Chapter 186: Chapter 158: The Informant

The Ruyi Building in the south of the city is quite famous, home to the Qing’an Troupe which performs an opera every three days and also takes on various events such as weddings and funerals for opera performances.

When Sang Que found the Ruyi Building, its doors were tightly closed; they only open in the late afternoon near dusk.

Opposite the Ruyi Building is a very elegant two-story building with a bamboo plaque hanging that reads ’Half a Day’s Leisure.’

As Sang Que walked in, a young attendant with a cloth draped over his shoulder approached, “Esteemed guest, we don’t serve guests in the morning here, please come back at noon.”

In the main hall on the first floor, the staff was busy cleaning and arranging tables and utensils.

Sang Que took out three Copper Coins and gave them to the attendant, “I want to inquire about something.”

The attendant sized up Sang Que before accepting the Copper Coins, “Please wait here for a moment.”

Sang Que found a clean table by the entrance, pulled out a bench, and sat down. Xuan Yu jumped off her shoulder and sniffed in the direction the attendant left.

Meow~

Sang Que chuckled, “You’re just a little cat, how come you’re acting like a police dog?”

Xuan Yu indicated the attendant had a strange smell.

After waiting about five minutes, an old man dressed shabbily, with bulbous nose and squinty eyes, reeking of alcohol, came out from the back of the building.

He squinted for a long time before confirming that it was Sang Que looking for him. Wobbling over, he sat down, putting one foot up on the bench, and asked sideways, “Young lady, what do you want to ask me? The starting price for information is fifty cents.”

Sang Que was taken aback for a moment before asking, “Will you issue a receipt?”

Only with a receipt could she claim reimbursement from the Evil Suppression Bureau; otherwise, would she have to pay out of her own pocket?

How could that be!

The old man was also baffled by Sang Que’s question, thinking, what is a receipt?

Sang Que took out fifty cents, pushed them in front of the old man, and without beating around the bush, directly asked, “Since you’re the one who knows everything, you must have heard about Buiyi Lane. I’m asking one thing: how can I find the Thousand-faced Ghost?”

The old man counted the coins and suddenly laughed, with a clear tone of mockery.

“You really think that affair was done by the Thousand-faced God? Let me tell you, absolutely impossible, it’s clearly a frame-up!”

The old man’s certain tone made Sang Que suspicious, so she continued to ask, “How are you so sure?”

Hiccup~

The old man pocketed the coins and hiccupped, “The five families who died, all the men in those families had been to ’Xinglong Gambling House,’ and they prayed to the Thousand-faced God hoping for a turnaround in their fortunes.”

“Night Traveler, you should check out the gambling house. As for your cat, shoo, shoo, don’t let it come near me.”

Meow-wow!

The old man pushed away Xuan Yu, who had moved closer. Xuan Yu howled, hissing at the old man.

“What an impolite cat, do you have more questions? Another piece of information will cost you a hundred cents, hiccup~”

Sang Que glanced at Xuan Yu, then at the old man slouched in the chair, and suddenly asked, “Where did that attendant go earlier?”

The old man casually glanced around the hall, “How should I know, if you have nothing to do, please leave, find it yourself.”

The old man stood up, ready to leave, when Sang Que suddenly grabbed his wrist.

The hall remained as it was, but the people cleaning inside suddenly vanished. Even though it was morning, the outside was eerily dark, like nighttime.

The old man slowly sat back down, unable to shake off Sang Que’s grip, and asked displeased, “What do you mean by this?”

Sang Que used her other hand to rub Xuan Yu’s head and slowly said, “My little cat smelled the same strange odor on you and that attendant earlier. After you appeared, the previous attendant disappeared. Old man, you wouldn’t happen to be…”

Before finishing her sentence, Sang Que sharply pulled at the old man’s sleeve, and at that moment, the old man jumped up from the chair.

Sang Que only felt she had pulled up an empty piece of clothing; the person beneath it had vanished into thin air. Even though she had spread out the Evil Mist, she still couldn’t find any trace.

This person seemed quite capable and very likely the rider of the Thousand-faced Ghost she and Yu Da were looking for.

It was unknown whether this person was actually someone who knew everything, or if they were deliberately disguised as such to inform her that the Thousand-faced Ghost was framed.

Sang Que withdrew the Evil Mist, and the people in the hall continued to bustle around, completely unaware of the earlier anomaly.

“Let’s go find Old Yu.”

Sang Que picked up Xuan Yu and left Half a Day’s Leisure, inquired around, and found that Xinglong Gambling House was near Buiyi Lane, a gambling establishment that only opened at night.

When she found Yu Da, Yu Da had also learned from one family in Buiyi Lane that among the five families involved, the man from the Zhao family had once sought fortune from the Thousand-faced Ghost, only to be thrown into a latrine. When rescued, his face still had the words ’rotten gambling ghost’ written on it.

They didn’t mention it when the constables asked because they believed the Thousand-faced Ghost was good, and begging for minor matters always worked. They didn’t want the Evil Suppression Bureau to deal with the Thousand-faced Ghost.

Yu Da had to use some means to find out the truth.

Combining the information from Sang Que, the Xinglong Gambling House might be the source of this incident. Neither expected to uncover the truth so quickly.

Just as the two were about to investigate Xinglong Gambling House, Wei Wu, who had stayed at the Housekeeper’s House overnight, appeared with his men to inquire about Yu Da’s progress.

Yu Da reported everything truthfully, and Wei Wu told Yu Da and Sang Que to go back and rest, saying he would handle the rest.

On the way back to the Evil Suppression Bureau, Sang Que remained silent with a stern face, stroking Xuan Yu in her arms.

Yu Da caught up with Sang Que, who was walking briskly, and chuckled to persuade, “What’s there to be angry about? This matter was supposed to be handled by Wei Wu anyway.”

“But after he finishes investigating, he definitely won’t allocate us any Merit Points based on contribution.”

Sang Que still wanted to save up a thousand points to exchange for a candle. She often encountered Evil Ghosts, and the candle would be very useful to her.

Not to mention stealing the credit, today she also wasted fifty-three cents, and Wei Wu didn’t even say he would reimburse her.

This lousy job, she simply didn’t want to do it anymore!

Yu Da nonchalantly laughed, “If there aren’t any, then there aren’t, you’re just too young, seeing things openly will let you live longer. Even if Wei Wu didn’t intervene today, I wouldn’t have gone straight into the gambling house. I would just have taken you to look around the entrance and question some surrounding people, and then report everything to Wei Wu.”

Sang Que glanced at Yu Da and understood why he was still at a copper medal after eight years, and perhaps Yan Daozi was similar, refusing to engage in dangerous matters, which is why it took him five years to save two thousand Merit Points and exchange for two candles.

They’re all experts!

“It’s still early, come on Sang Er, I know a place that serves nice noodles, let me treat you to a bowl, and I’ll continue to tell you about the Yansheng coin.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep