Grabbing hold of a passing scribe, Fan Xian looked at his lifeless face. For some reason, Fan Xian felt a little nervous, but at the same time, he felt a sense of familiarity. It was as if he had found the old comrade Fei Jie. He smiled sweetly and greeted him. "Hello."
The owner of the lifeless face, like the rest of the people in the Overwatch Council, looked at Fan Xian with a strange expression. After a while, he said, "Hello."
These two words were said a little stiffly.
Fan Xian swallowed and smiled. "This is very presumptuous of me, but... why is everyone staring at me?"
The man laughed, revealing his pale white teeth. He found this young man with a shy smile very interesting. He asked, "If a stranger suddenly appeared in a place where no stranger had ever entered, wouldn't everyone stare at him?"
Fan Xian suddenly understood, but then he was confused. "Isn't this the yamen of the Overwatch Council? Has no stranger ever come to the government to handle official business? "
The man pointed outside the door and kindly explained, "Look over there."
Fan Xian took a look and saw that there was no one at the entrance of the Overwatch Council. The people on the street were walking along the other side of the street.
The man laughed, but it was a horrifying smile. The old skin on his cheeks wrinkled together. "The people of the capital have always avoided our yamen. As for official business, we, the Overwatch Council, never handle official business. His Majesty has decreed that the other six yamens are not allowed to get involved in the affairs of the Council, so we have never had any dealings with the other yamens."
Fan Xian laughed bitterly. "So that's how it is. It seems that I really am a reckless trespasser."
The man asked curiously, "You don't know what the Overwatch Council does?"
Fan Xian replied, "I know a little." After all, he was a student of Fei Jie of the Third Bureau of the Overwatch Council. He knew a little about the Overwatch Council's functions.
"And yet you dared to barge in like this." The man shrugged. "Most people would think of this place as Yama's palace."
Fan Xian smiled helplessly. "Perhaps it's because I saw Yama when I was very young?"
The man laughed and patted his shoulder. "Very good, very good."
The skin on Fan Xian's right shoulder under his clothes grew a little goosebumps. He felt that the man's tone was like Sun Erniang's.
"Is there anything I can help you with?" The man smiled.
Fan Xian immediately felt as if the man had turned into a hotel receptionist from his previous life who spoke in English. He shook his head to get rid of this untimely distraction. He took out a piece of silver from his sleeve and handed it over. "Is Fei Jie here?" he asked politely.
The man was stunned. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. Immediately after, Fan Xian noticed that the man's expression was no longer indifferent, but respectful with a hint of fear. "Are you looking for Master Fei?"
As he said this, he flicked his finger beautifully, sending the silver pieces Fan Xian had stuffed into his sleeve back into Fan Xian's sleeve. Fan Xian raised his eyebrows. He knew that while this move seemed simple, it was actually very beautiful. At the very least, he had been immersed in martial arts for over a decade to be able to be so accurate. Only now did he realize that this seemingly ordinary Overwatch Council official was actually a hidden ace.
Fan Xian nodded, admitting that he had come to find Fei Jie. He then noticed that the man was vigorously wiping the right hand that had patted his shoulder.
"Master Fei is not here," the man replied politely. He discreetly took a few steps back, putting some distance between himself and Fan Xian. "Master Fei has gone to the border to supervise."
Fan Xian slapped his forehead. Only now did he remember that Teng Zijing had said that the Director of the Overwatch Council would be returning home for at least three months. Given Fei Jie's lazy temper, the only person who could control him was not here, so naturally he would slip away.
He excused himself from the man and prepared to leave. Before he left, Fan Xian suddenly smiled and asked, "Sir, what is your name?"
"I am Wang Qinian." The Overwatch Council official, Wang Qinian, saw that this young man, with a slightly bashful smile, dared to come to the Overwatch Council alone and call Master Fei Jie by his name. He knew that this young man was no ordinary person, so he called himself "I".
Fan Xian knew that when the man heard that he was looking for Fei Jie, he unconsciously associated him with something dangerous like poison. That was why he wiped his hand and retreated. He looked at Wang Qinian with a smile. "If Master Fei returns, please inform him that... his student has come to the capital."
Fei Jie's student? Wang Qinian felt the urge to chop off his own right hand. He silently cursed himself for his fondness for touching things. He coughed and agreed.
— — —
Walking out of the Overwatch Council's main gate, the sun shone down through the tall trees on either side of the road. The shadows of countless leaves enveloped Fan Xian's body. He walked west for a while and sat on the railing next to the running water. He rested his hands on the sides of his body and looked at the crowd on the street. For a moment, he didn't know where to go.
He didn't want to go back to Fan Manor. Although there was a gentle and kind sister there, when he thought of Lady Liu, his father, and that chubby boy who should have been happily studying every day but was now forced to compete with him, he felt a little uncomfortable.
What belonged to him, he bravely fought for it. He would not give up.
However, Fan Xian was still not sure what truly belonged to him in this world. After all, he had experienced another life before, and there was always a sense of distance between him and this world.
He hid the fact that he had come to the Overwatch Council to find Fei Jie from his father. Although his father knew that Fei Jie was his teacher, Fan Xian still felt that Fei Jie was more trustworthy. Perhaps it was because he had not been in this world for long, and had begun following Old Fei around looking for corpses, which gave him a sense of closeness.
Fei Jie's teacher was not in the capital. This fact made the arrangements he had made before entering the capital a little problematic. So he was thinking about what he should do next.
As he thought about these things, he jumped down from the railing and began to walk back. When he passed by the Overwatch Council again, he noticed that the people on the street were indeed walking on the right side of the street, avoiding the Council's main gate. It was as if they were afraid of the sinister aura that seeped out of the building.
He squinted at the entrance of the building. The thin clouds in the sky suddenly parted, and the clear sunlight shone down. His eyes were blinded by a golden light.
Rubbing his eyes, he looked towards the golden light, and found that there was a wide tablet in front of the Overwatch Council. It looked like a crouching tiger crouching on the ground. The tablet was made of stone, and a few words were written on it.
Fan Xian frowned. He felt that these words were somewhat familiar, as if he had seen them somewhere before. But no matter how hard he thought, he couldn't figure out where they had come from. His gaze moved downwards, and he saw the inscription.
It was a somewhat unfamiliar, but incomparably familiar name.
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