Xiao's head drooped and he jerked awake. The afternoon sun was still shining on him like the last time he'd awoken because he nodded off. The spring afternoon was warm enough for him to wear just an undershirt and thin pants. 

He was leaning against the back wall of his and Bradley's room, supposedly reading. However, the book that Frank's scholar friend had given him wasn't interesting at all. It was on laws and sanctions. He had read ten pages before dozing off in the sunlight. 

To his defense, he had been up every night the past two weeks. To his displeasure, he couldn't use this against the two other people who had been up every night the past two weeks. For a young knight like Xiao, sleeping less was nothing. But a lack of sleep plus a boring book led to Xiao dozing off for the fifth day in a row.

Just as he was straightening up and resolving to finishing the first chapter, Bradley came out. "Were you sleeping again?"

Xiao closed his eyes and slumped against the wall. "What's wrong with sleeping?"

"What's wrong is you ruining the beautiful scenery of the guesthouse."

Xiao snorted. "Fine, I'll sleep inside."

Bradley hit him lightly on the shoulder. "You are supposed to be studying."

Xiao rolled his eyes. "Seriously, Bradley! Why do I have to read this?"

"So you know things," Bradley told him. "You're smart. Just read it."

Xiao looked at Bradley with imploring eyes. "Let me learn anything else! I'll practice sequences."

Bradley sighed. "Go outside and look for some evidences then."

Xiao grinned, his eyes narrowed into slits. He jumped up and flipped over the wall of the guesthouse to the backstreet. Bradley sighed as he watched Xiao disappear over the wall. What could he do, Xiao hated reading. 

Xiao walked jauntily along the streets, greeting the people he'd gotten used to seeing. Lady Peng who was an old lady who sold vegetables, Mister Hemmings who was the owner of Greenwich Diner, Mister Jones who operated the wine house ...

He bought a bottle from Mister Jones and a package of sunflower seeds. Then he headed to the most remote corners of Wyatt City. The past two weeks, they had went out every night in hopes to catch the traffickers but they hadn't found any. It had been pure luck that they caught the priest on the first day. The weeks they've been in Wyatt City, three more cases had happened here and five cases occurred in neighbouring cities. Once, Xiao saw a man running in the dark, but it turned out to be one of Leon Toble's friends. Frank and Bradley reported two cases of robbery as well, but no advances on the Maiden Case.

The priest must have ran off to another stronghold of some sort to make more drugs as the cases kept on happening. Monk Olga told them that the priest was most likely the distributor of drugs for the whole organisation.

From their town hall officer friends, they got the news that the mayor did not even try Curtis but put him in jail, citing that there was no need to try someone who was clearly a criminal. It was idiocy at its best. He should have been tried for any information he knew. But it was clear that the mayor was corrupt - probably bribed by the priest - and would not help with the cracking down of the maiden's case.

Frustration was running high in the guesthouse. Bradley and Xiao bickered more often than before, but both understood that the other was only arguing because of their lack of progress with the Maiden Case.

Xiao was happy now only because he was out and about. He half wished Bradley was with him now, but he also feared that the next argument might cross the line. The relationship between him and Bradley was stable enough for them to be able to hate each other after a major argument but save each other the next second. Still, he was scared that this adventure of his and Bradley's might terminate with them on bad terms.

He didn't even know where he was going. He called upon God to give him the luck they had the first day in Wyatt City. Unconsciously, he walked into Williams Village. People were milling about. 

"Xiao Ge!" someone called from behind him.

Xiao smiled as he recognized Simon's voice. He turned around, grinning. "Simon Ge."

Simon ran up. "You guys are still here?"

"How can we not be with all these cases?"

"Any luck?" Simon inquired.

"None whatsoever."

Simon sighed. "Me too. A young maiden named Hu was taken."

"I've heard." Xiao knew all the names of the maidens.

"So what have you been up to?" 

"We've been asking around, going into the maiden's houses and searching for clues," Xiao told him. 

"Why are you here then?"

"Childe Williams, can't I walk around?"

Simon frose for a second at Xiao's words before smiling. Xiao wondered whether he had been teased or even heard of jokes.

"I heard about the priest," Simon said. "Monk Olga sent me the cure too."

