That night, Li Hao went to bed very late.
Even when asleep, he wanted to be careful. He placed Black Panther at the door to guard it. He then kept the Vortex Mk III by his side at all times. He didn’t even care if the gun went off. But he worried that the dog might do something desperate.
Fortunately, nothing happened that night.
Perhaps the enemy was still waiting for a rainy day to strike.
…
13th July, 1730.
Last night’s noise was like a dream. The Qiming community was as quiet as ever, and no one even noticed the commotion on the old street in the neighborhood.
Maybe some people did notice but didn’t take it too seriously.
In the morning, Li Hao got up and showered. He then boiled water and poured it into a cup. He then placed the jade pendant in it. He waited for a while and took a sip.
He frowned. ‘The starlight seems to be less this time.’ Compared to yesterday, the starlight was actually less. ‘Can it be recovered?’ Li Hao was concerned.
Li Hao wondered if the jade sword needed time to recover its energy after being used. If the energy just needed time to recover and didn’t run out, that would indeed be very useful!
As for the stone saber, Li Hao didn’t use it for now. He had been worried last night that someone might have followed him. So, he didn’t take out the stone.
He drank the glass of water anyway and felt a similar warmth spread through his body. He then practiced the art of the ape. He realized that even if he improved drastically, it might not be enough to deal with the red shadow. But Li Hao didn’t want to let the opportunity go. Improving himself wasn’t a bad thing. It would always come in handy.
While training, Li Hao pondered. ‘Should he soak the jade pendant several times a day or just soak it once in a large pot of water? Would there be a difference?’ he decided to experiment with this.
Li Hao’s body was still as agile as before. He scurried around like an ape in his room. He did not practice a lot of times like he did yesterday.
He only practiced three times in a row. He had a little of the starlight energy still left but he chose to stop. He slowly felt the starlight completely dissipate from his body.
He was worried that the red shadow or the people who controlled it would be able to see the faint trace of starlight on his body. If that happened, he would be exposed.
Li Hao had noticed a faint trace of starlight on Liu Long and others. They couldn’t hide from his eyes. Li Hao remembered seeing Liu Long way before but he had never seen the trace of starlight on his body. Li Hao wondered if he was able to see the trace of starlight yesterday only because he had drunk the water. He needed more information.
Li Hao washed up again. He felt much more refreshed. He poured the remaining jade pendant-soaked water into Black Panther’s food bowl. The dog’s eyes flashed eagerly as if it couldn’t wait to lap the water up. After it was done, it kept looking up at Li Hao and wagging its tail.
Li Hao studied the dog. The starlight on its body was richer than before. Was it because the dog was emitting it more than it absorbed the energy? Or, was it that the more it absorbed the starlight, the more it would overflow from its body?
Li Hao didn’t know! He refused to accept that the dog was able to absorb all of the starlight it drank. That would mean this mere pup was even more powerful than him!
“Woof! Woof!” barked Black Panther excitedly as if asking for another cup of water.
Li Hao smiled and patted it. “Next time, pup! You look after the house while I go for work, alright? You have to pay close attention. Take note of the smell of whoever wanders around the house so we can track their location if needed. Don’t wander off.”
Li Hao was worried that someone would try to sneak into his house after what happened yesterday.
‘The jade pendant is with me, as always,’ thought Li Hao. He wasn’t too worried about the Zhang family’s stone saber. It was too large to carry around so he had placed it in Black Panther’s kennel downstairs. That seemed like the safest place for now. Because who in their right mind would rummage through a dog’s kennel for a stone?
Nobody bothered with Black Panther. Li Hao was the only one who cleaned its kennel when he could find time. So, that was the most inconspicuous spot to hide the stone in.
If someone did look for it there and managed to find it, Black Panther would be able to track them down by their smell anyway. It was safer than keeping it with him. The jade pendant was fine. He wore it around his neck and his shirt hid it. But carrying a stone around would look odd and suspicious.
“Woof!” affirmed Black Panther understanding Li Hao’s instructions. It nodded.
Li Hao was glad that the dog was getting smarter. He stood up and walked downstairs.
…
Outside the neighborhood was the familiar breakfast stall. The stall-keeper handed Li Hao a few meat buns and a cup of soy milk. Li Hao didn’t need to say anything, he always ate here.
Li Hao paid the stall-keeper and leisurely rode his bicycle to his office. The black car that had followed him yesterday did not appear today. He wondered if they had given up or if they were being careful after yesterday night’s incident.
Li Hao observed carefully but he didn’t find anyone following him even as he reached the Inspection Office.