Clues to the Flying Thieves, Zhang Wu's Wedding Feast

Several hours later, as the sun set beyond the western hills, Lin Xuankong, whose legs were exceptionally swift, had arrived at the entrance to Sishui Street.

He glanced at the little Black Tiger Gang flags hanging outside some of the shops along Sishui Street and thought, I've covered most of Great Marsh Prefecture City. Now, only the Black Tiger Gang's territory remains unsearched!

The Man Luo Demonic Pearl had a search radius of six li.

Its searching efficiency did not merely surpass that of a Dragon Blood Hound—it was comparable to dozens or even hundreds of Dragon Blood Hounds searching at once, or even tens of thousands of people searching together!

If Great Marsh Prefecture City had not been an important city of the Great Xia Dynasty, second only to the capital, Liang City, with an area comparable to a first-tier city from his previous life, he would likely have finished searching it long ago!

The only thing that seemed capable of limiting the Man Luo Demonic Pearl's search speed was the running speed of Lin Xuankong's own two legs!

Two tea-brewing intervals later, the moon hung from the willow tips.

Wearing a conical hat, Lin Xuankong moved swiftly through Black Tiger Gang territory before stopping in a corner at the intersection with Qingshui Street. His right hand reached for the Man Luo Demonic Pearl in his robes.

This was already one of the Black Tiger Gang's last remaining territories.

Lin Xuankong looked at the moon above the nearby Wooden Building. If the Man Luo Demonic Pearl still showed no reaction after he reached the center of these remaining territories, then there was only one possibility: the two Flying Thieves were no longer in Great Marsh Prefecture City. But he could only search the Outer City tomorrow during daylight!

After all, the Outer City was fraught with danger. Although the area around Yin Talisman Sect's twenty-nine towns no longer had demons, the Outer City territories of other sects and aristocratic families all had demons entrenched there to varying degrees. If he went out alone at night, in the pitch-dark gloom, and happened to stumble right up to the mouths of a few powerful demons...

With that thought in mind, he quietly poured some blood energy into the Demonic Pearl. What made his expression shift was that the Man Luo Demonic Pearl actually reacted. Fine demonic grass spread from within the pearl, pointing westward.

Lin Xuankong's gaze sharpened. He quickly put the Dragon Wandering Amulet Hand onto his right hand and sprang toward the location detected by the Demonic Pearl.

Though Great Marsh Prefecture City had no nighttime curfew, it was still a feudal era. Once night fell, aside from a few willow-lane Pleasure Houses, most common folk had long since climbed into bed for their sole form of entertainment!

There were almost no other pedestrians on the streets. Lin Xuankong raced over the bluestone road at tremendous speed, and just over ten breaths later, he was standing near a Wooden Building with a spacious rear courtyard.

At that moment, some noisy sounds drifted over from afar.

Lin Xuankong looked in that direction and saw a large residence at the street corner brightly lit within, the sounds of drinking-game calls continuously ringing out from inside: "Six six six! Eight horses!"

The lanterns hanging at the residence gate were bright red and bore the character for double happiness. Two sentries drinking at either side of the entrance made it seem likely that some Black Tiger Gang bigshot or steward had taken a wife or concubine and was celebrating!

Retracting his gaze, Lin Xuankong looked toward the Wooden Building indicated by the Man Luo Demonic Pearl.

He was actually somewhat puzzled. Under normal circumstances, if the Flying Thieves were here, the Man Luo Demonic Pearl should have directly spread over and bound them!

Yet the Man Luo Demonic Pearl merely swayed its blades of grass instead of shooting outward at high speed. Perhaps the two Flying Thieves had eaten, drunk, relieved themselves, slept, and lived here for a long time, leaving behind such abundant traces of their aura that the Man Luo Demonic Pearl was pointing here?

Still, now that he was here, he had to go in and take a look!

Lin Xuankong secretly circulated his blood energy to protect his entire body. Then, with a leap, he silently vaulted into the courtyard.

When he quietly climbed through the rear window into the first floor of the Wooden Building, a distinct smell of blood immediately reached his nose!

Alertness instantly rose in Lin Xuankong's heart.

As he circulated blood energy to shield his body, he gripped both the Man Luo Demonic Pearl and the Twin Vine Demonic Pearl in his right hand. His left hand held six refined steel pellets. Only then did he head toward the bedroom from which the bloody smell emanated.

Several breaths later,

Lin Xuankong stood beside the wooden bed in the bedroom, frowning, his face chilled as he stared at the scene before him.

