Chapter 2

Just past the hour of Yin, I hurried over, pushing aside several Constables in black uniforms, my eyes fixed on the vermillion-painted door of the courtyard.

“Why is the door still locked? Break it down!”

Behind me, my apprentice Xiao Zhang held up a lantern, his hands trembling.

This courtyard had a worse reputation in Qinglan City than a graveyard.

If my memory serves me right, three people have died here in the past ten years.

The previous occupant didn’t die, but after less than two months here, he lost his mind,
claiming he saw a woman in red combing her hair by the window every night.

…

“It’s tightly locked, and barred from the inside!”

The Constable in charge of prying open the door wiped the sweat from his brow:

“Chief Zhao, could there really be ghosts in there?”

I didn’t answer, just kicked the door-

The rotten wooden door creaked and split open.

A faint musty smell, mixed with the scent of osmanthus, drifted out.

In the courtyard, that Old Osmanthus Tree was planted by a wealthy merchant from the previous dynasty.

Now, its branches reached all the way to the second-floor window…

The lantern’s light swept across the yard; there wasn’t a single footprint on the blue-brick ground,

until Xiao Zhang’s startled cry came from upstairs:

“Master! Come quickly!”

I grabbed my saber and rushed upstairs. The moment I pushed open the master bedroom door, I froze.

On the bed lay a young man dressed in blue martial attire, his face peaceful as if asleep, his right hand resting on the saber by his pillow.

But the Constable checking his breath suddenly turned pale:

“He’s gone!”

The dead man was Xu Minghao, a messenger of the Eastern Garrison Army.

Three days ago, he had just come to Qinglan City to visit family, passing through here and temporarily staying at this courtyard owned by President Cui of the Chamber of Commerce.

Cui Sheng was the uncle of the deceased, Xu Minghao.

And Cui Sheng’s wife, Xu Minghao’s aunt, had died years ago.

Originally, Xu Minghao was just passing through Qinglan City, staying briefly to visit his uncle.

Who could have expected he’d end up dead?

“President Cui is here!”

There was a commotion outside the courtyard. I turned to look,

and saw a middle-aged man stumble in, his face as white as paper-it was none other than Cui Sheng, the prominent figure of the Qinglan City Chamber of Commerce.

Behind him followed Xu Kai, a coachman in gray short clothes, still clutching the reins.

“Chief Zhao! My nephew… Wh-what happened?!”