Joining the Fray

At this moment, the Hundred Households Office stood empty, with only a handful of people remaining.

Messenger pigeons flew in from time to time through the morning light.

As early as four hours ago, Shen Qing had dispatched all the Imperial Guards. They went out in pairs to watch the various sects, reporting their movements every half hour.

Even though they had blocked that Rogue Cultivator in the western district, the western district was no speck of rice. With only a few dozen men at the Hundred Households Office, finding someone was like fishing for a needle in the sea—especially a Xiantian Realm expert determined to hide.

They could leave this needle-in-the-sea work to those sects. What Shen Qing needed to do was snatch the needle away once they fished it up.

After all, why search personally when robbing it outright was so much faster?

Fang Ming continuously received the messenger pigeons and reported their movements to Shen Qing.

"At a quarter past the hour of the Dragon, the Black Water Gang and Yellow Sand Gang had a small clash. No other abnormalities."

"At three quarters past the hour of the Dragon, the Red Cloud Sect..."

After several hours of surveillance, none of the sects had made any significant moves.

It was not until noon that things finally changed.

Fang Ming hurried into Shen Qing's room with a rolled-up secret letter in hand.

"Sir! Something's happening. The Yellow Sand Gang seems to be moving out in full force toward the east."

Scholar hurriedly looked at the map and made a brief comparison.

"Boss, east of the Yellow Sand Gang's base are only two streets: Mud Jar Street and Changshui Street."

"They most likely caught wind of that Rogue Cultivator."

Without opening his eyes, Shen Qing said calmly, "No rush. Keep probing. Keep reporting."

After another cup of tea's time.

"Sir, it's confirmed. That Rogue Cultivator must be on Changshui Street. The Yellow Sand Gang and Black Water Gang are both heading there."

The corner of Shen Qing's mouth curled up.

"Black Dog, bring the blade."

"Let's go join the fun."

At this moment, Changshui Street and Mud Jar Street had already become a complete mess.

The martial sects had locked onto the Rogue Cultivator's hiding place.

The residents of both streets were fleeing outward, while constables could occasionally be seen driving them away.

Clearly, one of the martial sects had sought the yamen's assistance.

Feiyun Street was packed with civilians who had been driven there.

On the second floor of a teahouse, a young woman in white leisurely ate pastries and sipped tea.

She was Su Jiudie, daughter of the Red Cloud Sect's sect master.

At her side, a young man dressed in black kept looking toward Changshui Street, his face exceptionally anxious.

"Junior Sister, are we really not going to take a look? They're right on Changshui Street."

Su Jiudie poured the man a cup of tea as well.

"Senior Brother Zong Fang, let's not think about any treasures on this trip."

"Even the Third Elder has left. What treasure could the two of us, merely Houtian Realm cultivators, possibly seize?"

Zong Fang paced back and forth a few times, then suddenly stamped his foot and sat across from Su Jiudie. He drained the tea in one gulp as though an ox drinking water.

"That's true enough, but the treasure is right before our eyes. Letting it slip by like this really hurts."

Su Jiudie rolled her eyes. "So what if it slips through our fingers? Would obtaining this treasure make the Red Cloud Sect the number one sect in Yongning Commandery?"

"Senior Brother, do you still remember what the Grand Elder always says?"

"The strength of a sect..."

Zong Fang cut Su Jiudie off.

"I remember, I remember."

"Whether a sect prospers has never depended on the number of treasures it possesses, but on its people."

Then Zong Fang muttered several more words under his breath.

"It's always 'share joy with the people' and 'put the people first,' but what use is that? The Red Cloud Sect has been passed down for nine hundred years and still hasn't reached the summit of Yongning Commandery's martial world..."

Just then, a loud boom came from Feiyun Street, accompanied by what seemed to be several curses.

Zong Fang immediately rushed to the window and looked outside.

"Looks like Black Water Gang members. They're fighting the Yellow Sand Gang."

"The one leading them is Madman Swordsman Wang Xiu. Heh heh heh, it's that idiot again."

"He's gone mad again. What's he making such a fuss over in the middle of the street for?"

"Hey, Junior Sister, where are you going? Wait for me..."

When Zong Fang turned around, he found that Su Jiudie was already heading downstairs. He hurriedly grabbed his saber and followed her.

On the street, Wang Xiu forced back three Yellow Sand Gang disciples with a single sword strike, while the violent aftershock of his Sword Qi injured several civilians.

The street immediately filled with wails, and the civilians scattered in panic.

Yet Wang Xiu did not care in the slightest. Instead, he threw back his head and laughed wildly.

"Are you the leaders of this generation of Yellow Sand Gang disciples? You seem rather ordinary."

Several Yellow Sand Gang disciples showed anger on their faces.

"Wang Xiu, what are you acting so arrogant for? You only know how to throw your weight around before us. Didn't you still lose to our Eldest Senior Brother half a year ago?"

That clearly struck a sore spot. Wang Xiu's face flushed slightly.

"Half a year ago was half a year ago. Now is now. Have him come try again."

"Besides, are you people qualified to judge me?"

"Take my sword!"

Before his words had even faded, Wang Xiu thrust his sword at the three disciples.

