Under the starry moonlit night sky, Pei Ye reclined on a chair in the courtyard, cradling a cat that was so quiet as if it had no thoughts of its own. In the dim light of the candle, he lifted a book scroll.
It took him a long while to figure out that the cat was just a "tool" that the Chi dragon had manifested to fulfill its devious contract.
This was not the Chi dragon's true form but something the dragon had deliberately created to manipulate him, like purposefully losing a game when playing with children.
Some officials from the prefecture administration visited him late in the day. He had to run an errand for them, but they claimed that the royal envoys from Shengjing suspected the case they were working on was related to the purpose of their visit. They requested to take over the case, and Pei Ye was to cooperate with their investigation when required.
