The spirit boat landed on the edge of a dense forest ten miles outside Yunting City in the twilight.
Ye Qingwu led the disciples off the boat, stowed it away, and raised her hand to signal everyone to keep a low profile.
Standing at the front of the group, she scanned the crowd and gave her instructions in a calm but cautious tone: “We have received reports of demonic cultivators active near Yunting City. If we enter the city with a grand display, we will likely alert them.
“From this moment on, everyone change into everyday attire and enter the city in small batches. Do not travel in large groups, and do not reveal your identities. We will settle down tonight and investigate the city’s movements on our own. Tomorrow, I will meet with the city lord under the guise of a common merchant. Wait for my signal before taking any action.”
The disciples nodded in agreement, changed into ordinary clothes, and dispersed.
Lin Zhiyue changed into her Mist-shrouded Verdure dress, pairing it with only a few simple accessories. The hem of the dress flowed like emerald-green misty waves, free of excessive adornments—yet it was still impossible to look away.
She stored her Azure Scale Sword into her storage space, carrying only a common short dagger on her person.
Cen Xi'er changed into a moon-white, broad-sleeved flowing fairy dress and walked side-by-side with Lin Zhiyue.
Liu Fengyao changed into a light pink cloud dress, which could not quite hide her vibrant energy. The three of them and Jiang Yuezhan split into two groups, one ahead and one behind, and entered the city.
The guards at the city gate did not question them much. The night market lanterns were already lit, and people bustled back and forth along the streets. The lively atmosphere of the city, mixed with the aroma of food, drifted through the twilight air.
The three girls met at the entrance of a quiet alley. Liu Fengyao looked at the bustling night market, then at the sky, and whispered to Lin Zhiyue, “It’s too early to go back and rest, and I wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway. Why don’t we take advantage of the crowds at the night market to get a feel for what’s happening in the city? It’ll give us a head start.”
Cen Xi'er nodded, finding it reasonable.
Lin Zhiyue agreed as well. The night market was crowded and full of chatter; blending in with ordinary clothes was indeed an excellent opportunity to gather information. Since Ye Qingwu had told them to investigate on their own while waiting for instructions, browsing the night market did not deviate from their mission.
She turned her head to look at Jiang Yuezhan, who was following not far behind. The young man was standing to one side of the alley entrance, examining a notice posted on the street wall, as if judging whether its contents were useful. Lin Zhiyue walked over and asked, “Junior Brother, want to check out the night market together?”
Jiang Yuezhan withdrew his gaze from the notice.
He did not particularly want to go. It would be safer to stay put and wait for Elder Ye’s instructions tomorrow morning.
But as the words reached his lips, he recalled what Qi Yan had told him before they set out: “Try to walk with your Senior Sister, and don't leave the group.” At the time, he had assumed his master was worried about his low cultivation and vanished to look after him.
Now, standing at the entrance of the Yunting City alley and looking at the silhouette of Lin Zhiyue’s profile in the twilight, he suddenly felt that when his master spoke those words, he seemed to want him to stay by his Senior Sister’s side... Was his master worried about her acting alone?
The thought flashed and vanished. He lowered his eyes, committed the contents of the notice to memory, and gave a brief reply: “I’ll go.”
The four of them merged into the flow of people in the night market.
Liu Fengyao walked at the very front, while Jiang Yuezhan trailed a few paces behind, maintaining a comfortable distance.
Lanterns lit up one after another along the street, casting a warm yellow glow onto the stone road, stretching everyone’s shadows long and faint.
As she walked, Lin Zhiyue carefully observed the shops and pedestrians on both sides.
Mortals and low-grade cultivators mingled in the night market. Some bargained, while others picked out spiritual materials. Everything seemed perfectly ordinary.
However, she noticed that the postures of several men standing in the dark corners of the street were off. They looked as though they were waiting for something, rather than being ordinary idlers.
She did not make a scene, simply noting these details in her mind as she continued to follow the crowd.
Liu Fengyao stopped in front of a sweet soup stall, saying she wanted to try a bowl, while Cen Xi'er stood nearby and chatted with the stall owner to gather information about the city.
Lin Zhiyue stood a few paces away in the halo of a lantern. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jiang Yuezhan standing quietly nearby. Noticing his Senior Sister looking at him, he took half a step closer to her.
The crowd in the night market was denser than expected.
As Lin Zhiyue walked, she memorized the layout of the streets.
She had developed the habit of taking notes during experiments in her past life, and it was still highly useful even in this different world.
After walking down half the street, she had already mapped out the general skeleton of Yunting City’s main thoroughfare.
Liu Fengyao stopped in front of a stall selling sweet soup and ordered a bowl of sweet osmanthus spiritual lotus root starch.
The stall owner was a smiling, plump woman who chatted with Liu Fengyao as she scooped the starch, saying, “You look unfamiliar, young lady. You must be from out of town, right?”
Liu Fengyao had a sweet tongue and quickly struck up a conversation with Auntie Pang. She claimed she was visiting relatives and stopping in Yunting City for the night, casually asking about interesting places to visit in the city.
Unsuspecting, Auntie Pang rattled off a long list of details—the spiritual artifact shop on East Street had good but expensive items, a stall in West Alley sold fresh spirit beast snacks, and North City had been restless lately, so the city lord’s manor had deployed extra patrols.
Liu Fengyao listened while eating her lotus root starch, responding with natural “oh”s and “is that so?”s, looking exactly like a genuine passerby.
Standing a few paces away in the lantern light, Lin Zhiyue listened to their conversation. She also paid close attention to the pedestrians on the street and noticed guards wearing uniform leather armor moving around several alley entrances. The patrols were indeed denser than usual, suggesting that security had indeed been tightened recently.
Cen Xi’er also bought a bag of dried spiritual fruits. Walking over, she exchanged a glance with Lin Zhiyue and whispered, “There are a few men crouching at the entrance of West Street’s alley, smoking pipes. They don’t look like ordinary idlers; their eyes keep scanning the passing cultivators.”
Lin Zhiyue nodded.
The four of them walked around the night market once more. Liu Fengyao finished the rest of her lotus root starch, Cen Xi’er bought a few bags of snacks to bring back for Chu Zhixun, and Jiang Yuezhan quietly walked near Lin Zhiyue from start to finish.
The bustling crowd of the night market gradually thinned out, the lanterns were extinguished one by one, and the pedestrians on the street grew sparse.
Lin Zhiyue glanced at the sky. Feeling they had gathered enough information for the night, she signaled to head back.
They walked back toward the courtyard where they were staying. As they passed a narrow alley, Lin Zhiyue paused slightly—out of the corner of her eye, she caught something moving in the deep shadows of the alley. It did not look like a cat or dog; it resembled the crouching silhouette of a person.
She did not stop, nor did she look back a second time, simply continuing forward as if nothing had happened.
Jiang Yuezhan, however, slightly turned his head to glance at the alley entrance before withdrawing his gaze.
After returning to the courtyard arranged in advance by Elder Qingwu, Liu Fengyao went to the kitchen to boil water, while Cen Xi’er placed her purchases on the table to organize them.
Lin Zhiyue stood quietly in the courtyard. She decided to report this matter to Ye Qingwu first thing tomorrow morning. Although it was only a fleeting silhouette, at a critical juncture like this, any anomaly could be a vital clue.
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