Chapter 906: Chapter 109: Layers of Fog, Shackles Loosening (1/2)

Wang Anfeng was silently mulling over his thoughts as he casually tore open the envelope’s seal and placed it on the table. Inside was a thin piece of stationery, folded to half the size of the envelope.

Wang Anfeng reached out to retrieve the stationery, shook his wrist to unfold the letter.

Outside, a night watchman passed by, holding a gong in one hand and a hammer in the other. He struck with force, the sound resounding hundreds of meters away, loudly shouting:

“The weather is dry, beware of fire.”

“Four quarters past the hour of You.”

Wang Anfeng instinctively raised his eyes to look outside. It was already a few days past the Mid-Autumn Festival. Mid-Autumn, also known as Zhongqiu, signifies that autumn is more than half over, days are getting shorter, and night falls earlier. It was now only four quarters into the hour of You, yet it was already quite dark.

Outside, one could see the lights gradually turning on, faintly, spreading far and connecting with the stars in the sky.

A shadow stumbled and staggered down the street—it was just the ‘mouse,’ whose steps were unsteady, startling a few barking dogs before disappearing into the depths of the alley.

Wang Anfeng slowly withdrew his gaze, a thought flashed through his mind and disappeared instantly. Holding the letter, which was already unfolded, he stood in place like a stone, furrowing his brows in deep thought, trying to grasp that fleeting idea, his brow tightening as he softly muttered.

“Something’s not right…”

His gaze fell on the unfolded letter in his hand, sensing something peculiar. This strange feeling actually appeared when the young ‘mouse’ knocked on the door and became clear upon opening the letter and hearing the night watchman’s shout.

By this time, it was already dark, the night watchman had just called out once, and further away, the sound was faintly audible.

Households dining early had already heated their stoves, and since that ‘mouse’ could directly reveal ‘the fact’ that he was volunteering at the Reviving Spring Hall, he naturally knew ‘he’ had been tired all day.

Delivering the letter now was fine, but seemed somewhat impolite.

Blind Lao Wu was certainly an old hand in Jianghu, having high prestige in the underworld of Liangzhou City and able to gather good fighters from Jianghu, truly a seasoned Jianghu veteran.

Such crafty individuals act with great tact, unwilling to offend others in the slightest.

Such impolite incidents could happen to novices struggling to find their place, or to reckless and hot-blooded men, but should never occur to an experienced Jianghu veteran like blind Lao Wu, who is adept at navigating rainy and stormy situations.

Seen separately, there was no issue, but the combination was strikingly odd, creating a hard-to-ignore peculiarity.

Did something happen?

Or perhaps, blind Lao Wu was impatiently trying to throw away this troublesome matter?

Wang Anfeng couldn’t help but ponder silently, then chuckled quietly, thinking it prudent to first check the letter’s content; perhaps what he was considering was already clearly stated in it.

Then he walked forward and sat on the chair, placing the letter on the table, smoothing the wrinkles with his palm, his gaze falling upon it as he carefully read.

The handwriting on the letter wasn’t particularly good, but it was quite neat. Whether it was blind Lao Wu himself who wrote it or someone else writing on his behalf was unclear.

Presumably the latter; how could a blind man write so neatly?

This thought flashed briefly through Wang Anfeng’s mind and he paid it no heed, concentrating on reading. The contents were brief, starting with a couple of greetings followed by several names and places of origin, and finally vaguely mentioning the debt, stating not to rush and to repay within half a month.

If turnover is difficult, an extension is possible, paying ten or twenty taels of silver monthly, settling within six months. As a respected patrol officer of the Ministry of Punishment, one wouldn’t shortchange these ordinary folks, and so forth.

After reading the letter, Wang Anfeng scanned it several times, finding no signs of urgency on the other side—neat handwriting, clearly written leisurely, along with the thought of claiming money; how could this suggest any mishap?

It seemed that the ‘strict order from the Ministry of Punishment’ had put immense pressure on those gamblers, forcing even such an old Jianghu veteran to disregard taboos, simply aiming to swiftly rid themselves of this dire burden, while praying to all heavenly gods that this burden wouldn’t crash a third time upon their own heads.

Imagining the shrewd old Jianghu forced to such a desperate state made Wang Anfeng’s expression odd, feeling somewhat guilty, his eyes involuntarily glancing upward.

Ahem, this Yan Ling was not that Yan Ling, just coincidentally the same name, how could it be considered an imposture?

Thus, this wouldn’t tarnish the reputation of senior Yan Ling.

Ever since coming to Liangzhou City from Fufeng, within just a few days he had visited blind Lao Wu twice, under the guise of a stern swordsman, borrowing Yan Ling’s name.

Not that he did so deliberately, but at that moment he needed to leverage the Ministry of Punishment’s authority. Familiar officers besides Tie Lin Wuxin included Yan Ling, whom he knew from Fufeng, acting in urgency.

And this ‘mouse’s’ purpose for delivering the message was precisely regarding Anfeng’s second visit to blind Lao Wu, when entrusted by Wuxin to have this old blind man find a gambler around thirty years old.

Specifically speaking, this gambler was related to the Hu elder Anfeng encountered that night.