Bai Fan was just about to speak when he suddenly clutched his stomach, his face contorting in pain.
“Sister Yun, I can’t hold it. My stomach hurts—I need to get to the latrine!”
Gu Qingyun snapped back to reality and gave him a once-over.
“Did you eat something bad?”
“Aiyo, I really can’t hold it! I’ll tell you when I get back. Wait for me!” Bai Fan’s stomach was churning violently. He sprinted toward the nearest latrine, terrified that a second too late would mean soiling his pants.
Gu Qingyun’s face filled with dark lines, leaving her no choice but to stand by the roadside and wait.
...
At Mount Lianyuan.
Nearing midnight, Old Ma drove his carriage, speeding toward Jiangyin County. As he passed through a mountain trail, he swallowed hard, his knuckles white from gripping the reins so tightly.
In the mountain trail, only the sound of carriage wheels grinding over gravel echoed through the night. Old Ma sat rigidly, his eyes glued ahead.
“Hyah!” The reins slapped against the horses ahead, and they quickened their gallop.
Suddenly, the horses ground to an abrupt halt, their hooves trampling in place. White vapor puffed from their nostrils as low whickers escaped their throats. Their manes bristled, hind legs tensed, heads held high, and eyes wide with terror.
Old Ma stroked the backs of the two horses, his voice trembling uncontrollably.
“Old partners, what’s wrong? Get moving, we’ll be home soon.”
No matter how Old Ma tried to soothe them, the usually docile brown horses refused to take even a single step forward.
Just as he was about to raise his whip, Old Ma abruptly looked up and discovered that, without him noticing, a dense fog had rolled into the mountain trail.
“Hee-hee.” An eerie chuckle drifted into his ears. Old Ma’s hairs stood on end, and his heart sank.
Beside the trail, a figure had appeared at some point, indistinct and hazy. Yet Old Ma knew that thing was staring at him. His breathing grew heavy. Clapping one hand over his mouth to stifle a scream, he grabbed the axe beside him with the other.
Don’t panic, don’t panic. Last time, Proprietress Gu had said not to let fear weaken one’s Yang energy. Whatever it was, don’t look, don’t speak.
Looking at the shadow in the mist, Old Ma felt utter despair. Was he going to die here? What would happen to his large family back home?
Old Ma had driven carriages for decades, and other drivers he knew had met with fatal accidents on the road. He never imagined his turn would come today.
“Hee-hee-hee...”
The laughter drew closer to the carriage, making the two horses even more agitated. A chilling wind blew inside, and Old Ma cried out in terror:
“Stay away!” In his panic, a searing heat radiated from against his chest. He frantically reached into his robes and pulled out the talisman—the one Proprietress Gu had given him.
The talisman grew scorching hot and suddenly burst with a blinding golden light. The light radiated across the mountain trail, and the ground mist and ghostly shadow began to recede, as if having encountered their natural enemy.
Drenched in cold sweat, Old Ma didn’t dare pause. Decades of driving experience kicked in instantly; he shoved the talisman back into his robes and cracked his whip. The two brown horses bolted, their speed more than doubling their usual pace in a frantic, desperate dash for survival.
Only after escaping the mountain trail did Old Ma finally rein in the carriage. Panting heavily, he slumped on the driver’s seat and stared at the talisman paper that had burned to ash, his eyes filled with the joy of surviving a catastrophe.
If not for the talisman paper Proprietress Gu had given him, he surely would have lost his life today, just like Old Zhou and the others.
...
“Bai Fan, are you done yet, you brat? How many times has it been? How about you just head back to the county yamen, and I’ll patrol alone?” Gu Qingyun called out exasperatedly.
“Coming, coming!” Bai Fan jogged over from not far away, looking rather weak on his feet.
“I told you not to eat random things. Meat that fatty, with the grease completely congealed—of course your stomach was going to give out. Forget it, I’ll take you back to the county yamen. I’ll patrol alone tonight so you can get some proper rest.”
