After washing the bloodstains from the outer clothes of the four people, Dugu Qingcheng wrung them out forcefully and hung them on a tree branch not far away to dry.

Then she caught some fish from the river. It was early spring, the perfect time for fresh and plump river fish. She cleaned them briefly and started roasting them over the fire.

This series of actions looked extremely skillful, indicating it wasn't her first time doing it.

Before long, Yuwen Heigou was the first to wake up.

He didn't open his eyes immediately but checked his body instead. Finding nothing unusual, he finally relaxed.

His nostrils twitched as he smelled the aroma of the roasted fish, which made his mouth water.

Gurgle, gurgle!

Yuwen Heigou's stomach growled with hunger.

Dugu Qingcheng looked over upon hearing the sound, clapped her hands, and laughed, "Such a keen nose, worthy of Big Heigou, waking up first!"

Knowing he couldn't pretend any longer, Yuwen Heigou sat up straight.

His eyes flickered, noting the clean clothes drying on the tree branch, and then glanced at the roasted fish Dugu Qingcheng was preparing. He originally wanted to complain, but the words stuck in his throat.

Yuwen Heigou just snorted lightly and quietly came to the side of the fire, waiting to be fed.

On the other side.

Changsun Jingren also woke up groggily, suddenly jumped to his feet, grabbed his spear, and looked around nervously.

Seeing there was no danger, he finally relaxed with a slight sigh of relief.

Changsun Jingren glared at Dugu Qingcheng and asked, "Why did you poison us?"

"Play~~"

Dugu Qingcheng replied with a single word.

Changsun Jingren was almost spitting blood after hearing that.

Dugu Qingcheng teased, "Look at you guys, so eloquent, always boasting about your Jianghu experience, what good did it do? Didn't I easily poison you all?"

"That, that was because..."

Changsun Jingren's face turned red as he argued, "I trusted you, wasn't on guard, and that's why I got tricked."

"Alright, alright!"

Dugu Qingcheng comforted, "I've roasted fish for you guys, one each, as my apology."

At this time, Chen Tang also pretended to have just woken up, sat up without saying a word, and directly went to the fire to wait for the fish.

"Look at Haitang."

Dugu Qingcheng said, "After waking up, he neither gets angry nor complains, that's the heart of a real man."

Yuwen Heigou and Changsun Jingren were also secretly surprised.

Strange, how could he stay so calm?

Is it possible that we've been petty?

Yuwen Heigou was really hungry; seeing that the fish was almost done, he reached out to grab it.

Smack!

Dugu Qingcheng stretched out a hand and slapped Yuwen Heigou's hand.

"Don't move, it's not ready yet!"

Dugu Qingcheng lightly scolded.

Yuwen Heigou withdrew his palm, slightly lowered his head. His eyes, hidden under the straw hat, looked at his hand with a complicated expression, seemingly still uncomfortable with such an action.

"I think it's about done."

Changsun Jingren urged.

Dugu Qingcheng said, "No, it needs to be crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. If it goes too far, the fish skin will be burnt. If it's not enough, the taste will be off. This is the result of my many experiences."

After waiting for a while, Dugu Qingcheng began to sprinkle some seasoning on the fish, then handed three roasted fish to Chen Tang and the other two.

She took the last one herself, gently blew on it to cool it down before eating.

After blowing carefully for a bit, Dugu Qingcheng looked up and was startled.

She saw Chen Tang and the others eagerly sitting in front of the fire, eyeing the roasted fish in her hand.

"Your... fish?"

Dugu Qingcheng asked.

"Finished."

The three said in unison.

Beside Chen Tang and Changsun Jingren, there were still some fish bones.

Yuwen Heigou hadn't even spat out the bones earlier, he just chewed them and swallowed them.

"You guys ate too fast!"

Unable to stand their looks, Dugu Qingcheng had no choice but to fetch some more fish, clean them, and roast them again for Chen Tang and the others.

After spending more than an hour at it, the four finally ate and drank to their heart's content, each mounting their horse to head towards Qingcheng County.

Not long after they started out, the four simultaneously smelled a scent of blood!

Following the scent, the four found themselves in a patch of forest not far from the official road, where several corpses lay. They appeared to be in their twenties or thirties, dressed in guard attire, not resembling commoners.

Each corpse bore fatal knife wounds.

Yuwen Heigou dismounted and inspected the bodies, saying, "Judging by the time, they likely died last night."

"Last night?"

Changsun Jingren mused, "Could it be the work of the Wushan Village people?"

Yuwen Heigou said, "Judging by the wounds, it should be."

"The Token of the Qingcheng County Mansion!"

Chen Tang found a token on one of the bodies and took a look.

The four exchanged glances, puzzled.

If the Commander of Qingcheng was the Painted Skin Ghost of Wushan Village, why would the County Mansion's guards end up dead outside the city, killed by the Wushan Village?

Having searched the bodies and found no more clues, they continued on their way.

Changsun Jingren said, "Actually, Heigou does have a point. This matter should be reported to the Cyan Dragon Bureau and let them investigate."

Chen Tang said, "If the Cyan Dragon Bureau can resolve this, it would be the best outcome, sparing us the risk. If we're trying to get close to a County Commander to reveal his true self, it's likely not easy."

Without any status, how can an ordinary person have the chance to meet the Commander?

"Alright then."

