Dai Li froze, thinking she was hearing things. She whipped her head around to look behind her.
Dusk was drawing to a close, its lingering afterglow swallowed layer by layer by the encroaching darkness. As the daylight faded from bright to dim, the outlines of people and objects blurred. The face of the young man standing behind her was mostly shrouded in shadows, but this could not dampen Dai Li's joy.
Zhouzhou!
Qin Yanzhou pulled Dai Li further into the alley. In just a few steps, they reached a cluttered area where a household stored their miscellaneous items. Dai Li guessed its purpose simply because a back door stood right beside it.
The clutter was piled high and in disarray, a jumble of everything imaginable. There were worn-out flat bamboo baskets and a broken vat with a large hole punched through its bottom.
The vat was quite large, standing about half a meter tall, and to Dai Li's pleasant surprise, it was completely empty inside. Feeling a sudden tightening around her waist followed by a swift release, Dai Li found herself deposited inside the vat.
She tried crouching down and discovered that the space inside was just enough to fit an adult woman, as if it had been tailor-made for her.
"Mother, please bear with hiding in here for a while. I will come back for you later." Qin Yanzhou pulled out a piece of sackcloth from who knows where.
With a flick of his wrist, he tossed the sackcloth over the broken vat, covering it. Then, using the rim of the vat for support, he casually draped two pieces of firewood over the top.
After finishing all this, Qin Yanzhou dug out a mask, put it on, and swiftly walked toward the mouth of the alley. Just as he reached the entrance, he ran right into the pursuing guards.
The pursuer hurriedly skidded to a halt. Seeing him coming from this direction, the man concluded that the lady couldn't possibly have escaped down this path. "Mingdeng, the target has appeared. She just turned into this area."
Qin Yanzhou's voice was calm. "I came from this way and did not spot her."
The man did not doubt his words in the slightest; after all, the other's rank was much higher than his own. However, subconsciously, his gaze still drifted past Qin Yanzhou to look at the alley behind him.
It was empty behind him, save for some miscellaneous clutter piled up in the alley.
The houses of commoners were all very cramped, no bigger than the palm of a hand. Being poor, they naturally cherished their belongings, reluctant to throw this or that away. Over time, not only would their homes be filled to the brim, but some of the junk would also spill out and be piled up by their doors.
Many people were already accustomed to this sight.
Qin Yanzhou said, "She likely went that way. If we fail to catch her this time, she will definitely return to her hiding place from yesterday. Go and inform the Third Young Master, and tell him to guard the exits over there."
Three other men were following behind that person. After he went back to deliver the message, the other three charged toward the lower end of the Y-shaped alley.
Once this group left, Qin Yanzhou pondered for a moment before turning around and walking toward the other end of the alley. The other end was also a fork in the road, leading in more than one direction. He similarly turned back another group of pursuers there.
With him maneuvering back and forth, surprisingly, no one else walked down this stretch of the alley for quite a long time.
Hiding in the broken vat, Dai Li heard the footsteps pacing back and forth, and faintly caught the sound of voices.
Her heart pounded violently in her chest, thump, thump, thump. Her head grew hot and her blood raced. She felt as though she could hear the rushing of her own blood, yet her hands and feet were icy cold.
Mingdeng?
Those people called Zhouzhou Mingdeng. They seemed to be very familiar with him.
No, not just seemed, they were definitely very familiar. Zhouzhou was able to make the other party obey him without question, even turning away a whole wave of people with just a single sentence.
Dai Li recalled what her son had once told her: when he first arrived in this alternate world, he was saved by a wealthy family. Later, they encountered bandits and he was accidentally separated from them. He was then taken in by Fan Tianshi, which was how he became the adopted son of that man surnamed Fan.
In his sixth year at the Fan Manor, he reunited with the wealthy family that had initially saved him, and for the following year, he worked for them...
A truth gradually surfacing in her mind made Dai Li clench her jaw tightly.
The wealthy family her son had spoken of was the Green Lotus Cult.
During that great famine nine years ago, Zhouzhou had spent his time within the Green Lotus Cult. He had stayed with them for at least two years.
Two years, plus the entirety of last year, made three years in total. Was three years really enough time for Zhouzhou to climb to a position where he could casually command other cult members?
