An Action Movie in Another World?

In an instant, the soldiers present all went pale.

This brat had actually dared to strike first.

What kind of place was this? This was the Great Yan Imperial Capital. Anyone who dared cause trouble here wouldn't have enough lives to pay for it.

The soldier in the lead clutched his stomach and rolled on the ground in agony, piercing pain shooting through his lower body.

"Aah!!"

Seeing blood pouring out beneath him, he nearly passed out from the pain.

"Kill him!!"

His cry of pain brought the surrounding soldiers back to their senses, and they charged at Chen Ning and Su Ling'er with weapons in hand.

But these soldiers were generally martial artists below the third level of the Human Martial Realm. No matter how many came, it would do them no good.

"Ling'er, finish this quickly. We need to keep a low profile."

Chen Ning called softly, and a smile immediately appeared on Su Ling'er's pretty face.

"Okay, Sect Master Brother."

She had held back for far too long. Now that she could finally fight, she felt utterly exhilarated.

In the space of a few breaths, a great number of soldiers had fallen.

Many of them had never imagined, even as they died, that they would perish at the hands of a seemingly harmless young girl.

The leading soldier felt a chill run through his entire body. He had never imagined that these lowly people from the Desolate Province would dare to unleash a massacre in the imperial capital.

Now, not only had he lost his third leg, but he wouldn't keep his life either.

Chen Ning and Su Ling'er didn't linger. After dealing with the soldiers, they withdrew at once, evading numerous soldiers patrolling around the teleportation array before finally making their escape.

Chen Ning's main concern was that if they caused too much of a commotion, it would hinder his investigation into the Thief God's whereabouts.

The two picked a restaurant at random and found a place to stay.

In his room, Chen Ning received another prompt from the system.

"Ding! The host has arrived at the Great Yan Imperial Capital. Mission hint: The Thief God was last seen at the Listening Rain Tower. Please proceed there to investigate."

A faint smile touched Chen Ning's lips.

The benefits of having a cheat really were on full display.

With this hint, he wouldn't have to go to the trouble of searching slowly on his own.

After coaxing Su Ling'er to sleep, Chen Ning quietly left by himself.

He was going to visit the Listening Rain Tower that very night.

The Listening Rain Tower was in the imperial capital, its doors never closed at night, and it stayed open until dawn.

It was an entertainment center in the imperial capital.

Yet a place like this had been given such an elegant name.

Finding out where the Listening Rain Tower was proved easy. Almost everyone in the imperial capital knew of it.

It was already late at night when Chen Ning arrived, but the scene inside was as bright as day.

Lights blazed everywhere, as though everyone there had forgotten the passage of time.

This was a dazzling den where fortunes were squandered.

The building had three floors, each with a world of its own.

Music, plays, gambling, and famous courtesans.

And that wasn't all. There were countless forms of entertainment Chen Ning had never even heard of.

Several enormous mechanical devices stood on the first floor, surrounded by countless people whose eyes shone with excitement.

Their faces were flushed.

Chen Ning walked over and saw a mysterious crystal displayed prominently on one of the devices.

The crystal refracted an enticing erotic scene.

An action movie in another world?

Chen Ning saw that the scene depicted two women attending to a wealthy merchant as he had sex.

They were this open?

Chen Ning shook his head and turned his gaze to another mechanical device, one that resembled a game machine.

At the back of the device, an Origin Stone glowing faintly caught Chen Ning's attention.

Because Essence Power existed in this world,

Many mechanical devices could be powered by Origin Stones.

They served as batteries.

But Origin Stones were expensive. The fact that this place could afford to use them was enough to show that the money it made each day amounted to an astronomical sum.

Chen Ning came to the door of a room in a corner of the first floor.

Though it looked inconspicuous, this was a place where information gathered.

There was nothing that happened within the Great Yan Imperial Dynasty that the people here didn't know about.

But every piece of information had to be bought with money.

He pushed open the door. Inside the room, there was only an elderly man with graying hair, seated behind a desk.

When Chen Ning entered, the man continued dozing as though he hadn't seen him.

Chen Ning placed a gold note on the desk.

Only then did the old man's eyes light up.

"What would you like to ask, honored guest? This old man will tell you everything I know, without holding anything back."

Chen Ning sat across from the old man and smiled faintly. "I'm looking for information about someone. If you know anything, this is all yours."

The old man narrowed his eyes. The gold note on the desk was indeed tempting. Even here, it would count as a major deal.

Gold notes were the largest denomination of currency in the Spirit Province.

Their value was second only to Origin Stones.

A single gold note was worth three thousand taels of gold.

This gold note was from the compensation Li Changtian had paid Chen Ning last time, and he had never had a chance to use it.

When they had gone shopping in Gold and Iron City, the little loli had paid the bill. It was also on that day that Chen Ning had seen just how frighteningly wealthy Su Ling'er was.

She was practically dripping with riches.

Just how much had she stolen?

At the sight of the gold note, the old man immediately lost his earlier composure and hurriedly said, "Please, honored guest, ask away."

"How much do you know about the Thief God?"

Chen Ning asked calmly.

But upon hearing this, the old man gave Chen Ning a complicated look.

A guarded look flickered in his eyes.

"You're asking about the Thief God, honored guest?"

"That's right."

"I'm afraid I must disappoint you, honored guest. This old man cannot do this business."

The old man stopped staring at the gold note on the desk and returned to his previous posture, dozing off.

"In other words, you must know something?"

Chen Ning concluded that the man must know something about the Thief God's whereabouts.

But something was holding him back, and he didn't dare speak.

"Forgive me, but I have nothing to tell you. Please leave, honored guest."

When the old man finished speaking, two martial artists emerged from the shadows of the room and opened the door, gesturing for Chen Ning to leave.

Chen Ning said nothing and left on his own.

About the time it took to drink a cup of tea passed.

The old man hurried to his feet, wrapped himself in a black robe, and headed out into the night.

Before long, he arrived at a residence.

After his arrival was announced, he strode into the hall.

"Marquis."

The old man cupped his fists as he spoke, his tone respectful and deferential.

"Speak."

Seated in the place of honor was a middle-aged man as imposing and steady as an iron tower.

The Marquis Who Guards the North, Shi Tianhao.

He commanded an army of three hundred thousand and was one of the Great Yan Imperial Dynasty's great weapons of war.

As such, the old man didn't dare be the slightest bit careless in his presence.

He said meekly, "Reporting to the Marquis, someone mentioned the Thief God today. He was a young man of extraordinary bearing."

"Oh?"

The Marquis Who Guards the North frowned. "Wasn't the Thief God said to be all alone, with all his relatives dead?"

"I suspect this person may know the Thief God, which is why he came asking about his whereabouts. I've already sent men to follow him. They should be able to find out where this lad came from."

"Well done."

The Marquis Who Guards the North's throat moved slightly as he spoke.

The old man's face lit up with delight. "I merely relieved you of a worry, Marquis. It was nothing worth mentioning."

The hall soon fell quiet.

Meanwhile, Chen Ning lay hidden on the upturned eaves not far away, having heard every word of their conversation clearly.

He had guessed long ago that there might be more to the old man than simply knowing some information.

So he had quietly followed him.

He wanted to see who was behind him.

To make a name for himself in a place like the Listening Rain Tower and gather information from across the entire Great Yan Imperial Dynasty-Chen Ning wouldn't believe the old man had no one backing him.