The Night Watcher of Great Jing - Chapter 9

“I see you.”

The eerie voice sounded beside Zhao Li’s ear, and an icy hand seized her left wrist.

Cold seeped into her marrow, numbing half her body.

Without hesitation, Zhao Li pressed the tip of her tongue beneath a canine tooth and bit down.

She spun and spat a mouthful of blood, but it passed through the gray mist and splattered across Ling’er’s face instead.

Clearly, the true master of the courtyard had not come in person.

Zhao Li looked back. The gray mist and shadows before Fragrant Orchid Courtyard had disappeared. Even the lantern above the gate had gone dark.

[Temporary quest: New Clothes.]

[Quest description: Dressed as a bride, she yearns to find her destined groom, yet she is trapped here. Your appearance has given her hope. She wants your skin for a new dress. Please persuade her to abandon the idea.]

[Note: The current difference in combat power is excessive. A direct assault is not recommended. Consider a strategic retreat.]

Zhao Li stared at the system notice, which had arrived fashionably late, and helplessly rubbed her wrist.

“Aaaah!”

Ling’er’s delayed scream of horror echoed throughout the Pacification Office.

The office mobilized at once, sealing off and isolating Fragrant Orchid Courtyard.

Boots pounded as agents carrying torches rushed into the neighboring courtyards.

People dragged out of bed shuffled off in hastily donned shoes, moving beyond the affected area.

They cleared a buffer around Fragrant Orchid Courtyard.

“Lu Zhao! You had better give me an explanation!”

Judicial Commissioner Wang wore nothing but a quilt around his shoulders. His two bare legs showed beneath it, and cloth shoes flapped on his feet.

He had been enjoying an intimate game in his concubine’s room and never dreamed that someone would kick down a door here, inside the Pacification Office’s own territory.

His first thought was that his bribery had been exposed.

His knees went weak, and he lay sweating on top of his concubine for a long time, unable to rise.

Then he had been escorted from the room in this magnificent state.

Naturally, he intended to make trouble for Lu Zhao, who had issued the order.

While the judicial commissioner stamped and shouted, Lu Zhao rested a hand on the saber at his waist and listened idly to a subordinate’s report.

“Master Lu, I bought the roast chicken and braised meat you requested.”

With the nighttime curfew in force, no cooked-food shop would still be open. The commandant sent on the errand had simply hammered on a shop door until someone opened it.

A member of the Jingning Guard knocking at night was more terrifying than any ghost.

The family who sold the meat had nearly died of fright.

“Take it to the rear hall.” Lu Zhao jerked a thumb behind him, then turned to Judicial Commissioner Wang. “An explanation? What explanation?”

He scowled. “I was saving your life!”

Judicial Commissioner Wang snorted. He had been pulled off his concubine looking like this and thrown out of the courtyard. He was already as good as dead!

He was about to continue when Shen Yan strode in through the outer door, his cloak billowing behind him.

The moment he entered, the light in the entire room seemed to dim.

Judicial Commissioner Wang instantly swallowed his anger. Wrapping the quilt around himself, he retreated to one side.

“What happened?” Shen Yan still carried a food box in one hand.

Lu Zhao’s casual manner vanished as well.

He might behave arrogantly toward others, but he would never dare do so before Shen Yan.

“My lord, a major supernatural evil has appeared in Fragrant Orchid Courtyard.”

Shen Yan’s expression darkened. “So it’s haunted. Why create such a commotion?”

Lu Zhao’s face crumpled. If he had any choice, he would hardly have wanted to mobilize so many people.

“Miss Zhao said it is an earthbound vengeful spirit whose corruption is spreading. Until it can be eradicated, all contact must be severed to prevent further victims from becoming enslaved ghosts under its control.”

“If we do not act quickly, the evil spirit will continue hunting. Once the courtyard can no longer contain her, nothing living within ten *li* will survive.”

Judicial Commissioner Wang, who had been listening intently from the side, shuddered violently.

Shen Yan, however, immediately caught the oddity in Lu Zhao’s words.

“Miss Zhao?”

“The Zhao family’s young lady you brought back. Zhao Li.”

