The middle-aged man gave a cold laugh, then turned and ran.

Xie Siyu snorted coldly, drove both feet against the ground and went like a loosed arrow. Two bounds brought him level with the fleeing man, and then he went clean over the man's head, landed square, robe hem swinging, and stood with his back to him.

The middle-aged man's face changed. He turned and ran the other way.

Xie Siyu vaulted through the air and cut him off again.

Seeing he could not get away, the middle-aged man hardened his eyes, drew a dagger and rushed at Xie Siyu.

Xie Siyu tossed the sword in his hand offhand. The flat of it caught the middle-aged man in the chest and sent him flying.

The sword bounced back, and Xie Siyu put out a hand, caught it and stood with it propped point-down.

The middle-aged man picked up the dagger, scrambled up in a sorry state, rubbed his chest and made ready to come at him again.

Xie Siyu's face was cold. "Want to die?"

The middle-aged man's movement froze. There was fear in his eyes.

Xie Siyu turned and walked off. "Keep up. Run, and... you die!"

Ning Chen reached the Inspectorate.

When he saw Geng Jing, the man's face was grim.

Geng Jing spoke before Ning Chen could ask. "Zhou Anshi is dead."

Ning Chen was shocked. "How did he die?"

Geng Jing shook his head and laughed bitterly. "He was frightened to death!"

"Eh?"

Geng Jing said, "I had two silver coats dress up as men under sentence of death, killers and robbers, and put them in the same cell as Zhou Anshi... The idea was to scare Zhou Anshi a little and get something out of him. This morning we found him with no breath in him."

Ning Chen had gone numb.

Then his brows drew together. "That's not right. Zhou Anshi had the nerve to put himself into the game as one of the pieces. He isn't a man who scares easily."

Geng Jing looked helpless. "The body has been examined. There's no fatal wound...…