The foreign guesthouse was located inside the Shizheng Li [lit. municipal administration neighborhood] west of the Imperial City, only separated by the An Hua Avenue from the Imperial City. Altogether there were ten building complexes; each one had its own detached courtyard, with more than a dozen buildings each, big and small, occupying a vast area.

Due to the several heavy snow recently, the roofs were covered in several cun of snow; the trees were covered in icicles even more. For nightwalkers who come and go on high places, this was extremely unfavorable, and tonight, there was another difficult problem, which was that all official residences and magnificent mansions in the entire complex, none was not decorated with lanterns and colored banners, the noise reached unto the heavens, light shone everywhere making it as bright as day. To sneak in so that the gods did not know, the ghosts did not perceive – would only be a wishful thinking.

The three men, Xu Ziling, Kou Zhong and Hou Xibai, who were transformed by Lei Jiuzhi’s miraculous hands into rough Jianghu men, circled the foreign guesthouse, where the East Tujue people stayed, twice, but still they were unable to find a way to sneak into the guesthouse.

Fortunately the streets were packed with people enjoying the festivities, so that they did not worry about raising anybody’s suspicion.

Finally the three sat down at the base of one of the ruishou [auspicious animal, such as the dragon, but my guest is Qilin (kirin)] stone statues standing on