Joining the Fun

The Hundred Households Office was empty at this moment, with only a few people left behind.

Occasionally, carrier pigeons flew in with the dawn.

Four hours earlier, Shen Qing had dispatched all the Imperial Guards, paired up to monitor the various sects. They were to report their movements every half hour.

Even if they cornered the rogue cultivator in the west city, the west city wasn't a small place. With only a few dozen men in the Hundred Households Office, finding someone would be like searching for a needle in a haystack, especially a Xiantian Realm cultivator who was determined to hide.

Let the sects do the needle-in-a-haystack work. Shen Qing's plan was to snatch the needle once they found it.

After all, why search for it yourself when you could just steal it?

Fang Ming continuously received reports from carrier pigeons about movements, relaying them to Shen Qing.

"At 1:15 AM, the Black Water Gang and the Yellow Sand Gang had a minor clash. No other anomalies."

"At 1:45 AM, the Red Cloud Sect..."

They had been monitoring these sects for several hours with no significant activity.

It wasn't until noon that there was some change.

Fang Ming rushed into Shen Qing's room with a secret letter.

"Sir! There's a situation. It seems the Yellow Sand Gang has mobilized their entire force and is heading east."

The scholar quickly looked at the map and made a simple comparison.

"Boss, east of the Yellow Sand Gang's base are only Mud Bottle Street and Changshui Street."

"They've likely caught wind of the rogue cultivator's movements."

Shen Qing didn't open his eyes and said indifferently, "No rush. Investigate further, then report."

After another short while.

"Sir, it's confirmed. The rogue cultivator must be on Changshui Street. Both the Yellow Sand Gang and the Black Water Gang have headed that way."

Shen Qing's lips curved into a smile.

"Black Dog, get my saber."

"Let's go join the fun."

At this very moment, Changshui Street and Mud Bottle Street had descended into chaos.

The martial arts sects had pinpointed the rogue cultivator's hiding place.

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

Clearly, some martial arts sects had sought the assistance of the yamen.

Feiyun Street was filled with displaced residents.

On the second floor of a teahouse, a young woman in white was leisurely eating pastries and sipping tea.

She was Su Jiudie, the daughter of the Red Cloud Sect leader.

Beside her, a young man in black kept looking anxiously in the direction of Changshui Street.

"Junior Sister, aren't we going to take a look? They're right there on Changshui Street."

Su Jiudie poured a cup of tea for the man.

"Senior Brother Zong Fang, we shouldn't be thinking about any treasures on this trip."

"Elder Third is gone. With just the two of us at the Houtian Realm, how can we possibly seize any treasure?"

Zong Fang paced back and forth a few times, then stomped his foot and sat opposite Su Jiudie, draining his tea in a single gulp like he was drinking water.

"You're right, but the treasure is right in front of us. It's really hard to just let it slip away."

Su Jiudie rolled her eyes. "So what if we miss this opportunity? Will having this treasure make our Red Cloud Sect the number one sect in Yongning Commandery?"

"Senior Brother, do you still remember what Elder First always says."

"The prosperity of the sect..."

Zong Fang interrupted Su Jiudie.

"I remember, I remember."

"The prosperity of a sect has never depended on the amount of treasure, but on the people."

Then, Zong Fang muttered a few more words under his breath.

"Always talking about enjoying with the people and putting the people first, but what's the use? The Red Cloud Sect has been around for nine hundred years and still hasn't reached the pinnacle of Yongning Commandery's martial arts world..."

Just then, a loud noise erupted from Feiyun Street, accompanied by a few curses.

Zong Fang immediately ran to the window and took a look.

"It looks like the Black Water Gang. They've started fighting with the Yellow Sand Gang."

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

"He's gone mad again. What's he doing causing trouble in the street?"

"Hey, junior sister, where are you going? Wait for me..."

Zong Fang turned around and saw Su Jiudie already heading downstairs. He quickly grabbed his saber and followed her.

In the street, Wang Xiu repelled three Yellow Sand Gang disciples with a single sword strike, while the fierce residual sword energy also injured several civilians.

The street immediately filled with cries of pain as civilians scattered and fled.

But Wang Xiu paid them no mind, instead laughing wildly.

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

The faces of several Yellow Sand Gang disciples flushed with anger.

"Wang Xiu, what are you being so arrogant about? You only bully us. Weren't you defeated by our senior brother half a year ago?"

This clearly struck a nerve with Wang Xiu, and his face turned slightly red.

"Half a year ago was half a year ago, and now is now. Have him try again."

"Besides, who are you to judge me?"

"Take this!"

Before he finished speaking, Wang Xiu thrust his sword towards the three disciples.

