Capsizing in the Gutter

The Black-Clothed Man looked up, and nearly crushed a mouthful of silver teeth...

The one who had come was no ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator, but Steward Qiu...

That Foundation Establishment Late Stage expert was armed to the teeth with several Magical Artifacts. In a head-on clash, he would definitely die an ugly death...

Moreover, Steward Qiu had arrived by Sword Flight and was incredibly fast. If he wanted to flee now, it was already a little too late.

At the same time, as the explosion rang out and flames began to burn, the sleeping Corpse Collectors came rushing out one after another.

"The map is gone!"

A shriek rose from among the Corpse Collectors. Before Steward Qiu, still airborne and not yet arrived, even reached them, he heard those words and his face turned green with rage.

"You little thief, you're courting death!"

Before the man arrived, his furious roar had already reached them. In the entire Three Mountains Gang, that masked Black-Clothed Man was a target as plain as day.

In an instant...

A streak of sword light flashed past, drawing a long azure line through the air. In the blink of an eye, it reached the rear courtyard and shot straight at the Black-Clothed Man's face.

The Black-Clothed Man's eyes trembled wildly in fright. He rolled aside in a donkey roll, and the azure sword light pierced past him. With a crack, the Black-Clothed Man glanced back and was scared out of his wits.

For dozens of zhang behind him, houses and walls alike had all been cleaved in two as though a colossal blade had cut through them.

"You damned little thief, I'm not done with you!" the Black-Clothed Man cursed, turning to flee.

At that moment, the Corpse Collectors also charged forward with angry roars.

Though these Corpse Collectors were not particularly strong, with none even at the seventh layer of Qi Nourishing, anyone who could work this trade and return alive from outside the city every time surely had their own skills.

Now that the Black-Clothed Man had stolen the map, was he not cutting off their livelihood?

Cutting off someone's livelihood was like killing their parents. Not to mention that these Corpse Collectors still had their lives in someone else's hands. Things were fine when everyone got along, but now? They had discovered the map during the day, and someone had come to steal it that night. For all they knew, Steward Qiu might decide they had leaked the secret and kill them to vent his anger.

More than a dozen people surged forward at once, grabbing for the Black-Clothed Man. But when they caught his arm, it shook, slipping from their grasp like a spiritual snake smeared in oil. His body swayed, dropping to the ground as though boneless, then with a twist of his waist, he burst out of the crowd.

More than a dozen people, yet not one of them could catch that slippery bastard.

After breaking free of the crowd, the Black-Clothed Man took out half the map, his eyes full of heartache as he silently swore a vicious oath.

Once I find the bastard who dared to set me up, I'll cripple his cultivation, castrate him, force-feed him two jin of Aphrodisiac Powder, then sell him to some yin-harvesting, yang-supplementing heretic as a Rabbit Lord. I'll make sure he can neither live nor die.

Seeing that Steward Qiu had already arrived, he finally gritted his teeth. True Essence surged from him, shattering the map into more than a dozen pieces that scattered in every direction.

Several of the fragments flew straight toward the sea of flames.

He was putting Qin Yang's method to use the moment he learned it...

Sure enough, Steward Qiu, flying toward them, paled in shock. How could he still spare any thought for the Black-Clothed Man? He hurriedly reached out in a grasping motion, True Essence gushing forth as he seized the Map Fragments that were about to fall into the flames.

Meanwhile, after rushing out, the Black-Clothed Man swept a glance from the corner of his eye, and his heart skipped a beat. Steward Qiu was too strong, too fast, and gathering the fragments too quickly. He simply did not have enough time to escape.

Gritting his teeth again and enduring the feeling of his heart bleeding, he took out the remaining Map Fragments. With a forceful throw, he flung them in all directions. The crumpled Map Fragments shot apart through the night like arrows loosed from the bow...

Only after doing all this did the Black-Clothed Man plunge into the maze of buildings in the city without looking back, vanishing from sight.

