A cold and very familiar tone of voice. Jinxia was stunned for a moment, but quickly snapped out of it. She turned around, lowering her head, and greeted him: “Jingli Daren, why are you home so early?” Cursing in silence, she thought, ‘This person is not a cat, how can he make no sounds when walking?’
Lu Yi looked at her for a moment, then asked, articulating word by word: “It’s early? Where do you think I should be at this time?”
Her nose smelled a faint fragrance of wine on him… Jinxia raised her head, greeting humbly again. She then gave a little laugh and said: “The whereabouts of Daren, Beizhe does not dare to carelessly guess.”
“I’m not in the Red Silk Tent, are you disappointed?” Lu Yi furrowed his eyebrows.
‘I’m dead, he heard the conversation before.’
“Daren, you really like to joke, ha ha ha…” Jinxia laughed again, feeling awkward. She didn’t want to answer, therefore she took a few steps back, getting ready to slip away, “It’s now getting late in the night, Beizhe no longer wants to bother Daren enjoying the moon. I will take my leave first.”
“No need to rush, because the moonlight is so beautiful, don’t waste it.”
“Hah?”
“Come with me to investigate a case.” Lu Yi spun around and walked away at once.
“At this time of the night, what do you want to investigate?” Jinxia took a deep breath, recalling her master’s words: when you’re in front of Lu Yi, you cannot lose your manners… “Lu Daren, there are some words that I don’t know whether to say or not.”
“Tell me.”
“Beizhe is a constable, but after all she is a girl, this… at this time of the night, I am of course pleased to go with Daren to investigate a case, but a man and a woman being alone together… I’m afraid it could ruin Daren’s clean reputation.”
Lu Yi stopped his steps, turned to the side and looked at her, who was looking back at him with full sincerity in her eyes.
“Okay.” After a few moments, he agreed out of the blue.
Not expecting this was a good move, Jinxia was stunned for a moment. Once recovered from the surprise, she happily raised her hands and said, “Then, Beizhe will take her leave.” and she was going to walk away…
“It looks like I have to invite Master Yang to come with me.” Lu Yi did not stop her, only calmly talked to himself behind her.
This time, it was Jinxia’s turn to stop her steps. Master now had a recurrence of pain in his leg, walking was going to be a problem. He absolutely needed to rest, but an investigation during night time? If Lu Yi was to put out this request, the master wouldn’t refuse for sure.
‘This man is really annoying!’ She thought to herself.
Therefore she turned around right away and lowered her head and eyes, “If Daren doesn’t mind, I’d come along.”
“Men and women being alone together, it’s not good.” Lu Yi said with a whispering voice, light like the wind and soft like the clouds, “It could ruin my reputation, right?”
“Haha, it’s just Beizhe’s joke, don’t worry about it.” Jinxia gritted her teeth, saying things that were against her thoughts. “Since we’re both working for the country, there is no difference between men and women. Daren is a true gentleman, certainly no one would dare to gossip.”
“If I remember correctly, one burned incense* before, you said that, in my strong years, meeting a woman would sway my heart and that for a moment I would forget where I was.” Lu Yi said with deliberate calculation.
*[One burned incense = 30 minutes, TN]
Jinxia was bewildered for a moment. She could only grit her teeth in pain once more and endure it until the end. She laughed dryly and said: “Daren, you really like to joke, how could you be that type of person? You must’ve heard it wrong!”
“I’m indeed not that type of person.” Lu Yi leaned over to her, “Unlike you, I don’t make others lose their appetite.”
“…”
Lu Yi looked at her half-hidden hand clenched into a fist, turned back and, in a cool and dry tone, said: “Still not moving?”
Jinxia followed him with no further delay.
After they exited the post station, they turned left and entered a quiet valley.
Jinxia walked behind Lu Yi, looking around suspiciously. She did not understand, at this time of the night, why they were going to that place and on what business.
In front of a faded black painted door, Lu Yi stopped his steps. He then examined its surroundings, “It should be right here.”
“Who’s house is this?” Jinxia, with the help of the moonlight, saw the copper ring on the door, with a thin layer of dust and rust. “People rarely walk here.”
While she was talking, she saw a light spinning robe. In an instant, Lu Yi was already high above the wall.
Jinxia looked up, the visible moonlight shining on the very handsome side of Lu Yi’s face, which was a little different from his usual cold and frozen face.
“Come up!”
Jinxia was startled. She cleared her throat a little, raised her hands and said: “Daren, we are government officials, this is a way of intruding people’s home at night, it doesn’t seem too good.”
Lu Yi became a little impatient, “This is where Zhou Xian lived when he was still alive.”
