Tang Quan

From high above, Jade City lay shrouded in darkness. Not a single star could be seen in the night sky, and even the moonlight flickered in and out beneath the murky black mist. The Inner City and Outer City were like two banks divided by a clear boundary.

Many parts of the Inner City remained brightly lit, and some pleasure districts were even bustling with activity. Yet the Outer City was a stretch of darkness and deathly silence, with scarcely any lights in sight. Everywhere the eye fell was pitch-black.

There.

In a corner of the vast South District.

In the darkness, beneath faint moonlight that appeared and vanished, two figures were fighting.

"Heh, I only took a little silver, yet the mighty Chief Constable came personally to hunt me down. What an honor for me, Tang Quan."

One of them was clad in black and looked somewhat gaunt. Passing moonlight occasionally revealed his face, where a conspicuous black birthmark lay on his right cheek. He let out a strange laugh.

The person pursuing him wore a white Flying Fish Uniform, strikingly conspicuous beneath the moonlight. Her face was cool and beautiful, and whenever moonlight spilled over her, she resembled a fairy from the Moon Palace descended to earth. She was none other than Xu Hongyu, the famed Chief Constable of the South District.

"Silver is nothing more than something outside the body. But there are some things that, even if one has merely seen them once, will invite great disaster. You should understand that."

Xu Hongyu spoke calmly. With a light tap of her foot, she became like an afterimage, closing in behind Tang Quan in an instant. The soft sword in her hand stirred up a swath of dim moonlight.

Tang Quan swung his blade backward to block, but after barely holding her off, he could no longer withstand her. Several gashes instantly appeared in his black robe, exposing a coarse, iron-colored suit of soft armor beneath.

"I haven't seen anything I shouldn't have. Why accuse me unjustly?"

Tang Quan said, his expression turning ugly.

"Perhaps."

Xu Hongyu replied, sounding somewhat listless.

There were some things where it did not matter whether someone had truly seen them. Even the mere possibility that they might have seen them was a threat certain people would never leave behind. They would investigate to the bitter end. Even she, the Chief Constable, had been forcibly dragged in to do hard labor.

Seeing that Xu Hongyu was utterly unmoved and that every stroke of her sword concealed killing intent, Tang Quan inwardly groaned. He had initially underestimated this Chief Constable of the South District, assuming that as a woman, she had likely gained her position through her background and possessed little true skill. But once they exchanged blows, he realized he had underestimated her. Her Body Tempering Method had likely reached the level of Tendon Transformation. The agility of her movement and the force of her swordsmanship far surpassed his own, as he remained stuck at the Flesh Tempering stage.

What was more.

Her swordsmanship was flawless as well. It was the genuine Kan Water Branch of the Eight Branches of Qiankun, already cultivated to perfection. Her Flowing Water Sword Intent flowed freely. Had this sword art not placed greater emphasis on defense than slaughter, then even with Iron Scale Armor, he would have long since become a corpse on the ground. Even so, he found it difficult to shake off her pursuit.

After several more exchanges, Tang Quan had gained seven or eight additional wounds. Some had been blocked by the Iron Scale Armor, but his legs, shoulders, upper arms, and several other places were split open, the wounds deep and horrifying.

"Xu Hongyu! Are you really determined to make things difficult for me?"

Tang Quan panicked and roared.

Xu Hongyu did not answer. She continued forward with her sword, its gleam reflecting the moonlight. She thrust out. Though it was an exceedingly soft sword, at that moment it was like flowing water arcing into a rainbow, like endless fine rain joined into a single line, forcibly breaking through Tang Quan's blade stance.

Sshk!

The Iron Scale Armor, capable of blocking blades and swords, failed to stop this strike and was violently pierced through!

Tang Quan spat out blood, his face bleak. Yet a vicious glint appeared in his eyes. With a turn of his right hand, he somehow produced a strange black sphere and hurled it violently downward.

Xu Hongyu's expression changed dramatically. Without the slightest hesitation, she tapped off the ground and retreated more than ten meters in an instant.

Bang!

The black sphere exploded upon hitting the ground, instantly erupting into a cloud of gray mist that spread in every direction, covering an area nearly ten meters across. Some nearby weeds withered at a visible rate as the gray mist swept over them.

"Corpse Poison Jade?"

Xu Hongyu's face turned grim.

As far as she knew, this object was made from corpse poison. A single piece required extracting it from at least ten thousand corpses. It was an utterly inhumane and vicious hidden weapon, and the imperial court had once strictly forbidden its manufacture. Anyone found making it would be guilty of a crime reaching the heavens.

But the imperial court was weak now, its control over the regions far inferior to its former heyday. Vicious objects that had once been strictly prohibited had resurfaced. Disorder upon disorder—chaos everywhere.

With the gray mist spreading, Xu Hongyu did not dare approach.

Once the gray mist had thinned somewhat, she swung her sword, tearing through the lingering haze. Yet Tang Quan was already nowhere to be seen.

"You can't get far."

Xu Hongyu's gaze was icy as she determined his direction and moved forward.

Tang Quan had taken a sword strike from her, one that had pierced through his chest and abdomen. For an ordinary person, it was a fatal wound. Even for someone who had cultivated the Body Tempering Method to a certain level, it was inevitably a grave injury. Even with careful treatment, recovery was not guaranteed. If he did not find somewhere to tend his injuries, his life would be lost in no time at all.

Under the night curtain.

The streets and alleys were silent and dim, without the faintest trace of lamplight. At this moment, the moon was completely obscured by clouds and mist, leaving every lane so dark one could scarcely see one's own hand before one's face.

In one of the alleys, Tang Quan staggered forward, one hand pressed tightly over the wound in his chest and abdomen.

"You bitch, just wait until I get the chance. Sooner or later, I'll make you..."

He gritted his teeth, his eyes brimming with venom.

The wounds on his shoulders and legs were manageable. Though deep, he had cultivated the Flesh Tempering stage of the Body Tempering Method nearly to perfection. Forcefully contracting his muscles to temporarily stop the bleeding and suppress the injuries was easy enough. But the sword wound through his chest and abdomen was no small matter. Though he had avoided the vital organs as much as possible, he was still badly hurt. He did not even dare exert force now, fearing that the wound would tear open and become beyond treatment.

He truly could not get far. And if he did not tend the wound, he would pass out and die within half an hour.

A faint shaft of moonlight shone down.

Using that sliver of moonlight, Tang Quan barely swept his gaze over the alley. It settled on two inconspicuous, dilapidated low houses not far away. One look told him they belonged to a poor family.

Tang Quan staggered over and reached the door. He first gave it a push, but a bolt barred it from within. Without much hesitation, he flicked his left hand and pulled a length of wire from his robes. Skillfully slipping it through the crack in the door and hooking it, he silently unlatched the bolt.

Then he carefully pushed the door open and entered.

But just as the door opened halfway.

A sudden change erupted.

Puff.

A handful of white powder was abruptly thrown out from the pitch-black doorway.

The attack caught Tang Quan completely off guard. He had been carefully trying not to make the slightest sound, with most of his attention focused outside and in other directions. He had never imagined that something like this would happen when the door was only half open. In truth, such a trick was a low-grade method that a great thief like him had long abandoned, but who would have thought he would suddenly run into it now?

Tang Quan hurriedly shut his eyes and retreated, but he was still a step too slow. A small amount of the white powder entered his eyes, and they immediately began to burn with searing pain. Even if it was not poison powder, it was likely lime or something similar.