Especially considering that he was still young during those first two years, and by the final year, he was already Fan Tianshi's adopted son, spending most of his time at the Fan Manor.
Although she didn't want to admit it, at this moment, Dai Li could not help but suspect that her son had not told her the truth before.
She felt anxious and terrified, along with an unspeakable sense of unease.
It was pitch black before her eyes. The footsteps outside faded away, sounding as if everyone had left the area. Yet, Dai Li remained absolutely still. Keeping in mind her son's promise to return, she did not dare to get up on her own.
She didn't know how much time had passed, perhaps fifteen minutes, perhaps half an hour, when the sound of footsteps approached again.
Someone hurried past, and a few words drifted over:
"She's not here either. Could that person really have escaped?"
"Most likely. Besides, the curfew has already started; it's highly unlikely she's still wandering outside."
"Sigh, that's going to be troublesome. After today, she'll definitely lock herself indoors. Let's go, we'll take a quick look at the alley entrance over there..."
The voices faded into the distance.
Dai Li rejoiced that she hadn't gone out. Otherwise, if they had doubled back, she would have been caught red-handed.
Then came another agonizingly long wait, until Dai Li's taut nerves slowly began to relax, and she even started to feel drowsy leaning against the inside of the vat.
"Creaaak."
The sound of wooden door hinges turning was exceptionally clear in the dead of night. Dai Li jumped in fright. Before she could figure out where the noise came from, she heard people whispering.
"Those patrol guards seem to have all left."
"It's curfew, of course they have to withdraw. But things have been a bit unsettled lately. Huh, why is there an extra vat by the door? Old Li, when did you get this?"
"It wasn't me. I was out running my stall during the day, where would I find the time to pick things up and bring them back?"
"This vat is quite big, it's a good find! Hurry up and move it inside."
"You foolish woman, your eyes really are failing you. The bottom of this vat has several large holes broken through it, and the sides are cracked too. It can't hold water at all, what's so good about it? Someone probably just left it by our door temporarily. Let's take a closer look tomorrow, there's no rush. If the patrol guards come back and see us outside, we'll be in big trouble."
"Sigh, you're right. Let's go back inside first."
"Creaaak." The door closed.
Hiding inside the vat, Dai Li broke out in a cold sweat from the scare.
If that man and woman had actually tried to lift the vat, she would have been exposed in an instant.
After that little episode, Dai Li didn't dare to fall asleep again. It felt as if a long time had passed, yet also like only a brief moment, before she heard footsteps once more.
The approaching footsteps were very light, like a cat's. By the time Dai Li confirmed she wasn't hearing things, there was movement above her head.
The items casually pressing down on top were moved aside, the sackcloth was lifted, and scattered moonlight spilled into the vat.
"Mother..."
The young man, his face fraught with tension, helped Dai Li out.
Having sat with her knees bent for so long, Dai Li's legs had gone numb. But compared to her legs, there was a much more pressing issue right in front of them...
And that was where they were going to stay for the night.
With military guards patrolling the city outside and the heavy dew of the deep night, it was impossible to stay outdoors for the entire night.
Regarding a place to stay, Dai Li had an idea. "Zhouzhou, I booked a private room at the Shengyang Inn on West Street. I used a travel pass with an altered name to check in. The room is on the second floor, and the window facing the alley isn't closed tightly. It wouldn't be impossible to climb the wall and get back in tonight."
Qin Yanzhou was clearly stunned for a moment, then whispered, "I'm sorry, Mom."
It was all because of the Green Lotus Cult that his mother had to hide here and there.
"Why are you apologizing, silly child? You're not their leader. It's not like you can make them all listen to you, right? Don't take everything upon yourself," Dai Li sighed.
Qin Yanzhou said, "The cult once assigned me an old residence. There are only two servants looking after the house. You can rest there tonight."
Dai Li asked him, "Are those two guarding servants cult members?"
Qin Yanzhou nodded affirmatively, but then added, "Those two are the most fringe figures. I've interacted with them a few times; they obey my every word and have always stayed in Xiagu Commandery. They normally don't have contact with anyone else in the cult. I'll just tell them that you are also a follower of the cult and need to stay in seclusion due to a secret mission. They certainly won't be suspicious."
Dai Li understood.
