Chapter 38: A Dog's Nose Is More Useful Than a Good Brain

"Exactly! What really happened last night? Did a thief actually scale the wall and break in after Huang Zhang returned? Where is the person who was keeping watch? What did he see?" Xu Qi had a bellyful of questions she was desperate to spill.

Lei Gengsheng wore an ambiguous smile. "Ask me that, and I can't say. Someone did me a favor by keeping watch, and I can't bring them any trouble. You two shouldn't pry into their identity either; consider it heard and forgotten, as if this whole thing never happened."

"Who are you bargaining with?" Tan Jiuding, noticing the boatman inching his stool toward Xu Qi, frowned with displeasure. "Are you just going to let a matter of life and death slide like that?"

Lei Gengsheng shot him a sidelong glance and sneered at Xu Qi. "Tsk, tsk. Your little lover certainly has an imposing official air, doesn't he? How about we just drop it? Let's pretend I was never here." He made to stand up.

Just as Xu Qi reached out to tug at his sleeve to stop him, Tan Jiuding’s palm struck out like a gust of wind. A sharp "Sit down" accompanied his hand, pressing heavily onto the boatman’s shoulder and pinning him in place.

But Lei Gengsheng was no pushover. With a sharp shudder of his shoulder, he utilized a burst of internal force to deflect Tan Jiuding’s hand.

Tan Jiuding was momentarily startled that the man possessed such internal strength, though he wasn't entirely surprised. He reached out again, his hand coiling around the man’s elbow like a dragon emerging from the water. Lei Gengsheng met the move with a counter, his arm slick as if it were impossible for anything to catch hold of it. The two sat at the table, locked in a silent exchange of martial arts.

Xu Qi only felt the gusts of their clashing energy. By the time she realized what was happening, Tan Jiuding had gained the upper hand, plunging a dagger into the table and pinning the man's sleeve firmly to the wood.

Tan Jiuding then picked up his bowl, scraped the last bit of soup into his mouth, and said with unhurried mockery, "A fine display of skill, Boatman."

Lei Gengsheng grinned mockingly. "It seems our scholar-gentlemen aren't just good for reading books, eh?" He glanced at the dagger, buried up to its hilt in the tabletop. "Hmph, though your hospitality is a bit irritating."

"Wait, why are you two fighting..." Xu Qi realized, and hurriedly tried to pull the dagger out, but no matter how she tugged, it didn't budge an inch.

Lei Gengsheng grunted, tore his sleeve with a sharp *rip*, and broke free. He rubbed his wrist and wrinkled his nose at Xu Qi. "This guy has a foul temper. You're really with him?"

"What do you mean 'with him'?" Xu Qi’s ears flushed, and she chided, "Focus on the real issue!"

Only under her urging did Lei Gengsheng speak, albeit reluctantly. "Huang Zhang did scale the wall. Yes, exactly at the corner you mentioned."

"So, the person that old warehouse guard saw really was Huang Zhang? That Zeng Ruji, that lying, spineless wretch, he was lying!"

"A young lady with quite a sharp tongue, aren't you?" Lei Gengsheng’s mouth quirked in surprise before his tone shifted. "But as for who that person was after the watchman beat the drum for the second watch, that is not necessarily certain."

"...What do you mean?"

The boatman held up two fingers. "My man saw two people scale the wall, one after the other, within the span of less than a cup of tea."

"Two?" Xu Qi gasped. She immediately realized her voice was too loud and covered her mouth, her eyes still wide with shock.

Tan Jiuding’s expression turned grave. "Are you sure you saw clearly?"

"I have no reason to come here and lie to you," Lei Gengsheng retorted with a roll of his eyes.

"...So it wasn't someone from the government office who did it?" Xu Qi’s brow furrowed. More than being upset that her deduction about the wrist-cleaving knife was wrong, she detested the idea of Zeng Ruji getting his way—locking the suspicion of murder onto a phantom thief.

Yet, as things stood, the thief’s suspicion had only grown.

"I have something I need you to do."

