Who Was Fishing for Whom?

"You?!"

Li Tieyi sensed danger and spun around.

A familiar, delicate face came into view. A flash of golden light shot straight toward the space between his brows, making his pupils contract.

There was no time to dodge. His consciousness froze in an instant.

His burly body slowly toppled backward.

His final expression froze on his face, filled with disbelief.

Whoosh!

With a flick of his finger, Xu Fan struck his heart once more. Only after making sure he was thoroughly dead did he step forward to loot the corpse.

"Sure enough, you were up to no good against your Grandpa Xu."

Xu Fan muttered to himself. After making sure no one was around, he entered the room and searched it.

"How long has he been here, and he's already pocketed this much?"

Before long, he found a wooden box in a cabinet. He opened it to find a hundred-tael silver note and six silver ingots.

"My four treasure fish were worth at least two hundred taels altogether. I'll count this as interest."

He had worked hard fishing, but how could that compare to robbing someone?

He had also snatched more than thirty taels by fishing in troubled waters before. After spending twenty taels on jade bottles, he still had more than ten hidden in the reeds.

Now he was suddenly well-off.

Once he shed his lowborn status and reached the county or prefectural city, he had to go on a proper spending spree!

"Sir, save me!"

A terrified voice rang out.

"What sir?"

"Someone's using bait for law enforcement?"

Xu Fan glanced over, his thoughts racing, and quickly slipped into the darkness.

Elsewhere.

Hearing those words, Lin Chu's expression changed at once. He attacked even more fiercely, punching through the chest of the martial artist who had undergone Blood Exchange five times in just a few moves.

Pfft!

"Wh... why?"

Even in death, the deputy gang leader who had undergone Blood Exchange five times could not understand why no one had come.

Hadn't they agreed that he would act as bait for a while, drawing out Lin Chu, who might still be alive?

Now that Lin Chu had come, why hadn't the hundred-household commander of the Brocade-Clad Guard shown himself?

Bastard!

A surge of anger at being deceived welled up in his heart. Then he slumped limply to the ground, his body rapidly turning into a dried corpse.

"An ambush?"

Lin Chu cautiously surveyed his surroundings. Dragging the dried corpse, he fled the fish market in a few leaps.

In the shadows of the courtyard across the way, a pair of cold, bloodthirsty eyes withdrew their gaze from the departing Lin Chu.

"What a scheme."

"What nerve."

Jiang Yunhe closed his eyes slightly and did his utmost to conceal his presence. His thoughts raced, and he soon pieced everything together.

"A dignified hundred-household commander of the Brocade-Clad Guard, a great expert who has undergone Blood Exchange nine times, let someone who had undergone it six times escape into the lake with serious injuries."

"Heh, heh. Did you count on me wanting to find other practitioners of the Wedding Robe Divine Art, and plan to use him to lure me out and catch us all in one net?"

"Then let's see who's fishing for whom!"

A chill rose in his heart, even as his resolve grew fiercer.

The Wedding Robe Divine Art was peculiar: within a certain range, those with higher cultivation could sense those with lower cultivation.

But practitioners of the Wedding Robe Divine Art with lower cultivation could not sense those with higher cultivation.

That thought made him change his mind at once. He absolutely could not break through to the Innate realm after only eight Blood Exchanges.

His previous plan had been to devour Lin Chu's Qi and Blood and cultivation, taking advantage of the fact that nothing was lost when devouring someone who practiced the same Cultivation Method.

He would use it to wear away the remaining martial True Intention in his body, then take the Emperor Flow Serum to comprehend True Intention and break through to the Innate realm, thus fighting his way out of the encirclement.

But he could not do that now.

Otherwise, even if he escaped Qingzhou, he would surely become prey for other practitioners of the Wedding Robe Divine Art!

Only by breaking through after nine Blood Exchanges could he avoid being weaker than other practitioners at the same level and have a chance to turn the hunt around!

The Northern Pacification Office dealt with practitioners of the Wedding Robe Divine Art all year round. They surely knew about this trait too, which was why they had laid this trap to lure him out.

But man's calculations could never match heaven's.

During his time on the run, he had rarely made a move. He had killed only three fugitive martial artists who had undergone Blood Exchange six times, and had not exposed his whereabouts.

