Spirit Butterfly Thousand Illusions Body

The Spirit Butterfly Thousand Illusions Body could condense nine spirit butterflies, each of which could store one face.

Ye Kang only had one spirit butterfly so far, and he had yet to use it.

He channeled his true qi into it, carefully sketching from memory.

Though Ye Kang had no talent for drawing, this martial art was quite miraculous, as if it could reach straight into the depths of his memory. In just a few moments, he had sketched most of the face.

Then he concealed the butterfly in his Dantian. A flash of blue light flickered, and his body writhed and reshaped like rubber, quickly transforming into someone else.

Ye Kang took a bronze mirror from the Ink Jade Ancient Treasure. The person reflected in it looked exactly like Mr. Kang—not even the wrinkles on his face were any different.

Even someone close to him probably couldn't tell he was an impostor without speaking to him.

Ye Kang took a light-colored robe from the ancient treasure and put it on.

These were all items left behind by Fan Shanyue, mostly tools for changing one's appearance. Ye Kang hadn't thrown them away; he had kept them for his own use.

After a moment's thought, he took out Mr. Kang's pair of Silver Hooks as well. His expression turned vicious, and only then did he head back to the Minister's residence.

At that moment, Minister Ma was anxiously holding Young Master Ma's hand. His eyes held both worry and venom.

"Don't worry, son. I've already sent people to find him. Anyone who dares hurt my son will pay with his life!"

Young Master Ma wailed, "Father! Smash every bone in that man's body! I want him to wish he were dead!"

Their words made the guards kneeling at the entrance shudder with fear.

Just then, a servant came hurrying over.

"Lord, Mr. Kang has returned."

"Oh? He was that quick? Hurry, show him in!"

The Minister's face brimmed with excitement. He knew what Mr. Kang was capable of. He might not be able to throw his weight around the whole Imperial City, but dealing with a mere martial artist would be no problem.

But when the servant brought Mr. Kang back, a trace of confusion crossed the Minister's face.

Why had Mr. Kang changed his clothes?

After a moment's thought, he decided Mr. Kang must have been splattered with blood earlier. Changing clothes made perfect sense.

He smiled and walked over. "Mr. Kang, have you taken care of it?"

But in the next instant, a Silver Hook plunged into his chest, straight for his heart.

The Minister's smile froze on his face, his eyes filled with disbelief.

Why... why kill me...

Crack!

The Silver Hook ripped free. Minister Ma dropped dead, blood pouring from his wound.

Only then did everyone present start shouting.

"Murder! Murder!"

"You dare kill Lord!"

The guards' faces changed drastically, and they instinctively moved to attack.

But Mr. Kang only pointed a Silver Hook at them, and not a single person dared step forward.

He looked at the Minister's corpse and sneered. "He dared defy the Saintess's orders. He deserved to die."

Leaving them with those words, Mr. Kang immediately used his Lightness Skill to flee. He paid the others no mind and vanished into the night.

Only then did the Minister's wife let out a piercing cry. "Hurry and summon the Ministry of Justice! Catch the killer!"

The Minister's residence fell into utter chaos.

Meanwhile, Mr. Kang had vanished completely after turning through alley after alley.

A young man emerged from the other end, his eyes clear and calm.

Ye Kang felt no guilt whatsoever about killing Minister Ma.

The man had called for an assassin to kill him at the slightest disagreement. That made him an enemy.

He had also secretly colluded with some Saintess. He might even be a Rebel Faction spy. All the more reason he deserved to die.

"Now that I acted under Mr. Kang's identity, Young Master Ma probably won't have the mind to come after me. I just don't know who that Saintess really is."

Ye Kang found a secluded spot and took out Mr. Kang's corpse.

After searching it, he found only a few pieces of silver and a manual. There was nothing else that could prove the man's identity.

The manual was titled "Exquisite Immortal Gu Technique."

Ye Kang flipped through it.

