Are You the Flower Plucking Bandit?

The Pacification Office was exceptionally lively at the moment.

Many Jinyiwei on duty tonight were all rubbing their hands together in anticipation. The Su Family had promised ten thousand taels of gold.

If anyone obtained that gold, they would not have to do anything for the rest of their life.

This also showed just how immense the Su Family's fortune truly was.

The moment Lin Xiao and the other two entered the Pacification Office, they saw a long queue outside the mission hall. Everyone wanted to accept the task of protecting the Su Family's young lady.

Looking at the crowded scene, Chang Le could not help but exclaim in surprise, "Damn, that's a lot of people. Wealth really can make the gods turn their heads."

"My lord, what do we do?"

Facing Chang Le's question, Lin Xiao said calmly, "What's the rush? That Flower Plucking Bandit has committed over a hundred crimes in Dingzhou and still no one has caught him. That means he is no ordinary man. Do you think these people can really protect the Su Family's young lady?"

"Then, my lord, let's take the mission too."

Chang Le rubbed his hands together. After learning of Lin Xiao's strength, he felt that the road ahead was bright and wanted nothing more than to make a grand showing.

"No rush. This mission has no limit on the number of people who can accept it. We'll go after they finish registering."

After waiting for half an hour, it was finally Lin Xiao and the others' turn.

"Sir Deacon, we'd like to accept a mission."

The Jinyiwei deacon responsible for issuing missions did not even raise his head. "The Su Family's mission?"

"Names and positions."

"Little Banner Lin Xiao, Strongman Chang Le, Strongman Xue Shan."

Without hesitation, the deacon recorded their names, then said, "All right, you've been registered. Go carry out the mission."

Lin Xiao and the other two left the Pacification Office and headed straight for the Su Family estate.

When they arrived at the Su Family residence, they found it brightly lit and bustling throughout the vast manor.

There were martial artists from the jianghu who were in Dingzhou City, as well as Jinyiwei and men from the yamen.

Less than two hours had passed since the Su Family issued the mission, yet more than a hundred martial artists had already gathered.

There were jianghu martial artists of every sort, stern-faced Jinyiwei, and yamen constables.

Inside the Su Family's main hall, the Su Family head was receiving those martial artists.

"Thank you all for coming to lend my Su Family a hand despite your busy schedules. Once this matter is settled, I certainly will not treat anyone poorly."

"Patriarch Su, you are too courteous. The Flower Plucking Bandit is a man everyone has the right to execute. How can a noble young lady like Miss Su be defiled by such a petty villain? If he dares come tonight, I certainly won't let him leave."

"That's right. Rest assured, Patriarch Su. This Flower Plucking Bandit will die tonight."

At midnight, all of Dingzhou City fell silent.

Only the silhouettes of night watchmen moved through the streets.

Just then, a figure flew over the Su Family estate and landed soundlessly atop the roof of Su Wan'er's room.

But before the figure could make a move, a great net rose from beneath his feet.

"You Flower Plucking Bandit, fancy setting your sights on the Su Family's young lady! Today is the day you die!"

More than ten jianghu martial artists leaped onto the rooftop. Looking at the Flower Plucking Thief trapped in the net, they burst into laughter.

Yet the Flower Plucking Thief beneath the net remained calm. With a harsh, eerie chuckle, he said, "You scraps think you can catch me? You truly don't know your own limits."

As soon as he spoke, the Flower Plucking Bandit raised a hand with a gentle flick, scattering a cloud of red powder.

Though those martial artists quickly held their breath, the powder was somehow able to enter their bodies through their skin.

Within two or three breaths, the jianghu martial artists were struck one after another. Their faces flushed crimson, veins bulged on their necks, and they became feverishly excited—they had been hit by an aphrodisiac.

Those martial artists then became like beasts in heat, searching all through the Su Family estate for women.

The aphrodisiac was extraordinarily potent. It drifted through the air and spread across the entire Su Family estate; wherever it passed, no one was spared.

Whether ordinary martial artists, Acquired Realm martial artists, or Innate Realm experts, none could withstand the drug's erosion.

In the blink of an eye, the entire Su Family estate had become a den of debauchery.

Men and women alike laughed wantonly.

Seeing this, the Flower Plucking Bandit could not help feeling immensely satisfied with his handiwork.

