Man in Black

The shadow flipped over the wall and leaped down. By the firelight, Jiang Shuo saw that the other party was dressed in night clothes and moving furtively. Without a word, he gave chase.

Beyond the courtyard wall lay a web of tangled streets and alleys, but the Man in Black had already vanished from sight. Behind him, Dream Red Pavilion had descended into chaos. Jiang Shuo held his breath and focused his mind. Amid the dense, chaotic din, he finally caught the faint sound of hurried footsteps crossing roof tiles nearby.

"Found you." Jiang Shuo did not know lightness kung fu. Glancing around, he spotted firewood stacked against the wall of a nearby house and immediately used it to climb onto the roof.

The surrounding buildings were all low homes. The moment Jiang Shuo climbed up, he saw a black shadow racing across the rooftops. Without a second thought, he went straight after it.

The Man in Black was light as a swallow and incredibly fast. Jiang Shuo could only rely on his agile movements to pursue him with great difficulty. Forget closing the distance—even managing not to be shaken off was already an extraordinary feat.

After chasing for some time, the endless stretch of houses finally came to an end. A street lay ahead, and no matter how excellent the Man in Black's lightness kung fu was, he could not leap across it in one bound. It was midnight, and the street was deserted. The Man in Black jumped down, and Jiang Shuo hurried after him, only to catch sight of him slipping into a small alley on the opposite side. Afraid of losing him, Jiang Shuo quickly followed him inside.

The alley was exceedingly deep, with towering walls on all sides blocking the moonlight. He could not see his own hand before his face. After taking two steps without seeing the Man in Black, Jiang Shuo stopped. A thread of unease suddenly welled up inside him. The instant the thought arose, a cold gleam tore through the darkness and thrust straight toward his chest.

The dagger came fast and viciously. Caught off guard, Jiang Shuo raised his right arm to block. With a crack, the dagger sliced through the wooden splint bound around his wrist, breaking it in two. Jiang Shuo narrowly escaped disaster, but cold sweat broke out all over him.

His first strike had missed, but the Man in Black was not discouraged. Instead, he pressed forward, the dagger sweeping out like a white-scaled dragon as it lunged to bite Jiang Shuo.

"How formidable!" Jiang Shuo exclaimed in shock.

The Man in Black had fled the whole way, giving the impression of weakness. Only now did Jiang Shuo realize that the other party had not been afraid of him, but had been worried about being discovered by more people inside Dream Red Pavilion.

Even if the other party was not the murderer, he was bound to have a close connection with the murderer. Having finally chased him this far, how could Jiang Shuo give up? He could only steel himself and advance. With his martial arts, even protecting himself was difficult, so he could only hope that someone had seen him escape earlier and would come to his aid. Every extra moment he could hold out counted.

Jiang Shuo dodged and weaved, circling around the Man in Black's perimeter and sparring with his enemy. This required tremendous concentration and judgment. The Man in Black was determined to kill Jiang Shuo and silence him, and his attacks grew increasingly fierce. Jiang Shuo struggled to parry from left and right, under extraordinary pressure.

After weathering several dangerous moments, Jiang Shuo suddenly noticed that the Man in Black's movements were somewhat strange. At times, when advancing another half inch with his blade would clearly have taken Jiang Shuo's life, he would inexplicably fall short by precisely that half inch. Judging from the other party's momentum, he was by no means holding back. It was more as if the weapon was not to his liking.

Jiang Shuo imagined the dagger as a long saber and watched the Man in Black's movements again. A chill of fear rose straight up his spine. Some of the obvious attacks became even more vicious, while the movements that had previously seemed meaningless transformed into dangerously lethal killing moves. If the other party had been wielding a long saber, Jiang Shuo would have been dead and buried no matter how many lives he had.

The longer the fight dragged on, the more disadvantageous the situation became for the Man in Black. Unable to end the prolonged battle, he grew increasingly restless. Finally, after one attack missed, he took advantage of the moment Jiang Shuo was forced back, turned, and fled.

During the pursuit just now, Jiang Shuo had discovered that the Man in Black was extremely familiar with the nearby terrain. If he let him enter this vast maze of deep alleys, finding him again would be difficult.

"Stop right there!" Jiang Shuo panicked. He drove both feet into the ground, reached out, and grabbed straight for the Man in Black's back.

Suddenly, the Man in Black turned and struck with his blade in one fluid motion. The next instant, cold light flashed, and the blade nearly grazed Jiang Shuo's skin.

The Man in Black had merely pretended to flee. It had been a feint.

"...!" Jiang Shuo was horrified. In that instant, even his breathing stopped.

Reacting almost instinctively, Jiang Shuo swiftly pulled his hand back. The blade clung to him like a maggot to bone and thrust forward again, this time aiming for Jiang Shuo's vulnerable throat.

From the moment Jiang Shuo had decided to give chase, he had already stepped into a trap meticulously laid by his enemy.

The blade was dragged back before sweeping out in a killing slash. The aura of death descended, and despair shrouded Jiang Shuo's heart. There was no time even to retreat—he was already facing certain death.

At the critical moment, a Colorful Ribbon descended from above and wrapped around the dagger. Though the dagger was sharp, it could not tear through the cloth's restraint, and its forward momentum was halted.

As though suddenly realizing something, the killing intent vanished from the Man in Black's eyes, replaced by alarm. His reaction was decisive. He released the dagger, abandoning it at once, and turned to flee.

"Where do you think you're going?" a woman shouted sharply. Immediately afterward, more than ten Colorful Ribbons shot over, sealing off the Man in Black's escape route.

The Man in Black charged left and right but could not break out. In his desperation, he turned his palm into a blade and tried to force his way through.

At that moment, the Colorful Ribbons twisted together like hemp, becoming as tough as rope and lashing out at the Man in Black like long whips.

Though the Man in Black's martial arts were not poor, he had only two fists and two feet. How could he withstand the simultaneous assault of ten "long whips"? Before long, he was covered in wounds, able only to defend and utterly incapable of counterattacking.