Rouge Tiger! Startling the Snake by Beating the Grass!

[Rouge Tiger · Standing Alone with Her Blade, Surveying the Eight Wastelands · Li Yuan]

[Realm: Sixth-Grade Martial Artist]

[Art: Heavenly Dipper Profound Yang Art]

[Martial Skill: Chaotic Chopping Blade]

[Favorability: 0/100 (Locked)]

Chen Mo sized up the woman before him.

Red lips, white teeth, delicate features, and a clear, beautiful face.

Yet her brows and eyes were far too cold and fierce, with a hidden vicious gleam in her gaze—as though one were staring straight at a ferocious tiger!

The name "Rouge Tiger" suited her perfectly!

"Her father was a military foot soldier, most skilled with the horse-chopping saber. He led the vanguard in every battle, and wherever his blade wind howled, men and horses alike were shattered."

"He died on the battlefield during the war in the Southern Frontier, leaving behind a Mo Blade and a Yellow-Grade blade manual."

"And with this single move, Chaotic Chopping Blade, Li Yuan comprehended the tyrannical intent within the blade, entered the Azure Cloud Ranking, and became terrifyingly powerful in the later stages..."

Chen Mo recalled the plot in his heart.

If Shen Zhixia was a martial arts fanatic, then Li Yuan was a genuine lunatic!

"Sixth-Grade Mortal Shedding Realm, blade mastery accomplished. Though she has not made the rankings, she is likely a genius on the level of the Ten Prodigies."

Li Yuan licked her lips, her eyes gleaming with excitement. "Starting today, I will challenge you once every month until I defeat you. If you refuse, I'll start cutting down the little banner officers under your command."

Without waiting for Chen Mo's reply, she turned and left.

How utterly domineering and unreasonable!

At that moment, a lazy voice came from behind her:

"Here's a word of advice."

"The Heavenly Dipper Profound Yang Art isn't something women should practice. Be careful of irregular menstruation."

"..."

Crack!

The blue bricks beneath Li Yuan's feet shattered. Carrying her Mo Blade, she walked away without looking back.

Chen Mo sighed. Having been targeted by that crazy woman, he likely would not have another peaceful day from now on.

"My lord..."

At that moment, a military officer hurried over and whispered into his ear.

An unnoticeable curve lifted at the corner of Chen Mo's lips.

"So they lost their nerve this quickly?"

Inside a lavish manor, Yan Liang sat in the hall, his severed right hand placed on the table before him.

An elderly man with long whiskers and loose robes formed a spell seal with both hands. Emerald radiance bloomed, wrapping around the severed hand.

Countless red filaments grew from the cross-section of the hand, writhing ceaselessly like tentacles.

The old man lifted the severed hand and pressed it against Yan Liang's wrist. The red filaments bonded the severed ends together, until they finally became one completely.

Other than a ring of blood marks around the wrist, there was almost no visible difference.

"I have not failed my mission."

The old man wiped the sweat beading on his forehead. He appeared greatly drained.

Yan Liang flexed his fingers, nodded in satisfaction, and placed a pale-blue crystal before him.

"You have worked hard, sir."

"Thank you, Young Master Yan."

The old man forced a smile, tucked the crystal into his sleeve, rose to take his leave, and exited the hall under the servants' guidance.

After the old man left, Yan Liang's eyes turned icy. He blasted the table to pieces with a single palm strike!

"Chen! Mo!!"

He gritted his teeth, his face twisted into a savage grimace.

A master of the healing path could revive the dead and regrow flesh upon white bones. For a mere severed hand, a Sixth-Grade Healing Occultist could heal it completely.

But so what?

Humiliated so thoroughly by Chen Mo in full view of everyone, he feared he would no longer be able to hold his head up in the Heavenly Qilin Guard!

Most painful of all, he had no choice but to swallow this bitter humiliation for the time being!

"Strange. How did Chen Mo know about the Barbarian Slaves?"

After calming down, Yan Liang frowned in thought.

