novelSusiti Chapter 580 Tuoba Yan
Chapter 580 Tuoba Yan
Before dawn, the morning light at Fenglingdu was a cold gray, like an old cloth that had been washed too many times, thinly spread over the rooftops and walls.
When Qin Mu pushed open the door, he saw the female shopkeeper standing at the end of the corridor, holding a roll of paper in her arms. The edges of the paper were slightly curled up by the wind. She stood there like a plant transplanted into unfamiliar soil, its roots not yet fully developed, but she had already decided to stand still first.
When she saw Qin Mu, she didn't hesitate. She quickly walked over, stopped two steps away from him, and handed him the roll of paper.
"Sir, I have written down everything you requested."
Her voice was lower than the night before, with a hoarse quality from not having slept all night.
She handed the paper with a hint of caution, as if she were handing over something very fragile.
Qin Mu took the roll of paper, but didn't rush to open it. He simply held it in his hand and weighed it in his hand.
"Come in."
He turned and went back into the room, sat down at the table, and spread the roll of paper out on the table.
The paper was covered with writing, the handwriting not very neat, with a kind of hasty writing in a hurry, but every stroke was very solid, and it was clear that it had been checked repeatedly.
The entries are listed clearly, from three months ago to now. Every record of entering and leaving Fenglingdu is marked next to it, including who, when, which direction they went, what they brought, and who they met.
Several places were circled in charcoal, with brief notes written next to them.
"This person seems to have connections with the royal court."
"This batch of goods is being shipped through the Xuan Yin Sect's channels."
"Someone is following us."
Qin Mu's fingertips slowly slid across the pages, his gaze lingering on each of the circled entries for a moment. He said nothing, but he didn't look away either.
After reading it, he gently closed the paper, placed it on the corner of the table, leaned back in his chair, and stared at the female shopkeeper.
She was wearing a faded gray cotton blouse, and her hair had been combed again, but a stray strand still slipped from behind her ear and fell across her cheek. She ignored it, as if she no longer cared about such trivial matters.
Qin Mu looked at her, and after a moment spoke:
"You seem to know quite a lot."
The female shopkeeper lowered her head, as if considering how to speak without saying something she shouldn't.
After a moment, she raised her head, her voice more steady than she had expected:
"If you stay in Fenglingdu for too long, you'll stumble upon some things even if you don't want to know them."
She paused for a moment, then said, "In the world of martial arts, the more you know, the more dangerous it is, but conversely, the less you know, the worse it is. A single decision by those in power could implicate innocent bystanders and cause you to die quietly here. So sometimes, it's essential to know the things you need to know."
After she finished speaking, she didn't look away, as if waiting for a response, or as if confirming that she hadn't said anything wrong.
Qin Mu looked at her, the smile on his lips momentarily illuminated by the morning light:
"Quite smart."
he asks:
"Why would a smart person get involved in running a shady business?"
The female shopkeeper was silent for a moment, as if seriously considering how to answer the question, and then she said:
"It's a quick way to make money. In Fenglingdu, there are more people who make money dishonestly than honestly. I just wanted to survive. After a while, I got used to it."
She spoke these words in a very flat tone, as if she were stating something she hadn't re-examined in a long time.
Qin Mu tapped his fingers lightly twice on the edge of the table:
"You won't have to do this kind of thing anymore."
The female shopkeeper's eyelashes fluttered suddenly, and her gaze lingered on Qin Mu's face for a moment, as if trying to gauge how long the tension could last:
"You...you're not going to kill me, are you?"
Qin Mu looked at her, as if she had asked a very interesting question:
"You deserve to die. You dared to set your sights on me."
The female shopkeeper paused for a moment, her fingers curling slightly inside her sleeve before relaxing, like a hand preparing to catch something falling, already poised to catch it, yet still unsure whether it was light or heavy.
Qin Mu leaned back in his chair, his gaze fixed on the slowly brightening sky outside the window:
"I've decided to give you a chance."
His gaze returned to her face:
"Since you can record everyone who has come and gone from Fenglingdu in the past three months, it means you have more than just this one roll of paper. I want you to stay in Fenglingdu and continue your business. Get any news to me. If you can do that, you can keep your life. If you can't, this roll of paper will be the last thing you write."
The female shopkeeper stood there, listening quietly, like someone weighing the chips in her hand to see if they were heavy enough.
Then she lowered her head and spoke very softly:
"It can be done."
She said those two words, then fell silent for a while, as if trying to confirm that she had put herself in the right place.
She looked up at Qin Mu:
"Sir, may I ask your name?"
