Generous Rewards

He understood what Fifth Devil had meant before he died.

As long as the green hills remained, there would be no shortage of firewood.

If they all died here, there would be no one left to avenge his brothers.

As long as he could escape alive, with the Taiping Sect at his back, he could bide his time. There would be no lack of chances for revenge!

The Six Devils never imagined that in the certain-death trap they had planned, Xu Ziyi would have had virtually no chance of escape.

Yet someone had appeared out of nowhere—someone who killed three of them in an instant, then joined forces with Xu Ziyi to cut down two more brothers like smashing deadwood.

His plan had been sound, but Lu Yuan's reaction was far too swift.

Whoosh!!

The terrified Sixth Devil had only run a dozen or so steps when the blade Lu Yuan hurled struck him squarely in the back.

It was over.

Sixth Devil felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar. Before he could even scramble up, Lu Yuan, who had chased after him, crushed his neck beneath one foot. A crisp crack of breaking bone rang out. His head immediately lolled to one side, and he died on the spot, eyes wide open in deathly grievance.

"Phew~~"

Lu Yuan let out a long breath, his chest heaving violently. Less than ten seconds had passed from the moment he attacked to the end, yet he had exhausted every bit of his strength without holding anything back.

After all, although the Five Devils of the Snow Region and Tang Ying were more or less injured, they were all Martial Artists with Blood Qi Like an Ox. He himself only had Blood Qi Like an Ox as well. Holding back leisurely under such circumstances would have made him an utter fool.

Seeing the last enemy dead, Xu Ziyi collapsed onto the ground. He took out a porcelain bottle, poured out a healing pill, and swallowed it. His complexion improved somewhat before he rose and solemnly cupped his hands in a bow. "Thank you for saving Xu's life, sir!"

Had Lu Yuan not stepped in to save him, he most likely would not have escaped.

"I merely drew my blade to help when I saw injustice."

Lu Yuan said hoarsely. His face was now covered in a thick beard, and his complexion was sallow, so he was not afraid that strangers would recognize him.

"No matter what, a life-saving kindness must be repaid as a spring repays a drop. Xu will remember it forever. I am Xu Ziyi, a Bronze Badge Constable of the Six Doors. May I ask your honored name?"

"Qiao Feng."

Naturally, Lu Yuan would not give his real name. He offered a false one instead.

At the same time, information about the Six Doors flashed through his mind.

Great Sheng had two major violent institutions: one was the Imperial Guards, and the other was the Six Doors.

The former had been established at the beginning of Great Sheng's founding, personally created by the Great Sheng Grand Ancestor. They had followed the Grand Ancestor and the Grand Emperor, leveling mountains and smashing temples, trampling the world beneath their horses' hooves.

The latter, however, had been established by the Grand Emperor. It had been founded forty years after the Imperial Guards, and unlike the Imperial Guards, which had its footing in the imperial court, it mainly dealt with matters of the Jianghu.

The Six Doors had ranks within its organization. Above Bronze Badge Constables were Silver Badge Constables, and above those were Gold Badge Constables.

Meanwhile, Xu Ziyi was swiftly searching his mind for the name "Qiao Feng," but no matter how he thought, he had never heard of anyone called Qiao Feng.

Xu Ziyi said, "To be honest, the man Brother Qiao killed was a flower thief. More than thirty women from respectable families had their chastity defiled by him, and eight of them took their own lives after being violated by him. I pursued him for half a year. Though he was not particularly strong, his lightness skill was exceptional, and he escaped the Six Doors' capture many times."

After saying that, he searched Tang Ying's corpse and pulled out a bloodstained secret manual. He flipped through it, then offered it to Lu Yuan with both hands. "Brother Qiao, this should be the Divine Speed Electric Light Steps he cultivated. It is your spoils of war. Please accept it."

Lu Yuan's heart stirred slightly. "Tang Ying was the weakest among the six, but his lightness skill and movement technique were the best. This Divine Speed Electric Light Steps is worth a careful look."

With that thought, he accepted the secret manual, shook off the bloodstains, and tucked it into his robes without even looking at it. He cupped his hands. "Farewell, then."

