***
Sword flight was forbidden in Meishan City.
And yet, high above this mountain city, one could often see disciples of the celestial grottoes in robes of purple haze, riding upon azure cloud swords. Most of these disciples came from noble backgrounds and could not be bothered to observe rules written for rustic independent cultivators.
Chu Yingfeng was certainly no rustic independent cultivator. Though he was about the same age as those grotto disciples, his seniority surpassed all of theirs combined. Here, he could walk sideways if he wished, or straight up and down if the mood took him.
Yet unexpectedly, he was a quiet and low-key sort of person.
At this moment, rooftops swept past beneath his feet like drifting clouds.
Drawing breath to ride the wind—this was the foundation of sword flight. Every cultivator began with this skill upon entering the path.
Wenren Ying naturally knew it as well. At present, he was carrying a person and a cat on his back as he quietly followed behind Chu Yingfeng.
Chu Yingfeng entered a courtyard.
Wenren Ying took a small vial from his robes and removed two pills, handing them to Wu Guanyue as he explained, “These are Turtle-Breath Concealment Pills. After taking one, your breathing and aura will be hidden for half an hour; unless a Great Vehicle Earth Immortal discovers you, you won’t be detected. People from Guixu City in the Eastern Sea use these for infiltration and assassination. You and Wuyun take one each. Then we’ll go inside and have a look.”
Wu Guanyue obediently swallowed one. Sure enough, a [Stealth] buff appeared on her, incredibly powerful!
With one person and one cat on his back, Wenren Ying slipped into the courtyard.
Though the small courtyard was not lavish or grand, it had rockeries, secluded lotus pools, bamboo cottages, and winding streams. It possessed a tranquil, refined charm.
Voices drifted from the main room.
Carrying Wu Guanyue on his back, Wenren Ying approached from the shadows.
There were two people in the room, one dressed in white and the other in black.
The man in black was, of course, Chu Yingfeng.
The man in white, however, was not looking at him. With his back turned, he was studying a portrait of a beauty hanging on the wall.
Moonlight flowed over his sleeve, illuminating the silver cloud pattern that flashed briefly into view—bright, meticulous, perfectly suited to him, and yet unmistakably arrogant.
The man in white was named Bai Yunsheng.
“Someone told me that the Seven-Treasure Pine is at the inn where you’ve been staying. Have you found anything?”
Bai Yunsheng spoke. He did not sound as though he were addressing his gifted junior disciple; rather, his tone was faintly disdainful.
Chu Yingfeng’s answer, meanwhile, was utterly concise.
“No.”
—After all, he had not investigated at all.
Bai Yunsheng let out a derisive snort.
“I think you’ve simply been distracted by trivial pleasures and have not taken the task assigned by the elders seriously at all!”
There was, of course, nothing wrong with that accusation.
Chu Yingfeng did not know Daoist Master Songfeng, after all. And he found the notion that “some country commoner dared to dispose of a magical treasure belonging to the Profound Heaven Sect” thoroughly repugnant.
In the end, although he and most of the sect belonged to the same Profound Heaven Sect, Chu Yingfeng did not stand on the same side as them...
Indeed, his position was the complete opposite of theirs.
Chu Yingfeng’s expression did not change. Arms folded around his sword, he gazed coldly at Bai Yunsheng, too unwilling even to spare him a word.
Bai Yunsheng, however, did not care about his attitude.
Turning around, he looked at Chu Yingfeng with his hands clasped behind his back and said slowly, “Move out of that inn tonight. Tomorrow, I’ll bring men to arrest the innkeeper. Don’t get in my way.”
Chu Yingfeng frowned. “Do you have proof that she did it?”
A strange, almost-smiling expression suddenly appeared on Bai Yunsheng’s face. It carried an undisguised, exquisitely subtle malice.
Looking at him, Bai Yunsheng drawled, “Proof... Once we capture her, we’ll have all the proof we need.”
A chilling killing intent abruptly erupted from Chu Yingfeng!
