Chapter 118: Lurking

Zhang Xingmin and Yang Dalong returned to the hotel without drawing any special attention. Even the innkeeper merely exchanged a few casual words, remarking that it had been days since he last saw them and that he couldn’t find them to deliver their meals. No one else said much; presumably, they had no idea that the two had actually been captured.

Zhang Xingmin and Yang Dalong didn’t dare linger outside. They hurried back to their room to rest.

Once inside, they immediately stripped off the strange robes they had been wearing and threw them into the trash. They checked their wounds, cleaned them again, applied some medicine, wrapped the injuries with bandages, and then went back to sleep.

The past few days had truly been exhausting; it felt as if they had barely survived.

They slept for an unknown length of time until someone knocked on the door, waking them both.

Unsurprisingly, it was Yan Ze who had come. In fact, Yan Ze had visited them here just a few days ago. Besides his curiosity about why these two appeared in this place and why the trio was missing one member, what left the deepest impression on him was their willingness to do absolutely anything to achieve their goals—such as pretending to be a couple. Although many countries around the world now recognize same-sex marriage, even the most conservative parts of Asia have started to accept it. Yet in the Old City, it was absolutely forbidden. Fortunately, Yan Ze had witnessed it; otherwise, they might have been caught hours earlier.

Returning today, Yan Ze saw that the two were still so carefree and even staying in a couple’s suite. He couldn’t tell whether it was their recklessness or the innkeeper’s deliberate intention. He decided they needed to be relocated soon to better conceal their identities.

“You’re here!” Dalong rubbed his sleepy eyes and opened the door for Yan Ze.

Yan Ze said nothing but scanned the room before settling down on the sofa.

Dalong didn’t bother changing clothes; he sat down beside him in his pajamas.

By the time Zhang Xingmin had dressed, the three had no chance for pleasantries and went straight to the point: planning their next move. They had no time to lose because Wu Jianxue was already suspicious.

After Zhang Xingmin and Yang Dalong’s successful escape from the altar with Yan Ze’s help, Wu Jianxue, who had just recovered physically, returned to inspect the scene a few hours later. This was his habit: to check if his subordinates performed their tasks cleanly and efficiently and to see if the ancestral spirits bred beneath the blood altar were behaving.

Though he found no clear evidence, his instincts told him something was amiss. Zhang Xingmin and Yang Dalong were not supernatural geniuses, but two capable young men who had overturned his Great Wilderness Mountain base and defeated him in Jinling City. Could they really have died so easily?

While Dalong and Zhang Xingmin rested at the inn, Wu Jianxue counted his men. None were missing, but a few were unable to clearly account for their whereabouts over the past two days. Hopefully, they were just loitering somewhere, too embarrassed to admit it. The most suspicious was one who returned too smoothly, as if he had rehearsed answers in advance.

Wu Jianxue was certain he had never seen this man before, though his demeanor was familiar—somewhat like one of his prized disciples. Highly suspicious, he checked the guard captain’s file and found it blank.

Indeed, the blank file belonged to Yan Ze himself. He knew Wu Jianxue would eventually suspect him, so he kept a low profile, especially now that suspicion had arisen. He hadn’t dared to approach the two young men.

Fortunately, Zhang and Dalong were smart enough to stay put, waiting for his arrival to discuss their plans.

In truth, Yan Ze had already devised a strategy: Zhang Xingmin and Yang Dalong would assume other identities and go undercover, acting according to circumstances. Specifically, the identities were ready—two members of the City Patrol Guard. “Acting according to circumstances” meant trying to expose Wu Jianxue’s staged supernatural acts whenever possible, shaking the faith of his devoted followers, causing them to lose their spiritual support and regain the ability to discern truth from falsehood. Of course, if those believers felt betrayed and sought revenge, there was little they could do to stop it.

Dalong and Zhang readily agreed to the undercover plan. Though they knew it was Yan Ze’s design, for his own purposes, they accepted willingly. After all, they owed Yan Ze several favors and couldn’t repay them anytime soon. Once assured Yan Ze wouldn’t betray them or force them to compromise their integrity, serving as his pawns was not a problem.

What worried Dalong and Zhang, however, was being recognized. A fake is always a fake; appearances alone made it hard to fool the public, as people were not blind.

Yan Ze had anticipated this concern. Having been here for over a month, he had coincidentally met others who shared his goals, including a captain of the City Patrol Guard. This was part of why he told Zhang and Dalong to impersonate the patrol guards: not only did they have access to first-hand information and could conveniently appear at strange incident scenes, but they also had protection.

After receiving several injections and a thorough disguise, Dalong and Zhang reported to the City Patrol Guard. As Yan Ze had promised, their captain was well acquainted with him. This allowed Dalong and Zhang to skip the rookie phase and become patrol captains immediately.

Though the role was demanding, it was also fascinating. On their first day as patrol captains, Dalong and Zhang spotted the innkeeper who had sheltered them earlier conspiring with a man dressed in black.

They did not rush to expose them but instead quietly—or rather openly—eavesdropped on the conversation between the innkeeper and the mysterious stranger.

What they heard infuriated Dalong. He had thought the innkeeper was kind-hearted and benevolent, but he was nothing more than a smiling wolf in sheep’s clothing. Despite the Old City’s ban on sheltering outsiders that had been in place for a week before their arrival, the innkeeper risked his life not out of kindness, but to make a profit—waiting for the buyers to arrive, fattening his “prey” in the meantime.