The two men in black paused slightly, seemingly surprised they had been discovered so quickly.
"Go!" Not wanting to entangle with Ji Qing, they turned and fled.
CLANG.
Ji Qing drew his saber. With a single strike, a Blade Light flashed past like a startled swan.
The two possessed excellent Lightweight Skills, managing to narrowly dodge Ji Qing's strike. A hint of surprise flashed through his eyes. His Thirteen Paths of Swift Saber had already reached the Perfection Realm; his strikes were no longer confined to rigid forms, appearing as natural as breathing with every movement. Even without using his Ultimate Technique, it was definitely not something an ordinary Martial Artist could block.
Yet, these two had actually dodged it?
The man in black further away from Ji Qing had already leaped off the roof, on the verge of escaping into the night. Ji Qing held back no longer.
SWISH.
A brilliant Blade Light sparkled in the dark night.
"Heavenly Line!" Ji Qing unleashed the Ultimate Technique he had just comprehended.
The man in black was deeply shaken. Staring at the resplendent Blade Light, it felt as if nothing else existed in his vision.
"Young Master Ji, spare me!" The man suddenly snapped out of his daze and cried out.
"Hmm?" Ji Qing raised an eyebrow, shifting the saber in his hand by a fraction.
SLASH.
The strike still landed. The Blade Light swept past the man's cheek, severing a few strands of hair and slicing off his right ear, sending blood flowing freely.
"You know me?" Ji Qing used his saber to flick away the man's mask, revealing an unfamiliar face. "Speak, who are you?"
"Young Master Ji, spare me! My name is Ge Er; I'm from the Wind Listening Tower."
"Wind Listening Tower?"
"It's an organization in the Martial World that specializes in selling intelligence and information..."
Ji Qing understood immediately upon hearing Ge Er's explanation. It turned out the other party was from the Wind Listening Tower, and their goal was to track his whereabouts. Ji Qing was currently a massive hot topic in the Martial World, making any information about him highly valuable. After all, who wouldn't be tempted by a bounty of one thousand taels of silver?
Ji Qing grabbed Ge Er and jumped back into the room. "How did you know I was here?"
"Young Master Ji, after the incident in Liang City, our Wind Listening Tower carefully investigated the Ji Residence. We discovered that there were no young children among the corpses, so..." Ge Er's gaze landed on Ji Yao, who was sound asleep on the bed. Perhaps she was simply too exhausted; even the commotion just now hadn't woken her.
Ji Qing immediately realized what had happened. His whereabouts hadn't actually been exposed, but the fact that he was traveling with Ji Yao was an incredibly obvious distinguishing feature. The Wind Listening Tower made its living on intelligence, so naturally, they would notice many details ordinary people overlooked. When Ji Qing brought Ji Yao to the Mule Horse Inn, he was spotted by their operatives. However, unable to be completely certain, the organization sent Ge Er and his companion to the inn to gather information and confirm Ji Qing's identity.
"Young Master Ji, there is no enmity between us. Please spare my life." Ge Er immediately knelt and kowtowed, brimming with the desire to live.
"You want to live? Your companion's Lightweight Skill isn't bad."
Ge Er gritted his teeth and promptly replied, "My companion's name is Liu Shiwu. That Lightweight Skill is just an ordinary Third-class technique called Cao Shangfei. It's only because Liu Shiwu has practiced it to Great Success. I also know Cao Shangfei. If you don't mind, I can write it down from memory and present it to you."
Ji Qing brought out a pen and paper, placing them directly in front of Ge Er. Without hesitation, Ge Er wrote down the manual for Cao Shangfei.
"How can one enter your Wind Listening Tower to purchase intelligence?" Ji Qing asked.
"Young Master Ji, here is a Token called the Wind Listening Order. As long as you hold this Wind Listening Order, you can enter the Wind Listening Tower in any major city to buy or sell all kinds of intelligence."
