Outside the ruins, a branch suddenly snapped beneath someone's foot.
A dense wave of footsteps rang out again and again.
Li Qing, who had just been immersed in his cultivation, felt his heart give a faint jolt.
A loud, urgent voice rang out.
"Quick, something's happened over there!"
"Move it! Don't let me down!" a gruff voice roared.
A group of people raced past. A thought flashed through Li Qing's mind: The Government Office's people.
By now, the wound on his back had begun to heal. He quickly took off his clothes.
Seeing the bloodstains on them, his expression turned grim. He swiftly wiped away all the blood on his back and face.
He looked down at his slightly pale skin and furrowed his brow. "No good. It stands out too much."
The ground was covered in dirt and ashes. Without hesitation, he threw himself down and rolled back and forth.
In just a few minutes, he looked like a lump of charcoal. Not a trace of fairness could be seen on his skin.
He examined himself. "Still not enough."
He spread his clothes flat on the ground and quickly stained them a filthy black.
He gripped the bloodstained section and tore hard, ripping a large hole in the back of his clothes.
After inspecting them carefully, he quickly draped them over himself. He now looked every bit a beggar.
After a moment's thought, he untied his headscarf, mussed up his hair, and smeared it with a few handfuls of dirt.
Now he looked entirely like a beggar. No one would recognize him.
"Though I don't know who barged in out of nowhere, there's a very good chance they're connected to this world's authorities."
"Mr. Huayue is probably finished."
"The Huayue Study will most likely be searched too."
"Any observant constable will surely find traces of me."
"I haven't even put away the blood bowl I used to cultivate the Essence Blood Art, and there's still blood on my brush."
"If this world's authorities know about cultivation, they'll very likely suspect I'm a cultivator."
"Besides, the original version of the Essence Blood Art was called the Blood Refining Art."
"The technique doesn't look at all proper. It requires the blood of several kinds of living creatures, and you have to observe precepts—or risk becoming an Anomaly."
"Mr. Huayue didn't observe the precepts. That's why he turned into what he did."
"So if I were one of this world's authorities and knew someone else was cultivating this dangerous art, I'd surely put out a warrant for them."
"Either recruit them or execute them."
"As for someone like me, they'd most likely execute me outright."
It had been a tumultuous day, and Li Qing had fully awakened his modern way of thinking.
In an age when the internet had unleashed an explosion of knowledge, any reasonably informed modern person had a good grasp of myths and novels, ancient history, and all sorts of other information.
Most people would assume the worst when looking back at the past.
The power of the emperor, the power of the government, the power of local gentry—Li Qing couldn't believe he'd have any kind of happy ending.
The most terrifying part was that this was a damn supernatural world.
Taking a deep breath, Li Qing narrowed his eyes slightly.
"I probably can't leave tonight. If I get the chance, I have to slip out first thing tomorrow morning."
"But I'll have to find another place. I may have left bloodstains along the way."
"If someone skilled at tracking comes after me—and they have some special power on top of that—I won't be able to get away."
Feeling intensely uneasy, Li Qing gritted his teeth and thought it over. "Where else in Qingshi County could I hide?"
Suddenly, inspiration struck. He thought of a good place.
"If all goes well, I might even be able to get out tonight."
He hurried around to the back of the ruins, where there was a narrow alley.
Beneath the dim moonlight overhead, Li Qing quickly headed for his destination.
Before long, half an hour had passed, and he reached the northern part of Qingshi County.
There was a river in the north of the city. It flowed all the way beyond the city walls and served as the city's main source of water.
However, the river originated from the Pu River, which ran through the North Continent.
It was called the Qing River. Though it flowed through all of Qingshi County, iron bars beneath the point where it passed through the city wall blocked anyone from entering or leaving.
But the Great Tang Dynasty had all but reached its end.
Military preparedness had fallen into disrepair, and corrupt officials were rampant.
Qingshi County lay in the Border Wilderness, where the emperor seemed a world away. Yet because the local officials and gentry were far removed from the centers of power, the county had changed little since the dynasty's founding. Instead, it had settled into a stable structure.
Still, Qingshi County's military funds came from the Great Tang Dynasty, though the allocations had dwindled year after year.
The officials took their cut at every level, leaving almost nothing for the military and its soldiers.
As a result, all kinds of weapons and equipment in Qingshi County had grown badly outdated.
That included the iron bars in the city's river channel, which had long since fallen into disrepair.
Many smugglers in the city passed through there.
It was an open secret among some of the city's gang members and underworld figures.
Li Qing had learned of it by chance, while listening to a play at a teahouse.
By then, he had reached the riverbank. In the pitch-black water, he could hear only its splashing; he couldn't see a thing.
He hurried along the bank toward the exit.
Another quarter of an hour passed before he reached the area near the city wall.
He was on a narrow path beside the river. A row of old houses stood to his right, and the wall was about five zhang away.
There was nothing at all in this area. It had been deliberately left open to prevent enemy agents inside the city from attacking the garrison from behind during wartime.
The county town's wall was about three meters high. Every three meters or so, a torch was mounted along the top, lighting both sides.
"I can't go any farther here. I have to get in the water."
Taking a deep breath, Li Qing quietly climbed down the riverbank. He dug his hands into the bank and slowly lowered himself.
He was about six chi tall, and his reach added another two chi. His feet were already touching the water.
He took a deep breath, released his grip, and dropped into the river.
The icy water cut to the bone. Li Qing couldn't help shivering.
He swept his arms through the water and surfaced.
The current wasn't swift, so he came up easily. Gripping a crack in the bank, he edged forward little by little.
Soon he reached the outlet beneath the city wall, where an iron grating blocked the way.
But Li Qing knew there was a hole eaten through the bottom of the grating.
Just as he was about to dive underwater, hurried footsteps suddenly sounded from the bank.
Li Qing's heart tightened. He drew a deep breath and instantly plunged beneath the surface.
The riverbed was pitch-black. A string of flames lit up along the bank.
"The trail ends here. He must've gone into the water. Get down there and search at once!"
A shrill voice rang out, steeped in a cold, sinister air.