Xiao nodded. "I hope your sister is well."

"She is, she is. There is a Curtis involved?"

"That bastard's been caught too," Xiao said. "He's in the city prison right now."

"No one tried to save him?"

"With his personality, I think they all wanted him dead."

Simon laughed a little. "Xiao Ge, come to my manor. We can have a cup of tea."

Xiao shook his bottle of alcohol. "I've got my drink."

Simon's eyebrows furrowed a little. "Then we'll get you more wine, Xiao Ge. Come along."

Xiao smiled. There was nothing wrong with paying the Williams a visit, so he followed Simon into a big manor. Every inch of the place was clean and new, though Xiao knew from others that the Williams had lived there for years. The gatekeeper bowed as they entered and some servants scurried to bring food and beverages. There were a lot of art pieces hanging on the walls or displayed on shelves, all expensive by the looks of it. Xiao didn't understand art or appreciate it, but he thought that nothing in this place must be cheap.

"That vase was bought just last week," Simon told Xiao as they sat down across from each other. He was pointed to a red and brown vase by the door. Yellow flowers bloomed out of it. "Another buyer wanted it too but my father offered a bigger deposit. Obviously he would, with the businesses we conduct."

Xiao smiled politely. He didn't know what was so good about the vase. Perhaps the red swirls were hard to do.

Then Simon went on about the businesses his family owns, from delivery companies to restaurants. Xiao could only nod and hum in agreement as he talked. "This Maiden Case is truly devastating on businesses," he told Xiao. "It's good that we have businesses far from here as well."

"I see."

"One of our businesses is a restaurant in the capital," Simon said. "I go there once in a while to check on the business. It's quite nice to visit Sunfall. The city is really lively."

"Right."

"That's what we would expect, of course," Simon continued after sipping his tea. "King Joseph is there. With the emperor there, obviously it's regulated nicely and all the businesses there are flourishing."

"Yeah."

"And the citizens are quite civilized."

"As expected."

"But tell me more about the Knight World, Xiao-Ge."

Xiao let out a breath. It seemed that Simon was finally done after a long lecture on his family's businesses. To be honest, it wasn't all that uninteresting as Xiao had never met a businessman but Simon's proud air as he talked annoyed Xiao. Just because he had some money didn't mean that he needed to brag about it.

"There isn't too much to tell," Xiao said modestly. However, he was ready to sell his story to Simon even better than Simon did. Let Simon regret not going up to a mountain and learning. But on a second thought, no one would want Simon as a disciple. He was almost like Curtis, Xiao thought. Instantly, some conspiracy theories popped into his mind. He had to tell Bradley about it all. But right now, he had to make the knight world even more interesting than it already was.

"Tell me all of it," Simon urged.

"Well there are three major sects, the Mount Gudu sect, the Xue Lake sect, and the Anlang sect," he began. "Then under each sect, there are smaller branches. For example, Mount Huai sect is a branch under Mount Gudu. The Xue Lake and Mount Gudu sects all have respectable disciples, but the Anlang sect mostly produces play-boys and lowly criminals."

"So the maiden case ... "

Xiao shrugged. "We all have our suspicions. Anyway, it's not brought up to the Gudu-Xue Alliance yet, so it's not that serious yet. When we catch the mastermind behind this and if they happen to be a member of the Anlang sect, they will be rightfully punished."

"Gudu-Xue Alliance?"

"Isn't that self-explanatory? It's just to suppress the Anlang sect from being overly roguish."

Simon nodded. "Who are the leaders of the alliance?"

Xiao smiled. "I haven't even gotten to the grandmasters of the sects yet! The grandmaster of Mount Gudu is Xinliang Han, the grandmaster of Xue Lake is Henry Baumrind, and the grandmaster of Anlang Sect is Pinghe Chen. Grandmaster Han and Baumrind formed the alliance, with a third party, which is a secluded monk called Fu Lan. Monk Lan is like a mediator if there is any conflicts."

"So when there is an Anlang disciple brought up to the alliance, what happens?"

Xiao thought about it. "There hasn't been a case that severe. The last time it happened was ten years back. Huilun Qin was a serial killer who killed government officials and citizens alike. He was brought to the alliance and killed, and the Anlang sect was sanctioned."

