Fang Yu Died, and No One Cared

When Fang Yu stepped out of Widow Li's courtyard, the night breeze was cool.

He fastened his belt and straightened his collar, his lips still curled in the relaxed smile of a satisfied man.

The lantern at the alley entrance had gone out, leaving only moonlight to coat the stone paving in a thin layer of white.

The town was far too quiet.

At this hour on an ordinary night, at least two night patrol teams from the Heaven Patrol Office would still be walking the streets. Tonight, there was not a single one. Most of the town's manpower had been sent to wipe out the evil sect, and the Patrol Guards left behind could not cover everything.

Fang Yu walked down the empty street, his boot soles striking the paving stones, the echoes bouncing between the courtyard walls on either side.

He paid it no mind.

After a hundred or so paces, he rounded Old Zhou's tofu shop, and his steps slowed.

Something's wrong.

There seemed to be footsteps behind him.

They were faint, almost drowned out by the wind, but Fang Yu was, after all, a martial artist at the peak of the blood qi first stage. His hearing was considerably sharper than an ordinary person's.

He could vaguely hear the sound coming and going at irregular intervals, as though someone were deliberately treading lightly while following him.

A chill crept over the back of Fang Yu's neck, and unease stirred inside him. Cold and sinister as he was, even he felt a little frightened in tonight's surroundings.

He did not turn around.

The first thought that sprang into his mind was-the Nine Evil Sect.

Fang Yu wondered, Could word of the operation have leaked?

Do those fiends have hidden agents in town?

Most of the Heaven Patrol Office's men have moved out, leaving its defenses thin. If an evil sect scout slipped in at a time like this...

Fang Yu's Adam's apple bobbed at the thought.

He quickened his pace. Everything would be fine once he got back to the Heaven Patrol Office.

His boots scraped over the paving stones faster, his walk becoming a jog.

There was a dark alley ahead, narrow and flanked by high walls. It led straight to the street behind the Heaven Patrol Office, where men were on night duty.

Fang Yu practically charged into the alley.

Inside, it was so dark he could not have seen his own hand in front of his face. The courtyard walls on either side blocked the moonlight completely, with only a faint glimmer filtering in from the far end.

Fang Yu ran seven or eight steps, then abruptly stopped.

Something's wrong.

The footsteps had vanished.

Everything behind him was silent. Even the wind had died.

Fang Yu stood in the alley, his chest heaving, and pressed a hand to the saber hilt at his waist. He looked back toward the entrance. Moonlight spread a white layer across it, but there was no one there.

Was I imagining things?

Fang Yu let out half a breath of relief, muttered, "Fucking hell," and turned to continue on.

At that very instant.

An arm reached out of the darkness and clamped across his throat.

The rough skin of a forearm pressed against the side of his neck. Another hand closed in from the opposite side, the two arms crossing and tightening like iron pincers.

Fang Yu's pupils contracted sharply.

He tried to shout.

Nothing came out.

His throat was crushed tight, his windpipe mostly flattened, leaving only a sliver of air to squeeze through into his lungs. Within two breaths, Fang Yu's face turned crimson, veins bulging from his forehead to his temples.

He struggled.

Both hands clawed madly at the arm locked around his neck. His nails dug in as he pulled downward and pried outward. All ten fingers strained with everything he had. Two nails snapped, and blood seeped between his fingers, trickling down the arm.

It was useless.

The arm did not budge.

Beneath that flesh lay the skeletal frame of the Bone Tempering Realm, infused with the strength of the qi-blood fourth level. Fang Yu's scratching could not even break the skin. He might as well have been trying to dig through an iron pillar with his fingers.

Fang Yu's legs began kicking. His boot tips struck the wall, the ground, and the shins of the man behind him. He put all his strength into every kick, but all he managed was a slight sway from his attacker, no more than a mosquito bite.

The arms tightened further and further.

Fang Yu's eyes began to bulge. His mouth gaped, his tongue was forced out, and saliva streamed down his chin. His hands went from clawing to slapping, from slapping to feeble fumbling, until he no longer had the strength even to raise them.

A dozen-odd breaths.

Crack.

The sound of his neck breaking rang through the dark alley, crisp and brief.

Fang Yu's body went limp, like a cloth sack with its bones pulled out.

Yi Yang released his arms.

The corpse slid to the ground, its neck crooked, eyes still staring, mouth stretched wide. It was an ugly death.

Yi Yang glanced down at him.

His face showed no expression at all.

No anger, no joy, no disgust, no satisfaction. It was no different from crushing a cockroach that had crawled onto the dinner table-if it needed crushing, he crushed it. It was not worth another thought.

That day in the little courtyard, Tang Hao had brought Mu Fenghai and this dog to test him.

Mu Fenghai's Thunderous Sound Mantra had nearly shaken his organs apart. Fang Yu had watched from the side, his eyes full of gloating and a viciousness that could not conceal his malicious intentions.

From that moment on, the debt had been entered in the ledger.

Yi Yang had already learned about Fang Yu through Zhao Gang and knew he was entangled with Widow Li.

As it happened, the Heaven Patrol Office's men had departed yesterday, and the atmosphere in the office had been more relaxed today. Those in the various halls who were not on duty had left early, so Yi Yang guessed Fang Yu would certainly go to Widow Li's place for some amusement.

While hiding outside Widow Li's door tonight, Yi Yang had heard every word Fang Yu said.

"So fresh and pretty, a flower bud that hasn't even bloomed."

Recalling those words, Yi Yang remembered how his fingers had twitched at the time, itching to rush inside and slaughter him.

Jiang Yuexin was one of the few people in this world he cared about. Anyone who set their sights on that girl could forget about living to see the next day's sun. Still, he had held himself back.

