"If he were merely a disciple paying to learn martial arts, that would be one thing. But since he has formally joined, we must find a suitable opportunity."
Steward Liu said confidently, "Patriarch, I've already sent men to watch him. Every day, he only travels between two places: the martial hall and his home. Unless something comes up, he hardly ever goes out."
Liu Tianba was just about to say something when the hurried footsteps of a Lineage martial artist suddenly approached.
"Patriarch, Divine Constable Ouyang is here."
"Show him to the reception hall."
Inside the Liu Family's reception hall.
"To what do we owe your visit today, Divine Constable Ouyang?"
Divine Constable Ouyang looked closely and saw Liu Tianba's relaxed expression. A thought crossed his mind: there were probably few people left on the list.
"Patriarch Liu, I've come today on an important matter. Over the past two days, incidents have occurred frequently within our jurisdiction. The victims have mostly been members of the Lineages, and all were strangled."
"After investigating through various channels, we discovered that the culprit is Xue Gui, a wanted fugitive who escaped a year ago. Xue Gui is at the Flesh Refining realm and is currently fleeing with serious injuries. Judging by his route, he should be hiding in Greenwood Ward."
At these words, Liu Tianba froze briefly before displeasure appeared on his face. He asked in a low voice.
"You mean the real culprit is actually this Xue Gui?"
"Exactly. Xue Gui has some grievances with your three families, so it is highly likely that he secretly killed Young Master Jingzhao."
Liu Tianba fell silent for a moment, then cupped his hands in thanks. "Sorry for the trouble of coming all this way, Divine Constable Ouyang. I'll handle things from here."
Divine Constable Ouyang tactfully cupped his hands and took his leave.
Liu Tianba considered it for a moment and realized that finding the man in the outer city using only the Lineage's strength would be extremely difficult.
"Someone, issue a bounty throughout the outer city! Two thousand taels for capturing Xue Gui alive, and one thousand even if he's dead!"
"Yes, Patriarch!"
Soon, the bounty notice spread throughout the outer city.
In the outer courtyard of the Fierce Tiger Martial Hall.
Xu Da hurried excitedly over to Chen Tie and handed him a bounty notice.
"Junior Brother Chen, take a look at this. A full two thousand taels!"
Chen Tie took the notice and glanced at it, immediately understanding the reason behind it. Keeping his expression unchanged, he asked.
"Why does this Xue Gui insist on killing disciples of the Xiao, Chu, and Liu Families?"
Xu Da waved a hand. "It's all the rotten business of those inner-city Lineages. A year ago, a traveling merchant party came to the city to trade. A few good-for-nothing young masters from those three families took a fancy to the merchant's daughter, seized her by force, and beat the merchant to death."
"Normally, something like that wouldn't be much of a big deal. But this merchant had a son who was a Late-Stage Skin Refining martial artist. He secretly ambushed members of the Xiao, Chu, and Liu Families. He was the one who crippled Liu Jingzhao."
Chen Tie nodded slightly. So there was a history behind it. This would conveniently clear him of suspicion.
"Junior Brother Chen, interested in claiming this bounty together?" Xu Da suggested.
"He's a Flesh Refining martial artist. I don't want to court death."
Xu Da said confidently, "You and me, plus Eldest Senior Brother-the three of us will go together. If we can't find him, so be it. But if we do run into him, we stand a good chance of winning if we join forces against a seriously injured Flesh Refining martial artist."
After hearing this, Chen Tie eventually nodded in agreement.
"All right. It'll count as actual combat experience, too."
"That's the spirit."
Xu Da promptly brought Shen Yan along, and the three began searching Greenwood Ward together.
"Third Senior Brother, do we have any leads? We can't just search blindly," Chen Tie asked quietly.
"If you were on the run and wanted to hide your tracks, where would you choose?" Xu Da suddenly asked.
"Junior Brother, I'd definitely choose somewhere with few people. So we should head for the rarely traveled streets and alleys in Greenwood Ward!" Shen Yan blurted out.
