" ": !;"
Patter, patter~
Fine rain drifted down. The theater was pitch-dark and utterly still; only a faint glimmer of light could be seen inside the theater building.
Ye Xingge had no light and could not make out the courtyard at all. He could only judge his surroundings by listening for movement.
After scouting for a moment, he confirmed that no one was beneath the wall and that faint voices seemed to be coming from the theater building. He pulled himself all the way up and climbed over the wall almost in slow motion.
Rustle, rustle~
Ye Xingge carried his saber in his left hand. His robes and hair were soaked by the rain in the blink of an eye. He could not fly over grass, either, so any movement he made was bound to make a sound.
He advanced several steps, but as he approached the theater building, the curtain of rain suddenly fell deathly silent. Not a sound remained.
?
Ye Xingge frowned, knowing he had been discovered. The theater building was too large, and to prevent Winnowing Basket Water Leopard from escaping through a rear window, he did not hesitate. He stamped down hard and leaped more than a zhang. In just two great strides, he sprang into the air and crashed into the building.
Crash~
As the window shattered, a saber flashed!
Clang-
Like a tiger leaping through a forest, Ye Xingge sprang into the theater hall, drawing his saber and flicking out a fire starter while still airborne.
Whoosh, whoosh~
The fire starter spun through the air and burned, its feeble light illuminating half the hall.
In that fleeting glimpse, Ye Xingge saw no one inside. Before he landed, he planted a foot on a square table and leaped onto the broad stage. Holding his saber across his body, he looked toward the partition leading to the inner hall.
Clatter~
Fragments of the window scattered across the floor.
The fire starter hit the floor and rolled to the wall, setting a hanging gauze curtain alight. Bright yellow flames illuminated the spacious theater hall, where more than thirty tables stood.
In the light, the carved beams and painted rafters of the stage gradually regained their colors. Bird carvings appeared on the central partition as well. It had fallen into disrepair, and a little firelight could be seen through its cracks.
Patter, patter...
Rain still fell outside, but not a bird or sparrow made a sound on either side of the partition.
Ye Xingge stood alone on the stage, water dripping from his robes. He scanned the hall and listened closely, but detected no sign of anyone fleeing from the rear. He could not help growing suspicious.
Meanwhile, in the rear hall, just a wall away.
More than thirty cultists gripped the weapons they carried and held their breath, listening to the sounds beyond the wall.
The middle-aged shopkeeper was deathly pale. He knew he had fallen for a trap and that his own carelessness had led the young man from before here.
Winnowing Basket Water Leopard was no fool, and he understood that the authorities had used the middle-aged shopkeeper as bait.
The other side had come single-handedly and already fought his way to their door!
More than thirty of them were trapped in the building. They were probably doomed to-
Huh?
By the dim candlelight, a strange silence suddenly fell over the inner hall.
Everyone waited anxiously for a long while, but no signal flares or fire arrows lit up. It seemed only one person really had come.
And it should be that Ye Xingge from before, whose origins and background were perfectly clear. He was wounded, too, and carrying treasures...
"..."
The pack of young wolves exchanged glances, then looked at Winnowing Basket Water Leopard.
Winnowing Basket Water Leopard was not stupid. This was the capital, and the Embroidered Robe detachment could arrive in an instant. How could they possibly make a move?
But the situation outside was unclear, so he did not order a retreat. Instead, he tilted his head slightly, signaling the cultists to investigate. Only after they had sized up the situation would he dare break out.
The more than thirty cultists, certain there was only one man, found the courage that came from knowing "men die for wealth." They rose one after another and cautiously felt their way out.
Tap, tap, tap, tap...
Footsteps fell as thickly as rain.
?!
Ye Xingge suddenly heard a multitude of footsteps. His expression, still as undisturbed water, shifted slightly. He immediately flew backward, leaping off the stage and landing on the large square table reserved for the biggest patron.
The footsteps approached swiftly. Those making them knew the layout and spread out toward both sides of the theater building and behind him.