Qin Mu glanced at her:
"You don't need to know my name. You just need to know—this roll of paper is well-written."
After he finished speaking, he stood up, put the roll of paper into his sleeve, and walked towards the door.
As he reached the door, he turned his head, and that smile returned to the corner of his mouth:
"By the way, has the well in the backyard been filled in?"
The female shopkeeper paused slightly, then lowered her head:
"I filled it out. I filled it out before dawn."
Qin Mu nodded, stepped across the threshold, and disappeared into the morning light at the end of the corridor.
The female shopkeeper was still standing there, looking at the empty door frame.
She slowly loosened her clenched fingers, opened her palm, and glanced down—her palm was covered in sweat.
When Qin Mu returned to the inn, the morning light had already fully spread.
Dawn breaks slowly in Fenglingdu, as if the light has to exert a great deal of effort to penetrate the layer of hazy clouds, falling inch by inch, first illuminating the rooftops, then the walls, and finally spreading a thin, whitish warmth across the ground.
When he pushed open the door, Jiang Zhaoyue was standing by the window, holding a cup of tea that had already been refilled twice. She didn't turn around when she heard the door open, but continued to look out the window at the street that was beginning to awaken.
Han Xin'er was folding a coat, her fingers slowly pressing along the edge of the garment to flatten it, as if using this action to give herself a transitional gap.
She looked up at Qin Mu, then lowered her head again and continued folding.
Lin Xiaolu was already seated at the table, clutching a small piece of dry food in her hand, nibbling on it as if she wanted to savor the sweetness of the food a little longer.
Xu Fenghua was already dressed and sitting upright on the edge of the bed, holding nothing in her hands. She just sat quietly, like someone who was ready to leave at any time.
Yin Sutang sat by the window, gazing out the window. Her gaze seemed to be fixed on something far away, as if she had already seen something that others had not yet seen.
Zhao Alan stood at the door, clutching the water bag in her hand, hesitating whether she should sit down.
She changed into a clean set of clothes today; although they were still old clothes, they had been washed.
Qin Mu walked to the table, took out the roll of paper from his sleeve, and placed it on the table:
"The records of people entering and leaving Fenglingdu over the past three months are all here."
Jiang Zhaoyue turned around, her gaze falling on the roll of paper:
"Will it work?"
Qin Mu tapped the paper roll lightly with his finger:
"It's useful. There are at least five clues here that can be used directly. Three are related to the Northern Mang Royal Court, and two are related to the movements of the Xuan Yin Sect. What we lack now are these kinds of scraps. Xu Longxiang has the general information, but the real details are often hidden in the most inconspicuous places."
As he spoke, he rolled up the paper again and put it into his sleeve. "Pack your things and get ready to leave the city."
The crowd gradually stood up.
Some people put their folded coats into their bundles, some put their teacups upside down on the table, some straightened their belts, and some gently picked up the grasshoppers on the windowsill, looked at them, and then put them into their sleeves.
A moment later, they were all standing in the corridor.
Qin Mu walked at the front, his pace neither hurried nor slow.
Yunluan led the carriage out from the backyard. The horses had been fed and the saddles had been checked again.
The carriage moved forward along the street, its wheels making rhythmic sounds as they rolled over the cobblestones.
The number of pedestrians on the street gradually increased. Some people were squatting in front of their houses to start fires, some were using a long stick to pry open the door of the oil paper shop, and some were drawing water from the well.
The residents of the northern border region were used to getting up early and traveling, passing by them calmly like a traveler on a journey, like a gust of wind passing through a patch of grass that had not yet been disturbed.
Just as the carriage was about to leave the city gate, Qin Mu's gaze fell into the distance through the gap in the curtain, and then he spoke:
"parking."
Yunluan reined in the horse, its hooves paused on the dirt road, and the carriage slowly came to a stop.
Following Qin Mu's gaze, everyone looked in the direction of the city gate, where a group of people were slowly entering the city from the north.
It was a cavalry unit from the Northern Barbarians, about thirty men, wearing gray-black leather armor, their shoulders covered in a layer of dust, indicating they had traveled quite a distance.
The horses carried bundles of supplies, dry rations wrapped in cloth, and some unidentifiable bundles.
In the middle of the group, several packhorses were carrying scimitars and quivers. Two horses each had a rough burlap sack tied to the side of their saddles, with dark red liquid seeping from the sack openings, dripping down and leaving intermittent dark marks on the dirt road.
The lead rider was burly and wore a worn-out black iron armor. The edges of the armor plates were worn smooth, but the fine workmanship was still evident.