"Second Senior Brother, do you mean this Xue Gui might do the exact opposite and hide somewhere crowded?"
Xu Da nodded slightly. "If this Xue Gui really were hiding somewhere deserted, the other martial artists would already have searched those places more than once. Yet they still haven't found any sign of him, so he must be hiding in a crowded area."
"There's only one place nearby with the most people, isn't there?"
The three exchanged glances, then immediately turned and headed for Falling Star Street. This was an important commercial district in Greenwood Ward. Even in these chaotic times, commerce here remained relatively developed.
Their search focused on the alleys that connected the whole street and branched out in every direction.
"We'll split up three ways and search three neighboring alleys at the same time. If anything happens, we can support each other."
"Sounds good to me."
Xu Da made his suggestion, and Chen Tie and Shen Yan both agreed.
Chen Tie cautiously entered the narrow alley. It was a completely different world from the bustling street outside. The old walls on either side were mottled, and the air in the alley was stale, with a faint smell of old rust drifting through it.
Chen Tie took out a dagger he carried with him. Although he had never learned any related martial techniques, having a blade in hand ought to make him somewhat safer. If anything unexpected happened, he could also throw the dagger.
Chen Tie kept his breathing easy and his chest rising and falling steadily, remaining alert at all times.
He finished exploring the alley from end to end without discovering anything unusual. There were no signs of human activity anywhere in it.
The three gathered at the alley's end. One glance at each other told them none had found anything.
"Let's keep searching," Xu Da said.
Two hours later.
The three had searched many uninhabited alleys without finding anything. During their search, they occasionally encountered other martial artists who had come to look as well. Clearly, they were not the only three clever people around.
Chen Tian came to an alley deep within the area. The walls here were relatively high, blocking even most of the sunlight and leaving the entire passage rather dark and damp.
As he reached the depths of the alley, Chen Tie suddenly caught a faint scent of blood. Something immediately occurred to him, and he quieted his breathing further while lightening his footsteps.
He lowered his head and finally discovered tiny spots of blood at the foot of the wall. Judging by how far the blood had congealed, not much time had passed.
Chen Tie slowly followed the blood spots along the foot of the wall until he reached a half-collapsed house.
Rather than recklessly going inside, he quietly climbed onto the roof. Through a gap in it, he saw a black-clad figure curled up in the middle of the house, with a large patch of blood beneath him. He watched for a while, but the figure never moved.
Viewed from the side, he was indeed Xue Gui, the man mentioned in the bounty.
Could this man already be dead?
The thought flashed through Chen Tie's mind. He picked up a broken roof tile and hurled it straight at the man's eye.
With a dull thud, the corner of the man's eye began to bleed, but he still gave no response.
Chen Tie cautiously entered the house. Xue Gui lay on the floor, his face pale and his mouth slightly open, long since devoid of any signs of life.
Chen Tie immediately approached and searched his body, taking two hundred taels in banknotes, a bottle of pills, and a book from inside his clothes.
He tucked the pills and money straight into his clothes. Five large characters were written on the book: "Resounding Viscera Blood Scripture."
After leafing through the manual, Chen Tie discovered that it was a blood Qi cultivation method whose main function relied on blood Qi resonance. It did not raise one's realm, but used rhythmic oscillations of presence to temper the resilience of the five organs-the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys-and strengthen their upper limits.
It also imperceptibly enhanced the functions of the internal organs, allowing the body to produce more blood Qi. To a certain extent, it could also help martial artists condense their blood Qi.
The most valuable thing on this Xue Gui is this manual, but I don't know where it came from.
At this thought, Chen Tie decided that, to be safe, he could not let anyone know the manual had fallen into his hands. That meant he certainly could not claim the bounty either.
He quickly tucked the manual into his clothes as well, hiding it close to his body, and erased the traces of his entry into the house.
Chen Tie turned and entered another alley, creating the impression that he had never been here.