Ruan Jinyu made no reply, merely watching from afar alongside the other embroidered-robed officers.
Ye Xingge crouched in the rain, paying no attention to anyone else. After rummaging through Winnowing Basket Water Leopard's belongings and taking out an assortment of odds and ends, he asked again:
"Where is Tail Fire Tiger? Tell me, and I'll give you a quick death."
"Hah..."
Winnowing Basket Water Leopard lay on the ground, the curtain of rain washing the blood from his face to reveal a man in his forties. His breath was as faint as a thread, and his gaze was unfocused as he stared up at the cloudy sky.
Ye Xingge bent close to his face and inclined an ear to listen. A moment later, he raised his head again, looking thoughtful.
Then he drew the saber at his side and plunged it into Winnowing Basket Water Leopard's chest. He twisted the blade and pulled it free, then rose and walked toward the few cultists huddled in the corner.
The few cultists still alive were scared out of their wits. At the sight of him, they fell to their knees as if they had seen a ghost or a god, begging for mercy:
"Spare us, my lord! Spare us!"
"I have elderly parents and young children to care for..."
Ye Xingge didn't listen to that nonsense. Other sects were hard to speak for, but every last member of the Return to Origin Cult and the demonic sects was out to rob and murder.
These were all members who had already joined the cult. Without a "pledge of allegiance," would Winnowing Basket Water Leopard have dared recruit them into his company?
Pfft, pfft...
Clang~
"Aah-!"
"Thirty-one..."
Thunder and rain poured down in torrents as flames roared through the opera house.
More than two hundred embroidered-robed officers crouched on the surrounding rooftops, weapons in hand, watching the young man in blood-soaked clothes finish the cultists off one by one and count them, as though watching an executioner slaughter a herd of livestock.
Some knelt and begged for mercy, while others rose up in resistance, but clearly, none of it could change the outcome.
The embroidered-robed officers present knew full well that these people deserved death for robbery and murder. But everyone had only one life; faced with such a sight, how could they not feel a chill of fear?
They could only feel that the young man in the courtyard was like a spirit medium in a trance.
He wasn't killing people now, but carrying out heaven's will to punish the wicked, meting out heaven's judgment and using slaughter to put an end to the world's evil!
When he caught up with the last man, who had been scrambling away on hands and knees, the young man seized him by the head, slit his throat with one stroke, and tossed him to the ground. He rose and looked around, and only after making sure nothing in the opera garden was still breathing did he look toward Ruan Jinyu on the roof and spread his hands slightly:
"My skills are shallow, and I don't know if I missed anyone. Lord Ruan, why don't you search again?"
If they found any more cultists, it would count as a joint arrest, and he could claim a little credit to put in the battle report.
But after he had silenced them one by one in front of everyone, counting each to make sure none were missed, what was left to search for?
The many embroidered-robed officers of the Inspection Bureau had watched the whole thing. They felt that even the earthworms in the opera garden had probably been chopped in two.
They were even afraid this Lord Taisui would get so carried away with killing that he would chop them up in passing.
Ruan Jinyu rubbed his fingers over his teacup. After a long silence, he finally smiled faintly and nodded.
"Fine skills. Well done. You can't afford to be softhearted with a bunch of vermin like this."
He turned to look at the embroidered-robed officers.
"All of you should learn from Lord Ye. If you had half his ruthlessness, you'd reach high office sooner or later."
"Yes, sir."
"Someone, take Ye Xingge to have his injuries treated."
"Yes, sir!"
At his command, several embroidered-robed officers immediately prepared to go down.
But Ye Xingge raised a hand to stop them.
After all, though accepting treatment from the Inspection Bureau wasn't prohibited by the assessment, it could still be written into the battle report as mutual assistance between sister bureaus.
"Thank you for your concern, Lord Ruan. I wasn't really hurt. The blood all belongs to others; not a single drop came from me."
With that, Ye Xingge tucked the saber into the crook of his arm, wiped the blood from the blade with his sleeve, and returned it to its sheath.
Clack~
He then turned, unbarred the opera garden's main gate, and walked out onto the street in front, where the officers were likewise on full alert.
Tap, tap, tap...
The embroidered-robed officers guarding the gate stepped aside at once, clearing a path for him.
Ye Xingge paid them no mind. He slung the saber over his shoulder and gradually disappeared into the rain. Before he vanished from sight, he raised the middle finger of his left hand toward those behind him; what he meant by it was unclear...
Hundreds of embroidered-robed officers watched him leave in silence. Only when his figure had completely disappeared down the street did scattered whispers begin to rise:
"What an overwhelming presence..."
"What the hell has come to the Judicial Review Bureau?"
"Shh~ In a few days, we'll have to call him 'my lord.' Careful he doesn't make life difficult for you..."
"I reckon if you offend him, it'll be worse than just making life difficult. He'll put you in a shoe twelve feet long, with a lid on top..."
"That's more than thirty damn people! You'd at least frown slaughtering thirty pigs..."
"He was establishing his authority, killing them especially for us to see..."
"He's not going after Tail Fire Tiger next, is he?"
"What else? Looking at him, does he seem like he's going back to recover?"
"Good heavens..."
The clamor of voices drowned out the thunderstorm, until the opera house collapsed with a roar, burying the thirty-odd corpses no one paid any heed to.
Rumble~
Farther away, the Later Zhou spy team was watching as well.
Hou Chou'er had witnessed the whole affair. The bewilderment and shock in his eyes had vanished, leaving only deep concern.
"No wonder he could deal with Yang Tuyan and the others on his own. With this young man, it isn't a matter of cultivation, but of courage and resolve. If someone like him cannot be put to use by our Great Zhou, he will surely become a grave threat one day!"