“Oh…” Jinxia snapped out of her thoughts, remained motionless and continued speaking, “Then let’s wait until tomorrow, let’s wait for the clear sky…”
“Is it because your kungfu is bad that you can’t come up here?” Lu Yi interrupted her bluntly.
Jinxia explained, “Beizhe’s kungfu is not bad, but this wall is a little high.”
He gave her an unbearable glance, seemed to not care about her anymore, turned around and jumped into the house without a sound. All around him everything was covered by the silence again. Jinxia sharpened her ears and waited for a while: aside from the occasional sound of insects, Lu Yi’s movements could no longer be heard. Perhaps, because Lu Yi felt she was too useless, he had left her behind.
‘Just right, I can go back to sleep!’
“If there is no more business, Beizhe will leave first.” Jinxia pressed her voice low, regardless of whether Lu Yi was listening or not. It was even better if he didn’t hear it.
Just as she was about to leave, she heard the sound of the black wooden door breaking open. Lu Yi’s expressionless face stood behind the door.
“Twenty years ago, Yang ChengWan’s kungfu was amazing, I really didn’t expected that his disciple would be so unhelpful.”
Jinxia wanted to open her mouth to refute it, but because she could not suppress her curiosity, she asked: “In the past, when the master was in JinYiWei, was he that great?”
Lu Yi glanced at her, “He never told you guys about his past?”
Regarding the past, Yang ChengWan always kept it a secret, the frowns in his eyebrows were deep, as if it was a deep cut in his heart, like he had never been young before…
“Twenty years ago, at that time Daren was still a child… Does that mean Daren’s father told you everything?” Thinking about this, Jinxia understood at that very moment why Lu Yi was always so polite toward the master.
Lu Yi looked at her, with raised eyebrows, “After all, you are a constable, how could you not even suspect anything?”
“Was Daren’s father well-acquainted with master?” Jinxia asked with renewed interest.
“Did he hide it from you? From YangYue too?” Lu Yi furrowed his eyebrows and kept asking.
“What did Daren’s father tell you? What did he say?”
“….”
In the end Lu Yi stopped asking and looked at Jinxia in silence. The two people had been talking, but they were only asking questions and no one was answering.
“I’m asking you.” He said slowly.
“I know, I know, but you tell me first, what did Daren’s father tell you about the master?” Jinxia was dying out of curiosity, completely unaware that it was inappropriate to keep asking, “Where was the master? Higher than you or not? Really amazing?”
No longer wanting to talk to her, Lu Yi turned around and walked away.
“Hey! Daren, hey… If you don’t want to say it, nevermind.”
Jinxia followed him at once, thinking, ‘The official rank had to be higher than yours. You’re afraid of losing your face, so you refuse to say it.’
At this time, the two of them arrived in the middle of a small courtyard, then they walked forward a few steps and arrived at the two stared building. There was no lighting in the house, it was all black; there were two large trees near the ground floor, whose green leaves were swaying back and forth, like a ghost walking in the middle of the night, making the atmosphere a little spooky.
A gust of cold wind passed through them and Jinxia couldn’t help but feel shaky. All of a sudden they heard the sound of the gong outside indicating it was midnight.
“Right at midnight!” Lu Yi raised his head toward the tightly shut window of the building. After a moment he said: “According to the written autopsy report, Zhou Xian hung himself here at midnight.”
So, JinYiWei Daren decided to come here at midnight because… Jinxia, without thinking twice, opened her mouth and said: “Daren, do you want to try it too?”
Lu Yi ignored her and, lost in thought, continued to talk , “It’s day seven.”
Jinxia was silent for a moment. Finally she just remembered: without a doubt, counting the days from Zhou Xian’s death, today was the seventh day, and the seventh day from death was often referred to as the day of the returning of the dead soul, a spirit. Legends have it that the spirits of dead people wander for several days, starting from the day of their death until the seventh day, when they return home. Only after that, they are allowed to go to the afterlife.
But if today was the seventh day, why?
It was impossible to rely on the spirit of Zhou Xian to ask where the missing funds were, right?
After a moment of silence, Jinxia grumbled: “After all, we are all government officials, here to investigate a case… Besides that, children should not talk about strange things and confuse the gods…”
“Children don’t talk about it but it doesn’t mean they don’t believe it.” Lu Yi looked at her, “You, are you afraid of ghosts?”
“Haha, how coud…” Her throat became dry and she cleared it. “Beizhe is a humble constable and has a strong sense of energy. Ghosts or monsters wouldn’t dare to appear in front of me.”
Lu Yi squinted his eyes to examine her, “I had disrespected you.”
“No need, no need.”
