Before he possessed truly invincible strength, Yunmei's secret had to stay buried deep in his heart.
"Phew... ha..."
Yunmei practiced for about fifteen minutes. Sweat beaded across her forehead, and her little face was flushed red.
She was still young, after all, and had been malnourished for a long time. Even after drinking soup simmered with the marrow of a third-tier demonic beast, she couldn't keep up her strength for long.
"All right... that's enough, Yunmei. Let's stop here for today. Too much of a good thing can be bad."
Li Pingsheng withdrew Synesthesia and steadied her small frame.
Yunmei plopped down on the ground. Instead of complaining about being tired, she tipped her head back and said excitedly:
"Big brother! Just now, I felt all warm inside, like lots of little bugs were crawling around beneath my skin. It felt so nice!"
"Will I soon be as strong as you, so I can protect Grandpa and Second Uncle?"
Li Pingsheng flicked her nose and laughed. "Of course. My Yunmei is the strongest."
"But this is a little secret between you and me. Remember, you mustn't tell anyone—not even Grandpa or Mom. Understand?"
Yunmei looked a little confused, but she always listened to her big brother. She immediately nodded hard and held out her pinky. "Pinky promise! Whoever tells is a little pig!"
"All right. Pinky promise."
Li Pingsheng played with Yunmei for a while, waiting for her breathing to settle completely.
Yunmei suddenly remembered something. She glanced around mysteriously, and, seeing Grandpa and Second Uncle busy at the other end of the courtyard, leaned close to Li Pingsheng's ear and whispered, "Big brother, wait here. I have something for you."
With that, she ran into the house. A little while later, she came back carrying something and shoved it into Li Pingsheng's hand.
Li Pingsheng looked down. It was a somewhat crude red Peace Talisman.
The Peace Talisman was sewn with thick red thread. Its stitches were crooked, and in places the cotton stuffing showed through. The two characters for "peace" on it were so ugly they were almost cute.
"This is..." Li Pingsheng held the Peace Talisman.
Yunmei lowered her head and mumbled, "I used the pocket money I'd saved for a long time to buy red thread and scraps of cloth from Auntie Wang. Then I secretly sewed it myself. It took me several days..."
"One of the aunties nearby said that if you keep thinking about someone while you sew, this talisman can bless them with a lifetime of peace and safety."
She looked serious, clasped her hands together, and spoke loudly to Li Pingsheng:
"Big brother, you're going back to the martial hall soon to get ready for the major exam."
"Yun'er doesn't want anything else. I just want you to be safe. You have to get first place and show all those bad people that my big brother is the best!"
Li Pingsheng's hand trembled as he held the Peace Talisman.
He lowered his eyes to Yunmei's little hands. Her once-tender fingertips were covered in more than a dozen tiny red dots—wounds from embroidery needles.
Because of Yunmei's unusual constitution, the wounds were healing, but those marks were painfully stark in Li Pingsheng's eyes.
This world was full of hypocrisy, lies, and slaughter. Yet this ugly Peace Talisman was the only warmth he had ever touched that was free of impurities.
"All right."
Li Pingsheng drew a deep breath.
He tucked the Peace Talisman close to his body, right over his heart.
Ruffling Yunmei's hair, he said, "Yunmei, I promise. I'll take first place in this major exam. As soon as it's over, I'll move all of you into the Inner City. You won't have to suffer like this anymore."
"Mm! I believe you, big brother!"
Yunmei flashed a row of white teeth.
Late that night.
After her first attempt at drawing in spiritual energy had drained much of her strength and energy, Yunmei fell fast asleep early.
Li Pingsheng sat by her bed, gazing at his little sister's sleeping face, then at the red marks on her fingertips.
If anyone dares lay a hand on her, I'll make them pay with their life.
After making sure everyone in his family was asleep and the courtyard gate was locked from the inside, Li Pingsheng changed into black clothes.
He silently climbed over the courtyard wall and soon disappeared into the dark alley.
He activated his Wind Treading talent and sped along.
The Inner City walls stood several meters high, but he scaled them in a few bounds without alerting a single guard.
The eastern district of the Inner City was where the wealthy and powerful lived. Even in the dead of night, patrol soldiers could occasionally be seen.
Li Pingsheng darted through the shadows. He was heading back to the Azure Cloud Martial Hall to make his final preparations for the major exam, which was just around the corner.
As he passed a secluded street, he suddenly stopped.
Ahead and to one side stood an abandoned three-story bell tower.
The old tower had once been used to sound the fire alarm, but it had been abandoned after falling into disrepair.
Just now, his Synesthesia talent had sensed a faint glimmer through a crack in a window on the tower's top floor. It had vanished almost at once.
It wasn't firelight. It looked more like a signal from some kind of crystal.
Li Pingsheng narrowed his eyes. He didn't approach right away, instead stopping in the blind spot beneath the eaves of a nearby building.
That location...
The map of Azure Cloud City immediately appeared in his mind.
The abandoned old tower sat in an excellent position, right at the midpoint of the straight line between the Zhao Family Estate and the Black Water Gang headquarters. It was also high enough to overlook what was happening at both places.
At such a sensitive time, someone lying in wait there couldn't be a coincidence.
Li Pingsheng immediately circulated the Breath Concealment Art, suppressing the qi and blood throughout his body until his heartbeat and breathing were almost imperceptible.
He approached the bell tower without a sound.
Keeping close to the uneven bricks of the old tower's outer wall, he quickly climbed upward.
With Wind Treading bolstering him, he moved steadily even on the vertical wall.
He stopped outside a second-floor window, hidden from view, and didn't climb any farther.
He pushed his Synesthesia talent to its limit.
Through the thick blue bricks, he heard two voices coming from the top floor. They were speaking in hushed tones.
"Heh... That old fox from the Zhao Family was clever all his life. Who'd have thought he'd end up ruined by his precious son? The Bone Whistle disappeared at just the right time. Now the Zhao Family and the Black Water Gang are fighting to the death, and both sides have suffered heavy losses. They've nearly exhausted their strength, haven't they?"
Li Pingsheng's heart gave a thump.
Then another voice spoke, cold and steady:
"Zhao Zhentian still thinks Old Gu is a hired guest of the Zhao Family. What a joke. His entire family wouldn't even be enough to serve as consumables for the sect."
"The Black Water Gang's leader is a stupid dog. The harder they fight, the better it is for us. The higher-ups want us to make our move on the day of the Azure Cloud Martial Hall's major exam. The whole city will be focused on the exam that day, and that's when defenses will be at their weakest."
"On the day of the major exam?"
"The Hall Master of the martial hall isn't someone to trifle with. He's a true expert."
"That's exactly why we have to choose the day of the major exam."
"During the exam, the Hall Master and all the instructors will be at the Martial Practice Field overseeing the assessment."
"At that time, the Hall Master and instructors will be tied up with the exam. The defensive formation over there will have a gap of fifteen minutes. That fifteen minutes will be our chance."
Li Pingsheng: "..."
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