Chapter 128: Chapter 113: Splitting the Troops, Improved Fitting
Feng Bei soon came up as well, exchanging a glance with Zheng Xiu.
An hour later, the officials from the Government Office finally arrived.
Only Uncle Fu was left behind to deal with the officials, explaining what had happened.
The culprits had long since mounted their horses and left Jiayang City under the cover of night.
After all the commotion they’d caused in Jiayang City, they clearly couldn’t stay any longer.
"This report is going to be a nightmare to write."
Yue Yan was already getting a headache thinking about how to write the report.
Dou Xie rode his horse, clutching his reinjured face and weeping silently. He had accidentally landed on his face again.
Yue Yan had originally planned to report the matter via Raven, but then she remembered there might be a mole in Ye Weiyang. Furthermore, Upper Three was personally involved in the case, so Yue Yan dismissed the thought.
As a "Middleman" caught between the "Zheng Clan" and "Ye Weiyang", Yue Yan had never truly earned Ye Weiyang’s complete trust. She usually gave off the impression of someone who just clocked in and clocked out on time.
Whether or not she could get promoted to the rank of Twelfth Moon wasn’t actually that important to Yue Yan.
The only benefits of a promotion were a higher salary and more authority. But compared to the wages Zheng Xiu paid her, the slight increase in salary seemed dull and uninspired.
Thinking of this, Yue Yan restrained her fidgeting Raven and rode onward in silence.
Not long after leaving the city, they stopped by the roadside to rest.
There was no snow tonight, making it good weather for travel.
But the question was, where should they go next?
The trail had gone cold.
The blind man’s death was sudden, but he had provided a good deal of information before he died.
First, he confirmed the existence of the "Incompleteness Tower". In the Cannibal Painting case, four Constellations and one Twelfth Moon had been lost in Shuzhou, perhaps because this mysterious organization called the "Incompleteness Tower" was interfering.
As for the second point...
Sitting next to Feng Bei and warming himself by the fire, Zheng Xiu smiled. "I, on the other hand, think this is good news."
Yue Yan asked curiously, "What do you mean?"
"Before I share my thoughts," Zheng Xiu said, looking at Yue Yan, "why don’t you all come clean first. What exactly is that painting? Why is Ye Weiyang so desperate to seize it? To the point that," he paused, gesturing to Feng Bei, "they’d even have *her* make a move."
Dou Xie looked completely baffled.
Yue Yan looked at Feng Bei.
There was clearly more to the story.
But right now, Feng Bei was the one in charge. What she said, went.
Feng Bei calmly pushed a piece of dry firewood into the fire. "That painting," she said, "is very likely a ’Deceitful Object’."
As she spoke, Feng Bei glanced at Zheng Xiu.
Yue Yan shot to her feet. "What?"
Zheng Xiu was puzzled by Yue Yan’s reaction. "You didn’t know?"
Yue Yan said, her voice filled with shock and doubt, "Our superiors only told us to seize the painting at all costs. Lord Upper Three, are you certain?"
Feng Bei shook her head. "Not entirely, but I’m ninety percent sure. The Night Lord has never trusted me." Feng Bei’s tone was as casual as if she were gossiping, despite the bizarre nature of her words. "It’s an important item that must be secured. If he’s sending me to fight for it but isn’t afraid of me taking it for myself, then it must be a Deceitful Object that’s been lost among the common folk."
"A Deceitful Object chooses its master. It is an ’Omen’. No born Mystic can ever contain two ’Omens’."
"That’s why *that person* feels safe letting me make a move."
Yue Yan cupped her pointed chin in thought, murmuring to herself as she followed Feng Bei’s line of reasoning. "That would explain everything. No wonder the Night Lord is taking this case so seriously. A ’Mystic’ with evil intentions is no less a disaster for the world and its people than a drought or a flood. Once they start causing trouble, the casualties would be countless. I remember when I first joined Ye Weiyang, Upper Six, who was in charge of my induction, specifically mentioned that a sealed Deceitful Object was lost from Ye Weiyang fifteen years ago and has yet to be recovered."
Hearing this, Feng Bei lowered her head and said nothing.
Zheng Xiu interrupted Yue Yan’s muttering, his eyes lighting up. "So the painting itself is a... Deceitful Object?"
Feng Bei’s brow furrowed slightly. Taking in Zheng Xiu’s reaction, she shook her head. "Not necessarily. But it’s definitely related to a ’Deceitful Object’."
Yue Yan nodded. "This painting was created a hundred years ago by the ’Ghost Painter’ Gongsun Mo. But the legends about him have been lost, so the Night Lord probably couldn’t confirm it either; he could only speculate. If it really is a Deceitful Object, then it must be one related to the ’Painter’ Path."
At this, the silent Feng Bei looked at Zheng Xiu again without speaking.
In the end, it was Feng Bei who brought the topic to a close.
She said that once they found the Cannibal Painting, the truth of whether or not it was a Deceitful Object would come to light.
After some discussion, the four of them agreed with Zheng Xiu’s proposal to split into two groups.
Since Xu Shu was now suspect, the intelligence he provided couldn’t be fully trusted.
"I think someone needs to go to the Source of this case—the place where the person claiming to be Gongsun Mo’s descendant first sold the painting—and start investigating there. We might find some clues," Zheng Xiu said with a smile. "Also, the Zheng Family has a local chamber of commerce in Yizhong County. I could try using Zheng Xiu’s name to get them to help look into this ’Playful Monk’ the blind man mentioned."
The place where Gongsun Mo’s descendant sold the painting was a local pawnshop in Yinping Town.
This was also where the painting first resurfaced.
Moreover, Yinping Town was where the first strange case occurred.
Adding to that, Yinping was also one of the places Xu Shu had circled, so it was logical to start the investigation there. Yue Yan and Dou Xie both nodded repeatedly as they listened, praising Senior Zheng for his sharp mind and bearing that was quite befitting of someone from Ye Weiyang.
But a problem arose.
Yue Yan frowned and looked curiously at Senior Zheng. "But, the chamber of commerce in Yizhong County probably doesn’t know that Marquis Zheng has suddenly gained a... relative. Showing up without any proof... based on my—AHEM—based on Tailor Xi’er’s understanding of the Zheng Family, without a formal letter from Marquis Zheng, the head of the branch chamber, Si Youqing, might not believe you. And going back to get a letter from Marquis Zheng now would take far too long."
