On a late autumn afternoon, clouds veiled the sun, and the chill was growing more pronounced.
When Ding Songyan arrived at the Cheap Wine Shop, only one table of customers remained.
He looked toward the counter, pointed toward the rear courtyard for Twelfth Madam Luo, then went around to the side door.
Before long, the side door opened. Dressed in a dark red short jacket and a three-colored long skirt, Luo Mingyin walked toward the stone stool, smiling as she said:
"That method of yours did help. After I nearly slashed someone at noon, everyone who came to drink behaved themselves. At most, they made a couple of flirtatious remarks."
"As long as it helped. If there were any more cases of crushed stone being hurled at people's heads, I'd be in a difficult position too." Ding Songyan sat down opposite Twelfth Madam Luo with easy familiarity and asked with a smile, "I came today to ask about something. Twelfth Madam, do you know anyone in the Flame Capital who practices Netherworld arts? Or have any such martial artists arrived here in the past six months?"
Few sects dealt with the Netherworld. Most were in the Feng Kingdom, and the rest were mainly in the Gan Kingdom. Those who practiced the corresponding arts within Great Zhao were not quite nonexistent, but they were one in ten thousand and exceedingly hard to encounter.
This was bad news, but also good news: every such person would attract attention and was unlikely to be overlooked.
Regarding the death of Qi Lingyi of the Treading the Sea Gang, Ding Songyan, Fan Chunlin, and the Martial Prohibition Bureau currently agreed that a Ghost-Wyrm Path assassin had killed him, while a concealed martial artist had destroyed his soul, ensuring that the target was annihilated in both