Heaven Dou South Gate

Three days later, at Heaven Dou South Gate.

The sky had not fully brightened, but the city Gate was already bustling. Breakfast vendors walked along the wall with shoulder poles, coachmen cursed their horses, merchants haggled, and the guards yawned beneath the Gate arch. As usual, the smoke and bustle of the morning market had left them too weary to bother anyone.

Bai Jin sat outside a tea stall with half a plate of crisp pastries before him.

He was hard to miss.

Silver Hair, white clothes, a black blindfold resting on his forehead. He propped his chin on one hand and leisurely broke apart a pastry with the other. Passersby gave him a second glance, then quickly looked away. Heaven Dou City had plenty of nobles and plenty of oddballs. As long as they did not block the road, no one cared to interfere.

Tang San stood half a step behind him, a thin strand of Blue Silver Grass wrapped around his fingertip.

There was a spot of blood on the blade of grass.

Not much.

Just a drop Tang San had drawn from his own fingertip, then diluted with the grass's sap. Yet the instant the blood touched the blade, he felt a faint tremor in his chest, as if wind had swept through a forest somewhere far away.

Bai Jin glanced at him. "Stop looking like you're headed for the execution ground."

Tang San said quietly, "They want Blue Silver Emperor Blood."

"Which is why you need to see exactly how they identify it."

Tang San fell silent.

Xiao Wu stood on Tang San's other side, her gaze much colder than usual. She said nothing, only gripped her sleeve tighter. Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, Dai Mubai, and the others were spread around the tea stall. Lu Heng had positioned Heaven Dou's Spirit Hall Enforcer Squad farther out. Xue Qinghe had not appeared; he had merely sent men to seal off a few inconspicuous alleys.

Bai Jin did not like making things too complicated.

Since the other side had chosen the south Gate, he would sit at the south Gate and wait.

Shortly after seven, an old umbrella seller approached the tea stall.

The old man carried a bamboo basket on his back, packed with oil-paper umbrellas. Deep wrinkles lined his face, and his voice was hoarse. "Sir, care to buy an umbrella? It's going to rain today."

Bai Jin looked up at the sky, pale and clear. "That's a bold way to do business."

The old man smiled. "Heaven Dou's weather can change at any moment."

Bai Jin finished his pastry and wiped his hands. "I don't want an umbrella. I want a way through."

The smile slowly faded from the old man's face.

The sounds inside the tea stall seemed to drop a notch. Tang San saw the shadow beneath the old man's feet move. The sun was plainly in the east, yet the shadow stretched westward, winding around the table leg like a cold, damp snake.

Bai Jin set a black Token on the table.

An Entry Token.

The old man's gaze fell on the Token, then shifted to the Blue Silver Grass at Tang San's fingertip. "Where's the blood?"

Tang San set down the blade of grass.

The old man reached for it.

Just before his fingers touched the blade, a gray figure lunged from behind the tea stall. He was aiming not for the Token but for Tang San's wrist. He moved with tremendous speed, four Soul Rings lighting up around him at once. Clearly, he had been waiting for this moment.

Tang San's gaze sharpened.

Blue Silver Grass sprang from the ground, binding the man's ankles first, then locking down his wrists. Xiao Wu stepped onto the table and drove her knee straight at his face. The gray figure twisted aside to avoid her, only to collide head-on with Dai Mubai's tiger claw.

Bang!

The man was slammed into a tea-stall post, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.

On the other side, two Soul Masters disguised as porters sprang into action. Zhu Zhuqing dropped from the shadow of the eaves. Her Hell Stab flashed past, and one man had barely raised his crossbow before his wrist was cut open. Ning Rongrong's Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda lit up, its boosts landing precisely on Zhu Zhuqing and Xiao Wu without a trace wasted.

The nearby civilians finally realized what was happening. Screams erupted everywhere.

Bai Jin stretched.

An invisible distance spread outward like a sheet of unseen water, separating the tea stall from the street. The fleeing crowd was gently pushed to safety, while the tables, chairs, cups, and dishes did not budge. One Soul Master tried to grab someone amid the chaos, but the moment he reached out, it was as though he had plunged his hand into mud. The harder he pushed, the farther away his target seemed.

Bai Jin looked at the umbrella seller. "Does your Ghost Face Society have a rule that says you have to do something stupid before a conversation?"

The old man's expression finally changed.

He tried to retreat.

Bai Jin flicked a finger. The Token flew off the table, spun once in midair, then smacked back down with a sharp clap. Azure Blue light pinned the shadow beneath the old man's feet, freezing him in place.

"Don't rush," Bai Jin said with a smile. "You haven't named the stop yet."

The old man's Adam's apple bobbed. His voice was hoarse. "Ten li beyond the south Gate. Blackstone Crossing."

Tang San immediately asked, "Does it lead to Slaughter City?"

The old man glanced at him, startled suspicion in his eyes. "You don't know?"

Tang San did not answer.

Bai Jin pushed the question back at him. "Whether he knows doesn't matter. You do."

The old man gritted his teeth. "Blackstone Crossing takes only one carriage. With both blood and Token, it comes. If the person is wrong, it leaves. If you aren't there before midnight, the route closes."

The moment he finished speaking, a bell rang somewhere beyond the city.

Jingle.

It was faint.

Yet the strand of Blue Silver Grass around Tang San's fingertip shuddered violently.

Bai Jin put away the Entry Token and stood, casually handing the remaining pastries to Xiao Wu.

Xiao Wu blinked. "What for?"

"Eat them on the way," Bai Jin said. "We probably won't get a proper meal tonight."

Ma Hongjun muttered from the side, "Can I request two portions?"

Oscar promptly replied, "You can request two beatings."

Those two remarks took some of the edge off the tension.

Tang San looked beyond the city. The official road outside the south Gate looked perfectly ordinary in the sunlight, but he knew the real path had begun to reveal itself.

Bai Jin walked over to him, his tone casual. "Scared?"

Tang San shook his head. "I just want to know why they want my blood."

He did not voice the rest.

Why would an Evil Soul Master organization I've never encountered know more about my blood than I do? From Nuoding City to Shrek, nearly everyone had called Blue Silver Grass a Trash Martial Soul. Yet from Star Dou Great Forest to Heaven Dou City, these people had targeted him again and again, even using children, Rogue Soul Masters, and an Entry Token to lay the path.

Tang San hated the feeling.

It was as though someone had already entered a part of him into a ledger without his knowledge, with its price and purpose clearly marked.

Bai Jin seemed to see what he was thinking. He tossed Tang San a crumpled pastry wrapper. "Don't be so quick to imagine yourself as some earth-shattering problem. The more you rush after the truth, the easier it is for someone to lead you by the nose."

Tang San caught the wrapper, a little helpless. "Senior, that's not comforting."

"I'm no good at comforting people."

Xiao Wu muttered beside them, "You're good at getting on their nerves."

Bai Jin nodded. "That's more my specialty."

Dai Mubai had been keeping a stern face, but even he could not stop the corner of his mouth from twitching. Wind swept in from beyond the south Gate, carrying the smell of earth, horses, and carriages. The tension remained, but it no longer pressed so hard they could barely breathe.

Tang San looked down at his hand.

The cut on his fingertip was tiny and had already stopped bleeding. Blue Silver Grass swayed gently around his wrist, quieter than usual, as though it too was waiting for an answer.

"Then let's go ask."

Bai Jin stepped toward the road outside the city.

He did not walk fast, but he did not look back.

"The answer won't come running over and kneel before you, Tang San. If you want to know, follow me."