Given the opponent’s strength, Li Xin didn’t dare be careless. Holding the Immovable Ming King Seal, he focused his mind and gathered his energy as the door to the room opened.

A short, stocky figure was holding a rattle drum that flickered with red light. As the drum spun, its two beaters struck continuously, sending out ripples of red waves.

Little Flayer spotted the bronze cauldron on the table at a glance, but saw no one. The next second, his body flashed and he bolted for the outside. There was no way Li Xin would let him get away so easily; he dropped down from the ceiling in an instant, let out a thunderous shout carrying a Spiritual Burst, and blasted it forward while slashing at Little Flayer at the same time.

Little Flayer’s movement was extremely agile; he actually withstood the Spiritual Burst. With a sudden forward roll and leap, his body flipped ahead with flexible, explosive speed. Li Xin’s blade aura skimmed past Little Flayer’s scalp, the room’s furniture exploding apart, and in the blink of an eye Little Flayer was already almost at the door.

Li Xin wasn’t slow either. He charged forward, about to unleash another Spiritual Burst when the mind-bewitching sound of the rattle drum rang out again. Even with the Immovable Ming King Seal in hand, Li Xin still felt a hint of dizziness, but it was only for an instant before his gaze cleared. Little Flayer was clearly surprised by Li Xin’s strength as well, but he had never planned to fight back; seizing this chance, he had already darted into the alley mouth.

Li Xin followed close behind, one tall and one short figure weaving rapidly through the dim alleyway. This area was a tightly packed residential district, riddled with narrow lanes. After chasing for a while, Li Xin lost track of Little Flayer.

Standing at the mouth of an alley, looking up at the red moon overhead, Li Xin wasn’t too disappointed. He lingered for a bit, then returned to his rented room and retrieved the bronze cauldron. This thing couldn’t be left out casually; it needed to be returned to Sister Kathy.

He hailed a carriage back to Shadow Owl. Even though it was already very late, Meng Po was still at the door knitting a sweater.

"Sister Meng, not off work yet?" Li Xin stepped down from the carriage with a smile.

"I live here. I double as the night watch; it’s no big deal." Meng Po smiled. "Besides, the lights are on here. Li Yinxiao, what brings you so late?"

"I left something in the records room and forgot it during the day," Li Xin smiled.

Li Xin went upstairs. The second and third floors were pitch dark, all the rooms closed. He didn’t go to the records room; after wandering one lap, he left Shadow Owl.

***

Early the next morning, Li Xin came to Shadow Owl fully dressed, as usual bringing sweets for Sugar Cake, and went upstairs under Meng Po’s familiar smile.

In the captain’s office, Jiang Wu was humming a little tune while watering his mandala flower. When he saw Li Xin he immediately broke into a grin. "You’re early, Li Yinxiao."

Li Xin came in and closed the door. "Not as early as you, Captain. You work late into the night every day and still show up this early in the morning."

"A man with a family to support has to work a bit harder; not like you youngsters." Jiang Wu laughed. "Sit. What do you want to drink?"

Li Xin waved his hand. "No need. Captain, I’m here to report on the case. I found Little Flayer."

Jiang Wu froze for a moment, an incredulous expression crossing his face. "Really? That’s great. Where is he? Did you catch him?"

"I did find him, but he got away." Li Xin spread his hands. "He’s really good."

"That’s a real pity. If we could’ve caught him, it’d have won Shadow Owl some face." Jiang Wu said regretfully. "How did you find him? Why didn’t you call in others to coordinate? Wasting an opportunity like that—this guy is very crafty."

"How does Captain know I didn’t have others work with me?" Li Xin said.

"Oh, I was just saying. With something this big, no one said a word to me. How did you find the lead?" Jiang Wu asked.

"I read the files for a long time and suddenly had an idea. I wondered how Little Flayer knew there were Fallen committing crimes. He can’t predict the future, and even a Life Master or Prophet can’t be that precise. He must be relying on some Secret Item. Every time he commits a crime he uses that rattle drum—so could the drum’s function be to detect Fallen? If a Fallen commits a crime, would that draw Little Flayer out?" Li Xin said.

"That’s one approach. Tang Yinxiao used it before as well, but it didn’t work." Jiang Wu frowned. "Any Secret Item only has a limited range. Dragon Capital is huge—how would you know where he is, or when he’ll act?"

"Actually it’s simple." As Li Xin spoke, he took out a map and spread it on the table. "Captain, see anything?"

Looking at the red dots on the map, Jiang Wu frowned. "What’s this?"

"Doesn’t it look familiar, Captain?"

"You’re saying all these marked spots are Little Flayer’s crime scenes?"

"Exactly. Look—on the surface these places fall into four different districts, but in fact they’re all very close to Shadow Owl’s secret base. So I only needed to test in these four zones. As for the time—obviously after we at Shadow Owl are off work. Little Flayer’s timing also follows a pattern." Li Xin looked at Jiang Wu as he spoke.

"You’re suspecting that Little Flayer is one of our own in Shadow Owl?" Jiang Wu’s expression turned serious, his eyes sharp as he stared at Li Xin. "Li Yinxiao, Night Patrol are all brothers. Without proof, don’t talk nonsense!"

"Captain, of course I know that. Don’t worry, hear me out. Little Flayer once shook off Drunkard’s tracking ability. That puzzled me at the time. Drunkard’s combat power is average, but that marking ability is very strong. Unless you understand it extremely well, and even deliberately hold back some strength, you can’t break it. That means only someone familiar with Drunkard’s ability could do it," Li Xin said.

Jiang Wu frowned. "Any ability can be cracked. There are countless gifted people in the world."

"It’s not that coincidental. I tried it myself—it’s very hard. Doing it quickly and on the fly is even harder. Even an elder of the Gourmet Association, who specializes in dealing with scents, would have trouble. This Little Flayer’s combat power is impressive, at least at the Four Lives level, and his path should be the Knightly Path or something similar—very combat-focused," Li Xin said. "On top of that, his Spiritual Cultivation is high; his willpower has undergone strict training, far beyond ordinary cultivators. Very likely he has ties to the Church Court."

Just from a single exchange, Li Xin could roughly gauge the man’s tier. A fluid sequence of moves to evade his attacks meant his combat experience was extremely rich. And being able to resist a Spiritual Burst and react that well under sudden assault meant he’d definitely been subjected to mental strikes before—that pointed to a connection with the Church Court.

"So what are you trying to say?" Jiang Wu asked.

Li Xin smiled slightly. "The answer’s pretty obvious. Someone who can freely use our secret passageways without leaving a trace, knows Drunkard’s ability, has Four Lives strength and outstanding skills—who in Shadow Owl do you think fits that profile, Captain?"