"Hero Ji, are you serious?"
Shopkeeper Yu asked with a solemn expression.
"Why? You and Ouyang Bo should have no connection, much less any deep-seated blood feud..."
Ji Qing closed his eyes.
Even now, his heart still could not calm down.
"I was the one who exterminated that giant rat in Great Huai Village!"
"So that was it... The Rat Extermination hero back then was actually Hero Ji? So Hero Ji and Great Huai Village only had this slight connection?"
"Yes."
"For villagers you merely met by chance, is it worth paying such a great price and going up against Poison Demon Ouyang Bo?"
"On the first day of the first lunar month, I went to Great Huai Village. My heart could not settle."
"Ouyang Bo is the one who has thrown my heart into turmoil! He deserves to die!"
Shopkeeper Yu did not try to dissuade him further.
Jianghu was complicated.
Yet sometimes, grudges, gratitude, love, and hatred were very simple.
Just like now, even Ouyang Bo would likely be baffled.
How had he provoked Ji Qing, the Startling Swan Blade ranked fifth on the Villain Ranking?
"Leave the details of the bounty to your Listening Wind Tower. Whatever handling fee you need to charge is no problem. So long as someone provides clues about Ouyang Bo, they can go to the local Listening Wind Tower!"
"Shopkeeper Yu, are you taking this job?"
Ji Qing asked calmly.
"I'll take it! This is a huge order worth a thousand taels of gold. The handling fee has to be at least twenty percent. Why wouldn't I take it?"
Shopkeeper Yu immediately accepted Ji Qing's bounty.
"Fine. Then I'll wait for news from the Listening Wind Tower."
Ji Qing rose and left.
Ouyang Bo was exceedingly cautious. Even the Listening Wind Tower did not know his precise whereabouts.
But once the bounty of a thousand taels of gold was offered, Ji Qing refused to believe that no one would provide clues.
Whoosh.
One-Ear also entered the secret chamber.
"Shopkeeper Yu, if the bounty is really announced, I'm afraid it will shake the entire land. And Ouyang Bo... he's very troublesome."
"You're worried about Ji Qing?"
One-Ear smiled but said nothing.
He truly was somewhat worried about Ji Qing.
After all, Ouyang Bo used poison. Even Jianghu experts feared to avoid him, yet Ji Qing was taking the initiative to deal with Ouyang Bo and had even publicly offered a bounty.
This was offending Ouyang Bo to the death.
Given Ouyang Bo's temperament of avenging every slight, only one of them would likely survive.
"Ouyang Bo is indeed dangerous, but Hero Ji now has a reputation that shakes Jianghu. There's no need for you to worry. Go announce the bounty. The sooner we find clues to Ouyang Bo, the sooner this matter can be settled."
"Yes, Shopkeeper Yu."
One-Ear left the secret chamber.
On the twenty-second day of the first lunar month in the eleventh year of Yongchang, Ji Qing, the Startling Swan Blade, publicly offered a bounty of a thousand taels of gold through the Listening Wind Tower for clues about Poison Demon Ouyang Bo!
The moment the news emerged, Jianghu was greatly shaken!
Many people who received the news could scarcely believe it.
Ji Qing was offering a bounty for Ouyang Bo?
The fifth-ranked villain on the Villain Ranking was offering a bounty for the eighth-ranked villain?
Such a thing had never happened in Jianghu.
Yet the news released by the Listening Wind Tower was beyond doubt.
Even the bounty of a thousand taels of gold had been handed over to the Listening Wind Tower.
So long as someone provided solid clues that ultimately led to Poison Demon Ouyang Bo being slain, they could collect the reward money from the Listening Wind Tower.
The entire Jianghu trusted the Listening Wind Tower's reputation.
"Am I seeing this right? Ji Qing, the Startling Swan Blade, is offering a bounty for Poison Demon Ouyang Bo? Those two are both great fiends on the Villain Ranking..."
