The three of them pooled what they had learned, piecing the fragments together.
"All right!" Zhao Yan tapped his forehead. "What the rest of you gathered matches what I have, so we can trust it. That settles the matter of Zhang Xizhi, then."
He added, "Whatever kind of man he was behind closed doors, this is how he behaved in daily life. When he led a mission out in front of his fellow disciples, he would not suddenly be any different."
"Rigorous." Jiang Chen raised a thumb.
Zhao Yan rolled his eyes and went on with the analysis. "There is one trait in Zhang Xizhi's character that everyone—his family, his friends—kept mentioning. 'Steady.' Another word for it, 'coward.' Everyone knows how dangerous the Qichang Mountains are. A man like that would only chase someone up there for one reason: the target was within reach, and he judged it would not take much time to make the climb and come back down again. The danger stayed within a manageable range."
He smiled. "Now what does that tell us?"
Ling Chuan smiled too. "It means they had no time to discuss anything. If the target was that close, their first instinct would be to pursue. Not to stop and argue it out. The story of Fang Lin talking them into lying in wait at the mountain's foot while Zhang Xizhi handed out assignments and insisted on climbing alone—that never happened."
"Ah, with Du Tiger gone, I cannot even see a hungry look of curiosity." Zhao Yan put on a deliberate show of dejection. "I am crushed."
"When Tiger comes back at New Year's Eve, go tell him yourself." Jiang Chen patted him on the shoulder. "And even if you forget, I will remind him for you."
"Hey! Remind him of what? What did I say? I do not remember saying a thing." Zhao Yan turned to Ling Chuan. "Brother, did I say anything just now?"
Ling Chuan ignored their horseplay and only mused, "Why would Fang Lin lie?"
Zhao Yan laughed lightly. "Either he ran away at the moment of battle, or he turned coat and sided with the enemy."
It could not have been a premeditated scheme, and it was hardly likely Fang Lin had already been in collusion with those heretics—because this kind of frame-up, one that could never be washed clean of the accuser himself, was too stupid. However foolish Fang Lin was, he was not foolish enough for that.
Ling Chuan said nothing more, but let out a sudden sigh.
He knew the Fang clan was finished.
The nature of this matter was too grave. The instant it came to light, Fang Lin's future was certain to be cut short. The entire Fang clan could well be dragged down with him.
"There is no need for us to inspect the site of the incident. We could not be more professional than the Justice Enforcement Bureau. The only thread left to follow is Fang Lin himself. Whether he fled or turned traitor, once we find out, we can make our report." Zhao Yan asked, "Who goes?"
"I will." Fang Lin might well be tangled up in heresy, and Jiang Chen was the strongest in combat, so he took it without demur.
Ling Chuan and Zhao Yan raised no objection, and they each went their own way.
If Fang Lin had truly gone over to the heretics, he might well have people watching them in secret. So they all behaved as naturally as they could.
Ling Chuan went back to cultivate. Jiang Chen returned to cultivate as well, and in passing instructed Jiang An'an and Tang Dun in the martial arts.
Zhao Yan went home to sleep.
...
"The others cultivate, I do not; high noontide is the time to sleep." So ran the old saying, and Zhao Yan had taken to the sloth of it long ago.
He had pushed himself through a full day's worth of grinding, and now that the thrill of puzzle-solving had passed, tedium set in.
Back in his room, he swept aside the quilt and prepared to turn in.
Uncle Deng, in his long silken robe, shuffled slowly in.
Zhao Yan looked at him, waiting for him to speak.
"The Justice Enforcement Bureau is looking into us." Uncle Deng said.
Zhao Yan was silent a moment. "We are not staying long anyway, are we?"
Uncle Deng pulled at the corner of his mouth. "Nothing gets past you."
"Who else could it have been that first night, when you bled, but a pack of our pursuers catching our trail?"
"Not catching up, exactly," said Uncle Deng. "I know how much you like this place. I took the long way around and lured them toward another direction."
"How long can we hold out here?"
Uncle Deng thought it over. "Until New Year's Eve."
"Then we can still spend the festival with them. That is good." Zhao Yan lay back, buried his face under the quilt, and his voice came up muffled from beneath the covers. "Let the Bureau poke around. If they go too far, you handle it as you see fit."
Uncle Deng smiled. "Of course."
...
Deep in the still night, Jiang Chen finished his evening cultivation, slipped quietly out of the room, and headed straight for the Fang clan's grounds.
After the door had latched shut for a while, Jiang An'an scrambled up, wrapped herself in her brother's heavy coat, produced a chubby little cloud-crane, and, kneeling over a small stool, began to write to that pretty elder sister.
Her brother was forever sneaking looks at her letters, yet fancied she did not know. She simply did not care to make an issue of it. But to keep her little secret safe, she now wrote and read her letters only at times when he was away, snatching whatever moments she could.
...
Shielded by the dark, Jiang Chen slipped into the Fang grounds without trouble.
He already knew the place well, and picked his way past the night-patrolling clan guards with care.
He had done this once before, together with Xiong Wen.
Compared to that night, the defenses on the grounds now were tighter, yet to Jiang Chen the spirit and bearing of the guards struck him as lesser than before.
Soon he drew near the house of the Fang household where Fang Lin lived, and began to search for the best ambush position. Zhao Yan had scouted the spot thoroughly during the day.
As Jiang Chen neared his target position, he found a figure already crouched there. From this angle only the back of its head was visible.
No need to guess—it had to be a man of the Justice Enforcement Bureau.
This was a possibility Zhao Yan had raised earlier.
If Jiang Chen and the others could trace the problem back to Fang Lin, then the Justice Enforcement Bureau was not blind either. That no findings had come out all this while was likely nothing more than a ploy to lull the target into complacency.
Jiang Chen did not act rashly. Holding his breath, he shifted to another place—a tree beside the back wall.
The winter branches were sparsely leaved, poor cover. But luckily the night itself was the best concealment of all.
Jiang Chen curled himself into a ball among the crooks of the tree, baring as little of himself as possible. With only his eyes, he watched the Fang residence.
He steadied his breath and waited for change.
...
The wind stirred the long night; the moon hid behind layered clouds.
The lamp in Fang Lin's room had long gone out, but at this moment he crossed the courtyard wall, and with a flick of his body, mounted the rooftop. He scanned the directions briefly, then dropped soundlessly to the ground and moved away.
From this series of silent movements alone, one could read the change in his strength. Perhaps he too had perfected the minor Zhou Heavenly circulation and stepped into the Zhou Heavenly realm!
Jiang Chen did not move at once, but waited patiently for a few breaths.
Sure enough, a shadow then slipped out—but from a position that was not the hidden sentry post of the Justice Enforcement Bureau that Jiang Chen had earlier marked.
There were three separate watch-parties tonight, all spying on Fang Lin!
Stranger still, this figure did not follow Fang Lin. Instead it turned and headed for another part of the Fang grounds. Jiang Chen remembered that direction—it was the way to the Fang ancestral hall.
Jiang Chen stayed utterly still for a few more breaths. Only then did the Bureau's hidden sentry emerge from its hiding place and set off after Fang Lin.
Still Jiang Chen did not move, waiting until that pursuer was nearly out of sight before slipping down from the tree. Silently, he went after him.
Only now could he be certain—tonight, there was no fourth watcher.