Steward Qiu hovered in the air on his sword, his face ashen. Seeing lights beginning to flicker on one after another in the nearby residences, he could not afford to pursue the Black-Clothed Man. He could only hurry to gather the Map Fragments.

A short while later.

Once the Map Fragments had been gathered, Steward Qiu hastily pieced them together roughly. Only after confirming that none were missing did he secretly let out a breath.

"Steward Qiu." A servant approached with lowered brows and a submissive manner.

"How did it go? Have you figured it out?"

"We did. That little thief probably slipped in around the fourth watch. We don't know where he got the news, but he infiltrated the Corpse Collectors' rooms and stole the map. But his luck was bad—he ran into that newcomer. I saw Mind-Calming Incense there. That newcomer was probably too timid to sleep, and just happened to discover the little thief. Unfortunately, that newcomer was blown to death by the Tricky Ring, otherwise we could have questioned him for something..."

"Enough. Stop talking. Go deal with all these Corpse Collectors, then use the fire as an excuse to burn down the entire residence," Steward Qiu said darkly, waving a hand impatiently. As for whether someone among the Corpse Collectors had leaked the secret, he no longer wanted to know...

The servant acknowledged the order and withdrew. Before long, more than a dozen explosions rang out in succession from within the residence. Then the sea of flames spread, swiftly swallowing the entire place.

Elsewhere, in a Small Residence in South City, the Black-Clothed Man crawled out of a dry well in the courtyard. He pulled off the black cloth covering his head, then his body shifted and abruptly swelled by a full circle. He became a fair, plump Little Fatty with an exceedingly amiable face.

But at that moment, the Little Fatty's brows were knitted together. He panted heavily, trembling from head to toe with rage.

"Capsizing in the gutter, capsizing in the gutter! I spend my days hunting geese, only to have the geese peck out my eyes! Brat, your Fat Lord will remember you! Just wait for your Fat Lord! The Seated Transcendence Land of the Purple Firmament Dao Lord—a heaven-sent opportunity—and it's gone just like that! Your Fat Lord isn't done with you!"

The Little Fatty trembled with fury, the fat all over his body quivering...

After a while, once the Little Fatty had changed clothes, no one would have connected him with that nimble, scrawny little thief from before...

Elsewhere, at the border between West City and South City, Qin Yang had also arrived at another of his two-courtyard Small Residences.

After changing clothes, he lightly pinched his cheeks and nose bridge. Then his bones cracked all over, his height changed slightly, and his appearance changed as well. With a little additional disguise, he became an honest-looking young man bearing a thirty-percent resemblance to his former appearance.

After changing into his clothes and lighting a lamp, Qin Yang saw that the neighboring residence also seemed to have lit its lights. Only then did he push open the door and step outside.

Quite a few people had already come out. The distant sea of flames was clearly visible from here. With so many wooden buildings in the city, many people worried that the fire might spread this way...

"Wang, the noise woke you too?"

Seeing Qin Yang come out, an honest-faced uncle from next door raised a hand in greeting.

"Li, where did that fire start?"

"Looks like it's over by the Three Mountains Gang. Those damned bastards, not even death lets them rest in peace..." The older man shook his head and sighed.

"Uncle Li, go back to sleep. I think the fire is dying down. It's fine. Someone must have been bullied badly by the Three Mountains Gang before and is taking revenge..."

"Isn't that the truth? brother Wang, you should turn in early too. Don't you have work to do first thing tomorrow morning?"

"Alright..."

Qin Yang smiled as he turned back inside, shut the door, lay on the bed, and closed his eyes to sleep.

The former owner of this little courtyard had been surnamed Wang—the very appearance Qin Yang now wore. The man had died during last year's plague. Qin Yang had laid him to rest, and after acquiring the skills of disguise and bone-shrinking, he had conveniently given himself a new identity.

Whenever he had nothing to do, he would use this identity to wander around here.

Originally, he had merely thought that a cunning rabbit needed three burrows; who knew when this identity might come in handy...

He had not expected that in less than a year, it really had come in handy...