"Shouldn't Anlang sect decide what happens to him?"

Xiao shook his head vehemently. "Definitely not. They'll let him off! If they decide the sanctions, it will be like sitting in front of a wall and think about all your flaws for three minutes."

Simon laughed. 

They continued talking and it became more pleasant when Simon wasn't trying to impress Xiao with his family's money. Then, Xiao proposed talking to Maiden Hu's family. 

"I already did," Simon told Xiao, "but I can accompany you. I'm warning you though, there isn't much to go off of. They haven't an idea what took their daughter."

Xiao sighed. "It's all like that."

Later, it started raining and Simon advised Xiao to wait it out. "You can stay for the night, too," he said.

Xiao told him no. "I have to patrol the city in the night."

Simon's eyes widened. "I'll come with you."

"Childe Williams, why don't you patrol Williams Village and the surrounding villages? We need to spread out."

Simon nodded. "I'll do that, Xiao-Ge."

Xiao clapped him on the shoulders. Then they talked more as the rain fell outside. At first, it was a slight drizzle, but then it turned into a storm. As Xiao looked outside the window, he saw the apricot blossoms in the garden drooping in the rain and petals falling down. The ground turned from green to yellow. 

It was already almost completely dark outside after the two ate dinner. Xiao needed to get back to Bradley and Frank so he bid Simon goodbye.

"I could get you a carriage," Simon offered.

Xiao turned it down. "I'll just walk. What's a little rain to me?"

So he walked down the now deserted streets as the rain drizzled down. It had calmed down. Xiao thought it perfect to walk off all that he'd eaten at Simon's place. When it was about nine, he reached their guest house and the rain had stopped. Xiao's hair was drenched by the spring rain and his robes were damp, and he almost wanted to admit that maybe piling his hair up might have been a good idea.

Bradley was walking around their room when he got back. Xiao laughed a little at Bradley's scrunched up face. His laugh caused Bradley to swirl around and face him. Usually, knights could hear someone coming from far away because of their good hearing, but Bradley must have been too caught up with something.

"What are you pacing about for?" Xiao asked.

Bradley was angry now. "Where have you been?"

Xiao smiled. "Out and about."

"Why were you out for so long? It was raining too! Look at you, you're all wet! What if you get sick!" Bradley came to muss up his hair and take off his outer coat.

Xiao pushed his hands away. "Brad-Ge!" he protested. "I can take care of myself. And with my state, I won't get sick even if I stand outside in a thin robe in the winter for a whole month." Bradley gave up and caring for him and instead hit him in the chest. Xiao didn't have his guard up and stumbled back a few steps. "Brad-Ge, that's not right of you. Why did you hit me?"

"For worrying us," Bradley told him. "Change into some dry clothes and dry your hair. We left you some food. While you eat, you can tell me what you've been up to. Then if you feel up to it, we'll go out tonight."

"Of course I'm up for it," Xiao said. "And I don't need food, I've eaten enough."

"Where have you been?" Bradley asked again.

Xiao took his time taking of his dry clothes and changed. When he was drying his hair, he finally answered. "I went to Childe Williams' Manor."

"Williams? Why?" Bradley's eyebrows were furrowed as he sat down on the bed, where Xiao was drying his hair with a towel.

"I just walked to Williams Village unconsciously."

"Why were you there for so long? It's been five hours!"

"Can't I talk to friends?"

Bradley rolled his eyes and didn't answer. But then he felt like it was his duty to educate his younger brother so he spoke up again. "Just don't go out for so long without telling me again," he said. "It's basic etiquette. Just because you're off Mount Huai now doesn't mean you can forego all these things, alright? When you're alone, it's fine. But now that you're living with people, say something. You can't have forgotten everything you've learned on Mount Huai in the past two years."

Xiao furrowed his eyebrows a little. He didn't like the way Bradley said the last part of his lecture. It almost seemed that Bradley was saying that he had gone down the wrong path the past two years, just as mentor thought. "Alright, alright."

Bradley glared at him, hoping to threaten him into obedience. "Rest a bit then. We'll go out soon."