The Night Watcher of Great Jing - Chapter 40

Even after leaving the little courtyard, Zhao Li had not fully recovered from what she had seen.

She could not understand a love so twisted, yet so unyielding even in death.

Still uneasy, she asked Daoist Xuanxu, “Revered One, are you certain nothing needs to be done?”

In her previous life, some people had kept wandering spirits, but she had never heard of anyone daring to let a wronged ghost ride his neck all day.

Daoist Xuanxu stared, then turned to look at Zhao Li.

After several days of recuperation, the young woman’s complexion had improved considerably. Her brows drew together over her pretty, pleasing face, which was full of concern.

Daoist Xuanxu smiled and stroked his beard.

“Love between a man and a woman means wholehearted devotion, seeing only that one person, whether in life or death.”

In other words, the supernatural anomaly’s lingering obsession was simply to remain with her husband and keep him happy. She would not spare another person so much as a glance.

“But that man will die.”

“He accepts that!” Daoist Xuanxu laughed. “What could be more fitting than two willing lovers?”

Zhao Li stared at him in shock. “Can love truly be more important than staying alive?”

What kind of lovestruck Daoist priest was he?

“You still don’t understand.” Daoist Xuanxu gazed into the distance and sighed. “Back then, my junior sister and I—”

“Revered One, farewell!”

Zhao Li had no interest in his romantic history. Saving lives was the priority.

Though he had been denied the chance to reminisce, Daoist Xuanxu did not take offense. He escorted Zhao Li and the other two to the entrance.

“This is my personal seal. Take it.” Daoist Xuanxu drew a peachwood tally from his sleeve and handed it to her. “With this, you may freely enter the Imperial Astronomical Bureau, as well as the Qingxu Daoist Temple.”

Zhao Li thanked him, then produced a sheet of paper from inside her robe.

She was not the sort who failed to appreciate kindness. When others showed her goodwill, she repaid it in kind.

Since she had planned to visit the Imperial Astronomical Bureau, she had felt it improper to arrive empty-handed.

At the teahouse, she had borrowed brush and paper and written down the visualization method for the Mind’s Eye from memory.

Daoist Xuanxu accepted the paper and unfolded it. His expression changed instantly.

In this world, opening one’s yin eyes still required bull’s tears, willow-leaf water, or a crow’s pupil.

The value of the Mind’s Eye, which could be switched on and off like a plug-in at any time, was self-evident.

Daoist Xuanxu desperately wanted it, yet he did not feel he could casually accept a young woman’s inherited teachings.

He raised his head to refuse, only to find that Zhao Li had already led Zheng Lian and Li Qing far away.

Daoist Xuanxu stood there gripping the paper for a long time. Then he turned and went to the dispensary.

He decided to exhaust his lifetime of knowledge and his entire private collection to refine a case of Hundred-Herb Pills for Zhao Li.

Unaware that Daoist Xuanxu was preparing a grand gift she did not want in the slightest, Zhao Li returned to the Pacification Office with Zheng Lian and Li Qing.

A country had its laws, and a household its rules.

Cases involving child snatchers fell under the Five Cities Military Patrol Office. Even if its officers failed to act, the Jingning Guard could not simply interfere as it pleased.

At the very least, Zhao Li had to inform her direct superior, Shen Yan, and obtain an official writ from the Pacification Office.

Otherwise, she would have neither rightful authority nor proper grounds for action. In a capital where the waters ran deep and bastards abounded, one careless step could give someone a handle to use against her.

Lu Zhao did not need to drum that lesson into her head. Zhao Li understood it perfectly well.

Thus, one of Shen Yan’s guards escorted her to his desk.

Official documents and confidential reports from across the realm covered it, stacked into a mountain. The mere sight made Zhao Li’s head ache. She worried for his liver.

Looking at her made Shen Yan’s head ache too.

He had not wanted her cooped up in the kitchen making pancakes all day, so he had tacitly allowed Lu Zhao to take her out for a change of air.

He had not expected her to bring herself another assignment.