Those jet-black eyes, usually almost devoid of emotion, now resembled a wolf’s—fixed on Bai Yunsheng with savage fury.
Chu Yingfeng truly was a genius. He had been in the sect for scarcely more than a decade, yet his dantian sea of qi had already formed a golden core. Bai Yunsheng was more than a decade his senior, yet their cultivation levels were the same.
Moreover, Chu Yingfeng was a martial fanatic through and through. He loved crossing swords with opponents whose styles differed entirely from his own. His genius was not limited to cultivation alone—for cultivators who pursued the Dao through martial arts, temperament, reflexes, quick wits, experience... all these and more were crucial factors in determining victory or defeat.
If they fought now, Bai Yunsheng would not last ten moves against Chu Yingfeng.
Yet beneath such terrifying killing intent, before such a fearsome beast, Bai Yunsheng’s expression did not change in the slightest.
He still wore that almost-smiling look, and that subtle malice still gleamed in his phoenix eyes.
“What? Are you going to interfere with the elders’ affairs? Yingfeng, Yingfeng... you really ought to temper that personality of yours. So willful and reckless—have you ever spared a thought for your elderly mother, who is being cared for in the sect?”
The killing intent faltered at once.
Chu Yingfeng’s pale face twisted abruptly. Bai Yunsheng’s words were like a venomous whip, lashing hard across him—one stroke enough to draw blood and tear away flesh.
The smile on Bai Yunsheng’s face seemed to grow even more pleased.
He liked seeing that expression on Chu Yingfeng’s face... liked seeing him bloodied by that whip.
In truth, there was no substantial enmity between Bai Yunsheng and Chu Yingfeng.
Chu Yingfeng might possess the reputation of a genius... but honestly, how many geniuses were there in the world? The Bai clan of Yunmeng, to which Bai Yunsheng belonged, had produced several peerless talents as well. All of them were now disciples of Dao Lord Tongxuan of the Divine Firmament Dao.
Bai Yunsheng did not hate Chu Yingfeng merely because he was powerful.
Chu Yingfeng himself—and the very reason he had entered the Profound Heaven Sect—were enough to make most people in the sect despise him.
—In an inn, he had butchered a group of disciples from immortal sects.
Certainly, those disciples had been in the wrong. But they ought to have been punished fairly according to sect rules. How could they be beheaded with a butcher’s cleaver, their heads thrown out into the street?
The son of a menial servant and a cook—how could he dare... how could he dare do such a thing?
But Chu Yingfeng had dared. And by chance, he had been saved by the passing Perfected Renhua. At the time, most of the elders of the Profound Heaven Sect had opposed taking in such a vicious criminal, but Perfected Renhua had insisted. In the end, Chu Yingfeng was admitted into the sect.
Bai Yunsheng disliked Chu Yingfeng—hated him—for the simple reason that he saw his own fate bound up with that of his class.
No one who benefited from the existing order could possibly look kindly upon someone like Chu Yingfeng.
So everything he had said just now had been meant to provoke Chu Yingfeng—meant to humiliate him.
He wasn’t actually certain that the Seven-Treasure Pine was with Wu Guanyue. But he knew that Chu Yingfeng was close to her, and had even stood up for her before—and that was enough.
With a casual word, he could make Wu Guanyue suffer badly.
Chu Yingfeng, what are you acting so proud for? Do you think that just because you joined the Mystic Heaven Sect, you can truly stand on equal footing with us?
A stray dog is still a dog, even if it turns into a house pet!
Watching Chu Yingfeng’s furious yet agonized expression, Bai Yunsheng’s eyes gleamed with utter malice.
And Chu Yingfeng couldn’t move!
He truly wanted to run the man before him through with his sword! The expression on this man’s face at this very moment overlapped endlessly with those of the people in his memories who had killed his father. He could do it—if he wanted to, Bai Yunsheng would be dead beyond any doubt tonight. It wouldn’t matter what magical artifacts he possessed!
