"I'll cripple you!!!"
With a furious roar, he ignored the constables' warnings and went straight for his saber.
Though brawling was forbidden inside the County Office, with his backing—he belonged to the Li family, one of Qiulin County's three great lineages—they could easily smooth things over afterward.
Right now, all he wanted was to cripple Shen Lin.
His opponent was unarmed, while he had a Steel Saber in hand. The advantage was his!
With that thought, he charged at Shen Lin and swung his saber.
But in the very next instant, Shen Lin merely shifted to the side and easily dodged the strike.
No matter how Li Bailin swung his saber after that, Shen Lin evaded every attack with ease.
Li Bailin might have come from a powerful lineage, but clearly he hadn't received any stronger martial arts from his family. He was still using the Blood Battle Saber Technique.
And Shen Lin knew the Blood Battle Saber Technique like the back of his hand.
He could dodge Li Bailin's attacks with his eyes closed.
Not only that, but every move of Li Bailin's Blood Battle Saber Technique was riddled with openings in Shen Lin's eyes.
The next moment, Li Bailin swung again.
This time, Shen Lin didn't keep dodging. He stepped forward and lunged in low.
Barely slipping past the blade, he drove a fist into Li Bailin's stomach.
Thud!
With a muffled impact, Li Bailin's whole body shuddered. His eyes bulged, and his mouth fell open as he retched up sour stomach fluid.
He stumbled backward a few steps and fell to the ground, his face contorted in pain.
"Know your place!"
Shen Lin straightened slowly and sneered.
"You..."
Li Bailin shakily raised a finger toward Shen Lin. He was just about to say something when he suddenly seemed to spot something and his eyes widened.
Though Shen Lin had knocked him to one side, from this angle he could finally see the woman's profile in the bath.
The moment he saw her, it was as if lightning had struck him. He froze on the spot.
"Miss Zijing...?"
At his murmur, the constables who had been watching from the sidelines immediately erupted.
"Miss Zijing? Miss Zijing??"
"Seriously?"
"Head Constable Li pursued her for years without getting anywhere, but now... tsk, Lord Shen really knows how to work his magic!!!"
Hearing the constables' chatter, Li Bailin's face turned liver-red, and he went completely berserk.
"I'll kill you!!!!"
Seething with murderous intent, he charged at Shen Lin as if ready to fight to the death.
Just then, a furious shout came from the doorway.
"Stop this at once!!!"
Sun Zhi hurried over, his face somewhat pale and his injuries not yet healed.
But Li Bailin seemed not to hear him at all. He had no intention of stopping.
His bloodshot eyes were fixed on Shen Lin and nothing else.
The outcome, however, was obvious.
Shen Lin easily dodged Li Bailin's wild, unstructured slashes, then drove a knee into him.
Li Bailin gave a muffled groan and went limp.
Even so, he refused to give up. Growling, "I'll kill you!" he tried to get back up.
But Sun Zhi suddenly appeared behind him and struck him with a hand chop, knocking him unconscious.
Sun Zhi glanced helplessly at the unconscious Li Bailin, then handed him over to the constables. "This was all a misunderstanding. I've seen that Flying Thief before. He was a man."
The constables hurriedly nodded, picked up Li Bailin, and carried him out.
"What happened to Head Constable Li?"
Seeing Li Bailin sitting on the County Office steps with a vacant stare, mumbling "Miss Zijing" over and over, Chief Qian sought out one of his trusted men and asked.
The man tried to stifle a laugh and whispered, "Head Constable Li was investigating that Flying Thief... Or so he said. I hear he actually wanted to frame Lord Shen. But then he happened to see Miss Zijing from Miaoyin Tower at Lord Shen's home."
Chief Qian's heart flared with anger at the mention of framing someone, but before he could say anything, the next part caught his attention.
Miaoyin Tower was the most famous pleasure house in Qiulin County, and it was home to many women who performed for a living but didn't sell themselves.
Miss Zijing was one of the most outstanding among them.
She excelled at music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and had earned a reputation as Qiulin County's foremost talented beauty.
Chief Qian knew that Miss Zijing had countless admirers, with Li Bailin being the most famous among them.
But...
Chief Qian asked in confusion, "If he saw Miss Zijing, shouldn't he have been so happy his tail was wagging? Why is he like this now...?"
"Apparently, Lord Shen and Miss Zijing were both naked and bathing together at the time..."
Hearing this, Chief Qian couldn't help but click his tongue in wonder.
Everyone in Qiulin County knew Miss Zijing had always had her nose in the air. In her seven years at Miaoyin Tower, countless nobles had spent lavishly, hoping to marry her.
But neither wealthy young men like Li Bailin nor the heads of great lineages had won her heart.
And with the powerful force behind Miaoyin Tower, none of them dared to force themselves on a seemingly defenseless woman.
Now it seemed that Qiulin County's foremost talented beauty had been quietly won over by Shen Lin.
