We searched the entire Qingyin Cetery—every corner, every crooked path—and found absolutely nothing. With no clues and the sky going dark, we had no choice but to head back. The inn was already bright with lanterns; the waiter was running around like a headless chicken and only managed to wave at us from afar.
Lian and Hua went upstairs to rest.
? My stomach was staging a rebellion.
So I slipped into the kitchen, hoping luck would bless with a midnight snack.
The kitchen door was half-open, pots clinking inside. When I pushed it open, there was no cook by the stove—only an old man in the corner, face folded like a dried walnut, puffing on a pipe while feeding wood into the fire.
He glanced at through the smoke and squinted.
“Well now, kid… your brow’s dark, your eye circles are blue. Looks like sothing spooky’s been hanging off you.”
I froze. “Huh?”
“Scared?” He blew a lazy smoke ring. “Tell —did you go walking around at night yesterday?”
My grip slipped; I nearly raised the spatula like a dagger. “Sir… please don’t ss with . You know sothing?”
I rushed over and whispered urgently, “Have you heard of the demon dog? I swear I saw one last night—a yellow dog! It talked! It even led down a road!”
The old man raised a brow. “Ah, you an the Dog Lord of Luoyan City. Aye, that old tale’s been around.”
He took another drag, eyes going strangely sharp.
“They say the forr Prefect once heard weeping late at night—really miserable stuff. Then the sobbing turned into begging for rcy. Four words clear as day: ‘Dog Lord, spare .’”
I leaned forward. “And then?”
“He put on his robe and went out to see.” The old man tapped his pipe. “And what did he find? A monster—two n tall, yellow fur, dog head, human body, holding a chain. And right in front of him, it chopped off soone’s head.”
I swallowed. “Whose?”
“The Prefect’s.” The old man exhaled another smoke ring. “Next morning the Prefect woke with a stiff neck, thought he slept wrong. He even took leave from the governnt office. But a few days later, he was arrested for corruption and executed.” He drew a line across his throat. “Beheaded and whole estate confiscated.”
I yelped, grabbed a handful of buns, and sprinted out of the kitchen.
Back in our room, I stuffed buns into my mouth while retelling everything to Lian and Hua.
“Is that true?” Hua snapped his fan shut, thoughtful.
“It’s been passed around,” the deputy envoy of West Altar said. “No hard proof, but plenty of people swear to it.”
“And who’s the current Prefect?” Lian asked.
“Surna Li. New arrival from the capital. Less than three months in office,” the deputy envoy replied. “We don’t know his temperant yet.”
My blood ran cold. “So the previous Prefect saw the demon dog, and then—off with his head! We can’t ignore this!”
“It is suspicious,” Hua admitted. Then he shot a look. “But why is it always you who encounters these things? Demon dogs, ghost banquets…Are you so kind of supernatural magnet?”
“Hey! Not my fault!” I protested. “I only went out last night because I was—uh—taking a peaceful walk!”
I glanced at them. They didn’t even look at .
But sothing in their expressions… wasn’t right.
My suspicion grew. I slamd the table. “Alright, enough. How much crap are you hiding from ?”
Lian said nothing. Hua chuckled.
“Well… this isn’t sothing we can just say openly.”
I snorted. “Secrets co in two types: romance or treasures. Throughout history, anything labeled ‘secret’ was either under the bed or buried in a cellar. What else could you possibly show ?”
My system chid in:
【Correction: secret categories also include politics, cult rituals, forbidden—】
“Shut it,” I muttered.
Hua tapped with his fan. “You sure your ancestors didn’t write the Compendium of Scandals?”
I was about to fire back when Lian finally spoke, voice cool as a winter river.
“…Since you’ve guessed this much, I’ll share a little.”
I imdiately leaned forward.
“Have you ever heard of the forr master of West Altar—Shangguan Fengliu?”
“The na already screams trouble,” I said.
“It is trouble,” Hua added.
Lian continued, “He loved moonlit nights—always sat under the eaves, playing the zither. One night he heard soft footsteps. He asked, ‘Who’s there?’”
A woman’s voice answered:
‘I live down the mountain. Whenever you play, I listen. Even the yellow dog at ho enjoys it.’
I nodded knowingly. “Classic flirtation.”
“Don’t interrupt,” Hua warned.
Lian went on. “The lady claid she’d snuck out. No one ho except her—and the yellow dog, which had gone missing in the night. She begged Shangguan Fengliu to help.”
“And he believed her,” I said. “Because lust, obviously.”
“After that, they grew close. t in secret. Every night she ca, and before dawn she left. He feared she might never return, so when she accidentally left a pair of blue felt shoes beside the bed, he locked away one as a keepsake.”
I paused. “This is going sowhere bad, isn’t it?”
“He refused to return the shoe,” Lian said. “Ignored her crying. Went back to sleep. Next morning he slled blood. Followed the trail to the cabinet. Opened it. The shoe… had turned into a pig’s hoof.”
“WHAT.”
“The search party followed the blood trail to a ho in the village.”
“Let guess—pigsty?”
“Yes,” Lian nodded. “A massive sow lay in the corner, blood fresh, one hind hoof missing.”
I covered my face. “Unbelievable…”
“Shangguan Fengliu went mad, shot the pig dead with a single arrow, and afterwards fell into delirium. Eventually he was expelled. No one has seen him since.”
The deputy envoy nodded vigorously.
I stared at all of them. “Your West Altar… produces so real champions.”
Hua closed his fan. “And now you know why we hesitated to tell you. Soone like you might faint.”
I gulped air. “So… what you’re investigating now… is the pig’s… origins?”
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