110: They caught the fox by the tail.

The two Auras on the rooftop opposite the alley vanished.

"They left," Su Ming thought to himself.

"Yes, they're gone," Lin Yu's voice carried a hint of solemnity. "Disciple, your anti-reconnaissance ability truly exceeds my expectations."

Su Ming did not reply.

He could feel that although the two scrutinizing gazes had vanished, a deeper, invisible sense of being locked onto remained. It felt like prey being targeted by a pack of wolves; even if the wolves temporarily retreated, the chilling killing intent had already seeped into his bones.

"What did they confirm?" Su Ming asked.

"They confirmed that you are a 'law-abiding' bookworm," Lin Yu analyzed. "All you do every day is copy books and go home to sleep. You don't even visit a brothel—you're practically a moral role model for the Great Xing Dynasty. Since they can't find a direct link between you and Xu Qing, they won't move against you for now."

Su Ming slowly exhaled a mouthful of stale air. He broke the silence: "Master, this passive approach won't work."

"Hmm?" Lin Yu asked.

"If we wait passively, we'll forever remain bait." Su Ming's eyes shone strikingly bright in the darkness. "I need to know what fish they intend to lure out using me. More importantly, I need to know how many ferocious crocodiles and giant sharks are lurking in this pool."

Lin Yu fell silent.

He knew that his disciple's "cautiousness" wasn't true cowardice. It was a buildup of momentum, meant to deliver the most fatal blow at the most crucial moment.

"What do you intend to do?" he asked.

"I'll go to Lord Liu's Estate again." Su Ming's voice was calm. "Last time was testing the waters; this time, I'm going to seek a real key."

"Seek that old fox?" Lin Yu's soul body shivered slightly. "Last time, he nearly saw through our intentions. Going again is too risky."

"High risk makes it seem more real." Su Ming stood up and brushed the dust from his clothes. "A frightened young man who has stumbled upon a secret he can't handle, and in his panic, seeks advice from the only elder he trusts—that's perfectly rational."

Lin Yu clicked his tongue.

Fine, the Oscar-winning actor's script has been updated again.

"And what's the excuse this time?"

"The Lantai Secret Garden."

The next day was still a rest day.

Su Ming once again carried the visiting gift he had prepared long ago and walked alone toward the secluded alley in the west of the city. Just like last time, it was the same mottled black lacquer wooden door, and the same old servant with cloudy eyes.

When the old servant saw Su Ming, his wrinkled face showed a hint of human emotion for the first time—explicit impatience.

"Why are you here again?"

"Student Su Ming has an urgent matter and requests an audience with Lord Liu." Su Ming bowed and presented his calling card.

The old servant didn't even bother taking the calling card and turned to close the door: "His Lordship is not receiving guests."

"While organizing the archives of the previous dynasty at the Hanlin Academy, this student inadvertently read a record concerning the 'Lantai Secret Garden.' I am terrified, fearing it involves taboos, and I cannot sleep. This matter may concern state secrets, and this student dares not act rashly. After much thought, I believe I can only seek guidance from Lord Liu. I beg the Elder to make an exception!"

Su Ming spoke in one breath. His voice was not loud, but every word was clear, and his tone was filled with the perfect amount of panic and anxiety.

The four characters, "Lantai Secret Garden," acted like a key inserted into the old servant's rusty mind.

His motion to close the door stopped.

His cloudy eyes stared intently at Su Ming for a long time before he coldly spat out two words.

"Wait here."

The door was closed again.

This time, Su Ming stood outside the door for the duration of two sticks of incense.

When the door opened again, the old servant's expression was even uglier than before.

He offered no extra words, only: "Come in."

It was still the side hall that smelled of mold, and still, not a single cup of tea was offered.

Su Ming stood quietly, waiting.

This time, he did not wait long.

The thin, gaunt figure of Vice Director Liu appeared at the doorway.

He was not wearing official robes, only an ordinary gray long gown, but his gaze was sharper than last time, like two newly sharpened awls.

He did not step inside, merely standing beneath the door frame. "Speak, what is it?" He did not invite Su Ming to the study, preferring to get straight to the point right there in the side hall.

Su Ming immediately bowed and repeated the prepared explanation, only with an even more anxious and uneasy tone.

"...This student is dull-witted and doesn't know what this 'Lantai Secr—'"

Before Su Ming could finish, "Who told you to investigate this!"

Vice Director Liu roared, like a sudden clap of thunder, exploding in the small side hall.

