Chapter 17 : Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Chief Punishment Division

The galloping steed and black-clad figure in the night were like characters from a storyteller’s tale—wayfarers of the martial world, never to return.

At that moment, a crow flapped its wings, landing on the roof of a tavern ahead. It stood silently on the eaves’ corner, watching I and Yunyang race past, motionless, as if it were a carved ridge beast of the building itself.

The crow’s feathers glinted under the moonlight, draped in a silver sheen, serene and mysterious.

A crow?

I glanced back at the eaves, but the crow had taken flight, vanishing to who-knows-where.

I was certain I’d seen this crow in the clinic’s courtyard, its gaze like a superior’s scrutiny.

Back then, I thought it was a hallucination from nervous tension, but seeing it again, I reconsidered. This world’s mysteries far exceeded my imagination.

I pondered, then asked Yunyang: “Lord Yunyang, the Secret Spy Division must see much. Have you ever seen someone control animals?”

“Never,” Yunyang replied casually.

“What about cultivators? I’ve heard storytellers speak of supernatural tales—are they real?”

“No.”

I fell into thought. I was already on the path of cultivation, certain this world held other cultivators. Why had I never heard of them?

Why did they hide among the masses and courts?

A tearing sound.

Yunyang turned to see me rip the hem of my robe and tie it over my face.

“What’re you doing? Working for the Secret Spy Division is honorable—no need to hide,” Yunyang scoffed.

I replied casually: “Lord Yunyang, I’m a nobody. A little caution never hurts. You should protect my identity too, or if the Liu family retaliates, who’ll help you earn merits later?”

Yunyang considered and nodded: “Fair point. Cover your face tightly… Whoa!”

He yanked the reins, halting the horse abruptly on the dim street.

My gaze swept forward—dozens of riders stood ahead.

Clad in raincoats and conical hats, each had a long sword at their waist, exuding killing intent.

The leader glanced at me. Under the shadow of his hat, the middle-aged man’s gaze cut like a blade, stinging my face.

“Who are they?” I whispered from the horse.

“People from the Chief Punishment Division,” Yunyang replied, tightening the reins and raising his voice: “Commander Lin, you must’ve rushed day and night from Jinling to get here.”

The man said calmly: “You and Jiaotu caused a huge mess. I’m here to escort you both back to the capital for the Inner Minister’s judgment.”

“Caused a mess?” Yunyang sneered. “Jiaotu and I came to Luocheng to catch Jing Dynasty spies. What’s our fault?”

Commander Lin said sternly: “You arrested Liu family members without solid evidence to convict them. Now Old Master Liu’s on his deathbed, and this mess can’t be brushed off.”

Yunyang, unruffled: “Jiaotu and I have evidence. We didn’t reveal it to cast a long line for bigger fish, not to startle the snake. Lin Chaoqing, you rush to arrest us at the slightest rumor, obstructing our investigation. Are you a Jing Dynasty mole in the Chief Punishment Division?”

“Nonsense,” Lin Chaoqing dismissed. “The Chief Punishment Division oversees all officials. Your Secret Spy Division is under my jurisdiction. Stop struggling and come back to the capital!”

Yunyang said coldly: “Lin Chaoqing, if you want to arrest me, wait until Old Master Liu’s dead.”

Lin Chaoqing, a man of few words, had enough: “Seize them.”

His dozens of Fish-Dragon Guards charged forward.

Iron hooves clattered on the bluestone, shaking the heart.

The sky darkened as clouds covered it, the street turning inky.

The guards’ faces hid under their hats, eyes in terrifying shadows. As they neared Yunyang, they drew their swords in unison!

Yunyang said lowly to me: “Hold tight!”

He leapt from the horse, his silver needle flashing into the horse’s flank. The steed whinnied, bolting with me in another direction!

I knew no horsemanship, clinging to the horse’s neck. Glancing back, I saw Yunyang, in black, not retreating but advancing, striding toward the dozens of guards!

Boom!

As he met the first guard, the guard swung his sword, but before it fell, Yunyang sank his weight, twisted, and smashed a fist into the horse’s head!

The massive warhorse, like a collapsing mountain, fell with a wail onto the street.

“Resisting arrest—crime compounded!” Lin Chaoqing surged forward, stepping on his saddle, drawing a longer, heavier sword midair!

As he pushed off, the sturdy horse buckled under the force.

Yunyang leapt up too. Their midair clash stirred a surging airflow. No one saw what happened—they parted instantly.

Lin Chaoqing landed steadily on his horse. A meters-long sword mark scarred the bluestone where they collided!

Yunyang used the clash’s force to leap onto the eaves, chasing the runaway horse like a phantom, jumping back onto its back and escaping.

