This logical route, centered around the grocery store, was repeated several times.
Like a drop of water merging into a river, it doesn't even cause a ripple.
At the hour of Xu (7-9 PM), dusk was falling.
A sturdy man with a wooden box slung over his shoulder, containing tools such as trowels and plasterboards covered in mortar.
His face, marked with rough red marks from years of exposure to the wind and sun, belonged to a bricklayer.
He carried a small wine pot in one hand and a bag of boiled mutton wrapped in lotus leaves in the other.
Staggering home, humming a folk tune that circulated in Fengjing City.
"In August, the osmanthus blossoms fill the air with fragrance; a young lady pushes open the window to gaze at her lover..."
The cool evening breeze of early autumn caressed my face, carrying with it the weariness of work and a rare moment of relaxation.
However, when he walked to the gate of his own courtyard, his eyes fell on two distinct horizontal lines, one long and one short, on the wall next to the gate.
The smile on his face froze instantly, as if frozen by ice.
The humming tune stopped abruptly, as if something was blocking my throat.
He paused for three breaths, then silently pushed open the creaking wooden door, closed it behind him, and bolted it shut.
The heavy tools were gently placed in the corner of the yard, and a low elm wood table and bamboo stool were set up under the old locust tree in the yard.
The courtyard wasn't large, but it was kept fairly tidy, with some bricks and tiles piled up in the corner.
A small oil lamp sat on a low table, its tiny flame flickering and casting his long, thin shadow onto the mottled earthen wall.
A bowl of boiled mutton costing twenty coins is something I wouldn't normally be willing to buy.
He recognized the man's face and asked the shopkeeper if he wanted the plump, tender part of his waist and ribs.
Add some freshly dug purple garlic, a pinch of ground pepper, and a mixture of water pepper juice and fermented bean paste...
Just thinking about it makes my mouth water; it's the perfect snack to accompany drinks, and it's emitting a rich aroma right now.
But now, I have absolutely no interest whatsoever.
He was an intelligence point planted by the Cui family in Fengjing.
But the recent swift and decisive attack by the Xuanji Guards wiped out his online and offline connections.
Like a kite with a broken string, it became a dead end, unknown to anyone.
As far as he knew, many of the overt and covert strongholds had been completely destroyed.
But he was like a speck of dust forgotten in a corner, and luckily escaped death.
These past two days, my heart has been in turmoil, and I've been living in constant anxiety.
However, the major case in Jingzhao Prefecture was concluded and announced yesterday, and today the whole city is in an uproar over the supplementary registration for the provincial examination.
That initial panic gradually transformed into a secret ecstasy, a long-buried longing growing wildly within:
He could perhaps continue living peacefully as a bricklayer in this humble courtyard in the city, a place he had long been accustomed to and even somewhat attached to.
Having lived in Fengjing for so many years, he was tired of those days of constant anxiety and was exhausted.
So tonight, he specially bought this Qiang-style boiled mutton, which he usually couldn't bear to eat, just to secretly celebrate this "new life".
However, the two cold, sharp marks on the courtyard wall shattered all his illusions.
The torment, fear, relief, and ecstasy of the past few days...
All his emotions instantly turned into stones, stuck in his chest, making it almost impossible for him to breathe.
A bitter smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he reached out and pulled the cork off the flask, tilting his head back to take a large gulp.
The liquor was spicy and pungent, spilling out from the corners of my mouth.
It slid down his rough cheek and dripped into the dust, leaving a damp stain.
He didn't touch the fragrant Qiang-style boiled mutton.
At the alley entrance, under the shade of an old locust tree with lush foliage, Yin Zhe leaned against the rough trunk, closing his eyes to rest.
Even if passersby brush past each other, they would not notice that there is a person hiding in the shadows.
Wang Chong, imprisoned in the Jingzhao Prefecture, had yet to catch any fish, while Chen Yu's situation was causing ripples.
Therefore, Yin Zhe made a decisive move.
He ordered someone to give Wang Chong a little something, so that he would have a fever and fall into a coma at just the right time, while he himself quickly left to come and support Chen Yu.
Dou Zhan continued to secretly protect Chen Yu, while Dou Zhan, with her greater strength and more sophisticated concealment techniques, was responsible for tracking the clues brought by the note.
Her perception spread out like an invisible spider web, quietly covering a large area in the east of the city.
This is not a fluctuation of true qi, but a more sophisticated use of the "momentum" flowing between heaven and earth.
This level of probing is extremely difficult to detect unless one is a top expert at the third-grade Divine Martial Realm.
From the moment that note was dropped, everyone who handled it, passed it on, or even just happened to come near it unintentionally was under the surveillance of her invisible, giant network of perception.
Throughout the day, what I saw and heard was like a fragmented intelligence network being sorted out and reconnected in a very covert manner.
The indiscriminate attacks by the Xuanji Guard a few days ago almost destroyed all the recorded intelligence nodes.
However, powerful families have been operating for generations, their influence deeply entrenched. Even a centipede with a hundred legs will not die easily; there are bound to be some hidden members and secret networks lurking deep within.
The arrival of the new dates and the subsequent series of actions seemed more like a cautious test.
The person behind the scenes is certainly not someone to be trifled with; it's common for them to possess some skill and patience.
With the provincial examination just around the corner, let's see who has more patience.
Whoever gets anxious first is more likely to expose their weaknesses.
The back room of Qingjianzhai Bookstore was brightly lit.
The shopkeeper, Shen Yuanzhang, was sitting alone behind a rosewood desk, slowly savoring the amber-colored wine in his glass.
On the table was an exquisite gilded silver cup with engraved patterns, and next to it were several small dishes of delicate side dishes.
That was his only hobby: a light drink at noon to soothe his soul, and a good wine in the evening to help him sleep soundly.
A dark figure appeared behind him like a ghost, kneeling on one knee, its voice extremely low:
“The scattered nets in the east of the city have been activated, and the markers at the bricklayer’s place have appeared. No unusual activity has been observed.”
Shen Yuanzhang didn't even lift his eyelids, he just waved his hand casually.
The shadowy figure understood and silently retreated, disappearing into the shadows.
Sabotaging this provincial examination for women was a death order from above, and Shen Yuanzhang had to carry it out.
Taking advantage of the fact that the whole city's attention was focused on the preliminary test, he finally completed the trial and reorganized the scattered intelligence points that had been broken down.
Everything was calm and peaceful, so smooth that it was reassuring.
However, Shen Yuanzhang's mind was even more on edge.
The more intelligence nodes there are, the longer the transmission chain, and the higher the risk of exposure.
There are only two possibilities for them to be safe and sound so far.
Either the Xuanji Guards never noticed Wang Chong from beginning to end, and the sweep of Chengyuan was just a coincidence;
Or perhaps they've already discovered it, and their appetite has grown even larger, as they unfurl an invisible giant net waiting for him to stumble into it.
The two possibilities were diametrically opposed, and Shen Yuanzhang could not determine which one was reality.
In any case, everyone who was activated today has been branded as a scapegoat in his heart.
Even if it were used again, it would only be a deliberate attempt to create a false impression.
Shen Yuanzhang tilted his head back and drank the wine in his cup in one gulp.
In the dim light, his lowered eyes showed no signs of intoxication, but instead gleamed with a sharp glint.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