Beside the bed lay a young, sturdy man with his eyes wide open, unable to rest in peace. His entire body had been bound securely with hemp rope, while his mouth was stuffed with a large wad of filthy cloth.

On the bed facing the young man's corpse lay a naked woman. Her body was a complete mess. A wound in her neck had nearly severed it, thick blood coating the area around her throat. Quite a few flies buzzed as they circled the two bodies.

After frowning at the sight for a few moments, Lin Xuankong left the bedroom and headed cautiously toward the second floor.

The moment he entered the second floor, he saw two sets of black night clothes tossed onto a wooden bed. He could not help slowing his movements as he carefully searched the area. In the end, he actually found a white Forehead Scale someone had left behind in a crack between the floorboards!

After picking up that Marsh Python Forehead Scale, Lin Xuankong frowned and examined it a few times. Looks like I arrived one step too late! After the two Flying Thieves looted the Third Warehouse, they should have returned to this Wooden Building once, then left with the goods. They must have been in quite a hurry, since they even left behind a Forehead Scale.

Combined with his earlier search, those two cruel and savage Flying Thieves had likely already left Great Marsh Prefecture City. He just did not know where in the Outer City they had gone!

However, judging by when the couple in the Wooden Building had died, the two Flying Thieves could not have left too long ago. As long as he made a circuit around the Outer City tomorrow, he would definitely catch the two of them, intercept the stolen goods, and become the first person to complete the Silver Jade Honor mission!

Leaping out of the Wooden Building,

Lin Xuankong's mood sank slightly as he thought of the miserable state in which the couple inside had died. In this world where martial strength reigned supreme, ordinary commoners truly were like grass and weeds, dying in such miserable humiliation!

He could not help thinking of his former self. If not for Young Lady's help back then, when facing Zhang Wu, Ma Xiong, Wang Qiluo, and the others, he likely would not have died much better than that couple!

He turned around, crushed the iron lock on the Wooden Building's front gate, and pushed the gate open. I hope a neighbor discovers this tragically slain couple tomorrow, so they won't be left without even a burial ground!

Shaking his head, he strode toward the street corner. Yet after taking only two steps, he abruptly halted, turning toward the two Black Tiger Gang sentries at the intersection with a cold expression.

At that moment, one of the gang members, drunk as a skunk, said merrily, "Old Qi, tell me, is our Deputy Steward Zhang dealing with the Zhuo Family this time because of their Guardian Spirit Pill, or because of that Zhuo Yunbing?"

Old Qi laughed. "The Guardian Spirit Pill isn't sold solely by the Zhuo Family. So of course the boss is after that delicate little beauty!"

"True enough. But that little bitch Zhuo Yunbing is pretty fierce. She actually escaped twice. Still, once tonight is over and the boss sleeps with that little bitch, she'll probably be so pleased she won't want to run anymore. Heh heh heh!"

Standing in the distance, Lin Xuankong's face turned icy. That filthy thing Zhang Wu truly could not stop eating shit!

Thinking of how Zhang Wu's schemes had forced him to tread on thin ice every day, of the vicious ambush and contempt from Ma Xiong under his command, and of the disgusting plots and ugly faces of Granny Wang and the others he had sent, hatred suddenly surged in Lin Xuankong's heart.

Over the past ten-odd days, he had gone to the Outer City to carry out missions, allowing that filthy thing to enjoy himself for a few extra days.

Now that he was already at the late stage of the second layer and close to completion, and had even come right to Zhang Wu's doorstep, how could he let that filthy bastard continue to live carefree every day, enjoy himself every day, and play the groom every day!

With that thought, Lin Xuankong put on his conical hat, took a mask from his robes and fastened it over his face, then leaped onto the roof of the Wooden Building and bounded across the rooftops of numerous Wooden Buildings.

In mere moments,

he stood atop the rear courtyard wall of Zhang Wu's three-courtyard residence.

The courtyard was filled with Black Tiger Gang Members drunk into all manner of ugly behavior, but Zhang Wu was nowhere to be seen. Lin Xuankong swept his eyes over them, then silently drifted down to the window of the wedding chamber, where red candles burned.

Moistening his finger with saliva, he gently poked through the window paper and peered inside.

In the light cast by the red candles, a beautiful woman wearing bridal robes was tied to the bed with tough hemp rope. She struggled desperately, trying to break free, while Zhang Wu sat at the bedside with bleary drunken eyes, holding two wine cups.