[Ding]

[Recorded Innate Martial Arts: Exquisite Immortal Gu Technique]

[The path of gu worms defies creation and destroys human order. Only by refining ten thousand gu worms can one attain the Great Dao of Immortal Gu. Upon reaching Great Perfection, one can obtain the Exquisite Immortal Gu King, suppress all gu worms, and enter the path. Learning this technique requires 10,000 Comprehension.]

Ye Kang put the manual away for now. He certainly didn't have enough Comprehension to learn it.

But his instincts told him this martial art would come in handy.

"They said earlier that the Saintess planted a gu worm inside Minister Ma. That means we can be sure this Saintess came from the south."

Only the south had gu worms.

Ye Kang didn't dwell on it. He swept his Blazing Blade true qi over Mr. Kang's corpse, burning it to nothing and leaving no evidence behind.

Miraculously, plenty of tiny gu worm corpses remained in the ashes.

Ordinary people couldn't see them with the naked eye, but Ye Kang could make them out with the Five Senses of a Third-Rank Innate.

The gu worms must have been refined by Mr. Kang himself. Now that their master was dead, they naturally couldn't survive either.

Once the fire died down, Ye Kang still didn't feel safe. He channeled his true qi again, shaking the remnants until the ashes were ground to dust. Only then did he leave with peace of mind.

From then on, the Minister's residence could no longer find the killer, Mr. Kang.

Ye Kang soon made his way home.

His family had all returned by then. As soon as they saw Ye Kang, they came out to meet him.

"Kang'er, Ling Yu said you went out. Your mother was worried sick!"

"Kang Di, I heard you beat up Minister Ma's son. We should leave tonight, before the powerful come after us!"

One after another, his family urged him to leave the Imperial City as soon as possible.

Ye Kang shook his head.

"There's no need. I went to the Minister's residence to apologize and explain what happened, but I happened to run into an assassin. He actually killed Minister Ma. The residence is in chaos now, so they won't be thinking about us."

Everyone was stunned.

The sisters Ling Yu and Ling Xiu even had tears in their eyes.

"Good riddance! It was Minister Ma's false accusation that ruined our family. He deserved to die!"

Ling Xiu, the more vivacious of the two, couldn't help clapping in delight.

Her older sister, Ling Yu, quickly stopped her.

"Don't say that! Someone might hear you, and then we'll invite trouble."

She was perceptive, and stole a glance at Ye Kang. She couldn't help feeling that things hadn't happened quite as coincidentally as he claimed.

But the danger was gone, and that was what mattered. The family happily went back to sleep.

As expected, the Imperial City was shaken the next day.

The dignified Minister of Works had been murdered in his own home!

This was outrageous!

The Ministry of Justice, the Imperial Guards, the Imperial City Office, the City Patrol Division, Six Doors, and the capital's constables all sprang into action.

At the Ye Family home, Ye Kang's colleague, Zhang Gong, Deputy Commander of the Imperial City Office, paid him a sudden visit.

His reason was simple. Such a major incident had happened, and he had to let Ye Kang know.

The two naturally fell into conversation.

Zhang Gong sighed. "Minister Ma's had terrible luck. Trouble's been piling up over the last few days. First his son got beaten, then he himself was killed. This morning, people from the Minister's residence were questioned by who knows how many groups."

As he spoke, Zhang Gong looked up at Ye Kang. "I heard the person who beat his son was a young martial artist..."

"That was me."

Ye Kang admitted it frankly, then said, "I was waiting for the Minister to come after me, but I didn't expect something like this to happen."

Zhang Gong pretended to be surprised. "I see. Well done, Brother Ye. The Minister's son was always up to no good. He deserved a beating. All right, we've finished our tea, so I won't disturb you on your day off. I'll be going."

"Please."

Zhang Gong left with his men.

The case involved a great many people, and plenty of investigators traced it back to Ye Kang. Yet not one of them ever suspected him.

After all, too many people had witnessed the murder the previous night, and their testimonies all agreed.

The killer was Mr. Kang, not anyone else.

A few days later, the matter was quietly dropped.

But the words "Mr. Kang" had left behind after the murder turned the court's attention to the mysterious Saintess, uncovering quite a few other things...

At last, Ye Kang received a message from Lord Leng.