The next morning,
The moon was about to set, and the sun had yet to rise.
The sky was faintly brightening, but the main gate of the Shangguan Residence remained closed, while the side gate had already been opened early.
Almost all the servants preparing to go out had changed their clothes as if to assume new identities, some walking out in small groups, others alone, but not a single one was without a smile on their face.
Among them, there was no sign of Yun Mu.
“Strange, where is that wild kid?”
Leaning against the doorframe some distance from the side gate, Shangguan Ce frowned as he dealt with the servants’ greetings and scanned the crowd coming and going, growing increasingly irritated.
“Hey, you!”
He casually beckoned with a finger toward a somewhat familiar coachman.
The coachman, who had just stepped out the door, immediately put on a broad smile and hurried over upon hearing the call.
“Young Master, what are your orders?”
Shangguan Ce narrowed his eyes, sizing him up.
The eagerness in the man’s gaze was unmistakable.
“Don’t rush. I just want to ask you a few simple questions. Answer me satisfactorily, and I might reward you with a few Ancient Coins.”
At those words, a few yellowish-brown coins clattered onto the ground.
The coachman’s eyes lit up as he quickly knelt down and scooped them into his bosom, then stood and bowed with a flattering smile.
“Young Master, you may ask. Whether it’s the stables, maids, or the steward’s private matters, I know the ins and outs of everything!”
“Oh?”
Shangguan Ce raised an eyebrow with a faint smile.
“My question isn’t difficult. I just want to know if that Yun Mu who sleeps in the stables has gone out today. Or… if there’s anything unusual about him.”
“Yun Mu?”
The coachman frowned in thought and asked tentatively,
“You mean that patchwork-wearing little brat?”
“Yeah.”
“If you hadn’t said it, I wouldn’t have known either, but now that you mention it, he did get up early this morning before dawn…”
The coachman glanced cautiously at the Young Master’s expression, and seeing no objection, he continued with relief.
“Usually, that kid is either dead asleep in the stables or sitting cross-legged meditating. Sometimes he mutters weird words, looks downright strange. But strangely, today he actually volunteered to clean the stables for me…”
“So, you just took the chance to dump your dirty work on him and slink off?”
Shangguan Ce’s tone abruptly turned cold.
The sudden pressure made the coachman’s legs go weak.
He collapsed to his knees with a trembling voice:
“Have mercy, Young Master! I… I just saw him lazing around in the stables, living too comfortably, so I thought… thought I’d have him do some work to toughen him up…”
Before he could finish speaking, several crisp sounds rang out as a few coins rolled precisely to his feet.
The coachman stared wide-eyed at the spinning coins.
When he looked up again, Shangguan Ce was already nowhere to be seen.
“Th-thank you for the reward, Young Master! Thank you for your generosity!”
He kowtowed repeatedly.
“All the last basket of grass loaded? I want to see what this kid’s really up to.”
Shangguan Ce quietly crouched in the shadow of the stable’s side room roof, looking down below.
An Ancient Coin spun endlessly between his fingers.
“Hm? What’s he doing now…?”
Yun Mu finished tidying up and hurried to the corner where he slept, cautiously glancing left and right before suddenly looking up at the eaves above.
“Tsk…”
Shangguan Ce’s heart tightened, cursing inwardly.
Like a cat, he swiftly flipped over to the other side of the rooftop, sinking into a deep recess, holding his breath to conceal himself.
Below, Yun Mu stared for a moment and, seeing nothing unusual, relaxed his movements.
He quickly lifted his tattered patched coarse cloth outer garment, loosened his worn belt, then shoved several damp and yellowed scrolls forcefully into his waistband, hiding them close to his body.
“…Books?”
From the shadow, Shangguan Xunyi peeked out with half his head visible, a cold smirk playing on his lips.
“So he’s afraid his contraband will be discovered… Hmph, what a false alarm. I thought that wretch actually found something.”
Watching Yun Mu tuck away the books and adjust his clothes, then hurriedly head toward the side gate, Shangguan Ce’s gaze turned sharply cold.
He silently slipped down from the eaves, like a shadow clinging to the ground, silently following.
“Name.”
“Yun Mu.”
“Where are you going?”
“West side of the city.”
“Hmm… that old spot, remember to be back before sunset.”
“Yes, thank you, Steward.”
After registering, Yun Mu lowered his figure and melted into the faintly lit streets, quickening his pace toward the west side of the city.
***
Though the capital was already a bustling place, it was still divided into four main regions: East, South, West, and North, with a central area as well.
