Nightwatcher

# 198. Another Brainstorming Session

*Solved the mystery… he’s uncovered it!?*

Everyone present wore expressions of joy, yet found it hard to believe. How had he done it when there seemed to be no clues?

Such a headless case, and he easily solved the mystery. Even though everyone had participated and discussed the case, with the same information and clues, they were all at a loss. How could he have solved it?

Was Xu Ningyan truly this formidable?

Inspector Zhang, who had been obsessively mulling over the "Miss Wen gets married" riddle, trembled and broke free of his restraints. Overjoyed, he grabbed Xu Qi’an's arm. At this moment, old Zhang lost the dignity of an Inspector General, repeatedly asking:

“You solved the mystery? Really, is it true?”

*If I say: just kidding… I’d probably get beaten to death…* Xu Qi’an stood up and walked outside, saying, “At the very least, we have a major breakthrough.”

Under everyone’s watchful eyes, he went to the courtyard of the station, took out the geographical map from the horse’s saddlebag, and returned to the hall to spread it out on the table.

“The secret of the riddle lies in the geographical map,” Xu Qi’an said, pressing the map with both hands and looking around to explain:

“A single jade pendant alone cannot convey information. Zhou Min must have found a way to provide Madam Yingying with more information, but to keep it secret, he used a word riddle. He deceived everyone, including Madam Yingying.

“But with Ziyang Jushi’s wisdom, he only needed to ask carefully, and he would definitely uncover the secret of the riddle.”

“Why is the riddle’s secret in the geographical map?” Zhu Guangxiao asked, frowning.

“Because the map is the easiest thing to obtain, and as a first-time visitor to Yunzhou, Ziyang Jushi would surely get one,” Xu Qi’an replied.

*Right, the geographical map was available at the post station. As a newcomer, obtaining a map would be a primary choice…* Everyone suddenly understood.

“Let’s verify whether my reasoning is correct,” Xu Qi’an said, looking down at the map. “The five characters in the riddle are thought, duke, report, imperial, bright: Si, Bo, Gao, Huang, Ming.”

Everyone crowded around the table, looking at the map with him.

The map covered almost the entire table, encompassing all of Baidi City. Streets, buildings, lakes, bridges, government offices, and more were marked on it.

They recited the five characters while searching for corresponding names.

Song Tingfeng suddenly pointed at a spot: “Siming Bridge!”

Everyone’s eyes followed his finger to the location, where the outline of an arch bridge was drawn, labeled in small characters: Siming Bridge.

Another Bronze Gong immediately pointed to another spot: “Here’s a Huangbo Street.”

The characters “Gao” and “Huang” didn’t correspond to any locations, especially “Imperial, Huang,” which was too taboo to appear on the map.

“The clue is likely in one of these two places,” Xu Qi’an analysed.

“Are the other two characters useless?” someone asked.

“The other characters might be red herrings, mixed in to confuse us. Let’s ignore them for now and focus on searching these two places to see if we find anything,” Xu Qi’an said.

Inspector Zhang selected six Nightwatchers, had them change into plain clothes, and sent them to investigate Huangbo Street. Xu Qi’an took Zhu Guangxiao and Song Tingfeng, his close companions, to check out Siming Bridge.

Huangbo Street was neither near nor far from the post station, about a dozen li. Siming Bridge was over twenty li away.

The three rode their horses at a gallop along the wide streets. The pavilions and courtyards along the way had a distinct southern charm, with white walls and black tiles, and loquat trees often planted in the courtyards.

Loquats were one of Yunzhou's specialties.

Furthermore, the clothing style of the common people here differed greatly from the capital; it was more liberal, with "little yellow people" everywhere.

In the capital, bright yellow fabric was reserved for the royal family, but in Yunzhou, Xu Qi’an saw quite a few pedestrians wearing bright yellow robes.

"Although the customs differ from place to place, isn't the court's control over Yunzhou too weak?" Xu Qi’an felt a growing concern.

"The climate here in Yunzhou is really uncomfortable, so damp and cold," Song Tingfeng remarked with a frown.

"Our capital is better. It's cold, but not this chilling. Today, when I was seeing off some merchants, I saw pedestrians shivering as they walked," Zhu Guangxiao added.

"You two are like northern wolves, frozen into huskies in the south," Xu Qi’an laughed. Of course, as a Refining Qi-level martial artist, he was no longer affected by the weather, so he was merely teasing.

The two looked at him blankly. *What are huskies?*

In truth, in this era, winters in the south were much better than in the north. Poor families would gather straw during winter, and with a shelter to keep out the wind and rain, they could survive the season.

It was different in the north. Many impoverished people who couldn't afford coal would silently die during winter.

After all, there was no central heating in the northern regions of Feng.

Another point: in the southern winter, riding a horse would make your nose run. In the north, riding a horse in winter would freeze your nose until it was useless.

Half an hour later, they reached their destination.

Siming Bridge spanned a small river and was an arch bridge with two large and two small arches, carved from white marble and covered in moss.

The three carefully inspected the bridge for a long time. Finally, Xu Qi’an's eyes locked onto a protruding brick on the outside of the bridge.

Grasping the brick with two fingers, he slowly pulled it out, extracting the brick, which was the size of a tile, bit by bit.

He reached into the hole left by the brick and felt around for a moment, eventually pulling out a brocade pouch.

