Once I enter the pass, great Confucian scholars will surely debate the classics for me.

A moment later, at the double-doored entrance of the Night Wanderer's Office.

The dazzling sunlight shone on Feng and Yun. The moment they stepped out of the Night Wanderer's Gate, they gained their freedom. Dozens of days of imprisonment had made every moment feel like an eternity.

They worried about their loved ones, whether they would be captured, whether the commander would abandon them, and when he would come to rescue them. These worries tormented their hearts day and night, making them increasingly haggard.

Seeing that they had finally made it through, they looked exhausted, their beards unkempt, and they couldn't help but squint their eyes and reach out to grab the blazing sun hanging in the air, as if they wanted to savor the feeling of freedom.

"It's finally over." Feng Zongqi—no, he was no longer the Chief of the Night Patrol Division; he should now be called Feng Manlou—was overjoyed, tears welling in his eyes.

Yunfan was equally happy, because it meant that he had both saved his family and survived this ordeal: "Yes, it's over. I can drink to my heart's content now. I'm going to go back and drink for three days and three nights straight."

The two exchanged a glance and nodded, then went their separate ways and returned home.

Zhou Qingfeng, Ye Tingxiu, and Xiao Hongyun quietly left the mansion and stood at the gate, looking in the direction the two had left. A triumphant smile appeared on their faces. Zhou Qingfeng had already informed them and they had set up a trap together.

"Old Ye, you did a good job acting." Xiao Hong nudged Ye Tingxiu with his shoulder and raised an eyebrow with a smile in praise.

Ye Tingxiu chuckled: "I wasn't acting, I was just being genuine. The commander is really good at talking, I couldn't even refute him, so I had to give up."

Zhou Qingfeng glanced at the two of them and said calmly, "Go ahead, they'll take action soon."

Ye Tingxiu and Xiao Hongyun exchanged a glance, then each caught up with their target and followed from a distance.

Simply watching from a distance is something even a lowly servant in the office could do.

The problem is, in the entire Night Patrol Bureau, there are only these two people who can be trusted.

At most, we can add Ah Gou and Xiao Qi Jinwei.

To ensure secrecy, the less people know, the better, lest leaks alert the prey.

Zhou Qingfeng considered that he would need to take turns keeping watch day and night, and that at least two more people would be needed. So he privately called Jin Wei and A Gou over and explained the matter to them in detail.

Of these two, one is completely subservient to him, and he has leverage over him, so he will not betray him.

He was kind-hearted by nature, and I personally gave him the opportunity to embark on the path of cultivation.

They are all trustworthy people.

Dressed in a black warrior's outfit and carrying a demon-slaying blade, Ah Gou clasped his hands and said, "Commander, rest assured, Ah Gou will do whatever it takes to complete the task you have entrusted to me, even at the cost of my life, and there will be absolutely no mistakes."

Jin Wei glanced at Ah Gou speechlessly. You've already said what you wanted me to say. After thinking for a long time, he finally managed to utter three words: "Me too."

Zhou Qingfeng glanced at the two men and said with a serious expression, "This is a secret operation. From now on, you two will follow the orders of Commander Ye and Commander Xiao. If anything happens, come back and report immediately. Go."

"Yes, Commander!" Ah Gou and Jin Wei clasped their hands in a fist salute and quickly left.

Zhou Qingfeng stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the sky. He recalled when he first came to the Night Wanderer's Office, he cast a divination using coins and received a moderately auspicious fortune slip.

This means that the process may have some twists and turns, but the result will definitely be good.

……

Several days passed without any unusual activity at the Feng and Yun residences. Since returning home, the two had remained secluded, as if they were truly reflecting on their mistakes, and even turned away old friends and acquaintances who came to visit.

Jin Wei and Ye Tingxiu were on one team, while A Gou and Xiao Hongyun were on the other, keeping a close watch on each other.

