After questioning the victims, the officials discovered from their accounts that all dozen or so cases had been committed by the same person.
There was no common pattern to his attacks, but one thing was certain: all his victims were exceptionally good-looking.
He targeted men and women alike, leaving the attractive residents of Yuyang City living in fear for quite some time. The city's officials were at their wits' end as well. They sent plenty of people after him, but simply could not catch him.
Later, the Flower-Picking Thief set his sights on a heroine of the Martial World. The woman he nearly violated was the future young mistress of Famous Sword Manor.
She was a skilled martial artist, and not only protected herself but also wounded Ji'an.
When the people of Famous Sword Manor learned of this, her fiancé and several of his friends circulated notices offering a reward for information on Ji'an Xingzong. With such a generous bounty on offer, Ji'an's whereabouts were soon discovered.
More than a dozen people surrounded and attacked him. Outnumbered and overwhelmed, Ji'an was soon gravely injured.
But a man who could commit so many crimes without being caught naturally had a trump card. He used it to escape, then happened upon the Third Prince, the perfect sucker.
After he fled, his pursuers searched for some time and found the patch of grass where he had lain before the Third Prince rescued him.
So much blood had soaked into the ground that it had turned black. They thought there was no way he could survive after losing that much blood.
Thus, although they never found his body, everyone believed the Flower-Picking Thief was dead and that some wild beast had carried his corpse away.
According to his victims, the Flower-Picking Thief had a