On the street, Lin Chaoqing didn’t rush to pursue. He adjusted his hat, asking calmly: “Who’s the man behind him on the horse?”

“Never seen him, sir. Not from the Secret Spy Division.”

Lin Chaoqing’s voice rang like clashing metal: “Investigate.”

…

…

I, heart pounding, said: “You said you’d never seen cultivators…?”

Yunyang opened his mouth to reply but spat blood, wiping it with his sleeve: “Cultivators’ matters aren’t proclaimed to the world. What you cultivate, your realm—never tell anyone.”

“Why?”

Yunyang said meaningfully: “Cultivation for longevity is beautiful in storybooks, but this path is life or death. You’ve got potential, kid. You might get noticed by a big shot someday. But if you step on this path, never reveal what you cultivate.”

My heart chilled. Yunyang’s warning came from hard-earned experience.

As I thought, he coughed more blood: “Kid, if you don’t find evidence to convict the Liu family tonight, we’re both dead.”

I said: “So you need evidence tonight to avoid the Chief Punishment Division’s blame. I thought the Secret Spy Division was the strongest.”

“Stop mocking,” Yunyang said coldly. “The Chief Punishment Division handles the Emperor’s ceremonial guards—those brutes are tough. But we’re both under the Inner Minister. We risk our lives fighting the Military Intelligence Division, while they just snoop on their own. What skill is that?”

We reached the Zhou residence. Yunyang leapt off, pushing open the vermilion gate with a creak that grated in the night.

The residence was cleaned—tables righted, chairs aligned, as if a dozen people hadn’t died here.

Yunyang stood in the courtyard, turning to me gravely: “Time’s short. I’m betting on you. Don’t let me down. What did you find here before?”

I headed to the main room: “Where are Zhou Chengyi’s books?”

“Not one missing—all here.”

I stood before the bookshelf, quickly pulling down and flipping through books.

Seeing my focus, Yunyang stepped outside, pulling a shadow puppet from his sleeve. He bit his finger, dotting its eyes with blood.

The puppet came alive, smiling eerily, wobbling onto the courtyard wall and running east.

He returned to the main room, where I’d picked two books: “The clue’s likely in these.”

Yunyang flipped through them, finding identical content: “Both are the eighth chapter of

The Four Books Annotated

, ‘On Governance II.’ One’s likely Zhou Chengyi’s handwritten copy—I know his handwriting.”

In this era, books circulated through buying, borrowing, copying, plundering, or stealing.

Printed books were monopolized by noble families, costly, so borrowing and copying were common.

But here’s the issue: Zhou Chengyi wasn’t poor.

I pointed to the hundreds of books on the wall: “As a county magistrate, Zhou Chengyi seemed upright but kept a mistress in a secret residence with over ten servants. Why copy a book himself? I suspect borrowing and returning books was his way of passing intelligence. This freshly copied book, not yet returned, likely holds his secrets.”

Yunyang looked at me oddly: “You checked the books first last time and found this clue. Why didn’t you speak up to save yourself, instead searching for other clues?”

I said: “More life-saving information is never bad. And with only a quarter of an hour, though I knew it was suspicious, I wasn’t sure I could crack the Military Intelligence Division’s code in time.”

That night, though afraid, I never panicked. My trump card, like the broken porcelain I always gripped, never left my hand.

Yunyang sat tiredly: “Are you confident now?”

“With two hours, I should be,” I said firmly.

Before I finished, hoofbeats sounded outside. We looked up to see Jiaotu dismounting with over ten spies, handing her reins to one and striding in: “Close the gate! On my way, I saw the Liu family coming openly with torches—lots of them!”

Yunyang was shocked: “What do they want?”

Jiaotu said heavily: “Old Master Liu’s dead.”

Yunyang stared at her: “Old Master Liu’s dead?! Chen Ji, your master went, didn’t he? His skills aren’t that great!”

Jiaotu said gravely: “He died an hour ago. The Liu family’s furious.”

“Damn it,” Yunyang rubbed his face. “We’re so screwed! It’s his weak body—how’s that our fault? Why’s this mess dumped on us?!”

Jiaotu said: “Two of my spies went missing in the chaos—maybe killed. The Liu family’s got ‘enforcers’ among them.”

Hoofbeats and footsteps surged outside, fast and urgent!

Someone shouted: “They arrested our young scholar without proof, killed him in prison, and drove Old Master Liu to his death! They owe us an explanation!”

“Yes, an explanation!”

Amid the uproar and restless torchlight, Yunyang looked at me eerily: “Now, you’ve got just a quarter of an hour.”