Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 33 The Hall Master's Thousand Faces
Sun Youshan didn't investigate further; most of those who went to Tianying City were ghosts. Since it was all ghost talk, why bother listening to it?
He narrowed his eyes, tossed the meat pie in his hand, and threw it behind him.

Zhou Zhao then noticed that in the shadows behind him was an old man who was as thin as a monkey. The old man, like a wild dog that had smelled a bone, suddenly darted out and bit the meat pie in the blink of an eye before retreating back into the shadows.

To someone with poor eyesight, it would look like a giant tongue sticking out and rolling up the meat pie.

Zhou Zhao noticed that the skinny old man's ten fingernails were all half a finger long, extremely sharp, and gleaming with a cold metallic luster.

Seeing that Zhou Zhao's expression had changed, Sun Youshan's expression softened considerably. "Be alert, everyone. We'll head back to Tianying as soon as the rain stops."

The dilapidated temple fell silent.

Zhou Zhao didn't say anything more, and even her previous arrogant attitude seemed to have subsided a bit. She looked more like a normal young girl now.

Sun Youshan felt relieved and closed his eyes to pretend to sleep.

The rain didn't last long, only about half an hour, before it stopped.

The people from Tiandou Village left quickly, leaving only Zhou Zhao and Liu Huang in the dilapidated temple.

Zhou Zhao listened intently to the sounds, making sure there were no people hiding nearby. He could only vaguely hear the howls of wolves and roars of tigers in the nearby mountains and forests before he breathed a slight sigh of relief.

She reached out and flicked Liu Huang's bamboo hat, then took off the wet headband from her head.

"Ah Huang, you went out without permission. Do you know you'll get into trouble?"

Zhou Zhao spoke with a somewhat stern tone. Because she wanted to establish a foothold in Tianying City before the deadline of the Ghost Festival (July 15th of the lunar calendar), she had rushed here almost without stopping. Her original plan was to meet Zhao Yizhou upon entering Dai County, gather information about Tianying City, and make preparations before coming here.

Unexpectedly, shortly after arriving in the capital, he received a message from Zhang Ran via carrier pigeon, saying that Liu Huang had left the capital without permission and was probably heading straight for Tianying.

She immediately changed her plans and chased after them. Before she could even put on any disguise, she came face to face with Sun Youshan of Tiandou Village in Tianying City.

Liu Huang was different from him; he was a prince.

Being a coroner is already like being struck dead by lightning; if it happens again... His Majesty might just have to use his divine power to strike everyone dead.

Tianying City is extremely dangerous. How could she let Liu Huang, with his pure and innocent heart, take such a risk?

Liu Huang raised his head, his eyes sparkling. "Wherever you go, I will go. If those things could bring him back, I would rather be a corpse watcher from now on. He's gone, but I will be your brother."

“Now that Sun Youshan has already seen me, if I suddenly leave, how will you explain yourself when he sees you in the future?”

Zhou Zhao looked at Liu Huang, her eyes reddening, whether from gratitude or anger, it was hard to tell.

She snorted, reached out and gently stroked the two black and white hair ribbons, carefully tucking them into her bosom. Then she took out a piece of white linen and tied her hair up.

"Ah Huang has learned to use schemes. Although you and I are of decent martial arts skills, there are many experts in Tianying City, so we must not be careless."

Liu Huang was born with superhuman strength, but because he was different from ordinary people since childhood, he had never properly trained with masters, and his fighting relied entirely on the two-word formula of "fierce and ruthless".

As the saying goes, one can overcome ten techniques with one's own strength, relying solely on brute force without any method.

"Are your injuries any better? I have some excellent wound medicine here. You haven't stopped for a meal or an inn along the way, and you've been choosing to travel through deserted mountain areas. Just now you even wanted to take on ten men at once. If Li Shen knew this, he would scold you."

In the letter Zhang Ran sent her, he said that Liu Huang had angered the Emperor by acting as a coroner and examining corpses, and had been severely beaten. Before his wounds had even healed, he had already run away again.

Liu Huang gave a soft "Mmm": "I'm fine."

Seeing that he didn't seem to be lying, Zhou Zhao breathed a slight sigh of relief.

The two made do with a place to rest for the night in the dilapidated temple, and headed straight for Tianying City early the next morning.

Unlike the imagined mountain stronghold, Tianying City was indeed a city. As the sun rose, the gatekeeper opened the gate, yawning and cursing, while farmers carried their loads and lined up to enter the city one by one.

Tianying City has four gates: east, south, west, and north, each named after one of the four divine beasts.

Zhou Zhao and Liu Huang chose the Xuanwu Gate on the north side. As soon as they entered, an old woman dressed in plain clothes approached them and said, "Is this your first time in Tianying City? Do you need a place to stay? I'm not bragging, but you won't find a place in this city as cheap and safe as mine."

"You know about the twelve outer strongholds of Tianying City, right? Tianying Mountain is the inner city, and ordinary people like us can't go there, but the outer city below the mountain is protected by the twelve outer strongholds. The north gate is the territory of Xuanwu Hall."

“My son is a member of the Xuanwu Hall and the Tiandou Hall.”

The old woman was shrewd; she could tell from the two that Zhou Zhao was in charge, and without saying a word, she gave her a knowing look.

She was about to say a few more words when her expression changed. She suddenly lowered her head and backed away to the side of the road. Seeing that Zhou Zhao did not move, the old woman reached out and pulled her, saying in a low voice, "Little girl, don't look up. Come here quickly. The people from the Inner Seven Hall are here."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhao pulled Liu Huang and the old woman to the side of the road.

She looked up and saw a funeral procession moving from inside the city to outside. The procession was so large that it seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see.

Walking in front of the coffin, holding the memorial tablet, was a beautiful woman with bloodshot eyes from crying. Beside her, on either side, were two children. The older one was a girl, about eight or nine years old, and the younger one was only five or six years old, still walking with a slight limp.

Zhou Zhao looked closely and saw that the memorial tablet read "Chen Qifu, Master of Yaoguang Hall".

Chen Qifu?
Wasn't Chen Qifu kidnapped from Chang'an by Zhu Li and sent back to Tianying City?
Is Chen Qifu dead?
So, could Zhu Li or Qianmian be in the funeral procession?
Zhou Zhao thought for a moment, then raised his head slightly and looked behind the coffin.

Behind the dark coffin, a jet-black horse rode, and a young man sat on it.

He was very tall and dressed in white. He did not wear a sword at his waist, but instead had a jade flute tucked into it.

His upper face was covered by a mask engraved with unidentified patterns. As if sensing something was amiss, he looked in Zhou Zhao's direction.

Zhou Zhao suddenly lowered her head, her fingertips trembling slightly.

Chen Qifu's subordinate, a masked man, was easily recognizable. According to Zhang Ran's description, this man was most likely Qianmian.

So, is Qianmian the Su Changying she's looking for?
She had expected to meet Qianmian soon, but she didn't expect it to be so soon. She had only just entered Tianying City when she met him.

Zhou Zhao felt a sudden silence fall over her; she could barely hear her own heartbeat.

"Young lady, little girl! Are you frightened? That's the new head of Yaoguang Hall. Just the other day, he massacred Yaoguang and defeated a group of elders... He's someone we can't afford to offend."

"Well, Grandma's house is in that alley. Come with me!"