Author's Preface
A faint smile tugged at Sienna's lips. "Just in time."
The talisman slowed to a halt before her, suspended at eye level. At first, a familiar voice echoed softly through the alley. "It's as you suspected. They are indeed from Sunfall City."
Sienna brushed two fingers across the talisman's glowing surface. Her Qi penetrates into it, shifting subtle parts. Runes shifted; the light changed. From that moment onward, the voice no longer sounded through the air, but directly within her mind.
"Their names are Li Wenhao and Xu Jian. Both worked as security guards for the Golden Loom Textile House. Judging by their records, they lived rather comfortably. They requested leave from work to travel together and were expected back several days ago."
A brief pause followed before the voice continued, now carrying a trace of weary amusement. "Though if you're asking me to investigate them, I suppose they won't be returning at all."
Another sigh. "You truly haven't changed, Captain. Even from thousands of miles away, you still manage to find ways to give me more work."
The talisman's glow gradually faded.
Sienna remained silent for several moments, turning the information over in her mind.
"So they were merely scapegoats..." Her brows slowly drew together. "Just as I suspected."
She looked toward the distant river cutting through the city. "But why? It was staged; even a blind man could tell that. Why? Just mocking us?"
Her fingers absently tapped against her folded arm. "If they wanted these two dead, why make them so easy to identify? What are they trying to achieve?"
The answer refused to come. With a quiet sigh, Sienna reached into her storage ring and withdrew a polished jade disk no larger than her palm.
The Resonance Disk. A thread of Qi flowed into it. After searching for a while, she found the right signature.
"Bennie." The shimmering surface rippled. "What's taking you so long? I should have received word by now."
The Captain's weary voice echoed through her mind. "It's... I honestly don't know. They keep delaying us."
Sienna's expression hardened. "You're still at the Western Station?"
"Yeah. Just as we were preparing to leave, Wu Zhen said there was a problem with the spirit beasts."
A pause.
"Then it became an issue with the equipment." His voice dropped to a whisper. "Inspector....It feels deliberate."
"Tsk." Sienna clicked her tongue. "Again?!" She closed her eyes for a brief moment before replying.
"Stand up and push for it yourself. If there isn't an actual problem, making enough noise will force them to either justify the delay or let you leave."
"I understand."
Without another word, she ended the connection.
The thorn-vines emerged once more, sinking effortlessly into the brickwork before lifting her from rooftop to rooftop as though gravity had ceased to exist. Moments later, she stood atop one of the taller buildings overlooking Rivergate.
The city stretched endlessly beneath the night sky.
Lanterns illuminated the broad avenues, their warm glow tracing rivers of light through the darkness while distant rooftops faded into the horizon. Somewhere beyond them lay the river, the docks, the Guards' Office, the crime scene...
Every lead she had pursued seemed to end in another wall.
Nothing connected. Nothing made sense.
A faint ripple spread across her Resonance Disk resting at her storage ring. Sensing the change in the separate dimension, she brought it out. Even before touching it, she recognized the familiar Qi woven into the call.
She sighed before she replied flatly. "What?"
"Always the very picture of courtesy, Sienna." The man's amused voice carried enough self-satisfaction to make her mildly regret answering.
"And here I thought I was bringing you good news." He continued in mock sadness. "My mood has taken a terrible turn. I can't even remember why I contacted you anymore."
Despite herself, Sienna's tone softened. She needed a breakthrough. "What is it?"
"I'm only teasing." A quiet chuckle followed.
"I believe you've just taken over the massacre of the patrol team near Riverglass Bend."
Her attention sharpened immediately. "Yes." She swiftly inquired. "What about it?"
"The fleeing captain crossed paths with another one-star patrol team a short while ago."
Her heartbeat skipped. "Where?"
"Flowing Gold District. Seventh Street. I happened to be nearby when the report came in."
A brief pause.
"I could leave it to you instead. What do you say?"
Sienna already knew the catch. "What do you want?"
"You don't have to sound so suspicious. You're wounding my heart."
She rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Out with it, Lei."
"I merely want you to have dinner with me sometime."
Silence.
"...Goodbye."
"Wait, wait!" His laugh turned helpless. "Just take the case. Heavens, I never realized I was quite this detestable."
Sienna closed the Resonance Disk before he could continue.
A heartbeat later, the thorn-vines carried her from the rooftop, disappearing into the lantern-lit streets below as she headed for Flowing Gold District.
He Yu's mood wasn't the best as he climbed the stairs. The last exchange with Wang Jie in the teahouse was still vivid in his mind, gnawing at him. One of his subordinates trudged slowly ahead of him on the narrow spiral staircase.
"Move aside." He shoved the man out of the way and continued upward, his face dark with fury.
Beneath that anger, however, was fear. He knew exactly how merciless the boss could be. If this mission failed...
The building's interior wrapped around a central shaft, each floor branching into hallways on either side. They stopped on the second floor and moved toward an apartment at the far end. The rest of the team flattened themselves against the walls, careful to remain out of sight.
He Yu grasped the handle of the third apartment. Qi seeped from his fingers, silently corroding the steel lock until it gave way.
"I hope this works," he muttered.
A small snake slithered across his shoulders, ash-gray and no thicker than a finger. Its strange eyes swirled like shifting quicksand as they remained fixed ahead without blinking. The creature slid down his arm. "Ugly, expensive, and even harder to get." He Yu commented after entering the apartment.