Knowing they were no match for him, the three disciples turned to flee. But their escape brought disaster upon the civilians behind them.

That Sword Qi was about to pierce straight through those people.

At that critical moment, an azure folding fan shot out and steadily blocked all of the Sword Qi. The violent collision stirred up dust that filled the sky.

The fleeing Yellow Sand Gang members stopped, while Wang Xiu merely said coldly, "Who is it?"

"Senior Brother Wang, why must you fight here? If civilians are injured, it will not be easy to answer to the imperial court." Su Jiudie's voice emerged from the dust.

The next moment, Su Jiudie lightly waved her fan, dispersing the surrounding dust.

"In my view, why not stop here today?"

Wang Xiu gave a crazed smile.

"What if I refuse?"

"Junior Sister Su of the Red Cloud Sect, I have long heard of your great name. I've always wanted to test your mettle."

Su Jiudie sighed. She knew that reasoning alone would make it difficult to persuade Wang Xiu.

Wang Xiu had been extraordinarily irritable ever since birth. It would have been a good day if he only fought one brawl with children his age.

Yet he had some talent and had been noticed by the Black Water Gang, becoming one of their disciples.

At that moment, several Yellow Sand Gang disciples also turned back and called out.

"Senior Sister Su, why don't we join hands and blunt his edge?"

Su Jiudie did not answer them.

She had come to stop this fight and protect the civilians, not to participate in their armed conflict.

Su Jiudie's voice was cool as she slowly circulated her inner force. Even her expression became several degrees colder.

"Senior Brother Zong Fang, protect the civilians."

"I'll hold Wang Xiu back."

Zong Fang had wanted to exchange blows with Wang Xiu, but seeing how firm Su Jiudie's tone was, he said nothing more.

He turned and helped several fallen civilians to their feet.

"Thorn Wind!" Wang Xiu roared, thrusting his sword through the air at Su Jiudie.

Su Jiudie tapped the ground with her foot and used an exquisite movement technique to evade the Sword Qi. With a slight flick of her folding fan, a wave of force shot toward Wang Xiu's chest.

Su Jiudie had chosen to use softness to overcome hardness. Meeting force with force was clearly not a wise choice.

The two exchanged blows back and forth, yet they were surprisingly evenly matched.

A middle-aged woman of around forty or fifty was helped to her feet by Zong Fang. Looking at Su Jiudie in the middle of the fight, she could not help but speak.

"Miss, be careful."

Zong Fang laughed heartily. "Auntie, don't worry. She's my junior sister, the daughter of our Red Cloud Sect's sect master. She's formidable."

Then he leaned close to the woman's ear and whispered, "The one fighting my junior sister is the Black Water Gang's mad swordsman. The other three who fought him are from the Yellow Sand Gang."

Zong Fang had said that deliberately. After all, the fighting power of the village aunties was plain for all to see. Before long, word would spread through the circles around this woman that the Red Cloud Sect saved lives and healed the wounded, while the Yellow Sand Gang and Black Water Gang ran wild and committed every evil.

The struggles between sects were sometimes this plain and unadorned.

After several dozen exchanges, Su Jiudie felt herself growing increasingly strained.

After all, both her age and cultivation realm were slightly inferior to Wang Xiu's.

Moreover, Wang Xiu became more violent the longer he fought.

The sword techniques in his hands grew ever more explosive, and every strike destroyed part of the surroundings.

Either roadside stalls or the walls, pillars, and beams of nearby houses.

If Wang Xiu had retained even a trace of humanity at the beginning, then now he had completely gone berserk. He only wanted to defeat Su Jiudie before him, kill her, and tear her into ten thousand pieces.

In midair, the veins on Wang Xiu's body gradually became visible. An eerie red color surfaced along his meridians, converging bit by bit toward his right hand.

A crazed smile appeared on Wang Xiu's face.

"You can take pride in dying beneath this move."

"Blood Origin Sword!"

With one thrust, dense blood-colored Sword Qi stabbed directly toward Su Jiudie's face. Even the air around them became incomparably heavy.

On the other side, Zong Fang no longer had the leisure to care about the civilians. He lunged forward and knocked Su Jiudie away, but he himself could no longer evade it.

A sound of flesh tearing rang out. That Sword Qi blasted a bloody hole the size of a fist through his abdomen.

Yet after passing through Zong Fang, the blood-colored Sword Qi continued onward.

Ahead of the Sword Qi stood a dark-skinned laborer, his eyes full of confusion and terror.

He was merely a dock worker. After working at the wharf for a month and suffering exploitation from those above him, he had finally received his meager wages. He had only wanted to go home and buy something for his wife and son.

When he discovered that he had lost his money pouch, he turned back to retrieve it, never expecting such a calamity to fall from the blue.

The Sword Qi drew closer and closer. Even though it was nearing dissipation, it was not something an ordinary person like him could withstand.

In the end, the laborer closed his eyes in despair, clutching the money pouch tightly to his chest. He only hoped that after he died, someone would give it to his wife.

Yet after a long while, the death he had imagined did not descend. He nervously opened his eyes.

What entered his sight was a Flying Fish Robe embroidered with silver patterns and a long blade glowing with faint azure light.