The sky was dimming, and soon it would be dark.

A group of people arrived at a small inn on the official road as dusk fell. The inn had no name, only the word "Inn" written on it, simple as that.

The waiter brought out half a candle, nodding and bowing to welcome the guests who arrived in the evening.

"Didn't expect there would still be an inn in this place." Xu Cheng slammed his large knife onto the dusty wooden table, only to inhale a mouthful of dust before finishing his sentence, choking on it, tears streaming down his eyes.

Seeing this, the waiter hurried to fetch a bowl of water from the kitchen, sprinkling it on the table and floor as he spoke, "This inn has changed hands through several generations to our current innkeeper. This place is remote, usually devoid of people, and with the wind and sand, it accumulates dust quickly. The conditions here are not good, so please forgive us, guests."

"The dust here must be half a foot thick. I suppose we'll be sleeping on a dirt pile tonight?" Xu Cheng complained, looking disdainfully at the rundown inn. He never expected such treatment when he set out on this escort mission.

The waiter looked a bit embarrassed but still wore a smiling face, bowing repeatedly to apologize to the guests.

"The rooms upstairs are clean, guests can take a look first," the dim light from the half candle revealed the waiter's face clearly, though he couldn't see others too clearly.

Hu Li listened to the creaking of the doors and windows, distracted for a moment. It wasn't until Jiang Yu spoke that his wandering thoughts were brought back.

"Where's your innkeeper?" Jiang Yu suddenly asked.

"Our innkeeper has some urgent business and won't be back until three days later," the waiter replied.

"The inn is fully booked tonight." As soon as the words fell, the sound of coins landing on the table came from the darkness.

Finally, the one who could make decisions spoke up.

The waiter smiled and disappeared into the darkness to find Jiang Yu.

The others looked over in the direction of the sound.

The words happened to be next to Hu Li, and he turned his head slightly to see Jiang Yu sitting on a chair, his hand already withdrawn, with a silver ingot on the table.

Xu Cheng was about to argue, but seeing the silver, he didn't say anything. This Jiang, he couldn't afford to provoke.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

After the arrangements were made, officials were allocated to the third floor of the inn, while the escorts stayed on the second floor near the main entrance. The escorts took turns keeping watch at night, though they still couldn't bring themselves to sleep.

On this trip, everyone knew what was at stake. If things went well with the court, all would be fine, but if not, trouble would follow.

Hu Li kept watch in the late hours.

He lay on the bed fully clothed, the windows and doors swaying, the branches outside twisted into a puzzling curve by the wind, but there was no sound in the inn, as if it were deserted.

There was only one waiter and one cook in the inn, both of whom had already gone to bed.

The moon rose to the zenith, reaching midnight. Hu Li rolled off the bed, strapped his long knife to his back, and opened the door to go downstairs.

As soon as he stepped out, he bumped into Jiang Yu. Jiang Yu glanced at him and nodded. Hu Li returned the nod, then stood with his knife at the inn's entrance.

The night on the wasteland was extremely cold, and it got colder as one approached the Yiling Ridge. Yiling Ridge was a frigid place; even in the height of summer, it was unbearable, as a single rain could dissipate all the heat.

Two escorts guarded the inn's entrance, with four more patrolling. Each floor of the inn had two escorts, in addition to Jiang Yu and his four men.

Xu Cheng was assigned to patrol duty. He shivered with cold, rubbing his hands together, his eyes scanning around. Suddenly, he grimaced, clutching his stomach, "My stomach hurts."

The escort with him frowned and waved his hand, "I'll take care of this side. You go back quickly."

Xu Cheng nodded, hunching over and holding his stomach as he ran outside.

He ran for more than ten steps, seeing the patrolling escort heading to the other corner of the inn. Xu Cheng took the opportunity to run to the grass shed on the left side of the inn.

Finding a sheltered spot from the wind, Xu Cheng squatted down, rubbing his hands until they turned red. He spat on the ground, cursing softly, "Damn place, can't even treat people like humans."

It was eerily quiet all around, with no signs of life within a radius of two hundred miles.

Hu Li felt the silver in his waist and wondered if he could give the items to Uncle Shi before leaving tomorrow. Tomorrow morning, the waiter would come to the third floor to deliver breakfast. Timing it right, there should be no mistakes.

In the distance, there were two heart-wrenching barks of dogs. Hu Li signaled to the escort beside him and circled to the side of the inn.

"How is it?" Shi Yue pulled Hu Li, asking urgently.

"How did you follow?" Hu Li was a bit helpless. "If you follow so openly, you'll be caught red-handed and unable to explain."

"Senior brother, you worry too much."

"Uncle Shi and the others are fine. After settling down in the Yiling Ridge, we can figure out a plan. Why are you in such a hurry?"

"I'll follow for one more day." Shi Yue pursed his lips.

Shi Yue seemed to be unable to hear anything at this moment. After Hu Li finished speaking, he patted Shi Yue's shoulder, "Stay further tomorrow, the Jin Yiwei are not like the yamen crowd."

"Understood, senior brother." Shi Yue nodded and turned away.

Hu Li watched Shi Yue's figure disappear into the darkness.

He glanced up at the direction of the inn.

The door was tightly closed, the red lantern swaying slightly, everything seemed normal, except that the escorts at the door were gone.

And the inn, which was pitch-black just now, suddenly lit up with lights.

Something was wrong.

Hu Li jumped up and landed at the inn's door, pushing it open.

The red candles on the candlestick were dripping blood-like tears, and everyone was gathered in the hall.

The waiter and the inn's cook stood at the entrance of the small kitchen, their legs shaking so much they could hardly stand.

Jiang Yu's face darkened, waving his hand to have the candlestick moved a bit farther away.

Hu Li suddenly opened the door, attracting everyone's attention. Jiang Yu's icy gaze stuck to Hu Li for a moment, but only for a moment.

"From now on, no one is allowed to go to the room on the third floor," Jiang Yu said, taking out the command token from his waist. As soon as the words were out, there was a chorus of disapproval from the crowd. His deliberate tone hinted at something, "And now, no one is allowed to leave this inn."

"Now, count the number of people." Jiang Yu gave a signal to his men, "Those who are not present will have their names listed separately, and anyone without proper documentation will be considered innocent by default."

After Jiang Yu finished speaking, he turned and went upstairs. As he reached the halfway point, his figure disappeared around the corner of the stairs. Suddenly, he turned his head and glanced back at Hu Li.

Hu Li felt something was amiss.

The inn was sealed, and Jiang Yu's net shouldn't have had any problems. As the middle-aged escort said, there was no noise at all, and with so many eyes around, how could someone commit a crime so silently?

This was a crime committed in front of everyone's eyes.

How did he evade so many eyes, commit the crime silently, and still escape without a trace?

Translate the above text into English, add some language embellishments, and leave a blank line after each paragraph.