Shen Yan wanted to ask more, but Lu Zhao continued, “Miss Zhao is in the rear hall. Please come with me.”

As he led Shen Yan toward the rear hall, Lu Zhao gave him a general account of the night’s events.

“You’re saying A—Miss Zhao belongs to one of the spiritual schools?” Shen Yan’s brows rose.

“Without question!” Lu Zhao nodded with absolute certainty, then lowered his voice. “It is very likely a powerful hidden sect. Miss Zhao appears unwilling to let anyone know and has concealed many things.”

Lu Zhao had once been an expert interrogator in the Imperial Prison.

Zhao Li’s attempts at concealment meant nothing before him.

It was not that Lu Zhao could see through her history. Quite the opposite. He felt as though he were walking through fog, increasingly unable to understand what he saw.

Shen Yan’s gaze suddenly darkened as he remembered how calmly Zhao Li had held a severed head.

Could she truly come from some hidden sect?

If so, was the capital’s strange tale about the switched daughters even true? Or was this some move by a hidden sect interfering in worldly affairs?

And what, then, was that strange sensation he had felt?

The greatest weakness of intelligent people was their tendency to overthink, especially intelligent people like Shen Yan, who possessed a vast amount of secret information.

By the time they reached the rear hall, countless possibilities had crossed his mind.

Then he saw Zhao Li in a loose fish-patterned uniform, gripping a roast chicken leg, and stopped short.

Lu Zhao coughed and cleared his throat.

Zhao Li’s mouth was stuffed with meat. The fragrance of fat and the satisfaction of a full stomach could soothe every negative emotion.

She liked to cram herself with foods high in sugar, fat, and calories, using them to forget the unpleasant memories of dealing with those ghostly things.

Her chopsticks spun like a whirlwind and her mouth worked like a grinder. She was eating happily when she heard the cough.

She looked up and saw Lu Zhao standing in the doorway with the handsome man who had rescued her.

Her puffed cheeks worked rapidly. She swallowed the food with a gulp.

Expressionless, Shen Yan stared at Zhao Li, seated before a table heaped with meat.

Her large, catlike eyes looked innocent. Grease shone at the corner of her lips, and candlelight warmed her cheek.

Stone-faced, he walked to the table, set down his food box, and pushed it toward her along with half a braised pork knuckle.

“Eat.”

Eating more would help her wounds heal.

“No, thank you! I’m full!”

Zhao Li shook her head furiously. This dangerously handsome man had left a profound impression on her.

After all, he had presented her with a severed head the first time they met!

Dark clouds gathered over his beautiful face, his eyes gloomy as a brewing storm. She could not tell whether he was speaking sarcastically.

Moreover, the box carried the rich scent of medicinal herbs. One whiff was enough to know that the kitchen had carefully prepared it for someone. She could not imagine who would receive such a meal in the middle of the night.

If someone made a polite offer and she actually accepted, she would be hopelessly tactless.

Besides, she wanted to find a position in the Jingning Guard. This man was very likely to become her superior.

Zhao Li gathered the remaining roast chicken and braised meat on the table, then carefully pushed the food box back.

She wiped her hands, sat up obediently, and waited for his questions as though attending a job interview.

When she rejected the food box, disappointment filled Shen Yan’s heart. His lips pressed into a thin line.

“How are your injuries?” he asked quietly.

He was already considering sending her several aged Liaodong ginseng roots and some deer-blood lingzhi.

“Did Imperial Physician Zhang fail to treat you properly?”

Zhao Li realized that Imperial Physician Zhang must be Ling’er’s grandfather.

Seeing Shen Yan’s deep frown, she feared a careless answer might bring disaster upon the Zhang family.

“I’m much better, thanks to Imperial Physician Zhang.”

“Truly?”

Shen Yan’s voice was exceptionally pleasant, but his perpetually dark expression made him seem oppressive.

He stared at the wound on Zhao Li’s face, the sight bothering him immensely.

“Yes, truly!” Zhao Li nodded again and again as the handsome man’s expression grew darker still.

She had the distinct impression that her future superior would be extremely difficult to get along with.