Deep into the night, above the Shenxiu River, a figure clad in azure and soaked in blood was sprinting rapidly across the river's surface, under the cover of darkness.
Like a bat in the night, he arrived at a large pleasure boat anchored in the middle of the river, promptly soaring up and stealthily landing on the third level of the boat into a room.
In the room, only two candles were lit, their flames flickering in the river's breeze.
Beneath the candlelight appeared a face that was handsome and refined yet utterly void of color.
It was the 'Blood Wind Sword,' Li Daogui. His head once donned a red high crown, which was now nowhere to be seen, his black hair unkempt and cascading over his back.
The azure disciple's robe he wore was also riddled with more than a dozen holes, the fabric stained heavily with blood.
As Li Daogui stepped onto the boat, he stripped off his upper garments, treating his wounds while inquiring the other person in the room.
"What's the situation? How many escaped?"
"Aside from the Sword Master, only six made it out."
The one who answered was a hawk-nosed, deep-eyed young man in red with a cold aura, sitting on the other side of a square table, his face pale and expression one of dejection, "No one below the seventh tier survived, and we also lost two at the seventh rank."
Li Daogui was sprinkling medicine on a knife wound on his chest when he heard "six people" and with a 'bang,' his hand crushed the medicine bottle he was holding into powder.
"Cao Xuan!"
Li Daogui clenched his jaw with a slight puff of his cheeks and a cold glimmer in his eyes, "This man is profoundly scheming. We exhausted our minds and bodies searching for clues to the Rebellious God Flag, only to have our efforts benefit him in the end. But the chief culprit is still that bastard who killed the sorcerer. Have we found out his identity?"
"I have gleaned some information; his name is Chu Xisheng, a recent addition to the Inner Sect of the Zhengyang Martial Arts Hall, skilled with a fast sword."
A chill spread across the red-garbed young man's face, "Once the pursuit by the Police Pool of Blood eases, I will take his head to the Sword Master—"
Before he could finish, another figure slipped in through the window.
"Chu Xisheng? You've got the wrong person." This was a one-eyed youth wearing an eye patch, who snorted with an icy tone, "The one who killed the sorcerer is a wretched woman skilled in magic, not a mere Inner Sect Disciple of the Zhengyang Martial Arts Academy."
"A wretched woman? A woman?"
Li Daogui and the young man in blood clothes exchanged glances, both with astonishment evident in their eyes.
"I saw it with my own eyes." The one-eyed youth was also severely injured as he tore open his shirt, grimacing yet composed as he forcibly removed several barbed arrows.
"This girl is not yet fifteen, yet her cultivation has already reached the Seventh Rank, and she is adept in Dual Cultivation of Magic and Martial Arts, particularly proficient in escape and transformation techniques. I chased her for a while but was helpless to capture her. The situation had turned dire, and fearing that I might be surrounded, I did not pursue further."
Li Daogui furrowed his brows deeply, "Dual Cultivation of Magic and Martial Arts? Later, you will draw this girl's likeness, and I will have someone investigate her identity. She has bloodied her hands with the lives of twenty-seven of us Blood Wind Thieves, and unless I reduce her to ten thousand pieces, my hatred will not be assuaged. As for that Chu Xisheng—"
With an expressionless face, he used a dagger to pick out several silver needles from his arm, "We Blood Wind Thieves have always been true to our word. Since we promised to take his dog life within a ten-day span, we certainly won't wait beyond that.
The problem is, right now Xiushui County is astir with a vigorous search, and this place has become untenable for a stay. A mere Ninth Grade is not worth the risk for you or me to take a trip. Blood Clothes, when you go to the Jiangbei black market the day after tomorrow, issue a bounty for two hundred taels of Demon Silver."
Upon hearing this, the young man in blood clothes showed a troubled expression, "Sword Master, we've run out of money."
Li Daogui was surprised, "How can that be? We just robbed a merchant ship half a month ago."
The young man in blood clothes gave a wry smile and pulled out a crumpled 'Blast Flame Talisman,' "Sword Master, you said you wanted to make a big scene this time, the more Blast Flame Talismans, the better, ideally blasting their Library to the skies."
