A Dark and Windy Night

A dark and windy night.

At some point, dark clouds had blanketed the skies over Longxing County. Cold winds came in gusts, and the night grew ever deeper—a sign that heavy rain was on its way.

Wang Ping nearly held his breath.

Before him, the county magistrate's breathing, heartbeat, circulation of qi and blood—all outward signs of life—had already transcended the realm of ordinary mortals.

In an instant, hallucinations even appeared before his eyes. It was as though what stood beneath the curtain of night was not a man, but a golden-winged roc with blazing eyes, spreading wings that covered the heavens and ready to pounce and tear him apart at any moment. Facing the man felt like a rabbit encountering a tiger that had yet to feed.

This was the gap between their levels of life.

Every cell in his body wailed at that moment. His biological instincts urged him to turn around and flee for his life—to run as far away as possible!

"...Hah!"

The next second, Wang Ping cast aside a martial artist's senses and set his Spirit Sense in motion. Only then did he finally pierce that inexplicable illusion and see the other man clearly again.

"Hm?"

Almost at the same time, Longxing's county magistrate, Xu Bingzheng, seemed to realize something as well. Surprise surfaced on his face. "Interesting. Is this also some evil art of the White Lotus Sect?"

"A Martial Master with a Lesser Celestial Circuit Body and minor Inner Force attainment—not even a match for Chen Haoyan while he was alive—yet you can break through the suppression of my Divine Intent. It seems the White Lotus Sect does have some tricks up its sleeve, if it could sweep through so many counties and carve out such a great reputation in Changle Commandery." Xu Bingzheng's tone was remarkably calm.

"Speak."

His gaze settled on Wang Ping as he said blandly, "Regarding the White Lotus Sect, and the pills you stole that night, you have at least three things to say."

After a moment of silence, Wang Ping raised his head. "...How did you find me?"

"That wasn't one of them."

The instant the words left his mouth, Wang Ping felt a wave of searing pain erupt from his body. When he came back to himself, he discovered a fresh wound had appeared across his chest.

Blood gushed out in an instant.

Wang Ping immediately staggered back a step and circulated his Inner Force, stopping the loss of blood from his wound. The color drained from his face, leaving it several shades paler.

"So this is a Titled Martial Master?"

"It is still Inner Force—perhaps greater in quantity, more refined, and stronger than mine... but that's all. There doesn't seem to be any qualitative leap."

The agony did not drown out Wang Ping's thoughts. From the moment he killed Chen Haoyan and then risked returning to the county yamen, he had prepared himself for the day he would be exposed. He had not expected it to happen so soon, but it did not matter. With [Otherworldly Celestial Demon], it merely meant doing it all over again.

Thus, compared to his injuries, another matter concerned him more.

What lay beyond Martial Dao? What exactly was this so-called "Titled Martial Master"? And if he wanted to reach that realm, what conditions did he need to fulfill?

With that thought, he spoke again.

"How did you find me?"

The same question. The same attitude. This time, Xu Bingzheng did not cut off Wang Ping's other arm. Instead, he furrowed his brow in confusion.

"You aren't afraid of death?"

Xu Bingzheng considered himself a keen judge of people. He would not misread a person's demeanor or state of mind. He could tell that this young constable truly did not fear death.

"I'm certain you won't kill me."

Wang Ping said calmly, "You want those pills, but those pills are almost useless to you, apart from one whose use I don't know."

"Where is it?" Xu Bingzheng's tone sharpened.

Wang Ping did not answer. He merely continued, "How did you find me?"

The two fell into a brief silence. Rain drifted down from the sky, pattering against the ground. The chill it brought added several degrees of murderous solemnity to the atmosphere.

"...It wasn't difficult."

At last, Xu Bingzheng spoke first. "I planted [Wraith Dragon Force] in every veteran constable in the county yamen. They are my eyes and ears."

"Anyone capable of intercepting and killing Chen Haoyan on his way back to the county seat would have to know the county extremely well. Therefore, I was certain the murderer was a martial artist within the city. And after taking so many pills, the murderer would certainly need to enter secluded cultivation to digest them. So whoever chose to shut themselves away and refuse visitors was a possible suspect."

The moment he said that, Wang Ping understood.

"So that's why you held the county yamen tournament and had the constables mobilize their connections... It was only a smokescreen. Your true purpose was to have them investigate for you!"

Nearly every county yamen constable came from one of the county's prominent clans.

Especially the veteran constables with deep seniority—they were the local snakes of the county seat. Mobilizing their connections was, in essence, an alternative citywide manhunt!

And because [Wraith Dragon Force] had been planted within them, everything they saw, heard, and learned—whether they concealed it or not—would be known by Xu Bingzheng.