Not only had he worn away a third of the remaining martial True Intention in his body, he had also obtained a martial art for shrinking his bones, disguising himself and concealing his presence from a flower thief.

"I'd like to see when you finally make your move against Lin Chu."

"You want to use Lin Chu to fish me out? Then let's see who can hold out longer!"

In the courtyard of a jade shop at the fish market.

A man and a woman sat beside a stone table.

"You've already beaten the grass and startled the snake. Are you really going to let Lin Chu get away like that, Hundred-Household Commander Zhu?"

The woman in the green dress looked at Zhu Xiuwen, who was dressed in ordinary clothes.

Zhu Xiuwen shook his head slightly, unconcerned, and asked instead:

"Miss Lan Ci, why didn't you immediately search the entire fish market just now? What if Jiang Yunhe was hiding there?"

Compared with Jiang Yunhe, Lin Chu's thinking was simple. His goal was to grow stronger and take revenge.

The fact that Lin Chu had never attacked anyone else showed that he could be left alone for a while and used to draw out Jiang Yunhe or any practitioners of the Wedding Robe Divine Art who might be hiding.

Lin Chu probably would not leave Wuling County until the Canal Gang had been wiped out.

After all, as far as Lin Chu knew, the Brocade-Clad Guard had already beaten him to death.

This time, he had also destroyed the corpse to erase the evidence, making it hard to suspect a practitioner of the Wedding Robe Divine Art.

Even the man's words before he died could have been an attempt to use someone else's authority to get himself out of trouble.

In the end, Lin Chu was just a man who had started out as a fisherman. His experience was too shallow for him to be a cause for concern.

He simply had not expected the eldest miss of the Clearwater Sect to be so patient.

If Jiang Yunhe had been nearby, they would have beaten the grass and startled the snake, and he might well have fled far away.

Zhu Xiuwen was not worried, because he was not seeking heavenly materials and earthly treasures like the Emperor Flow Serum.

Once the pacification commissioner found the time, Jiang Yunhe would be as good as dead.

For now, they needed to search for Jiang Yunhe as thoroughly as possible, preferably without the pacification commissioner having to intervene.

"I'm betting on the fear and greed in Jiang Yunhe's heart."

Beneath Lan Ci's veil, her delicate lips curved into a faint, alluring smile.

The Clearwater Sect had also studied the Wedding Robe Divine Art in depth. After all, it was a unique and peculiar Higher Vehicle martial art.

It could even rival a peerless martial art, or grow to the level of one.

It was only because the powerful figures of the martial world had united to exterminate them that practitioners of the Wedding Robe Divine Art everywhere found it so difficult to grow stronger, or hid themselves so deeply.

Among those who practiced the Wedding Robe Divine Art, those with higher cultivation could sense those with lower cultivation within a certain range, allowing them to track and hunt them down.

That was also why she was certain Jiang Yunhe would sense Lin Chu, come to hunt him down, and use him to recover from his injuries.

When devouring someone who also practiced the Wedding Robe Divine Art, there was no loss whatsoever to their Qi and Blood or cultivation.

Jiang Yunhe was undoubtedly a turtle trapped in a jar now. Only by staking his life could he hope to find a sliver of a chance to survive.

If Jiang Yunhe had already come, he should know about this trait of the Wedding Robe Divine Art and thus fear any stronger practitioners who might exist.

She had neither acted nor exposed herself, so from Jiang Yunhe's perspective, only the Northern Pacification Office was present.

At most, there was one hundred-household commander who had undergone Blood Exchange nine times and one probationary hundred-household commander who had undergone it seven times.

Fear would turn to greed, driving Jiang Yunhe to attack those two and break through to the ninth Blood Exchange, then advance to become an Innate grandmaster.

But if she had acted just now and found nothing, Jiang Yunhe would see no hope and surely refuse to risk a head-on fight. Then she would have no chance of obtaining the Emperor Flow Serum.

"Fear and greed?"

Zhu Xiuwen's eyes flickered slightly, and he said calmly:

"You truly are the Clearwater Sect's most outstanding genius, Miss Lan Ci. I wouldn't mind cooperating with you."

"Then here's to a pleasant cooperation."