This was infiltrating the inside disguised as a cult member—hiding in plain sight right under their noses.
This was a very good proposal. By then, even if they turned the world upside down and wracked their brains, they probably wouldn't imagine she was hiding right inside a Green Lotus Cult house.
There was just one thing...
"Your proposal is great, but it's too late right now. Going over at this hour would draw too much attention. After all, there are wanted posters all over the city. I'm worried they might get suspicious. It's better to go tomorrow," Dai Li said cautiously.
Better safe than sorry.
Her mother-son relationship with Zhouzhou seemed to be known only to the higher-ups in the Northern Territory. She had to keep this tightly under wraps, otherwise she and Zhouzhou would become each other's weaknesses.
Qin Yanzhou listened to Dai Li; whatever she said, went.
Dai Li followed her son away from East Street. Along the way, Qin Yanzhou scouted the path, accurately avoiding all the patrolling guards.
When they arrived at the back street of the inn, Qin Yanzhou said to Dai Li, "Mom, I'll go take a look first."
Dai Li nodded.
In the mere time it took her to nod, she saw the young man who was just standing on the ground leap up. With a raise of his hand, he grabbed onto a slight protrusion on the wall, then did a pull-up using only his arm strength. Pushing off the wall with his feet, his whole body shot up another stretch.
In the blink of an eye, her son, who had just been in front of her, was already up there, poking his head out the window to look at her.
Eyes wide open, Dai Li was speechless: "..."
Qin Yanzhou first went to bolt the door, then rummaged through the cabinet for a quilt. After that, he did something somewhat similar to what Dai Li had done before, tossing the quilt down. He didn't tie it directly to the bedpost, because if he did, it wouldn't be long enough.
Dai Li couldn't fly or leap over walls, nor could she do a pull-up, but she still managed to get upstairs in the end.
She went up sitting on a human-powered sling chair.
A tiny oil lamp was lit in the room. The light was very dim, and the surroundings were completely quiet. Dai Li didn't even dare to speak loudly. "Zhouzhou, do you still have to go back tonight? If you can avoid it, then don't go back."
The conditions of this inn were better than the previous one. There was a small couch inside, along with two quilts, perfectly fine for two people to sleep.
But Qin Yanzhou shook his head. "I have to make a trip back."
Dai Li felt disappointed but knew he probably had no choice. "Alright then, be careful. I won't go out all day tomorrow and will wait for your arrangements."
After bidding his mother goodnight, Qin Yanzhou vaulted out the window with a push of his hands.
Dai Li was startled by him and rushed to the window in a few steps. But when she looked down, the quiet alley, faintly illuminated by the moonlight, was completely empty. There was no sign of him at all.
"This child really is..."
*
The morning sun rose, and the eastern sky brightened.
The night before last, Dai Li had nightmares all night about being caught, so she hadn't slept well. Last night, although she unexpectedly reunited with her son and they made a rough plan, she still hadn't slept well.
Zhouzhou was a member of the Green Lotus Cult.
Religious organizations were not something you could just leave when you wanted to, especially since her son seemed to have worked his way up from the bottom.
Once reaching a certain level, one would inevitably come into contact with some secrets. If people could come and go as they pleased, the cult would definitely be in chaos. It was hard to say what methods they had to control their members.
Dai Li tossed and turned, and even when she finally fell asleep, she didn't sleep soundly. When she woke up the next day, she had rare dark circles under her eyes.
Not wanting to go downstairs for breakfast, Dai Li spent a few copper coins to have a young servant bring it up. After eating breakfast, Dai Li caught up on her sleep, waiting until around three in the afternoon before Qin Yanzhou finally arrived.
"Mom, come with me." The young man looked a bit anxious.
Dai Li only had one backpack for luggage. She grabbed it and went. "What's wrong? Are they searching this way?"
Qin Yanzhou said, "The hunt for the wanted female thief has swept across the entire Xiagu City, but there's been no movement among the commoner followers. Diting believes you are still hiding in an inn. Today, he ordered an expansion of the search scope. Any woman who used a travel pass with a surname sounding like 'He' to check into an inn must be strictly investigated. They are on their way here; we can't stay in this place."
Dai Li gasped.
It seemed the other party had thought of the possibility that she might have altered the name on her travel pass.
