“Bought it in town. It cost a good bit of money,” Gu Qingyun replied, stroking Little Black's tiny head.
Bai Fan was a bit baffled. “So expensive? I thought you got it from someone you knew. Why would you spend so much money on just a cat?”
After all, their monthly official stipend was only a few maces of silver. Spending good money on a cat was something he would never do. Could there be something extraordinary about this cat?
He held the lantern closer to Little Black, examining it left and right, but it only looked like an ordinary black cat—nothing special at all.
“Sister Yun, I really can't see anything special about your cat,” Bai Fan said. “Say, should I get a cat, too? That way, we'd be two constables with two cats—it'd look pretty sharp!”
Gu Qingyun chuckled softly. “Little Black is a Xuan cat. As you know, Xuan cats can guard a home and sound warnings. If those things show up, an ordinary one can be handled by it easily. I was just lucky to come across one.”
At the thought of “those things,” Bai Fan's heart thudded with excitement. He stared at Little Black with newfound enthusiasm and gave it a comical bow. “Lord Cat, please look after me in the future! On my day off, I'll go to the river outside the city and catch fish for you to eat.”
He turned back to Gu Qingyun, stuttering slightly, “Sister Yun, I think my aunt's house might have one of those things you mentioned. Lately, my cousin's personality changed completely. He used to be honest and hardworking, but now he's drinking, gambling, and even nearly hit my cousin's wife last time. Do you think he's possessed?”
“I knew my cousin must have been bewitched! Otherwise, how could a person change overnight? The whole family is in chaos now.”
Gu Qingyun was speechless. Was it not possible that his cousin had simply gone down a bad path? Honest people going bad was common enough; where were there so many foul spirits in the world?
Gu Qingyun glanced at Bai Fan, who was staring at her without blinking, and sighed helplessly. “How about I go over with you to take a look on our next day off?”
“Awesome! Sister Yun, whether my cousin can be saved or not, I'm immensely grateful! Breakfast tomorrow is on me!” Bai Fan grinned broadly at her.
Gu Qingyun replied, “Fine. But it's also possible your cousin just turned bad on his own, so don't get your hopes too high.”
“You know I just practice martial arts on my own, and my senses are only slightly keener than yours. It's still uncertain whether I can spot anything wrong, but my physique counters evil spirits, so I do have some confidence in this matter.”
Bai Fan realized. “I heard Uncle Wang talk about that! I heard all about what happened when you encountered that thing out in the wild last time. I really envy you—you've already mastered our constables' saber technique to Great Perfection and even created a few moves of your own!”
“Sigh, our Dazhao Kingdom is pretty good. Whether you're a constable, a guard, or a soldier, everyone gets issued a basic mental method, but less than ten percent of people can actually sense Qi.”
“Sister Yun, your martial talent is truly breathtaking. If you hadn't become a constable and had joined a martial sect instead, you might already be a top-tier master by now!”
Gu Qingyun said nothing.
What she cultivated was entirely different from the mental methods of martial sects. On the surface, hers looked like a basic mental method, but it specifically countered evil spirits. If she had joined a sect, she would have ended up as nothing more than a handyman disciple, because she had no money for tribute and no spare funds for martial arts training.
Everyone knew martial arts training was expensive. If she hadn't frequently hunted in the countryside to supplement her diet with meat, and if her technique hadn't avoided consuming her vital energy, she would likely have been forced to give up martial arts due to a lack of money.
After all, with so many mouths to feed at home, her grandmother couldn't bring herself to let her spend too much silver on martial arts either.
“I'm not going,” Gu Qingyun said. “Things are fine as they are. Not only can I practice martial arts as usual, but I also get a stipend. Plus, I have my brothers, sisters, and mother at home. I can't bear to leave them, and the whole family needs me.”
“True enough,” Bai Fan agreed. “We may be low-ranking petty clerks, but if we're careful with what we earn in a year, it's enough to support a family. Joining a sect means living on the edge of a blade—far less stable than here. You've really thought this through, Sister Yun.”
Gu Qingyun lightly patted his shoulder with a smile and stood up. “Alright, stop flattering me. It's almost the Hai hour. Come on, let's keep patrolling.”
...
Meanwhile, at the Liu Residence, in the main courtyard to the southeast, several maidservants and errand boys were keeping night watch outside the doors, standing with their heads bowed.
From inside the room came sultry, heart-pounding moans intermingled with suppressed, breathless grunts that made one's cheeks burn. After a while, the commotion inside gradually subsided.
“Bring in the water,” a man's voice called out from within.
The servant girls and boys systematically carried buckets of hot water from the small kitchen toward the main room. Right then, a burst of chilly wind blew out of nowhere, causing them to shudder as the hair on their arms stood on end.
One round-faced maid set her bucket down, rubbed her arms, and muttered, “It's still autumn, so why is the wind so cold? It chills straight to the bone.” With that, she bent down and lifted the wooden bucket, her face turning slightly pale.
Her family was poor, so her father had sold her into the residence. She was only thirteen now and had worked hard to earn an assignment in the main courtyard by performing well.
Who could have guessed that strange things would keep happening ever since the Master and Madam returned? Several maidservants and errand boys had already been terrified out of their wits.
Yet every time, it turned out to be a false alarm, and Master flew into a rage, selling off all the servants who had panicked. So even though she felt hair-raising dread right now, she didn't dare show it on her face.
The others were equally deathly pale, their hands trembling as they carried their buckets. None of them dared utter a word, silently shuffling toward the main room.
“Ah!” The round-faced maid let out a short gasp, quickly clamping her free hand over her mouth. Without anyone noticing when she had arrived, Nanny Lin of the main courtyard was staring at her, expressionless, her eyes fixed and eerie.
“Xiao... Cui... What... are... you... making... such... a... fuss... about? If... you... disturb... Master... and... Madam, I'll... skin... you... all... alive.” Her words popped out one by one, her voice raspy and harsh as if torn by the wind.
The girl named Xiao Cui and the other servants dropped to their knees in terror. “This servant wouldn't dare do it again! Please forgive us, Nanny Lin!”
“Get... up... Quickly... bring... the... water... inside.” As she spoke, Nanny Lin's eyes didn't twitch in the slightest, her mouth twisted into a creepy smile. Leaving those words behind, she walked stiffly toward the main room, with the servants following silently in her wake.
Inside the main room, a middle-aged man sat on the edge of the bed, frowning as he looked over. He appeared to be around forty years old, with a well-proportioned build and a neat beard.
Though advanced in years, it was clear he had been a handsome youth in his younger days. Snuggled beside him was an attractive woman who looked to be in her early thirties.
After the two bathed and the room was tidied up, the middle-aged man leaned back against the headboard, holding the woman in his arms as he sighed softly. “Nanny Lin, brew me a cup of tea.”
Nanny Lin curtsied slightly, turned to brew a cup of tea, and offered it to him.
The middle-aged man, Liu Zhengchuan, took a sip of the tea and praised, “Nanny Lin, your tea-brewing skills are quite good. It's been a long time since I had tea this good. The last time was...” At this point, Liu Zhengchuan's pupils contracted abruptly, and his voice cut off mid-sentence.
The woman beside him leaned against his shoulder and asked in a languid voice, “Master, last time what? Why did you stop talking?”
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