The three disciples, knowing they were outmatched, turned to flee. But their escape brought disaster to the civilians behind them.

Just as a wave of sword energy was about to pierce through them...

At this critical moment, a green folding fan pierced through and firmly blocked all the sword energy, the fierce collision stirring up a sky full of dust.

The fleeing Yellow Sand Gang disciples all stopped. Wang Xiu merely uttered a cold remark.

"Who is it?"

"Senior Brother Wang, why must you fight here? Harming civilians will be difficult to explain to the court." Su Jiudie's voice came from within the dust.

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

"As I see it, let's call it a truce today."

Wang Xiu let out a crazed laugh.

"What if I refuse?"

"Junior Sister Su of the Red Cloud Sect, I've heard of your reputation for a long time and have always wanted to test your skills."

Su Jiudie sighed. She knew that mere persuasion wouldn't stop Wang Xiu.

Wang Xiu had been exceptionally volatile since birth, and fighting only one brawl a day with other children was considered good for him.

Yet, he possessed some talent, which the Black Water Gang noticed, and he became their disciple.

At this point, the Yellow Sand Gang disciples also returned and shouted.

"Senior Sister Su, why don't we join forces to curb his arrogance?"

Su Jiudie didn't respond to them.

She had come to stop this fight and protect the civilians, not to get involved in their internal conflicts.

Su Jiudie's voice was clear and cold. She slowly circulated the internal energy within her body, her expression growing even colder.

"Senior Brother Zong Fang, protect the civilians."

"I'll stop Wang Xiu."

Zong Fang wanted to fight Wang Xiu himself, but seeing Su Jiudie's firm tone, he didn't say much more.

He turned to help up a few fallen civilians.

"Thorn Wind!" Wang Xiu roared, and his sword, breaking through the wind, lunged towards Su Jiudie.

Su Jiudie tapped her foot, using exquisite footwork to dodge the sword energy. She lightly flicked her folding fan, and a wave of energy shot towards Wang Xiu's chest.

Su Jiudie chose to overcome force with softness; a direct confrontation was clearly not a wise choice.

The two exchanged blows, fighting to a draw.

A middle-aged woman, around forty or fifty, was helped up by Zong Fang. Looking at Su Jiudie in the field, she couldn't help but speak.

"Girl, be careful."

Zong Fang chuckled. "Auntie, there's no need to worry. This is my junior sister, the daughter of our Red Cloud Sect's Sect Master. She's very capable."

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

This was Zong Fang's deliberate act. After all, given the village elder's influence, it wouldn't be long before rumors spread within her circle that the Red Cloud Sect saved lives and healed the injured, while the Yellow Sand Gang and Black Water Gang acted atrociously.

The conflicts between sects were sometimes as simple and unadorned as this.

The two exchanged dozens of moves back and forth, and Su Jiudie felt increasingly strained.

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

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

The sword techniques in his hands became increasingly explosive, with each strike destroying buildings.

Whether it was roadside stalls or the walls and pillars of roadside houses.

If Wang Xiu had retained a shred of humanity at the beginning, he had now completely lost control, only wanting to defeat Su Jiudie before him, kill her, and tear her to pieces.

In mid-air, Wang Xiu's meridians gradually became clearly visible, and a strange red color appeared on his meridians, gradually converging towards his right hand.

A crazed smile appeared on Wang Xiu's face.

"You should be proud to die by my hand with this move."

"Blood Origin Sword!"

With a thrust of his sword, a thick bloody sword energy shot directly towards Su Jiudie's face, making even the surrounding air heavy.

On the other side, Zong Fang could no longer care about the common people. He directly lunged and knocked Su Jiudie away, but he himself couldn't dodge.

A sound of flesh tearing was heard, and the sword energy directly opened a fist-sized bloody hole in his abdomen.

However, after passing through Zong Fang, the bloody sword energy continued to advance.

And in front of the sword energy was a dark-skinned man with eyes full of confusion and fear.

He was just a laborer who had worked for a month at the dock. After exploitation from his superiors, he had just received his meager wages and wanted to go home to buy some things for his wife and son.

When he discovered his money bag was lost, he came back to pick it up, never expecting such a disaster to befall him.

The sword energy was getting closer and closer. Even though it was about to dissipate, it was still something an ordinary person couldn't withstand.

In despair, the laborer closed his eyes, clutching the money bag tightly to his chest, only hoping that someone would give it to his wife after he died.

But after a long time, the expected death did not come. He nervously opened his eyes.

What met his gaze was a Flying Fish Robe embroidered with silver patterns and a long saber emitting a faint blue light.

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