Reward

"Squad Leader Cui is dead!"

A Black Guard who had been hot on his heels clutched his head in both hands and howled in terror, his shriek instantly echoing through the forest.

Immediately after.

Groups of men surged up the cliff like a tidal river, packed thick as hemp, and someone shouted, "Avenge Squad Leader Cui!"

"Use the arrows! Shoot him down in a hail of arrows!"

At someone's reminder, the constables and Captains all drew their bows and nocked arrows. With a sharp whoosh, they fired as one.

The dense arrows turned into a rain that filled the sky.

They plunged toward Shen Yi.

No one had even confirmed whether Cui Kui was dead, yet at that single shout, everyone had decided he was dead.

Of course, he was indeed dead beyond all doubt.

Before the arrow rain descended, Shen Yi reacted with lightning speed and grabbed Cui Kui's corpse, holding it before him as a shield.

After one volley of arrows.

Cui Kui had become a hedgehog.

Shen Yi found the Pacification Office increasingly laughable.

Gripping Cui Kui's corpse, he spun and hurled it away like a shot put, throwing Cui Kui toward the mass of figures in the distance.

Instantly throwing them into chaos.

Shen Yi turned and darted toward the cliff's edge.

He circulated his inner force and recited loudly:

"Pacification Office, you are truly disappointing beyond measure!"

"Until we meet again in the martial world!"

As his words fell, before the pursuing troops could react, Shen Yi leaped into the raging waterfall beside him.

The Black Guard Captains rushed after him and peered down from the cliff's edge. Below, the waterfall poured in torrents, guided by the silver moon.

A great river wound like a dragon.

Flowing northward through the mountain ravine.

Water mist billowed, and the starry night stretched vast and boundless. How could they possibly find even a trace of Shen Yi?

Only those words, "Until we meet again in the martial world"...

Still lingered around their ears.

At the cliff's edge.

The Black Guard silently gathered Cui Kui's remains, while some still stared blankly at the rushing waterfall.

"Will he fall to his death like that?"

Someone clicked his tongue twice. After all, the waterfall was fierce, and the cliff stood a full hundred zhang above the river below.

If the riverbed was too shallow, if Shen Yi was knocked unconscious by the current, or if he simply slammed into the rocks beneath the waterfall, he would certainly perish on the spot.

"Let's go. Search the waterfall at the bottom of the cliff."

"If we don't find a corpse, then he truly got away..."

Shen Yi leaped from the sheer cliff.

In the blink of an eye, he vanished into the surging waters of the waterfall.

The sudden massive wave drenched Shen Yi to the bone, and the crushing force of the current left him dizzy and disoriented.

The carefree boldness Shen Yi had displayed atop the cliff vanished in an instant, leaving him looking like a drowned rat.

His body plunged toward the riverbed below like a falling meteor.

Shen Yi immediately adjusted his posture amid the waterfall. The Array Breaker Art drove his inner power through every limb and bone, giving him enough strength to grip his saber hilt.

Two breaths later.

The waterfall crashed into the churning pool below, scattering sprays of foam like snow filling the heavens.

Shen Yi gripped the saber hilt with one hand.

His inner force condensed and flowed into the blade.

Then he violently drew it.

Clang!

A flash of saber light erupted. A mighty saber force pressed down upon the river's surface like a mountain, and with the move Pillar of the Current, the river exploded in a towering burst of water!

Borrowing the recoil from the saber force, Shen Yi flipped through the air and finally dispelled the enormous force of his fall from the high cliff.

He plunged into the river in a less-than-perfect posture, drifting with the current and swiftly flowing into the distance.

From then on, a fish had entered the sea, a hidden dragon had emerged from the abyss!

After some time, the people from the Pacification Office finally arrived late, appearing along the narrow banks on both sides below the cliff.

At a glance, there was nothing but dancing white waves and hazy water vapor, let alone Shen Yi's corpse.

At last, someone sighed.

"There's nothing. He must have escaped..."

Someone said indignantly:

"If Squad Leader Cui hadn't transferred the brothers guarding the riverway up the mountain as well, how could that brat have found such an opening..."