So the issue was not that he had cultivated the Sky Roc Dragon-Seizing Physique Diagram. Even if he had not, appearing in the sight of any constable would have meant exposing himself to Xu Bingzheng's gaze. And the progress of his martial arts clearly could not be hidden from this county magistrate.

"Precisely."

Xu Bingzheng nodded. "I am the county magistrate of Longxing County. As county yamen constables serving the imperial court, they should naturally become extensions of my hands."

"Still, I did not expect a young constable who had only recently joined the yamen to be the mastermind behind all this. And because your martial arts were so weak, you nearly became a fish that slipped through the net." Xu Bingzheng's voice grew increasingly dark. "Quite unexpected. How did you kill Chen Haoyan?"

"Perhaps I'm simply exceptionally gifted."

Wang Ping brushed him off casually. Such matters were difficult to explain to someone without a cheat, and compared with answering questions, he had a more urgent concern.

Rumble!

Thunder boomed above the vault of heaven.

In an instant, heaven and earth became clear, the universe flashed white, and Wang Ping's Spirit Sense precisely caught a vast, transparent net spreading open in dense layers.

It reminded him of Xu Bingzheng's title.

[Weapon Ranking], three hundred and forty-second place: Xu Bingzheng of the [Immortal Rope].

This title praised his peerless lightness skill on one hand, while on the other, it described his weapon—a great net woven from Western Region celestial silkworm thread.

Clang! Clang!

A saber cry rang out, summoning Yama to claim lives. A ghostly, demonic blade-light slashed straight at the descending net, erupting into a shower of scorching sparks beneath the night sky.

Yet it was useless.

The blade-light could not cut through the net, nor could it stop its descent. Wang Ping, whose mind was linked to his weapon, suddenly felt an indescribable stabbing pain.

"Not good!"

Wang Ping stepped back, his expression changing slightly. Then he saw that his normally well-maintained Ox-Tail Saber now bore a chip the size of a grain of rice.

"It is clearly only a thin, light net, yet it is unimaginably heavy. More importantly, it is utterly silent. If I did not have Spirit Sense to assist me, relying on a martial artist's senses alone, I would probably already be bound hand and foot by this net and captured alive without the slightest chance to resist!"

Wang Ping's thoughts raced, and he reached a conclusion.

"A [Fine Weapon]... no, a [Famous Treasure]!"

A weapon listed on the [Weapon Ranking], known throughout the land and having accumulated vast fame and Destiny, had clearly surpassed the category of ordinary weapons.

It possessed supernatural properties!

Even as he thought, Wang Ping did not stop moving. He immediately sheathed his saber, drew the Black Chi Bow instead, nocked an arrow, and poured all his Inner Force into its tip.

Roar—!!!

In an instant, the bow trembled violently. The two hornless dragons coiled around it seemed to come alive, and the arrow erupted with a dragon's roar as it left the string.

The instant the arrow flew, Wang Ping stomped forward and followed behind it. Just as the arrow struck that invisible net, he drew his saber again and slashed with all his strength. Only then did he finally pry the seemingly weightless net into an arc, creating a gap that existed for but an instant.

Whoosh!

Wang Ping vanished in the blink of an eye, slipping out from beneath the invisible net's cover in a spray of blood. Half his body was marked with wounds left by the threads.

Those wounds were clearly extraordinary. White smoke continuously rose from them as they spread madly, attempting to corrode his muscles, bones, and even every meridian in his body.

"Hah!"

Wang Ping did not panic. He immediately circulated [Qi Suppression], and billowing True Qi generated by the spell surged into his flesh. Before long, it suppressed the corrosion in his wounds.

"You truly have secrets." Xu Bingzheng flicked his hand and withdrew the great net. His gaze toward Wang Ping grew ever more astonished. "You have clearly not cultivated Divine Intent, yet you can see my [Immortal Rope]. You have merely achieved minor Inner Force attainment, yet you can suppress my Heavenly Roc Force and prevent it from corroding your entire body."

"You really are a talent."

After saying that, he did not press his advantage. Instead, his expression turned solemn. "If you have not yet consumed the Heaven's Will Soul-Returning Pill, hand it over."

"You truly are exceptionally gifted."

"Give me the pill, and from this day onward, you will be the chief constable of the county yamen. Chen Haoyan is dead, and I can transfer his position in the Capital Divine Constables' Bureau to you as well."

"I can also give you his achievements in surveying farmland and auditing household registrations during this period. As for the portion withheld from the autumn taxes, I'll give you five percent."

"Well?"

Even Wang Ping was somewhat surprised by those words.

"He wants to recruit me?"

To be fair, the terms were quite good. The office of chief constable, administrative achievements, a large sum of money—even his future prospects were included.