A cold and very familiar tone of voice. Jinxia was stunned for a moment, but quickly snapped out of it. She turned around, lowering her head, and greeted him: “Jingli Daren, why are you home so early?” Cursing in silence, she thought, ‘This person is not a cat, how can he make no sounds when walking?’
Lu Yi looked at her for a moment, then asked, articulating word by word: “It’s early? Where do you think I should be at this time?”
Her nose smelled a faint fragrance of wine on him… Jinxia raised her head, greeting humbly again. She then gave a little laugh and said: “The whereabouts of Daren, Beizhe does not dare to carelessly guess.”
“I’m not in the Red Silk Tent, are you disappointed?” Lu Yi furrowed his eyebrows.
‘I’m dead, he heard the conversation before.’
“Daren, you really like to joke, ha ha ha…” Jinxia laughed again, feeling awkward. She didn’t want to answer, therefore she took a few steps back, getting ready to slip away, “It’s now getting late in the night, Beizhe no longer wants to bother Daren enjoying the moon. I will take my leave first.”
“No need to rush, because the moonlight is so beautiful, don’t waste it.”
“Hah?”
“Come with me to investigate a case.” Lu Yi spun around and walked away at once.
“At this time of the night, what do you want to investigate?” Jinxia took a deep breath, recalling her master’s words: when you’re in front of Lu Yi, you cannot lose your manners… “Lu Daren, there are some words that I don’t know whether to say or not.”
“Tell me.”
“Beizhe is a constable, but after all she is a girl, this… at this time of the night, I am of course pleased to go with Daren to investigate a case, but a man and a woman being alone together… I’m afraid it could ruin Daren’s clean reputation.”
Lu Yi stopped his steps, turned to the side and looked at her, who was looking back at him with full sincerity in her eyes.
“Okay.” After a few moments, he agreed out of the blue.
Not expecting this was a good move, Jinxia was stunned for a moment. Once recovered from the surprise, she happily raised her hands and said, “Then, Beizhe will take her leave.” and she was going to walk away…
“It looks like I have to invite Master Yang to come with me.” Lu Yi did not stop her, only calmly talked to himself behind her.
This time, it was Jinxia’s turn to stop her steps. Master now had a recurrence of pain in his leg, walking was going to be a problem. He absolutely needed to rest, but an investigation during night time? If Lu Yi was to put out this request, the master wouldn’t refuse for sure.
‘This man is really annoying!’ She thought to herself.
Therefore she turned around right away and lowered her head and eyes, “If Daren doesn’t mind, I’d come along.”
“Men and women being alone together, it’s not good.” Lu Yi said with a whispering voice, light like the wind and soft like the clouds, “It could ruin my reputation, right?”
“Haha, it’s just Beizhe’s joke, don’t worry about it.” Jinxia gritted her teeth, saying things that were against her thoughts. “Since we’re both working for the country, there is no difference between men and women. Daren is a true gentleman, certainly no one would dare to gossip.”
“If I remember correctly, one burned incense* before, you said that, in my strong years, meeting a woman would sway my heart and that for a moment I would forget where I was.” Lu Yi said with deliberate calculation.
*[One burned incense = 30 minutes, TN]
Jinxia was bewildered for a moment. She could only grit her teeth in pain once more and endure it until the end. She laughed dryly and said: “Daren, you really like to joke, how could you be that type of person? You must’ve heard it wrong!”
“I’m indeed not that type of person.” Lu Yi leaned over to her, “Unlike you, I don’t make others lose their appetite.”
“…”
Lu Yi looked at her half-hidden hand clenched into a fist, turned back and, in a cool and dry tone, said: “Still not moving?”
Jinxia followed him with no further delay.
After they exited the post station, they turned left and entered a quiet valley.
Jinxia walked behind Lu Yi, looking around suspiciously. She did not understand, at this time of the night, why they were going to that place and on what business.
In front of a faded black painted door, Lu Yi stopped his steps. He then examined its surroundings, “It should be right here.”
“Who’s house is this?” Jinxia, with the help of the moonlight, saw the copper ring on the door, with a thin layer of dust and rust. “People rarely walk here.”
While she was talking, she saw a light spinning robe. In an instant, Lu Yi was already high above the wall.
Jinxia looked up, the visible moonlight shining on the very handsome side of Lu Yi’s face, which was a little different from his usual cold and frozen face.
“Come up!”
Jinxia was startled. She cleared her throat a little, raised her hands and said: “Daren, we are government officials, this is a way of intruding people’s home at night, it doesn’t seem too good.”
Lu Yi became a little impatient, “This is where Zhou Xian lived when he was still alive.”
