The Faith and Salt

Over these past few days, Xiao Yan kept trying to reach his old schoolmate, the head governor of Huai'an City.

He first went to see an office clerk at the main city hall.

"My lord, our Master is not here."

"When will he return?"

"My lord, I honestly do not know."

This clerk spoke very politely. But Xiao Yan did not believe him at all.

He went to find a record keeper at another local document office.

"Maybe you should come back tomorrow, my lord."

"Why?"

"Our Master is not here today. It is not a good time."

"What is he doing? I can wait."

"I’m afraid my position is too low to know that."

"Come back when?"

“Please forgive me if I may not promise you anything.”

“Give me a timeslot.”

“My lord, anytime tomorrow, who knows? But again, I can’t guarantee anything.”

Xiao Yan knew this exact bullshits way too well. They might fool someone else, but they could never fool him.

He knew asking for army troops always made things highly difficult and messy.

Still, he could usually find another way out.

Following his past tricks for special cases, he could use a private messenger.

Besides, there’s also an old comrade inside that Huai'an military camp, a friend who was a middle army captain now.

Without delay, Xiao Yan rode out of town straight to that army camp.

His talk with the front gate guard sounded exactly like the earlier ones:

"He is not here again?"

"Sorry, my lord, 'again'? "

"Just tell me when he will come back."

"I really do not know."

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Xiao Yan took a deep breath. This was not his first time facing closed doors in life.

But hitting them at this exact critical moment made his blood boil.

He pushed down his anger, put on a calm face, pretending nothing was wrong at all.

He even smiled and waved goodbye to that gate guard, then he walked far down a long dirt road, acting like he was leaving without ever looking back.

But once he reached the very end, thick trees completely blocked his view of the camp.

He turned right around, slipped silently into heavy bushes, lying in wait for his prey.

Crawling slowly on his hands and knees through tall grass, He moved upward along a small hill until he found a perfect gap between two thick tree roots.

From here, he had a clear, hidden view of that front gate.

He pressed his chest completely flat against wet dirt and stayed as quiet as a dead log.

From noon until late evening, Xiao Yan waited with endless patience. He barely moved a single muscle.

He simply let wild crickets and small bugs crawl freely over his dark clothes and bare skin.

Army sharpshooters inside were definitely not blind fools. They could easily spot shaking leaves or unnatural movements from hundreds of paces away.

Xiao Yan would never look down on their deadly skills.

The bright sun slowly dropped in the west. Xiao Yan felt his throat completely dry.

But he kept his breathing extremely slow and shallow. This kept his body from wasting any extra energy or water.

Finally, heavy wooden doors opened. A few men walked out of that camp gate.

They wore dark casual clothes, talking quietly and laughing among themselves.

One of these men was tall, built almost like a wild bear. This was exactly the old army captain Xiao Yan was looking for.

Seeing his target, Xiao Yan simply stood up. He walked straight toward him, ignoring everyone else around.

Bodyguards nearby quickly pulled out their swords. However, the captain stopped them with one single hand.

Watching Xiao Yan rise from those bushes, this old schoolmate looked completely unsurprised.

Instead, a warm smile filled his face.

He acted extremely friendly, almost like a young student caught cheating by a strict teacher.

"Long time no see!"

"Your soldiers are bad liars."

“Don’t mock me, man. You know what it is in the Army.”

He continued, "Things are different now. Just rest well inside Huai'an and wait a bit. "

"What is going on here? Why is everyone hiding from me?"

"You will understand after talking to him. This open road is no good place to talk."

"Do you know when he will return?"

"Just give it a few days. Do not rush."

"Fine."

Waiting inside an inn for one whole night, Xiao Yan kept pulling out his Fish Scale Book. He felt highly restless.

Did news about his secret book check already leak out?

Deep worry started growing inside him. His sharp feeling told him something was very wrong.

By noon the next day, he simply could not sit still anymore.

Xiao Yan bought fresh paper and ink and began writing a formal letter inside his room, planning to send it through that private messenger.

He knew these local officials might play dirty circle games when it came to actual work, but they would never lock a Lieren outside so rudely.

They never dared.

He sent the letter out, then bought some clothes for that muted little girl.

By day three, still no news had come back.

He could now fully confirm this was no smart trick played by low-level clerks. That head governor was purposely hiding from him.

To be sure, he had to do something strictly against the law.

Xiao Yan bought a set of cheap hemp clothes on the street. He soaked them in thick mud and left them out to dry.

When evening came, he put on the rough clothing. He also mixed wet dirt with dried dung to make a few small balls, dropping them deep into his pockets.

Finally, he tucked several yellow paper charms into his hidden pockets.

Each paper had a strange eye drawn right on it.

He was going to sneak into the government compound himself. He needed to see if the governor was truly out of town.

It was not an honorable thing to do, but he had no more time to waste.