"I never expected the recently famous Head Constable Sun to be nothing more than your cover."
Miss Zijing had gotten dressed and was smiling as she watched the scene before her.
Head Constable Sun, who was said to have reached the Opening Meridians Realm, was now bowing and scraping as he served Shen Lin tea.
Shen Lin smiled. "I never expected the courtesan of Miaoyin Tower, the foremost talented beauty in Qiulin County, Miss Zijing, to be a martial artist in the Opening Meridians Realm—and the Flying Thief behind all those major crimes lately."
Sun Zhi had already suspected as much, but hearing Shen Lin say it still made his arm tremble. He nearly dropped the teapot.
Miss Zijing was the Flying Thief???
Then who had stolen his Meridian Unblocking Pill?
As he wondered, he suddenly noticed the sword resting beside Shen Lin.
At that moment, Shen Lin glanced over at him with a knowing smile.
In an instant, Sun Zhi seemed to understand. Anger surged through him, and he nearly splashed the scalding tea in his hands right into Shen Lin's face.
But then he remembered Shen Lin's cultivation and could only draw a deep breath and lower his head in resignation.
Zijing covered her mouth with a smile. She was just about to say something when she suddenly froze and murmured, "If the rumors are true, you're only twenty this year?"
"An Opening Meridians Realm cultivator at twenty..."
"And you've opened at least four meridians..."
Her gaze as she looked at Shen Lin grew increasingly strange.
His talent would be rare not only in Qiulin County but even in the provincial capital.
Meanwhile, Sun Zhi, still bent over with the teapot in hand, was screaming inwardly.
Four meridians!!!
Shen Lin had really reached this point. He was already preparing to break through to Xiantian.
With four meridians opened, he could absolutely attempt the breakthrough.
But judging from his behavior lately, he seemed entirely unsatisfied with that.
Martial artists only needed to open three meridians in their bodies to attempt a breakthrough to Xiantian.
But doing so made success less likely and would also hinder their future cultivation.
As far as Sun Zhi knew, every exceptionally gifted prodigy in the provincial capital opened at least five meridians before attempting to break through to Xiantian.
The Opening Meridians Realm was the stage where martial artists laid the foundations for the path ahead.
The more meridians they opened, the stronger they would be in the Xiantian Realm, and the higher their potential would be afterward.
Shen Lin was aiming high...
"Miss Zijing, was there anything else?"
Shen Lin didn't answer Zijing's question. Instead, he saw her to the door.
He didn't want to get involved with this woman.
After all, a martial artist in the Opening Meridians Realm wouldn't hide her identity in Miaoyin Tower just for fun.
Zijing came back to herself and looked at Shen Lin with a complicated expression. "In that case, I'll take my leave."
She rose and walked gracefully to the door. Just before leaving, she turned back and smiled at Shen Lin. "We'll meet again."
Shen Lin paid no heed to her words. After she left, he looked at Sun Zhi and asked, "When will I receive the reward for this?"
After confirming Shen Lin's cultivation, Sun Zhi became even more deferential. He hurriedly replied, "The County Office has already arranged for someone to deliver the items to the Demon Suppression Bureau in the provincial capital. But I didn't dare choose your reward without your instructions."
Then Sun Zhi explained the basics of exchanging rewards through the Demon Suppression Bureau.
When constables like them killed demons, they could take the bodies to the Demon Suppression Bureau and exchange them for contribution points.
Demon Suppression Bureau contribution points could be exchanged directly for money, or used to obtain all kinds of rare treasures and martial arts manuals from the Bureau.
These things weren't generally available to the public. They could only be obtained with Demon Suppression Bureau contribution points.
What's more, any martial arts manuals they obtained couldn't be passed on. People from the Demon Suppression Bureau would tamper with their bodies; if they leaked the techniques, they would explode and die.
That was also why Shen Lin hadn't asked Sun Zhi about cultivation manuals before.
Fortunately, constables like them could earn contribution points because they wore the uniform and were considered members of the imperial court.
Demon hunters and sect disciples from the martial world could only exchange their kills for money.
Sun Zhi estimated that the demons Shen Lin had killed should earn him close to thirteen contribution points.
That might not sound like much, but in the past two years, Sun Zhi had lost countless colleagues and killed plenty of demons, yet had earned only seven contribution points in total.
Then Sun Zhi took a small booklet from his robes and handed it to Shen Lin.
"This is the list I got from the Demon Suppression Bureau earlier. You can take a look."
Shen Lin took it and opened the booklet. The first thing he saw was a pill illustration.
[Meridian Unblocking Pill: Provides powerful medicinal energy to help a martial artist open their meridians. Costs five contribution points to exchange.]
Tsk, five contribution points.
Shen Lin couldn't help clicking his tongue.
Since crossing into this world, he had killed eight demons, yet he could only exchange them for two Meridian Unblocking Pills.
And just now, Miss Zijing had given him two Meridian Unblocking Pills to secure her escape...
What a rich beauty.
Before you continue