The Night Watcher of Great Jing - Chapter 108

When Zhao Li strolled back into the Pacification Office, Lu Zhao was leading Lu Jianxing and the others in reviewing suspicious cases from the area around Shengjing over the past several years.

Case files were piled everywhere when she entered.

Lu Zhao and the others were leafing through them.

Li Qing looked like a household servant, with a white cloth wrapped around his head and a feather duster in hand as he swept dust from the files.

Seeing how diligently they worked, then considering her own idleness, Zhao Li immediately felt guilty.

She coughed lightly. Lu Zhao looked up in confusion. “Weren’t you going shopping?”

Zhao Li chuckled. “I’ve found a little side deal that could make us some money. Want in?”

At the mention of extra money, everyone bent over the case files raised their heads.

Interest appeared on Lu Zhao’s face. “Let’s hear it. Give us brothers a chance to wet our beaks.”

The Jingning Guard looked prestigious, but its monthly pay was not actually high. Most of their income came from gifts offered by merchants on their streets.

After Shen Yan took command, however, he found the Guard’s habit of demanding and accepting favors thoroughly disgraceful and cracked down hard several times.

Now everyone’s income had fallen sharply.

They would not starve in Shengjing, but neither would they become wealthy.

When Zhao Li mentioned a chance to make money, all attention focused on her.

“At the brokerage today, I saw a three-courtyard residence in Xinghua Ward. Because people died there, it costs only three hundred taels.”

“Three hundred taels?” Lu Zhao and Lu Jianxing exclaimed in unison.

Unlike the two bachelors, Zheng Lian and Li Qing, who had only themselves to feed, these men understood the pressure of supporting families and were far more sensitive to money.

That giveaway price instantly seized their interest.

Lu Zhao jumped to his feet. “Buy it! We have to buy it.”

“Exactly!” Lu Jianxing was equally excited.

Only Zheng Lian showed some restraint. “If it’s selling for only three hundred taels, there must be a catch.”

At his words, everyone rolled their eyes at him.

“Have you forgotten what the Night Watch Bureau does?” Li Qing asked.

Only then did Zheng Lian realize.

Zhao Li pulled the conversation back on track. “The broker is still waiting. Let’s pool our money, buy it together, deal with whatever is inside, and sell it!”

Lu Zhao cupped his hands solemnly. “Thank you, Commander Zhao, for making your brothers rich.”

The others copied him and offered their thanks.

Zhao Li waved them off and told them to stop fooling around.

The group gathered together, laughing and talking as they negotiated.

Zhao Li would take the largest share, contributing her expertise and receiving forty percent of the profits.

Lu Zhao and the others would raise the three hundred taels and divide the remaining sixty percent according to their contributions.

At Zhao Li’s insistence, they also reserved a small share for Han Yin.

Everyone but Zhao Li was perfectly content with the arrangement; she alone felt somewhat embarrassed.

They dispersed to gather their silver. Zheng Lian and Li Qing even pulled out the savings meant for their future wives.

Before long, Zhao Li returned to the brokerage with Zheng Lian, who had changed into ordinary clothes.

Han Yin had lost count of how many cups of tea she had drunk. Seeing Zheng Lian behind Zhao Li, she looked uncomfortable.

She still remembered the dreadful state she had been in when Zheng Lian rescued her.

Zheng Lian paid little attention to her. His mind was entirely occupied with making a profit and doubling his marriage savings.

Though Mei San had already prepared the deed, he confirmed their intentions one final time before helplessly completing the formalities.

Once the deed was signed, Mei San took the key and led them to Xinghua Ward.

The residence stood in a good location, quiet despite the surrounding bustle. But perhaps because uncanny events had occurred there, no one usually dared approach, and weeds had grown thick before the gate.

“This is it.” Holding the key, Mei San was too wary to step closer.

Zhao Li did not make things difficult for him. She held out her hand for the key. “Thank you, Mr. Mei. Please register the deed with the authorities as soon as possible. You needn’t come inside.”

Mei San first breathed a sigh of relief, then repeatedly cupped his hands and left at once.

Plainly, unlike the cannon fodder in ordinary horror stories, Mei San possessed no intense and fatal curiosity.

After he left, Zhao Li tossed the key to Zheng Lian.

Relying on his height, Zheng Lian stepped forward and first cleared away the cobwebs that nearly sealed the entrance.

“A-Yin, you and A-Bi should go back.”

Zhao Li did not know what waited inside. Besides, Han Yin could do nothing useful there, so she told her to leave first.

Han Yin hesitated. She did not dare go inside, but did not want to leave either. She decided to wait for them in the teahouse at the end of the street.

By the time Han Yin disappeared into the distance, Zheng Lian had cleared the space before the gate.

A faded seal from the Five Cities Military Patrol Office was pasted across the black gate, which was secured by an iron chain as thick as a thumb.

Zheng Lian inserted the key. Rust had formed inside the lock, and he needed some effort to turn it.

He removed the chain and pushed the gate open. Its grating creak was painfully loud.

A garden choked with weeds appeared before them.

Long-abandoned houses always had a peculiar smell.

The rampant weeds in the front courtyard had nearly swallowed the flagstone paving.

Zheng Lian and Zhao Li simultaneously unwrapped the cloth around their sabers. Armed, they stood at the courtyard entrance and opened their Mind’s Eyes.

To their surprise, the residence was remarkably clean.

Zhao Li stared. “Could it be something other than an uncanny being?”

“Come on. Let’s look inside.” She beckoned to Zheng Lian.

Zheng Lian entered first. Using his saber to beat aside the tall weeds, he frightened away snakes, insects, rats, and other vermin, opening a path through the front courtyard.

The previous family had died suddenly, leaving some tables and chairs from entertaining guests in the yard.

Bowls and plates even remained on the round table.

Now half hidden among the weeds, they bore signs of decay from wind and rain.

On one step, Zhao Li saw a small wooden horse toppled on its side and a pellet drum.

They continued forward. The main hall’s door stood open, all its furnishings still inside and the floor buried beneath a thick layer of dust.

The room had long since become a nest of spiders, dense with cottony webs.

Zhao Li examined the house carefully, her brow tightening.

The house was clean. It held no resentful bane and no uncanny being, yet it made one’s instincts recoil.

Despite the bright light, it felt oppressively gloomy, as though something were pressing down from overhead.

Suddenly, Zhao Li’s gaze passed over a window, and she stopped.

She strode over and wiped the webs and dust from its lattice.

Exquisite carving immediately emerged.

A cluster of peonies had been carved into the window. The workmanship was superb, yet the flowers were half blooming and half withered.

Zhao Li had found a lead. She went from window to window, examining each.

Zheng Lian did not dare disturb her. Saber in hand, he guarded her side.

Every lattice displayed masterful craftsmanship, yet every carving was jarringly inauspicious and taboo.

Something occurred to Zhao Li. She abruptly looked up at the main roof beam.

The beam was plainly made of excellent timber, and its black lacquer remained glossy.

Zhao Li followed its length with her gaze and searched all around. Sure enough, each of the four corners corresponded to a different carved design.

A half-withered peony, butterflies playing around winter plum, bamboo with inverted nodes…

Every design was beautiful. Every one promised misfortune.

A phrase sprang into Zhao Li’s mind—suppression magic!