He suddenly stepped forward, his hawk-like eyes fixed on Su Ming, as if he wanted to devour him alive.

"Was it Guo Huan? Or Li Wen? What tricks are they playing now! Did they send you to test me?"

A powerful Aura, mixed with the pressure of high authority, rushed toward him.

Su Ming was so startled by this sudden thunderous rage that his face turned pale. He stumbled back two steps, his back hitting the cold wall. The chill instantly sobered him up a fraction.

"N-no... it wasn't... This student... this student really just saw it by accident..." He stammered, looking as if he were about to cry from fright.

"By accident?" Vice Director Liu sneered, closing in on him, almost face-to-face. His voice was like shards of ice: "The archives of the Hanlin Academy are vast as the sea. You just 'accidentally' stumbled upon these four words?"

Su Ming's body, pressed against the wall, trembled slightly.

"This student... this student was reviewing... reviewing the court rituals of the previous dynasty, and in the corner of a miscellaneous record... I saw... I saw a phrase: 'The Secret Garden is hidden north of the Imperial City, guarded by ghosts and gods'... This student thought it was a tale of spirits and monsters and paid it no mind. But... but yesterday, while organizing Black Rong battle examples, I saw the two characters 'Lantai' on an Incomplete Manual... Combining the two, this student grew afraid, and only then... only then dared to come and seek guidance from Your Lordship."

His explanation was rambling and disjointed, yet it perfectly connected the two clues, fitting his job of organizing archives and explaining the accidental nature of the discovery.

Vice Director Liu's gaze remained locked onto him.

The side hall fell into suffocating silence.

After a long while.

Vice Director Liu slowly straightened up, increasing the distance between them.

The thunderous rage in his eyes gradually receded, transforming back into an unfathomable coldness.

"Too much curiosity is the road to death."

He clasped his hands behind his back, turned, and paced to the window, looking at the dead locust tree in the courtyard. His tone was cold and decisive: "The Lantai Secret Garden is not something you should know about." His voice was utterly devoid of warmth. "Forget it, pretend you never saw it. Otherwise, not even the gods can save you."

Su Ming leaned against the wall, gasping for breath, his face still showing signs of shock.

"Y-yes, yes, this student... this student understands. Thank you, Lord Liu... Thank you for the warning."

He bowed, preparing to take his leave.

Just as he turned and his hand was about to touch the door curtain, Vice Director Liu's faint voice drifted from behind him. It wasn't loud, but every word was like a nail.

"I will not interfere with matters of the Hanlin Academy."

"The key to Lantai is in the hands of the Head of the Academy."

"However, the Head of the Academy has been ill for three years, and he sees no one except the Imperial Physician Li who takes his pulse."

"He is now nothing more than a living ghost."

Su Ming's steps paused.

He did not look back, merely whispering, "This student takes his leave," before quickly lifting the door curtain and fleeing as if escaping.

After leaving Lord Liu's Estate, the cold wind blew, and Su Ming realized that his back was soaked with cold sweat. It wasn't entirely an act; he was genuinely shaken.

"Holy hell..." Lin Yu's voice was trembling. "You scared me to death! Is that old guy made of firecrackers? He just explodes! Just now, I felt like my soul body was about to be scattered by his roar."

Su Ming ignored Lin Yu's complaints; his mind was spinning rapidly.

The Head of the Academy.

Ill for three years.

The Imperial Medical Institute, Imperial Physician Li.

A living ghost.

These terms connected to form a brand new clue.

The only possible clue leading to the Lantai Secret Garden... One month later, at the Marquis Yongchangs Estate.

Inside the study, the warming stove burned fiercely, creating a world apart from the bitter cold outside.

Marquis Yongchang wore a black sable cloak and was meticulously wiping a saber captured from the Northern Frontier.

The blade was like a stream of autumn water, reflecting his resolute and stern profile.

The strategist Wen Ce stood respectfully to the side, holding an urgent secret report that had just been sent back from Qingshi Town.

"Marquis, the situation in Qingshi Town has been clarified."

"Speak." Marquis Yongchang did not raise his head, merely using a piece of deerskin to repeatedly wipe the cold gleam of the blade.

"The paper Workshop in Su Family Village is indeed using a novel method never seen before. The appearance and initial application of this technology occurred long before Zhou Wenhai accepted Su Ming as his disciple."

Marquis Yongchang's wiping motion paused. The deerskin stopped a third of the way down the blade.

"Oh?"

"According to the villagers we bribed, this method seems more... more like something Su Ming himself figured out and developed independently, without a Master, several years ago." Wen Ce's voice held a hint of disbelief.

