Infinite Puzzle City

Chapter 700 Drunkard
The heat wave, carrying the salty smell, hit his face. Twelve-year-old Li Tong clung tightly to the last bag of salt.

The salt grains scattered on the blue brick floor of the county government office looked like broken stars; they were spilled from the cracks in the burlap sack when my father kowtowed.

"Your Honor is wise!" Li's father pressed his forehead against his official boots, the sunburnt skin on the back of his neck peeling like withered leaves. "These thirty loads are all government-owned salt, taxed according to the permits!"

The salt commissioner in green robes crushed a grain of salt with his foot, his cold laugh like a rusty knife scraping bone: "That's what all salt smugglers say." Suddenly, he waved his hand, and the constables pounced on the salt cart like hungry wolves.

Xiao Litong saw the four gilded characters "Special Inspector of Salt and Iron" on their waist tags, which gleamed like blood under the scorching sun.

"Stop!" He rushed toward the sack of salt that was being dragged away, his childish voice cracking, "Every grain of salt has been weighed by the authorities!" Just as his fingers touched the sack, a sharp pain suddenly shot through the back of his head.

With a sharp whistling sound as the leather whip tore through the air, Li Tong crashed heavily into the salt pile. The salty, fishy smell immediately seeped into the wound at the corner of his eye, and the last thing he saw in his blurred vision was the wooden hairpin that had been thrown from his father's hair as he was pinned to the ground, like a broken arrow embedded in the yellow earth.

The remaining barbs from the whip were still hooked on his collarbone. The bailiff's voice fell from a great height: "Little salt carrier, remember, innocence is paramount." The sole of his boot crushed salt grains between his fingers. "It's the men who decide."

Blood and salt mixed into a pale red sand, crunching and rattling between his clenched teeth...

The memories blurred, and Xiao Ran opened his eyes: "Li Tong..." he murmured the name...

I recognized this person's name at the salt shop; he was Li Xiao's grandfather.

The memories Li Xiao saw in her first memory imprint were of her grandfather and great-grandfather.

"These are still the memories of Li's father's generation, but what exactly are these memories trying to tell me?"

Xiao Ran looked at the mark on her hand, her face full of confusion.

Since she couldn't figure it out, Xiao Ran simply stopped thinking about it and decided to take it one step at a time. Since this mission had appeared, it must have some significance.

Having figured this out, Xiao Ran turned and disappeared into the darkness...

In the blink of an eye, almost a month has passed since the fire at the salt shop.

Although almost a month has passed, people can still be heard mentioning the Li family from time to time on the street.

"Alas, what a pity. It's a salt shop with a history of over 100 years. It will probably be difficult to find salt that is over 80 years old in the future."

In the teahouse, a few people sat together, and someone brought it up again, bringing up the matter once more.

“The fire was huge that night. I was outside at the time and saw the Zhao family rush into the fire several times, trying to carry the salt vats out, but they disappeared as soon as they went in. They couldn’t even find their bones afterwards.”

The Zhao family were salt merchants in the west of the city, but they started too late, with small capital and meager profits, mainly because they didn't have an old salt depot to manage the business.

Hearing that the Li family's shop was on fire that night, he rushed over with his men, not out of kindness, but to take advantage of the situation.

Unfortunately, the fire was too big; even those who rushed in, wrapped in three layers of waterlogged blankets, couldn't hold on.

They could only watch helplessly as the fire reduced the Li family's century-old shop to ashes.

"Hehe, you weren't there at the time. Old Zhao's son was sitting on the ground crying loudly. If you didn't know, you would have thought their salt shop had been burned down."

"Ha ha ha ha……"

Everyone burst into laughter, but after the laughter subsided, they all shook their heads in regret, for the century-old salt shop still held a significant place in the hearts of the people.

"It's not just the salt shop; Li Xiao is a ruthless person too."

"Yes, who would have thought that kid, who spends his days lying on women's bellies, would be able to pull off such a big crime? There are wanted posters for Li Xiao everywhere in the area now. The government has announced that if anyone finds Li Xiao, whether he lives or dies, they will be rewarded with ten taels of silver."

Since the fire that night, bad news has been coming one after another.

Li Xiao's aunt was found dead in her home, her head missing. People rushed to the yamen to report the case. When the constable heard that it was a case of life and death, he did not dare to be careless and immediately went to inform the magistrate.

After calling out several times without getting a response, they had no choice but to carefully push open the door. However, what they saw inside terrified the constable so much that he wet himself in fear.

The master was kneeling on the ground, looking like a rotting monster, limp in the filth. His official robes were tattered and his body reeked of a nauseating stench. His skin was withered and gray, and his eyes were about to pop out of their sockets. His death was so gruesome that even the veteran constable who had been in charge of criminal cases for more than ten years was so frightened that he couldn't sleep for days and nights.

This completely changed the nature of the case.

People from above were sent to investigate. Based on the testimony of the officers who knew the details, the sequence of events was roughly pieced together. They also learned that Li Xiaolai had collected his wife's body that day, and then these events occurred.

So now Li Xiao's portrait is pasted up everywhere in the city.

However, since that night, no one has seen Li Xiao again.

Some say that after Li Xiao did these things, he knew he couldn't escape the law, so he burned himself to death that same day.

Some say that Li Xiao has already left Chang'an.

There were all sorts of opinions, but no one mocked Li Xiao. The government officials were furious with him, but the common people secretly applauded when they heard about it.