"Heaven truly favors me. If the Su Family hadn't summoned so many helpers, it would have been harder for me to succeed."

"Now that the Su Family is too busy saving itself, once I pluck the Su Family young lady's body and master the divine art of the Erotic Treasure, I'll break through to the Grandmaster Realm in a single stroke. Then, if I set my sights on some women with formidable martial arts, even the Great Grandmaster Realm will be within reach."

"The Erotic Treasure truly is a supreme divine art. Back then, the Erotic Sovereign relied on this divine art to become a Void Shattering Realm powerhouse."

The Erotic Sovereign mentioned by the Flower Plucking Bandit was an expert who had thrown the entire Zhenwu Continent into turmoil a hundred years ago.

That Erotic Sovereign relied on a technique of harvesting yin to replenish yang, taking less than ten years to break through into the Void Shattering Realm. In the end, many female Great Grandmaster experts fell victim to his evil hands.

Only after the experts of the entire continent joined forces to besiege him did he finally perish. He had truly been a peerless demon.

As for how this Flower Plucking Thief obtained the Erotic Treasure, it was because he had once been hunted down and accidentally fallen into the place where the Erotic Sovereign had secluded himself in life, where he luckily acquired a fragment of the Erotic Treasure.

Though it was only a fragment, it was still immensely powerful. The Erotic Treasure had evolved from the Joyous Zen Art of the Western Region Joyous Sect.

The Joyous Zen Art was a dual cultivation method, but the Erotic Sovereign possessed extraordinary talent. Upon its foundation, he had actually created the Erotic Treasure—a technique that harvested yin to replenish yang, allowing one to rapidly increase one's strength.

As long as he had enough women, he could swiftly increase his strength without cultivating at all. In particular, beautiful women with untouched maidenhood were especially effective at enhancing one's cultivation.

The aphrodisiac drug scattered by the Flower Plucking Bandit was also recorded in the Erotic Treasure. It was an exceptionally tyrannical poison; if the dosage was sufficient, even a Great Grandmaster Realm expert would fall victim to it.

Lin Xiao, who had yet to act and had been watching coldly from the sidelines, wore an incomparably icy expression as he saw the chaos within the Su Family.

"M-My lord."

Chang Le and Xue Shan were no exception. They too had been afflicted by the aphrodisiac poison, their faces flushed crimson.

Lin Xiao moved as swiftly as lightning, lightly tapping the backs of their necks. The two immediately fainted.

Just then, a martial artist of the jianghu appeared before him and made a move on a Su Family maid. The maid rushed toward the martial artist as well. Both had been poisoned by the aphrodisiac, and the instant they met, they were like dry firewood meeting raging flames.

Yet before the two could do anything, a flash of blood-red blade light swept past, and they collapsed in pools of blood. Lin Xiao could naturally have knocked them unconscious like Xue Shan and Chang Le, but he had no desire to do so. It was too troublesome. Moreover, killing this jianghu martial artist carried a deeper meaning. It would depend on whether, after today, those jianghu martial artists would follow his plan.

After dealing with the two, Lin Xiao's hand did not stop. Everywhere he passed, the poisoned jianghu martial artists were all cut down with a single slash. He made his way all the way to Su Wan'er's room.

Inside Su Wan'er's room at that moment.

The Flower Plucking Bandit had already entered the room. Seeing the incomparably beautiful Su Wan'er, he was beside himself with excitement.

"Little beauty, don't be afraid. Big brother will come take good care of you now."

Su Wan'er had been terrified when she saw the Flower Plucking Bandit, but when she saw behind him, her expression suddenly turned excited.

It was a man with a cold expression, dressed in a Flying Fish Uniform embroidered with four-clawed flying fish patterns. He exuded majesty and dominance. In his hand was a blood-dripping long blade, its body radiating a faint crimson glow.

The blood staining the blade left no trace upon it. Wherever the blood flowed across, the blade remained as smooth and spotless as a mirror, while the blood dripped from its tip onto the ground.

"Have you said enough?"

The sudden voice made the Flower Plucking Bandit jerk in fright.

The heat in his heart was extinguished as though drenched by a basin of cold water.

Without the slightest hesitation, the Flower Plucking Bandit circulated his lightness skill, transforming into an afterimage as he fled toward the window.

Fortunately, he had reacted quickly. The moment he dodged aside, a blood-red blade light tore his afterimage to shreds.