Gu Qingyun took a step back, sensing an unpleasant odor lingering on him.
Bai Fan groaned inwardly. How could he have known this would happen? It was meat! Meat was so precious, and he had saved it especially to satisfy his cravings. Aiyo, he couldn’t even think about it; his stomach was starting to cramp again.
Seeing him like that, Gu Qingyun had no choice. She seized his arm, broke into a trot, and dumped him at the side gate of the county yamen.
“All right, hurry to the latrine and rest inside for the night. I can handle the second half of the night alone,” Gu Qingyun said calmly. Without waiting for his response, she headed straight to patrol the next street.
The rest of the night passed peacefully. Soon, it was the fifth watch, the busiest hour for night soil collectors. Remembering that Xiao Huan, the maidservant of the County Magistrate’s eldest daughter, had sought her out earlier that day for something, Gu Qingyun took a detour to the Houzai Gate, just in time to run into a night soil collector emerging from inside.
The moment the night soil collector approached with his cart, a foul, nauseating stench assaulted her nostrils. For the first time, Gu Qingyun felt that having overly keen senses wasn’t a blessing; she could barely breathe.
She sized up the night soil collector: around thirty years old, dark-skinned, short, and bearing a pair of triangular eyes that made one uncomfortable just looking at him.
“Constable, my apologies! Sorry for offending your nose. I’ll be on my way right now.” The night soil collector bowed with an ingratiating smile and hurried outward with his cart. As the cart passed, Gu Qingyun furrowed her brow and looked at him.
“Hasn’t an old woman always collected the night soil around here? How come it’s an unfamiliar face like you?”
“Oh, Granny Liu threw out her back and needs to rest for a few days. I’m filling in for her for a bit,” the night soil collector quickly explained.
Gu Qingyun’s brow furrowed slightly. She scrutinized him carefully, but he was merely an ordinary mortal. Perhaps because she stared for too long, the night soil collector grew awkward, unsure of where to place his hands and feet.
Gu Qingyun waved her hand.
“All right, go on.”
Once the night soil collector left, Gu Qingyun stepped through the Houzai Gate, only to find the two older women guarding the gate snoring soundly. Gu Qingyun knocked on the door, jolting them awake.
“Yo, Constable Gu, what brings you here?” A thick-waisted, burly woman stretched and asked.
Gu Qingyun smiled politely.
“Sister Xiao Huan was looking for me, so I took a detour to see her. By the way, I just ran into the night soil collector. You two aunties should pay closer attention over the next few days.
“The person collecting the night soil is a man. If he disturbs the County Magistrate’s family, it won’t be easy to answer for, right? Once the old woman comes back, you two can relax a bit more, and catching some sleep at night won’t cause any trouble.”
“Ain’t that the truth! Sigh, now that we’re old, staying up all night like this is hard to bear. But you’re right, Constable Gu; we really ought to keep watch these few days.
“If he disturbs the madam or the young miss, we’d probably be sold off.” At the thought of those consequences, the two women were jarred wide awake.
“It’s fine as long as you keep an eye out for these few days.” After going over the precautions with the two women, Gu Qingyun headed straight to the wing room where the County Magistrate’s eldest daughter resided.
Just as she reached the wing room, she saw the maidservant Xiao Huan standing guard beneath the veranda, leaning against a pillar with her head nodding off.
Gu Qingyun briskly walked over and patted her lightly from behind, startling her so badly that she shuddered, her face turning pale. Turning around and realizing who it was, she swat at Gu Qingyun several times in annoyance.
“Qingyun, how could you scare me like that? After all the snacks I bring you, this is how you repay me?”
Gu Qingyun raised both hands in surrender.
“Sister Xiao Huan, my mistake! Didn’t I come looking for you the first chance I got because I heard you were looking for me? It’s my fault for frightening you.
“By the way, Sister Xiao Huan, what did you need to see me about?” Gu Qingyun asked, her expression turning serious.
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