Even the storytellers in the outhouses turned Li Xiao's story into a novel called "Li Xiao's Tale of the Sword," which reportedly became a huge success, with every performance a hit.

So much so that now, storytellers everywhere in teahouses and taverns are telling stories about Li Xiao, and the government's attempts to ban them have been repeatedly unsuccessful.

At worst, they can just change their name or change their appearance. How can we possibly control such veiled attacks?

The group was chatting happily, completely unaware that a man sitting in the corner of the inn was drinking tea and listening to their conversation.

When he heard everyone praising Li Xiao's actions, a smile involuntarily appeared on the man's lips. "Smiling so happily, you seem quite proud of this."

The man looked up and saw Gu Xintang walk over and sit down in front of him. Gu Xintang picked up the tea on the table, took a sip, and complained in a resentful tone, "My father found out about what happened to you and gave me a good scolding."

"Haha. Sorry."

Xiao Ran chuckled and apologized to Gu Xintang.

"No need, I can understand this kind of thing, in fact... if it were me, I would probably be even crazier."

Gu Xintang lowered his voice, and although his words seemed casual, Xiao Ran could feel the chilling murderous intent in them.

This is clearly not a joke.

The two exchanged glances and tacitly ended the conversation. Gu Xintang then changed the subject: "The special examination is coming up soon, and it seems you haven't found your partner yet?"

Mentioning this matter, Xiao Ran also felt a headache coming on. After the Li family's matter was resolved, she could no longer continue to practice her hair-pinching skills.

After changing his appearance, he began to wander around Chang'an.

During this period, he visited many places in the streets and alleys of Chang'an, including the shady black market, underground casinos, underground brothels, and so on.

They couldn't find any trace of Jin Chanzi and Dai Long. If Wu Man was the last one to enter, then Jin Chanzi and Dai Long should have arrived by now.

But they hadn't received a single word from them.

On the contrary, Gu Xintang has been enjoying a peaceful and healthy life at home during this time, and people have been coming to his door one after another.

Among them were subordinates of Prince Jin, Prince Chu, and Prince Qi, all of whom hoped to discuss the matter of the special imperial examination with Gu Xintang.

Gu Xintang has refused many times.

They are even extremely annoyed by it.

"If you want to participate in the special imperial examination, be careful of Prince Qi's people. These people have somehow gotten lucky and ended up in official families. Some of them have even entered the court as officials and may even directly interfere in this special imperial examination."

"Directly become officials??" Xiao Ran was somewhat surprised. "Then they can skip the special imperial examination and directly enter the palace to find the Imperial Seal of the State?"

"It won't work. According to them, the palace is empty and there's nothing there. These officials' daily tasks are all relayed through eunuchs. There are some who are not afraid of death who want to sneak into the palace, but once they get in, they disappear without a trace."

Gu Xintang patiently explained the information he knew to Xiao Ran.

"So, the only way to enter the palace is through the imperial examination?"

"More or less, but I don't know the specifics and I don't want to ask. This is your business. I've told you everything I can. You'll have to figure out the rest yourself."

Gu Xintang timed it carefully; it was about time for him to go back. Otherwise, if his father found out that he had run away, he would probably scold him again.

"For you!"

Xiao Ran took out a bag of ghost money from her spatial storage and handed it to Gu Xintang.

This was the reward he paid Gu Xintang for asking him to gather information.

It's ridiculous, really. This money was the money Gu Xintang gave me when he invited me to his funeral, and now Gu Xintang wants to earn it back in this way.

In fact, as long as Gu Xintang asked, Xiao Ran could simply return the money he had given them before.

But Gu Xintang did not do that. On the one hand, he couldn't bring himself to do it, and on the other hand, he liked the life of earning money through his own efforts. Only when he spent such money would he feel at ease.

"This guy..." Xiao Ran pursed her lips, but didn't say anything.

After Gu Xintang left, Xiao Ran frowned and mentally reviewed what Gu Xintang had just said.

Just as Xiao Ran was pondering the clues in Gu Xintang's words, a series of curses came from afar.

Several tavern staff rushed out and pinned a middle-aged man to the ground, beating him mercilessly.

He yelled and punched, "You dare to come here and try to dine and dash? You're asking for death!"

The middle-aged man lay on the ground, groaning as he was beaten, but he didn't beg for mercy. Instead, he clung tightly to the bottle of wine in his arms.

"what!!"

Xiao Ran scanned the area with her spiritual power and was immediately struck by a realization: "Is it that drunkard?"

This person was the drunkard who had been in the caravan before but was kicked out by Gu Xintang and the others. He was also there when the Ghost Capital opened. I never expected to run into him here.

The reason she recognized the other person at a glance was that Xiao Ran felt that this person was extraordinary, so she used her mental power to firmly remember the person's aura.

Seeing the other person being beaten on the ground, Xiao Ran finally stood up and walked over. He casually took out some ghost money and handed it to the guy who was beating him. Then he squatted down next to the drunkard and watched him clutching the wine bottle tightly in his arms. Xiao Ran thought for a moment, took out a bottle of good wine from his space, and opened the cork.

A strong aroma of alcohol wafted over, instantly brightening the drunkard's dazed eyes. He looked up and saw Xiao Ran squatting in front of him.

Xiao Ran shook the bottle in her hand, creating a dense spray of wine foam: "Want to drink? Come with me!"

(End of this chapter)