Inside the Arrest Bureau's offices, the oppressive atmosphere made it hard to breathe.
Commander Zhao, Zhao An, had a face blacker than the bottom of a pot.
In just two days, two earth-shaking cases had occurred in the capital, alarming the entire class of nobles and powerful officials. As the commander in charge of jianghu affairs, he was under immense pressure.
After hearing why Cheng Ming and his grandson had come and what they had deduced, Zhao An slammed his palm on the table.
"Old Constable Cheng, do you mean this sky-flying thief might very well be from our capital's jianghu?"
"It is only a possibility," Cheng Ming said unhurriedly. "Commander Zhao, you have overseen the Eight Great Schools for many years and know the top experts of every school and sect like the back of your hand. I must trouble you to help investigate."
Of course, Zhao An did not dare refuse.
He immediately ordered the uncles and Shaojuns of the eight great schools-Jin, Pi, Cai, Gua, Heng, Lan, Ge, and Rong-summoned, and commanded them to mobilize all their forces to seek news of the sky-flying thief in their respective territories.
For a time, the entire jianghu of the capital sprang into motion.
At the same time, the constables of the Six Gates, the soldiers of the Military Patrol Office, and the agents of the Arrest Bureau all poured out in force. Patrols filled the streets and alleys, and inspections became unusually strict.
Yet this official tension stood in stark contrast to the mood among the common people.
The people did not dare say it aloud, but they were all silently praying that this heroic thief would never be caught.
As for the Eight Great Schools of the jianghu, which had been forced to send everyone out to gather information, every one of them dragged its feet.
The Rong Character Gate, which was being watched most closely, was especially lax. Each day, Fang Tao and the others led their men on a stroll through the streets, then found a teahouse to drink tea and listen to stories, doing nothing more than going through the motions.
Some bold storytellers had even secretly turned the exploits of the "masked hero's night visit to Granary Full of Fortune" and the "sky-flying heroic thief Treading the Moon sharing out gold" into stories, which they quietly performed in teahouses and taverns. Whenever they reached an exciting part, a chorus of hushed cheers would invariably rise.
Chen Ye also gained many honorific names among the people. Some called him the Sky-Flying Heroic Thief, while others called him the Moon-Treading Great Hero.
All in all, officials and commoners, black and white, formed a strange spectacle in this vast capital, as distinct from one another as the waters of the Jing and Wei rivers.
Meanwhile, Chen Ye was considering his next target.
The affair at the Everlasting Prosperity Bank had further raised Chen Ye's reputation among the people, but it had barely caused a ripple on his profession panel.
Neither his profession level nor his skills had changed at all.
Chen Ye fell into thought.
It seemed that the further he progressed, the harder it became to level up.
A place like the Everlasting Prosperity Bank, though its owners were also wealthy and powerful, was ultimately just a loosely guarded business. He had encountered almost no resistance worth mentioning while sneaking in and stealing from it.
A task of that difficulty could no longer provide him with enough experience.
So simply robbing the rich to aid the poor was still thinking too small.
A glint of cold light flashed in Chen Ye's eyes. Since stealing no longer met the requirements, he would change his target this time.
This time, once again, it would not be for wealth, but to... carry out justice on Heaven's behalf.
With that thought, he pushed open the door and slipped soundlessly into the capital's night.
The capital was a place where fish and dragons mingled, home both to noble families with centuries of heritage and to newly powerful court figures who had climbed the ranks through scheming.
As a result, the capital had as many good-for-nothing young scions as there were hairs on an ox. Most of them were merely uneducated and incompetent, throwing their weight around on the strength of their family backgrounds.
But there were always some whose twisted desires could no longer be satisfied by ordinary wine, women, and song, so they began seeking thrills in depraved ways.
Among them, Li Chunfeng, the eldest young master of Duke of An Li Jun's family, was a notoriously outstanding example.
