The Faith and Salt

Examining the land register in his hands, Wei Yuan murmured, "Indeed, from the past few years. You took this off a street thug?"

Xiao Yan nodded.

Wei Yuan let out a heavy sigh. "These are truly dark days. Even corruption is done completely out in the open now..."

He caught himself, stopping mid-sentence, and simply shook his head.

"Who could have leaked it?" Xiao Yan asked. "We might be able to trace it back to the source."

"Drop it, Yan. Do not look into this any further," Wei Yuan warned. "Since the register ended up with you, I say you should just burn it."

"Burn it?"

"It is completely useless to you. Having it will only make paranoid ones see you as a threat, kill you just to bury this register."

"I didn't come all this way just to catch petty smugglers." Xiao Yan shifted his gaze toward the side parlor, where the foreigners were waiting.

"Foreigners and smugglers are using those disgusting beasts to infiltrate us. They are after much more than just silver. I need to find evidence."

"I promise this won't do anything good. Just forget it, okay?"

"And what are these foreigners doing here?"

"Well, you might hate to hear it," Wei Yuan said, sharply flicking his sleeve. "Those two foreigners came here specifically looking for me. And I'll need your help with that."

"Who are they?"

"You weren't informed?" Wei Yuan asked. "They are military advisors from the West, but neither of them seems to speak much Chinese. Scholar Liang asked me to help them out."

Xiao Yan thought for a moment. "And you said yes?"

Wei Yuan smiled. "With pleasure," he added.

"This is not a joke."

"Do I look like I'm joking?"

"Why are you helping them?" Xiao Yan asked again. "They look like liars to me."

"Maybe we should give them a chance."

"For what? So they can infiltrate more?" He continued. "No, I won't help you with that."

Wei Yuan gave him a knowing look, completely unsurprised by his old friend's stubbornness.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Besides, I have my own case to investigate," Xiao Yan said, his voice tight with sudden irritation. "Just bury this matter. Do you understand?"

"They are foreigners, yes," Wei Yuan said. "But they are still human."

The words made Xiao Yan waver for a second, but he held his ground. "Filthy humans."

"Let's go," Wei Yuan said, turning away with a flick of his sleeve.

Xiao Yan stayed rooted to the spot silently.

"Come on," Wei Yuan called back over his shoulder. "Is a magistrate's rank too low to order you around?"

Xiao Yan sighed impatiently.

Satisfied, his old friend kept walking.

Inside the quiet, dimly lit side parlor, the two foreigners were carelessly sprawling in the stiff wooden armchairs with their legs spread wide.

They only showed a shred of restraint when Wei Yuan entered, at least bothering to sit up and pull their legs together.

Trailing behind, Xiao Yan listened as Wei Yuan began speaking in English.

To his ears, the foreign tongue was incredibly ugly.

The sounds slurred and mashed together, making it impossible to tell where one word ended and the next began.

He tuned it out almost immediately, finding the whole racket grating and unbearable.

The iron amulet at his waist still radiated heat.

Xiao Yan scanned the room, but to the naked eye, nothing seemed out of place. The Eye of Revelation might expose something hidden, yet now was hardly the time to use it.

He resumed his silent study of the foreigners. The old man maintained his fake, harmless act, while the younger one repeatedly locked eyes with him.

Good opportunity to examine this creature more closely.

He checked the tunic again, just in case.

No squirming.

No rustling.

Good sign.

How about the hair? Parasitic spirits often hid in the scalp as spiders or ticks. And this unwashed foreigner was a perfect host.

The strands were matted with salt and dead skin. Grease cemented the waves into place like shields. Even a strong wind could not move a single hair.

Disgusting, but safe.

Now, the eyes. Although foreign eyes disturbed him very much.

Blue and green irises were usually proof that creatures were born rotting.

Normal living things had black or brown eyes. Nothing else.

Xiao Yan had never let a colored-eyed thing survive his blade.

And he was now supposed to protect these kinds of creatures?

Absurd.

Anyway, was there something wrong with those eyes—

Hard to say, since the young man's gaze flickered. Shifting. Dodging. Clearly hiding something.

Just as expected.

He had seen enough. He knew better what he was dealing with now.

Wei Yuan was still talking to the two foreigners. And it was clearly time for introductions.

"Say something," he told Xiao Yan.

"I have nothing to say."

At that, Wei Yuan turned to the foreigners and babbled a long string of English, clearly making up his own translation on the spot.

He then turned back. "This young man is David."

David held out his hand. Xiao Yan did not move a single bit.

He could not fathom how a person could be this filthy. Even a man who rolled in mud and blood every day like himself found it disgusting to look at.

"We have our manners. Do not stoop to their level," Wei Yuan urged quietly.

Fifteen years ago, they would have been beheaded and hanged from the city gates; that’s how it was supposed to be handled. Xiao Yan thought.

Reluctantly, he finally cupped his hands together in a brief bow.

The two foreigners just looked confused.

Unsurprising.

Wei Yuan continued speaking to the foreigners, gesturing for them to enter the study.

"Come take a look," Wei Yuan told Xiao Yan.

"At what?"

"Something you will find interesting."

He followed Wei Yuan inside. But the moment he crossed the threshold, the sight stopped him dead.

The Iron Ward Talisman at his waist flared with a burning heat.

Xiao Yan's eyes went wide.

Despair and sheer disbelief flooded his mind.

This was impossible...