Encountering a Riddler

This sudden turn of events was truly beyond Chu Qing's expectations.

Even though he was usually bold, his heart couldn't help but chill. But immediately after, he understood that this guy wasn't dead!

It wasn't Chu Qing's fault for not noticing. This person's legs had been severed, his upper body clothes were covered in blood, and the blood had already dried. It was impossible to tell how long ago he had been injured.

He was on his last breath, weakened to the extreme.

Anyone seeing such a person would never imagine he still had a breath left.

And when he saw Chu Qing, he reached out to grab Chu Qing's ankle.

How could Chu Qing let him grab him? With a flicker of his body, he dodged, but the man didn't seem to care.

He just managed to utter a few words with extreme difficulty:

"Tell... Qing Ye... Sword... Hilt... Sky... Sky... Sky..."

After saying these words, his body slumped, and he no longer had the strength to support himself, dying.

"...Tell Qing Ye Sword Hilt? What is that?"

Chu Qing was a little confused:

"Hey, explain yourself clearly! What Qing Ye Sword Hilt? Tell who? How to tell? What does 'sky sky sky' mean? Riddlers need to get out of Gotham City!"

These words were truly without beginning or end. No matter how he looked at it, the Qing Ye Sword Hilt was unlikely to be a person.

Or perhaps... Qing Ye Sword was a person's nickname?

Tell Qing Ye Sword, Hilt... What did that mean?

Did he mishear?

Was it Hilt, or Cake, or some other word?

Or perhaps there was a Green Leaf Sword, and something mysterious was hidden within its hilt?

But what did that have to do with the sky?

Chu Qing thought of many possibilities in an instant, then felt a little speechless...

Why was he analyzing the words of a dying stranger he'd never met?

"However, judging by his attire, he must be a Heavenly Dance Guard.

"Could this matter be related to the City Lord's Mansion?"

Chu Qing examined the corpse, and after a moment, his face showed surprise.

His legs had been severed, and there were drag marks of blood on the ground, as well as flattened grass in the woods.

Looking at his hands, there were many damaged areas, and there was grass and dirt under his fingernails.

This seemed to indicate that after his legs were severed, this person had crawled all the way here with great difficulty?

"He struggled to this extent just to deliver a message?

"This matter is probably no small thing."

Chu Qing pondered for a moment, then shook his head:

"However, it's so abrupt and inexplicable."

He shook his head and didn't touch the corpse.

This was within the territory of Heavenly Dance City. If the matter was related to the City Lord's Mansion, people from the City Lord's Mansion would definitely come looking.

If he rashly handled the corpse, it wouldn't look good whether they found it or not.

With this thought, he cleaned up his footprints around the area and continued on his way.

Along the way, he observed carefully but saw nothing unusual.

Thus, at noon the next day, Chu Qing stole a few clothes from a farmer's house outside the city, disguised himself as a country boy entering the city, and successfully blended into Heavenly Dance City.

The streets of Heavenly Dance City were bustling with crowds, and carriages occasionally passed by. Vendors lined the streets, their calls rising and falling.

For Chu Qing, this was his first time stepping into Heavenly Dance City, but memories involuntarily surfaced.

This was South Main Street. Heavenly Dance City had four main streets, and the entire city was laid out in a 'field' shape.

The City Lord's Mansion was in the center, and the Chu Family was on North Main Street.

However, although everything he saw was as he remembered, some places had changed.

The sugar figures he loved to eat were still there, but the person making them was different.

The narrow alley where he used to play with his friends was still there, but now a different group of children were frolicking in it.

The uncle who sold steamed buns had a few more white hairs at his temples.

The mischievous child who used to fool around at the stalls now had a rag draped over his shoulder, standing by the street and calling out energetically.

Chu Qing walked along the street, and unconsciously, he looked up and saw a mansion.

This was a prestigious family, with a plaque hanging above the entrance bearing two large, gilded characters: Chu Mansion.

"How did I end up here without realizing it?"

Chu Qing let out a soft breath. He didn't want to go inside just yet.

His purpose for this trip was simple: to give Chu Yunfei a heads-up to be wary of the Sin Mirror Platform.

To accomplish this, there was no need to meet him directly.

He just needed to find a way to sneak into the Chu Family and leave something behind… Of course, finding an opportunity to infiltrate the Chu Family wouldn't be easy, but Chu Qing felt he had his ways.

Turning around, about to leave, he suddenly heard a familiar word from not too far away. He couldn't help but look towards the source of the sound, which turned out to be a teahouse.

The teahouse was called 'Red Leaf Teahouse' and was directly opposite the Chu Family. It seemed to have opened recently in the past few years.

There used to be no teahouse or coffee shop opposite the Chu Family, but rather a security escort agency.

That agency had been quite famous in its early years, the number one escort agency in Heavenly Dance City.

Later, the head escort died tragically in the Jianghu. The young head escort who inherited the agency was immature, had mediocre martial arts skills, and was also fond of women.

Now, it seemed he had squandered the family fortune, and the agency had been sold.

Looking at the teahouse, there was a restaurant next to it and a pawnshop on the other side. It was clear they had all been converted.

After a slight pause, he stepped into the teahouse. Before he could even sit down, he heard someone loudly ask:

"Who exactly is this Night Emperor?"

"Yeah, the Iron Horse Seven Bandits weren't weak, yet this Night Emperor killed three of them with a single sword. Is this true or not?"

The familiar word Chu Qing had heard earlier was 'Night Emperor'. He hadn't expected the news to travel so fast to Heavenly Dance City?

He casually found a seat and saw a man say loudly:

"This matter is absolutely true. The Chu Family's Second Young Master, Chu Fan, said it himself. How could it be false?"

Chu Qing was speechless. So that's how the news spread so quickly.

It turned out Chu Fan, that loudmouth, was the reason.

He and that Junior Sister Wen both had fast horses. It was reasonable that they arrived in Heavenly Dance City before him.

While the waiter was bringing the tea, the group continued to chatter about many things.

Chu Qing realized that these people didn't know much. Most of it was speculation about the Night Emperor.

And they were saying all sorts of things...

Some said the Night Emperor was an old master who had long retired from the Jianghu, living in anonymity. He happened to witness the Iron Horse Seven Bandits killing innocents, and thus, in righteous anger, took action.

Others said he was a show-off. Daring to call himself 'Emperor'. If the Great Gan Dynasty hadn't lost contact, they would have exterminated his entire clan.

Some also believed that this person should be a wandering swordsman just starting out in the Jianghu, using this incident to gain fame.

It was quite lively for a while.

Chu Qing wasn't interested in any of this. Just as he was thinking of drinking his tea and leaving, he suddenly saw a traveling physician walk by on the street, carrying a banner.

With just one glance, Chu Qing's pupils contracted sharply.

He recognized this person.

But this person shouldn't be here.

Because in his memory, this person had already died a month ago.