The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 406 Breaking into an Empty Door

The old Taoist priest glanced at it only once and then said nothing more.

He only needed to act as a bodyguard and enforcer; An Ziyang would take care of everything else.

An Ziyang didn't say much. He led the old Taoist priest around the square, pointed out a few important places, and then took the old Taoist priest to a tent to rest. He then returned to the square and continued to work busily.

Before they knew it, the sun was setting.

Wanggongchang was a place where fire was forbidden, and no lights could be lit at night; work had to stop at sunset. The Embroidered Uniform Guards, Xiaoling Guards, and Tang Clan disciples left one by one through the secret passage, leaving only An Ziyang and Mei Qinghe behind.

The two had been here for a few days since Li Miao arranged for them to come. Although they didn't have much contact on weekdays because of Mei Qinghe's personality, they had developed some tacit understanding.

Mei Qinghe sat cross-legged in the center of the square, oblivious to his surroundings.

An Ziyang then followed the secret passage back to the yamen where he had previously fought the old Taoist priest.

The yamen (government office) was some distance from Wanggongchang (a secret police station), and An Ziyang deliberately left Jinyiwei (Imperial Guards) guards at the entrance as bait. If the Eastern Depot came to investigate and caused a commotion here, Mei Qinghe, who was at Wanggongchang, would hear about it and be prepared.

After An Ziyang returned, he first ordered his subordinates to restore all the traps used during the day. Then he ate some food, rested for a while, and then it was late at night.

When the moonlight shone through the cracks in the window onto An Ziyang's face, he slowly opened his eyes, got out of bed, dressed, and pulled out a large box from under the bed.

An Ziyang opened the box.

As soon as the box was opened, a strange fragrance suddenly rose from it. Moonlight shone through, illuminating countless strangely shaped, gleaming hidden weapons. There were also several jars from which rustling sounds emanated.

He took out seven or eight items from the box, patted them on his body and they disappeared. Then he carried the box out of the room and sat down at the stone table in the center of the courtyard.

A member of the Imperial Guards brought wine and placed it on the table before bowing and leaving.

The yard became quiet.

Only An Ziyang remained, leaning against the box and sipping his drink.

Half an hour passed in this manner.

A mournful wail suddenly rang out from the rooftop on one side.

"Ah! Despicable!"

puff.

A figure dressed in black tumbled off the roof and landed on the ground, reaching out to remove the caltrops embedded in his foot. The moment he did, his face turned a bluish-purple.

His head lolled to the side, and he fell silent.

An Ziyang glanced at him and took a sip of wine.

"Junior brother!"

Another man in black shouted at the corpse from the rooftop, then turned to look at An Ziyang and cursed angrily.

"An Ziyang, you lackey!"

"Give me back my brother's life!"

Before he finished speaking, the man suddenly leaped from the rooftop, soaring through the air like a bird, covering several feet in mid-air. His short sword thrust straight at An Ziyang, instantly closing the distance to just a few feet!

But then a "poof" sound was heard in mid-air.

The man froze, and before he could react, his arm fell off his body, and the short sword clattered to the ground.

"What kind of trick is that! He clearly didn't even make a move!"

He was horrified. Without further hesitation, he somersaulted in mid-air, turned around, and rushed towards the door after landing, still muttering a few more words.

"Our green mountains and clear waters will never change—"

puff.

First, I felt a sharp pain in my neck, and then my vision went backward.

His head fell to the ground, his lips moved a few times, and in the last moment before his vision went dark, he saw a few drops of blood in mid-air, slowly flowing along an extremely thin, transparent thread, before falling onto his headless cavity.

"I see……"

The head on the ground closed its eyes.

An Ziyang placed the wine glass on the table, stood up, and looked around.

"Now that blood has been drawn, stop hiding." "Don't you know I, An Ziyang, am the direct descendant of the Divine Thief Sect? Aren't you ashamed to hide in front of me?"

He spoke with absolute certainty, as if he was convinced that someone would break into the house tonight.

The old Taoist priest was, after all, a cultivator, and acted straightforwardly. Who knew how much trouble his impulsive probing during the day would bring? Hundreds of kilograms of lime powder, and the latrine that had exploded open, had already attracted countless eyes.

Sure enough, before An Ziyang could finish speaking, a sneer came from the rooftop.

"Indeed impressive, worthy of being a capable assistant in the 'Four Seasons Pacification'."

Whoosh whoosh—

With a rustling sound of clothes, more than a dozen people jumped down from the roof and landed in the courtyard. They were all dressed in black, their faces covered from head to toe, revealing no trace of their identities.

One of them casually cupped his hands in a gesture of respect towards An Ziyang.

"I have met Commander An."

An Ziyang glanced at him sideways and said.

"I won't ask about your identity or lineage, I'm sure you wouldn't dare admit it anyway. If I recognize you, you'll probably have to commit suicide to escape punishment."

The man said with a smile.

"Thank you for your understanding, Commander An."

"We certainly dare not offend Lord Li's might. We still vividly remember the grand occasion of the Mid-Autumn Festival moon-viewing banquet."

An Ziyang sneered.

"You know fear, yet you still dare to trespass on the gates of my Imperial Guard?"

The man spread his hands.

"People die for wealth, birds die for food. Commander An is extremely wealthy and has also latched onto Lord Li, a powerful figure. Naturally, he cannot understand us poor souls."

"However, on the other hand, if we're willing to risk our lives here for such petty gains, surely Commander An wouldn't want to trade lives with us poor souls?"

An Ziyang showed no respect for them whatsoever. He picked at his ear, flicked his nails, and then squinted and chuckled.

"I really can't understand the thinking of you poor bastards."

"Anyway, your lives aren't worth much, so you don't need to think too much about what you do. If you die, you die. That's probably why you fools live such an easy life."

"Tell me, what do you want by barging into our Jinyiwei's gate? If it's something worthless, I, the commander, will give it to you as alms to beggars."

The man blushed and nearly lost his composure.

He took a deep breath to suppress his anger, but his tone was no longer as polite as before.

"Hand over the Xuanlan cultivation technique, and we will leave on our own."

An Ziyang frowned.

"What technique?"

The man chuckled.

"Commander An, stop pretending to be confused."

"It's already widely known in the martial arts world that Lord Li's extraordinary martial arts skills are based on this long-lost cultivation method of sexual energy! Moreover, this method is hidden within the capital city, among the Embroidered Uniform Guard!"

"At a time like this, Commander An, what are you doing hiding here, Lord Li's trusted lieutenant? What is it that's worth you personally guarding?"

"That old Taoist priest who barged in during the day, he must have come for the Xuanlan martial arts technique! But he just happened to be the one who paved the way for us!"

He laughed triumphantly.

"Well, Commander An, was my guess right?"

"Hand over the Xuanlan martial arts technique!"

An Ziyang looked at him and clicked his tongue.

"Seriously... there's so much fun in being brainless."

(End of this chapter)