“Oh…” Jinxia snapped out of her thoughts, remained motionless and continued speaking, “Then let’s wait until tomorrow, let’s wait for the clear sky…”
“Is it because your kungfu is bad that you can’t come up here?” Lu Yi interrupted her bluntly.
Jinxia explained, “Beizhe’s kungfu is not bad, but this wall is a little high.”
He gave her an unbearable glance, seemed to not care about her anymore, turned around and jumped into the house without a sound. All around him everything was covered by the silence again. Jinxia sharpened her ears and waited for a while: aside from the occasional sound of insects, Lu Yi’s movements could no longer be heard. Perhaps, because Lu Yi felt she was too useless, he had left her behind.
‘Just right, I can go back to sleep!’
“If there is no more business, Beizhe will leave first.” Jinxia pressed her voice low, regardless of whether Lu Yi was listening or not. It was even better if he didn’t hear it.
Just as she was about to leave, she heard the sound of the black wooden door breaking open. Lu Yi’s expressionless face stood behind the door.
“Twenty years ago, Yang ChengWan’s kungfu was amazing, I really didn’t expected that his disciple would be so unhelpful.”
Jinxia wanted to open her mouth to refute it, but because she could not suppress her curiosity, she asked: “In the past, when the master was in JinYiWei, was he that great?”
Lu Yi glanced at her, “He never told you guys about his past?”
Regarding the past, Yang ChengWan always kept it a secret, the frowns in his eyebrows were deep, as if it was a deep cut in his heart, like he had never been young before…
“Twenty years ago, at that time Daren was still a child… Does that mean Daren’s father told you everything?” Thinking about this, Jinxia understood at that very moment why Lu Yi was always so polite toward the master.
Lu Yi looked at her, with raised eyebrows, “After all, you are a constable, how could you not even suspect anything?”
“Was Daren’s father well-acquainted with master?” Jinxia asked with renewed interest.
“Did he hide it from you? From YangYue too?” Lu Yi furrowed his eyebrows and kept asking.
“What did Daren’s father tell you? What did he say?”
“….”
In the end Lu Yi stopped asking and looked at Jinxia in silence. The two people had been talking, but they were only asking questions and no one was answering.
“I’m asking you.” He said slowly.
“I know, I know, but you tell me first, what did Daren’s father tell you about the master?” Jinxia was dying out of curiosity, completely unaware that it was inappropriate to keep asking, “Where was the master? Higher than you or not? Really amazing?”
No longer wanting to talk to her, Lu Yi turned around and walked away.
“Hey! Daren, hey… If you don’t want to say it, nevermind.”
Jinxia followed him at once, thinking, ‘The official rank had to be higher than yours. You’re afraid of losing your face, so you refuse to say it.’
At this time, the two of them arrived in the middle of a small courtyard, then they walked forward a few steps and arrived at the two stared building. There was no lighting in the house, it was all black; there were two large trees near the ground floor, whose green leaves were swaying back and forth, like a ghost walking in the middle of the night, making the atmosphere a little spooky.
A gust of cold wind passed through them and Jinxia couldn’t help but feel shaky. All of a sudden they heard the sound of the gong outside indicating it was midnight.
“Right at midnight!” Lu Yi raised his head toward the tightly shut window of the building. After a moment he said: “According to the written autopsy report, Zhou Xian hung himself here at midnight.”
So, JinYiWei Daren decided to come here at midnight because… Jinxia, without thinking twice, opened her mouth and said: “Daren, do you want to try it too?”
Lu Yi ignored her and, lost in thought, continued to talk , “It’s day seven.”
Jinxia was silent for a moment. Finally she just remembered: without a doubt, counting the days from Zhou Xian’s death, today was the seventh day, and the seventh day from death was often referred to as the day of the returning of the dead soul, a spirit. Legends have it that the spirits of dead people wander for several days, starting from the day of their death until the seventh day, when they return home. Only after that, they are allowed to go to the afterlife.
But if today was the seventh day, why?
It was impossible to rely on the spirit of Zhou Xian to ask where the missing funds were, right?
After a moment of silence, Jinxia grumbled: “After all, we are all government officials, here to investigate a case… Besides that, children should not talk about strange things and confuse the gods…”
“Children don’t talk about it but it doesn’t mean they don’t believe it.” Lu Yi looked at her, “You, are you afraid of ghosts?”
“Haha, how coud…” Her throat became dry and she cleared it. “Beizhe is a humble constable and has a strong sense of energy. Ghosts or monsters wouldn’t dare to appear in front of me.”
Lu Yi squinted his eyes to examine her, “I had disrespected you.”
“No need, no need.”