Ji Qing accepted the Wind Listening Order. "Alright, you can go." He waved his hand, dismissing Ge Er.
After all, Ge Er's companion had already escaped, meaning his whereabouts were bound to be exposed. Killing Ge Er would only forge bad blood with the Wind Listening Tower, which wasn't worth the loss.
"Thank you, Young Master Ji." Ge Er covered his severed ear and prepared to leave.
"Wait."
Ge Er stiffened all over. He wondered if Ji Qing had regretted his decision and wanted to silence him.
Ji Qing pointed at the ceiling and said indifferently, "Take out all the silver on you. You broke the inn's roof; don't you have to compensate them?"
"Uh..." Ge Er emptied his pockets of all his silver, then utilized his Lightweight Skill to disappear into the night.
"Ji Yao, wake up." Ji Qing roused her and quickly packed their bags. "It's not safe here anymore. We have to leave immediately!"
Ji Yao obediently climbed into his bamboo basket, after which Ji Qing headed down to the inn's lobby.
"Shopkeeper, we're checking out. This is the silver to repair the roof..." Ji Qing tossed the silver onto the counter, turned, and left.
"Roof?" The Shopkeeper hurriedly went to the guest room. Staring at the massive hole in the ceiling, he was dumbfounded.
"He is a true Hero. To actually leave silver as compensation for breaking the roof..." He weighed the silver in his hand. It wasn't bad; after patching the roof, he would still make a profit.
Ji Qing had no idea that a few taels of silver had elevated him to the status of a "true Hero" in the Shopkeeper's heart. Knowing his whereabouts had been exposed, he quickly left the Mule Horse Inn.
His destination was Anyang City. He needed to send Ji Yao there to settle down; otherwise, bringing her along while wandering the Martial World was simply too dangerous. It also made his identity too easy to see through.
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
Over time, news of Ji Qing's deeds had spread across the entire realm. A bounty of one thousand taels was a substantial sum, enough to attract many figures in the Martial World to risk their lives to intercept and kill him. Because of this, Ji Qing stuck to secluded trails along the way. Fortunately, he had used his remaining Source Point to upgrade the Cao Shangfei Lightweight Skill to Small Success. Armed with this Lightweight Skill, traversing mountain paths felt like walking on flat ground, making the journey much easier.
As evening approached one day, Ji Qing looked for a place to shelter from the wind and rain for the night. However, the area was far too desolate, with neither village nor inn in sight. He searched for a long time before finally discovering an abandoned temple, which could barely provide enough cover to make do for the night.
Ji Qing set down the bamboo basket.
RUSTLE.
A small head poked out from within.
"Brother, I'm so hungry." Ji Yao's stomach was already growling.
"I happened to catch a pheasant earlier. I'll roast it for you today."
"That's great! We finally get to eat meat." Ji Yao drooled with craving.
Over the past half month of traveling, Ji Qing had almost exclusively stuck to mountain trails. They hadn't entered any cities or stayed at any inns, enduring the immense hardships of sleeping in the wilderness and dining on the wind. Ji Yao hadn't eaten anything decent the entire trip.
Ji Qing skillfully gutted and cleaned the pheasant. Soon, a rich, meaty aroma filled the ruined temple.
Just as the two were heartily tearing into the roasted bird, a chaotic flurry of footsteps sounded from outside. It seemed a large group of people was heading toward the temple, accompanied by the faint crunching of wagon wheels rolling over gravel.
"We are Darts Masters from the Weiyuan Escort Agency! Seeing that it's getting late and the road ahead is difficult, we wish to borrow this treasured land for the night. We hope the friends inside the temple can accommodate us. We would be eternally grateful!"
The voice was booming and resonant, echoing through the mountains—a clear sign that the speaker possessed formidable Inner Power.
However, long after the voice faded, no response came from within the temple.
The members of the Weiyuan Escort Agency exchanged bewildered glances. There was clearly firelight coming from the temple just moments ago, which meant someone had to be inside.
Why was no one answering?