Have You Seen Yanjiao City at the Tiger Hour?

Lin Bei had a beautiful dream tonight.

He dreamed that he was still in the Colorful Moon Tower, where a sweet and tender girl helped him lie down beneath crimson gauze curtains, removing his clothes piece by piece. One, two, three... Then she slowly sat on top of him, and immediately began...

Slapping his face.

Swinging her hand, she sent one resounding slap after another across his face.

Slap! Slap! Slap!

"Eh? Eh? What are you doing? What are you doing?" Lin Bei flailed his hands wildly before abruptly opening his eyes after a long while.

Only then did he realize it was not just a dream—something really was slapping him!

It was half a sheet of golden paper. It looked like a thin little scrap, yet who knew where it got such strength? Lin Bei's face burned from the blows.

"What is this?" Lin Bei cried out twice, then grabbed the half-page golden book in one hand. He saw faint radiance shifting across it, forming a crooked, uneven name.

Lin Bei.

"Eh?" Chu Liang was also startled awake. He pushed open the door next door and came in, spotting the half-page golden book in Lin Bei's hand. "Isn't that Instructor Song's magical treasure?"

Lin Bei had seen Song Qingyi use this object last night and immediately remembered. He rolled over and sat up, puzzled. "Why did Instructor Song send this thing to find me?"

Chu Liang and Lin Bei looked at one another. A sharp glint flashed through both their eyes as they simultaneously shouted:

"She's in danger!" "She has a crush on me!"

"..."

Silence.

After a pause, Lin Bei said awkwardly, "How did you conclude that she's in danger...?"

"Just think about it. This is a defensive magical treasure bestowed on her by the Gentleman Hall. How could she casually send it away?" Chu Liang said. "She must have encountered some danger and been unable to escape, so she could only use this method to seek help. And near Yanjiao City, the only cultivators she knows are the two of us. That's why she found us."

"Then... even if she's in danger, why did she write my name instead of yours? That means I have some place in her heart..." Lin Bei's mouth was still stubborn.

"Could it be because..." Chu Liang pondered, "your name has fewer strokes?"

Looking at the crooked "Lin Bei," it was clear that Song Qingyi had not written it under normal circumstances. One could imagine how dire the situation must have been at the time.

"What should we do now?" Lin Bei immediately changed the subject, no longer dwelling on the matter.

Chu Liang's thoughts raced as he said solemnly, "Song Qingyi is a true disciple of the Gentleman Hall and carries magical artifacts. Whoever could put her in such danger that she cannot even escape may possess fourth-realm strength. For now, we should split up. You return to Shushan and bring reinforcements. I'll first find Instructor Song and assess the situation."

"You're going?" Lin Bei frowned. "But by your reasoning, if the enemy has fourth-realm strength, what use is there in going alone?"

"I'm only confirming the situation. If there's any urgent danger, I can at least intervene and buy some time." Chu Liang said. "When you return to the mountain, don't go anywhere else. Head straight to Silver Sword Peak and find my master. Among Shushan's elders, none is freer than her. If you seek anyone else, they might not be there, wasting precious time. Only she definitely won't be awake at this hour!"

His tone was brimming with certainty and confidence.

Lin Bei pondered for a moment. If one person returned to the mountain while the other went ahead to find Song Qingyi, then the one investigating the situation would undoubtedly face the greater danger.

So he said, "Since we're looking for your master, why don't you return to the mountain for reinforcements while I go assess the situation?"

Chu Liang shook his head. "My cultivation is higher than yours. I'll go."

"Hm?" Lin Bei froze. "Aren't we both at the early Divine Intent Realm? You..."

Chu Liang said nothing more. He directly raised a hand and released an aura, clearly much more vigorous than before.

"You're already at the middle Divine Intent Realm?" Lin Bei asked in astonishment.

When he had first met Chu Liang, Chu Liang had only recently broken through to the Divine Intent Realm. Lin Bei's cultivation had even been slightly stronger than Chu Liang's.

How many days had it been? Lin Bei was still some distance from the middle Divine Intent Realm, yet Chu Liang had already broken through?

If Chu Liang had been some freak who shut himself away to cultivate bitterly, that would have been one thing. But these past few days, he had clearly been doing missions alongside Lin Bei. They ate at the same time, slept at the same time, attended class at the same time...

Where had he found time to cultivate?

Of course, Chu Liang could not tell him that he had a big-headed doll laboring for him, accomplishing several days' worth in a single day, allowing him to break through a minor realm last night.

So he could only ask profoundly, "Have you seen Yanjiao City at the Tiger Hour before dawn?"

"Huh?"

"Stop talking nonsense. Let's get moving." Chu Liang waved his hand impatiently.

Inside a dark thatched hut outside Yanjiao City.

Song Qingyi stood in a corner of the room, her beautiful eyes filled with terror and despair, yet she could not make a sound.

The black-robed man was drawing something in the middle of the room with ink mixed with blood. Then, one after another, he lit black candles, their dim flames eerie and chilling.

Near the doorway lay several dead black chickens, their blood still warm.

"Hehehe, don't be in such a hurry..."

The black-robed man gave a strange laugh as he drew.

"It's rare to encounter a soul at the Divine Intent Realm. If I can draw you into the Netherworld Heavenly Book, that will more than make up for the loss of my Painted-Skin Ghost... No, I should say I'll make a killing."

"If I use such a rough method—kill you first, then extract your living soul—I can preserve at most eighty percent of your soul power."

"But if you're patient and wait for me to prepare the Yin-Yang Soul-Seizing Formation before I draw you into the Netherworld Heavenly Book, I can preserve one hundred percent of your complete soul."

Song Qingyi's breathing nearly stopped.

She knew that the Netherworld Heavenly Book was the Nether King Sect's most vicious magical artifact, specifically used to plunder living souls and increase one's cultivation. For every living soul it seized, the Netherworld Heavenly Book gained another page, and its holder's cultivation would rise as well.

But those living souls that were taken could no longer enter reincarnation. They could only remain trapped in the Netherworld Heavenly Book, suffering forever.

"And you're even a Confucian cultivator. I've never encountered one before..."

"They say Confucian cultivators' souls are the clearest and most luminous. Refined into ghostly beings, they can even walk in broad daylight."

"You're so beautiful. I could refine you into a Charming Rakshasa meant specifically to beguile human hearts... No, with such scholarly aura, perhaps I should make you into a ghost in a painting—unfathomable and impossible to guard against—or perhaps..."

"No... don't..." Song Qingyi forced out several words, trying to break free.

But she had been struck by a Soul-Piercing Nail. Even exerting all her strength, she could only move a finger. How could she possibly escape the demon's grasp?

Desperately, she cast her gaze outside. Her final struggle just now had been to send a message using the half-page golden book. But whether those two Shushan Sect disciples could guess her intention, or whether they had any means to save her, she did not know.

But now, a terrifying shadow had already enveloped her.

"The flesh is shackled; the netherworld is eternal and indestructible..."

The black-robed man raised his hand and lightly pinched his fingers. The final black candle was lit.

The formation was complete. He slowly raised a black-jade book.

"My treasure, come welcome your new life." Ghostly light flickered in his eyes, cold and savage, as his strange laughter rang out without end. "Hehehehehehehe..."

Is there double monthly-ticket voting today? While I still don't owe any chapters, let me shamelessly ask for comments, saves, monthly tickets, and all that. Yesterday's splash-screen promotion just ended, and I hope today's results can keep up. Please, my good brothers!