Sighing inwardly, Shen Yan pulled out a blank writ and asked with a frown, “Do you have any leads?”

“I obtained some clues from the Imperial Astronomical Bureau. A dilapidated courtyard, many children, and many large black earthenware vats.”

It did not sound like much, but careful deduction could still produce a direction.

Cuixiang’s family lived in a village twenty li south of Shengjing.

After abducting children, traffickers could not possibly bring them toward Shengjing, whose gates required official passes to enter.

Since so many abducted children had been gathered together, the dilapidated courtyard was clearly a transit point.

Most important of all were the black vats.

This was not the industrialized society Zhao Li had come from.

Producing large pottery vessels here still demanded considerable skill.

To prevent such vats from cracking or exploding, they had to be fired in one piece.

There were only so many kilns around Shengjing capable of the task.

A dilapidated courtyard filled with vats had to be either the warehouse of a pottery workshop or a large soy-sauce, pickle, or similar operation.

The Jingning Guard’s informants were spread throughout Great Jing. A broad sweep should uncover some trace.

As Zhao Li considered this, Shen Yan asked, “Black earthenware vats?”

“Yes.”

Shen Yan wrote an endorsement on the writ.

“The most common pottery in Shengjing is red, sand-tempered earthenware.”

“Black earthenware requires a special kiln and specialized techniques. Only a handful of establishments inside and outside Shengjing can produce it.”

“The soil south of the city is especially suitable for black pottery.”

“Why not begin there?”

When he finished, he stamped the writ with the official seal and handed it to her.

“Thank you, Lord Shen. I’ll investigate immediately.”

Delighted, Zhao Li took her leave and headed outside.

Shen Yan’s hand paused. He watched her retreating back and swallowed the reminder to be careful.

Zhao Li carried the writ all the way to the main gate, where Zheng Lian and Li Qing were already waiting with their sabers in their arms. Three horses stood beside them.

Zhao Li had never forgotten her riding lessons. Although she could not perform any fancy maneuvers in the saddle, she could now ride well enough for transportation.

Shen Yan had specially found her a gentle little mare.

Zhao Li was not reckless enough to investigate a trafficking organization with only three people.

The laws of Great Jing tolerated no human trafficking. Anyone who abducted or sold women and children was beheaded, while those who committed ritual harvesting and mutilation were sentenced to death by a thousand cuts.

Executing the principal offender was not enough. Even if unaware of the crime, the offender’s wife, children, and every family member in the household were punished with exile two thousand li away.

Anyone who pursued such a high-risk profession in Great Jing was necessarily a desperate outlaw.

Zhao Li therefore went first to meet up with Lu Zhao and Lu Jianxing, who were still patrolling the streets.

She took Lu Jianxing and Zheng Lian to Cuixiang’s village.

Lu Zhao took Li Qing to investigate the black vats.

With flatbreads bought along the road tucked into their clothes, Zhao Li and the two men set out for Cuixiang’s home.

When they reached the village, they found Cuixiang standing on tiptoe at its entrance. She had plainly been waiting all this time.

The sight of them arriving as promised made hope real at last. Tears spilled from her eyes.

“Young Mistress…”

She choked and could not continue. Her youngest brother had been missing for several days, and her mother had fallen gravely ill in bed. Cuixiang had been forced to pawn something so she could call a physician for her.

She had never expected to encounter Zhao Li and grasp one thread of hope.

Zhao Li waved aside the formalities and urged her into the village.

The instant they entered, Zhao Li opened the Mind’s Eye and began examining the surroundings.

Through its vision, the drifting gray smoke around Cuixiang was strikingly obvious.

Several other households in the village carried the same gray smoke, which signified misfortune and decline. Their number roughly matched what Cuixiang had told her.

Zhao Li searched carefully. She saw neither corpse miasma nor black-and-red baleful energy within the village.

After committing the unusual points to memory, she pressed her brow and closed the Mind’s Eye.

By then, they had arrived before a small farmhouse courtyard.