The Real And The Fake

There was also one more thing. One more very important thing.

Song Caitang sorted her thoughts out quickly and frowned.

The Night Sanctum was a place filled with martial artists. She didn’t have an assistant and had nobody to secretly investigate anything for her, so she had to do everything herself.

But… how was she going to do that?

How was she going to fool everyone and seize the best opportunities?

Should she… just give it a go?

When she woke up in the middle of the night again, Song Caitang switched rooms, put on a coat and sat against the window. She stared at the night sky as she slowly made her plans.

She wasn’t sure if she was just being paranoid but she kept feeling like someone was watching her. But when she looked around, she didn’t see anybody.

Could it be the night guard patrolling the place?

The guards of the Night Sanctum were very responsible, so it was true that she was safe here…

She was tense for a while as she continued to watch for any suspicious movement or sound, but nothing happened, so she slowly relaxed again.

The next morning, at around 10am, Song Caitang took some snacks that Guan Wan made, put them into nice boxes and looked like she was going out.

Guan Wan got curious, “What are you going to do with the snacks?”

Song Caitang winked and threw her a cheeky grin, “I’m going to use the good stuff that you’ve made to bribe some people. I hope we’ll get along well over the next few days.”

Guan Wan nodded. “I’ll come along to help then.”

“No need. You stay here, I’ll be back in a bit.”

Song Caitang walked out of the courtyard, checked which direction she ought to walk in and headed westward.

But the longer she walked, the more things didn’t look quite right. She quickly realized that the direction she thought was westward was actually northward.

She was actually on a path that would lead to Ye Nan’s residence instead.

How did she realize that? Because she noticed a lot feminine items and décor along the way, and she also saw Xin Yongwang standing at the door, talking to Ye Nan but not daring to go in.

Xin Yongwang looked like he was confessing his feelings for Ye Nan. “…Let me take care of you? That year… I… I’m really sorry…”

He had so much to say but didn’t know how to phrase it, and he didn’t dare to say some of it, so he could only stare longingly at Ye Nan. “Don’t think about him anymore, won’t you?”

Ye Nan remained expressionless until Xin Yongwang mentioned the words “that year”. Those words made her narrow her eyes and caused her expression to stiffen.

“I… don’t have that sort of feelings for you.” It seemed hard for her to say these words too.

Xin Yongwang looked like he was in great pain too. “No, you don’t have to have those feelings… as long as you can stay by my side…”

“How is that possible?” Ye Nan sounded like she was sighing. “Humans are always greedy. If I agree to what you want now, in the future, you will want more than having me just by your side…”

Ye Nan did not invite Xin Yongwang into her room. Instead, they walked away from Song Caitang and continued their conversation.

Song Caitang felt that there was something really strange about this.

Both of them looked like they were going through great pain, but when she looked carefully, she noticed that Ye Nan was really frustrated. She was thinking about some matters very seriously and made a decision after she had considered all aspects of the matter. Xin Yongwang, however, seemed to be in pain only on the surface. His intention did not change, he did not have any consideration for the other person and sounded like he was just talking to himself…

While it was true that different people had different personalities and showed their love in different ways, what she saw made Song Caitang start to seriously doubt Xin Yongwang’s feelings for Ye Nan.

The mystery at the Night Sanctum was getting more and more complicated and getting more and more intense.

Song Caitang suddenly had a feeling that if she could figure out who liked who and who didn’t like who, if she could figure out exactly how each person was related to the others, she would be able to find the real motive for murder and she’d be able to crack the case.

Once again, she was sure that her approach to the case was right.

Song Caitang moved away, asked a maid for directions, and moved westward.

The path was long but very straight, so Song Caitang could reach her destination without making any turns and she didn’t have to worry about getting lost.

But just like the feeling she had the night before, she felt like someone was watching her and following her.

She decided to stop for a while and chat with some maids who happened to pass by while strategically turning her head from time to time to observe her surroundings. But she didn’t notice anyone or anything.

Perhaps… she was just being paranoid.

If that person had discovered her, they would definitely try to block her way. But they didn’t appear, so they probably didn’t know what she was thinking about.

Song Caitang stopped worrying about this and started walking faster. She quickly arrived at a residence.

As she made her way toward the residence, she discovered that there was absolutely nobody around. No patrolling guards, no maids, nothing. It was so quiet, it was as if… nobody lived here.

Song Caitang pushed the door open, ran in quickly, then shut the door behind her.

The courtyard was clean, but not spotless. It looked like the place was only swept every two days instead of every day.

The smaller rooms and the corridors were completely silent. The door to the master bedroom was shut and she couldn’t hear any sound coming from inside.

She ran across the courtyard, opened the door to the master bedroom, went in and shut the door behind her.

This room… was very strange.