Slinging her small bag over one shoulder, Dai Li followed Qin Yanzhou out of the inn. Qin Yanzhou wore a black mask outside. Dai Li didn't walk side by side with him, but trailed a short distance behind, so as to be less conspicuous.
She walked casually down the main road. Along the way, they encountered a few squads of patrolling guards, but the guards were probably busy rushing to the inns, or perhaps they didn't expect her to be so brazen. In short, no one paid her any attention.
Leaving the main street and turning into an alley, the distance between Dai Li and Qin Yanzhou shortened a bit. The mother and son took several turns left and right until the young man in black finally stopped in front of a house.
Qin Yanzhou raised his hand and knocked on the door. Perhaps those inside had been informed beforehand, as the door opened as soon as he knocked.
The person who opened the door was an old man in his sixties, with grizzled hair and wearing linen clothes. Behind him stood a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy, whose appearance was somewhat similar to the old man's. They looked like grandfather and grandson.
"Greetings, Divine Envoy," the two said, both respectful and excited.
Qin Yanzhou's voice was cold. "This is another Divine Envoy of the cult. Serve her carefully, and do not neglect her."
The grandfather and grandson knelt and kowtowed, repeatedly promising to do so.
A trace of complexity flashed through Dai Li's eyes.
Qin Yanzhou seemed to have other matters to attend to. He didn't stay long. After bringing Dai Li here, he left in a hurry, leaving the mother and son with hardly any time to speak.
This old residence was a single-courtyard house shaped like the character 'Pin'. It didn't take up much space, but although the sparrow is small, it has all the vital organs—it had everything it needed.
Dai Li settled down here.
*
"Why hasn't she been found yet? Could she have grown wings and flown away?" Xie Yuanxiu was extremely frustrated.
The inns and residential houses in the city were all being searched. The former was spearheaded by the military patrols, undergoing a complete carpet search; as for the latter, the followers acted upon the news, conducting investigations in secret.
Yet, after such a long time had passed, they still hadn't found her.
No, it could not be said that they had not found her at all. She had shown her face; they had simply lost her trail.
A whole group of men mobilized together, yet they could not even catch a single woman.
Useless, they were all useless!
The messenger kept his head bowed, not daring to face the wrath of the future provincial governor.
Xie Yuanxiu paced back and forth across the main hall again. Seeing Diting still brewing tea, he could not help but say, "We have already searched the county's inns twice. The second time, as you suggested, we even checked for similar-sounding names, but we still found absolutely nothing. Your esteemed sister is missing, yet as her younger brother, you are not the least bit anxious."
Diting tapped his fingers lightly against the low table, feeling equally puzzled in his heart.
He had thought she would stay at an inn, but now they had come up empty-handed.
Could it be that she was not at an inn?
But if she was not at an inn, where could she be? At a critical juncture like this, with wanted posters plastered all over the city, who would dare take her in...
"Xiagu is not a small place. Perhaps there are other areas we have overlooked. Let us wait and see," Diting said.
His voice was calm and unhurried. Hearing this, Xie Yuanxiu's anger subsided slightly, thinking to himself that it made sense.
Let us wait and see; they were not short on time anyway.
Facing the warm sunlight, the burly soldiers deftly lowered the sails. The towering ships lost their wind power and slowed down. Several tower ships lined up in a single row, slowly pulling into the Xiagu ferry crossing.
The Xuanshui Ferry of Xiagu was never short of boats on any given day, but it was rare to see such uniformly built tower ships docking together. The fishermen and carriage drivers on the shore could not help but cast sidelong glances.
Bang, bang, bang—
Long wooden planks were thrown down from the ships, perfectly bridging the hulls and the shore. Under the stealthy gazes of the pedestrians at the crossing, a group of armor-clad brutes filed out from the ships with practiced ease.
Each of them was robust and heavily built, with blades hanging at their waists and eyes blazing like torches. They leaped from the ships to the shore without the slightest wobble, their stances incredibly steady. One look was enough to tell they were trained martial artists.
Qin Shaozong disembarked from the ship. The man looked up at the sky, his brown eyes narrowing slightly.
It was the beginning of the Shen hour. Entering the city and heading to the governor's manor in Xiagu at this time would be just right for dinner.
They could drink merrily and have a proper chat about the affairs of the city, both big and small.