"No, none at all, so," Jing Minghe smiled, feigning sincerity as he asked, "was I spacing out like before, on the stage?"
Chi Hao didn't dwell on the issue of trust. He simply said, "It looked the same to me. What about you?"
"Myself?" Jing Minghe habitually tapped his chin. "It was different. On stage, I didn't feel anything at all. To me, it was just a few seconds of standing still, and then you came to tell me I was spacing out. But this time..."
"How so?"
Jing Minghe didn't answer Chi Hao's question immediately. Instead, he glanced around and asked, "Where are those two big guys?"
"Over there." Chi Hao gestured slightly with his chin in a certain direction.
On the ground?
Jing Minghe followed his gaze. Although there was enough moonlight, the alley was mostly in shadow. Jing Minghe squinted for a long time, only seeing two things that looked like cloth.
The ground in this alley was uneven and cracked, but it was very clean, with nothing else apart from those two cloth-like things.
Even so, Jing Minghe wanted to confirm if Chi Hao was joking with him. "Where?"
Chi Hao's tone remained unchanged. "They're the two red cloths you see."
"Red cloths?" Jing Minghe moved closer. "Brother, it's so dark, you can tell they're red cloths? Why red cloths?"
"Too much nonsense."
After saying that, Chi Hao didn't wait for Jing Minghe's explanation and walked straight towards the alley entrance.
Jing Minghe quickly caught up. "Did you kill those two big guys, and they turned into red cloths?"
Chi Hao remained silent. Jing Minghe took it as an affirmation. "Big shots are indeed big shots. Those two guys must have been tough to deal with. You managed to take care of them all by yourself, impressive. So, you protected me just now, thanks."
Jing Minghe sensed an impatient aura emanating from Chi Hao and decided to stop teasing him. His expression turned slightly serious, and he explained earnestly, "This time is indeed different from last time. I seem to have entered another space, but I couldn't see anything. I only heard a woman's voice."
Chi Hao finally reacted. "A voice?"
"Yes, she said a few strange things." Jing Minghe recalled slightly. "She asked me to save her, saying she was with me, and there was one very peculiar line."
"Oh?" Chi Hao turned to look at Jing Minghe.
Jing Minghe said word by word, "It sounded like 'Seven Emotions play with pearls, true heart given entirely'."
"'Seven Emotions play with pearls, true heart given entirely?'" Chi Hao repeated, and asked Jing Minghe, "What pearl? Which 'given'?"
"Huh?" Jing Minghe was taken aback by Chi Hao's question. "What do you mean?"
Chi Hao continued, "Did you really hear clearly what she said? 'Seven Emotions' shouldn't be wrong. What about 'play with pearls'? And 'true heart given entirely', is it the character for 'give' or the character for 'fail'?"
Chi Hao's question made Jing Minghe even more uncertain about what he had heard, but he felt it was generally correct, though he couldn't be sure about the specifics.
"If this is related to the clearance clue," Chi Hao said seriously, "you'd better think about it carefully."
Jing Minghe nodded. "Okay, I understand."
As he spoke, he couldn't help but complain, "The clearance clue this time is too obscure, isn't it? Is this happening only to me? You didn't have this?"
"I didn't. As for others... I'm not sure."
Jing Minghe believed that the clearance clue was unlikely to be placed on just one person. "I need to find an opportunity to ask them."
"Mm."
The two of them returned to the mayor's house. The two guards at the side gate had already been dealt with by Chi Hao, and they successfully slipped in through the side gate.
Almost every room in the mayor's house was adorned with red lanterns and red sashes. This should have been a joyous decoration, but considering everything related to red from before, Jing Minghe couldn't help but shiver. It felt not festive at all, but rather eerie and unsettling.
"It's too quiet," Chi Hao said in a low voice. "Quieter than the ancestral hall."
Jing Minghe tried to explain, "It's so late, everyone must be asleep, so it's naturally quiet."
"Separate, and search for people."
"Okay."
Although Jing Minghe was reluctant to split up with Chi Hao, worried about his previous condition, the mayor's house was a large three-courtyard compound. They had to find He Duo, who had been brought to the mayor's house, as quickly as possible and figure out what it meant to "stabilize the mayor's son."
There were too few clues in this instance so far. It was at this moment that Jing Minghe realized how simple and straightforward the first instance had been.
The two separated, with Jing Minghe cautiously searching from room to room. The red lanterns hanging outside each room were lit, yet there was no sound. Therefore, every footstep of his sounded exceptionally out of place.
This sense of incongruity made Jing Minghe uncomfortable, so he could only try to move more quietly, which naturally slowed down his search.
After searching his half, Jing Minghe not only didn't find He Duo but also didn't see anyone who could be the mayor's son.
Slightly disappointed, he arrived at the pre-arranged meeting spot with Chi Hao. Just as he was about to crouch down to rest and wait for Chi Hao, the originally silent night was suddenly broken by a cacophony of footsteps and voices. Jing Minghe quickly ducked behind the nearest water vat to hide.
"Search meticulously! Not a single fly is allowed to escape!"
Jing Minghe recognized the mayor's voice.
Immediately after, Jing Minghe heard the mayor ask the person next to him, "Third brother, are you sure it's her?"
"It's her! It must be her. She's found us. Brother, what, what do we do? What do we do?"
"What are you afraid of!" the mayor roared. "Her ashes are still in our hands! I doubt she dares to do anything to us. Even if she dares to kill us, she won't get any peace herself!"
Jing Minghe listened intently, his doubts growing.
"Brother," another voice reached Jing Minghe's ears, "before the old man left, he said those outsiders could solve our problem. What did he mean by that?"
"Who cares what he meant," the mayor's tone was extremely impatient. "Old Hu will arrange everything. If you find anyone who is detrimental to us, kill them all!"
"How can that be? What if..."
"There's no 'what if'!" the mayor interrupted. "I decide what to do! What are you dawdling here for! Go find that damned girl for me now!"
With the mayor's command, everyone scattered in different directions.
Jing Minghe cautiously hid behind the water vat, not daring to make a sound. He listened carefully. Feeling that everyone had moved away, he prepared to go find Chi Hao. Before he could even stand up, he heard someone approaching.
Judging by the footsteps, the person approaching him was definitely not Chi Hao.