"Sixth Brother, could you please brew me a pot of tea? Get the leaves from Zheng’s Tea House. Hmm, the tea house is still around, right? Just say it’s for me. Get the freshly picked ’Spring Boudoir Play.’ Don’t ask too many questions. It’s cold, and I need to warm up and calm my nerves."

Sixth Brother was efficient and hurried off.

While Scarface Liu was gone, Zheng Xiu observed the architectural changes within the Imperial City and came to understand many things.

He had no choice but to accept the current outcome.

It was his mess to clean up. He’d just have to stand tall, swallow his tears, and fix it himself.

Now, all that remained was to confirm a few things.

He desperately wanted to leave the prison and go home for a visit.

But the changes to the Imperial City, a result of the butterfly effect, left Zheng Xiu feeling uneasy.

’I’ll just stay put for a while longer. Get a clearer picture before making a move.’

’If everything that happened this time in the Ghostly Realm can affect my reality...’

’...then just how far can this "influence" go?’

’In other words...’

’...the events in the Ghostly Realm actually happened twenty years ago.’

’The Ghostly Realm, Darkness, the Filthy Land, Feng Bei’s innate Omen... it’s all real.’

’Is it even possible that what the Mad Military Advisor said, and the strange phenomena on my father’s body before he died, are also real?’

’So did Dad actually survive?’

’By normal logic, the only change "Zheng Shan" made was allowing Feng Bei and Wei Chen to live.’

’He let them live when they should have died twenty years ago, and that’s what caused all these changes.’

’In that case, if all sorts of strange phenomena exist in the outside world, doesn’t that make it... extremely dangerous?’

’When I act as my Incarnation, I can die a hundred or a thousand times. Worst case, I just reload a save and start over.’

’But if my real self goes in, I could be dead the moment I run into something.’

He sucked in a sharp breath.

While Zheng Xiu was braving the elements and contemplating life, Scarface Liu came trotting back with the hot tea.

Zheng Xiu took a sip, and warmth spread through his body.

In truth, with the Unbreakable ability, Zheng Xiu was practically invincible in prison, immune to the severe cold. Even when covered in snow, he felt little pain. The warmth was for his state of mind, bringing a little comfort to Master Zheng’s chilled-to-the-bone heart.

It was a rare comfort that Scarface Liu’s loyalty hadn’t wavered. Master Zheng made an excuse, claiming that his wealthy upbringing left him with a weak constitution. After being frozen for a night, his mind had grown muddled and he’d forgotten a few things. He needed Scarface Liu to help him catch up.

The excuse of ’being frozen into confusion’ was a bit absurd, but the part about being ’wealthy but weak’ had Scarface Liu nodding along, saying it made perfect sense.

’You’re rich, so whatever you say goes.’

And so, Master Zheng and Scarface Liu chatted over tea, piecing together the timeline of events.

Around the beginning of the eleventh month of the thirty-second year of the Zun’an era, Zheng Xiu was thrown into prison on the false charge of "hiding fifty million in taxes."

At that time, he was indeed staying in Earth No. 1 Prison, Room A.

Scarface Liu was a lead prison guard there.

Master Zheng successfully won over Scarface Liu with his charisma.

Across from him lived Jiang Gaoyi, the Governor of Yanzhou.

During that time, Second Lady and his four lovely attendants were constantly in and out, seeing to his every need—bringing warm clothes and blankets, and massaging his shoulders and legs.

All of this was exactly as Zheng Xiu remembered.

Then, the trouble began.

First, Shi Wentong came to see Master Zheng, and died horribly on the streets that same night.

"Mm, right, he’s dead."

Master Zheng took a sip of tea and nodded, perfectly calm.

Scarface Liu didn’t dwell on Master Zheng’s comment. Now that they were on the topic, he simply continued his honest account. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Sixth Brother held up his hands, folding his fingers down one by one.

"After that, strange things started happening one after another. A whole string of high-ranking officials kicked the bucket," Scarface Liu said.

"After Shi Wentong, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, died..."

"Then it was Hao Yunlai, the Senior Clerk of the Ministry of Personnel."

Zheng Xiu paused in the middle of skimming his tea.

’Nothing to do with me,’ he thought, and continued to listen.

"Next was Master Duan Cai of the Fugui Tea House,"

"Then Gou Fugui—Master Dog—of the Ten Thousand Li Salt Transport,"

"And Master Zhang Wushuang of the Hidden Soldier Casting Pavilion,"

Zheng Xiu nodded along. ’That’s right,’ he thought.

He thought that was the end of it, but Scarface Liu was still counting on his fingers. He’d run out of fingers on one hand and switched to the other.

"Yuwen Youde, the Ministry of Personnel Examination Company Officer."

"And Lord Zhou Ji, the Minister of the Ministry of Justice."

Scarface Liu reeled off the names of several more officials.

