A Moonless, Windy Night

Early in the morning.

The sky was barely light.

Lin Qing stood in the small courtyard he rented, practicing the Eight Strikes of the Spirit Snake over and over.

He could feel his mastery of the technique improving rapidly, but he was still some distance from Major Mastery.

Without the Rebirth Record's help, his martial arts talent was no different from an ordinary person's.

And that was with Exceptional Fist Talent boosting his progress by a wide margin. Without it, he would have advanced even more slowly.

After a while, Lin Qing finished a full set. Dawn had broken. He slowly breathed out a cloud of clear air and frowned.

"Still not enough. I'm still too slow. I hear Steward Ran Hongxia from the Prefectural City Soul-Calming Office will arrive in three to five days. I need to reach Major Mastery in the Eight Strikes of the Spirit Snake before then. At this rate, practice alone won't get me there."

"If I fail this time, I'll have to wait until next year. But Cheng Yannian has disappeared, and no one knows who the next head of the Soul-Calming Office will be. With Jiang Baihe and Pang Tong threatening me from the shadows, who knows if I'll even get a chance to take the Reexamination next year?"

Thoughts raced through Lin Qing's mind as he watched the great sun rise in the east.

He left home and headed toward the Soul-Calming Office, turning over possible solutions as he walked.

I still have to rely on the Rebirth Record. If I can get a corpse with a Perfect Mastery Eight Strikes of the Spirit Snake trait, every problem will fall into place.

Jiang Baihe's face naturally surfaced in Lin Qing's mind.

If there's no corpse, I'll make one. I hear Jiang Baihe keeps a concubine who usually lives in the outer city. Lin Qing narrowed his eyes as a bold plan took shape.

He was walking through a dim alley when he suddenly frowned. A faint prickling sensation ran across his back.

His Malice Sense trait had activated. Out of caution, he generally kept it equipped whenever he went out, and it triggered from time to time.

Whenever someone nearby bore him ill will, he felt a prickling sensation. The stronger the malice, the sharper the sting.

But it had never been as strong as it was today. Without betraying any reaction, he kept walking. Once he rounded a corner, he suddenly used his lightness skill to leap onto a nearby wall. He crouched there and waited for whoever was behind him.

Before long, hurried footsteps approached. A pockmarked man in a blue robe came around the corner, stopped short, and began looking around.

Lin Qing made no rash move. He did not know whether the man had accomplices nearby, so he decided to play it safe. One thing was certain: the man had been following him.

After looking this way and that without finding Lin Qing, the pockmarked man suddenly turned and left.

Lin Qing waited until he was sure the man was gone, then jumped down from the wall.

Who sent someone to follow me? Jiang Baihe?

Lin Qing thought it was Jiang Baihe, nine times out of ten. Pang Tong had tried to suppress him too, but his methods were out in the open. Only a petty man like Jiang Baihe favored underhanded dealings he dared not bring into the light.

That night.

On his way home, Lin Qing sensed malice again. The man following him was the same pockmarked fellow.

This time, Lin Qing showed no restraint. He repeated his earlier maneuver, leaping onto a wall as he rounded a corner. When the man arrived, Lin Qing sprang down and used the force of his descent to strike him squarely on the neck with his palm.

Crack! With a muffled sound, the man's eyes rolled back. He pitched forward and fell unconscious.

Lin Qing dragged him into a dark corner nearby, uncapped the waterskin he carried, and poured a great gush of scalding water over his face.

The man jolted awake, grimacing from the burn. Lin Qing planted a foot on his chest and glared straight at him.

"Talk. Who sent you to follow me?"

The pockmarked man gritted his teeth. "Lin Qing, you're as good as dead. Let me go!"

"Not talking?"

"If I keep my mouth shut, I might still live. If I talk, I'm finished for sure." The man glared at him.

Lin Qing reached into his clothes and drew out the Thirteen Golden Needles.

The set he had taken from Yin Muhua's corpse was, in essence, a collection of torture instruments.

He had long wanted to test its effects on someone. Since this man refused to yield, he made a fitting subject.

Lin Qing's hand moved like lightning. Swish! In an instant, a golden needle pierced the man's left arm.

"Aah!"

Within a few breaths, the pockmarked man began to tremble and let out a scream.

Expressionless, Lin Qing drew another golden needle. Swish! He drove it into the man's left arm as well.

Lin Qing was skilled in medicine. Every needle struck a vital acupoint, and the neurotoxin carried by the Bone-Piercing Golden Needles could cause excruciating pain.

The man's violent reaction showed just how potent the toxin was.

Fifteen minutes later, Lin Qing walked out of the alley. The pockmarked man had been reduced to ash, and Lin Qing had obtained the information he wanted.

The man had been a member of the Heavenly Hero Gang in the outer city. Gao Feng had ordered him to learn Lin Qing's daily routine, and Gao Feng was Jiang Baihe's most capable subordinate.

I can't wait any longer. Jiang Baihe must die within three days! Lin Qing made up his mind.

Crack!

Two days later, a silver serpent writhed across the sky, followed by a tremendous peal of thunder.

"It's raining!"

Lin Qing stepped outside. Black clouds churned overhead, and rain fell across the streets and alleys.

"A moonless, windy night—the time for murder and arson. Today's a good day."

Lin Qing went back inside and quickly changed into a set of dark clothes. Then, under cover of night, he vaulted over the wall and raced toward Jiang Baihe's residence.

Using his lightness skill, he sped across rooftops and along walls. In less than half an hour, he reached a courtyard.

He had learned that one of Jiang Baihe's concubines lived there, and that Jiang Baihe spent every night with her.

To confirm it, Lin Qing had scouted the place over the past two days and spotted Jiang Baihe there both times. That was why he was acting tonight.

With that in mind, Lin Qing sprang onto the wall, then made several more leaps to reach the roof of the main house.

He closed his eyes slightly and carefully picked out the sound of a man and woman teasing each other beneath the wind and rain.

"Don't spit it out. Swallow it!"

"Husband, you're so wicked!"

Lin Qing's expression chilled. The first voice had belonged to an old man and was thin and shrill; the woman's plaintive, teasing reply had followed.

He knew that old man's voice all too well. It was as thin and shrill as a eunuch's. Who else could it be but Jiang Baihe?

Lin Qing waited a little longer, listening carefully until he was certain no one else was in the courtyard besides the pair.

He decided to strike. Springing from the roof, he landed in the courtyard and kicked the carved wooden door before him.

Several thousand jin of force erupted. Crack! The door shattered, sending splinters flying.

"Ah?"

"Who's there?"

Lin Qing entered and swept his gaze across the room. On the bed, Jiang Baihe and the woman were tangled together, naked. She was indeed alluring, with a beautiful face, a flirtatious air, and a curvaceous figure.

Lin Qing's sudden entrance made the woman shriek. Jiang Baihe was startled and furious. He rolled out of bed and snatched up a gray robe to throw over himself.

"Are you looking for death? Do you know who I am?" Jiang Baihe glared at him.

Lin Qing flicked his hand. Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! Three stones flew straight at Jiang Baihe.

Alarmed, Jiang Baihe leaped up, smashed through the window, and landed in the courtyard.

The woman behind him was not so lucky. A stone struck her in the face, and she fell unconscious on the spot.