The Vice Supervisor

Li Huowang was now in the small house with a courtyard that the Chief Recorder had left for him. He had to admit, having a place in the capital was convenient—at least there was no need to stay in an inn, and the Black Tai Sui placed in the courtyard didn’t have to worry about being seen by others.

At this moment, he stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his brows tightly knit, staring at the cold, empty street outside where snow drifted down. There were hardly any people on the road, because the capital had imposed an early curfew today.

Li Huowang stood silently by the window, as if waiting for something.

Suddenly, a crisp “clatter-clatter-clatter” of horse hooves rang out. A group of burly men in furs spurred their horses and charged into the capital.

This was already the third group in recent days. The aura they carried, along with the waist tokens deliberately hung at their sides, told Li Huowang that these were personnel from the Supervisory Heavenly Office stationed in the other six circuits of Liang. They had all been summoned to the capital.

Though by the clock it was only dusk, the heavy snow and the gloomy sky made it almost as dark as night.

Not only were there few people, but the entire capital now wore an air of impending storm, like a heavy stone pressing down on his heart.

Swoosh! A black bird shot across the sky, then made a wide arc in the distance and landed steadily on the windowsill before Li Huowang. He recognized this bird—it belonged to a Mohist named Sima Lan. In its beak, it carried a folded piece of paper.

When Li Huowang opened the paper and read the contents, his expression immediately grew excited. “It’s finally starting!”

Hearing his master’s hurried footsteps downstairs, Mantou, who had been curled up under a chair, perked up. He had just wagged his tail and started to approach when he was shoved aside.

“Guard the house! No matter what you hear, don’t come out to look!”

With that, Li Huowang leaped onto the horse in the courtyard and galloped at full speed toward the Supervisory Heavenly Office’s yamen.

After passing through the yamen gate flanked by two stone lions, he followed a hidden door into the main hall that had once been filled with screens. He found that all the screens had been removed and replaced.

But whether by accident or design, the oil lamps on the walls were not lit, leaving the entire hall in deep gloom.

Even with Li Huowang’s excellent eyesight, he could only make out scattered, indistinct figures in the darkness. He could not clearly see their faces unless he approached very closely.

Walking through this crowd, Li Huowang was reminded of being on a school sports field. Only these people were different from energetic students. The varied, strange auras radiating from those standing or crouching made Li Huowang, with his keen senses, deeply uncomfortable.

The low, indistinct murmurings of these Office agents intertwined, mixing with the oppressive atmosphere in the hall, making it hard for everyone present to breathe.

Li Huowang did not know many people in the capital’s Supervisory Heavenly Office. Looking left and right, he walked over to Sima Lan, whom he had met once before. The bird that had delivered the letter was now back on his shoulder. That distinctive marker was the only reason Li Huowang could find him in the crowd.

“You’re here?” The black bird turned its head and nodded at Li Huowang.

“Brother Sima, were all these people transferred from the other six circuits?” Li Huowang asked, looking around.

“More than that. I hear the Office used its connections to borrow some good hands from the Qingqiu branch too. Heh, they’re getting serious this time.”

“Qingqiu?” Li Huowang’s mind flashed to the old lama with the black sheep. Glancing around, he spotted a figure in a lama headdress in a distant corner. Whether it was the same person, he couldn’t tell from here.

“Since everyone’s here, what are we waiting for?” Li Huowang asked again.

“We’re waiting for the Vice Supervisor of the Heavenly Office. He’s in charge of this matter.”

“Oh? So the Vice Supervisor—is he the highest official in the Office? Sorry, I’ve been out in the field all this time, and I’m still a bit unclear about all this.”

“No matter. It was the same for me when I first came to the capital. It took me a while to figure it out. Actually, there are five Vice Supervisors. They’re not the highest-ranking officials in the Office. The highest is the Supervisor of the Heavenly Office.”

“Supervisor of the Heavenly Office…”

Li Huowang pondered the term for a moment before asking again, “Then for something as big as dealing with the Zuowandao, isn’t the Supervisor coming? Or the other four Vice Supervisors?”

“In theory, they should be here. But they’ve all gone to the palace. Perhaps there’s something urgent.”

With a sharp “clang” of a gong, everyone in the hall turned toward the sound.

Out of nowhere, a soft, moonlight-like glow appeared, illuminating an imposing ceremonial chair. Seated upright on the chair was an old man.

He was an elderly man dressed as a scholar-official, his hair completely white. The broad sleeves of his robe fell all the way to his feet. Stranger than his sleeves were his earlobes—wide and long, hanging down to his shoulders like pendants.

The man radiated a powerful presence. He sat there in silence, exuding authority without needing to speak. The murmuring in the hall gradually quieted down.

It was only now, by careful observation, that Li Huowang noticed a row of people standing in neat formation behind the old man’s chair. Again, due to the dim light, he couldn’t make out their features.

“Today, the Office has gathered you all here. I trust I don’t need to explain why?”

As soon as the Vice Supervisor spoke, a terrifying pressure crashed down from him like a mountain. The entire hall instantly fell dead silent.

Thump! Thump! Thump! One after another, people in the crowd stiffened and collapsed straight to the ground.

At first, Li Huowang thought they had fainted from fear, but then he saw others walk over to them, reach out with iron hooks, and peel back their facial skin. The mahjong-tile patterns on their faces confirmed their identity: Zuowandao.

So the Office was gathering to deal with the Zuowandao, and five of them had tried to infiltrate the gathering. It wasn’t surprising—the Zuowandao could hardly fail to notice that the Office was mobilizing against them.

The Vice Supervisor’s gaze swept calmly over the fallen Zuowandao, as if he were not at all surprised.

“Dealing with the Zuowandao is not hard in itself. The difficulty is that these liars hide among the common people and refuse to come out. But no matter. The capital is, after all, our capital. Not theirs.”

“They think they are flawless. But that’s just self-deception. To have the audacity to openly kill an Office Supervisor! Hmph! Did they really think we couldn’t spare the hands to deal with them?”