More than ten martial artists also filed out from either side of the partition like foot soldiers entering a play, weapons in hand as they poured into the hall.
Whoosh, whoosh~
By now the fire had grown, and the entire hall, even its painted ceiling, was clearly visible.
Standing on the square table in the center, Ye Xingge gripped his saber in both hands and swept a glance around, disbelief in his eyes.
"How many people are hiding in there?"
The cultists who had rushed out first carried short weapons such as sabers, swords, and daggers. They surveyed the area cautiously and found that there really was only one person inside or out. Their leader was also astonished.
"Thirty-six Heavenly Stems, plus the incense master and the steward, thirty-eight in all. How many people did you bring?"
"..."
Ye Xingge knitted his brows, thinking he had probably walked into an ambush.
Hongyu had been eating at the Myriad Phenomena Tower. Hearing the commotion, she quickly put down her chopsticks and ran to the window, looking toward Return to Righteousness Ward.
"What's going on?"
"?"
You're asking me what's going on?
Didn't you say there were only a few people?
This is what you meant by every link fitting into the next?
I run into trouble the moment I step outside?
Ye Xingge wanted to complain, but in the end he let it go.
After all, Great Beauty's information had indeed been accurate. At least he had found them.
There was not much use in killing these small fry, but if they blocked his way, Winnowing Basket Water Leopard could advance or retreat at will, and he would have a hard time catching his target.
Ye Xingge listened closely. There was no movement at the rear; Winnowing Basket Water Leopard was probably watching and waiting. To seize the opportunity, he pointed his saber diagonally at the floor and looked around at everyone.
"I don't know whether you've heard of my reputation, but you certainly don't want to. I'm only killing the leader. Don't go courting death."
The cultists at the front were all scanning the things Ye Xingge carried.
"We're after wealth. Throw down the Heaven-Obscuring Arm, and we'll definitely start killing each other. No one will pay you any mind."
"That's right. If you want to chase the incense master, we won't stop you. He's waiting in the back to pick up the spoils."
"..."
Seeing this, Ye Xingge thought the Return to Origin Cult truly lived up to its reputation. There was no need to talk anymore.
Tap, tap, tap...
The cultists circling around either side climbed in through the windows one after another, gradually closing in from all directions.
Several of the more capable ones on the stage also jumped down, weapons in hand, and cautiously approached.
Facing this rabble, Ye Xingge said no more. He tapped his toes, leaped down from the table, and strode toward the stage.
The seven or eight people in front of him retreated at once.
"If you don't dare come at me, get lost. Don't get in the way of my business."
Ye Xingge moved so quickly that, by the time he finished speaking, he had forced the seven or eight cultists back against the stage, with nowhere left to retreat.
One of them, a saber-wielding man, saw this and cursed furiously.
"There are more than thirty of us! What are we afraid of? Get him together! Hyah-"
With that, the man let out an angry shout and advanced with his three-foot saber, opening with a strike to cleave Mount Hua.
With someone taking the lead, several people around him immediately followed with their weapons.
But in the next instant!
Swish-
A saber flashed through the firelit hall!
Ye Xingge lunged forward and slashed horizontally.
Clang-
Amid the explosive clash of metal, he forcibly knocked the descending saber aside, then followed through with a forward thrust.
Pfft~
The three-foot saber pierced the man's chest. Ye Xingge also thrust his left hand forward like a tiger's claw, seized the man by the neck, and strode backward, dragging him along.
Tap, tap, tap...
Several cultists followed in pursuit, only to see the young man use the man's body as a shield. He twisted his saber and sliced downward, severing the man's left arm on the spot. Blood splashed before their eyes.
"Ah-"
With his neck gripped, the man's face flushed red, and he could scarcely even scream. He still tried to raise his saber in his right hand to free himself, but then a hair-raising sight unfolded in the hall!
Slash-
After severing one arm, Ye Xingge did not wait for the man to strike back. He swept his saber across and cut off his right arm!
Then he raised the left hand clamped around the man's neck and slashed diagonally downward with his three-foot saber. Both lower legs flew off to the side!