The man beside him carried nine sabers and was named Chen Dahai. On the surface, he was a cook in the Lady of Anyang's residence, but in secret he was an executioner. He too was inwardly shaken.
"Right. He's the very picture of someone destined for First Rank. Even if he lacked talent, he could fight his way up through sheer ruthlessness. I even suspect he wants to seize the Fate-Robbing Saber."
"He wouldn't be seizing it, but taking back his own Fate-Robbing Saber. They're a match made in heaven. Put them together in the martial world, and there'd be a storm of blood and carnage..."
"But after Ruan Jinyu made things difficult for him time and again, as long as the Heaven-Observing Decree isn't blind, this young man will rise straight to the top, and no one in the Heaven-Observing Pavilion will object. I'm afraid it'll be hard for us to turn him now..."
An Yurou had been listening all along, her mind also heavy with concerns. She lowered her spyglass, thought for a moment, and said:
"The Xiao Clan seized the throne by illegitimate means, and the court is steeped in corruption. With this young man's temper, even if he reaches high office one day, he may not become the Xiao Clan's dog. We'll try to turn him first and decide what to do if that fails."
Hou Chou'er stroked his mustache and nodded slightly.
"True. Rebellion is in his bones. If he really reached the highest office, I wouldn't be surprised if he said to the Emperor of Yan, 'Why are you sitting in my seat?'..."
Black clouds loomed over the city. Lightning occasionally tore across the sky, spreading toward the towering imperial city at the edge of sight.
The lights along the street still shone, and music and laughter drifted through windows into the swirling rain. Now and then, scholars and literary men admiring the rainy view by their windows murmured a few words:
"What's going on with that man?"
"The King of Hell from the Heaven-Observing Pavilion. Don't stare..."
"Hiss..."
Ye Xingge walked along the waterlogged street, his eyes bloodshot and his robes spattered with blood, looking like a fierce bandit who had just slaughtered an entire household.
If not for the identification token at his waist and the Black Banner Saber in his hand, the constables would probably have thrown him in jail long ago.
Though he looked a little bedraggled, Ye Xingge had only taken one punch from beginning to end. Aside from some discomfort in his eyes, he was fine.
As he walked down the street with his saber, Ye Xingge spoke in a low voice:
"Xiaohong, could your information be a little more accurate next time?"
Hongyu had put on a dazzling performance dealing with the prospective marriage partner and had already helped drink several cups of celebratory wine at the Myriad Phenomena Tower. Now she replied helplessly:
"My informant left me a note at the agreed place. It said Winnowing Basket Water Leopard had gone to the opera house with a few lackeys. I didn't expect there to be so many either. Next time I'll have them write it out clearly. Hurry back and rest for a while. Don't catch a chill."
Ye Xingge had gone to catch a thief, only to find himself surrounded by two hundred people and forced to cut down more than thirty. How could he be in the mood to worry about catching a chill?
He was only worried that, for his next target, he might rush headlong into the Return to Origin Cult's headquarters!
But the Mountains and Rivers Association was a top-tier power, so it was only natural for its members to mark only key targets and pay no attention to minor mobs.
And if minor mobs really could beat him to death, he would indeed have let down the little whip Heroine Yun had given him.
Ye Xingge said no more about it. He wiped the rain from his face and asked:
"Tail Fire Tiger ranks second from the bottom among the Seven Mansions of the Azure Dragon, so he must be stronger. He should be close to Third Rank. Winnowing Basket Water Leopard didn't say anything just now, so how am I supposed to find him?"
Hongyu had planned for this beforehand and replied:
"The 'Dragon Winnowing Basket Tally' you took is one of a set of seven famed weapons. They can be used to contact the people above and below you in the chain. You just need to trick him into coming out.
"But you have to be quick. You wiped out the Yongzhou branch without letting a single lackey escape, so word won't reach Tail Fire Tiger immediately, but that advantage will last a day at most."
Hearing this, Ye Xingge took the token from his robes and examined it.
The back of the black jade token bore a dragon-tail pattern. Its front was smooth, covered in a fine grid of crisscrossing lines that divided it into countless tiny squares, or pixels.
"How do I use this?"
"The seven jade pieces are bound to one another. Use your Qi to control it and change the pattern of the squares, and the other tokens will change too. Winnowing Basket Water Leopard had no one beneath him, so Tail Fire Tiger is the only person you can contact. Tell him you seized the item and will hand it over at Forgetful River Mouth, then lie in wait for him."
Hongyu paused briefly, then added:
"As for where Forgetful River Mouth is, just tell the bureau Winnowing Basket Water Leopard told you before he died. Plenty of embroidered-robed officers saw you question him several times anyway, and the dead can't contradict you..."
"..."
After listening quietly, Ye Xingge followed Great Beauty's instructions. He held the token in his hand and controlled it with his internal force, then broke a bamboo sliver from his conical hat and ran it across the token.
The token was extremely intricate. Each square could move up and down, and pressed down by the bamboo sliver, they soon formed the message:
Heaven-Obscuring Arm, tomorrow at the hour of Xu, Forgetful River Mouth.
Ye Xingge became an eye and finished writing by the light of the streetlamps. When he stopped controlling the token with his internal force, its surface became smooth again.
"That's it?"
"The other person also has to activate it with internal force before the token changes. Just wait for a reply."
"Oh..."
Ye Xingge said no more. He put the token away and looked around the street.
Since he had to set out on an eight-hundred-li urgent mission before dawn, he had wanted to go to Azure Dragon Street and say goodbye to his parents and second uncle.
But he had just killed more than thirty people. Looking the way he did now, even if he didn't scare his parents and second uncle half to death, he would frighten the new shop out of business!
Thinking of what had happened to the old shop in Qingxi, Ye Xingge hesitated again and again, but ultimately abandoned the idea and headed toward Yingtian Ward through the heavy rain...