Sure enough, it was this brocade pouch that had prevented the brick from fitting perfectly.

“There’s actually something here!” Song Tingfeng exclaimed in joy, moving closer and urging, “Open it and see what it is.”

Xu Qi’an opened the brocade pouch and found a piece of paper inside. Unfolding it, he saw:

> MO 162

> 347 4 1 2

*MO 162. 347, 4, 1, 2… What do these numbers mean… Damn, Zhou Min was really a genius… so elaborate… but he's dead now…* Xu Qi’an stared at the note, falling into silence.

Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao exchanged confused looks. The former asked blankly, “What does it mean?”

“How should I know!” Xu Qi’an retorted irritably, “We’re all Nightwatchers, is the gap so huge? Look at Zhou Min, an undercover agent, far better than you two. There’s no comparison, no comparison…”

“Undercover agents are top-notch talents, each with their own specialties. Otherwise, how could they carry out covert missions?” Song Tingfeng defended himself, unwilling to accept the criticism, “We Nightwatchers at the constabulary are only responsible for physical force.”

Undercover agents were specialised talents with either meticulous minds or exceptional intelligence, while the Nightwatchers at the constabulary are just responsible for brute force. The two roles are different.

At that time. it was getting to dusk.

Xu Qi’an put away the note and said helplessly, “Let’s head back first.”

Awaiting them… no, awaiting him, would be another brainstorm.

…

The Station

Because Huangbo Street was closer to the station, the Nightwatchers who went to investigate that street had already returned, bringing back disappointing news.

“No discoveries? Did you really investigate thoroughly?” Inspector Zhang questioned.

“That street is almost deserted during the day. We asked the residents of the neighboring street and found out it's a dog market. It only opens at night, and right now, there’s no one there,” replied the frustrated Bronze Gong who went to investigate.

A street wasn’t large enough to be large, but not small enough to be small. What could they discover by running around like headless chickens? Just ask everyone: “Hey, sorry but do you know the clerk Zhou Min from the Military Commission Office?”

“Ugh!” The Nightwatchers were disheartened and shook their heads.

Inspector Zhang drank some tea, sat for a while, then became restless and started pacing back and forth in the hall.

There were no clues from Huangbo Street, so they could only wait for news from Xu Ningyan’s side. If they also found nothing, the case would be back to square one, and they would be at a standstill.

“We must find something; otherwise, it will become a cold case...” Inspector Zhang muttered.

His muttering was heard clearly by several Silver Gongs and Jiang Lyuzhong.

“They’re back,” exclaimed a Bronze Gong at the door with delight.

Everyone turned in unison to look at the door, watching Xu Qi’an return with his two colleagues.

“How did it go?” Jiang Lyuzhong hurriedly asked.

Inspector Zhang clenched his fist under his robe, nervously and expectantly staring at them.

Xu Qi’an took out the note and placed it on the table. In an instant, a dozen hands reached out to grab it.

Smack!

Jiang Lyuzhong slapped away all the hands and quickly snatched the note, unfolding it. His brows furrowed as he read it:

“What does this mean?”

*Alright, it’s not a secret code used by the Nightwatchers...* Xu Qi’an concluded.

“Let me see!” Inspector Zhang rushed over, snatched the note from Jiang Lyuzhong, and saw the two sets of numbers written on it:

> MO 162

> 347 4 1 2

Inspector Zhang fell into a prolonged state of contemplation, recalling all the classics he had read, and then dismissed the possibility of these numbers referencing literary allusions.

*This is just like the "Miss Wen gets married" riddle, another infuriating puzzle...* Inspector Zhang was distressed and noticed Xu Qi’an silently heading upstairs.

“Ningyan, where are you going?”

Xu Qi’an turned back on the stairs, looking exhausted, and said, “Going to my room to meditate, or I feel like I might collapse any moment. I- I haven’t slept for twelve days.”

“!!!” Jiang Lyuzhong’s eyebrows twitched fiercely.

He already knew Xu Qi’an was attempting to break through to the Refining Spirit level. Back on the canal, Xu Qi’an had asked similar questions about how to break through to the Refining Spirit level.

Seeing his darkening eye circles over the past few days, Jiang Lyuzhong suspected that Xu Qi’an was indeed trying to break through. He just didn’t know how many days Xu Qi’an had been pushing himself.

*Twelve days, and he still hadn’t reached his limit, even fought a battle in between...*

This meant Xu Qi’an’s spiritual potential was immense. If he broke through to the Refining Spirit level, his spirit would undergo a full transformation.

Jiang Lyuzhong himself had taken sixteen days to break through to the Refining Spirit level, similar to other Gold Gongs.

“Judging by this kid’s state, twelve days clearly isn’t his limit. I wonder how long he can hold out,” thought Jiang Lyuzhong, then said seriously, “Remember not to fall asleep.”

Back in his room, Xu Qi’an took off his shoes, sat cross-legged on the bed, and began to practice breathing exercises and visualising the Giant figure, occasionally switching to the Roaring Golden Lion.

As he was getting into the right state, he suddenly heard a knock on the door.

“What is it?” He opened his eyes.

“Ningyan, are you feeling better?” Inspector Zhang’s voice came from the doorway. After Xu Qi’an gave an affirmative answer, Inspector Zhang immediately said, “Come with me to a banquet. Let’s meet some officials of Yunzhou.”

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