But—
No. He couldn’t lay a hand on Bai Yunsheng!
The veins in Chu Yingfeng’s neck throbbed, and the muscles beneath his eyelids seemed to twitch. His body had been drawn taut to its limit—as though he might leap up and kill at any moment—yet it felt as if a thin dog leash had truly been looped around his neck.
Bai Yunsheng’s smile grew ever more vicious. He felt simply wonderful!
Then, just then, something unexpected happened!
A pair of Evil Twin-Tails suddenly flew past!
“Rip!”
The sound of fabric tearing rang out in an instant. Bai Yunsheng felt a chill over his body...
His robe of moonlight brocade was gone!
Naturally, the one who had struck with lightning speed was Little Shopkeeper Wu!
【Proficiency Skill Used—Advanced Pickpocketing!】
【Obtained: [Moonlight Brocade Robe] ×1!】
After listening outside for quite some time, Little Shopkeeper Wu had reached an important conclusion—
There were actually red-named players this despicable in the world!
And Wu Guanyue keenly realized that dealing with this red-name was the key to raising Chu Yingfeng’s favorability—and the key to completing the side quest, [Wherever You Go, You Leave Something Behind].
Asking her to flatter this red-name was absolutely out of the question. But if she fought him now, she probably couldn’t beat him at her current level. The only skill she could use to challenge someone above her level was—
Pickpocketing!
Just watch her strip that smug, high-and-mighty face right off him!
Little Shopkeeper Wu: ◣ω◢
【Proficiency Skill Used—Advanced Pickpocketing!】
【Obtained: [Ice Silkworm Silk Undergarment] ×1!】
【Proficiency Skill Used—Advanced Pickpocketing!】
【Obtained: [Heavenly Spider Velvet Undershirt] ×1!】
【Proficiency Skill Used—Advanced Pickpocketing!】
【Obtained: [Heavenly Spider Velvet Shorts] ×1!】
Little Shopkeeper Wu moved even faster than lightning. The arm she used for pickpocketing moved so quickly that not even an afterimage could be seen! This advanced version of the Pickpocketing skill was practically a conceptual god-tier ability!
Wuyun let out an “Awooo!” and, as if marching to its death, raised its tail high!
Wu Guanyue didn’t linger in battle for even a moment. She made her decision at once!
【Proficiency Skill Used—Advanced Pickpocketing!】
【Obtained: [Fur] ×1!】
The Evil Twin-Tails shot away with a swish!
Only then did Bai Yunsheng finally react...
He was already... naked... na... ked...
Bai Yunsheng: “…………”
Bai Yunsheng: “………………”
Bai Yunsheng flew into a rage... and snapped open his fan, covering the one place on his body that most desperately needed covering!
He couldn’t get a single word out! His entire body was as red as a shrimp freshly hauled from the river, his face flushed scarlet!
After all, being stark naked was always when a person was at their most vulnerable.
Wenren Ying was utterly stunned as well!
...He knew Little Shopkeeper Wu had an unusual way of thinking, but he truly never imagined she could pull off something like this!
And why was she only this nimble when she was stripping someone?!
That move just now... even he wouldn’t dare claim he could have reacted in time.
It left Wenren Ying feeling a powerful sense of crisis about the clothes on his own body... No! That wasn’t the point!
The point was that Little Shopkeeper Wu hadn’t disguised herself at all when she did this... If they didn’t kill Bai Yunsheng tonight, he absolutely wouldn’t let the matter go!
But they couldn’t kill Bai Yunsheng... Killing him would bring endless trouble afterward.
They had to think of a way!
In the time it took for a spark to flash, Wenren Ying suddenly remembered something Little Shopkeeper Wu had once said! How utterly reasonable those words had been—!
Wenren Ying tugged down the brim of his bamboo hat and, with great decisiveness, drawled in his low, hoarse voice—
“Bai Yunsheng, you wouldn’t want anyone to find out what happened today, would you...”
The end.