Lei Gengsheng looked at Tan Jiuding’s sudden command with confusion, his wolf-like eyes narrowing. "I came here to make up for yesterday's mistake that caused the young lady to miss her chance. We're even now. Why should I listen to you?"

"Because you are now a suspect yourself," Tan Jiuding said, arms folded as he stared him down, unwilling to back off. "You are one of the few who knew we were tracking Huang Zhang. Could it be that you intentionally appeared before her yesterday, intentionally let Huang Zhang go, and then used the guise of keeping watch to silence him?"

"Tss, you... Ha!" Lei Gengsheng laughed in disbelief. "Threatening me? Fine, the official says so, so what do you want me to do?"

"I know you have your ways. Have your men keep a close watch on the Hengchang Pawnshop—the one that was broken into two days ago."

"Why watch that...?" "Hey, don't ask." Lei Gengsheng raised a hand to block Xu Qi’s curious mouth and pointed to his own ears. "You can talk about it after I leave. I don't want to know the reason."

With that, he stood up and asked Tan Jiuding, looking down at him, "Hey, you aren't one of those crooked officials, are you?"

"That depends on how you define it."

Tan Jiuding’s reply made Lei Gengsheng laugh with satisfaction. He waved a hand without looking back. "Fine, wait for news. Farewell."

Watching the man come and go like the wind, Xu Qi muttered about what a strange person he was, while simultaneously feeling relieved he had appeared when he did. Once he was gone, she asked, "Why did you have him watch the pawnshop?"

"All the evidence currently points to that habitual thief. Since Zeng Ruji is so eager to catch him, we must find the man before he does. That thief is elusive, but I have a hunch that since he failed the first time, he will return to the pawnshop. If we stake it out, we might get to him before Zeng Ruji."

Tan Jiuding exerted force to pull the dagger from the table and tucked it away. He explained to Xu Qi, "Didn't you say it was eight or nine parts likely that he wasn't after gold or silver? After seeing Zeng Ruji today, I suddenly feel your speculation wasn't just idle fantasy."

"Zeng Ruji might have really lost the military tally."

"How so?"

"He only brought fifty soldiers to seal off the area today. That is exactly the threshold that requires the Tiger Tally to mobilize."

Xu Qi’s face brightened, and she clapped her hands. "If that's true, then it's wonderful!" She seemed impatient to see Zeng Ruji brought low.

"If he dared to cover this up, he must be desperate. No wonder he didn't mind lying through his teeth to pin everything on that thief!" She thought for a moment and asked with a malicious glint in her eyes, "Could Huang Zhang’s murder have been his doing? To protect himself while gaining an excuse to stir up a crowd and hunt for a thief?"

Tan Jiuding tapped the table, whispering a warning: "You are assuming a Commander has some unspeakable collusion with the boat gangs."

"Hmph, his marriage into the Chen family is already unspeakable, isn't it? Everyone in Huai'an knows how the Chen family built their fortune." After venting, Xu Qi shook her head, sobering up. "I know what you mean. For a Commander to deal with a mere centurion is too easy. With a flick of his finger, a transfer order could send Huang Zhang to the ends of the earth. There was no need to take the risk and plot something so complex. If he was careless, it would only expose the loss of his Tiger Tally all the faster. It’s not a profitable trade."

She looked toward the Changying Warehouse, the scene of the crime, as if she could still see the tragic sight of Huang Zhang’s death from afar. Her face was clouded with worry.

"Now that the person who might have known Zhiwei's whereabouts is gone, what should we do next?"

"We haven't reached a dead end yet," Tan Jiuding reminded her. "Don't forget, there is still that playboy who was drinking with Huang Zhang—Pan Ji?"

"Him?" Xu Qi was half-hopeful, half-skeptical. "What if he's just a drinking buddy?"

"Regardless, Huang Zhang’s death shouldn't be an accident. If he really was hiding something, then Pan Ji is more than likely not entirely ignorant. Don't forget, he is one of those people from the Chen family you mentioned."

Tan Jiuding smiled wryly and tapped his own nose. "Sometimes, a dog's nose is more useful than a sharp brain."