"What's more interesting," he continued, "is that the Workshop's 'government supervision, civilian management' model, and its subsequent rapid expansion, precisely occurred after Su Ming was accepted by Zhou Wenhai and entered the County School. The timing is seamless."

Wen Ce took a deep breath and stated his conclusion.

"This subordinate believes that Zhou Wenhai, in this matter, is more like a tiger's skin used for intimidation. The true planner, from start to finish, was that boy, Su Ming, who was not yet fifteen at the time."

The study was silent.

Only the charcoal in the stove occasionally made a faint crackling sound.

Marquis Yongchang's fingers lightly tapped the desktop. "A fifteen-year-old boy possessing such cunning?" Marquis Yongchang finally put down the saber, lifted his eyes, and his gaze held a hint of amusement.

"This subordinate also found it hard to believe, so I managed to retrieve the essays he wrote when he passed the child scholar exam as the top scholar, as well as some of his assignments at the County School."

Wen Ce took several copied papers from his sleeve and handed them over.

"Please look, Marquis. These are his early essays. Although the writing style is somewhat immature, the sharp edge is fully revealed between the lines. The novelty of his arguments and the strictness of his logic far surpass his peers."

"Now look at this one. This subordinate had someone copy this from the Hanlin Academy—it's a remnant page of the great xing compendium he is currently copying for Attendant Scholar Guo. The handwriting is neat and steady, but it's like stagnant water, completely lacking Life Qi."

Marquis Yongchang took the papers and slowly scanned them with his gaze.

The transformation from that unrestrained, sharp vigor to this stiff, dull, mechanical style was too deliberate and too great.

"The report also mentioned," Wen Ce added, "that before the Provincial Examination that year, both Zhou Wenhai and the entire Qingshi County School believed he had the talent to take first place. Yet, the result was that he was only ranked seventy-third. That ranking seemed deliberately suppressed."

Marquis Yongchang listened in silence.

He gently placed the papers on the table.

He was not a bloodthirsty man, but occupying a high position, he deeply understood the importance of "nipping evil in the bud."

A talented young man from a poor, rootless family could be controlled or suppressed.

But a potential enemy who is "skilled at forbearance, possesses superior methods, and possibly harbors old grudges against us" must not be allowed to remain a future threat.

"Heh heh..." Marquis Yongchang suddenly chuckled softly.

The laugh was quiet, yet it caused Wen Ce, standing beside him, to feel an inexplicable chill.

"Zhou Wenhai... certainly took in a good disciple."

"A little fox who knows how to keep his tail tucked in."

"This boy has a deep and cunning mind, and his ambitions are not small. Since he cannot be used by me, he cannot be allowed to become a future problem."

"Wen Ce."

"This subordinate is here."

"Find a way to eliminate him."

Wen Ce replied, "Yes, Marquis."

...By the time Su Ming returned to the Small Courtyard, it was almost dark.

He closed the courtyard gate. He didn't light a lamp, choosing instead to quietly digest everything he had learned today in the darkness.

The Head of the Academy, Imperial Physician Li, a living ghost ill for three years.

Marquis Yongchang, Qingshi Town, those invisible eyes.

The two clues intertwined and wrapped around each other in his mind, forming a complex and dangerous net.

And he was right in the center of this net.

"Master, I think... I've made things even more complicated."

"As for Marquis Yongchang..." Lin Yu's tone turned serious. "Since he has become suspicious, he won't let the matter rest. We must acquire more trump cards before he makes a move."

Su Ming nodded.

Trump cards.

His biggest trump card right now was himself.

A Hanlin Academy Compiler who appeared harmless and unremarkable.

And the other trump card he needed was hidden within that royal Forbidden Ground named the Lantai Secret Garden.

If the Lantai Secret Garden held the information he wanted, including the location of the Sect, he wouldn't need to maneuver around them at all.

He opened his eyes, walked into the courtyard, and began practicing his fist techniques.

The whistling of the fists broke the quiet of the Small Courtyard.

He struck slowly, each move steady and powerful. His Qi and blood surged through his Meridians, gradually dispelling the coldness and fear accumulated during the day. The Spiritual Energy within his body rushed through his Meridians like a mighty river.

The hunters are no longer satisfied with just observing.

They have started setting traps, so he, the prey, cannot just focus on hiding.

He stopped moving, his gaze directed toward the Marquis Yongchangs Estate, his eyes profound.

Everything has just begun.