Because Yi Yang had already decided that Fang Yu would never make it back to the Heaven Patrol Office tonight, no matter what. He could let him live a little longer.

Most of the Heaven Patrol Office's men had left yesterday. The Deputy Patrol Chief at the qi-blood fourth level who remained was overseeing the office, concerned with the bigger picture, not the life or death of some lowly Patrol Guard.

Even if he learned that Fang Yu had been killed, he probably would not make a major fuss over someone scarcely worth a second glance, for the sake of maintaining stability and keeping everyone from imagining things.

So tonight was the perfect opportunity.

Yi Yang crouched and searched Fang Yu's clothes.

He found a cloth pouch in an inner pocket and opened it. A few pieces of silver and a dozen or so copper coins. He weighed it in his hand-barely more than three taels, at most.

The corner of Yi Yang's mouth twitched.

Three taels.

When he killed Lu Neng, he had found eighty taels in banknotes plus loose silver. Yang Shuqing had yielded over forty taels, a Sinew-Breaking Bone-Pulling Pill, and a sheepskin scroll. Wang Yue had given him a Crimson Origin Fruit and the Nine Peaks Saber technique. Had there ever been a time when he had not come away with his pots and bowls overflowing?

And now he had gone and killed a pauper.

"A Patrol Guard from the Martial Law Hall, and this is all he has to show for it. That takes talent." Yi Yang tucked the loose silver into his robes, not even bothering with the copper coins.

Three taels of silver would not even cover a single day of his medicinal baths.

A loss.

Yi Yang stood and dragged Fang Yu's corpse to an abandoned drainage ditch deep in the alley. Half-dried sludge and rotting weeds were piled high inside. He stuffed the body in, covered it with dead grass, and stamped down twice.

His movements were so practiced it was almost heartbreaking.

After all, this was not his first time doing the job.

After tidying up the scene, Yi Yang checked his sleeves. The blood Fang Yu's own fingers had shed while clawing at him had smeared onto his forearm, but Yi Yang's flesh remained completely unscathed. There was not even a red mark.

With the defenses of the Bone Tempering Realm, dealing with someone at the blood qi first stage was no different from toying with a child.

Yi Yang circled out through the other end of the dark alley and headed back along the shadows of the rear street.

The night breeze swept past, carrying away the lingering scent of blood in the alley.

When he returned to the little courtyard, Jiang Yuexin's room was dark. Her breathing was even, and she was sound asleep.

Yi Yang took off his night clothes and burned them, changed into some old clothes, washed his hands, and lay down on his bed.

Before closing his eyes, he considered tonight's haul.

Three taels of silver.

Do I need to check how much someone has saved before killing them next time?

With that faintly joking thought, Yi Yang rolled over and soon fell asleep.

At noon the following day.

The Heaven Patrol Office's inner courtyard suddenly erupted into an uproar.

An old man who had risen early to empty night soil discovered Fang Yu's corpse. When he saw the dead man's clothes, he was so frightened that he wet himself, then scrambled all the way to the Heaven Patrol Office's entrance to report it.

When word spread, Yi Yang was leafing through case files on the Archive Hall's second floor.

Sun Hao rushed up from downstairs, his face pale. "Sir! Fang Yu is dead! Someone strangled him in a dark alley to the south! His neck was broken!"

Yi Yang lifted his eyes and turned a page in the file he held.

"Oh?"

Sun Hao stamped his feet in agitation. "How can you not be worried at all? Could people from the Nine Evil Sect have slipped into town?"

Hearing that, Yi Yang set down the file and stood, letting just the right amount of gravity appear on his face. "Come. Let's take a look."

A crowd had already gathered in the Heaven Patrol Office's front courtyard.

Qian Hu, the Deputy Patrol Chief left behind to oversee the office, stood on the steps. He was in his early forties, with a tiger's back and a bear's waist, and his qi-blood fourth level aura held the crowd in check.

He swept his gaze over the frightened faces below and spoke in a deep voice.

"Quiet, all of you."

The Patrol Guards in the courtyard immediately fell silent.

Qian Hu clasped his hands behind his back, his tone measured and unhurried. "I already know about Fang Yu. The scene is being examined. At present, there is no evidence that the Nine Evil Sect was responsible."

Someone asked quietly, "Then who did it?"

Qian Hu's brows lowered. "We'll investigate. But until we find out, no one is to spread rumors."

"A man from the Heaven Patrol Office died on our own turf. If word gets out, it will disgrace all of us, so keep this quiet. If I catch any of you spreading it, you'll regret it."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over them.

"Starting tonight, double the night patrols. Work in pairs. No one goes alone. Every hall is to lock its doors, and no one leaves after dark unless it's on official business."

The Patrol Guards below exchanged glances, their faces tense.

Yi Yang stood at the very back of the crowd, his back bent and his hands tucked into his sleeves, wearing the same anxious expression as everyone around him.

Li Tong sidled over and lowered his voice. "Sir, do you think it really could have been the evil sect?"

Yi Yang frowned, his tone carrying the concern befitting an elderly man. "Hard to say. Everyone should be careful for a while. Don't go anywhere alone."

Li Tong nodded vigorously.

Yi Yang turned and walked toward the Archive Hall, his pace as slow as ever.

Just as he had expected, although Qian Hu appeared to take the matter seriously, the way he assigned his men showed that these measures were meant to reassure the remaining Patrol Guards and keep them from worrying needlessly. He was not particularly concerned about Fang Yu's death.

The other Patrol Guards were only worried about whether the Nine Evil Sect had done it. As for Fang Yu's death, no one cared.