Chapter 470: Serious Business

Chapter 470: The Matter at Hand

The other’s actions startled Bai Lingmiao so much that he took a step back and hid behind Li Huowang. “I... I’m married.”

Seeing the five or six burly servants behind him, Li Huowang had already prepared himself for a fight. But to his surprise, the other's reaction was completely unexpected.

“Oh, then I’ve disturbed the lady. Please don’t take offense.” Hearing this, a flicker of disappointment passed through the young man’s eyes. He gave a graceful bow to Bai Lingmiao and turned to walk forward.

Passing by a group of beggars, he casually tossed some silver coins their way, then turned to greet another girl with a bow.

Such casual familiarity did not earn him any kind words, but he didn’t seem annoyed by others’ refusals. Instead, he continued greeting other girls.

Watching his retreating figure, Li Huowang thought for a moment before shouting out, “The cat in your arms is fake—it’s made from three pieces of jade.”

“Oh?!” The young man, holding the jade cat in his arms, turned around in surprise. “Brother, you must have mistaken it. That shopkeeper just said it was worth five thousand taels.”

“It’s a trap. You’ve been deceived. There are three vertical scratches and two horizontal ones under the left paw of your cat.”

“If your cat has those marks, people will know to offer you five thousand taels. Even if you sold it for two thousand, they wouldn’t buy it.”

“Oh? Really?”

When he saw the young man look surprised, clutching his jade cat tightly and heading toward the previous antique shop, Li Huowang grabbed Bai Lingmiao’s hand and walked forward. “Let’s go. It looks like a fight’s about to break out.”

After walking a short distance, Bai Lingmiao looked at Li Huowang in astonishment. “Senior Brother Li, how could you tell the cat was fake without even looking at it?”

Li Huowang didn’t answer. In truth, the trick was the same. The sect of Forgetfulness also used such schemes.

As long as one member of the sect left a trace on someone, even if the two people involved weren’t colluding, when they met other members of the sect, they would use the same method to deceive.

One person saying such things might raise suspicion, but if everyone you meet tells the same lie, even the most resolute person will begin to doubt themselves.

Just like before, those members of the sect, who had never met each other, all claimed to be the Red Middle simultaneously—this was the same kind of deception.

It was just that they ended up actually becoming the Red Middle through all this deception.

After this small incident, neither of them paid much attention to it.

Later, Bai Lingmiao enjoyed herself immensely, even drinking a little rice wine.

They played until the lanterns along the street began to dim one by one. Only then did Li Huowang carry the slightly drunk Bai Lingmiao back home.

Bai Lingmiao tilted her head slightly, her eyes half-closed, her white fingers tracing circles on Li Huowang’s back.

“Senior Brother Li, the Shangsi Festival is really fun. I wish we could celebrate it every day.”

“Mm, let’s celebrate it every day,” Li Huowang replied, following her drunken words.

As they walked, Li Huowang felt something wet on his back. A sobbing sound came from behind him.

Gradually, the sobs turned into tears. Bai Lingmiao seemed to try covering her mouth, but the crying grew louder.

In the end, her face covered in snot and tears, she wept like a child on Li Huowang’s back.

Her hands struck his back with all her strength.

Though he had stayed up late with Bai Lingmiao the night before, Li Huowang got up early the next morning.

He didn’t leave right away, but instead took a deep breath and dug his fingers into his left eye.

With a sudden burst of force, he pulled out his left eyeball, bloodied.

“When she wakes up, tell her I went to find a way to fix her eyes,” he panted, placing the eyeball in the hands of Ershen.

Seeing the red veil shake slightly from a nod, Li Huowang gently held her, picked up two swords from the table, and left.

It was still very early, and the lanterns on the street were just beginning to be taken down. Many people yawned, clearly having stayed out late the night before.

Li Huowang bought a fried dough stick wrapped in glutinous rice cake for breakfast, eating while heading toward the Heavenly Observation Bureau.

By the time he finished eating, he had arrived. Wiping his greasy hands on the stone lion, he stepped into the office.

Today, the guard was Si Ma Lan, a member of the Mo family, who had a black bird perched on his shoulder. He was quite surprised to see Li Huowang.

“Erjiu, I never expected you’d still be alive. I thought you’d been killed by the Sect of Forgetfulness,” said the black bird on Si Ma Lan’s shoulder.

“Perhaps my fate wasn’t sealed. I’ve been given a second chance. How are you, Brother Si Ma?” Li Huowang bowed to him.

They had met several times, and Si Ma Lan of the Mo family was, to Li Huowang, a casual acquaintance.

After a few casual exchanges and a few curses at the Sect of Forgetfulness, Li Huowang brought up the matter at hand.

He pointed to his left eye, which only had a piece of eyelid hanging down. “Is there anything in the inner vault of the Heavenly Observation Bureau that can heal eyes?”

“Eyes?” Si Ma Lan thought for a moment and shook his head.

“Brother Erjiu, the inner vault of the Heavenly Observation Bureau is huge. How would I know if there’s anything like that? You’ll have to find it yourself. Did you ever go into the inner vault before?”

Seeing Li Huowang shake his head, Si Ma Lan told him the location of the inner vault.

After wandering through the maze-like underground corridors for a long time, when Li Huowang had completely lost track of direction, he finally found what was called the inner vault.

After showing his badge, he entered.

As soon as he stepped inside, Li Huowang felt as though he had shrunk to the size of a mouse, entering a large pharmacy.

In the vast warehouse where even his voice echoed, rows of wooden cabinets stood neatly arranged. These cabinets were extremely tall, reaching the ceiling at three zhang high.

Inside these wooden boxes were different things. Some were sealed with talismans, others bound with chains.

Clearly, these boxes contained the celestial treasures and earthly relics managed by the Heavenly Observation Bureau.

These items were what lured outsiders to help the bureau with its tasks.

Not everything was placed in small boxes. Some scattered items were sorted and placed on long tables.

Various strange and unusual objects were present, but Li Huowang couldn’t identify their uses.

“Wait, isn’t this mine?” Li Huowang reached out and picked up his copper coin mask from the table.

This item must have fallen into the hands of the bureau along with his head after he lost it during his last disguise as the Red Middle.

Although he now had the Heart Turbulence Spindle given by Zhuge Yuan, he would not refuse an extra layer of protection.

Just as he was about to speak, a eunuch approached with a smile from the side.

Unlike the eunuchs in the main hall, this one in the inner vault had no eyes. His eyes were completely replaced by two copper coins sewn on.

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