263: Chapter 263 The clue to her parents is right behind the door; who dares to stop her?

Lin Yuan did not let go of Yu Qingyi's hand.

Yu Qingyi looked down at it.

The man's palm was very steady.

She folded the map with one hand, stuffed it into her down jacket pocket, and led Lin Yuan into a narrow alley beside a hot water stall.

"We cannot take the main path."

Her voice was lowered, her Shanghai accent soft yet crisp and devoid of hesitation.

"In Sanlintang, doors face doors and windows face windows. If an outsider enters from the main road, half the street will know."

Lin Yuan looked at the crisscrossing power lines and clothes drying poles ahead.

"Can't you fly? Just fly over."

Yu Qingyi paused for a split second.

The wind leaking into the alley blew the stray hairs at her temples, and she raised her hand to press them down.

"We don't even know if they are truly at Anji Hall."

"Flying over is easy."

"But if we startle the people inside, they will be in danger."

Lin Yuan glanced at her and tightened his grip on her hand slightly.

Yu Qingyi said nothing more.

She led the way.

She avoided alley entrances where white cloth hung low.

She bypassed doorways knotted with red cloth.

Where blue cloth was tucked with old copper coins, she passed only along the edge, neither touching the wall nor stepping on the wet brick at the entrance.

Lin Yuan followed half a step behind her.

Several gazes leaked out from the cracks in the windows.

Someone held their breath.

Someone raised a crossbow, only to be pressed down by the person beside them.

Just as they rounded a blue-cloth alley entrance, the sound of a spring mechanism came from behind the wall.

Yu Qingyi's shoulders tensed, and she immediately pulled Lin Yuan back.

A row of broken glass and rusted nails swung down from diagonally above.

The steel wire dragged through the air with a whistling sound, smashing toward their faces.

Lin Yuan did not retreat.

He raised his hand and pulled Yu Qingyi to his side.

The broken glass veered off half a meter away from them, clattering into the corner, while the rusted nails embedded themselves into the brick seams, their ends still vibrating.

Several windows on both sides of the alley closed simultaneously.

The people inside even stifled their breathing.

Yu Qingyi crouched down, looking at the red thread tied to the end of the steel wire.

The red thread was tied in a knot.

"A 'Guest-Avoiding Knot'."

She picked up a piece of glass and placed it back by the wall.

"It's used in old Shanghai alleyways when holding a funeral. It tells outsiders that this place isn't receiving guests."

Lin Yuan said, "You, this Shanghai socialite, certainly know quite a bit."

Yu Qingyi stood up, her face still wearing that polite smile.

"Even a socialite needs to know which alleys can be walked and which families cannot be offended."

Once the words were out, she realized that Lin Yuan was still holding her hand, showing no intention of letting go.

Her ears burned, and she turned around to hide that reaction in the wind.

Behind a second-floor window, a thin, small man poked out half his face.

"Little girl, don't court death."

"We don't welcome outsiders here."

Yu Qingyi didn't look up too high, only placing a small piece of compressed biscuit on the broken stone pier at the alley entrance.

"I've come here to look for relatives; could you uncles please do me a favor?"

Seeing the biscuit, the thin man's eyes rolled around.

"Go forward, take the one with the red cloth, and you'll be there once you pass through."

Yu Qingyi looked toward that alley.

An old shoe was hanging upside down at the entrance.

The sole was facing outward.

She smiled.

"The 'Dead Man's Alley' isn't for the living; don't treat me like an out-of-towner, Uncle."

The flesh on the man's face upstairs stiffened.

Someone in the shadows gasped, then hurriedly covered their mouth.

Yu Qingyi didn't press the issue.

She switched to a Shanghai accent and spoke more slowly.

"Anji Hall used to have a wooden sign at the entrance that said 'Winter Herbal Paste'."

"The old gentleman who consulted there was surnamed Lu, and before prescribing medicine, he liked to ask people if they were sleeping well."

The look in the man's eyes upstairs changed.

He stared at Yu Qingyi's old hair clip and then at the wear on the cuffs of her down jacket.

"You've been here before?"

"When I was little."

"With my parents."

The alley went quiet.

Finally, the man upstairs pushed open the window, pointed in another direction, and said nothing.

Yu Qingyi's other hand, hanging by her side, was gripping a short dagger, the cuff of her sleeve hiding the hilt.

Lin Yuan saw it and leaned close to her ear to whisper.