Dugu Qingcheng saw the others were in agreement, so she reluctantly conceded, though she still felt some reluctance, "Anyway, I don't trust the Cyan Dragon Bureau."

"Why do you have such a big problem with the Cyan Dragon Bureau?"

Yuwen Heigou suddenly asked.

"Hmph!"

Dugu Qingcheng let out a soft snort and said, "I don't even trust the Qian Country Court!"

Yuwen Heigou remained silent.

By nightfall, the four had arrived at Qingcheng County.

At this time, the city gates had already closed.

Besides, even during the day, the four had no passage documents, making it inconvenient to enter the city.

"The city wall is over three zhang high, can you sneak in?"

Dugu Qingcheng asked.

Yuwen Heigou said nothing, leaping forward, his toes lightly tapping the city wall as he continuously ascended, and before long, he reached the top of the wall.

After waiting for the patrolling guards to pass, he climbed onto the wall top and waved to the three below.

"Big Heigou's body technique is not bad at all."

Dugu Qingcheng quietly praised.

"Haitang, can you manage?"

Dugu Qingcheng asked.

Chen Tang's cultivation realm was the lowest among the three, only Seventh Grade.

The other three were all Sixth Grade.

"Not a big problem."

Chen Tang nodded slightly.

Dugu Qingcheng said, "Don't overestimate yourself, if you can't make it, let me know and I'll take you up."

"You can even carry someone?"

Changsun Jingren was a bit surprised, then whispered, "I'm not good with this wall-climbing technique, you take me up."

"No problem!"

Dugu Qingcheng retrieved a cylindrical device from his bosom, the top had a hooked claw, and upon triggering the mechanism, the claw shot out with a whoosh, hooking onto the wall top.

Subsequently, Dugu Qingcheng seized Changsun Jingren's arm, and along the rope, the two smoothly ascended to the top of the wall.

The three came to the top of the city wall, looking down at Chen Tang at the corner.

Without a word, Chen Tang employed the Gecko Wall-Climbing Skill, his body nearly plastered to the wall, maneuvering swiftly, he was on top of the wall in no time.

The three stared, wide-eyed and slack-jawed.

"Gecko Wall-Climbing Technique!"

Changsun Jingren recognized the body technique.

"Big Gecko!"

Almost simultaneously, Dugu Qingcheng also acknowledged, clearly recognizing the technique.

Chen Tang nodded.

The four didn't linger long on the wall top, slipping down promptly.

That night, a Feathered Arrow with a letter tied to it, landed in the Cyan Dragon Bureau.

The next day.

The four temporarily took up residence at an inn near the County Governor's Mansion, where they could observe the comings and goings at the Governor's Mansion first-hand.

"Look, it's the Cyan Dragon Bureau people!"

The four looked towards the Governor's Mansion.

They saw a team of Cyan Dragon Guards riding tall horses approaching the Governor's Mansion, led by someone in Copper Armor, with several Guards Captains in Copper Armor trailing behind him.

Behind them were dozens of Cyan Dragon Guards.

Chen Tang said, "It seems the Cyan Dragon Bureau takes this seriously, the Captain brought several Guard Captains here."

The four watched the members of the Cyan Dragon Bureau enter the Governor's Mansion, then waited patiently at the inn.

Before long, a group of disciples from the Profound Celestial Temple approached the Governor's Mansion.

One of them was seated in an eight-carrier sedan chair.

The observing crowd showed expressions of awe.

Some even stopped to salute, their faces full of reverence.

It was Wen Wen, the Observatory Master of Profound Celestial Temple in Qingcheng.

"Why are the people from the Profound Celestial Temple here?"

"Not sure, perhaps it's related to this matter?"

The four chatted briefly but couldn't come to a conclusion.

The Observatory Master entered the Governor's Mansion with a group of disciples.

After noon passed, the members of the Cyan Dragon Bureau and the disciples of Profound Celestial Temple gradually left, with the Qingcheng Commander personally seeing them off, smiling and clasping his hands in a salute.

"Is that all?"

The four exchanged glances and frowned deeply.

Yuwen Heigou seemed to have an idea and suddenly said, "I'm stepping out for a bit, I'll be back soon, you guys wait for me here."

With that, Yuwen Heigou left quickly, as if something urgent awaited him.

Chen Tang was deep in thought.

From the looks of it, the Qingcheng Commander was fine.

This implies two possibilities.

First, the Qingcheng Commander was innocent, and the information from the Seventh Leader of Wushan Village was false.

Second, the Qingcheng Commander was indeed the Painted Skin Ghost, but for some reason, or some evidence, it was enough for the Cyan Dragon Bureau to dispel their suspicions and withdraw.

No matter which possibility, it might lead to one consequence.

The snake was startled.

Soon after the Qingcheng Commander returned to the mansion, numerous governmental officials from the county scattered throughout the city, some accompanied by White Servants, began searching the streets, and the city defense troops heightened their vigilance.

The inn they occupied was very close to the Governor's Mansion.

It wouldn't be long before they got there!

None of them had passage documents issued by the government office.

If they were found, it would be hard to explain.

"We need to leave quickly."

Changsun Jingren also realized the situation, whispering.

Dugu Qingcheng frowned and said, "But Big Heigou hasn't returned yet, he told us to wait here for him."

Changsun Jingren glanced at Chen Tang.

Chen Tang pondered, "Let's wait a bit longer, leaving now, there may be no place to hide in the city."

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