With a duke for a father and an imperial noble consort for an aunt, there was virtually no evil he did not commit, and he regarded human lives as no more than blades of grass. Whenever the people of the capital mentioned him in private, they all gnashed their teeth, yet dared feel anger without voicing it.
Chen Ye had long heard of this man's deeds.
It was said that any woman who caught his eye would ultimately find it hard to escape his clutches.
Once, while strolling through the streets, he happened to catch sight of a family's newly married daughter-in-law, who had some beauty. He actually barged straight into her home, intent on violating her.
The woman's husband happened to return from outside just then, only to be pinned firmly to the ground by Li Chunfeng's vicious servants, forced to watch helplessly as his wife was subjected to every manner of humiliation before his eyes.
Afterward, Li Chunfeng, thoroughly satisfied, dusted off his backside and swaggered away.
That night, the unfortunate couple both hanged themselves.
The matter caused a great uproar in the capital, but in the end it came to nothing.
Over the years, the innocent women who had died directly or indirectly at Li Chunfeng's hands numbered eighty if not a hundred.
A scumbag like that naturally deserved death many times over.
But killing him with a single stroke would have been letting him off far too easily.
Chen Ye stood in the shadows of a dark alley, looking at Duke Anguo's Residence, ablaze with light not far away. The corners of his mouth curled into a cold smile.
The next day, at Duke Anguo's Residence.
Li Chunfeng woke amid luxurious silk quilts, his head splitting from a hangover.
He irritably rubbed his temples and turned to look beside him.
On the bed, a young woman lay curled up, her clothes barely covering her body. She was covered in purple bruises, her eyes were vacant, and tear tracks had yet to dry on her face. She looked like a rag doll that had been played with until it broke.
She was a pretty young woman he had abducted from the street three days ago. She was unmarried and very strong-willed, which had made playing with her quite enjoyable for him.
But now he was tired of her.
"Drag her out." Li Chunfeng waved a hand impatiently, as though shooing away an annoying fly.
Two sturdy maidservants immediately entered from outside, deftly wrapped the woman in a quilt, and dragged her out like a dead dog.
As for whether the woman lived or died after being sent back, that was not something Young Master Li needed to concern himself with.
He stretched and hummed a little tune as he prepared to have breakfast.
Just then, a sudden clamor came from outside.
Li Chunfeng frowned, his mood turning irritable at once.
"What's going on? What's all this noise so early in the morning?"
At that moment, one of his personal attendants came scrambling in. "Y-young master..."
"Speak!" Li Chunfeng shouted impatiently.
"Outside... on the wall outside..." The attendant stammered and stumbled, unable to get a complete sentence out.
"Useless trash!"
Li Chunfeng shoved him aside and went out to see for himself.
The moment he stepped through the courtyard gate, he stopped in his tracks.
There, on the vermilion courtyard wall of Duke Anguo's Residence, someone had written a line of large characters in bold, flourishing strokes at some unknown time!
[In three days, I shall take Li Chunfeng's head.]
Signed: Treading the Moon.
Li Chunfeng froze for a moment, then flew into a rage. "What blind dog dares break ground over the head of the Grand Duke of the Year? Investigate! Drag him out for me! I'll cut him into a thousand pieces!"
He still thought it was the work of some noble scion who had a grudge against him.
By now, more and more people had gathered outside the residence gates to watch the excitement. They pointed at the line of writing, their faces a mixture of shock and excitement.
At the sight, Li Chunfeng was so furious that smoke seemed to pour from all seven of his orifices. He immediately ordered the household guards to disperse the crowd and wash the writing off the wall.
Just then, people from the Six Gates arrived. When they saw the line on the wall, and especially the signature "Treading the Moon," every one of them turned pale.
For as the affair had spread, the name Moon-Treading Great Hero had become widely known among the people. It referred to none other than the mysterious thief who had robbed two wealthy and powerful households in the previous two days, throwing the whole of the capital's upper society into such turmoil that even its chickens and dogs knew no peace.