He had happened to want to explore the next stage of Martial Dao. If he could take the official route and go to the Capital Divine Constables' Bureau for further study, then this step would be secure. A bright future he could foresee lay waiting right ahead, and compared to all that, the price he needed to pay was unbelievably low.

"But I refuse!"

Wang Ping raised his head and gave Xu Bingzheng a kindly smile. Then, word by word, without the slightest hesitation, he gave his answer.

"...Why?" Xu Bingzheng could not understand.

"Compared to what I am giving you, all you need to give up is a single pill."

Wang Ping shook his head. "It's not just a pill."

Beyond that, he would have to replace Chen Haoyan and become another sun over Longxing County, continuing to lie upon the backs of the common people and drink deeply of their blood.

The former was merely a pill.

The latter was his conscience.

"Unfortunately, my conscience weighs a little more than yours." Wang Ping stood with his saber in hand.

Xu Bingzheng clearly did not understand. He only persuaded him more earnestly. "The White Lotus Sect is nothing but a band of grassland bandits. A talent like you has no future following them."

"Joining the imperial court is the righteous path."

"My teacher is a great Confucian of the imperial court. With my recommendation, you will certainly be entrusted with important duties after joining the court. With such talent, would it not be wasted if you did not use it to bring benefit to all living under heaven?"

"...Bring benefit to all living under heaven?"

Wang Ping raised an eyebrow. "Which living under heaven?"

Xu Bingzheng froze at those words. Then he answered without thinking, "Naturally, all living under heaven. We who study martial arts and books do so in order to bestow great righteousness upon the world."

"...Ha!"

Wang Ping laughed. "Disaster victims cover the land outside the city. The people are either starving to death or on their way to starve to death. You have no right to speak the four words 'all living under heaven.'"

"Disaster victims? Impossible!"

Xu Bingzheng was even more surprised. His brow furrowed deeper as he could not help retorting, "What disaster victims are there outside the city? There is only a group of Blackheads who produce grain..."

The next second, he finally realized what he had said. His mouth fell slightly open, then immense fury flooded his face. "Bastard! You actually regard those Blackheads as people?"

"Blackheads can count as people?"

"They are nothing more than remnants of the previous dynasty, weeds that must be cleared away every season. To regard them as people is, instead, a desecration of people."

Xu Bingzheng spoke with such certainty, as though this were not some cold-blooded cruelty but the bright and obvious principle of heaven. Clearly, he did not waver in the slightest in his beliefs.

"Especially the White Lotus Sect. When they swept through the various commanderies and counties before, they spread these ideas everywhere, bewitched many ignorant students and scholars, and incited those Blackheads to rebel. They ruined what had been a stable and peaceful realm, and who knew how many good citizens died because of it? Their crimes truly cannot be forgiven..."

Xu Bingzheng's tone was filled with the utmost hatred.

Then he looked at Wang Ping again. Wariness and darkness had already entered his expression. "I had thought you had only recently joined the White Lotus Sect..."

"Now it seems you have already been deeply poisoned by it."

"In that case, I can only capture you first and then slowly search for the pill. It is only that the commotion would be too great to hide from everyone."

Xu Bingzheng sighed. "So I must first control you and have you kill Liu Ye, then kill Madam Su, then slaughter the Su Household to the last, and finally prosecute you as the criminal and make you take the blame. The result will be the same, except more people will die, and an entire household of good citizens in the city will be wiped out."

"You forced this upon me."

"White Lotus Bandits truly leave a poison that runs deep!"

At this point, sorrow appeared on Xu Bingzheng's face. "This official was careless and allowed bandits to wreak havoc in the county seat. Afterward, I must certainly petition the commandery for punishment..."

Before he could finish speaking, Wang Ping moved.

For under the perception of his Spirit Sense, at the very moment Xu Bingzheng sighed, that invisible great net had spread open once more and was descending toward him!

"This dog of an official..."

Wang Ping moved like lightning, the Black Chi Bow in hand. Three arrows shot forth in the blink of an eye, after which he retreated at top speed. Yet the sense of danger in his heart never diminished.

"It seems your knowledge is limited. You have never seen a Titled Martial Master."

Xu Bingzheng's voice followed him like a shadow, drifting eerily through the air. At the same time, the invisible great net overhead changed direction and pursued Wang Ping with perfect accuracy.

The net was not fast.

Yet for some reason, no matter how Wang Ping dodged, it could precisely cut off his escape routes, always hovering less than three feet above him.

And as time passed, that distance continued to shrink.

"How is he doing this?"

"Is this the [Divine Intent] of a Titled Martial Master? Can it foresee the future? If I did not have Spirit Sense, I would probably have died a hundred times already!"