Qingshan

Chapter 32 : Chapter 32

Chapter 32: Endless Hell

Since arriving in this world, I knew nothing of my former self, piecing together my past from others’ scraps.

Now, my past was growing clearer… and more terrifying.

A Jing Dynasty spy? Was I truly a Jing Dynasty spy?!

This was the worst outcome, like walking a cliff’s edge, an abyss on either side—fall left or right, and I’d be doomed.

What now?

The man holding a dagger to my neck said calmly: “Don’t move, or you die.”

His voice was dry, heavy with absolute confidence.

He must be a seasoned Enforcer, a big figure in the Jing Dynasty’s Military Intelligence!

I stayed still, but the shopkeeper said: “Lord Division Officer, I confirmed—Zhou Chengyi was betrayed the night he passed intelligence with this kid. His entire household vanished, yet this kid lives. He must’ve sold us out.”

The Military Intelligence Division Officer pressed the cold blade tighter to my neck, asking sternly: “Anything to say?”

My mind raced, but I said calmly: “That night at Zhou Chengyi’s, he was already betrayed by a slim horse from White Cloth Lane’s Cuizhu Garden. That’s how Yunyang and Jiaotu found him… How was it my betrayal?”

The shopkeeper said coldly: “Then how’d you survive? Jiaotu and Yunyang are known killers. Without betraying and earning merit, how are you alive? You’ve turned on the Jing Dynasty!”

Having taken my kick, the shopkeeper, enraged, kicked my stomach, bending me over.

I tried to fight back, but the man behind kicked my knee.

My knees buckled, nearly hitting the ground.

But I held firm, standing before they touched.

The Division Officer kicked again. Each time, I rose before kneeling.

He pressed my shoulder with immense force, but I’d rather break my shoulder than bend a fraction.

Standing rigid, I glared at the shopkeeper: “Torture me all you want—the result’s the same. One question: if I betrayed, why are you still alive to talk?!”

The shopkeeper froze.

That’s why they hadn’t killed me. Though signs pointed to my betrayal, everyone except Zhou Chengyi and Liu Shiyu was unharmed.

If I, with my status, had turned, it’d be a disaster for the Jing Dynasty’s Luocheng network. They needed to know what happened.

The storeroom, packed with herbs, was cramped, our breaths audible.

I exhaled slowly, pushing the dagger from my neck with two fingers: “Killing me without proof? Let me finish. At Zhou’s, before we spoke much, Yunyang and Jiaotu arrived. Zhou, knowing escape was impossible, told me to save myself. He took poison and died. I survived as a clinic apprentice—the Secret Spy Division doesn’t know my true identity.”

I turned, facing the Division Officer, the Jing Dynasty’s third-ranking figure in the Ning Dynasty!

He wore plain gray clothes, patched at elbows and knees.

Strangely, his face bore a thin wooden mask, carved with a fierce, fanged visage.

Before he spoke, he struck my neck precisely, knocking me out.

…

…

Waking slowly, I found myself hanging upside down somewhere, a black cloth over my head, my wrist aching as if cut.

I heard a sticky drip, drip, as if my blood fell.

The sound, like a countdown to life, sparked fear and urgency.

But I calmed.

“You’ve two quarters of an hour left, judging by the bleeding,” the Division Officer’s muffled voice came from behind the mask. “The Secret Spy Division kills rather than spares. Even if they don’t know you’re a spy, they wouldn’t let you live. Why did they?”

In the dark, I explained: “I earned merit. Using alum as a clue, I brushed vinegar on paper, revealing the secret letter from the rice paper shop to Zhou Chengyi.”

He asked sternly: “If true, your skill doesn’t match a clinic apprentice. Yunyang and Jiaotu would suspect you! Yuanming, was he followed?”

The shopkeeper shook his head: “No.”

“Check again. Any unfamiliar faces near Hundred Deer Pavilion?”

“Understood.”

Yuanming, the shopkeeper, stepped out, blowing a copper whistle with a swallow’s call.

Soon, swallow calls echoed from all directions outside.

He returned, puzzled: “Lord Division Officer, our men confirm no one followed him.”