Thud-
At that moment, Ye Xingge stopped retreating.
"Ugh~~~"
The man's face had turned purplish-red. Blood and flesh gushed from his body as he writhed violently, but with his limbs gone, he could not break free of the left hand locked around his throat in the slightest.
In the firelight, Ye Xingge held the man aloft with one hand, blood streaming down his body, and glanced at the crowd.
The hall was deathly silent. Nearly every cultist was deathly pale, none daring to step forward.
Seeing that they still had not fled, Ye Xingge said nothing more. He raised his saber, stabbed it half an inch into the man's chest, then dragged it downward through his robes, opening a bloody gash like a zipper.
Splat~
Red and white matter slipped from his abdominal cavity.
"Bleargh-!"
The few lackeys blocking the rear were terrified out of their wits at the sight. Some collapsed, while others vomited all over the floor on the spot, then scrambled and crawled outside.
Ye Xingge threw the corpse toward the stage and charged forward in great strides as if no one else were there.
The people in front of the stage had long since turned ashen. They did not even dare look at the man's body, with its trailing mess of blood and entrails. They immediately dodged aside and fled toward the doors and windows.
In the rear hall, Winnowing Basket Water Leopard had intended to keep watching, but he truly had not expected so many pawns to be frightened off in an instant by such brutal methods. Seeing this, he knew things had gone badly and immediately charged toward the window.
Crash-
Hearing the noise, Ye Xingge sprang onto the stage and drove into the partition with an Iron Mountain Lean, smashing through it and darting into the inner hall.
Whoosh~
Winnowing Basket Water Leopard leaped through the window into an overgrown courtyard and raced toward the wall, intending to vault into the street beyond in a single bound.
But just as he was about to push off, Winnowing Basket Water Leopard abruptly stopped. His forward momentum sent him skidding into the wall.
Thud~
Ye Xingge, pursuing at full speed with his saber, leaped out of the window. Catching a glimpse of something amiss, he spotted figures on the roof ridge beyond the wall and abruptly flipped back through the window.
Clatter~
The scrambling footsteps all around quickly faded as well, until they vanished completely, leaving only the dense patter of rain.
Rumble~
A moment later, lightning flashed across the cloudy sky.
The pitch-dark theater grounds suddenly turned as bright as day, revealing more than thirty figures standing frozen in place.
By the lightning's light, Ye Xingge saw that the shadows on the roof ridge were dozens of officers in embroidered green robes, holding powerful bows and crossbows. They stood motionless in the rain, the carp patterns on their clothing reflecting the light. From afar, they looked like a row of auspicious beasts atop the roof.
And there were figures on more than one side. People crouched on the buildings to the left and right, in the alley behind, and on the street in front. A rough estimate put their number at no fewer than two hundred.
Under the lightning, blades and arrowheads gleamed coldly, all aimed at the theater grounds. Each person inside was probably covered by four or five crossbow bolts.
Patter, patter~
A deathly silence fell over the theater grounds. Even the sound of breathing disappeared.
Winnowing Basket Water Leopard stood frozen beneath the wall, looking up at the Embroidered Robe Yamas bearing down like an army. Knowing he was certain to die, he was already prepared to bare his neck for the blade.
But after waiting a long while, he still did not see the Embroidered Robe officers outside charge in.
The more than thirty lackeys also saw that the Embroidered Robe officers outside had not attacked. Their faces ashen, they instinctively backed into the theater building.
But when Ye Xingge saw that the Embroidered Robe officers had arrived, there was no joy in his eyes.
After all, the condition of his assessment was to "make the arrest alone."
Once the Heaven-Observing Pavilion intervened, it would no longer count.
Now, examining the details of their robes, Ye Xingge saw that they were all from the Inspection Bureau. He climbed out of the window and stood in the rain, taking a brass waist token from his robes.
"Ye Xingge of the Judicial Review Bureau. I'm taking an assessment on the orders of Duke Wu and the four commanders. It's one thing for you all to follow me here to supervise, but wouldn't it be inappropriate to interfere?"