"Du Wenyan?" Shen Yufeng was stunned. "How could Du Wenyan cause such a disaster? Let me see the report!"
He'd known Du Wenyan for years. The man didn't always seem entirely sincere, but his character was sound enough.
He was adept at dealing with people, popular among the nobles, and careful in his affairs.
Shen Yufeng couldn't imagine how he had come to be wanted at the highest level across the country.
Zhao Yuanliang handed him the urgent message. "I don't understand why he's wanted either. He has no reason to do something like this."
He had grown up alongside Shen Yufeng as his attendant and knew Du Wenyan too.
The news had surprised him.
He'd learned of it at the city gate and hurried straight to the commander's residence.
Shen Yufeng found Du Wenyan's portrait. "It really is him... Why would he abduct a Suzai? And rebel against the court? It makes no sense."
"Young Master, it has nothing to do with us. They couldn't come to Jiuzhao City anyway. We can just post the notices."
"Hmm..." Shen Yufeng frowned and looked at the next portrait. A little girl.
He had a vague memory of seeing her with Du Wenyan. So she was a Suzai.
When he reached the third portrait, his pupils contracted.
He didn't know the man, yet he felt overwhelmingly familiar.
The eyes, the nose, and that strikingly short hair.
In Suyuan, men and women alike wore their hair long once they were past childhood.
He'd never seen an adult with hair so short, except...
Shen Yufeng held up the portrait. "Who is this? Did the messenger explain the three warrants? What do you know about him?"
Zhao Yuanliang was taken aback by the sudden change in his manner.
Then he said, "Yes, I asked the messenger because Du Wenyan was involved."
"The court doesn't know much about this man. He was jailed for breaking the prohibition on alcohol. His name is Su Jin, and no one knows where he came from. They say he's strong enough to escape a joint pursuit by the Xuanjia Army and the Jiantian Guard in the royal capital."
"They found no records of him. They got his name and drew the portrait from the soldiers who tried to capture him and the officials who questioned him, so the likeness may not be exact."
An unknown man with a mysterious past?
Could someone who escaped those forces really have gone to prison over the prohibition on alcohol?
Shen Yufeng's hands shook as he held the portrait.
The face in it began to merge with the one in his dream. The world seemed to spin.
"The Demon Spring..." His throat tightened, and his hands shook harder.
Could that dream truly show the future?
Shen Yufeng staggered. Zhao Yuanliang caught him before he fell.
"Young Master! What's wrong? Do you know this man?" Zhao Yuanliang asked anxiously.
Shen Yufeng was usually so steady. Such a reaction to a portrait had to mean something serious.
"Go... go..." Pale-faced, Shen Yufeng pointed toward the door. "Find him! Whatever it takes, find that man!"
"Young Master, you must at least tell me—"
Shen Yufeng shouted over him.
"Find him before the court does, and bring him to me! Go now. Gather people you trust, change into plain clothes, and I'll write you a pass."
He grabbed Zhao Yuanliang's collar. "You mustn't let the court catch him!"
Zhao Yuanliang helped him into a chair covered with animal hide and brought him tea. "Young Master, a few moments won't make the difference. Calm down. I can't leave without understanding what to do."
Hearing his steady voice, Shen Yufeng calmed somewhat and drank the tea.
Zhao Yuanliang was his attendant, but they'd grown up together and often advised one another.
He was right. They needed a plan, however urgent this was.
After several deep breaths, Shen Yufeng asked, "Yuanliang, do you remember the dream I told you about?"
Zhao Yuanliang's face changed. "You mean the man on the warrant is the man in your dream?"
"Yes."
"Then the end of the world in your dream..."
They looked at each other, both frightened.
"I'm afraid that may be real too."
"Could you have mistaken him? The portrait was drawn from descriptions. It may not be accurate," Zhao Yuanliang said, his face pale.
Almost everyone at Zhenguo Mansion knew of Shen Yufeng's nightmare. As a close attendant, Zhao Yuanliang knew it especially well.
At first, people had wondered whether a Suzai was affecting his mind, but later they'd paid it little attention.
The dream seemed too outlandish and at odds with reality.
Zhao Yuanliang had believed Shen Yufeng more than anyone else in the household. His young master didn't make things up without reason.
Shen Yufeng had spoken of the dream repeatedly, and no trace of a Suzai had ever been found in the household. Zhao Yuanliang had always had doubts.
Now someone resembling the man from the nightmare had appeared. The shock was immense.
"I don't want to believe it either, but look." Shen Yufeng raised the warrant. "At this level, they wouldn't use an ordinary artist. The face is eighty or ninety percent alike. And the short hair—have you ever seen anyone wear it like that?"
Zhao Yuanliang shook his head, his throat dry.
"Then he really has appeared. Perhaps he's looking for me. If I'd stayed in the royal capital, would we have met already?" Shen Yufeng wondered. "I left for Jiuzhao City. Could he be searching for me now?"
"Yuanliang!" Shen Yufeng suddenly looked up. "Find him. Do it secretly, and tell no one!"
"I don't know why I alone had that dream. But if only Su Jin and I know what it showed, no one else will believe him."
"If the court catches him, he'll die, and I'll never have a chance to speak to him. Take a group toward the royal capital at once. Find him for me!"