Chapter Forty-One: A Man and a Woman Alone

I am absolutely certain that Mount Qingcheng is merely the location of another clue relating to the Ming Fourteen Tombs, not, as Yue Qianling imagines, the actual site of the Ming Fourteen Tombs themselves. Such a vast and secret treasure could never be hidden atop a famous mountain so well known to all.

After learning about Mount Qingcheng that day, Gu Anqi reacted very strangely; the next morning, she bid us farewell in haste and rushed back to Hong Kong.

Once Gu Anqi left, Xiao Lianshan was restless and absent-minded all day, not even interested in the pastries Yue Qianling made for him. Yue Qianling bought many books on Mount Qingcheng and began researching any possible location where the Ming Fourteen Tombs could be hidden.

No one was happier than Yue Leiting. When I told him about the progress regarding the Ming Fourteen Tombs, he became so excited that, if I hadn’t stopped him, he would’ve already led a group up Mount Qingcheng.

I may have seemed calm, but compared to Qingyang Palace, Mount Qingcheng was simply too vast. Finding a Bagua Pavilion in Qingyang Palace could be attributed to Xiao Lianshan’s devotion, but standing before the towering, majestic Mount Qingcheng, that same devotion seemed as futile as searching for a needle in the ocean.

I was convinced there must be some connection between the Bagua Pavilion and the location it hinted at on Mount Qingcheng. So, for several days in a row, I kept going back to the Bagua Pavilion in Qingyang Palace, nearly turning the entire pavilion upside down, only to find nothing more.

One morning, I woke to see Yue Leiting pacing back and forth in the room in silence.

“Brother Ting, what are you doing?”

“What else can I do? I don’t know what was wrong with the brains of whoever hid this treasure. If you’re going to leave clues, at least make them somewhat understandable. Just pointing to Mount Qingcheng—do they expect me to dig up the entire mountain?”

Xiao Lianshan came out of the kitchen, satisfied, carrying a bowl of poached eggs. “Brother Ting, leave these things for my brother to figure out. There’s no use getting worked up.”

Yue Qianling happened to come out of her room just then, saying helplessly, “Judging by the words alone, ‘Mount Qingcheng’ doesn’t seem suspicious. That means the clue really is on Mount Qingcheng, but… heh, the mountain’s so huge, I really don’t have any idea where to begin.”

“Brother, aren’t you supposed to be good at divination? Why not just divine the location and be done with it?” Xiao Lianshan bit into an egg, shivering from the heat.

“You really think I’m some immortal? I can divine anything at will?” I shook my head, smiling weakly.

Just then, Liu Hao burst in from outside, flustered and panicked. “Boss, a lot of police have showed up outside. They’ve surrounded the place!”

Yue Leiting jumped to his feet, frowning coldly. “Damn it, what are the police doing here so early? Did I kill someone, set a fire, or force anyone into prostitution? What bad luck.”

Before Liu Hao could answer, the police had already rushed in. Leading them was someone I recognized—the black-faced officer who’d interrogated Xiao Lianshan the other day.

“It’s those two—arrest them!” the black-faced officer said impassively.

“Is there no justice left in the world? Arresting me with no evidence…” Yue Leiting squinted menacingly, but halfway through his outburst, he realized the police weren’t after him—they were coming for me and Xiao Lianshan.

Xiao Lianshan bristled in defiance, grabbing the collar of the officer trying to seize him and shouting, “On what grounds are you arresting me? What have I done?”

“Officer Fang Yanan was kidnapped last night. The two of you previously threatened and intimidated her. The police have reason to suspect you both of plotting and participating in her abduction.”

“Fang Yanan was kidnapped last night?!” I was stunned, my eyes wide with confusion. “Where did it happen?”

“Drop the act. That’s exactly what we want to ask you,” the black-faced officer replied coldly.

“Last night? Last night?” I muttered to myself, “Last night was the tenth, the day of Dingchou in the month of Jiwei. Fang Yanan is of the ‘fruit-eater’ destiny, this year she’s under the influence of Qingli’s official star, and Dingchou days are taboo for worship, which should actually favor her. Why would they choose to strike last night?”

“Brother, didn’t you say that Fang Yanan would be safe this month? How could this happen…?”

“Could it be… did I miscalculate?” I murmured in shock.

The black-faced officer raised his hand, and the police on either side surged forward, handcuffs at the ready. Yue Qianling forcibly pushed away the officer in front of me and said loudly, “You can’t just arrest people without evidence!”

“They were both present when Fang Yanan was threatened and intimidated—I heard it clearly. And there are witnesses who can confirm that Officer Fang Yanan and I had a dispute. We have reason to believe they had motive to kidnap her,” the black-faced officer said coldly to Yue Qianling.