"Just how did Ouyang Bo provoke Ji Qing? Ji Qing is also a villain beyond redemption. The Lei Family Fortress massacre was no less horrific than the Great Huai Village massacre. How could these two great fiends turn on each other?"
"I heard that Ji Qing has some connection to Great Huai Village. The Rat Extermination hero of Great Huai Village was actually Ji Qing. Poison Demon Ouyang Bo poisoned Great Huai Village to death, so wouldn't Ji Qing go mad?"
"Would a great fiend as heartless and devoid of humanity as Ji Qing really fight Ouyang Bo to the death over a few mere villagers?"
"That Ouyang Bo is the Poison Demon. His methods of poisoning are superb. So many Jianghu experts do not dare provoke him. How does Ji Qing dare publicly offer a bounty for Ouyang Bo?"
"A thousand taels of gold as a reward... That really is a grand gesture..."
Ji Qing's public bounty set the entire Jianghu abuzz.
A thousand taels of gold was equivalent to ten thousand taels of silver!
Wealth moved men's hearts.
For a time, many people of Jianghu used every means at their disposal to track Poison Demon Ouyang Bo's whereabouts.
Yet at the center of the vortex, Ji Qing remained quietly within the Hundred Battles Sect's library.
For three days straight, Ji Qing waited in silence.
Whoosh.
One-Ear slipped into the library through the window.
"Hero Ji, there's news."
Swish.
Ji Qing opened his eyes.
"Where is Ouyang Bo?"
"We've just received a clue. Someone saw Ouyang Bo in East Mausoleum Prefecture, but they can't be certain."
"East Mausoleum Prefecture..."
One-Ear had prepared thoroughly and immediately took out a map.
Ji Qing found East Mausoleum Prefecture on the map. It was roughly twenty days' journey east of Yellow Mausoleum County.
By the timing, it did match.
"I'll head to East Mausoleum Prefecture right now!"
Ji Qing immediately prepared to set off.
"Hero Ji, you posted a bounty through the Listening Wind Tower. You may carry the Listening Wind Token to any Listening Wind Tower. So long as someone provides clues about Ouyang Bo through the Listening Wind Tower, you have the right to know!"
Ji Qing nodded.
"Oh, and Ouyang Bo excels at poison. You must be careful at all times. Even if Ouyang Bo is dead and only his corpse remains, you must still be cautious! Ouyang Bo once killed some highly skilled people of Jianghu, poisoning those martial artists to death without anyone noticing."
"Finally... I hope Hero Ji takes care!"
After saying that, One-Ear silently left the library.
Ji Qing packed his bundle and opened the door.
Creak.
When the door opened, Ji Qing saw Lie Yingniang and several other Hundred Battles Sect disciples standing outside.
Lie Yingniang looked at Ji Qing with a complicated expression. Her lips parted, but she hesitated to speak.
She knew that some words would be useless even if spoken.
In the end, Lie Yingniang took out several porcelain bottles and handed them to Ji Qing.
"Hero Ji, Poison Demon Ouyang Bo is covered in poison. One careless mistake could make you fall victim. These are Detoxification Pills, Detoxification Powder, and the like collected by our Hundred Battles Sect. They may not be of much use, but they represent our sect's goodwill. Please carry them with you, just in case!"
Lie Yingniang said.
Ji Qing nodded and accepted the porcelain bottles from Lie Yingniang.
"Thank you..."
Ji Qing condensed a thousand words into two.
Without hesitation, Ji Qing strode past Lie Yingniang and the others, heading straight for the gate.
"Hero Ji, you'll definitely butcher the Poison Demon, right?"
A Hundred Battles Sect disciple's voice came from behind him.
"I will!"
Ji Qing's voice drifted back with the breeze.
"Will you come back?"
The voice echoed through the Hundred Battles Sect.
But this time, Ji Qing gave no response.
Lie Yingniang knew that no feast under heaven lasted forever.
Perhaps this was the last time she would ever see Ji Qing.
"Hero Ji, the Jianghu road is long. May fair winds guide your journey!"
Lie Yingniang murmured softly.
Before you continue