A Chance Encounter

Upon hearing the woman in green speak, the woman in white, whose robes were whiter than snow, finally reacted. Her delicate hand slowly set down the porcelain cup before her, revealing a face of exquisite, unworldly beauty.

Her brows were like misty ink. She gently raised her eyes and looked at the woman in green and the two people behind her, her voice calm.

"You say you are from the Imperial Secret Police. Then you must know Ji Feiyun, the 'Jade-Faced Thousand Palms.'"

At this, the woman in green sized her up and nodded.

"Catcher Ji is one of the Ten Great Catchers of the Six Fans Gate Headquarters. Of course we know him. Could it be that you have some history with Catcher Ji, miss?"

The woman in white did not answer. Instead, she abruptly changed the subject.

"I can testify for you, but I have one condition: you must have Ji Feiyun come here to see me."

The woman in green frowned and slowly shook her head.

"If you are willing to testify, miss, we would be deeply grateful. But for such a minor matter, there should be no need to trouble Catcher Ji to come in person, should there?"

Yet just as her words fell, the gloomy-faced young man behind her suddenly shouted.

"Watch out, Ning'er!"

In an instant, a shrill mechanical click rang out. Several black arrows shot from the young man's wrist with sharp whooshes, tearing through the air.

They became streaks of afterimages, flying past the woman in green and piercing a cluster of ice crystals that had appeared before her at some unknown moment, radiating threads of icy chill.

A thunderous clang of metal rang through the air. Several arrows halted the ice crystals' advance, leaving them suspended in midair as they spun frantically at high speed.

Then the woman in white spoke again, her voice light as drifting clouds.

"Your reaction was not bad, but your martial cultivation is far too weak."

With that, she flicked the porcelain cup with her finger. The tea within abruptly atomized into frost, sweeping toward the three of them on a bitterly cold gale.

Guo Ning'er, the gloomy young man Zhou Chuan, and the burly man all turned pale.

"Ice-Cold True Qi! A Martial Grandmaster!"

The three wanted to retreat at once, but the icy wind came too suddenly and too swiftly. In the blink of an eye, it engulfed them.

Bone-piercing cold invaded their bodies, freezing their meridians and blood qi, rendering them unable to move any longer. They stood stiffly in place, utterly motionless.

Before long, a layer of white frost visibly formed over their brows and hair, making them look like human-shaped ice sculptures.

The earlier fight had already drawn many guests from the inn to the doorway, where they gathered curiously to watch what was happening inside the private room.

Yet the woman in white seemed not to notice. She filled the porcelain cup in her hand with tea and glanced toward Zhang He's group of five, who were leaning against the wall.

"Which of you will make the trip? Go call Ji Feiyun here."

At this, Zhang He nervously swallowed, just about to volunteer himself.

The woman before him possessed unfathomable martial arts, and whether she was friend or foe remained unknown. Naturally, he wanted to get away from this place of trouble as quickly as possible.

However, the woman in white suddenly pointed at the man in blue.

"You. Go quickly and return quickly. I'll give you the time it takes for one incense stick to burn."

The man in blue froze briefly. He glanced at Zhang He, then gave him an almost imperceptible nod. Without saying anything, he left the private room directly.

Meanwhile, in the private room next to the one occupied by Zhang He and his group, Li Musheng had his ears pricked up, listening to the commotion next door with great interest.

At that moment, Cang Yinyue drifted in through the window and sat down directly at the table.

She glanced at the wooden wall between the rooms and sneered.

"That woman is really putting on airs."

Li Musheng turned back to look at her and stroked his chin.

Fortunately, that burly man had kicked the wooden wall on the other side. If he had kicked this one, then perhaps Li Musheng would have been the one putting on airs right now.

"Miss Cang, do you know that woman?"

Seeing that Cang Yinyue seemed rather hostile toward the woman, Li Musheng immediately looked suspicious.

"Of course I know her. Her father is a Divine Catcher, and her mother is the sect master of the Flying Snow Sect. Her background is no small matter."

Cang Yinyue poured herself a cup of tea and took a small sip, but did not continue discussing the matter. Instead, she changed the subject.

"I have already reported your situation. For the next few days, you will have to stay somewhere temporarily."

"Aurora Pavilion?"

Cang Yinyue nodded.

"Everyone who claims to belong to the Seventh Prince is there now. The palace finds it too troublesome to investigate them one by one, so in six days, all of them will undergo a collective selection."

Li Musheng spread his hands, indicating that he did not care.

After all, he was not particularly invested in this matter. The only thing he truly cared about was pursuing transcendence through martial arts. He had come to Shangyang City merely to travel and, incidentally, "see the world."

"But once I go to Aurora Pavilion, how am I supposed to contact you?"

"If there is something, I will come find you directly. If you have something, come straight to this inn. I will naturally come find you then," Cang Yinyue said coolly.

Li Musheng raised an eyebrow slightly.

There was this one drawback to dealing with people from the Hidden Spy Bureau: they were always skulking about, just like agents making contact in some underground organization.

Of course, if he truly wanted to find her, it would not actually be difficult.

When Li Musheng had observed the scholar using the Formless Puppet Technique before, he had been unable to obtain the complete technique.

Yet relying on his heaven-defying comprehension, he had grasped a minor martial skill over the past few days.

At this moment, an invisible thread of true qi on Cang Yinyue's body was under his control. So long as she did not leave too great a distance between them, he could use it to find her.

As he thought this, Li Musheng did not forget to remind her.

"Miss Cang, do not forget the second condition you promised me. Help me find the key to the Great Qi Secret Treasury. Half-hearted work does not count."

Cang Yinyue's eye twitched, and she gave a cold snort.

"You really have quite the mindset. You still have the mood to think about something so illusory and intangible?"

As she spoke, her gaze darkened, and she warned him solemnly.

"Aurora Pavilion is guarded day and night by the Heavenly Brocade Guard. With your strength, you should not encounter any major problems staying there."

"However, you must keep what I said before firmly in mind. Before His Majesty recognizes your identity as a prince, do not reveal your true strength. It could very well bring calamity crashing down upon you."

Li Musheng took a sip of tea and nodded casually.

"Don't worry. I know where to draw the line."

Cang Yinyue looked at him and said no more. She rose to her feet.

"I'll take you to Aurora Pavilion."

But just then, the clatter of horses' hooves drew nearer from afar, abruptly stopping outside the inn.

A group of constables clad in standard dark uniforms, sabers hanging at their waists, leaped down from their horses and surrounded the entire inn in the blink of an eye.

Their leader was a tall, upright young constable seated upon a fine horse, dressed in black brocade.

His features were sharply defined, his sword-like brows slanting up toward his temples. His keen eyes swept over the inn before him.

The next instant, he sprang lightly into the air as though stepping upon the wind, flashing through an open window like a soaring wild goose.

But when he saw the person inside the window, he gave a soft cry of surprise.

"Catcher Cang, why are you here?"