“If you follow that logic, I, Yue Leiting, should have been executed a dozen times over.” Yue Leiting waved for his men, who had come in to confront the police, to stand down. “I’m no stranger to your station, Officer Hu Zhiwen—we’re old acquaintances. I threaten more people than I can count every day. If anything happens to any of them, are you going to blame it all on me?”

So the black-faced officer was Hu Zhiwen, and it seemed he knew Yue Leiting.

“The police only act on evidence. We don’t make random arrests,” Hu Zhiwen replied, unhurried. “We found Qin Yanhui’s fingerprints in Officer Fang Yanan’s apartment. That alone is reason enough for him to explain himself to us.”

Yue Leiting was taken aback, glancing at me. Hu Zhiwen seemed so certain he wasn’t bluffing, but my mind was still preoccupied, trying to figure out how Fang Yanan could have been in danger. I cared little for what was happening otherwise.

“Handcuff them and bring them all to the station!” Hu Zhiwen ordered sternly.

Yue Qianling stamped her foot in anxiety, clutching my arm. “Why are you just standing there? Tell them you never went to Fang Yanan’s apartment!”

I ignored her, calculating with my left hand and muttering, “Impossible, I never miscalculate. Not this time either. By all rights, Fang Yanan should have faced danger three times this month, but she has the Three-Flame True Fire protecting her fate palace. Even if the Tethered Life Star was broken, nothing should have happened to her this month. Why… why did something occur last night?”

As the handcuffs were about to close around my wrists, Yue Qianling threw her arms around me, declaring, “I can prove he wasn’t at Fang Yanan’s apartment last night!”

“What evidence do you have?” Hu Zhiwen asked.

“I… I was with him all night. He never left the room,” Yue Qianling said, her voice lacking conviction.

“That’s right, I can vouch for that too. My brother didn’t go out last night,” Xiao Lianshan said with his head held high, disdainful.

Hu Zhiwen walked over to Xiao Lianshan, sneering coldly. “You and Qin Yanhui live in the same room?”

Xiao Lianshan shook his head nonchalantly, “No, I live upstairs, my brother lives downstairs.”

“So, if you’re not in the same room, how would you know whether he went out or not?” Hu Zhiwen smiled with satisfaction. “Besides, you’re a suspect yourself—your testimony is worthless.”

“Wait!” Yue Qianling’s cheeks flushed as she bit her lip and lowered her head. “He was in my room all night. He never left.”

“He? He was in your room?” Hu Zhiwen raised his eyebrows in surprise. “What was Qin Yanhui doing in your room all night?”

Yue Qianling glared at him, cheeks burning, and snapped, “A man and a woman in a room together at night—you tell me what they’d be doing!”

Hu Zhiwen was speechless, at a loss for words. “He… he stayed the whole night?”

“The whole night!” Yue Qianling replied with conviction.

Hu Zhiwen considered this, then smiled indifferently. “That doesn’t prove anything. Maybe you fell asleep, and he sneaked out to abduct Officer Fang Yanan, then came back. That’s entirely possible.”

Yue Qianling was momentarily at a loss, glancing at me, her cheeks growing even redder. She pressed her lips together and mumbled, “How many times do I have to say it before you understand? He never left the room because… we didn’t sleep all night.”

Hu Zhiwen very nearly asked what exactly they’d been doing all night, but realized the question was childish—an unmarried man and woman in a room all night, not sleeping…

Just as Hu Zhiwen was thinking it, Yue Leiting immediately didn’t believe we’d spent the whole night just talking. As an experienced man himself, hearing Yue Qianling say this actually made him smile.

“Yanhui, I didn’t expect this from you. You always seemed so proper, but… heh, my girl has high standards. If she’s chosen you, you should count yourself lucky. She’s a bit spoiled, but that’s my fault. You’ll have to be patient with her.”

Xiao Lianshan was dumbfounded, edging away from me with a half-smile. “Brother, so you and Qianling are together? That was fast.”

I looked innocent and bewildered. With Yue Qianling’s declaration, no amount of protest could clear my name.

“Brother Ting, don’t listen to her nonsense! I really… I really haven’t set foot in her room.”

But Yue Leiting didn’t care at all. His grin even showed satisfaction.

“Yanhui, I’ve been around. I understand. And she’s my daughter, after all. She’s headstrong, but she loves fiercely. Since she’s admitted it, what are you so afraid of? I’ve told you before, if you and Qianling are truly together, I won’t object.”

Hearing this, I panicked even more, raising my hand and swearing, “Brother Ting, you have to believe me—if I did anything improper, then may I never be considered a man again!”