The jade pendants and sachets lightly bumped against the clean, tidy clothes with each step of these young boys and girls, creating a pleasing scene of soft yellows and greens fitting for the Mid-Autumn Festival Lantern Show.
Wang Anfeng stepped aside to clear the way for these young boys and girls who were late for their appointment, and after they hurriedly ran out of this street, he struck the Barrier Blade given to him by Li Hu, sheathed, onto his shoulder, the Vigorous Qi surged to forcibly suppress his nausea, saying:
Li Hu's face struggled, then he closed his eyes, covered his mouth with both hands, and his Adam's apple bobbed up and down with intense motion. Wang Anfeng restrained his instinctive desire to step back, softened his tone, yet still appeared somewhat cold as he said:
"My time today is very urgent."
"So is yours, understand?"
Li Hu lowered his hands, his face pale, nodded, and then, without waiting for Wang Anfeng to prompt him, stumbled a few steps, voluntarily walking to a more remote place, finally realizing his current situation. As he walked, he stammered explanations:
"Oh, oh, sir, the old hideout of blind Old Wu is in that direction, it's a bit remote and hard to find. Don't mind, we people like us aren't favored by the Imperial Court after all, even if he has more money and skills, he doesn't dare openly buy real estate, so he dug out an underground courtyard."
"Over the years, he met people for business only in the innermost room, reportedly hasn't seen daylight for more than ten years. If it were a normal person, their eyes probably couldn't stand it, but since Old Wu was blind to begin with, it doesn't matter if he becomes even more blind."
Wang Anfeng narrowed his eyes slightly, saying:
"Sounds like a very capable person."
Li Hu was silent for a moment, then said:
"Who would say otherwise... "
"The place he occupies, though not crowded, is the most lucrative spot in the whole Liangzhou City. Everyone wishes for a slice, but that blind man is too formidable. He has a batch of ruthless and cruel men under him."
"Years ago, after committing offenses outside, a few Jianghu bandits fled to Liangzhou City, and it was him who stepped in to protect them. Even the patrol guards and martial soldiers couldn't get those people from blind Old Wu's mouth."
"He's indeed different from us, if there's still one person in the entire Liangzhou City that can be considered part of Jianghu, it's blind Old Wu."
In the course of conversation, the two had arrived at a narrow alley, Wang Anfeng stood at its entrance watching Li Hu—a self-proclaimed local nobody in Liangzhou City who would sell him some privileges—approach and converse quietly with several men leaning against the corner wall, dropping his voice and demeanor.
A moment later, when Li Hu took something from his pocket and placed it in the hand of the young man, the latter's previously stony demeanor finally relaxed, tossed the silver in his hand, and nodded.
Li Hu breathed a heavy sigh of relief, looked back at Wang Anfeng, and gestured.
The two guards at the door worked together to press down on a brick. The stone wall—ostensibly a mix of bricks and wood—was actually a movable mechanism, revolving open, and a blast of hot air mixed with the smell of sweat and the sound of men shouting accusations rushed forth.
The young man on the left nodded towards the inside, saying:
"Go in, don't cause any trouble..."
Tie Lin, together with a middle-aged man, hurriedly arrived at the government office in Liangzhou City, the central part being where Provincial Officials worked and leisurely stayed. There were places on either side where one could relax. The records and books of the Yu Department were situated in another independent courtyard, adjoining the main courtyard of the office.
The records were safeguarded by two locks: one key was with the steward of the Yu Department, and the other with an official on duty every night in the office to prevent anyone from abusing their authority.
Due to this arrangement, it becomes quite cumbersome to handle urgent situations.
This time, Tie Lin first found the steward of the Yu Department—who was enjoying tea and moon-viewing with his family in their yard—and commandeered his services with a Bi'an token before coming to the Liangzhou office to locate the records he needed. This whole journey consumed considerable effort.
Two officials from the Yu Department took out the keys and retrieved the distribution map of the city, spreading it on the table to search for the houses most likely to be used by thieves as requested.
Despite the steward's dissatisfaction at being forcibly taken, an official with superior rank would suppress others, especially a Capital official—who is even more untouchable—leaving him no choice but to stifle and vent his anger through rather rough actions as he flipped through the detailed map of Liangzhou City to find the corresponding records.
Even though these two officials were highly familiar with the local records, the task was no small workload; it would still take a stick of incense's time at minimum, and Tie Lin used this downtime to turn away to the room where the Ministry of Punishment was stationed.
The Ministry of Punishment was manned by a middle-aged man over forty with gray hair at the temples, carrying a sword but lacking the ominous and cold aura found on Wuxin from Tie Lin, instead resembling a businessman with oily cunning.
He had moved a lounge chair, holding a cup of tea in both hands, swaying leisurely while gazing at the full moon in the sky, humming a trendy tune.
His out-of-tune singing was merely for self-amusement.
As he heard footsteps and saw Tie Lin—an official coming from the Heavenly Capital—this old government official was startled, abruptly sitting up from his lounge chair, tea spilling everywhere, ready to jump down and salute when Tie Lin held his shoulder, saying: