Yang Changtian was just about to open the imperial decree , but he was interrupted by the flutter of wings , he looked up to see a passenger pigeon circling around them. He extended his hand so the bird could perch on him. After the bird perched on his extended arm he used his free arm to quickly untie the small tube containing the message . He handed the pigeon back to Zhang Anying and opened the small tube to retrieve the message.
Jin Wei quickly moved towards Liu Ying , “ Senior Liu …”
“ It’s likely a message from Prince Jinlong “, Liu Ying whispered back.
Jin Wei’s eyes light up with a mischievous glint , “ Then senior , I still have the chance to win our bet.”
Liu Ying slowly turned towards Jin Wei and stared at him ,before breaking out into a smile , “ Child , when will you learn, nothing escapes my eye , and my predictions are always right, “ Liu Ying’s voice was smug.
Both Jin Wei and Da Xiong were supported by the sheer self confidence and smugness of Liu Ying.
On the other hand , Yang Changtian opened the small paper inside the tube. He could recognize the handwriting in one glance , it was from Wang Jinlong. “ Changtian , the king has expressed his desire to help with the investigation , so he had a group of investigators from the Imperial Investigation department dispatched to join you. I’ll look into them more later , for now agree with them and let them join you.”
Yang Changtian folded the paper and placed it inside his robes. He then continued to open the scroll that had the Imperial decree, it states;
By the mandate of heaven , I , the emperor proclaim that I have been made aware of the recent calamity that has befallen my loyal subjects in the North, and I have also been made aware of my Imperial Uncle’s intention of sending a group to the North to investigate this matter thoroughly. For this good deed I praise my Imperial Uncle and I as the King wish to lend a hand to assist the group heading to investigate the matter, So I have dispatched a core member of the Imperial Investigation department , she will be accompanied by senior 2 detectives and some guards. I order the Chief disciple of the Guanghui sect, Yang Changtian and Senior disciple of the Bihou sect, Li Cheng ,the leaders of the investigation to merge with the group from the Imperial Investigation Department and investigate this matter jointly.
Yang Changtian rolled the scroll and handed it to Zhang Anying. “ I accept the King’s order, and I agree to merge with your group and investigate this matter jointly.Let us go back , since we’re going to be working together we should travel together”.
Yang Changtian turned around and ordered the others to return to camp. He then mounted his horse and steered the horse back towards the direction of their camp.
Liu Ying , Da Xiong and Jin Wei all mounted their own horses before following closely behind Yang Changtian and the others
Li Cheng and Zhou Zilong were sitting under a tree , they had a fire going as it was getting dark. Mo Ling was pacing back and forth. All three of them heard the thudding of horse's hooves and soon the group arrived back at camp. There were a few unfamiliar faces amongst them.
Yang Changtian dismounted his horse followed by Zhang Anyning and they walked towards them. “ Li Cheng , here.” Yang Changtian handed the imperial decree to Li Cheng , who took it and read it , Zhou Zilong and Mo Ling also joined them.
“ So I’m guessing you agreed,” Li Cheng replied after finishing. “ Seeing you bring them here.”
Yang Changtian nodded “ Yes , it was the best course of action.”
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Li Cheng nodded , “ It was the right one.”
Yang Changtian was relieved to find that Li Cheng was on the same page as him.
“ You must be Mr. Li , I have heard a lot about you.” They were interrupted by Jin Wei , he came over with Liu Ying and Da Xiong. “ Mr. Li , please accept our greetings , I am Jin Wei , and this is Liu Ying and Da Xiong , we are detectives from the Imperial Investigation department. “ Li Cheng nodded and observed them , his eyes lingered for a while on Liu Ying. He felt that this person isn't someone simple.
Zhang Anying and some disciples carried over some bags of food they forged .” Senior Brother , We couldn't hunt anything , so we'll have to do this for today.”
Yang Changtian looked through the bags and it was barely enough for all of them.
“ Mr. Yang , don't worry , we brought food along with us , we can share it.” Jin Wei signaled one of the guards with them , who scurried to the carriage , and came back with preserved meat , vegetables , pickles and some rice.
Yang Changtian and Li Cheng were looking at this with their eyebrows raised.
“ Ah Mr Yang , Mr Li , Liu Ying is very particular when it comes to food , so we brought along some for her. “ Jin Wei explained.
Yang Changtian’s eyebrows were rising higher. The others were speechless, but they all had one thought, ‘ What a fussy person.’ Liu Ying remained silent, acting as if she didn't hear anything.
“ Then please join us.” Yang Changtian invited them as it would be very rude not to.
“ Then we won't refuse Mr Yang.” Jin Wei answered.
“ Please just call me Brother Yang.”
Jin Wei smiled and agreed.
They all sat down and started to eat.
After eating her portion , Liu Ying stood up , went near Jin Wei and whispered something before moving to another tree before climbing it and settling herself down on a branch.
The other’s were again surprised at this person’s peculiarity.
Jin Wei saw their confused looks before laughing , “ Sister Liu usually prefers sleeping on trees.”
Yang Changtian was speechless at thos , but he decided to ignore it , after all there are some peculiar people in the world.
He then turned to look at Jin Wei. “ I assume you’re the leader of the group ? “
Jin Wei flashed him a smile , “ Mr. Yang , I am but a mere detective , the leader of our group is actually Liu Ying.”
The group was speechless again , they all turned to look at Liu Ying who was staring at the sky , and settled on her cozy branch.
“ I thought she was just the archive manager ? “ Li Cheng asked, surprised.
“ Senior Liu is the archive manager and the Internal Analyst in the department. She’s in charge of collecting and interpreting and filing data . So she is called the ‘brain’ of the department . Despite her mannerisms and looks , she is actually one of the founding members of the Imperial Investigation department. “
Yang Changtian was surprised , he never expected this strange lady to be someone powerful. ‘ So she’s the so-called expert the king sent’ he thought in his head. Yang Changtian turned to look at Li Cheng , he was surprised to see Li Cheng staring at Liu Ying, who was still busy admiring the sky. Now that he thought about it , Jingyou also liked to watch the sky. Back then he didn't understand why the quiet Jingyou loved to look at the sky, he thought that there was nothing to admire about the sky , but as he gets older , he understands.
In his pursuit of looking for treasures to admire , he had forgotten to stop and admire the things that were already by his side.
Yang Changtian also looked at the sky , it was getting darker , but the sky was only getting prettier. The countless stars hidden during the day slowly appeared one by one painting a magnificent work of art , admired by the clamest of hearts but somehow ignored by most.
The moon was a perfect crescent , but by no means was the moon dull.
“ Beautiful isn't it, “ Yang Changtian heard Li Cheng’s voice ring out from his side. He turned to face him .
“ Yes , in the past I thought that it was stupid to admire and observe something that’s forever present , but now ….. I understand.” Yang Changtian replied with a self depreciating smile.
Li Cheng patted him on the back , “ Even if the moon rises late , its light is still cherished. “
Yang Changtian broke into a smile after hearing this. Hearing those words again was nothing short of nostalgic.
Liu Ying, who was visibly busy admiring the sky , from her branch knowingly let out a small smile. Before turning her full attention back to the sky.