Seeing that Feng and Yun were as calm as old dogs, they couldn't help but secretly admire their patience.

In reality, Feng and Yun were far from as stable as they appeared. They were just as anxious and tormented at home, wanting to see their relatives immediately, but they were also hesitant to act, fearing that someone was watching them from the shadows.

For safety's sake, they waited patiently for a few more days.

Late into the night, Feng Manlou and Yun Fan both chose to leave the mansion.

Feng Manlou quickly formed hand seals and cast a spell, transforming into a blue whirlwind that floated out unhurriedly. After staying in place for a while and observing that no one was paying attention, he flew towards a certain place in the city.

Every time they fly a certain distance, they will appear and pause for a moment to carefully observe whether anyone is following them. For safety, they will even deliberately take detours, sometimes going around to the north of the city and sometimes to the west of the city, demonstrating their strong counter-surveillance capabilities.

They continued until they arrived at the hiding place of his brother-in-law.

Feng Manlou looked around to make sure no one was there before knocking on the door.

"Knock knock knock, knock, knock." Three short and two long sounds were the secret code that Feng Manlou and his brother-in-law had agreed on. Unless the code was correct, his brother-in-law would never open the door.

After knocking on the door, Feng Manlou stood quietly for a moment, but there was no response, not even a sound of footsteps. It was as if no one was in the courtyard. This made him frown slightly. He tried to knock on the code again, but the door still did not open.

This made Feng Manlou feel that something was wrong, so he no longer cared about using secret codes.

It transformed into a cyan whirlwind and slipped through the crack in the door.

When he burst into the bedroom, what he saw made his eyes widen in horror.

A cloth belt fell from the roof beam and became a rope. Niu Erlang's neck was hanging from the rope, his long tongue was sticking out, his body was already stiff, his face was covered with corpse spots, and he was already rotting.

"Second...Second Brother...don't scare me..." Feng Manlou's voice trembled, his body shook uncontrollably, his eyes were wet, and he staggered toward his brother-in-law, unable to believe what he was seeing.

Only when he held Niu Erlang's cold hand did he dare to believe that the man was dead.

In an instant, Feng Manlou felt as if his heart was being torn apart, and tears finally streamed down his face.

He hadn't shed a tear even when he was being tortured to death, but now, seeing his loved one 'commit suicide,' endless regret overwhelmed him, and he whimpered softly, "Yes, I'm sorry, Erlang, brother-in-law is so sorry..."

"Your brother-in-law failed to protect you. He promised you he would never let anything happen to you."

Why would you do something foolish?

"How am I supposed to explain this to your sister?"

……

In a cellar somewhere in the city, where Yun Li was hiding, his body had long since rotted and stank. He held a dagger in his hand, a fatal cut on his neck, and a patch of dried, dark red blood had accumulated beneath him.

When Yunfan came to find his father, he knelt down on the ground, his knees weak. He stared blankly at his father's body for a long time. After a while, he crawled to his father's side and hugged him in his arms.

"Father, I brought you wine." Yunfan wanted to cry, but for some reason he couldn't. There was no sadness, no pain, no tears. At this moment, Yunfan was like a cold-blooded animal, just blankly holding his father's body.

But this doesn't mean Yunfan wasn't sad; on the contrary, Yunfan was extremely sad.

Because... great sorrow is silent.

Yunfan and Fengmanlou believed that their relatives had committed suicide in order to protect them.

After an unknown amount of time, the two left, their expressions numb and dazed.

They cannot collect the bodies, much less destroy the evidence. They can only try to get the Night Patrol officers to discover their bodies, then conclude that they committed suicide out of fear of punishment, thus closing the case. Otherwise, their loved ones would have died in vain.

After they left, Ye Tingxiu, Xiao Hongyun, and others, who had been hiding in the shadows and keeping watch, quietly sneaked into the courtyard to capture the criminals alive. However, what they saw after entering was utterly astonishing.

"Holy crap, how did he die!?"