At the request of our many readers, VIP Member Ad-free access is now available

Click to view

"Wait."

Xu Ziyi said sincerely, "Brother Qiao, do you not know that all six of these men are wanted criminals recorded by the Six Doors? There is a bounty for killing them. Leiji Town happens to have a Six Doors outpost. Why don't I take Brother Qiao there to collect the reward?"

"That works."

Xu Ziyi cut off the six men's heads, wrapped them in several pieces of clothing, and only then returned to Leiji Town.

The Six Doors outpost in Leiji Town was a five-courtyard residence. At its entrance stood a stone stele as tall as a man, bearing three sweeping characters that danced like dragons and flew like phoenixes—Six Doors!

The two guards at the gate were both Martial Artists who had completed Blood Exchange. When they saw Lu Yuan and Xu Ziyi approaching, they were about to shout a challenge when Xu Ziyi produced a command token. "Bronze Badge Constable Xu Ziyi."

"So it's Constable Xu."

The guard abruptly changed his tone, swallowing the words at his lips as he respectfully stepped aside.

Xu Ziyi nodded, carried the six heads inside, and led Lu Yuan through several turns with the ease of someone familiar with the way until they entered a courtyard. An old man lay inside, drowsing fitfully.

Xu Ziyi slapped the table hard. The old man lazily raised his eyelids. "It's you, Xu Ziyi. What is it? If it's nothing, don't disturb this old man's sleep."

"I killed the Six Devils of the Snow Region and the flower-thief Tang Ying. I'm here to collect the bounty!"

The old man sat up and glanced at him. "You've hunted Tang Ying for so long and finally got your wish. Come on, give me the heads so I can verify them."

Xu Ziyi shook his head. "Old Wang, you've got it wrong. I didn't kill them. Brother Qiao here killed them all."

He was the sort of man who repaid every kindness. Lu Yuan had saved his life, so he credited all the heads to Lu Yuan as repayment.

Of course, Xu Ziyi's life-saving debt was far from something that could be repaid with just this.

Old Wang glanced at Lu Yuan and let out a mocking laugh. "Your surname is Qiao? What's your given name?"

"Qiao Feng."

"Your disguise isn't convincing enough. It might fool ordinary people, but anyone in the know would spot through it at a glance."

Lu Yuan said calmly, "I know."

He did not need his disguise to be particularly ingenious. He only needed outsiders to fail to recognize him.

Xu Ziyi gave Lu Yuan a surprised, careful look, then smiled. "Disguises are perfectly normal when traveling the Jianghu. All right, Old Wang, enough nonsense. Check their identities."

Old Wang inspected the heads once more and nodded. "Their identities are correct. Second Devil, Third Devil, Fourth Devil, Fifth Devil, Sixth Devil of the Snow Region, as well as Tang Ying... Xu Ziyi, are you sure all the bounty belongs to him?"

"Sure!"

"Fifteen Blood Replenishing Pills, five Trauma Healing Pills, and twelve hundred taels of silver."

Lu Yuan's eyes lit up slightly. "Six Doors really is rolling in wealth!"

Any kind of pill was extremely precious. Twenty pills at once—compared to that, the twelve hundred taels of silver were secondary.

The bounty could not have been more generous.

The two left Six Doors together. Xu Ziyi said, "Brother Qiao, these Blood Replenishing Pills are very effective. They are quite helpful in assisting blood replacement, and a single pill is worth two hundred taels outside. The Trauma Healing Pills are even more valuable—three hundred taels each. The one I took before was a Trauma Healing Pill. For ordinary injuries, one pill can swiftly stabilize the wound."

"Of course, for grievous injuries that threaten one's life, Trauma Healing Pills have little effect."

Lu Yuan happily put away the pills. These were all unexpected gains, but he had not forgotten the purpose of this trip. He asked, "Brother Xu, do you know whether the Ghost Market sells Mithril and Snow Fox Heart Blood?"

If you can't find it by searching the book title, try searching for the author instead—it may simply have been renamed!