Li Daogui's complexion darkened, his mood fluctuating, "Then eighty taels! Don't tell me we don't even have eighty taels?"
Eighty taels of Demon Silver was the minimum amount for a bounty in the Jiangbei black market.
The young man in blood clothes could only take out a coin purse, casting a hapless glance back at Li Daogui.
Li Daogui glanced at the coin purse, estimating that it contained perhaps less than ten taels.
Just then, a breeze wafted through the window, whistling as it passed.
Li Daogui felt the atmosphere in the room grow somewhat bleak.
With a soft sigh, he said, "If we're strapped for cash, then we'll have to put it off for now."
Consider that wretch lucky!
※※※※
Chu Xisheng had no idea he had narrowly escaped disaster.
As he was walking back to the Miscellaneous Yard, he found that the Martial Arts Points on the illusory screen had mysteriously dropped by one, from 27 down to 26.
Chu Xisheng was taken aback and felt that trouble had come out of the blue while he was harmless at home.
After being stunned for a moment, Chu Xisheng fell into deep thought.
He wondered what mechanism controlled the increase and decrease of Martial Arts Points. Could it go into the negatives? And what would happen if it did?
Since Martial Arts Points could decrease, could his reputation also decrease?
Chu Xisheng then opened the Martial Arts Treasure Vault again, intent on using his points before they could drop any further.
But after looking through it once, he found none of the remaining eleven colorful icons contained anything he particularly wanted.
Chu Xisheng shifted his attention back to his own Primordial Skill column.
A new piece of information emerged in his mind.
—"You have mastered the method to break through the second level of the Nourishing Essence Skill. Do you wish to use fifteen Martial Arts Points in place of a secret medicine to elevate the level of your Nourishing Essence Skill?"
Without hesitating, Chu Xisheng rejected the offer.
At most, he would practice for another five or six days. With some money and a dose of secret medicine, he could achieve the breakthrough. Using Martial Arts Points to elevate the level of his Primordial Skill was truly not cost-effective.
After weighing it for a long while, Chu Xisheng decided to wait.
The rules of the Martial Arts Treasure Vault were to refresh once a natural month, or it could be refresh for a fee with one Martial Arts Point.
In two days, it would be the first day of the eighth lunar month, the day the vault's items would refresh.
Chu Xisheng looked forward to the upcoming refresh, hoping for items that he could use.
By now, he had arrived at the door of the Miscellaneous Yard.
But when Chu Xisheng pushed the door open, he saw a dark figure standing in the courtyard.
He instantly tensed up and reached for his Hundred-refined Light Steel Saber, "Who's there?"
Could this be a Blood Wind Thief who had escaped the net, looking for revenge?
"No need to be nervous, it's me."
The voice was deep and cold.
With a strike of a flint, a middle-aged man, dressed in the dress of a Police Pool of Blood Thousand Households, with green hair, green beard, and green eyebrows, and a fairly strange face, appeared before Chu Xisheng.
It was Cao Xuan, the Households Commander from the Xiushui Thousand Households Department of the Police Pool of Blood.
He stood in the courtyard with his hands behind his back, smiling at Chu Xisheng.
Chu Xisheng cast a surprised glance at Cao Xuan, then without a change in expression, he clasped his hands in respect, "This commoner pays respect to the Households Commander."
Chu Xisheng did not want to deal with someone whose actions weren't transparent.
He also wondered why Cao Xuan, a dignified Jinyi Thousand Households, would visit him in the middle of the night, and alone at that.
"Mr. Chu need not stand on ceremony. There are things I cannot discuss in the presence of a crowd, which is why I took the liberty of visiting late at night. I should be asking for Mr. Chu's forgiveness."
Cao Xuan looked at Chu Xisheng with a smile, not at all annoyed by Chu Xisheng's tone, "Shouldn't Mr. Chu invite me in for a chat? Surely you wouldn't refuse Cao Xuan a cup of tea?"
Chu Xisheng frowned first, then relaxed.
No matter the other party's purpose, he would just deal with it as it came.