without cause? Do you possess evidence?"

"Naturally, we do!" Cloud Sheep affirmed.

"Then present it! If my Liu clan disciples are indeed guilty, let them face judgment!"

Cloud Sheep shook his head. "It cannot be revealed at this time. This matter involves sensitive secrets and must be presented to the Inner Minister."

Liu Mingxian urged his horse forward, confronting Cloud Sheep across the threshold. "Then there is no evidence!" he declared, his voice filled with anger. "If you dismiss me thus, where is the face of my Liu clan, accumulated through generations of high officials? How can Old Master rest in peace? How can I explain this to the Empress Dowager?"

"Lord Liu, I advise you against inviting the charge of rebellion upon yourself," Cloud Sheep no longer wished to engage. He retreated, step by step, into the shadows of the Zhou manor. "Close the gates. Should any dare to set foot within the Zhou manor, they shall be deemed rebels!"

The gates slammed shut once more. Liu Mingxian's face, illuminated by the dancing torchlight, appeared somewhat menacing. "The eunuch faction is corrupting the nation, nothing more than the poisonous minister's hounds... Summon Liang Doger. Be prepared to breach the gates at any moment."

A young man hesitated. "Second Uncle, Liang Doger is drinking in Red Clothes Alley tonight. He's likely asleep in some girl's room by now... Do we truly need him?"

Liu Mingxian laughed coldly. "Raise soldiers for a thousand days to use in one moment. Tell him to bring his broken saber swiftly. If I don't see him later, I will cut off his drinking money, and cut off his cultivation medicine. Come, gather firewood and pile it against the Zhou manor wall. We shall set it ablaze later to force them out!"

……

……

The composure Cloud Sheep had displayed moments before had vanished. "Jiao Rabbit, they have killing intent!" he exclaimed upon quickly returning.

Jiao Rabbit blinked. "Liu Mingxian intends rebellion?"

Cloud Sheep sighed. "He didn't bring the Luocheng soldiers tonight; clearly, he is treating this as a family matter. If he is determined to avenge his grandfather, he might face exile later, but you and I could die in vain. This matter can be large or small; its definition rests on a single word from the court officials. These civil officials are usurping the nation! No wonder Jin Pig said this merit was a bit hot when he left the capital; he truly is shrewd..."

Jiao Rabbit blinked again. "Then what do we do? Before they surround the back wall, we flee."

Cloud Sheep hesitated. "If we simply flee like this, where is the dignity of our Secret Agents Office?"

Jiao Rabbit rolled her eyes. "Then I shall flee alone, oh."

Cloud Sheep's face hardened. "We flee together!"

"But there is a problem," Jiao Rabbit said, squinting at Chen Ji with a smile. "What about him? It's no issue for us secret agents to fight our way out, but if the Liu clan team has hidden experts, bringing him is a burden."

As she spoke, the two exchanged glances, then looked towards Chen Ji in unison. Cloud Sheep expressionlessly picked up the two books of Four Books annotations from the table. "Leave him here. The books have been obtained; the Secret Agents Office naturally has someone who can decipher them."

Jiao Rabbit added, "We need to silence this boy. Otherwise, if he falls into the Liu clan's hands, they will know we have no evidence, and he will become a witness."

These two, whose temperaments shifted faster than flipping a book, had already decided to abandon Chen Ji. Jiao Rabbit gestured to the secret agents. More than a dozen secret agents silently sheathed their knives and quickly retreated towards the back wall, even abandoning their warhorses.

Cloud Sheep and Jiao Rabbit had expected Chen Ji to cry and plead with them to take him, but he did not.

Chen Ji stood before the bookshelf, pulling down volume after volume and rapidly flipping through them, seemingly oblivious to Cloud Sheep and Jiao Rabbit's conversation. He didn't examine each book carefully, mostly just roughly flipping through them before casting them aside, as if searching for something specific. A thick layer of books had accumulated at Chen Ji's feet, almost burying him to his knees.

Finally, he threw all the books to the ground and fell into thought. Just as Jiao Rabbit was about to make her move to silence him, Chen Ji suddenly spoke, his voice clear. "Do you two no longer wish to find the evidence of the Liu clan disciples' treason?"

……

……

Chen Ji closed the books in his hands and stepped out from the pile.

Cloud Sheep and Jiao Rabbit exchanged glances. Jiao Rabbit said curiously, "Why do I feel he's a bit different from that evening?"

"He is different."

"Eh," Jiao Rabbit tilted her head, sizing up Chen Ji. "Have you deciphered the secret in that book?"

Chen Ji affirmed. "I already know where the evidence of the Liu clan disciples' treason is located."

Cloud Sheep's doubts lingered. "You aren't lying to make us take you to escape, are you?"

Chen Ji replied, "I am but a humble apprentice from a medical hall. Even if I were to deceive you into taking me out, you would still kill me afterward, would you not?"

Cloud Sheep looked at him with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Then tell me, where is the evidence?"

Chen Ji adjusted the grey cloth covering his face slightly tighter, his voice calm as he analyzed. "Tonight is a struggle between the outer relatives and the Directorate of Ceremonial. The Inner Minister clearly knew you were not adept at handling such scenes, yet he did not send more shrewd and experienced individuals. He merely intended to use your personalities as knives, to strike at the Liu clan. If you two fail to find the evidence and flee, you will likely not escape punishment upon returning to the Directorate of Ceremonial, will you?"

"Are you threatening me?" Cloud Sheep narrowed his eyes.

"Cloud Sheep adult, even if I were to tell you where the evidence is now, without me, you likely wouldn't know how to find it," Chen Ji responded.

On the other side, Jiao Rabbit had already made her decision. She called out to a secret agent. "Seven Ten Thousand, take him. Protect his little life!"

The group withdrew towards the Zhou manor's back wall. Jiao Rabbit, with agile grace, was the first to flip over the wall to guard the outside. She waited for a moment before calling out, "No one! Quickly!" Only then did Cloud Sheep stand at the foot of the wall, his hands forming a stirrup, sending the secret agents up to the grey tiles atop the wall, one after another.

When it was Chen Ji's turn to scale the wall, his left foot stepped onto Cloud Sheep's cupped hands. He suddenly stopped and said earnestly, "Cloud Sheep adult, this time, the merit you gain is beyond your wildest imagination."

Cloud Sheep laughed coldly. "Trying to prolong stepping on me, are you? Do you truly think I don't see through your tricks? Quickly, get over the wall!" With that, he used both hands to forcefully propel Chen Ji towards the wall top.

However, no sooner had they all scaled the wall than they saw a team of the Liu clan, their arms laden with dry firewood, preparing to approach the Zhou manor to set it ablaze. The Liu clan members spotted the figures of the secret agents and roared, "Quick, send men! They are trying to escape from the back!"

The Secret Agents Office did not linger to engage in battle. They quickly weaved through the labyrinthine alleys of Luocheng, making their escape. Cloud Sheep lowered his voice to ask, "Where do we go to find the evidence now?"

Chen Ji inquired, "What was the name of the provincial graduate who died in the inner prison?"

"Liu Shiyu!"

"First, go to his home!"

Chen Ji followed closely behind the secret agents, running madly through the streets of Luocheng. The cool night wind clung to the green stone slabs of Luocheng, whispering and swirling, whipping everyone's clothes and disheveling their hair. Ahead lay the darkness of the night, behind them, the shouts of pursuit. For a fleeting moment, Chen Ji felt as though he too had become a wanderer of this martial world, with no path of return.