He had used all ten fingers.

"Is that all?"

Scarface Liu glanced furtively at Master Zheng and whispered, "There is one more... Does Master Zheng truly not remember?"

Zheng Xiu looked up at the sky. "It’s so cold today."

Hearing this, Scarface Liu gave Zheng Xiu a sympathetic look. "That last one is the reason Master Zheng was brought to the Heaven-Gazing Platform overnight. Just three days ago, they say the Holy Emperor’s most beloved Little Princess, Princess Yu Run, died!"

Master Zheng looked at Scarface Liu in surprise. "So she’s dead. What does that have to do with me being brought to the Heaven-Gazing Platform overnight?"

Scarface Liu said meekly, "I know you must have been framed, Master Zheng, but in the room where the princess died so horribly, there were words written in blood on the wall: ’The killer is Marquis Zhonglie.’ It’s all over the city, everyone’s talking about it. With that... the Holy Emperor had no choice but to put you on Death Row."

"PFFT!"

Zheng Xiu choked, spraying the mouthful of hot tea he hadn’t swallowed all over Scarface Liu’s face.

...

The Black Iron Wood Order!

The black robes!

The Black Box!

Inside the Six Gates headquarters, Guo Zifei stared in astonishment at the words "Upper Three" on the token, his mind reeling.

"Hah! To hell with Ye Weiyang! The Six Gates has first jurisdiction over any murder in the Imperial City! Without a direct order, who dares interfere in one of our cases?"

A sharp-eyed Six Gates official saw the dark expression on Guo Zifei’s face, shot to his feet, and placed a hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Shut up."

Guo Zifei snapped at his subordinate, then waved his hand. "All of you, stand down."

The officials instantly fell silent.

In the blink of an eye, the only ones left in the Government Office were Feng Bei, Dou Xie, Yue Yan, and an uneasy Guo Zifei.

Guo Zifei rubbed his hands together, his expression turning serious. "Please don’t be offended. My men have not yet glimpsed the Path, so they don’t know the real situation. They only know that ordinary murders are the business of the Six Gates; they’re unaware that the bizarre ones are handled by Ye Weiyang."

Behind Feng Bei, Yue Yan gently lifted a hand. A pale, delicate hand with bright red nails emerged from her sleeve. With a flick of her finger toward the Black Iron Wood Order on the door pillar, the token popped free as if it had grown legs. It spun nimbly in the air and, in the blink of an eye, hung itself back on Feng Bei’s belt.

Feng Bei gave Yue Yan an impassive nod in thanks.

"Oh?" Yue Yan smiled sweetly at Guo Zifei. "So the Imperial City’s Top Divine Hunter truly lives up to his reputation. You’ve already glimpsed the Path and mastered a Miracle Technique?"

"Ahem, I wouldn’t dare claim the title of Top Divine Hunter." Guo Zifei looked embarrassed. "I applied for a transfer to the Night Guard six months ago, but unfortunately, I’ve yet to hear back."

"Six months ago?" Yue Yan tapped a finger to her chin thoughtfully, then shook her head. "Normally, when someone in an official position glimpses the Path and masters a Miracle Technique, they are contacted. Unless you’ve hidden your abilities exceptionally well, or your grade is too low. May I ask what your grade is, Detective Guo...?"

Judging by Guo Zifei’s eager expression, which practically screamed ’I would be honored to join you,’ it clearly wasn’t the former.

"Humbly, I must report that I was recently promoted to Fifth-grade Miracle Master!"

"Oh, I see. In that case, Detective Guo, you’ll just have to keep practicing~ To join the Night Guard, you need to be at least Third Grade, unless you know someone on the inside."

The disdain was obvious, and Guo Zifei’s expression soured.

Yue Yan’s idle chat with Guo Zifei lasted for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. Finally, Feng Bei spoke, his voice flat. "Open the coffin. We want to see the body."

"Alright!"

Without another word, Guo Zifei led the three to the morgue.

"Dou Xie, you were just promoted from the Night Guard, so watch carefully how I use the Soul-Chasing Lamp. You have a lot to learn, you know."

Yue Yan set down the strange Black Box she carried on her back. Just as she was about to open it, she looked over at Guo Zifei, who was standing as still as a statue by the door. Her voice was gentle. "When Ye Weiyang conducts its business, all unauthorized personnel are asked to leave."

Guo Zifei had applied to transfer to Ye Weiyang long ago, but to no avail.

He had hoped for a peek at how the mysterious Ye Weiyang operated, only to be shooed away.

Guo Zifei left, looking rather disgruntled.

The door closed.

A faint stench of death hung in the air of the morgue.

With the outsider gone, Yue Yan finally opened the Black Box.

"MEOW~"

A plump black cat with glossy fur, its gait the very picture of Elegance, strolled leisurely out of the Black Box.