One of his closest subordinates entered behind him. "Are you sure this will work, Captain?"
"Of course not," He Yu snapped. "But I can't ask anything else from the boss. He might kill me on the spot if I do. So we improvise."
The snake suddenly rose like a cobra. Its eyes widened, and its tongue flickered in and out with frantic speed.
"Go look around," He Yu ordered. "See if there's anything useful. Any information."
He started toward the open kitchen on the right, but the snake's head remained stubbornly turned left. After a moment, he changed direction and followed its gaze through the bedroom and into the adjoining bathroom.
The room was simple. A mirror hung above a stone basin. A shower occupied one corner, while a small spirit-heater sat against the wall. Beside it stood a trash bin.
The snake stared directly at it.
He Yu opened the bin and sifted through the contents. Banana peels. Pistachio shells. Other discarded rubbish.
Then, at the very bottom, he found it.
A small piece of a feminine pad stained with dried blood.
"I can't believe it..." Maniacal laughter burst from him, echoing through the bathroom. "Who knew laziness would be the thing to end you?"
The snake approached the blood-stained cloth. It closed its eyes briefly, then opened them again. A faint red haze lingered around its pupils. Moments later, it swayed groggily and curled into itself as though exhausted.
He Yu carefully picked it up and slipped it into his pocket. "You're weird, but you did a good job. Rest well now, little buddy."
"Did it work, Captain?"
"Hehe... yes, it did."
"What should we do now?"
"This little guy has a detection range of around four miles. The moment Yu Ji enters that range, it'll lock onto her. So we'll walk through the places she's most likely to be. The city is locked down, and the docks have even stronger security. That leaves the rest of Rivergate."
His Resonance Disk suddenly stirred inside his storage ring. He pulled it out and sent a thread of Qi into it. The moment he sensed who was calling, the corners of his mouth stretched upward.
"He Yu, how are things?" a voice echoed from the other side.
"Very good. I've found a clue. A very good one."
"Oh? What is it?"
"I managed to get a Sand-Blood Snake from one of those people we worked with during the last job."
Before he could continue, laughter exploded through the disk. "Haha, you stupid runt. Her Threefold Imprint Crystal has already been taken by the Office after an Inspector requested it. You can't use it. How could you make such a stupid mistake? It was obvious that it was going to happen. Hahaha..."
"You stupid dwarf, shut up!"
"Haha, now that we're miles apart, your guts have doubled in size. I see."
"Of course, I knew about the Imprint Crystal." He Yu rolled his eyes. "Before coming into her house, I thought there was a small chance she'd left behind some monthly blood she hadn't thrown away."
The person on the other end stilled into silence.
Then:
"That's the clue? It worked?" The shock in Wang Jie's voice was unmistakable.
"Hahaha, of course it did. I bet you wouldn't have thought of that in a million years."
"No, I definitely wouldn't have thought of that in TWO million. Heavens... that is so twisted."
"You're just jealous because you haven't found anything."
Wang Jie snorted. "We'll see. Tell me if you find anything else."
The Resonance Disk dropped back into Wang Jie's pocket as he stood before a floor-to-ceiling window.
Behind him came the sounds of screaming.
Outside, the neighborhood was noticeably wealthier. Trees lined the streets. The houses were large and well-maintained. At this hour, hardly a soul could be seen outside.
Wang Jie raised a hand, and the screams diminished into groans and desperate pleas.
Behind him sat two middle-aged people tied to chairs. The man's eyes were swollen and purple. The woman's face was red with handprints. Parts of her hair had been crudely cut away, while other sections bore signs of burns.
"We really don't know anything," she cried.
The captain slowly descended a small three-step flight of stairs from the window into the main living room.
"Maybe you're right. But you see, my situation isn't so different from yours." He stopped halfway down and smiled faintly. "You may be bloodied. I may not be..." He paused. "For now." A short laugh escaped him. "But both of us will die if we don't do as we're told. This is what I'm being told."
"If you're in that much trouble as you claim, then you're just wasting time here," the father said flatly.
Wang Jie looked at him with the faintest hint of admiration, noting his calm. "That may be true. Yet I can't go elsewhere."
He crouched beside the woman. "So, do you have anything for me? This isn't helping anyone. Your daughter has evidence against us. If she uses it, some of us will be implicated, but the rest will kill her. If you tell me where I can find her, I'll simply take the evidence and leave her be. Killing her would only make things more difficult for us."
The father looked away with cold indifference.
The mother continued sobbing quietly. "We really don't know."
"Hmph." Wang Jie rose and returned to the window, clasping his hands behind his back. "Focus on the wife. Leave the other one."
"You son of a bitch!" the father roared.
In the reflection of the glass, Wang Jie smiled innocently.
As the screams resumed, the father's voice gradually changed. Anger became fury. Fury became desperation. Desperation became helplessness.
Then something caught Wang Jie's attention.
Still standing by the window, he spotted a man approaching the house. His gait was uneven, possibly inebriated. A long key dangled from one hand as he staggered toward the front door beneath the shadow of a large tree.
The key slid into the lock.
"The sign of a good party is that guests keep arriving even when it's almost over," Wang Jie whispered with a small chuckle.
The door opened, and the father's face fell.