It had all the things that a bedroom should have – a table, a chair, a bed, a shelf – and the furniture was neatly placed in the room, but it seemed to lack the presence of a human. In other words, it didn’t look lived in.

A person’s personality, habits and preferences could be seen from their rooms.

Like whether you got changed or you drank tea after you came in, or whether you preferred to read or sip tea by the window, or which blanket and which pillow was your favorite…

No matter how careful you were to cover these things up, it would still show.

But this room was like a showroom. It didn’t look like anyone lived here at all.

That wasn’t right.

The cogs in Song Caitang’s brain started working rapidly as her eyes scanned the room nonstop. She walked round the room and her slim fingers began touching everything she could find.

Where would it be? What would it be? There had to be something in this room!

There had to be!

If she could just remain calm and search the place thoroughly, she would definitely find it!

The faster her hands moved, the clearer her thoughts became. Song Caitang was completely immersed in her search.

Just then, there was a loud clang coming from outside.

Song Caitang was so scared, she plastered herself against the wall.

“Who’s there? Who’s there?” a voice called out as it approached the room. It sounded like a patrolling guard.

Song Caitang could hear her own heart thumping loudly like a drum.

The guard was getting closer and closer.

The sound of his footsteps kept getting louder. Each step was like a step on her heart.

“Meow!”

At that moment, the sound of a cat meowing filled the air, followed by a stone hitting the ground, as though a cat had pushed it off the roof.

The guard burst out laughing and slapped his own forehead. “Silly me, it’s just a cat…”

He stopped coming closer to the room and turned to walk away instead.

After she heard the sound of the main gate being shut again, Song Caitang clutched her chest and breathed a long sigh of relief.

Was it just a coincidence?

Either way, she wanted to thank that random cat that happened to pass by at the right time. That cat saved her.

This residence was clearly not the living quarters of ordinary servants, yet there were no servants or anyone like that. Even the patrolling guard didn’t dare to come too close. It was simply too obvious. This residence and the person who lived here was hiding secrets!

She didn’t have much time, so she started rummaging the place.

But even though she wasn’t as cautious as before, she didn’t really mess up the place.

Her eyes began to light up as she found some things…

Also…

When she started checking the bed and her hands patted down the headboard, she happened to push down on a section that was sticking out and the board beneath the mattress suddenly started moving.

It pretty much bounced open right before her eyes…

…to reveal the person hidden under the bed.

Song Caitang nearly screamed. This person… this person…

The man was clearly unconscious, his hands and feet were bound, his face pale, his facial hair a mess, his hair disheveled. His clothes hadn’t been washed in ages, so they smelled, but Song Caitang’s first thought was to check his pulse. Thankfully the man was still alive. He was just very weak, but his life wasn’t in any danger.

She was right! Her guess had been right!

Excellent…

Song Caitang scanned the room. She didn’t even have to clear this place up.

She picked up her skirt and ran outside to ask a few servants for directions, then headed for Ye Nan’s residence.

She had no idea that shortly after she left, a tall and large figure flew into the room through the window, picked up anything else that Song Caitang had missed during her search, then left.

He didn’t bother to check out the man hiding under the bed at all.

But the Night Sanctum was simply too large. By the time he emerged from the room again, Song Caitang was nowhere to be seen.

Song Caitang followed the directions that the servants had given her and finally found the library where Ye Nan was supposed to be. “Miss Ye, I know who Xin Yongwang…”

Before she could say the word “is”, she saw Ye Nan sigh and shut her eyes.

Xin Yongwang was toying with a dagger right next to her.

“Miss Song.”

Xin Yongwang stared at her with some interest, some admiration, but also some murderousness. It was a stare that could strike terror in one’s heart.

He didn’t put on an act anymore and didn’t bother to hide his real self anymore. He revealed himself to be a dangerous, unreasonable yet elegant character.

“You’re really very clever, Miss Song.”

It only took Song Caitang one look to understand what was going on.

Ye Nan was under his control.

She was a highly skilled martial artist who would not be threatened by a mere dagger. Also, she had not said a single word. So… the man had paralyzed her by pressing on the right acupoints?

Song Caitang had never seen this move actually being executed before, but this was the only reasonable explanation.

In that case, did that mean this man knew that she had gone to search the room? Or had he expected her to do so, so he got Ye Nan under his control and waited for her here?

What was he trying to do?

Song Caitang immediately grew wary.

“You know who I am?” The blade reflected the light as Xin Yongwang spun it between his fingers. He raised an eyebrow slightly, exuding a laziness and elegance as he said, “Why don’t… you tell me who I am then?”

The entire room was silent. The window was wide open, but not a single person walked by and she couldn’t even hear the sound of birds chirping.

Song Caitang knew it was going to be tough to get through this ordeal, but yelling for help didn’t look like it would work, so it was better to calm down and deal with the situation while trying to think quickly.

She quietly said, “I know you are not Xin Yongwang.”