The Yan Family operated several restaurants within Heaven Capital City. Their business was fairly prosperous on ordinary days, but that was merely a façade, meant to conceal their true business in the shadows:

Raising Barbarian Slaves for others' pleasure.

For certain high officials and nobles, ordinary women had long since lost their appeal. The Barbarian Race, whose beastly nature had yet to fade, was far more thrilling instead.

Though the Barbarian Race had fierce temperaments, once tamed, they became exceptionally obedient. They were filled with exotic charm, and their bodies were tougher, able to withstand all manner of perverse games.

Great Yuan Law expressly forbade illicit relations with the Barbarian Race, so this matter had been kept under the strictest secrecy. Only a handful of people knew.

How had Chen Mo learned of it?

"Brother, we've always been so careful, and those guests couldn't possibly have leaked anything..."

"Could that guy be bluffing you?"

Yan Xun spoke up.

Yan Liang shook his head. "He could accurately name Yicui Pavilion and deliberately mention the word 'barbarian.' He definitely wasn't speaking without cause."

Yan Xun's expression changed. "Then what do we do? Should I go dispose of those Barbarian Slaves right now..."

As he spoke, he drew a hand across his throat.

"No."

"This batch of goods was ordered by that lord. If anything goes wrong, neither of us can bear the consequences."

"Chen Mo does not have absolute proof either. Otherwise, he would have come to arrest them directly. He deliberately said those things only because he wants us to expose a flaw."

Yan Liang pondered for a moment, then said, "Since that is the case, we'll turn his own scheme against him..."

Cold Firmament Palace.

Yu Youhan reclined sideways on a noble consort's couch. Thin silk gauze wrapped her graceful, voluptuous body, her skin fine and smooth, her flesh and bones perfectly proportioned—one fraction more would be too much, one fraction less too little.

Even with the most critical eye, not a single flaw could be found.

A flicker of amazement flashed through the eyes of the female official, Xu Qingyi.

Even after serving Highness for so long, every sight of such breathtaking beauty still left her awestruck.

And perhaps it was merely an illusion, but compared to Highness's formerly aloof manner that kept everyone a thousand miles away, there now seemed to be a touch more softness and allure between her brows—a begonia flower drenched in rain and dew.

"What kind of man could possibly be worthy of Highness?"

"Such a man probably does not exist in this world at all!"

As for the emperor, whose lifespan was nearly exhausted and who lay bedridden, she had long excluded him from consideration...

"Is the Ministry of Justice still unwilling to release them?"

At that moment, Imperial Concubine Yu spoke.

Xu Qingyi came back to herself and nodded. "Even Lord Chen was turned away when he personally went to claim them. Yan Peizhi's attitude is extremely firm. He said he would investigate this matter to the end and show absolutely no leniency."

"Those few Secretaries from the Department of Revenue are not martial artists. I'm afraid they won't be able to withstand the Ministry of Justice's methods. If this matter grows too large..."

Yu Youhan's phoenix eyes darkened slightly as she snapped:

"A bunch of fools!"

Last night, three Secretaries from the Department of Revenue, subordinate to the Ministry of Revenue, had been taken away from their offices almost simultaneously. After being interrogated overnight, they were sent to the Ministry of Justice's prison early this morning!

The reason was embezzlement of court disaster-relief funds.

As the saying went, no official was free of corruption. The Ministry of Revenue was the money bag, and such matters were as commonplace as seeing Sikong.

Ordinarily, once a sum of money was approved, it would be skimmed at every level—from the minister to the vice minister, then the Director, the Secretary... Great officials embezzled greatly, minor officials embezzled slightly. It was an unspoken rule everyone understood.

Yet this time, only those three Secretaries had reached out their hands...

And those three happened to be the Consort Faction's planted nails within the Ministry of Revenue!

This had clearly been carefully arranged, with the aim of targeting Imperial Concubine Yu!

"Those three fools deserve to die, but if they reveal something else, or start biting one another under torture, that would truly be troublesome."

Yu Youhan rubbed her brow, her gaze deep and dark.