Someone immediately retorted:

"Perhaps that was the thief's plan from the very beginning..."

"He deliberately tangled with us here on Mount Luo Xia, just to lure everyone sent to capture him up the mountain."

"Then he could leap down along the waterfall, break out of the encirclement, and leave by water without hindrance!"

Someone instantly came to a realization, slapping his forehead as he echoed:

"That's right! What is that called again?"

"Making a feint to the east and attacking in the west? Or luring the tiger away from the mountain?"

Their clamorous discussion was nothing more than hindsight. Shen Yi's escape and Cui Kui's death were already indisputable facts.

After gathering Cui Kui's remains and those of their fellow officers, the Pacification Office could only return to the commandery city in frustration.

Late at night.

The Pacification Office's commandery headquarters.

Qu Qingyang was still working by lamplight. Looking at the letters and reports spread across his desk, he rubbed his temples, feeling a splitting headache.

It was not only Dong Commandery.

Chaos was springing up everywhere throughout Qingzhou.

Not to mention petty figures such as bandits gathering in threes and fives or roaming brigands plundering villages and towns.

Even the forces that gave the Pacification Office headaches.

Were emerging one after another without end.

Nearby, the Black Tiger Gang of Black Tiger Mountain had once again ravaged the countryside, even occupying the official roads and robbing merchant caravans within the commandery.

Farther away, nine gangs and eighteen sects had joined together as the Greenwood Alliance, dominating the mountain ranges south of Dong Commandery.

Within Qingzhou, the conflict between the Raging Tide Gang of Moonfall Lake and the Whale Gang of the Everflow River was growing ever more intense.

It severely affected the peace and livelihoods of the people throughout the river regions.

In truth, the constant outbreaks of chaos were not what gave Qu Qingyang a headache. What truly troubled him was that these gang factions were carving up territory among themselves.

Naturally, the Pacification Office's influence had weakened.

And the gray income Qu Qingyang had previously squeezed out through the Pacification Office's influence had also been forcibly cut down by a share.

After all, he had a whole group of brothers under him to support.

Just as he was considering how to fleece a little more money and give everyone some extra benefits, someone hurried over outside the door.

Before the man could knock, Qu Qingyang gave a light cough and said:

"What happened?"

"Commander Qu, yesterday a constable from the Southern District Garrison killed a colleague and fled the city. Squad Leader Cui Kui was originally assigned to lead Captains and constables out of the city to hunt him down, but..."

"...Cui Kui died as well. That thief also killed quite a few Black Guard Captains before jumping into the river and escaping. My lord, this..."

The more Qu Qingyang listened, the deeper his frown became. He swept his sleeve.

Without wind, the door opened by itself with a creak.

At the doorway stood a lanky steward in blue, holding up a letter.

"Bring it here."

There was a thread of icy chill in Qu Qingyang's voice.

The man in blue was terrified and immediately hurried inside.

He handed the letter in his hand to Qu Qingyang.

Qu Qingyang opened it, shook out the paper, and scanned it at a glance. It recorded the entire course of Shen Yi slaughtering Niu Ben, betraying the Pacification Office, and breaking out of the encirclement at Mount Luo Xia.

Naturally, the letter did not mention anything about the prostitute in Clearwater Alley. His subordinates knew what Qu Qingyang wanted to see.

Such irrelevant information would only irritate him.

After reading the letter.

Qu Qingyang snorted coldly.

"Cui Kui truly was useless."

"A Second-Class Realm expert was hiding in the garrison, yet he knew nothing of it. He was even killed in return. The Pacification Office has truly lost all face."

"Put up his portrait for a wanted bounty."

"Those Blade Catchers will be interested."

"Also, have Commander Wang keep an eye on news of this Shen Yi in the martial world. If he is found, arrest him immediately."

The man in blue lowered his head and answered:

"Commander, what should the bounty be?"

Qu Qingyang raised a brow.

"For a Second-Class Realm martial artist, what is the usual amount?"

"Over a hundred taels."

"Then set it at five hundred taels."

"After all, he defected from the Pacification Office. This must be resolved quickly. We cannot allow the Pacification Office's prestige to be tarnished."