"Are you scared?"

The fine hairs on the tips of Yu Qingyi's ears stood up.

But she still tried her best to keep the corners of her mouth lifted.

"I'm afraid they really have seen my parents."

She paused.

"And I'm also afraid they haven't."

Lin Yuan offered no comfort.

"Don't be afraid, I'm here."

Yu Qingyi almost stumbled.

She quickly steadied herself and moved forward along the wall.

Ahead, at the red-cloth alley entrance, someone moved a wooden board aside.

Several pairs of eyes were still watching from behind the windows.

This time, the hostile vibe of driving people away was gone.

Leading Lin Yuan, Yu Qingyi passed through the low, overhanging buildings.

Bamboo poles lay horizontally overhead, with old clothes frozen stiff, brushing against Lin Yuan's shoulders.

The two of them were still holding hands.

Yu Qingyi spoke first.

"I... I was just afraid you wouldn't know the way."

Lin Yuan said, "I know."

She lowered her eyes and gripped his hand even more firmly in return.

[Ding! Target Yu Qingyi (Appearance 87), Favorability +2%, Current Favorability 12%.]

They had arrived.

Anji Hall.

The original wooden sign was covered in tin, and the entrance was piled with medicine cabinets, sandbags, and even two examination beds.

Five or six guards were standing outside the door.

Their aura was completely different from the survivors seen in the alley just now.

Machetes.

Steel forks.

The guard captain was in his thirties, with the back of his hands covered in blue, hardened skin.

A C-rank Physical-type Esper.

He swept his gaze over Yu Qingyi's face, then looked at her clothing and shoes.

His gaze lingered for a moment.

"Outsiders are not allowed to enter."

As he spoke, he rested his machete on his shoulder.

"If you want to buy medicine, leave a deposit first."

Yu Qingyi stood by Lin Yuan's side.

"I'm only looking for someone."

The captain laughed.

"Once you've entered Sanlintang, you follow Sanlintang's rules."

The few guards behind him also laughed.

Someone stared at Yu Qingyi's bag.

Someone looked at her neck.

The smile remained on Yu Qingyi's face, but under her sleeve, she had already gripped her short dagger.

The captain frowned.

He saw wind swirling snow particles at Yu Qingyi's feet.

"You're an Esper too?"

He stepped back half a step, sensing the Superpower fluctuations, and his gaze turned harder.

"And a B-rank at that?"

The atmosphere at the door changed instantly.

The captain gritted his teeth and said, "Did Zhao Dingshan send you?"

Yu Qingyi said, "No."

"No?"

The captain pointed his blade inside the door.

"Go in and verify your identity."

Yu Qingyi's smile faded.

Lin Yuan finally looked up.

He did not draw his blade.

He did not take a step.

A mental suppression, objective to the point of cold indifference, descended.

The captain's knees buckled, and his machete clattered to the ground.

He braced his hands on the ground, a broken wheezing sound squeezing from his throat, while beads of sweat from his forehead fell one by one into the snow.

The few guards at the door retreated two steps in succession.

Crossbows slammed onto the sandbags.

Steel forks toppled over.

No one dared to raise their weapons again.

Lin Yuan looked at the captain kneeling half a step away.

"What did you just say?"

The captain opened his mouth, his tongue seemingly tied in a knot.

Behind the windows, on the roofs, and at the end of the alley, the prying gazes all retracted simultaneously.

In the old alleyway, the sound of door bolts sliding shut echoed one after another.

The guard captain lowered his head.

His teeth chattered twice, yet he still held onto the last shred of protocol.

"There is a leader inside Anji Hall."

"Outsiders must be announced before entering."

Yu Qingyi looked at Lin Yuan.

She was very clear on this.

If Lin Yuan wanted to, this door to Anji Hall wouldn't last even a second.

But the clues to her parents would also be buried by blood and fire.

Lin Yuan withdrew the suppression.

The captain collapsed onto the ground, panting heavily.

"Go."

A single word fell.

The captain scrambled and crawled into the door.

Outside the door, only the scattered machetes, crossbows, and a group of guards who dared not raise their heads remained.

Yu Qingyi said in a low voice, "Thank you."

Lin Yuan looked at the tightly closed gate of Anji Hall.

"I promised to give you twenty-four hours."

Yu Qingyi lowered her eyes.

The hand that Lin Yuan was holding moved slightly in his palm.

She did not pull it back.