He wasn't wearing a helmet, revealing a face that looked to be around forty years old, with high cheekbones, deep-set eyes, and eyes beneath his brows like two ancient wells illuminated by moonlight. His gaze swept across both sides of the street with a scrutinizing composure.
His lips were slightly pursed, and there was an old scar at the corner of his mouth that extended to the edge of his jaw.
He held no weapon in his hand, yet his posture was upright and relaxed, as if he could stand up from his horse at any moment.
Someone recognized him and whispered:
"Tuoba Yan...why did he come in person?"
The voice was very low, but it still reached everyone's ears clearly in the silence.
Qin Mu's gaze fell on that figure, as if confirming something.
Tuoba Yan reined in his horse and stopped it on the open ground inside the city gate.
The thirty men behind him also stopped, their movements synchronized and without any extra noise.
He sat on his horse, his gaze sweeping across both sides of the street, past those who had gotten up early to light fires, those who were fetching water, and those who were packing up the doors of the oil paper shop.
Then he turned his head slightly to look at his deputy behind him:
"Is there anything unusual around here?"
The lieutenant was about thirty years old, with a long, thin face and a curved sword hanging at his waist. He bowed slightly upon hearing the question, and lowered his voice:
"Reporting to the general, nothing unusual has been found so far. However, news from the outposts ahead indicates that three of the groups that were dispatched nearby have not returned to camp on time."
"Three teams?" Tuoba Yan's gaze shifted slightly. "Do you know where they went?"
The lieutenant shook his head:
"Their exact whereabouts are unclear. We only know that they were last seen south of Fenglingdu, near the border."
He hesitated for a moment, then lowered his voice, "They never came back after they went. The sentries who were sent to meet them said the camp was empty, there were no signs of a struggle, no bloodstains, but the people were gone. It was as if someone had moved them all away."
Tuoba Yan remained silent for a moment.
He sat on horseback, his gaze sweeping across the street, as if he were mentally reviewing each of the idle people, checking to see if anyone seemed out of place.
Then he spoke:
"This wasn't done by an ordinary person."
The lieutenant was slightly taken aback:
"What does the general mean?"
Tuoba Yan's tone was still not high, but it carried a certainty, as if piecing together an outline from some fragments:
"The fact that someone could silently clear out a camp of thirty-odd people without leaving a trace shows that his strength far surpasses theirs. Ordinary soldiers couldn't do that, nor could bandits. Someone capable of such a thing wouldn't appear on the border without a reason."
He paused:
"This means a powerful expert has arrived nearby. At least at the Celestial Phenomenon Realm, or perhaps even higher. This person is probably still in the vicinity."
The lieutenant's Adam's apple bobbed up and down:
"Then...General, should we increase our defenses?"
Tuoba Yan did not answer immediately.
He scanned the street again, as if using his eyes to confirm whether there was anything he hadn't noticed hidden in every corner.
He spoke after a moment, his voice not loud, but carrying an undeniable weight:
"Pass down the order: for the next few days, no one is to leave the camp alone without my permission. Everyone must travel in groups of three or more, with double guards at night and additional sentries posted around the camp. If that person is still nearby, he will eventually give himself away."
He paused, then added:
"Go check if any new strangers have arrived in Fenglingdu recently. Especially those who don't look like they're in business."
The lieutenant clasped his hands in a fist salute:
"Yes, General."
Tuoba Yan didn't say anything more, but gently spurred his horse and continued along the main street towards the north of the city.
The procession behind him also began to move, the horses' hooves pounding on the dirt road, raising fine dust like a gray-brown river, slowly flowing through the newly awakened streets of Fenglingdu.
The carriage stopped at the street corner. Yunluan sat on the carriage shaft without moving or turning her head, like a stone statue that had been blown by the wind for many years, not even the hem of her clothes was lifted by the wind.
Qin Mu's gaze remained fixed on the cavalry that was gradually moving away, as if he were looking at something he was assessing—not some danger that needed to be guarded against, but more like an object that just happened to pass through his field of vision. He was judging whether it would become a piece on his chessboard, or whether it was just a grain of sand blown by the wind, not worth his attention.
He withdrew his gaze after a moment:
"I'm not leaving yet."
Jiang Zhaoyue lowered the carriage curtain:
"Young master, how long will you be staying here?"
Qin Mu leaned against the car wall, his voice devoid of any urgency:
"No rush. Let's stay in this city for a few days first."
His gaze fell on the receding cavalrymen outside the car window, as if he were reassessing the layout of his original chessboard, wondering if he needed to modify a certain line. "That Tuoba Yan should be able to bring us some more useful information."