Among these, the Shangguan Residence was located in the northern-central part, the most prosperous district where many cultivation families’ mansions were found, encircling the Royal City and coexisting closely with the royal family of the ancient Xungu Kingdom.
The other districts’ wealth gradually decreased according to the direction: East, South, then West.
Therefore, those heading west were generally ordinary commoners living in the capital.
Though their families were still more respectable compared to other cities or suburbs, they were nonetheless civilians.
“Oh, isn’t this little Yun? Going to the west side to read again today?”
“Yeah, when will you come back to help out at our teahouse? It’s been a year since you last came—we even saved some steamed buns for you!”
“Li Uncle, Li Auntie, thank you. If there’s a chance later, I’ll come by. Today, though, I’ll pass.”
“Hey! You promised!”
“Yeah!”
Yun Mu walked along the Old Stone Alley in the west, recognized by vendors, shopkeepers, and even the old dog basking in the sun at the corner.
Greetings rose one after another, and he responded with nods.
His steps were light and quick, a long-lost smile on his lips.
The usually vacant eyes beneath his tousled hair were notably brighter at this moment.
From over twenty meters away, Shangguan Ce blended into the crowd, his cold gaze fixed tightly on the thin figure ahead.
This worldly-savvy scene of Yun Mu was a stark contrast to the timid, withdrawn boy Shangguan Ce remembered.
A flicker of surprise crossed his heart, quickly drowned by deeper contempt.
What good is knowing every rat in the city?
You little bastard, once I find that bookshop, I’ll make sure you watch with your own eyes how I tear out the heart’s blood of those dragon and phoenix twins.
However, this cat-and-mouse game quickly took an unexpected turn.
Yun Mu’s steps seemed leisurely as he chatted familiarly with the neighbors, but his path was strangely erratic.
He had been walking straight along West Street, but suddenly turned into a narrow alley heading south.
After passing a teahouse sign, he abruptly doubled back and slipped into a narrow lane beside a rice shop piled high with bamboo baskets and woven crates.
Shangguan Ce’s brow furrowed deeper with confusion, but he dared not pause his pace.
When Yun Mu again turned off what looked like a bustling short street into an even quieter, rubbish-strewn narrow alley ending in a towering blue brick wall, Shangguan Ce stopped sharply at the T-junction.
The alley was desolate and silent, save for a few distant dog barks and the whistle of wind through the alleys.
“Lost him? Damn it, Yun Mu, you little bastard, how dare you try to play me!?”
He spun abruptly, his gaze sweeping behind him, and a smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.
There, in the corner of a half-man-high pile of trash mixed with broken baskets and worn mats, a few tatters curled unnaturally in the shadows.
Shangguan Ce silently drew a breath, muscles taut like a drawn bow.
Without unleashing his Starforce, he transformed it into Treading-on-Snow Stealth, his toes barely touching the ground as he shot forward faster and lighter than before.
“Get out here!”
With a suppressed roar, Shangguan Ce’s right hand suddenly spread wide, clawing fiercely through the air toward the shadow’s center.
In an instant, his fingertips touched rough cloth, and the warm sensation that followed flooded him with elation.
“Running?”
His face twisted in rage, fingers snapping shut.
“Try running again, I dare you!?”
Feeling the “blood” gradually spreading over both hands, Shangguan Ce covered his face, unable to hold back a laugh.
“Yun Mu, you don’t really think… with your third-rate skills you can fool me, do you?”
He tugged hard on the rag, pulling it toward himself, pressing his face against it.
“Hm?”
Facing him was a tattered garment draped over a tomato crate, and beneath it, two books propped up.
The boy’s figure had already vanished.
From the alley came a loud rumble and a furious roar.
“Yun Mu… you damn bastard!”
“Ha… Hurry up, or we’ll be caught…”
Yun Mu ran wildly through the alley, his upper body bare.
On the narrow path, the late spring wind was not as warm as usual; instead, it carried a biting chill that assaulted him.
But he couldn’t care about that.
His mind was filled with Shangguan Ce’s words from last night:
“I’ll tear out the heart’s blood of those two children.”
“I remember the right side path is complicated and less crowded, so I’ll go right.”
He muttered to himself while dashing forward.
Years of wandering had made the right turn almost instinctive.
His speed increased, and faintly, strands of Starforce began swirling around his feet.
Thankfully, Master taught me how to use these clusters before, or today would have been troublesome.
No… I have to go faster.
I need to quickly warn Xie Grandpa and the others to lay low.
He gritted his teeth, enduring the discomfort surging through his body, forcing more Starforce fiercely into the soles of his feet.
Each step struck harder, whipping up a gust of wind.