The Division Officer mused: “Why do they trust you so much, no tail at all?”

I pondered too. Why…

I’d suddenly gained Yunyang and Jiaotu’s trust, accessing the Inner Prison and its records.

Those records were the Secret Spy Division’s core. If they suspected me, they’d never let me see them.

Why?

Wait—the strange dream.

In that dream, someone controlled my subconscious, asking questions.

I passed because… I genuinely didn’t know I was a Jing Dynasty spy!

What a close call—I’d dodged their test by chance!

Drip, drip.

The blood kept falling, urging death.

I said calmly, voice urgent: “I had a dream where someone kept asking if I was a Jing Dynasty spy. My mind nearly broke, but I held firm and said ‘no.’”

The Division Officer seemed surprised: “Dream Rooster himself tested you? You resisted his interrogation.”

Yet he wasn’t fully convinced.

My arm stung, as if cut again.

The dripping stopped, replaced by blood pouring like a thread into a basin, pattering ceaselessly.

He said calmly: “No matter how eloquently you speak, it could be the Secret Spy Division’s script. Prove your loyalty to the Jing Dynasty, or I’ll kill you. Your uncle would understand.”

I froze. Uncle?

The shopkeeper said: “Lord, no more talk. The Secret Spy Division let him live for a reason—a plot. If he returns, Hundred Deer Pavilion, a key southern asset, could fall. Many depend on it.”

The Division Officer waited for my answer.

I closed my eyes, thinking how to prove loyalty to the Jing Dynasty?

Opening them, I said firmly: “I saw Recent Reflections with phonetic segmentation in Liu Shiyu’s house but didn’t give it to Yunyang or Jiaotu. It said Liu Shiyu was contacting a big figure in Prince Jing’s Mansion for our Military Intelligence, and the whole Liu family leans toward the Jing Dynasty. If I’d handed it over, the Liu family would be doomed!”

The Division Officer’s breath caught: “Where’s Recent Reflections?”

“Burned.”

His eyes narrowed, glinting dangerously, musing: “You didn’t lie. The Secret Spy Division didn’t find Recent Reflections. I snuck into Liu Shiyu’s house and couldn’t either—you hid it, good…”

My heart raced. The Jing Dynasty knew the Secret Spy Division didn’t get Recent Reflections? Was another spy at Liu’s that night?!

As he thought, the shopkeeper urged: “Lord Division Officer, no matter his words, he betrayed comrades. The Liu paper shop raid caused havoc, killing Liu Shiyu and nearly worse!”

I, hanging from the beam, asked solemnly: “Who else in the Jing Dynasty earned the Twelve Zodiacs’ trust? Who else dodged Dream Rooster’s test?”

The Division Officer’s gaze shifted.

Dream Rooster was a major hurdle for infiltrating the Secret Spy Division. Countless spies fell to him.

My passing his test was an opportunity.

But how to confirm I truly passed?

Hearing no reply, I bet big: “Give me one month. I’ll prove I didn’t betray and show my loyalty to the Jing Dynasty.”

He pondered, then turned to the shopkeeper: “Send word—I need to see ‘Long Whale.’ I have urgent business.”

The shopkeeper hesitated but left.

After a long silence, the Division Officer cut the rope, lowering me.

He sheathed his dagger: “Your uncle asked me to look after you in the Ning Dynasty. Didn’t expect this mess. If you’re truthful, I won’t kill you—I’ll protect you. But if you lie, don’t blame my ruthlessness.”

I removed the black cloth, still in the herb storeroom. The Division Officer held a chicken, its blood in the basin.

Unsurprised, I feigned shock, touching my arm—no wound.

He explained calmly: “I’m counting on you to infiltrate the Secret Spy Division. I wouldn’t leave suspicious wounds. For your uncle’s sake, I’ll give you a chance to prove yourself.”

My uncle was from the Jing Dynasty, not the Ning? So I’m at least half Jing Dynasty.

I’d thought the Jing were nomads, distinct from the Ning, but my appearance suggested both dynasties shared roots, contradicting my world’s logic.

My identity grew murkier, no wonder he said…

“You betrayed your identity, your surname.”